DNA Fingerprinting Essays (554 words) - Biometrics,

DNA Fingerprinting One in a Million DNA fingerprinting (the use of a person's DNA to identify them) has become a hot topic in the field of law enforcement as well as the entire world. The controversy exists on whether or not it should be admitted in court as evidence at this time. Some experts believe that the present technology allows DNA fingerprinting to be used in cases for positive identification (proof that the DNA match was at the scene of the crime) because of the extreme unlikeness that a "tampered" tissue cell could come up with an exact match. The chances are stated to be somewhere between one in ten million and one in ten billion. Other experts believe that since there is no current standard for labs to test DNA samples and there is a possibility of great human error in a very complicated ordered set (DNA) that a positive identification could be made on someone who is far from the actual perpetrator. Both sides believe that DNA can identify a person, they just disagree on whether or not that is possible at this point in time. DNA fingerprinting takes a sample DNA (victims, suspects, etc.) and counts the number of variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) in a person's DNA string. The repeats for four or five common repeating "gene groups" are counted and compared to a known sample (again the suspect, victim, etc.) for a match up. This may sound like scientists are only counting or four or five numbers when in reality they are counting on four or five sets of many numbers. The chances of similar numbers coming up in life (not the court case) are between one in a million and one in a billion. The experts in favor of using DNA fingerprinting now use the odds of one in a million having similar enough DNA strands to even come close to misidentifying anyone. They believe that since the contamination factor can come into play the evidence should only be used to identify for positive proof. The chances that a contaminated sample could come close to matching with a suspect's sample are even worse than the one in a billion odds mentioned before. These experts believe that using four or five sets of numbers clears any doubt of verification once and for all. The experts who believe it shouldn't be used claim that our present technology disrupts the accuracy of actual DNA fingerprinting. They agree the odds of misidentifying are slim, but they are still too large to accept in a court of law. An example they use is the miscalculation factor in VNTRs. The difference between 109 and 119 is so slim that it could be calculated as the same by today's standards when in truth that may be a different person all together. The factor of human error is easy to see also, especially in the case of Jose Castro when witnesses for both the defense and the prosecution found the evidence analyzing techniques inadequate (it should be noted that the defendant did plead guilty to the crime of murder he was charged with and was found guilty). DNA fingerprinting is at a very impressive standard at this time for identify people and there is no doubt about whether or not it should be used in the future. At this point I would assume that a one in a million chance is enough to be admissible in a court of law for positive identification. I could not blame a state for not admitting it either.

Creative Writing on Inception and the Bechdel Test

Creative Writing on Inception and the Bechdel Test Creative Writing on Inception and the Bechdel Test: The film industry has been accused of being gender biased, with most of the movies produced being dubbed as being distinctively misogynistic. Accordingly, critics such as Allison Bechdel, have identified a need for the creation of films whereby the female characters are not limited to the role of supporters for their male counterparts. Evidently, most movies, both past and present have failed in the achievement of this. More movies, even the award-winning films, continue to be produced without a gender consideration, with most putting the male characters on a pedestal and the women at the bottom. However, some films such as Wanted and Salt, have a female as the lead character illustrating the lengths to which Hollywood producers are willing to change the trends in film production. In her argument regarding gender bias, Allison Bechdel argues that reduction of gender bias in films goes beyond giving women lead roles. She explains that the number of women, their relationship with each other, as well as, their conversations have play a major role in determining whether a film is gender biased or not. Fundamentally, Bechdel introduces the idea of the Bechdel test to determine the level of gender bias in a particular film or movie (bechdeltest.com 1a). This test consists of three main components including the need for having two or more female characters in the film, having these females engage in a conversation, and the exclusion of men in the conversation. Put simply, the Bechdel test demands that a film have two or more female characters who talk to each other about issues other than men. Interestingly, many movies have failed this test at one point or the other (bechdeltest.com 1a). Movies may have many female characters but they do not engage in any conversation with each other, and when they do, the conversation revolves around a man. One such movie that has failed the Bechdel test is Inception by Christopher Nolan. As critics would argue, this movie has passed the first two requirements of the Bechdel test, failing to attain the third requirement (bechdeltest.com 1b). The movie has two female characters namely Ariadne, graduate student and Mallorie, Cobb’s deceased wife. Though these two characters meet with each other about three times throughout the movie, they engage in only one conversation. The conversation, which is the basis of the third requirement of the Bechdel test, is about love, which, when considered from a relative interpretation of the film, the conversation was about Cobbs (bechdeltest.com 1b). The above is the most basic and accepted analysis of the movie based on the Bechdel test. However, if one was to look examine the movie from a different dimension, it is evident that the movie may have failed the Bechdel test in other ways. For example, between the two female characters, only one is a real person, the other is just a figment of imagination. Based on the theme and the context of the movie, we cannot be sure whether, Mallorie, who is the imagined character, is in reality a female. Secondly, because Mallorie was a figment of Cobbs imagination, then it would be justified to assume that the conversation between Ariadne and Mallorie was actually a conversation between Cobbs and Ariadne. The complexity of the movie makes it even harder to decipher in terms of the Bechdel test, but one thing is certain, Inception, fails the Bechdel test of gender bias. Having established that the movie, Inception, fails the Bechdel test, this paper explains how the relative absence of multi-dimensional female characters influences the film’s understanding of men and women. Effects of the Absence of Multi-Dimensional Female Characters As observed in the film, there are only two main female characters, who, upon a closer examination, may have been used symbolically to bring out a message concerning the relationship between men and women (wordpress.com 1). At the outset, the two female characters embrace names that are symbolic to society. Ariadne, for example, is the name of the Greek princess who assisted the hero Theseus in navigating the labyrinth, the prison of the Minotaur. Ariadne embraces a similar role in the movie, as she is chosen to help cobs create the mazes, which he intends to use in infiltrating people’s dreams. Here, the female is seen as a male aide, for the achievement of his goals and desires. Her recruitment into the team shows that she is needed for the task to be completed, but expectedly, she does not play a minor role in this. Observably, her role as the architect is considered the main role in the movie, for it is only after she constructs the mazes that the team can be able to infil trate the dreams. From this, one can conclude that the women play the role of helper in male-female relationships. Additionally, Ariadne also reveals her manipulative side by making Cobbs open up to her, and then using the information gathered to influence his actions into what she wants (wordpress.com 1). With this, the audience is exposed to the manipulative character of women in their relationships with men, and how they use men’s personal issues to achieve this. Mallorie’s role in the movie, on the other hand, is the total opposite of that of Ariadne. This is because her role has a feel of sabotage, and she is the only character whose role was to stop Cobbs from achieving his mission. Her role as a woman is quite complex as she is brought out as both a positive character and influence on Cobbs, as well as, a negative character. In relation to her positive attributes, Mallorie’s activities can be translated as protecting Cobbs, as well as, his victims form himself. She is well aware of the destructive nature of dream infiltration, and for that reason, she is committed to preventing Coobs and his victims from the effects of this (wordpress.com 1). Here the role of the woman in male-female relationships is one of a protector, as well as, that of a passive guide. Both women try to directly and indirectly guide Cobbs throughout the mission. While Ariadne might have been guiding him towards the completion of the mission, Mallorie gui des Cobbs towards the realization of his vices. Because Mallorie is out to sabotage Cobbs activities, it is evident that she embraces a negative role as a woman. She will do anything to prevent Cobbs from completing his mission, even if it means killing his victims during the dream so that they fall back into reality (Fisher 37). Obliquely, we see how women may or may not prevent a man from achieving his goals and ambitions. Women are depicted as a distraction, to the achievement of both personal and professional goals, something that men may agree to undoubtedly. Just as Ariadne and Mallorie are used to bring out the role of women in relationships, Cobbs is also used to bring out the role of the man. For example, the fact that Mallorie is a figment of his imagination, and he managed to infiltrate her thought to the point where she committed suicide, it is evident that men are a tad bit controlling. Evidently, Cobbs loves controlling others, in fact he enjoys controlling other so much that he has made it his career (Fisher 39). The women are not receptive to the idea of being controlled, with one woman committing suicide nd killing others as a way of refusing control, whereas the other tries to attain that control and instead control the male. This inherently exposes the nature of male-female relationships, which is characterized by the need for control. Both men and women wish to have control over each other, and they will do almost anything to attain this. Conclusively, in addition to illustrating the relationship between men and women, the absence of multi-dimensional female characters is also used to bring out the male-male impassive relationships. The relationship between the males in the film is that of business and nothing more. Apart from the relationship between father and son, which appears to be slightly emotional, the rest of the male-male relationships are purely work related. They all have a mission that they intend to take on to the end, and each male has a specific input in the movie that is of minimal emotional nature. The absence of multi-dimensional female characters in the film reveals plenty of things regarding the relationship between men and women. However, one thing can be learned from this film, a woman is a man’s helper and guide.

