Jesse Owens †A Legend Essay Example for Free

Jesse Owens – A Legend Essay The legendary Track and Field athlete, known to the world as Jesse Owens, was born James Cleveland Owens on September 12, 1913. It’s claimed that the nine-year-old’s accent made it difficult for his schoolteacher in Ohio to understand Owens when he gave his name as â€Å"JC. † Instead the teacher wrote his name down as â€Å"Jesse† (Gentry, 1990, p. 34). Jesse’s first brush with running was to be in the hills of Alabama, his home state. At the time though, Jesse was a sickly child given to frequent attacks of Pneumonia and other medical issues including the appearance of boils. His training for the track and field events only began when he entered Fairmont Junior High School where he was noticed by Charles Riley, an Irishman who was quick to take into account Jesse’s â€Å"potential† despite his lack of a strong physique. Riley, took the time to coach Jesse before school began each day so that Jesse would be free after school to do the part time jobs he’d taken up to contribute towards his family’s financial betterment. There’s nothing to show that Jesse’s typical workouts weren’t anything but pretty basic in terms of the equipment available and the routines followed in those early years. Practicing the various techniques of starting and running as well as long jump is what Jesse engaged in. Making the most of this humble start, Jesse soon began to draw attention to his abilities, having by this time, enrolled in East Technical High School. Owens then went on to join the Ohio State University where he continued to break records and draw attention though still failing to get a scholarship on account of his race. Owens greatest contribution to American history came in Berlin where the 1936 Summer Olympics were held. Jesse Owens went on to win four gold medals for his country – 100m sprint, 200m sprint, 4 x100m relay and long jump in the face of strong prejudices exhibited by Adolf Hitler who was intent on showing off the superiority of the Aryan race to the world. Americans greeted him with great enthusiasm on his return, and cheered his accomplishments heartily (Corrigan, 1990, p. 18). Track and Field events gained popularity in the United States. However, Jesse himself was not to benefit from all these events.

The History Of The Digital Watermarking Techniques

The History Of The Digital Watermarking Techniques Abstract Digital watermarking techniques have been developed to protect the copyright of media signals. This study aims to provide a universal review and background about the watermarking definition, concept and the main contributions in this field. The study will start with a general view of digital data, the Internet and the products of these two, namely, the multimedia and the e-commerce. The study will presents an extensive and deep literature review of the field of digital watermarking and watermarking algorithms. Introduction Digital watermarking techniques have been developed to protect the copyright of media signals. Different watermarking schemes have been suggested for multimedia content (images, video and audio signal). This study aims to provide an extensive literature review of the multimedia copyright protection. It presents a universal review and background about the watermarking definition, concept and the main contributions in this field. Digital Intellectual Property Information is becoming widely available via global networks. These connected networks allow cross-references between databases. The advent of multimedia is allowing different applications to mix sound, images, and video and to interact with large amounts of information (e.g., in e-business, distance education, and human-machine interface). The industry is investing to deliver audio, image and video data in electronic form to customers, and broadcast television companies, major corporations and photo archives are converting their content from analogue to digital form. This movement from traditional content, such as paper documents, analogue recordings, to digital media is due to several advantages of digital media over the traditional media. Some of these advantages are: The quality of digital signals is higher than that of their corresponding analogue signals. Traditional assets degrade in quality as time passes. Analogue data require expensive systems to obtain high quality copies, whereas digital data can be easily copied without loss of fidelity. Digital data (audio, image and video signals) can be easily transmitted over networks, for example the Internet. A large amount of multimedia data is now available to users all over the world. This expansion will continue at an even greater rate with the widening availability of advanced multimedia services like electronic commerce, advertising, interactive TV, digital libraries, and a lot more. Exact copies of digital data can be easily made. This is very useful but it also creates problems for the owner of valuable digital data like precious digital images. Replicas of a given piece of digital data cannot be distinguished and their origin cannot be confirmed. It is impossible to determine which piece is the original and which is the copy. It is possible to hide some information within digital data in such a way that data modifications are undetectable for the human senses. Copyright Protection of Intellectual Property An important factor that slows down the growth of multimedia-networked services is that authors, publishers and providers of multimedia data are reluctant to allow the distribution of their documents in a networked environment. This is because the ease of reproducing digital data in their exact original form is likely to encourage copyright violation, data misappropriation and abuse. These are the problems of theft and distribution of intellectual property. Therefore, creators and distributors of digital data are actively seeking reliable solutions to the problems associated with copyright protection of multimedia data. Moreover, the future development of networked multimedia systems, in particular on open networks like the Internet, is conditioned by the development of efficient methods to protect data owners against unauthorized copying and redistribution of the material put on the network. This will guarantee that their rights are protected and their assets properly managed. Copyright protection of multimedia data has been accomplished by means of cryptography algorithms to provide control over data access and to make data unreadable to non-authorized users. However, encryption systems do not completely solve the problem, because once encryption is removed there is no more control on the dissemination of data. The concept of digital watermarking arose while trying to solve problems related to the copyright of intellectual property in digital media. It is used as a means to identify the owner or distributor of digital data. Watermarking is the process of encoding hidden copyright information since it is possible today to hide information messages within digital audio, video, images and texts, by taking into account the limitations of the human audio and visual systems. Digital Watermarking: What, Why, When and How? It seems that digital watermarking is a good way to protect intellectual property from illegal copying. It provides a means of embedding a message in a piece of digital data without destroying its value. Digital watermarking embeds a known message in a piece of digital data as a means of identifying the rightful owner of the data. These techniques can be used on many types of digital data including still imagery, movies, and music. What is Digital Watermarking? A digital watermark is a signal permanently embedded into digital data (audio, images, video, and text) that can be detected or extracted later by means of computing operations in order to make assertions about the data. The watermark is hidden in the host data in such a way that it is inseparable from the data and so that it is resistant to many operations not degrading the host document. Thus by means of watermarking, the work is still accessible but permanently marked. Digital watermarking techniques derive from steganography, which means covered writing (from the Greek words stegano or covered and graphos or to write). Steganography is the science of communicating information while hiding the existence of the communication. The goal of steganography is to hide an information message inside harmless messages in such a way that it is not possible even to detect that there is a secret message present. Both steganography and watermarking belong to a category of information hiding, but the objectives and conditions for the two techniques are just the opposite. In watermarking, for example, the important information is the external data (e.g., images, voices, etc.). The internal data (e.g., watermark) are additional data for protecting the external data and to prove ownership. In steganography, however, the external data (referred to as a vessel, container, or dummy data) are not very important. They are just a carrier of the important information. The internal data are the most important. On the other hand, watermarking is not like encryption. Watermarking does not restrict access to the data while encryption has the aim of making messages