What is the thesis of "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"?

As a short story, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" does not have a thesis; it has a theme, which is its central message. If you were going to write a paper about the story, your paper would need a thesis, that is, a main idea. In a persuasive paper, your thesis would be the point you hope to prove to your reader.

To find the theme of a short story (remembering that there can be more than one), first be sure you understand the plot with its rising action, climax, and resolution. As yourself what the subject of the story is. This is not your theme, because a theme has to be a statement, not a single word; however, identifying the subject is one step on the way to identifying the theme. Now think about what truth the story relates about the subject that it deals with. You can often arrive at this truth by asking how the main character changed in the story or whether he or she learned a lesson. Now you are ready to clarify the theme by formulating a sentence that speaks about people or life in general, not about the story's characters, and delivers a universal truth.

In "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," Harry, a writer, is dying from gangrene while he and his wife are stuck in a remote region of Africa waiting for a plane to rescue them. Harry and Helen argue, and Harry tells his wife he doesn't love her, although Helen loves Harry very much. Flashbacks reveal events from Harry's previous life; although he has had some adventures, he feels he has never fully capitalized on his talent and written the works he was capable of. Vultures and a hyena keep circling the camp, constantly reminding the couple of Harry's impending death. In a surprise double ending, Harry dreams he is rescued in the morning and is flown out of camp, only to head toward Mt. Kilimanjaro, known to the natives as the House of God. In reality, he dies in the middle of the night; Helen wakes up and realizes he has passed. 

Harry does not change or seem to learn anything during the story, except that the reality of his wasted years weighs heavily upon him. Rather than using his last hours to bond with his wife, however, he hurts her with his cruel words and cynical talk. One might expect a person who is staring death in the face to want to use his last moments to make amends and make sure he is remembered fondly by his loved ones. This is not the way Harry responds to the knowledge that death is near.  The vultures and the hyena reinforce the idea that death for such a person is sinister and ugly; the vision of Mt. Kilimanjaro that Harry sees at the end is his wish that things could have been different. Therefore, one theme of the story is that angry, dissatisfied people cannot face death serenely but may try to deal with their own pain and regret by lashing out at others, particularly those who love them.

What inspires the music director in Go Set a Watchman to change the way the congregation sings the Doxology?

In Chapter 7 of Go Set a Watchman, Jean Louise's uncle, Dr. Finch, asks the music director at the Methodist church why the way in which the Doxology is sung has been sped up. The music director, Herbert, explains that he took a course on "what was wrong with Southern church music" from a New Jersey teacher. The northern music teacher suggested that the church, based in Alabama, "pep up" their singing and get rid of some Southern hymns. Dr. Finch responds, “Apparently our brethren in the Northland are not content merely with the Supreme Court’s activities. They are now trying to change our hymns on us.”

Dr. Finch's comment is a reference to the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, which declared that segregated schools were unconstitutional. The south at the time resented northern interference in what they deemed were local affairs, and the matter of the Doxology is a humorous reference to the idea that the southern way of life is changing at the time the novel takes place. 

Solve for the overall reliability of the system pictured in the attached diagram.

This diagram is presented without much context, but on what I believe is the usual interpretation, we can think of these as like "wiring", with the nodes that are wired "in series" being dependent on each other (if any fails, the system fails) while the nodes that are wired "in parallel" are redundant (as long as at least one does not fail, the system can continue functioning). Then, the numbers in each box are the reliability of each node, given as its probability of functioning correctly.

If that is indeed the intended interpretation, we would solve as follows.

Starting at the left, I'll label the nodes alphabetically. First we have 2 nodes in parallel, A is 0.99 and B is 0.98. The probability of at least one functioning properly is given by adding up the probability of each, then subtracting the probability of both (because it was double-counted):

`P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A and B)`

`P (A or B) = 0.99 + 0.98 - (0.99)(0.98) = 1.97 - 0.9702 = 0.9998`
This first pair of nodes is 99.98% reliable.

The next 2 nodes in parallel are P(C) = 0.95 and P(D) = 0.90 respectively, and we do the same thing to find out how reliable they are as a redundant system:
`P(C or D) = 0.95 + 0.90 - (0.95)(0.90) = 1.85 - 0.855 = 0.995`
Then we want to combine these two probabilities; in order to make it through the first two layers, we need both A or B and C or D to work, so these probabilities are multiplied:
`P((A or B) and (C or D)) = (0.9998)(0.995) = 0.99301`

Now we have the next three nodes in parallel, which is a bit trickier but the same basic process; just remember that P(E or F or G) is the same as P((E or F) or G).

