Biochemical identification-qualitative analysis Lab Report

Biochemical identification-qualitative analysis - Lab Report Example Thus it is paramount to be able to determine the specific elements present in a given compound. As a result, several methods have been devised to facilitate the detection of the different elements present in various selected compound. This not only helps detect the elements present, but also the minerals and the type of ions present. 10 drops of 2% calcium chloride, yoghurt extract and water were put in the first, second and third test tube respectively. The three test tubes were then labelled clearly using a pencil and a sticker. 10 drops of oxalic acid were then added in each of the tubes and the solution shaken thoroughly. The results were then recorded in a table form. 10 drops of 2% calcium chloride, yoghurt extract and water were put in the first, second and third test tube respectively. The three textures were then labelled clearly using a wax pencil. 10 drops of silver nitrate were then added in each of the three test tubes and the results recorded in form of a table. 20 drops of each of lactose, glucose, starch, Hydrolysed glucose, hydrolysed starch and water were put in a test tube. The tubes were then clearly labelled at the rim. Benedict’s reagent was then added to each of the tube while at the same time mixing by shaking gently. The test tube were the heated under a water bath for two minutes after which they were removed and the results recorded in a table. The gridded white paper was labelled with hydrolysed starch, starch, glucose, lactose, sucrose and hydrolysed sucrose. Water was also used as a control experiment. A spot plate was put on the label white paper and few drops of each of the above stated reagents added to the corresponding wells on the spot. 1 drop of I2 – KI was then added to each sample and mixed thoroughly with a tooth pick using different toothpick on each reagent spot. The results were then recorded in a table. The reagents Nucleic Acid, Amino

The First Opium War Essay Example for Free

The First Opium War Essay The first opium war occurred between the years 1839-1842. In the year 1830, China was participating in a deeply disturbing trade; the exchange of Opium between Chinese natives and other foreigners who were mostly Britons. It was done illegally and most of the traders were exempted from taxes. This meant that the Chinese economy was suffering adversely since most of its currency was lost to an underground business. It also caused a lot of corruption among custom workers as there was no law regulating this trade. In addition to this many natives in China became addicted to this drug. This led to very stern action by the Chinese emperor in the year 1838; he executed all the natives involved in this illegal trade. The Chinese emperor decided to take the issue head on although there were some advisors who wanted him to legalize the trade. However, he said it was evil and could not even consider that option. In the year 1839, he sent a Commissioner to the Chinese harbor – Canton. He instructed the commissioner to confisticate all the opium present in foreign ships and failure to do so would lead to a death penalty. The British Naval Officer tried to discourage his citizens from engaging in this trade as it was tainting Britain’s image. His warnings landed on deaf years and this was one of the main reasons that caused the first opium war in China. The actual war The war was propelled by the fact that Britain was trying to force the Chinese to trade with them in opium. In the year 1839, Britain began its attack in the small town of Hong Kong. This was then followed by Guangzhou. The naval officer from Britain Sir Elliot ordered a blockage of the river sailing to the latter mentioned town. But this order was not followed by one particular ship hence causing problems for the naval officer. This brought about the sinking of plenty of Chinese ships. To counter this, the Chinese emperor prevented any assistance between the Chinese and the British. The British then decided to attack the Chinese harbor- Canton. They sent about four thousand fighters. They met at the mouth of the river and the Chinese were defeated at Ningbo in 1841. In the next year, the British occupied Shanghai after their victory and the war came to an end. The victors were rewarded with a one sided treaty which shall be examined below. (Mitsuko, 1971): Treaty of Nanjing The treaty was signed between the two countries that had participated in the First Opium War in the year 1842. The parties involved were as follows; the emperor of China, her majesty the Queen of Britain and Ireland, a general from the British company of East India, representatives from Canton, Chapoo, Ministers and governors. It was signed in order to forge a way forward so that the trade between these two countries could be controlled. The Treaty declared that the two countries will protect each others property and lives even when one member is residing in the other member’s country. It also spelled out some conditions for Britain’s residence in China’s towns. It reinforced the appointment of officers in five towns within China. Their purpose would be to ensure that British merchants were residing comfortably, without any unfair treatment and they were also to ensure inform the British Government about failure of the Chinese government to comply. The treaty also required that the Chinese government should surrender one town i. e. Hong Kong in which the British Law applied. In this town, merchants could be able to restock their ships. (Mitsuko, 