What is one challenge that George Washington and the nation faced during his presidency?

One of the most significant challenges faced by the Washington Administration was the outbreak of war between France and Great Britain in 1793. While the wars of the French Revolution had been ongoing for more than two years at this point, Great Britain's declaration of war on France was significant because it raised the possibility that the United States might get dragged into the war. France hoped, due to a treaty with the United States, that the United States would side with them. But many Americans favored Great Britain, in particular wealthy merchants, and so Washington faced a great deal of foreign and domestic pressure on the issue. In response, he issued a proclamation of neutrality that affirmed the right of the United States to remain neutral in the conflict. Washington feared the new country would have been destroyed just a few years after its creation had it become involved in the war. Over time, this position was challenged by both Great Britain and France, as the navies of the belligerent nations attacked American ships that sought to maintain commercial relationships with each. The war became a major domestic political issue, as well, as many Americans overtly favored supporting the French, whose revolution espoused ideals not unlike those that motivated the American revolutionaries.

In the novel "The Swiss Family Robinson" what did the family have for breakfast the first day on the island?

On the day the family first land on the island, they do not eat first thing in the morning.  They get up, have morning prayers, and then load themselves and some animals and supplies into the raft of wooden tubs they have made.  This is described in Chapter Three.  

After landing on the island, they unload their vessel and make themselves a meal.  All this is described in Chapter Four.  The meal is soup, which they make from cubes of "portable soup" (i.e. bouillon) in a pot.  Having no bowls or spoons, they use oyster shells to scoop up the soup.  They cook the oysters in order to get the shells open, and the boys try swallowing the oyster meat, but do not like it.  It is also implied that they add some "biscuit" ... that is, hardtack. 

This is their first meal on the island, but it cannot be called breakfast, as it takes them all day to get it.  Shortly after they eat, the sun sets, and they bed down in their tent. 

Chapter Five describes the family's first morning on the island.  Their breakfast is biscuit, supplemented by meat from a lobster which ten-year-old Jack had caught the day before.  The oldest boy, Fritz, shares his biscuit and a claw of the lobster with the dogs to get them to trust him again, because he had beaten them the day before. 

What are neurons in biological psychology?

Introduction

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, there were two competing theoretical approaches toward explaining the composition of the brain. The reticular theory, championed by the Italian scientist Camillo Golgi
, proposed that the brain consisted of a dense, netlike structure of nerve wires with no individual cells. The neuron doctrine, as advocated by the Spanish scientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal
, asserted that the brain was composed of individual cells, just like other structures of the body, and that these cells were separated from one another by small gaps. The best microscopic views of that era could not provide evidence to determine which theory was correct, and a contentious debate ensued.

Ironically, it was a staining technique developed by Golgi in the late 1800s that enabled Ramón y Cajal eventually to demonstrate the existence of individual cells in the brain, confirming the neuron doctrine. Ramón y Cajal called these cells neurons, nerve cells that are specialized to receive information and electrochemically transmit it to other cells. In 1906, the gaps between these neurons were termed “synapses” by Charles Sherrington
, who deduced many of the properties of synaptic functioning.

Neuronal Structure and Types

There are an estimated one trillion neurons in the human nervous system, with somewhere around one hundred billion in the brain. Neurons share many of the same features as other cells. For example, they are surrounded by a membrane, have a nucleus that contains the chromosomes, are provided metabolic energy by mitochondria, and synthesize proteins at sites called ribosomes. What makes neurons structurally different from other cells is a unique tripartite structure.

Most neurons contain a soma, many dendrites, and only one axon. The soma or cell body is a rounded swelling of the neuron that contains the cell nucleus. Electrical messages, also called impulses or action potentials, are collected in the soma, which, in turn, may cause the discharge of electricity to another cell.

Input to the soma usually comes from dendrites. Most neurons have many of these branching fibers whose surface is lined with receptors specialized to receive impulses. Some dendrites have small outgrowths called spines, which increase the places available for connection to other cells.