unintelligible to any unauthorized persons who might intercept them. Once encrypted data is decrypted, the media is no longer protected. A watermark is designed to permanently reside in the host data. If the ownership of a digital work is in question, the information can be extracted to completely characterize the owner. Digital watermarking is an enabling technology for e-commerce strategies: conditional and user-specific access to services and resources. Digital watermarking offers several advantages. The details of a good digital watermarking algorithm can be made public knowledge. Digital watermarking provides the owner of a piece of digital data the means to mark the data invisibly. The mark could be used to serialize a piece of data as it is sold or used as a method to mark a valuable image. For example, this marking allows an owner to safely post an image for viewing but legally provides an embedded copyright to prohibit others from posting the same image. Watermarks and attacks on watermarks are two sides of the same coin. The goal of both is to preserve the value of the digital data. However, the goal of a watermark is to be robust enough to resist attack but not at the expense of altering the value of the data being protected. On the other hand, the goal of the attack is to remove the water mark without destroying the value of the protected data. The contents of the image can be marked without visible loss of value or dependence on specific formats. For example a bitmap (BMP) image can be compressed to a JPEG image. The result is an image that requires less storage space but cannot be distinguished from the original. Generally, a JPEG compression level of 70% can be applied without humanly visible degradation. This property of digital images allows insertion of additional data in the image without altering the value of the image. The message is hidden in unused visual space in the image and stays below the human visible threshold for the image. When Did the Technique Originate? The idea of hiding data in another media is very old, as described in the case of steganography. Nevertheless, the term digital watermarking first appeared in 1993, when Tirkel et al. (1993) presented two techniques to hide data in images. These methods were based on modifications to the least significant bit (LSB) of the pixel values. How Can We Build an Effective Watermarking Algorithm? It is desired that watermarks survive image-processing manipulations such as rotation, scaling, image compression and image enhancement, for example. Taking advantage of the discrete wavelet transform properties and robust features extraction techniques are the new trends that are used in the recent digital image watermarking methods. Robustness against geometrical transformation is essential since image-publishing applications often apply some kind of geometrical transformations to the image, and thus, an intellectual property ownership protection system should not be affected by these changes. Visible vs. Invisible Watermarks Digital watermarking is divided into two main categories: visible and invisible. The idea behind the visible watermark is very simple. It is equivalent to stamping a watermark on paper, and for this reason its sometimes said to be digitally stamped. An example of visible watermarking is provided by television channels, like BBC, whose logo is visibly superimposed on the corner of the TV picture. Invisible watermarking, on the other hand, is a far more complex concept. It is most often used to identify copyright data, like author, distributor, and so forth. Though a lot of research has been done in the area of invisible watermarks, much less has been done for visible watermarks. Visible and invisible watermarks both serve to deter theft but they do so in very different ways. Visible watermarks are especially useful for conveying an immediate claim of ownership (Mintzer, Braudaway Yeung, 1997). Their main advantage, in principle at least, is the virtual elimination of the commercial value of a document to a would-be thief, without lessening the documents utility for legitimate, authorized purposes. Invisible watermarks, on the other hand, are more of an aid in catching a thief than for discouraging theft in the first place (Mintzer et al., 1997; Swanson et al., 1998). Watermarking Classification There are different classifications of invisible watermarking algorithms. The reason behind this is the enormous diversity of watermarking schemes. Watermarking approaches can be distinguished in terms of watermarking host signal (still images, video signal, audio signal, integrated circuit design), and the availability of original signal during extraction (non-blind, semi-blind, blind). Also, they can be categorized based on the domain used for watermarking embedding process, as shown in Figure 1. The watermarking application is considered one of the criteria for watermarking classification. Figure 2 shows the subcategories based on watermarking applications. Figure 1: Classification of watermarking algorithms based on domain used for the watermarking embedding process Figure 2: Classification of watermarking technology based on applications Digital Watermarking Algorithms Current watermarking techniques described in the literature can be grouped into three main classes. The first includes the transform domain methods, which embed the data by modulating the transform domain signal coefficients. The second class includes the spatial domain techniques. These embed the watermark by directly modifying the pixel values of the original image. The transform domain techniques have been found to have the greater robustness, when the watermarked signals are tested after having been subjected to common signal distortions. The third class is the feature domain technique. This technique takes into account region, boundary and object characteristics. Such watermarking methods may present additional advantages in terms of detection and recovery from geometric attacks, compared to previous approaches. The algorithms in this study are organized according to their embedding domain, as indicated in Figure 1. These are grouped into: Spatial domain techniques Transform domain techniques Feature domain techniques However, due to the amount of published work in the field of watermarking technology, the main focus will be on wavelet-based watermarking technique papers. The wavelet domain is the most efficient domain for watermarking embedding so far. However, the review considers some other techniques, which serve the purpose of giving a broader picture of the existing watermarking algorithms. Some examples of spatial domain and fractal-based techniques will be reviewed. Spatial Domain Techniques This section gives a brief introduction to the spatial domain technique to gives some background information about watermarking in this domain. Many spatial techniques are based on adding fixed amplitude pseudo noise (PN) sequences to an image. PN sequences are used as the spreading key when considering the host media as the noise in a spread spectrum system, where the watermark is the transmitted message. In this case, the PN sequence is used to spread the data bits over the spectrum to hide the data. Transform Domain Techniques Many transform-based watermarking techniques have been proposed. To embed a watermark, a transformation is first applied to the host data, and then modifications are made to the transform coefficients. In this section, the state of the art of the current watermarking algorithms using the transform domain is presented. The section has three main parts, including discussions of waveletbased watermarking, DCT-based watermarking and fractal domain watermarking. Digital Watermarking Using Wavelet Decomposition This algorithm can easily be built into video watermarking applications based on a 3-D wavelet transform due to its simple structure. The hierarchical nature of the wavelet representation allows multi-resolutional detection of the digital watermark, which is a Gaussian distributed random vector added to all the high pass bands in the wavelet domain. Discrete Cosine Transform-Based Digital Watermarking Several watermarking algorithms have been proposed to utilize the DCT. However, the Cox et al. (1995, 1997) and the Koch and Zhao (1995) algorithms are the most well-known DCT-based algorithms. Cox et al. (1995) proposed the most well-known spread spectrum watermarking schemes. Figure 3 shows the block diagram of the Cox algorithm. The image is first subjected to a global DCT. Then, the 1,000 largest coefficients in the DCT domain are selected for watermarking. They used a Gaussian sequence of pseudo-random real numbers of length 1,000 as a watermark. This approach achieves good robustness against compression and other common signal processing attacks. This is a result of the selection of perceptually significant transform domain coefficients. However, the algorithm is in a weak position against the invariability attack proposed by Craver (1997). Also, the global DCT employed on the image is computationally expensive. Fractal Transform-Based Digital Watermarking Though a lot of work has been done in the area of invisible watermarks using the DCT and the wavelet-based methods, relatively few references exist for invisible watermarks based on the fractal