1971): The Emperor of China was told to pay a compensation of six million dollars for threatening to take the lives of British citizens and imprisoning them too. This was the amount equal to the money paid in exchange for British subjects captured in the year 1839. The emperor of Britain demanded compensation for imposition of special Chinese merchants on the British subjects. These merchants did not pay them their dues This amount reached the tune of three million dollars. They were also told to let the British merchants to trade with whoever they wanted. The queen also demanded compensation for the finances wasted on the search for justice through commissioners and officers. This amount was about twelve million dollars. However, the Chinese government could deduct from this amount any compensation paid to British subjects after they won the war. Specifications were also laid out on how the4 compensation would be paid i. e. within three years time. The emperor of the State of China agreed to release any captives who may have been held as a form of punishment for engaging in the opium trade. In addition to this, the emperor was authorized tom release any members of his own country who may have been held for participating in the Opium trade. He was to sign a binding agreement in regards to this. The treaty also directed the emperor to include the ports where British merchants will reside in their tax plans. This tax must be announced to all people in the empire and it should not fluctuate. Lastly, the Chinese government would be free from British forces after completion of due payments and they were expected to make the designated towns free for trade. This treaty was then signed by all the due parties. Treaty of Bogue This treaty was signed in the year 1843 between the British and China. It was a modification of the first treaty signed i. e. The Treaty of Nan king. It was signed between commissioners of the two countries represented. It declared that export duties in the chosen five towns where British merchants were authorized was to be put in place. It also included the rules that would govern how trade will be conducted in those towns. This was signed by all the parties present. The treaty gave authority to traders to deal only in those designated five towns. It stated that any other towns were not to participate and if any native or foreigner was found doing so, they would be duly punished. It allowed the Chinese Government to confisticate their ships in those other towns if they were found guilty. The treaty gave a limit to the radius which British traders were supposed to reach with their merchandise. If they went beyond this limit, then they were liable to punishment by the full hands of the law. The treaty has also looked at the housing arrangement for residents in those five towns. It stipulated that the number of houses built should not be restricted by the Chinese Government but information should be conveyed to envoys about intentions to build. Rent charges in those five towns were also supposed to be the same charges that work over the entire country. The treaty controlled the privileges which the Chinese government would accord to other visitors to the countries that did not belong to the British government. They were expected to give the same treatment to British subjects. It also prevents British law breakers from escaping their mother countries into these ports. If these fugitives are found then they are subject to punishment from the government of China. They cannot seek political refuge in those towns and should be handed over to the British authority in those towns. There was also a ship that was to be given special authority to control and check on trade in those five ports. (Mitsuko, 1971) Treaty of Wanghia This treaty was signed between the United States and China in the year 1844. It was signed after the former mentioned treaty. Its purpose was to increase American involvement in Chinese trade. It was similar to the first two. The United States government made it unlawful to trade in Opium. (Kuo, 1933) It also allowed ended the law that restricted foreigners from teaching themselves the Chinese language. Thirdly, it disallowed fluctuation of tariffs within ports. Also, the Chinese government was forbidden from punishing or judging US citizens residing in their country. It was only supposed to hand offenders to the United States representatives. It also authorized the US citizens to buy land within those five ports mention in the first two treaties. (Swisher, 1953): Treaty of Whampoa This treaty was signed between China and France in the year 1844. It was aimed at involving France in trade within China. It had similar contents to those present in the other treaties it had signed after the First Opium War. Legacy of the Opium war on China The war caused a defeat by the Chinese government; consequently, it paved a way for high influx of many foreigners i. e. the British, followed by the Americans and eventually the France. The immediate implication was a high increase in opium within China. This led to increased tension at first because the Chinese culture was quite different from any of these foreigners; it also offended many natives because they felt like the drug was against their religious teachings. (Chang, 1964) On the positive side, China gained from this high influx by growing economically. It also became more developed as many ideas and goods were introduced into the country. It was a big milestone in China’s road to modernization. Reference Chang, H. (1964): Commissioner Lin and the Opium War. ; Harvard University Press Kuo, C. (1933): Caleb Cushing and the Treaty of Wanghia, 1844; the Journal of Modern History Swisher (1953): Chinas Management of the American Barbarians; a Study of Sino-American Relations, 1841–1861; Far Eastern Publications, Yale University. Mitsuko, I. (1971): Modern Asia and Africa, Readings in World History Vol. 9; New York: Oxford University Press,