The axon is a thin fiber, usually longer than the dendrites, that is specialized to send messages from the soma to other cells. Axons have many branches, each of which enlarges at the tip, forming the terminal end bulb. It is from this end bulb that chemicals are released into the synaptic cleft (gap).

Neurons can be distinguished from one another in several ways. Axonal length is long in projection neurons, but short or even absent in local neurons. The function of neurons is different in sensory neurons, which are specialized to detect physical information from the environment, and in motor neurons, which are specialized to activate muscles and glands. A third function of neurons, found in interneurons, is to communicate only with other neurons. The direction of the neural impulse is toward a structure in afferents, away from a structure in efferents, and within a structure in intrinsic neurons. Finally, neurons can be distinguished on the basis of polar dimensions. Unipolar neurons carry a message in one direction only, bipolar neurons convey an impulse in two directions, and multipolar neurons can transmit information in many directions.

The Resting Potential

Each neuron has the capability of producing an electrical charge called the resting potential. Neurons in their resting (nondischarging) state generate voltage by creating an imbalance of positive (sodium, potassium, and calcium) and negative (chloride) electrically charged particles called ions. Four factors contribute to this ion imbalance between the inside and the outside of the neuron’s membrane. First, the membranes of neurons have small gaps in them called ion channels. Potassium and chloride ions pass through these channels more readily than sodium ions, resulting in more negative ions on the inside of the neuron than on the outside. Second, the sodium-potassium pump forces three sodium ions out of the neuron for every two potassium ions allowed inside the cell, resulting in less positively charged ions inside the neuron. Third, proteins on the inside of the neuron carry a negative charge. Finally, the gradient balance between entropy—ions will move toward a place of less density—and enthalpy—ions will move toward a place of opposite electrical charge—results in a further negatively charged environment inside the neurons. Combining these four factors together yields approximately a −70 millivolt resting potential for each neuron. In other words, the neuron is like a battery that carries a charge of −70 millivolts.

The Action Potential

Stimulation from the environment or other neurons can disturb the balance that creates the neuron’s resting potential and produce a reversal of electrical polarity that leads the neuron to discharge an electrical impulse. This process is called the action potential and occurs in three phases. The first phase begins with a depolarization—a reduction of the electrical charge toward zero—of the neuron. When this depolarization is sufficient to cause the neuron to be approximately 10 to 15 millivolts less negative, the threshold of excitation is reached and the sodium ion gates, responding to the voltage change, will be opened. This results in a sudden influx of positively charged ions resulting in a reversal of polarity. One millisecond after the sodium gates open, they immediately shut, cutting off the sodium influx, and the gates cannot be opened for another millisecond or so, ending the first phase of the process.

The second phase begins with the opening of the potassium ion channels. Because the inside of the neuron is now positively charged and dense with potassium ions, the positively charged potassium ions flow out of the neuron. Unlike the sodium gates, the potassium gates do not snap shut quickly, and this results in fewer potassium ions inside the neuron than during the resting state. The net effect is that the second phase produces a hyperpolarization, which means that the neuron has an increased charge of approximately −110 millivolts.

In the third phase, the sodium and potassium gates return to their normal conditions, restoring the ion flow conditions that create the resting potential. As a result of the action potential, slightly more sodium ions and slightly fewer potassium ions are found in the neuron at the beginning of the third phase. The sodium-potassium pump eventually corrects this small imbalance and restores the original resting potential conditions.

Between the peak of the action potential and the restoration of the resting potential, the neuron resists generating an action potential. This resistance of refractory period is first absolute—it is impossible for an action potential to occur—and then relative—action potentials can happen, but require stronger-than-normal stimulation.