transform. The reason for this might be the computational expense of the fractal transform. In fractal analysis, similar patterns are identified in an image and only a limited amount of binary code can be embedded using this method. Since fractal analysis is computationally expensive and some images do not have many large self-similar patterns, the techniques may not be suitable for general use. Feature Domain Techniques (Second Generation Watermarking) First generation watermarking (1GW) methods have been mainly focused on applying the watermarking on the entire image/video domain. However, this approach is not compatible with novel approaches for still image and video compression. JPEG2000 and MPEG4/7 standards are the new techniques for image and video compression. They are region or object-based, as can be seen in the compression process. Also, the 1GW algorithms proposed so far do not satisfy the watermarking requirements. Second generation watermarking (2GW) was developed in order to increase the robustness and invisibility and to overcome the weaknesses of 1GW. The 2GW methods take into account region, boundary and object characteristics and give additional advantages in terms of detection and recovery from geometric attacks compared to first generation methods. Exploiting salient region or object features and characteristics of the image achieve this. Also, 2GW methods may be designed so that selective robustness to different classes of attacks is obtained. As a result, watermark flexibility will be improved considerably. Digital Watermarking and Image Processing Attacks Digital watermarking was claimed to be the ultimate solution for copyright protection over the Internet when the concept of digital watermarking was first presented. However, some problems related to robustness and security of watermarking algorithms to intentional or unintentional attacks still remain unsolved. These problems must be solved before digital watermarking can be claimed to be the ultimate solution for copyright ownership protection in digital media. One of these problems is the effect of geometrical transformations such as rotation, translation and scaling on the recovery of the watermark. Another is the security of the watermarking algorithm when intentional attackers make use of knowledge of the watermarking algorithm to destroy or remove the watermark. Watermarking Standardization Issue The most important question about watermarking technology is whether watermarking will be standardized and used in the near future. There are several movements to standardize watermarking technology, but no one standard has prevailed at this moment in time. Some researchers have been working to develop a standardized framework for protecting digital images and other multimedia content through technology built into media files and corresponding application software. However, they have lacked a clear vision of what the framework should be or how it would be used. In addition, there was a discussion about how and whether watermarking should form part of the standard during the standardization process of JPEG2000. The requirements regarding security have been identified in the framework of JPEG2000. However, there has been neither in-depth clarification nor a harmonized effort to address watermarking issues. It is important to deduce what really needs to be standardized for including the watermarking concept in JPEG2000 and to what extent. The initial drafts of the JPEG2000 standard did not mention the issue of watermarking. However, there is a plan to examine how watermarking might be best applied within JPEG2000. The features of a given watermarking scheme are likely to offer designers an opportunity to integrate watermarking technology into JPEG2000 for different application such as distributing images on the Internet. Also, standardization of digital watermarking will influence the progress in imaging standards of JPEG2000 where the data se curity will be part of this standard. Therefore, the likelihood is that watermarking technology will be used in conjunction with JPEG2000 (Clark, 2000). Future Highlights Nevertheless, the future seems bright for digital watermarking. Many companies have already been active in digital watermarking research. For example, Microsoft has developed a prototype system that limits unauthorized playback of music by embedding a watermark that remains permanently attached to audio files. Such technology could be included as a default playback mechanism in future versions of the Windows operating system. If the music industry begins to include watermarks in its song files, Windows would refuse to play copyrighted music released after a certain date that was obtained illegally. Also, Microsoft Research has also invented a separate watermarking system that relies on graph theory to hide watermarks in software. Normally the security technology is hack able. However, if the technology is combined with proper legal enforcement, industry standards and respects of the privacy of individuals seeking to legitimately use intellectual property, digital watermarking will en courage content creators to trust the Internet more. There is a tremendous amount of money at stake for many firms. The value of illegal copies of multimedia content distributed over the Internet could reach billions of dollars a year. It will be interesting to see how the development and adoption of digital watermarking plays out. With such high stakes involved for entertainment and other multimedia companies, they are likely to keep pushing for (and be willing to pay for) a secure technology that they can use to track and reduce copyright violation and capture some of their foregone revenues. Finally, it is expected that a great deal of effort must still be put into research before digital image watermarking can be widely accepted as legal evidence of ownership. Conclusion This study was started with a general view of digital data, the Internet and the products of these two, namely, multimedia and e-commerce. It provided some initial background and history of digital watermarking. This study gave an extensive and deep literature review of the field of digital watermarking. The concept of digital watermarking and the requirements of digital watermarking were discussed and digital watermarking algorithms were reviewed. They were grouped into three main collections based on the embedding domain, that is, spatial domain techniques, transform domain techniques or feature domain techniques. The algorithm of the frequency domain were further subdivided into wavelet, DCT and fractal transform techniques. Finally, the future perspective of digital watermarking was highlighted.

The Concepts Of Alternative Dispute Resolution Law Essay

The Concepts Of Alternative Dispute Resolution Law Essay The coursework question is relates with the concept of Alternative dispute resolution. This coursework question is also linked with relationship between ADR, CPR 1998 and EU Directive regarding the matter of Mediation. The comment of Lord Rodger of Earlsferry is a significant part of this coursework. In my coursework I will chronologically discuss the History of ADR, its relationship with Civil Procedure Rules(thereafter CPR), Its implementation in the Courts, Judges attitude on various cases and its impact on European Court of Human Rights (thereafter ECHR) especially in the Art-6. Present situation in legal area and possible probabilities in the future. Alternative dispute resolution (thereafter ADR) is a way of trying to melt civil dispute. The concept of ADR arose mainly from a negative cause such as, dissatisfaction with the delays, costs and inadequacies of litigation process. It is the process of resolving disputes in place of litigation. The most common classification is to describe ADR as a structured dispute resolution process with third party intervention which does not impose a legally binding outcome on the parties.  [1]  It is one kind of facilitated settlement, which is confidential and without prejudice. So the materials of the process need not usually be disclosed to a court  [2]  . The simplest forms of ADR to understand are mediation and conciliation. Some important providers of ADR include arbitration within the ambit of ADR since it is an alternative to litigation in the courts. Others would exclude arbitration on the basis that it is a legal process, the outcome of which is binding. Parties to a dispute have always been able to refer their dispute to arbitration which is a far older and more formal means of dispute resolution than either mediation or conciliation.  [3]   In the 1970s the concept of modern development of ADR established in the United States because of high cost and long delays of litigating business disputes. ADR was playing an increasingly useful part in the commercial area to dissolve some disadvantages of highly expensive and strict adversarial system. In late 1990s the civil justice system in England and Wales go through a massive revolution. Especially Lord Woolf creates a significant impact regarding the matter of ADR in his enormous report, Access to Justice. His view implemented in a amazingly short time by the civil procedure rules 1998 and the Access to justice Act 1999. These changes introduce a new dimension in the culture of litigation. There are different types of ADR used in commercial disputes such as, Arbitration, Conciliation, Mediation, Ombudsmen etc. Arbitration, Conciliation and Mediation is the most famous procedure from all of them. Arbitration has the force of law and generally an arbitrators decision called an award which can be enforced in the courts just as a judgment of the court.  [4]  Section 1 of Arbitration Act 1996 introduced some specific rules and regulations regarding this process such as impartial tribunal, un-necessary delay and expenses.  [5]  Conciliation is quite parallel with the concept of mediation. In that process conciliators offer in return not to try the case but this is rarely taken up. The process is mandatory in Switzerland. Mediation is the most famous and accepted method of ADR in England and Wales. It is quick, non-binding, without prejudice and confidential. In that process a mediator acts as a go-between to dissolve the dispute and wants to make a settlement. The mediator must be a neutral party. Mediation is about much more than just assisted without prejudice negotiations but confidentiality and privilege are the very cornerstones of the success of mediation. Parties to mediation need to be sure that what they say in mediation and documents produced for the mediation will not become public knowledge or become evidence in proceedings, whether litigation, arbitration or adjudication.  [6]  There are varieties of reason to choosing mediation over other ways of dispute resolution such as; A less expensive route to follow for dissolves the dispute. It offers a confidential process. It offers multiple and flexible possibilities for resolving a dispute This process consists of a mutual endeavour. It takes place with the aid of a mediator who is a neutral third party. If we analyse the whole process of ADR then we will find that the most significant criteria of this process is the term Confidentiality. This term significantly increase the parties interest regarding the matter of ADR. Confidentiality is integral to the relationship between the mediator and the parties are one of the four fundamental and universal characteristics of mediation. It is the cornerstone of the relationship of trust and that must exist between the mediator and the parties. It is crucial to the voluntariness of participation of the parties and to the impartiality of the mediator. The parties must not feel that they might be disadvantaged by any disclosure that may be used in legal proceedings or in any other way  [7]  In the coursework Question the statement is relates with the matter of mediation. Now i will discuss about mediation and its relationship with CPR 1998, cases and judgement of the courts and the impact of EU Directive. There was no defined overriding objective for civil justice when ADR orders were devised by the commercial court judges. CPR pt 1 has now identified ADR as one of the courts tools of active case management available to achieve that objective.  [8]  Lord Woolf provides significant impact on ADR especially on mediation on his reforms proposal. His aim was given prominent status in the courts new case management powers. Especially in , CPR 1.4 There are some important rules incorporated in the CPR1998 regarding the matter of Mediation or other form of dispute resolution such as, r-1.1(2), 1.3, 1.4, 3.1(2)(m), 26.4(1), 44 etc Rules-1.1(2) provides that mater must be dealing with justly manner if it is practicable. There are some element has to be consider in this part such as, parties must be in equal footing, saving expenses, matters must be dealings proportionately, matter must be deal with expeditiously and fairly.  [9]  Rules-1.3 provides that parties are required to help the court to further the overriding objective. It also provides general duty of the parties.  [10]  Rules-1.4 provides about courts duty towards the parties where stated that court must further the overriding objective by actively managing cases which includes encouraging the parties to co-operate each other, identify the issues in early stage, helping the parties to settle the whole or part of case.  [11]  Rules 3.1(2)(m) stated about general powers of management of the courts where court can take any step to uphold and furthering the overriding objective.  [12]  Rules-26.4(1) stated that parties can request for stay ed. Court can grant their request if they think appropriate.  [13]  Rules-44 provides general rules about the costs of the procedure such as; cost are payable by one party to another, amount of those cost, when to be paid etc. In r-44.3(2)(a)where stated that unsuccessful party will be ordered to pay the costs of the successful party but court can make different order.  [14]   The significant impact of CPR 1998 regarding the matter of dispute resolution could be found in some cases. In the case of Dyson Field exors of Lawrence Twohey deed vs Leeds City Council,  [15]  Ward LJ stated that matter relates with overriding objective of the CPR and courts duty to manage cases according to rule 1.4 of CPR. He also stated court should encourage the parties. In the case of R vs Plymouth City Council  [16]  , where Lord Woolf has given more emphasize on CPR and he also suggested that mediation should get the priority over the litigation. So we can say that modern CPR rules create a significant impact on the matter of dispute resolution. Judges always give emphasize on the matter of ADR in order to save the cost and time. Courts also began to give warnings and issue advice at the conclusion of cases that parties should seriously consider ADR or run the risk of costs penalty. Now i will discuss some relevant cases and judgement which will provide the legal approaches regarding the matter of mediation In the case of Dyson Field vs Leeds city Council  [17]  , Lord Woolf was a member of the CA. The matter was related with mediation where Ward LJ said that court should encourage the parties to use ADR to dissolve their matter and it also should be sooner rather than later. There is another important case which is Cowl vs Plymouth City Council  [18]  , Lord Woolf has given a lead judgement regarding commercial court ADR order. He delivered powerful comment on both parties failure to use an available ADR process and the delay and cost of violently contested of judicial review proceedings. He also stated that if the parties dont go for the mediation then it would be wastage of public money. There are case Hurst vs Leeming  [19]  , where Lightman J. Stated that alternative dispute resolution is at the heart of todays civil justice system although mediation is not in law mandatory but its a significant and attractive aspect of civil justice system. There is another landmark case Dunnett vs Railtrack  [20]  , case regarding the matter of penalty impose for not taking mediation. Mrs Dennett lost her horse because contractors cant padlock the gate. She sued for compensation but lost in the county court because her lawyer wrongly framed the case. She appealed in person and she gets the permission to appeal. Schiemann LJ suggested for mediation but the Realtrack rejected this offer despite the fact that CA offered a free mediation scheme. CA expressed regret about this. They considered whether Realtrack had made Pt 36 offers. Mrs Dennett was unsuccessful. Then Railtrack asked for their costs but CA made a separate judgement on this cost issue. CA held that Railtrack co uldnt recover their cost because they had refused to participate in ADR. So judgement of Railtrack case gets lots of controversy because the party faced adverse cost consequences, even they win the trial. Despite this case mediation is not mandatory or nor it should be because part of the mediation process is that the parties should want to come voluntarily in the process. If mediation becomes mandatory then there is a great chance to lose it significant aspect. In the recent case cost sanction issue raised once again in Halsey v Milton; Steel v Joy (joint Appeal)  [21]  ,in this case the actual fact was if any party ignoring to mediate the dispute which was requested by an inter-party then cost sanctions should be imposed or not. Dyson L.J held the court cannot require a party to proceed to mediation against his will as this would contravene art.6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court did however; confirm that costs consequences could follow from unreasonable failures to mediate.  [22]  But it was not clear whether the court take this point because this point was submitted in the last minute. On 21 May 2008, the Directive 2008/52/EC on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters was adopted. Article 1 state the aim of the directive is to facilitate access to alternative dispute resolution and to promote the amicable settlement of disputes by encouraging the use of mediation and by ensuring a balanced relationship between mediation and judicial proceedings.Article: 3 of the EU directive provide the definition of mediation as a structured process whereby two or more parties to a dispute attempt by themselves, on a voluntary basis, to reach an agreement on the settlement on their dispute with the assistance of a mediator. Article: 5 of the EU directive provide discretionary power to courts to invite the parties to use mediation to settle their dispute. Article: 6 of the EU directive states that a written mediation settlement may be declare enforceable if all the parties agree to the process. Article: 7 of the EU directive provide reasonable support regarding the matter of guaranteeing the Confidentiality of the mediation process. The Directives basically suggested the state parties to make the laws to encourage the parties to do mediation by the court, not by compulsion. The directive states, the directive applies to civil and commercial matters, and is intended to promote mediation, and ensure a sound relationship between mediation and judicial proceedings.  [23]  EU Parliament and council agreed the Directive to encourage the use of mediation because its a quicker procedure to a civil litigation and cost effective for cross-border commercial disputes. According to the coursework question now this essay will justify the statement which is provided by Lord Rodger of Earlsferry regarding the matter of mediation. Obliging parties to engage in some form of mediation whether as a pre-condition to going to court or as a result of compulsion by the court, seems to berather contrary to the spirit of the guarantee in Article 6 of the European convention for the protection human Rights  [24]   In that above statement he has given more emphasize on present situation of mediation and its application on the Art 6 of ECHR. According to that statement present mediation procedure is quite contrary with the concept of Right to a fair trial. ECHR adopted into English Law from 2 October 2000 as a result of the HRA 1998. Art 6 of ECHR is quite interlinking with ADR. Now the main issue is whether the present procedure of mediation is violating the Art 6 of ECHR or not. Tthe statement of Lord Rodger of Earlsferry is not quite relevant with the present situation of mediation. There are present some reason behind this. Mediation is not a mandatory procedure in our legal system but it has got a special significant aspect after the Woolf reforms 1998. Mediation agreement often specifically state that, The referral of the dispute to mediation does not affect any rights that may exist under Art 6 of ECHR. If the dispute is not settled by the mediation, the parties rights to a fair trial remain unaffected. It is true that EU court encourages parties to settle disputes extra-judicially because it will save cost, time, delay etc. In the matter of mediation court can intervene in the process to protect the right to trial such as; if there is any undue pressure upon a party into a non-judicial process. In the case of Deweer v Belgium  [25]  , the matter related with the debate about whether mandating mediation is permissible or not. Deweer could avoid such proceedings by paying a friendly settlement. He chooses settlement but reserved his right to challenge the proceedings. Then he initiated a challenge regarding the matter of Art 6 of ECHR. Deweer held to have waived his right to go to court only by reason of restraint which vitiate d his consent to paying the friendly settlement.  [26]   In process of mediation, no one is restrained to settle. Participation is entirely voluntary; any hidden matter of the parties or procedure cant later be discussed before a trial or elsewhere because of confidentiality. No one ever enters the process on the basis that they must settle or if they dont that then cant seek remedy from public court. Mediation is not like the status as arbitration because it totally depends on the parties will. In McVicar vs UK  [27]  , EU court has held that Art 6 is not infringed by restraint court access to vexatious litigants, bankrupts, mental patients. In CPR1998 there is lots of provision which should be maintained by the parties before going to any public trial. Before proceeding parties must fulfil some pre-action protocols and practice direction then party must pay court fees at several stages. Parties also need to fulfil other procedural requirement such as; allocation questionnaires, statement of case, disclosure and evidence. In R vs Lord Chancellor exparte witham  [28]  . The matter regarded breach of Art 6 because of withdrawal of court fees exemption scheme for those on income support. So if anyone doesnt follow those procedures regarding CPR they will be liable and they may get punishment or imprisonment. So it seems that these CPR requirement doing breaches Art 6 because parties have to maintain some rules and provision against their wish and will. Now if these are not breach of Art 6 then why ordering of mediation would be breach of Art 6. In Golder v UK  [29]  , it was held that ADR approved in CPR Pt1, where stated a mediation is not breach of such requirements. In Deweer  [30]  case also confirmed that this dispute process is not breach of Art 6 rights. Its clear from the Halsey  [31]  case that mediation must always be voluntary under English Law. Court or judge to order mediation would be a possible breach of Art 6(1) of European convention. If we analyse all of the cases then two significant points would be come out. They are, Forced by a judge into ADR Strongly encouraged towards ADR First approach is likely to violate Art 6, as Halsey confirms. But the second approach is not clear, is immune from challenge under the convention as jack J said summarising in Halsey, the fear of costs sanctions may be used to remove unmerited settlements  [32]  . To distinct between Voluntary and Coerced ADR in this background is hard to draw with certainty. Jack J suggested in Carleton v Strutt Parker  [33]   A litigant who is landed with an unfavourable costs order for failing to agree to ADR goes to mediation at the courts suggestion but is afterwards stigmatised as failing to participate in good faith, could reasonably claim that this outcome operates as obstruct or fetter on the right of access to the court, contrary to Art 6, and that their apparent consent to ADR was no waiver of their fundamental rights now directly enforceable in English Law under the HRA 1998  [34]  . The evidence supporting the use of mandatory mediation is mixed. Central London County Court saw a enormous increase in mediations following Dunnett case, but the settlement rate also consistency declined during that period  [35]  . If judges apply too much pressure, the overriding objectives of the CPR may not be achieved its goal to lower the settlement rates with wasted cost and time but some pressure is needed to ensure that parties should consider mediation as an option but this pressure is less needed than it once was because the legal profession involved in construction litigation now knows the benefits of mediation. Although many countries those have strong conscious about human rights and constitutional rights introduce conciliation or settlement conference chaired by judges in their legal system. This can be called Courts mandate mediation. So by this process they want to put mediation within court process which would be more acceptable regarding the matter of conventional rights. In the Halsey case CA held that court cannot proceed a mediation process against the parties will which would be contrary to the Art 6 of ECHR but in the case of Shirayama Shokusan Co. Ltd v Danovo Ltd  [36]  , court issued a mediation order even though one party was unwilling. CPR r. 1.4(2)(e) emphasised to encourage the parties to use alternative dispute resolution. Sir Anthony Clarke  [37]  states that Court has the power to order compulsory mediation and he also said that Halsey decision was a obiter so there was a chance for the judges to make compulsory mediation order. He also suggested that courts have a jurisdiction to order mediation process under the CPR. Sir Gavin Lightman also expressed his view on behalf of the mediation process. Sir Anthony Colman  [38]  states that there is a close relationship between the court and mediation. He also states that mediation process is not mandatory. Lord Philips  [39]  states that in adversarial litigation there are lots of complications such as; solicitor fees, court fees, defendant is faced with a huge bill for the claimants cost and insurance, delay and complex procedure, disproportionate cost etc. According to him ADR is quite reasonable and flexible procedure because it does not have any additional difficulties. He also states that court order to the parties for mediation is not infringe Art 6 of ECHR. Lord Philips, Sir Anthony Colman and Sir Gavin Lightman are the supporter of mediation process because litigation process has lots of disadvantages and mediation process has flexible, time saving, cost saving and confidential process which is reasonable for the parties as well as for the society. Although EU directives contain some provision where state that court must encourage the parties to use mediation process to settle their disputes. Some cases like Cowl, Dunnett and Halsey cases where maximum of the judges held that parties should use mediation voluntarily rather than mandatory and court always encourage the parties to take this procedure. Although in some cases there was some controversy but different judges has given their views regarding this matter and maximum of them supported the procedure of existing mediation procedure. So at last it can be said that the present procedure of mediation is not obliging the parties but encourages them to further overriding objective of t he court.