The Strength And Weaknesses Of Oracle Company Information Technology Essay

The Strength And Weaknesses Of Oracle Company Information Technology Essay The company Oracle is particularly keen to keep all its newly acquired customers happy and convince them to buy into its Fusion roadmap. For enterprises making strategy software decisions, the company believes that it has the richest most complete portfolio of applications and middleware. The company also complies with all the ethical guidelines that law has placed and it also has its own ethical guidelines that the entire work force follows. Oracle is the only company that is capable of implementing complete global e-business solutions that extend from the front office customer relationship management to back office operational applications. Larry Ellison saw an opportunity that other companies missed more than three decades ago. This was a description of a relational database. There was no company at that time that committed itself to commercializing the technology, but Ellison and co-founder Bob miner and Ed Oates realized the business potential of the relational database model. The company is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California. Throughout history, the company has proved that it can build for the future, meeting all demanded and changes in trends. The intimate knowledge of customers and successes analysed by the best technical and business minds in the world, made the company what it is today. The main focus of the company is to fulfil its customers needs and implement key technology and business decisions that upend conventional wisdom and take its products and services in new directions. If one looks at companies that are similar to Oracle, it has become a standard for database technology and applications in enterprises throughout the world. The products of the company can be found in nearly every industry, and in the data centres of 100 of the fortune Global 100 companies. Oracle was the first company to develop and deploy 100% internet -enabled enterprise software across its entire product line: database, business applications, application development, and decision support tools. (Wikipedia) Strength and Weaknesses Oracle being the first company to introduce relational database, had the first mover advantage. It helped businesses improve their organization of information and also helped them improve their business processes. It is the worlds leading supplier of software for information management, and it is the worlds second largest independent software company. It has annual revenues of more than $10.1 billion. The company offers its database tools, application products, along with related consulting, education, and support services, in more than 145 countries around the world. Oracle is the only company that is capable of implementing complete global e-business solutions that extend from the front office customer relationship management to back office operational applications. Oracle software runs on PCs, workstations, minicomputers, mainframes and massively parallel computers, as well as on personal digital assistants and set-top devices. This makes its product the best in the market. The attribute of compatibility is what gives Oracle an edge over the other companies being its major strength. Oracles internet-enabled solutions provide a cost-effective way to expand market opportunities and improve business process efficiencies, and attract and retain customers. This is especially for the small and medium businesses that need an IT infrastructure in their organization that would help them get an edge over their competitors. With Oracles help, these companies are able to replace expensive, unwieldy client/server computing models with the efficiency and reach of the internet, companies can deploy a wealth of innovative applications that can be accessed with a Web browser. A weakness of the company that hurts its market is the way it markets its product. Because of the image perception that it has, it is always trying to gain market on the basis of this brand recognition. And this brand recognition has badly affected it in the past. The company markets most of its products using the slogan Cant break it, cant break in, or Unbreakable. (Wikipedia)What this signifies is the increasing demands on information safety. People expect the software to be unbreakable. The company also stresses on reliability of networked databases and network access to databases as major selling point. But two weeks after its introduction in 2002, David Litchfield, Alexander Kornbrust, Cesar Cerrudo and others demonstrated a whole suite of successful attacks against Oracle products. (Poulsen, 2002). Then the commentators criticized the slogan as unrealistic and as an invitation to crackers, but the companys chief security officer Mary Ann Davidson portrayed the criticism as unfair. Environmental factors Competition It is a fact that IBM dominated the mainframe relational-database market with its DB2 and SQL/DS database products, it delayed while entering the market for a relational database in UNIX and windows operating systems. What this did was that it opened the door to Sybase, Oracle, and Informix