`P(E or F) = P(E) + P(F) - P(E)*P(F) `
`P((E or F) or G) = P(E or F) + P(G) - P(E or F)*P(G)`
`P(E or F or G) = P(E) + P(F) - P(E)*P(F) + P(G) - P(E)*P(G) - P(F)*P(G) + P(E)*P(F)*P(G)` `P(E or F or G) = 0.92 + 0.95 - (0.92)(0.95) + 0.98 - (0.92)(0.98) - (0.95)(0.98) + (0.92)(0.95)(0.98)` `P(E or F or G) = 1.87 - 0.874 + 0.98 - 0.9016 - 0.931 + 0.85652` `P(E or F or G) = 0.99992`

This third layer is 99.992% reliable. (Notice how redundancy dramatically improves reliability.)

Next we combine that with the first two layers, again multiplying because the first two layers must succeed and the third layer must succeed:

`P((A or B) and (C or D) and (E or F or G)) = (0.99301)(0.99992) = 0.9929305592`

Now all that remains is to multiply this by the reliability of the final node H, which is 0.92:

`P((A or B) and (C or D) and (E or F or G) and H) = (0.9929305592)(0.92) = 0.913496114464`

I kept all the decimals for the intermediate calculations, but it's still to put them in the final answer, so let's just do four significant figures.

The reliability of the whole system is 0.9135, which is 91.35%.

What are ginkgo's therapeutic uses?

Overview

Traceable to three hundred million years ago, the ginkgo is the
oldest surviving species of tree. Although it died out in Europe during the Ice
Age, ginkgo survived in China, Japan, and other parts of East Asia. It has been
cultivated extensively for both ceremonial and medical purposes, and some
particularly revered trees have been tended for more than one thousand years.

In traditional
Chinese herbology, tea made from ginkgo seeds has been used
for numerous problems, most particularly asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
The leaf was not used. In the 1950s, however, German researchers started to
investigate the medical possibilities of ginkgo leaf extracts rather than remedies
using the seeds. Thus, modern ginkgo preparations are not the same as the
traditional Chinese herb, and the comparisons often drawn are incorrect.

Therapeutic Dosages

The standard dosage of ginkgo is 40 milligrams (mg) to 80 mg three times daily of a 50:1 extract standardized to contain 24 percent ginkgo-flavone glycosides. Levels of toxic ginkgolic acid and related alkylphenol constituents should be kept under five parts per million. In an analysis performed in 2006 by a respected testing organization, some tested ginkgo products were found to be contaminated with lead.

Therapeutic Uses

Fairly good evidence indicates that ginkgo is effective for Alzheimer’s
disease and other severe forms of memory and mental function
decline. When used for this purpose, ginkgo appears to be as effective as standard
drugs.

Inconsistent evidence hints that ginkgo might also be helpful for enhancing
memory and mental function in seniors without severe memory loss. Weak evidence
hints that ginkgo, alone or in combination with ginseng or
vinpocetine, may be helpful for enhancing memory or
alertness in younger people. Combining phosphatidylserine, another substance
used to enhance mental function, with ginkgo might increase its efficacy.

In addition, ginkgo may be effective for the treatment of restricted
circulation in the legs due to hardening of the arteries, known as intermittent
claudication. One substantial, well-designed double-blind,
placebo-controlled study found evidence that ginkgo extract taken at a dose of 240
mg or 480 mg daily may be helpful for anxiety. Weak, and in some cases
inconsistent, evidence from preliminary double-blind trials hints that ginkgo
might be helpful for glaucoma, macular degeneration, conjunctivitis, premenstrual
syndrome (PMS), Raynaud’s disease, sudden hearing loss, vertigo, and vitiligo.
Although study results conflict, on balance the evidence suggests that ginkgo is
not helpful for tinnitus (ringing in the ear).