Axonal Conduction

In motor neurons, but not all interneurons or sensory neurons, the action potential begins where the axon exits the soma, a place called the axon hillock. Basically, each point along the axon regenerates the sodium-ion influx as it travels down the axon like a ripple caused by throwing a stone in a pond. Because the sodium-ion gates snap shut shortly after they open, the action potential will not travel back to the soma and the impulse is ensured to move toward the synapse. Unlike the small ripple on the pond, the traveling wave down the axon does not diminish in size or velocity and is independent of the size of the stimulus that generates it. This axonal (not dendritic or somatic) phenomenon is called the all-or-none law.

The speed of the impulse down the axon is affected by two factors. First, the larger the diameter of the axons, the more rapidly the impulse is transmitted. Second, many axons are covered with an insulating material called myelin. In myelinated axons, neural impulses “jump” from one break in the myelin sheath—called a node of Ranvier—to another break, resulting in conduction speeds of up to 270 miles per hour. This node-to-node jumping, called saltatory conduction, is much faster than conduction in unmyelinated axons, which produces speeds of only 2 to 22 miles per hour.

Synaptic Transmission

Because a small gap separates one neuron from another, the traveling electrical charge down the axon cannot affect the next neuron electrically: The “wire” is cut. What allows the gap to be bridged is a chemical process that can be described as a sequence that begins with presynaptic events (what occurs in the sending neuron) and ends with postsynaptic events (what occurs in the receiving neuron).

Presynaptically, when the action potential reaches the terminal end bulb, it opens ion channels for calcium ions that then enter the axon. Calcium activates tiny bubbles called vesicles, which contain chemicals called neurotransmitters. The neurotransmitters are chemicals synthesized in the somas of sending neurons that will cause changes in receiving neurons. The activated vesicles will then excrete neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. These chemicals will diffuse across the cleft to the postsynaptic neuron. The total process takes approximately two milliseconds.

Postsynaptically, neurotransmitters attach to places on the receiving neuron called receptors. Different receptors are specialized to pick up different kinds of neurotransmitters. Additionally, most of the many kinds of neurotransmitters will have several different types of receptors with which they can interact. Once the neurotransmitter activates the receptor, it may have an excitatory effect, making the postsynaptic cell more likely to produce an impulse, or an inhibitory effect, making the receiving neuron less likely to generate an action potential. Although most neurotransmitters are predominantly excitatory or inhibitory, the ultimate effect of the neurotransmitter depends on the particular receptor. Furthermore, neurotransmitters can alter the activity of the postsynaptic neuron iontropically, by opening ion gates (a quick but brief process), or metabotropically, by initiating metabolic changes (a slow but long-lasting process). Neurotransmitters that do not bind to receptors are usually reabsorbed into the presynaptic neuron or enzymatically broken down, thereby preventing overactivity of the postsynaptic neuron.

Most neurons are on the receiving end of input from many other neurons. How often a synapse is activated (temporal summation), how many innervating synapses are activated (spatial summation), what neurotramsitters are released, and what receptors are involved all combine to determine whether a neuron will produce an action potential.

Brain, Mind, and Neuron

The synaptic network that links neurons is a dynamic system that is highly responsive to the organism’s experience. The more synapses are stimulated, the more efficient they become in their activity. Furthermore, repeated synaptic stimulation increases the number of synapses and induces dendritic branching. This phenomenon, called long-term potentiation, is the neuronal substrate of learning. Long-term potentiation is one reason that those who frequently engage in intellectually stimulating habits, such as reading, develop denser brains than less intellectually stimulated individuals. In other words, an active mind makes for a better brain.

Bibliography

Barnes, Jim. Essential Biological Psychology. London: SAGE, 2012. Print.

Huguenard, John, David A. McCormick, and Gordon M. Shepherd. Electrophysiology of the Neuron: An Interactive Tutorial/Book and Disk. New York: Oxford UP, 1997. Print.

Kalat, James W. Biological Psychology. 10th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.

Levitan, Irwin B., and Leonard K. Kaczmarek. The Neuron: Cell and Molecular Biology. 3d ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.

Liljefors, Max. Atomized Body: The cultural Life of Stem Cells, Genes, and Neurons. Lund: Nordic Academic, 2012. Print.