then eventually Microsoft to dominate mid-range and microcomputers. This was the time Oracle lagged behind Sybase and in 1990-1993 Sybase became the fastest-growing database company and the database industrys darling vendor, but soon it merged mania and to technical issues with System X. But in 1993, Sybase sold the rights to its database software running under the windows operating system to Microsoft Corporation, which now markets it under the name SQL Server. Informix Software overtook Sybase in 1994 and became Oracles most important rival. But eventually Oracle defeated Informix in 1997. And in November 2005 a book detailing the war between Oracle and Informix appeared. This book provided a detailed background on what happened and how Informix Softwares CEO Phil White landed in jail because of his obsession with overtaking Ellison. But once it overcame Informix and Sybase, it enjoyed years of dominance in the database market. But everything changed when Microsoft SQL Server became widespread in the late 1990s and IBM acquired Informix Software in 2000. It is still the same today as it competes for license on UNIX, Linux, and Windows operating systems primarily against IBMsDB2 and Microsoft SQL Server. In 2004 was the year when Oracles sales grew at a rate of 14.5% to $6.2 billion, giving it 41.3% and the top share of the relational-database market. (InformationWeek March, 2005). Oracle Corporations main competitors in the database arena remain IBM DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server and to some lesser extent Sybase and Teradata. With open source databases such as PostgreSQL and MySQL, has recently made inroads by claiming that its product delivers Oracle compatibility features at a much lower price point. The software-application market tells the same story. Oracle Corporation primarily competes against SAP. And on March22, 2007 Oracle used SAP, accusing them of fraud and unfair competition. But due to the expanding market for business-intelligence software, many other software companies have successfully competed in quality with Oracle and SAP products. But more products will appear within the next 10 years. Oracle Strategy The company Oracle is particularly keen to keep all its newly acquired customers happy and convince them to buy into its Fusion roadmap. For enterprises making strategy software decisions, the company believes that it has the richest most complete portfolio of applications and middleware. The companys breadth and depth is a big plus and it has helped it in earning a good reputation for supporting acquired best-of-breed products. Furthermore, the company capitalizes on these amassed solutions, Oracle will need to further develop its ISV partner-friendly, solution-centric ecosystem a d continue to chip away at its historically less than customer focused perception. (Duncan Jones) Corporate Governance Oracles Board of Corporations has always developed a corporate governance practice in order to fulfil its responsibilities to the Oracles Corporation stockholders. There are certain guidelines that the board must follow to help ensure that it has the necessary authority and procedures in place to oversee the work of management and to exercise independence in evaluating Oracle Corporations business operations. These guidelines help them align the interests of directors and management with those of the company stockholders. The company continually applies good corporate governance principles to multiple areas. Director The major members of the Board of Directors of Oracle must qualify as independent directors in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The person to be selected as a Director will possess certain attributes including business judgment, management, economics, accounting and finance, legal, marketing, industry and technology knowledge, international business, leadership and strategic vision. 2. Director Responsibilities One of the basic responsibilities of the directors is to exercise their business judgment to act in a manner they reasonably believe is in the nest interest of Oracle and its stockholders and in a manner consistent with their fiduciary duties. The directors can conduct any type of investigation as they deem appropriate, and may reasonably rely on the information provided to them by Oracles senior executives and its outside advisors and the auditors. The board is also responsible for overseeing managements efforts to assess and manage material risks and for reviewing options for risk mitigation. It also reserves the right of overseeing the major risks facing Oracle and may delegate risk oversight responsibility to committees of the Board. Directors are expected to attend the Annual Meeting of Stockholders and to regularly attend Board meeting and meetings of committees on which they serve, to spend the time needed in preparation for such meetings and to meet as frequently as they deem necessary to properly discharge their responsibilities. In addition to this the directors should stay well-informed of Oracles business and markets and as appropriate, meet with Oracles customers or attend events or take other actions they deem appropriate to enhance Oracles business and its effectiveness as directors. The board also believes that the management speaks for Oracle. Individual Board members may, from time to time, expressly represent Oracle in meetings or otherwise communicate with various third parties on Oracles behalf. It is expected that Board members will do this with the knowledge of the management. The most important thing is that all the directors are expected to comply with the Oracle code of Ethics and Business Conduct. (Oracle, The Oracle Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, 2010) Conflicts of Interest The director also has the responsibility to ensure that other commitments do not conflict or materially interfere with the directors responsibility to Oracle. 