Three small, double-blind trials enrolling a total of about one hundred people found preliminary evidence that use of the herb Ginkgo biloba can help prevent altitude sickness. However, a large-scale, double-blind study enrolling 614 people failed to find benefit. (The drug acetazolamide, however, did provide significant benefits compared to placebo.) A similarly designed smaller study enrolling fifty-seven people also failed to find ginkgo effective. Overall, the balance of evidence suggests that ginkgo is not effective for this purpose.

Numerous case reports and uncontrolled studies raised hope that ginkgo might be an effective treatment for sexual dysfunction in men or women, particularly in those cases related to certain antidepressant medications. However, the results of a number of double-blind studies indicate that ginkgo is no more effective than placebo, whether or not subjects are taking antidepressants.

One small study failed to find ginkgo helpful for the treatment of cocaine dependence. Two studies failed to find ginkgo helpful in multiple sclerosis.

Chinese research suggests that ginkgo might enhance the effects of drugs used
for schizophrenia, both phenothiazines as well as
atypical
antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotic drugs can cause a
neurological condition called tardive dyskinesia, which involves troubling,
uncontrollable body movements. One randomized study found that ginkgo (240 mg/day
for twelve weeks) was more helpful than placebo in reducing tardive dyskinesia
symptoms in people with schizophrenia.

An open study evaluated combination therapy with ginkgo extract and the chemotherapy drug 5FU for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, on the theory that ginkgo might enhance blood flow to the tumor and thereby help 5FU penetrate better. The results were promising, but much better research must be performed before ginkgo can be recommended for this use. Similarly inadequate evidence hints at benefits in dyslexia. Ginkgo has also been proposed as a treatment for depression and diabetic retinopathy, but there is little evidence that it is effective for these conditions.

Scientific Evidence

Alzheimer’s disease and non-Alzheimer’s dementia. In the past,
European physicians believed that the cause of mental deterioration with age
(senile dementia) was reduced circulation in the brain due to atherosclerosis. Since ginkgo is thought to improve
circulation, they assumed that ginkgo was simply getting more blood to brain cells
and thereby making them work better.

However, the contemporary understanding of age-related memory loss and mental impairment no longer considers chronically restricted circulation the primary issue. Ginkgo (and other drugs used for dementia) may instead function by directly stimulating nerve cell activity and protecting nerve cells from further injury, although improvement in circulatory capacity may also play a role.

Numerous double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have found ginkgo extract effective for dementia; among these, studies rated as “high-quality” by accepted scientific norms enrolled a total of more than two thousand people. For example, one major trial in the United States published in 1997 enrolled more than three hundred people with Alzheimer’s disease or non-Alzheimer’s dementia. Participants were given either 40 mg of Ginkgo biloba extract or placebo three times daily for a period of fifty-two weeks. The results showed significant but not entirely consistent improvements in the treated group.

Another study, published in 2007, followed four hundred people for twenty-two weeks and used twice the dose of ginkgo. The results of this trial indicated that ginkgo was significantly superior to placebo. (Technically, it was superior in the primary outcome measure, the SKT cognitive test battery, as well as on all secondary outcome measures.) The areas in which ginkgo showed the most marked superiority, compared with placebo, included “apathy/indifference, anxiety, irritability/lability, depression/dysphoria and sleep/nighttime behaviour.” In addition, a six-month study found ginkgo just as effective as the drug donepezil (taken at a dose of 5 mg daily).

On the other hand, one fairly large study drew headlines for finding ginkgo extract ineffective. This twenty-four-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 214 people with either mild to moderate dementia or ordinary age-associated memory loss found no effect with ginkgo extract at a dose of 160 mg or 240 mg daily. This study has been sharply criticized for a number of serious flaws in its design. However, in another community-based study among 176 elderly subjects with early-stage dementia, researchers found no beneficial effect for 120 mg of ginkgo extract given daily for six months.

A 2011 systematic review of nine placebo-controlled, randomized trials found more promising evidence for ginkgo. The trials, which involved 2,372 people with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia, ranged from twelve to fifty-two weeks. Those in the ginkgo group did have improvements in their cognition scores. A subgroup of people with Alzheimer’s disease also showed improvements in their activities of daily living.

The ability of ginkgo to prevent or delay a decline in cognitive function is less clear. In a placebo-controlled trial of 118 cognitively intact adults eighty-five years or older, ginkgo extract seemed to effectively slow the decline in memory function in a forty-two-month period. The researchers also reported a higher incidence of stroke in the group that took ginkgo, a finding that requires more investigation.