McKim, William A. Drugs and Behavior: An Introduction to Behavioral Pharmacology. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2007. Print.

Nicholls, John G., A. Robert Martin, Paul A. Fuchs, and Bruce G. Wallace. From Neuron to Brain. Sunderland: Sinauer, 2001. Print.

Strominger, Norman L., Rovert J. Demarest, Lois B. Laemle, and Charles Robert Noback. Noback's Human Nervous System: Structure and Function. 7th ed. New York: Humana, 2012. Print.

What were two major changes within American society and culture that were caused by the Cold War?

During the Cold War, Americans were very afraid of communism.  This caused at least two major impacts on American society and culture. 

One of the major impacts was the rise of McCarthyism and related intolerance.  Because Americans were afraid of communism, they supported politicians and others who wanted to root it out.  Those people were willing to accept it when the leaders fingered alleged communists without any real proof that those people actually were communist.  This was the era of “witch hunts” in which people who were alleged to be communist could face serious repercussions simply because they had been accused of sympathizing with communism.  This atmosphere of intolerance in American society was one of the major impacts of the Cold War.

Relatedly, the Cold War also contributed to the rise of conformism in American society during the 1950s.  People in the US at that time did not want to seem different.  In part, they feared that people would think that they were un-American and possibly communist if they acted in ways that were outside the accepted norms.  The conformity that came about in American society because of this is seen as one of the major characteristics of the 1950s in the United States.

How do biotic and abiotic factors affect the competition for food?

Abiotic factors do not compete for food, but rather affect the competition for food.

Biotic and abiotic factors are present in an organism's environment and they affect its life. Biotic factors include the living components, while the non-living factors (such as wind, water, soil, etc.) constitute the abiotic factors. Competition for food arises between different organisms and this competition is affected by biotic and abiotic factors. Other organisms (biotic factors) directly or indirectly compete for food with a given organism. For example, deer compete with other herbivores for food. One competitor may have more or less predators, thereby affecting the competition for food. Similarly, abiotic factors affect the competition for food between organisms. The climatic variables may be more conducive to the life of one organism as compared to others. Space is another abiotic factor that may affect some species. Species that need less space may be more apt to survive than those that need large spaces to live. The species that is surviving will outcompete the other species for resources.

Hope this helps. 

What are Burkholderia?

Definition

Burkholderia are gram-negative, motile, non-spore-forming, obligately aerobic rods, some of which can be pathogenic in animals and plants. They have worldwide distribution in soils and in groundwater.

Natural Habitat and Features

The genus Burkholderia was named for plant pathologist and microbiologist Walter Burkholder in 1992. Before this date, most members of this genus were classified as Pseudomonas spp.

All Burkholderia spp. are gram-negative, motile,
non-spore-forming, obligately aerobic rods. Although usually nonencapsulated, they
do form polysaccharide capsules at low pH (acidity). They are distributed from the
Arctic to the tropics, and are especially common in damp soils, ground water, and
stagnant pools. The genus contains animal and plant pathogens and
saprobic species, some of which can be opportunistic pathogens. They are easily
grown on most common laboratory media, although many strains need forty-eight to
seventy-two hours before growth is visible on agar.

Burkholderia have the largest genomes of any known soil bacterium, with three chromosomes and a minimum of one large plasmid. Various strains, especially of xenovorans, have diverse metabolic pathways that allow the bacteria to degrade polycyclic aromatic compounds such as naphthalene, halogenated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and chloroorganic pesticides such as 2,4-D.

Nonpathogenic strains have been engineered by knocking out genes needed for
pathogenicity. These strains are used for bioremediation of sites contaminated with PCBs and other
organics. Several studies have been carried out to see how this degradative
ability can be enhanced in situ and in laboratory-based bioreactors. Many
cepacia strains secrete antimicrobials and antifungals. These
strains have been used as biocontrols of plant diseases, although pathogenicity
has limited their use.