Admissions Essay - I Will Not Be Stopped :: Medicine College Admissions Essays

Admissions Essay -  I Will Not Be Stopped    It is a late summer night and I have just gotten home from work. I work at a meat packing plant where I load tractor-trailers. Since my dad is permanently disabled as a result of a heart attack that occurred two years ago, I feel fortunate to have the job. I've been there three years now and have grown tremendously as a result.    The guys I work with are typical blue-collar workers in that they are poorly educated and lower middle class. Because I am an aspiring physician, many of them share their problems and anxieties with me. Through many interactions, I feel that have become very sensitive, compassionate and understanding. My job is very fulfilling because men of all ages look to me for support and as a role model for their own children.    I relate to the guys at work so well because I was raised in a lower middle class neighborhood and my dad was a blue-collar worker. Most of my neighborhood friends are now unemployed, doing manual labor, or in trouble with the law. I was fortunate to have parents who knew the value of an education and were willing to sacrifice to send me to excellent catholic schools. In retrospect, this was a turning point in my life because I was introduced to a new group of people of different races and different socio-economic backgrounds. Eventually, I became aware of the limitations that my background imposed and I was determined to overcome and far exceed those limitations.    I became interested in medicine through my grandfather who was an unlicensed veterinarian. He had no formal education and relied solely on practical experience; nevertheless, he was quite competent. I would go with him as a young boy to treat animals in our small community. The relief my grandfather provided and the subsequent gratification has left a lasting impression on me. Since his death nearly four years ago, I find myself with a profound desire to vindicate the educational shortcomings that so often frustrated him.    In the summer of 1983, before my college matriculation, I attended Xavier's Stress On Analytical Reasoning (SOAR) Program. The Program's main objective was to prepare students for college level math and science courses. One of the moderators was my cousin who is a Xavier graduate and now a senior at Louisiana State University Medical School.

The Euro and the European Union :: Politics Economics

The Euro and the European Union Many people would agree that Europe is a continent in which regions identify with each other even if they are not part of the same country. For that reason, as well as others, in 1957 the Treaty of Rome "declared a common European market as a European objective with the aim of increasing economic prosperity and contributing to 'an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe'" (www.euro.ecb.int). Later, in 1986 and then in 1992, the Single European Act and the Treaty of European Union tried to build on the previous treaty to create a system in Europe in which one currency could eventually be used all over the land under the heading of the Economic and Monetary Union. (www.euro.ecb.int) However, the question remains, why would the leaders of various European nations want to create one currency when the rights of national sovereignty have always been an issue for countries all over the world. Why, in 1998 did they create the European Central Bank, and why in "The third stage of EMU... on 1 January 1999, when the exchange rates of the participating currencies were irrevocably set" (www.euro.ecb.int) did eleven, and later twelve, countries link themselves economically in a way that has never been done before? The answer lies in history. "The need to link separate distinct political communities in order to achieve common objectives is an ancient one" (Woodard). One such example is the Greek independent city states that were linked by a league that dealt with economic issues. The same type of league linking towns in Italy can be found in medieval times. (Woodard) Later, "The United States made the key breakthrough. The states originally formed a loose relationship with weak central government (the Confederation). They replaced this system with a new constitution in 1789 creating the modern United States and defining federalism in its current sense" (Woodard). In doing so, it began a global discussion of the use of federalism to hold regions, and in particular colonies, together. In September of 1946, Winston Churchill made a speech at Zurich University in which he called for a "'United States of Europe'" (www.euro.ecb.int); clearly, this was not a new idea. Churchill thought that by uniting Europe, they would be able to put an end to Europe's decline economically in markets that the United States was quickly taking over.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of a Binary Tree Versus a Bushier Tree

Homework 3 4. Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of a binary tree versus a bushier tree. The structure of binary is simple than a bushier tree. Each parent node only has two child. It save the storage space. Besides, binary tree may deeper than bushier tree. The result record of binary may not very refine. 5. Construct a classification and regression tree to classify salary based on the other variables. Do as much as you can by hand, before turning to the software. Data: NO. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Staff Sales Management Occupation Service Gender Female Male Male Male Female Male Female Female Male Female Male Age 45 25 33 25 35 26 45 40 30 50 25 Salary $48,000 $25,000 $35,000 $45,000 $65,000 $45,000 $70,000 $50,000 $40,000 $40,000 $25,000 Level Level 3 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 3 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 2 Level 1 Candidate Splits for t=Root Node Candidate Split 1 2 3 Left Child Node, tL Occupation = Service Occupation = Management Occupation = Sales Right Child Node, tR Occupation = {Management, Sales, Staff} Occupation = {Service, Sales, Staff} Occupation = {Service, Management, Staff} 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Occupation = Staff Gender = Female Age 45 Values of the Components of the Optimality Measure =(s|t) for each candidate split, for the Split PL PR P(L=1|tL) P(L=2|tL) P(L=3|tL) P(L=4|tL) P(L=1|tR) P(L=2|tR) P(L=3|tR) P(L=4|tR) 2PLPR ? (s|t) Root Node 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0. 27 0. 73 0. 33 0. 33 0. 33 0. 00 0. 13 0. 25 0. 38 0. 29 0. 25 0. 40 0. 23 0. 36 0. 64 0. 00 0. 18 0. 82 0. 00 0. 18 0. 82 0. 50 0. 45 0. 55 0. 00 0. 27 0. 73 0. 67 0. 36 0. 64 0. 50 0. 45 0. 55 0. 40 0. 55 0. 45 0. 33 0. 00 0. 50 0. 50 0. 20 0. 00 0. 00 0. 20 0. 33 0. 29 0. 25 0. 20 0. 50 0. 50 0. 00 0. 0 0. 33 0. 50 0. 40 0. 33 0. 29 0. 38 0. 40 0. 50 0. 00 0. 00 0. 40 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 14 0. 13 0. 20 0. 