In a 2009 review of thirty-six randomized trials involving 4,423 persons with declining mental function, including dementia, researchers concluded that ginkgo appears to be safe. However, there is inconsistent evidence regarding whether it works.

Enhancing mental function in healthy people. Ginkgo has shown less consistent promise for enhancing mental function in people who experience the relatively slight decline in cognitive function that typically accompanies increased age. For example, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 241 elderly persons with mildly impaired memory were given either placebo or ginkgo for twenty-four weeks. The results showed that ginkgo produced modest improvements in certain types of memory.

Another double-blind, placebo-controlled trial examined the effects of ginkgo extract in forty men and women, aged fifty-five to eighty-six, who did not have any mental impairment. In a six-week period, the results showed improvements in measurements of mental function. Possible benefits were also seen in six other trials involving a total of about 250 people.

Set against these positive findings is the twenty-four-week study mentioned above, which found no benefit in ordinary age-related memory loss. The reason for this negative outcome may be flaws in this trial’s design. However, three other studies enrolling a total of about four hundred elderly persons also failed to find significant benefit with daily use of ginkgo. Another double-blind, placebo-controlled study used a one-time dose of ginkgo and again found no benefits.

Besides these negative trials, there is another weakness in the evidence: inconsistency even among positive trials. There are numerous measurable aspects of memory and mental function, and studies of ginkgo have examined a great many of these, but the exact areas of benefits seen vary widely.

For example, in one positive study, ginkgo may speed the ability to memorize letters but not expand the number of letters that can be retained while in another positive study, the reverse may be true. This type of inconsistency tends to decrease the confidence one can place in these apparently positive studies, because if ginkgo were really working, one would expect its effects to be more reproducible.

A total of about fifteen controlled trials have examined the effects of ginkgo on memory and mental function in younger people. However, results are again inconsistent, with many negative results and the positive ones failing to indicate a consistent pattern of benefit.

Several small double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have evaluated combined treatment with ginseng or vinpocetine for enhancing mental function in young people. The results, overall, are unconvincing. Weak evidence suggests that combining phosphatidylserine with ginkgo might increase its efficacy. In two studies, ginkgo combined with the Ayurvedic herb brahmi failed to improve mental function.

It remains unclear whether ginkgo actually enhances memory and mental function in healthy seniors or healthy younger people. Benefits, if they do exist, are probably slight.

Intermittent claudication. In intermittent claudication, impaired circulation can cause a severe, cramplike pain in one’s legs after walking only a short distance. According to nine double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, ginkgo can significantly increase pain-free walking distance.

One double-blind study enrolled 111 people for twenty-four weeks. Subjects were measured for pain-free walking distance by walking up a 12 percent slope on a treadmill at 3 kilometers per hour (about 2 miles per hour). At the beginning of treatment, both the placebo and ginkgo (120 mg daily) groups were able to walk about 350 feet without pain. By the end of the trial, both groups had improved, although the ginkgo group had improved significantly more. Participants taking ginkgo showed about a 40 percent increase in pain-free walking distance, compared with only a 20 percent improvement in the placebo group. Similar improvements were also seen in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of sixty people who had achieved maximum benefit from physical therapy.

A twenty-four-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of seventy-four people with intermittent claudication found that ginkgo was more effective at a dose of 240 mg per day than at 120 mg per day. A 2009 review of eleven trials with 477 participants suggested that those who took Ginkgo biloba were able to walk farther than control patients, although the results were limited by differences among the trials. However, not all studies have been positive. In a randomized trail involving sixty-two persons averaging seventy years of age, 300 mg of ginkgo per day was no better than placebo at improving pain-free walking distance over four months of treatment.

PMS symptoms. One double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluated the benefits of ginkgo extract for women with PMS symptoms. This trial enrolled 143 women, eighteen to forty-five years of age, and followed them for two menstrual cycles. Each woman received either the ginkgo extract (80 mg twice daily) or placebo beginning on day sixteen of the first cycle. Treatment was continued until day five of the next cycle and resumed on day sixteen of that cycle. Compared with placebo, ginkgo significantly relieved major symptoms of PMS, especially breast pain and emotional disturbance. In another, similarly designed trial involving eighty-five university students, Ginkgo biloba L. significantly reduced PMS symptom severity compared to placebo.