Pathogenic strains of Burkholderia were among the first bioweapons used in modern warfare when Germany attempted to use
mallei, the equine pathogen that causes glanders, in
an attempt to destroy the horses on which enemy cavalries depended in World War I.
Both mallei and pseudomallei are considered
possible biowarfare and bioterrorism agents. In the 1980’s, the
Soviet Union was thought to have produced more than two thousand tons of dried
mallei preparation, which could be used in biological
weapons.

Pathogenicity and Clinical Significance

Several Burkholderia spp. can infect humans. Mallei primarily causes glanders in equids, but humans and other animals can serve as accidental hosts. In humans, symptoms vary but often include skin and respiratory mucosal lesions, pneumonia, spleen and liver abscesses, muscle aches, and general malaise. Even when treated, mortality approaches 50 percent. In the United States, human glanders is now only seen among those who work with the bacteria, but in other parts of the world, especially tropical regions of Asia, human infections are more common and can be contracted directly from infected animals. Human-to-human transfer is rare.

Pseudomallei causes melioidosis, also called Whitmore’s disease, in humans and other animals. It is usually transmitted through direct contact with contaminated soil or water through abrasions, inhalation, or ingestion. The disease is mainly found in tropical areas and is endemic to southeastern Asia and northern Australia. The most common symptoms are respiratory and can range from mild bronchitis to severe pneumonia. Localized skin infections are also seen when the route of entry is through an abrasion.

Although rare in healthy adults, systemic and disseminated melioidosis
can occur in debilitated and immune compromised persons. It is also more common in
those with diabetes mellitus. The disease can become chronic and lead
to multiple abscesses on internal organs or on the skin. Untreated, the disease
has 100 percent mortality; among those treated, mortality is 40 percent. Because
many of the symptoms mimic other diseases, melioidosis is not always diagnosed
immediately and, thus, has a chance to become more serious.

Members of the cepacia complex, a group of nine similar
species including multivorans, cenocepacia,
stabilis, vietnamiensis,
dolosa, ambifaria, anthina,
and pyrrocinia, have a very low pathogenicity in healthy humans,
but they are significant pathogens in persons with cystic
fibrosis and in those who are immune compromised. Unlike
mallei and pseudomallei, these strains are
usually transmitted by direct human-to-human contact.
Multivorans, however, seems to be most commonly acquired from an
environmental source. The most common symptom of a cepacia
complex infection is pneumonia, although urogenital, surgical-wound, and
catheter-related hospital infections are known to occur.

Drug Susceptibility

Many antibiotics, including ceftazidime, imipenem, meropenem,
doxycycline, penicillin, piperacillin,amoxicillin-clavulonic acid, amiloride,
tobramycin, and aztreonam, have been used to treat Burkholderia
infections. In all cases, ten to fourteen days of intravenous (IV) antibiotic
infusion is usually followed by three to six months of oral antibiotic
therapy.

For severe cases, the oral therapy can include a combination of antibiotics and can last up to one year. In disseminated infections, the surgical removal of abscesses is sometimes necessary. Persons with cystic fibrosis who have a cepacia complex infection will need three to six months of aerosolized antibiotics, often a combination of amiloride and tobramycin. This regimen is usually preceded by an IV antibiotic infusion comprising tobramycin, meropenem, and ceftazidime. Many strains of mallei are more susceptible to antibiotics than are strains of pseudomallei or cepacia complex and, thus, do not need lengthy antibiotic treatment.

Bibliography

Coenye, Tom, and Peter Vandamme, eds. Burkholderia: Molecular Microbiology and Genomics. Wymondhan, England: Horizon Bioscience, 2006. The first two chapters give a comprehensive review of the genus. Later chapters look at the genus from the perspective of biochemistry and genetics.

Krieg, Noel R., et al., eds. Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. 2d ed. New York: Springer, 2010. Volume 2 of this multivolume work describes the Proteobacteria in detail.

Madigan, Michael T., and John M. Martinko. Brock Biology of Microorganisms. 12th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2010. This text outlines many common bacteria and describes their natural history, pathogenicity, and other characteristics.