29 0. 22 0. 11 0. 33 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 43 0. 22 0. 22 0. 33 0. 38 0. 43 0. 33 0. 20 0. 25 0. 33 1. 00 0. 00 0. 22 0. 22 0. 00 0. 25 0. 29 0. 33 0. 40 0. 25 0. 33 0. 00 0. 46 0. 30 0. 30 0. 50 0. 40 0. 46 0. 93 0. 50 0. 46 0. 40 1. 60 0. 66 0. 26 0. 40 0. 46 0. 53 0. 66 0. 46 0. 46 0. 30 0. 23 0. 26 0. 33 0. 44 0. 33 0. 38 0. 29 0. 33 0. 40 0. 50 0. 33 0. 00 10 0. 64 0. 36 0. 29 11 0. 73 0. 27 0. 25 12 0. 91 0. 09 0. 20 Optimality measure maximized to 0. 6, when occupation=†Management†(Left Branch), occupation=†Service or Sales or Staff†(Right Branch) After the first split, left child has records 4,5,6,7, right child has records 1,2,3,8,9,10,11. Now we split the left child which has records 4,5,6,7. Candidate Split 5 6 7 10 Left Child Node, tL Gender = Male Age 35 Values of the Components of the Optimality Measure =(s|t) for each candidate split, for the Split PL PR P(L=1|tL) P(L=2|tL) P(L=3|tL) P(L=4|tL) P(L=1|tR) P(L=2|tR) P(L=3|tR) P(L=4|tR) 2PLPR ? (s|t) each candidate split, for decision node A 5 6 7 0. 50 0. 50 0. 25 0. 75 0. 50 0. 50 0. 00 0. 00 0. 0 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 1. 00 1. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 1. 00 0. 00 0. 50 1. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 33 0. 00 0. 00 0. 67 1. 00 1. 00 0. 38 0. 50 0. 38 0. 50 1. 00 0. 50 1. 00 0. 67 0. 00 0. 33 10 0. 75 0. 25 Optimality measure maximized to 1. 00, when Gender=†Male†(Left Branch), Gender=†Female†(Right Branch) After this split, both left branch and right branch terminate to pure leaf node. The left child has records 4. 6 which value=†Level 3†³ and the right child has record 5,7 which value=†Level 4†³. Now we split the right child of root node which has records 1,2,3,8,9,10,11.Candidate Split 1 3 Left Child Node, tL Occupation = Service Occupation = Sales Right Child Node, tR Occupation = {Sales, Staff} Occupation = {Service, Staff} 4 5 6 8 9 11 12 Occupation = Staff Gender = Female Age 45 Values of the Components of the Optimality Measure =(s|t) for each candidate split, for the Split PL PR P(L=1|tL) P(L=2|tL) P(L=3|tL) P(L=4|tL) P(L=1|tR) P(L=2|tR ) P(L=3|tR) P(L=4|tR) 2PLPR ? (s|t) each candidate split, for decision node B 1 3 4 5 6 8 9 0. 43 0. 57 0. 29 0. 71 0. 29 0. 71 0. 43 0. 57 0. 29 0. 71 0. 43 0. 57 0. 57 0. 43 0. 33 0. 00 0. 50 0. 00 1. 0 0. 67 0. 50 0. 40 0. 33 0. 33 0. 50 0. 33 0. 50 0. 00 0. 00 0. 25 0. 40 0. 50 0. 25 0. 00 0. 49 0. 16 0. 40 0. 40 0. 50 0. 60 0. 50 0. 33 0. 50 1. 00 0. 20 0. 40 0. 00 0. 40 0. 50 0. 67 0. 50 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 41 0. 41 0. 49 0. 41 0. 49 0. 49 0. 41 0. 24 0. 33 0. 33 0. 65 0. 82 0. 65 0. 65 0. 33 0. 33 0. 50 0. 33 0. 00 0. 33 0. 50 0. 40 0. 33 0. 00 0. 67 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 20 0. 33 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 20 0. 50 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 11 0. 71 0. 29 12 0. 86 0. 14 Optimality measure maximized to 0. 2, when Age†25†³(Right Branch) After this split, the left branch terminates to pure leaf node which has records 2,11 and value=†Level 1†³. The right branch has records 1,3,8,9,10. Now we split th e right child which has records 1,3,8,9,10. Candidate Split Left Child Node, tL Right Child Node, tR 1 3 4 5 8 9 11 12 Occupation = Service Occupation = Sales Occupation = Staff Gender = Female Age 45 Values of the Components of the Optimality Measure =(s|t) for each candidate split, for the Split PL PR P(L=1|tL) P(L=2|tL) P(L=3|tL) P(L=4|tL) P(L=1|tR) P(L=2|tR) P(L=3|tR) P(L=4|tR) 2PLPR ? (s|t) ach candidate split, for decision node C 1 3 4 5 8 9 0. 40 0. 60 0. 40 0. 60 0. 20 0. 80 0. 60 0. 40 0. 20 0. 80 0. 40 0. 60 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 50 0. 50 1. 00 0. 50 0. 50 0. 00 0. 67 0. 00 0. 00 0. 33 0. 50 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 67 0. 67 0. 50 1. 00 0. 50 0. 33 0. 50 1. 00 0. 33 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 48 0. 48 0. 32 0. 48 0. 32 0. 48 0. 48 0. 32 0. 16 0. 16 0. 32 0. 64 0. 32 0. 64 0. 16 0. 32 0. 33 0. 50 0. 00 0. 50 0. 67 0. 50 0. 00 0. 33 1. 00 1. 00 0. 67 0. 50 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 11 0. 60 0. 40 12 0. 0 0. 20 Optimality measure maximized to 0. 64, when Gender=†Female†(Left Branch), Gender=†Male†(Right Branch) After this split, the right branch terminates to pure leaf node which has records 3,9 and the value=†Level 2†³. The left branch has records 1,8,9. Now we split the left child which has records 1,8,10. Candidate Split 1 3 4 11 12 Left Child Node,s tL Occupation = Service Occupation = Sales Occupation = Staff Age 45 Values of the Components of the Optimality Measure =(s|t) for each candidate split, for the Split PL PR P(L=1|tL) P(L=2|tL) P(L=3|tL) P(L=4|tL) P(L=1|tR) P(L=2|tR) P(L=3|tR) P(L=4|tR) 2PLPR ? s|t) each candidate split, for decision node D 1 3 4 0. 33 0. 67 0. 00 0. 33 0. 67 0. 00 0. 00 1. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 50 0. 50 0. 00 0. 44 0. 44 0. 00 1. 00 0. 00 0. 00 1. 00 0. 00 1. 00 1. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 50 0. 00 0. 50 1. 00 0. 50 1. 00 0. 50 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 44 0. 44 0. 44 0. 44 0. 44 0. 89 0. 44 0. 89 0. 33 0. 67 0. 00 11 0. 33 0. 67 0. 00 12 0. 67 0. 33 0. 00 Optimality measure maximized to 0. 89, when Occupation=†Staff†(Left Branch), Occupation=†Service or Sales†(Right Branch) After this split, both the left and right branch terminate to pure leaf node.The left branch has record 10 which value=†Level 2†³ and the right branch has records 1 and 8 which value=†Level 3†³. In summary, we construct the CART tree below, Root Node (All Records) Occupation management vs. not management Occupation=man agement Occupationmanag ement Decision Node A (Records 4,5,6,7 ) Gender=Female Gender=Male Age25 Level 3 (Records 4,6) Level 4 (Records 5,7) Decision Node C (Records 1,3,8,9,10) Gender=Female Decision Node D (Records 1,8,10) Gender=Male Level 2 (Records 3,9) Occupation=Staff Level 3 Occupation=Service or Sales Level 2 (Record 10) Records 1. 8) 6. Construct a C4. 5 decision tree to classify salary based on the other variables. Do as much as you can by hand, before turning to the software. Below is all candidate split and information gain for root node Candidate Split 1 Child Nodes Occupation = Service Occupation = Management Occupation = Sales Occupation = Staff 2 Gender = Female Gender = Male Age 25 Age 26 Age 30 Age 33 7 Age 35 8 Age 40 9 Age 45 0. 19 0. 12 0. 15 0. 38 Information Gain 0. 78 3 0. 55 4 0. 58 5 0. 38 6 0. 38 Candidate split 1 has highest Information Gain=0. 8 bits and chosen for initial split. And the initial split produces four second level decision node, decision node A,B,C and D. Then do the same process again until all leaf nodes have same target class values. The C4. 