Anxiety. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 107
people with various forms of anxiety (specifically, generalized anxiety
disorder or adjustment disorder with anxious mood), ginkgo
extract taken at a dose of 240 mg or 480 mg daily proved significantly more
effective than placebo.

Macular degeneration. Macular degeneration, one of the most
common causes of vision loss in seniors, may respond to ginkgo. In a six-month,
double-blind, placebo-controlled study of twenty people with macular degeneration,
use of ginkgo at a dose of 160 mg daily resulted in improved visual acuity.

A twenty-four-week, double-blind study of ninety-nine people with macular degeneration compared ginkgo extract at a dose of 240 mg per day with ginkgo at a dose of 60 mg daily. The results showed that vision improved in both groups, but to a greater extent with the higher dose.

Vertigo. A three-month, double-blind trial of seventy people with
a variety of vertigo conditions found that ginkgo extract given at a dose
of 160 mg twice daily produced results superior to placebo. By the end of the
trial, 47 percent of the people given ginkgo had significantly recovered, versus
only 18 percent in the placebo group.

Glaucoma. A small double-blind, placebo-controlled trial found
that use of ginkgo extract at a dose of 120 mg daily for eight weeks significantly
improved the visual field in people with glaucoma.

Tinnitus. Studies of Ginkgo biloba extract for
treating tinnitus have yielded conflicting results. While some small
studies found benefit, the largest and best-designed of these trials failed to
find ginkgo effective. In a twelve-week, double-blind trial, 1,121 people with
tinnitus were given either placebo or standardized ginkgo at a dose of 50 mg three
times daily. The results showed no difference between the treated and the placebo
groups.

Safety Issues

Ginkgo appears to be relatively safe. Extremely high doses have been given to animals for long periods of time without serious consequences, and results from human trials are also generally reassuring. Safety in young children, pregnant or nursing women, or those with severe liver or kidney disease, however, has not been established.

In all the clinical trials of ginkgo up through 1991 combined, involving a total of almost ten thousand participants, the incidence of side effects produced by ginkgo extract was extremely small. There were twenty-one cases of gastrointestinal discomfort and even fewer cases of headaches, dizziness, and allergic skin reactions.

However, there are some potential problems. Perhaps the most serious have been
the numerous case reports of internal bleeding associated with use of ginkgo
(spontaneous as well as following surgery). Based on these reports, as well as
previous evidence that ginkgo inhibits platelet function, studies have been
performed to determine whether ginkgo significantly affects bleeding time or other
measures of blood coagulation, with somewhat inconsistent results. Prudence
suggests that ginkgo should not be used by anyone during the periods before or
after surgery or labor and delivery, or by those with bleeding problems such as
hemophilia. It also seems reasonable to hypothesize that
ginkgo might interact with blood-thinning drugs, amplifying their effects on
coagulation. However, two studies found no interaction between ginkgo and
warfarin (Coumadin), and another found no interaction with
clopidogrel. (Although, it did find a slight interaction with the related drug
cilostazol.) While these findings are reassuring, prudence indicates physician
supervision before combining ginkgo with blood-thinning drugs.

One study found that when high concentrations of ginkgo were placed in a test tube with hamster sperm and ova, the sperm were less able to penetrate the ova. However, since researchers have no idea whether this much ginkgo can actually come into contact with sperm and ova when they are in the body rather than a test tube, these results may not be meaningful in real life.

The ginkgo extracts approved for use in Germany are processed to remove alkylphenols, including ginkgolic acids, which have been found to be toxic. The same ginkgo extracts are available in the United States. However, other ginkgo extracts and whole ginkgo leaf might contain appreciable levels of these dangerous constituents.

Seizures have also been reported with the use of ginkgo leaf extract in people
with previously well-controlled epilepsy; in one case, the seizures
were fatal. It has been suggested that ginkgo might interfere with the
effectiveness of some antiseizure medications, specifically phenytoin and valproic
acid. Another possible explanation is contamination of ginkgo-leaf products with
ginkgo seeds; the seeds of the ginkgo plant contain a neurotoxic substance called
4-methoxypyridoxine (MPN). Finally, the drug tacrine (also used to improve memory)
has been associated with seizures, and ginkgo may affect the brain in ways similar
to tacrine. Regardless of the explanation, prudence suggests that people with
epilepsy should avoid ginkgo.