Romich, Janet A. Understanding Zoonotic Diseases. Clifton Park, N.Y.: Thomson Delmar, 2008. A good introduction to zoonotic diseases, including glanders and melioidosis.

in "An Astrologer's Day" by R. K. Narayan, what happens that evening as the astrologer is preparing to leave?

The astrologer's day begins at approximately noon and does not end until he gets home at nearly midnight. He has a hard time earning a living because so many of the people who spend their time walking around in the park have no money. If they did have money they wouldn't be walking around in the park. The astrologer is forced to quit for the night because he doesn't possess lighting of his own. After dark he depends on the light of a nearby vendor of groundnuts. The smell of the roasting nuts must be a torment to the astrologer because it would appear that he doesn't have anything to eat all day.

When the groundnuts vendor closes up for the night and puts out the crackling and smoking flare by which he does business, it is time for the astrologer to follow suit. The author makes it clear that the night lighting is poor at best, but when the flare goes out it is really dark. This is a blessing on this particular night, because Guru Nayak appears at the last moment and wants a reading that will help him find a man who tried to kill him years ago. The astrologer's angry and suspicious customer does not recognize him as the very man he has been seeking. And the astrologer does not recognize Guru Nayak as the man he tried to kill back in their native village until his customer lights a cheroot.

The astrologer sent a prayer to heaven as the other lit a cheroot. The astrologer caught a glimpse of his face by the matchlight.

Once the astrologer recognizes Guru Nayak without being recognized himself, he is in a superior position. He can dazzle his dangerous customer with what appears to be supernatural knowledge. He knows his name and what happened to him back in the village they both come from. He is able to convince Guru Nayak that the man he has been seeking is dead, having been run over by a lorry. The astrologer not only saves his own life but persuades his nemesis to return to his village and never venture out of it. Furthermore, the street-smart astrologer manages to extract enough money from Guru Nayak to delight his wife when he brings the handful of coins home. 

The reader is in for a surprise ending because, until the astrologer gets home that midnight, the reader does not understand how the astrologer could have known his customer's name and could have told him so much about his background. Before going to sleep for the night, the astrologer tells his wife:

"Do you know a great load is gone from me today? I thought I had the blood of a man on my hands all these years. That was the reason why I ran away from home, settled here, and married you. He is alive."

What role do cilia play in the respiratory system?

Cilia play a major role throughout the body, especially in the respiratory system. They can be described as hair-like structures that are found on the outside of cells lining the bronchus within the respiratory system. The cilia of the respiratory system move together in a wave-like motion that is critical to their function. This wave-like motion occurs in tandem with other nearby cilia, and works together with mucus producing goblet cells to trap and remove toxins, microorganisms, and other debris that enter the respiratory system. This helps to protect the lungs by capturing the various invaders first in the mucus. The cilia then function together using their wave-like motion to move the mucus up and away from the lungs and back into the throat. This function of the cilia protects the vital respiratory system, helping to fight against infection and damage to the lungs.

How does Shakespeare use dramatic irony and juxtaposition to strengthen Romeo and Juliet?

Romeo and Juliet begins with a prologue that creates dramatic irony by telling the audience what will happen. We know that “A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life,” thus ending “their parents' strife.” The characters have the occasional sense of foreboding, but they are largely ignorant of their fate.

One moment that demonstrates a character’s innocence in contrast to the audience’s knowledge is Juliet’s speech as she eagerly awaits Romeo’s return. She wishes for the sun to set so she can be with him:

Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,
That runaway's eyes may wink and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalk'd of and unseen.

This soliloquy is juxtaposed to contrast with the previous scene in which Tybalt killed Mercutio, Romeo killed Tybalt, and the prince banished Romeo. Completely unaware of these tragedies, Juliet’s yearning for Romeo is made all the more poignant.