Feasibility of the Iphone Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Feasibility of the Iphone - Case Study Example This study on the phone and its markets and marketing strategies, aims to understand just that. In order to understand the above, it is important to thoroughly understand the previous launch of iPhone in the US and how the marketing strategies there transformed into sales. It is then pertinent to answer the question on how the launch in UK affected the mobile phone market. Customer behaviour and levels of customer acceptance of the product are also researched and studied here. Finally the important concepts of marketing that have pushed or prevented sales of the iphone have been covered. The proposal concludes with suggestions. Market condition and customer behaviour: The mobile phone market in US is growing and in the third quarter of 2007, sales were seen to reach 38million units, an increase of 13% from the previous quarter. As per the NPD group, the increase of sales was noted at 47% as compared to last year. Among various smartphones, iPhone reportedly sold approximately 525,000 phones (BBC News, 2007) within the first week of sales as per the Los Angles times. Market reviews later revealed that while the phone lived up to its hyped image of providing many attractions in one package, it performed poorly in functioning as a basic phone. Dissatisfaction with other factors like battery life, camera performance and inability to play flash or Java were also reported. Competition: The market statistics as per NPD were for third quarter as under, Companies Selling brands Market share Motorola Motorola RAZR V3, Motorola RAZR V3m, Motorola MOTOKRZR K1m, Motorola V323i/V325i 31% LG LG VX8300, LG Chocolate VX8550/8500, LG VX5300 17% Samsung Samsung SGH-A707 16% Nokia 11% Sanyo Sanyo Katana II 4% Market condition and customer behaviour in UK: The iPhone was launched in Europe during the end of the year in a 3G version, supposedly after its poor performance in US markets as a phone. Statistics1 here reveal that 77% users do not use data services like picture and video messaging. Customer reviews for the iPhone have been both positive and negative. Competition: European markets are dominated by Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and Sony. Apple and its Iphone As per Steve Jobs, iPhone has scope to become the third main business for Apple after its iPod and Mac computer. The organization states that by the end of 2008, Apple hopes to sell ten million phones, and grab one percent share of the mobile phone market (Jobs, 2007). The iPhone combines in it a mobile phone and an iPod. With a wide screen and virtual keyboard, it has a new user interface. The instrument thus allows users to enjoy multimedia applications, Internet and much more content through its interface. The quad band phone uses GSM standards and comes with international capabilities. Literature overview Buzz marketing or word of mouth is ten times more effective than print or TV2 and more important today than anytime in the past (Hughes, 2004). As per Regis McKenna, 'Word of mouth is probably the