11. Performance Evaluation There is a Board that is led by the Nomination and Governance Committee that will periodically conduct a self-evaluation to determine whether the Board and its committees are functioning effectively. The Board with the assistance of the nomination and Governance committee shall periodically review these Corporate Governance Guidelines to determine whether any changes are appropriate. (Oracle, ORACLE CORPORATION CORPORATE GOVERNANCE GUIDELINES, 2010) Finance and Audit Committee The purpose of this committee is to provide advice with respect to corporations financial matters, to oversee the accounting and financial reporting process of the Corporation and the audits of the financial statements of the Corporation, to assist the Board of Directors in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities regarding finance, accounting, tax and legal compliance, and to evaluate merger and acquisition transactions and investment transactions proposed by the Corporations management. Decision making: There are three types of decision making all of which are distorted and affected while in the state of crisis. Intelligence Identify conditions that are required for decision making Design Invent, develop different courses of action and analyse them Choice Choose the best alternative, make a choice Structured decision making: This is defined which becomes unstructured when in the state of crisis and when it is not managed properly. Unstructured decision making: Non-routine decision making (this is not defined) TYPES OF SYSTEMS: There are four types of system which we have covered in this (MIS) course which I will be discussing here with their importance in the Crisis management: Transaction Processing System: This system serves the manager at operating level. This system helps to record the transaction that took place within the organization as well as outside the organization. Management Information System: This system serves the managers at the middle level. This system is used to control and monitor the business functions. The input it gets is from the T.P.S. this system is not flexible and it is used for routine decision making. Decision Support System: This system also serves the manager at middle level. This system uses the analytical models to show the performance and it is used for non-routine decision making. This system gets it input from T.P.S and M.I.S. This system has flexibility to change data/information. Executive Support System: This system serves the manager at top level. This system is used to dig out information from big stores. This is used for non-routine decision making, and uses graphical representation of data. Its input sources are M.I.S and D.S.S. But it does not use analytical models for it representation. This means that the decision making processes within the organization get distorted. And because the decision in any company is vital to its operations, hence it is important to have IS as a supporting tool in crisis management. The company uses all these software in its IT infrastructure. It does not need to do anything in order to change this or to improve this. All it needs to do is to maintain a place where all the information of the organization could be accessed easily. This would reduce the time of data retrieval and would also help them in improving them customer relations and their business. Oracle and Ethics Internet technology has posed new challenges for the protection of individual privacy. Information sent over this vast network of networks may pass through many different computer systems before its final destination. Each of these systems is capable of monitoring, capturing and storing communications that pass through it. It is possible to record all online activities of literally tens of millions of people, including which online newsgroups or files a person has accessed, which Web sites and Web pages he or she has visited, and what items that person has inspected or purchased over the Web. Much of this monitoring and tracking of Web site visitors occurs in the background without the visitors knowledge. Tools to monitor visits to the World Wide Web have become popular because they help organizations determine who is visiting their Web sites and how to better target their offerings. Some firms also monitor the Internet usage of their employees to see how they are using company network resources. Web retailers now have access to software that lets them watch the online shopping behaviour of individuals and groups while they are visiting a Web site and making purchases. The commercial demand for this personal information is virtually insatiable. Information technology has made it difficult to protect in tellectual property because computerized information can be so easily copied or distributed on networks. Intellectual property is subject to a variety of protections under three different legal traditions: trade secrets, copyright, and patent law. Oracle takes this into account and makes sure that these things are kept in mind and that the company name is not amongst the ones that are not known for their services. All the products produced by the company are up to customer standards and they try to fulfil them by being true and not being fraudulent.