The play’s conclusion is rife with dramatic irony. The audience knows Juliet faked her death, but the only character who knows this is Friar Lawrence. As a result, Romeo’s ignorance about the matter is a major source of suspense until the end. He also has a deeply ironic dream the night before his death: “My dreams presage some joyful news at hand.” Romeo dreamt that Juliet revived him from death with a kiss. Instead, Romeo poisons himself and dies upon kissing Juliet, who then awakens and kisses Romeo before stabbing herself. The fact that Romeo died moments before Juliet woke up is another great irony.

By juxtaposing contradictory scenes and utilizing dramatic irony, Shakespeare plays with the audience’s emotions and creates an engrossing sense of tension.

Which aspects of Romantic literature can be perceived in William Blake's poem "London?"

Romanticism is characterized by the glorification of nature, the celebration of the individual, and the emphasis on imagination and emotion. So, with "London" we don't see those themes overtly. But the poem is a scathing critique of the city, tradition, and institutions. This suggests a preference for nature, individuality, and freedom. 

Blake condemns the culture of the city. Since London is the capital, he is condemning English culture in general. Blake believed that people were brainwashed ("mind-forg'd manacles) into accepting this (then) modern, urban way of life. Blake sees the city, government, and the church as oppressive institutions. The Soldier is sent off to fight and possibly die. Blake even critiques marriage when he refers to the "Marriage hearse." People accept that marriage is a necessary path in life and this potentially leads to loveless unions. As a result, some are driven to prostitutes. He is saying that a tradition (marriage in this case) can imprison people and suppress their emotions. 

Blake's critique of tradition and institutions is part of the Romantic themes that we see in other of his works. His critique of tradition and the city suggests alternatives such as individuality, breaking with tradition, and the notion that nature provides an alternative to the urban decay he sees in city life. 

In "Paul's Case," why does Paul leave home and what he is hoping to find?

First, let's look at some background. In order to tolerate his respectable but drab life as a typical, middle class boy, Paul escapes from his real life though his work at Carnegie Hall, where he works as an usher. He also has a very strong relationship with the acting troop, particularly with Charley Edwards, a young actor whom Paul admires tremendously.

The more involved Paul becomes with the theater, the more he falls behind in school, getting to a point where he is bold enough to tell the teachers that he has no business with academics, and that his job at the Carnegie is more important.

Matters went steadily worse with Paul at school. In the itch to let his instructors know how heartily he despised them and their homilies, and how thoroughly he was appreciated elsewhere, he mentioned once or twice that he had no time to fool with theorems...

This is when the problem begins. When the headmaster suggests to Paul's father that Paul be taken out of school and put to work, Paul's father asks that Paul be removed from his position as an usher, too. He asks Charley to cease his acquaintance with Paul as well.

Paul is sent to work as a clerk at Denny & Carson's, and he clearly does not like this. In a desperate act, Paul steals money from the company, which he was asked to deposit, and executes a plan that he and Charley Edwards talked about many times at the Carnegie: To go to New York and live like a dandy.

Paul has everything planned perfectly. He takes the right train, orders new clothes, and lands at the Waldorf, using the money that he took from the firm to pay for all of these luxuries.

Ultimately, what Paul aims to achieve is the feeling of "being there," among people who are beautifully dressed and aesthetically perfect in his opinion. Only someone with Paul's extreme sensitivity to beauty and detail would understand the need that he has to be a part of that world. He needs to experience it firsthand, thus breaking away entirely from the life in Cordelia Street which he detests so much. It is a way for him to find meaning in his life. Sadly, this will be his very last act, and he will die once he is threatened to be taken away from what he feels is his "element."

In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, what is shown about the role that self respect has when responding to injustice?