According to a study in rats, ginkgo extract may cause the body to metabolize
the drug nicardipine (a calcium channel blocker) more rapidly,
thereby decreasing its effects. In addition, this finding also suggests potential
interactions with numerous other drugs, although more research is needed to
determine which ones might be affected.

Antibiotics in the aminoglycoside family can cause hearing
loss by damaging the nerve carrying hearing sensation from the ear. One animal
study evaluated the potential benefits of ginkgo for preventing hearing loss but
found instead that the herb increased damage to the nerve. Based on this finding,
individuals using aminoglycosides should avoid ginkgo.

It has been suggested that ginkgo might cause problems for people with type 2 diabetes by altering blood levels of medications, as well as by directly affecting the blood-sugar-regulating system of the body. However, the most recent and best-designed studies have failed to find any such actions. Nonetheless, until this situation is clarified, people with diabetes should use ginkgo only under physician supervision.

Important Interactions

Taking blood-thinning drugs–such as aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs (ibuprofen), cilostazol, clopidogrel (Plavix), heparin,
pentoxifylline (Trental), ticlopidine (Ticlid), and warfarin (Coumadin)–while
simultaneously using ginkgo could theoretically cause bleeding problems and should
not be undertaken without physician supervision. Ginkgo might also reduce the
effectiveness of channel blockers.

Using ginkgo while also taking antipsychotic medications in the phenothiazine
family, as well as atypical antipsychotic drugs, such as clozapine and olanzapene,
might help these drugs work better with fewer side effects. Use of ginkgo
simultaneously with aminoglycoside antibiotics might increase risk of hearing
loss. Finally, ginkgo might interfere with the effectiveness of medications to
prevent seizures.

Bibliography

Dodge, H. H., et al. “A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial of Ginkgo biloba for the Prevention of Cognitive Decline.” Neurology 6, no. 70 (2008): 1809-1817.

Gardner, C. D., et al. “Effect of Ginkgo biloba (EGB 761) on Treadmill Walking Time Among Adults with Peripheral Artery Disease.” Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention 28 (2008): 258-265.

McCarney, R., et al. “Ginkgo biloba for Mild to Moderate Dementia in a Community Setting.” International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 23, no. 12 (2008): 1222-1230.

Meston, C. M., et al. “Short- and Long-Term Effects of Ginkgo biloba Extract on Sexual Dysfunction in Women.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 37, no. 4 (2008): 530-547.

Ozgoli, G., et al. “A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Ginkgo biloba L. in Treatment of Premenstrual Syndrome.” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 15 (2009): 845-851.

Russo, V., et al. “Clinical Efficacy of a Ginkgo biloba Extract in the Topical Treatment of Allergic Conjunctivitis.” European Journal of Ophthalmology 19 (2009): 331-336.

Weinmann, S., et al. “Effects of Ginkgo biloba in Dementia.” BMC Geriatrics 10 (2010): 14.

How does Reginald Rose's play Twelve Angry Men deepen our understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. jury system as a tool to...

Reginald Rose's script for Twelve Angry Men strengthens our understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. jury system by illuminating the flaws in human nature that can lead to a miscarriage of justice while also offering hope for the emergence of jurors of principle who will summon the moral courage necessary to go against a majority seeking to decide in a different direction the fate of the accused. 

Rose's script was well-written, depicting the efforts of twelve individuals tasked with determining the guilt or innocence of a young Hispanic man on trial for murdering his own father. It is instructive that Rose was inspired to write his script by his own experiences as a juror in a criminal trial. As he was quoted as saying from a 1997 interview with regard to his participation on a jury:

''It knocked me out. I was overwhelmed. I was on a jury for a manslaughter case, and we got into this terrific, furious, eight-hour argument in the jury room. I was writing one-hour dramas for 'Studio One' then and I thought, wow, what a setting for a drama.''

While Rose insisted that his script for Twelve Angry Men was entirely fictitious, it almost certainly reflects some of the biases and human dynamics he observed during his duty as a juror. Whether the racial and socioeconomic factors at play in his fictitious jury room mirrored any similar phenomena in the real-life jury on which he served, however, we will likely never know, Rose having passed away in 2002.