Constructing Indentity On The Internet :: essays research papers

Today, we are living in computer age. Computers can be seen everywhere from kitchen to the living room, from small house to giant company. Computer technology has improved our lives. It will continue to affect our future, which will lead to an easier, less complicated lifestyle, with more job opportunities and their benefits. Computers help people in many different ways and also connect people on all over the world together through out the Internet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The internet is one of the most useful things in the world today. For instance, we can stay in home and shop through Internet, and even send things like birthday cards by the web of Hallmark. Moreover, we can talk, chat, or send instant messages to the other people so we can learn more about the culture of different races, religions, and nationalities on the world. By Internet we can get as much information as we want. However, not all of the information that we get from the web page or other people is real or credential because people can put incorrect things on it. Therefore, we will take the risk of getting the fake or false information.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The technology of Internet also help us understanding other cultures. By logging on the internet, or chatting with the others we learn more about the different cultures from one place to anther. However, there are some dishonest people in chat room. People on the net are not always honest people. In the internet Indian Wars by Glen Martin, a white software consultant running the Native American seminar and chat room offered by AOL, Rapp, said â€Å"Basically, what we did was done in fun† (127) after he was discovered that he was dishonest, he wasn’t a native American. Rapp was a host of Native American seminar, discussing about Native American culture while he was not a member of any Indian group. All he was saying were fraud. As Marc Towersap, one of the first Indians to query about Rapp’s tribal credentials, said â€Å"There is a difference between adopting online identities ad perpetrating fraud† (Martin, 125) and he also said  "Rapp was promoting herself as a genuine native elder, and AOL was making money on the chat room because a lot of people logged on to it† (Martin, 125). AOL, a biggest Internet service on the world, didn’t care about what Rapp talking and discussing was true or not.

Informative Speech Outline- Sleep Apnea

Mikala Stevens Professor Tracie Kriska Public Speaking 6th March 2013 Working Outline Topic: Sleep Apnea General Purpose: to inform Specific Purpose: to inform the audience on Sleep Apnea Thesis: Sleep Apnea is becoming more of a dangerous disease that more people are starting to be diagnosed with. It is extremely important that Sleep Apnea is emphasized so that more people are aware of it. Introduction: â€Å"The National Sleep Foundation† says that a lot of people don’t know what sleep apnea is. Sleep Apnea is a dangerous disease that can lead to death while you’re sleeping. Body: I. There are two types of Sleep Apnea A. Central Sleep Apnea . Unlike OSA, the airway is not blocked, but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe due to instability in the respiratory control center. B. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) 2. The more common of the two forms of apnea, it is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the back of the throat co llapses during sleep. Transition: Sleep Apnea can affect anyone, even children. II. â€Å"The National Sleep Foundation† says that anybody can be affected by this disease. A. Being male B. Being overweight C. Being over 40 D. Having a large neck size (17 inches in men or 16 inches or greater in women) E.Having large tonsils, a large tongue, or a small jaw bone F. Having a family history of sleep apnea G. GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux) H. Nasal obstruction due to a deviated septum, allergies, or sinus problems Transition: Wonder what causes Sleep Apnea? III. In â€Å"The National Institutes of Health† they say, Sleep Apnea is caused when you sleep because your muscles relax which narrows your throat. Normally, this narrowing doesn’t prevent air flowing into and out of your lungs. If you have sleep apnea, your airway can become partially or fully blocked because: A. Your throat muscles and tongue relax more than normal. B.Your tongue and tonsils (tissue masses in the back of your mouth) are large compared with the opening into you windpipe. C. The shape of your head and neck (bony structure) may cause a smaller airway size in the mouth and throat area. D. You’re overweight. The extra soft fat tissue can thicken the wall of the windpipe. This narrows the inside of the windpipe, which makes it harder to keep open. E. The aging process limits your brain signals’ ability to keep your throat muscles stiff during sleep. Thus, airway is more likely to narrow or collapse. Transition: â€Å"National Institute of Health† has Steps on how to treat Sleep Apnea.IV. â€Å"The National Institute of Health† suggests that Sleep Apnea should be treated with lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, breathing devices, and surgery. Goals of treating sleep apnea are to restore regular breathing during sleep and relieve symptoms such as loud snoring and daytime sleepiness. A. Lifestyle Changes 1. Avoid Alcohol and medicines that make you sleepy. 