Focusing on a particular character who possesses self-respect and a sense of justice -- a character like Macduff -- seems like a reasonable place to begin.  Macduff, a character who seems to have a healthy level of self-respect, responds to potential injustice, at first, by simply refusing to participate in it.  He feels there is something amiss in the way that Macbeth has acquired the throne, and so he does not go to Macbeth's coronation at Scone.  Later, when invited to the Macbeths' dinner party -- the one where the ghost of Banquo shows up -- he does not respond to the invitation and fails to appear at the feast.  Seeing the way Macbeth has descended into tyranny, Macduff implores Malcolm to return to Scotland to overthrow Macbeth.  However, when Macbeth murders Macduff's family in revenge for Macduff's slights against him, Macduff's self-respect will not allow him to permit Macbeth to remain alive.  He "feel[s] it like a man," and avenges his wounded honor and heart by beheading the king.

Therefore, it seems that, in this play, self-respect necessitates that a character respond to injustice.  Early on, even when he has no proof that Macbeth has taken the throne unjustly, Macduff senses it, and he cannot allow himself to attend the coronation.  He must take a stand, however small; he cannot simply go and smile and pretend that everything is all right when it isn't.  And the stands he takes grow in size and importance when he fails to appear when bidden by his king, and when he murders Macbeth because the king's unjust behaviors have become too big to bear.

What historical events influenced the Harlem Renaissance to occur?

Several events caused the Harlem Renaissance, a period when black arts and the black community flourished in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in the 1920s and early 1930s, until the effects of the Great Depression impoverished the area. 

In the South, by 1900, blacks saw the gains they had achieved during the Reconstruction era eroded as white Democrats increasingly took political control and used voting laws, lynching and other means of terror to disenfranchise the black population. As a result, many blacks began to think about migrating north. When World War I started, this gave a great boost to black migration, because immigration from Europe dried up (most of the men there being conscripted into the army or into the war efforts in their home countries) just at the moment factories were going into high gear in the United States to supply the war demand. Therefore, blacks found it easy during this period to migrate north because jobs were plentiful. Many showed up in Harlem, which also attracted blacks from the Caribbean. Black leaders like W.E.B Dubois encouraged black artists to move to Harlem. Naturally, as it became a cultural center, more and more artists arrived. In this period too, the famed Abyssinian Baptist Church of Harlem, under Clayton Powell Sr, became a center of black cultural life. And as the economy boomed after World War I across the United States, some whites invested capital in the vibrant and expanding Harlem arts scene. In a nutshell, it was the economic opportunities opened up to blacks by both the first World War and the subsequent postwar economic expansion that allowed the Harlem Renaissance to occur. 

If a barometer was filled with milk rather than mercury, how tall would the barometer have to be to contain this solution?

Barometers are devices which are used to measure the atmospheric pressure at a given location. The basic mechanism is that a liquid rises in a tall column and the height of this liquid is converted to pressure. Mercury is the preferred liquid for such devices. For an atmospheric pressure of 1 atm, the mercury column rises to 760 mm or 76 cm. So, we can use a column of around 1 m height, to include some extra space.

If we used milk instead of mercury, the rise in the column would be different. The rise in the liquid is directly proportional to the density of the liquid. The density of mercury is about 13.5 g/ml, while that of milk is about 1.03 g/ml. Thus, a milk column will have to be about 13.1 times (= 13.5/1.03) taller as compared to the mercury column for measurement. 

Note that 1 atm of pressure will cause milk to rise by 9961 mm or almost 10 m in a column, as compared to 760 mm of mercury. 

Hope this helps. 

What was the Inquisition?

The Inquisition refers to the branch of the Catholic Church's judicial branch that attempted to combat heresy. It began in 12th century France and expanded rapidly in both scope and geography in the Late Middle Ages as a result of the Protestant Reformation. During this era, the Inquisition spread to different European countries, Asia, the Americas, and Africa, and began persecuting witchcraft. The Spanish Inquisition, which began following violent antisemitic pogroms in Spain, forced thousands of Jewish people to convert to Christianity. The method of forced baptism was still considered voluntary conversion by the church, which banned under penalty of death conversion back to Judaism. The Inquisition was abolished in the 19th century as a result of wars for independence in former Spanish colonies, and the last person persecuted by the Inquisition was a man killed for teaching Deism in 1834.