Rose's script is particularly useful in terms of studying the U.S. jury system for the dangers it depicts of allowing unchallenged prejudices to prevail. Juror 8 in Twelve Angry Men is the model of informed rational thought who succeeds in convincing the other 11 jurors to change their votes and to acquit the defendant. In order to do so, he must confront those prejudices, especially the biases advanced by Jurors 3 and 10, the first an angry, hostile man whose bitterness is ultimately ascribed to his own dysfunctional relationship with his son and the latter a simple-minded racist whose bias against the Hispanic defendant has entirely skewed his judgement. If there is a flaw to Rose's "jury," it might be Juror 8, the wise, level-headed nonconformist. At the beginning of his script, Rose provides detailed descriptions for each of the 12 jurors, and the description for Juror 8 says it all:

"A quiet, thoughtful, gentle man. A man who sees all sides of every question and constantly seeks the truth. A man of strength tempered with compassion. Above all, a man who wants justice to be done and will fight to see that it is."

Contrast this with his description for Juror 3, the angry, resentful one whose demeanor intimidates the weaker jurors:

"A very strong, very forceful, extremely opinionated man within whom can be detected a streak of sadism. A humorless man who is intolerant of opinions other than his own and accustomed to forcing his wishes and views upon others."

Now, let's look at Rose's description for Juror 5:

"A naïve, very frightened young man who takes his obligations in this case very seriously, but who finds it difficult to speak up when his elders have the floor."

Contrasting a strong, forceful, extremely opinionated juror with a "naive, very frightened young man . . . who finds it difficult to speak up when his elders have the floor" provides Rose's script a very useful mechanism for depicting the actual dynamics that can occur in any gathering, including a jury. A potential weakness in the real-life jury system is the risk of weak-minded jurors being adversely influenced by stronger-willed ones. As Twelve Angry Men progresses, the ability of Juror 3 to intimidate the others begins to disappear. The human dynamics that could have ended in a miscarriage of justice were eventually overtaken by the increasing willingness of other jurors to either come around to Juror 8's perspective on the concept of reasonable doubt, or to switch their decision to "innocent" for the primary purpose of ending the proceedings so that they can move on to other things (recall, for example,  Juror 7's admonition at the beginning of the jury deliberations that "This better be fast. I’ve got tickets to The Seven Year Itch tonight"). [Note: The Seven Year Itch was an actual play, later adapted for film, that was very popular at the time]

Twelve Angry Men depicts both the strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. jury system in its depiction of the myriad personalities, temperaments, and levels of education that are represented in real-life scenarios. The deliberative process at the heart of the play represents the strengths; the prejudices and misguided priorities that are reflected in some of the jurors represent the weaknesses.

If I weigh 5 stone 9 pounds and 4 ounces what planet will I weigh more on and why?

Mass and weight are often used interchangeably, although the two are different quantities. Mass is a measure of the matter contained within a body, while weight is the product of mass and the acceleration due to gravity (according to Newton's second law of motion) and thus, weight is a force.

In this question, the units used (stone, pound and ounce) are all unit of mass. Thus, the question should be "If I have a mass of 5 stones,. . .".

As already stated, weight is a product of mass and acceleration due to gravity. The mass of a body remains constant, since the matter contained within a body stays the same, irrespective of the planet one is on. This also means that the planet with the highest gravity will have the highest weight of a given body, since it will have the highest value of acceleration due to gravity.

Among the planets of the solar system, Jupiter has the highest value of acceleration due to gravity and hence a body will have the highest weight on Jupiter as compared to other planets. On Earth, the acceleration due to gravity has a value of about 9.81 m/s^2. On Jupiter, the same is equal to 24.8 m/s^2. Thus, a body will weigh 2.5 times (= 24.8/9.81) more on Jupiter as compared to Earth. 

Using the same process, one can check that a body on Mercury will weigh only 0.38 times its Earth weight.

Hope this helps.

What are childhood infectious diseases?