2. Losing weight if you’re overweight or obese. 3. Sleeping on your side instead of your back to help keep your throat open. 4. Keeping your nasal passages open at night with nasal sprays or allergy medicines, if needed. 5. If you smoke, quit.B. Mouthpieces 1. Oral Appliance C. Breathing Devices 1. Cpap Machine D. Surgery Conclusion: Learning that Sleep Apnea is a dangerous disease and more people are being diagnosed with it. I hope that learning more about this disease more people will be more aware of it. Works Cited National Institute of Health http://www. nhlbi. nih. gov/health/health-topics/topics/sleepapnea/ The National Sleep Foundation. National Institutes of Health. Reviewed by Louis R. Chanin, MD on July 30, 2012  © 2012 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www. webmd. com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/sleep-apnea

Using Acronyms in Academic Writing - Proofeds Writing Tips

Using Acronyms in Academic Writing - Proofeds Writing Tips Using Acronyms in Academic Writing With the limited characters available on platforms like Twitter, we’re used to using acronyms and abbreviations in everyday communication. After all, â€Å"IMO ppl uz 2 mNE lng wrds† is much more concise than â€Å"In my opinion, people use too many long words.† However, in academic writing, improper use of acronyms can detract from the clarity of your writing. Thus, in this post, we cover how to use acronyms in a college paper. What are Acronyms and Abbreviations? Acronyms and abbreviations are both shortened forms of long terms or phrases. However, while all acronyms are abbreviations, there is an important difference: Abbreviations are shortened versions of words (e.g., when â€Å"Jan† is used in place of â€Å"January†). Acronyms are abbreviations where the first letters from each word in a phrase spell out a new word (e.g., when National Aeronautics and Space Administration is shortened to â€Å"NASA†). In addition, there is technically a difference between an â€Å"acronym† and an â€Å"initialism†. Acronyms are pronounced as a single word (e.g., NASA). But each letter in an initialism is pronounced separately (e.g., FBI). Since â€Å"acronym† is commonly used for both of these, we will continue using this term below. However, its worth remember that there is a difference! When to Use Acronyms The main consideration is clarity. To be specific, we shorten long technical terms to make our work easier to read, especially if theyre used repeatedly. For instance, writing â€Å"MRI† instead of â€Å"magnetic resonance imaging† is a good idea if use this term a lot since it’s easier to read. Apparently, this isnt suitable for a passport photo. If a term is only used once or twice, there’s usually no need to use an acronym. You should also avoid using too many abbreviations, since text dense with acronyms and technical jargon can be difficult to read. Introducing Acronyms If using an acronym, you must introduce it with full terminology in the first instance so your reader knows what it means. You can do this by giving the full term first and the shortened version in parentheses: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has existed since 1949. Once introduced, you can use the shortened version in place of the full terminology: The idea of NATO is to ensure security via a system of collective defense. To ensure clarity, make sure to use the acronym consistently throughout your document. This means you should not switch between the full and abbreviated versions of the same term. Introducing an acronym isn’t necessary if the term is in common use, such as with â€Å"laser† (originally short for â€Å"light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation†). However, even with well-known terms, providing a definition can be helpful, since many acronyms have more than one meaning. One example is the long-running battle for use of â€Å"WWF†, in which the conservation group grappled (pun fully intended) with the professional wrestling organization now known as the â€Å"WWE.† Although â€Å"WWF† is a recognizable term, defining it on the first use would remove ambiguity. It would then be clear that you’re discussing the â€Å"World Wildlife Fund† and not the former employers of Stone Cold Steve Austin. I will open a can of whoop-ass on any panda that gets in my way. An important distinction, were sure youll agree.