5 decision tree is below. Root Node(All Records) Occupation=Service, Management, Sales or Staff Occupation=Staff Occupation=Service Occupation= Management Decision Node A (Records 1,2,3) Decision Node B (Records 4,5,6,7) Occupation= Sales Decision Node C (Records 8,9) Decision Node D (Records 10,1 1) Gender=Female Level 4 (Records 5,7)Gender=Male Level 3 (Records 4,6) Gender=Male Gender=Female Gender=Male Level 2 Gender=Female Level 3 (Record 8) Level 2 (Record 9) (Record 10) Level 1 (Record 11) Gender=Female Level 3 (Record 1) Gender=Male Decision Node E (Records 2,3) Age25 Level 1 (Record 2) Level 2 (Record 3) 7. Compare the two decision trees and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each. In this case, CART tree is deeper than C4. 5 tree. CART algorithm says each node(except left node) can only have two child. But C4. 5 algorithm don't have this restriction. Besides, most of leaf nodes of C4. tree have only one record, it may cause overfitting. 8. Generate the full set of decision rules for the CART decision tree. Antecedent if Occupation = Management and Gender = Male if Occupation = Management and Gender = Female if Occupation = Service, Sales, Staff and Age 25 and Gender = Female if Occupation = Service, Sales and Age ; 25 and Gender = Female if Occupation = Service, S ales, Staff and Age ; 25 and Gender = Male Consequent then Level 3 then Level 4 then Level 1 then Level 2 then Level 3 then Level 2 Support 2 2 2 1 2 2 Confidence 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 9.Generate the full set of decision rules for the C4. 5 decision tree. Antecedent if Occupation = Service and Gender = Female if Occupation = Service and Gender = Male and Age 25 if Occupation = Management and Gender = Female if Occupation = Management and Gender = Male if Occupation = Sales and Gender = Female if Occupation = Sales and Gender = Male if Occupation = Staff and Gender = Female if Occupation = Staff and Gender = Male Consequent then Level 3 then Level 1 then Level 2 then Level 4 then Level 3 then Level 3 then Level 2 then Level 2 then Level 1 Support 1/11 1/11 1/11 2/11 2/11 /11 1/11 1/11 1/11 Confidence 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 1. 0 10. Compare the two sets of decision rules and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each. CART only has two branches, support is mor e than C4. 5, that is to say the result is not very refine. It is deeper than other trees most of the time. But it is easy to interpret. C4. 5 can have several branches. Support of C4. 5 is less than CART. The result is more accurate.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Since acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized more than 20 years ago, remarkable progress has been made in improving the quality and duration of life of persons with HIV infection.During the first decade, this progress was associated with recognition of opportunistic disease processes, more effective therapy for complications, and introduction of prophylaxis against common opportunistic infections (OIs).The second decade has witnessed progress in developing highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) as well as continuing progress in treating OIs (Masur, Kaplan &Holmes, 1999).Since the HIV serologic test (enzyme immunoassay [EIA], formerly enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ALISHA], became available in 1984, allowing early diagnosis of the infection before onset of symptoms, HIV infection has been best managed as a chronic disease   and most appropriately managed in an outpatient care setting (Gallant, 2001).II. BackgroundA. EpidemiologyIn fall 1982, the C enters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a case definition of AIDS after the first 100 cases were reported. Since then, the CDC has revised the case definition a number of times (1985, 1987, and 1993)> All 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. dependencies and possessions, and independent nations in free association with the United States report AIDS cases to the CDC using a uniform surveillance case definition and case report from (CDC, 2000).Starting in the late 1990s, more states started to implement HIV case reporting in response to the changing epidemic and the need for information on persons with HIV infection who have not developed AIDS.As of December 2001, there were 816,149 reported cases of HIV/AIDS and 506, 154 adults, adolescents, and children in the United States (including U.S. dependencies, possession, and associated nations) living with AIDS. Unprotected sex and sharing of injection drug use equipment are the major means of transmission of HIV.A tot al of 43, 158 AIDS cases were diagnosed in 2001. For men diagnosed with AIDS during 2001, 59% were in the exposure category of men who have sex with men; 24% in injection drug use; and 7% in heterosexual contact.In women diagnosed with AIDS during that same period, 44% reported injection drug use and 52% reported heterosexual contact. Comparing race/ethnicity amount the three largest groups diagnosed in 2001, 20,752 were black, not Hispanics (CDC, 2002).The number of people living with AIDS is not evenly distributed throughout the United States. States with the largest number of reported AIDS cases during 2001 were New York (7,476), Florida (5,138), California (4,315), Texas (2,892), and Maryland (1,860) (CDC, 2002).AIDS has reached epidemic proportions in some other parts of the world. According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, more than 18.3 million people worldwide have died of AIDS and 34.3 million people are infected with HIV, with 5.4 million people newly infec ted with HIV in 1999 alone (Letvin, Bloom & Hoffman, 2001).UNAIDS (2001) reports that since the epidemic began, more than 60 million people have been infected with the virus, making it the most devastating disease ever.The earliest confirmed case of HIV infection was found in blood drawn from an African man in 1959 (Stephenson, 2003). Although factors associated with the spread of HIV in Africa in the 1960s; however, social changes such as easier access to transportation, increasing population density, and more frequent sexual contacts may have been more important (Stephenson 2003).III. DiscussionA. HIV Transmission  HIV-1 is transmitted in body fluids containing HIV and/or infected CD4+ (or CD4) T lymphocytes. These fluids include blood, seminal fluid, vaginal secretions, amniotic fluid, and breast milk.Mother-child transmission of HIV-1 may occur in utero, at the time of the delivery, or through breastfeeding, but transmission frequency during each period has been difficult to d etermine (Nduati et al., 2000). Any behavior that results in breaks in the skin or mucosa results in the increased probability of exposure to HIV (chart 1).Since HIV is harbored within lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, any exposure to infected blood results in a significant risk of infection. The amount of virus and infected cells in the body fluid is associated with the risk of new infections.