Causes and Symptoms

Acute communicable diseases occur primarily in childhood because most adults have become immune to such diseases, either by having acquired them as children or by having been inoculated against them. For example, prior to the use of vaccine for measles—a highly contagious disease found in most of the world—the peak incidence of the disease was in five- to ten-year-olds. Most adults were immune. Before a vaccine was developed and used against measles, epidemics occurred at two- to four-year intervals in large cities. Today, most cases are found in nonimmunized preschool children or in teenagers or young adults who have received only one dose of the vaccine.

Measles, a highly contagious virus, is a leading cause of fatalities among children worldwide. A person infected with red measles (also known as rubeola) becomes contagious about ten days after exposure to the disease virus, at which time the prodromal stage begins. Typically, the infected person experiences three days of slight to moderate fever, a runny nose, increasing cough, and conjunctivitis. During the prodromal stage, Koplik’s spots appear inside the cheeks opposite the lower molars. These lesions—grayish white dots about the size of sand particles with a slightly reddish halo surrounding them that are occasionally hemorrhagic—are important in the diagnosis of measles.

After the prodrome, a
rash appears, usually accompanied by an abrupt increase in temperature (sometimes as high as 104 or 105 degrees Fahrenheit). It begins in the form of small, faintly red spots and progresses to large, dusky red confluent areas, often slightly hemorrhagic. The rash frequently begins behind the ears but spreads rapidly over the entire face, neck, upper arms, and upper part of the chest within the first twenty-four hours. During the next twenty-four hours, it spreads over the back, abdomen, entire arms, and thighs. When it finally reaches the feet after the second or third day of the rash, it is already fading from the face. At this point, the fever is usually disappearing as well.

The chief complications of measles are middle-ear infections, pneumonia, and encephalitis (a severe infection of the brain). There is no correlation between the severity of the case of measles and the development of encephalitis, but the incidence of the infection of the brain runs to only one or two per every thousand cases. Measles can also exacerbate tuberculosis.

The incubation period for
rubella (German measles) lasts between fourteen and twenty-one days, and the disease occurs primarily in children between the ages of two and ten. Like the initial rash of measles, the initial rash of rubella usually starts behind the ears, but children with rubella normally have no symptoms save for the rash and a low-grade fever for one day. Adolescents may have a three-day prodromal period of malaise, runny nose, and mild conjunctivitis; adolescent girls may have arthritis in several joints that lasts for weeks. The red spots begin behind the ears and then spread to the face, neck, trunk, and extremities. This rash may coalesce and last up to five days. Temperature may be normal or slightly elevated. Complications from rubella are relatively uncommon, but if pregnant women are not immune to the disease and are exposed to the rubella virus during early pregnancy, severe congenital anomalies may result. Because similar symptoms and rashes develop in many viral diseases, rubella is difficult to diagnose clinically. Except in known epidemics,
laboratory confirmation is often necessary.

The patient with
mumps is likely to have fever, malaise, headache, and anorexia—all usually mild—but “neck swelling,” a painful enlargement of the parotid gland near the ear, is the sign that often brings the child to a doctor. Maximum swelling peaks after one to three days and begins in one or both parotid glands, but it may involve other salivary glands. The swelling pushes the earlobe upward and outward and obscures the angle of the mandible. Drinking sour liquids such as lemon juice may increase the pain. The opening of the duct inside the cheek from the affected parotid gland may appear red and swollen.

The painful swelling usually dissipates by seven days. Abdominal pain may be caused by
pancreatitis, a common complication but one that is usually mild. The most feared complication, sterility, is not as common as most believe. Orchitis
rarely occurs in prepubertal boys and occurs in only 20 to 30 percent of older males. In 35 percent of patients with orchitis, both testes are involved, and a similar percentage of affected testes will atrophy. Surprisingly, impairment of fertility in males is only about 13 percent; absolute infertility is rare. Ovary involvement in women, with pelvic pain and tenderness, occurs in only about 7 percent of postpubertal women and with no evidence of impaired fertility. Mumps during early pregnancy may cause miscarriage, but this is a rare complication for females who have been immunized.

Hemophilus influenzae
type B is the most common cause of serious bacterial infection in the young child. It is the leading cause of bacterial
meningitis in children between the ages of one month and four years, and it is the cause of many other serious, life-threatening
bacterial infections in the young child. Bacterial meningitis, especially from Hemophilus influenzae and pneumococcus, is the major cause of acquired hearing impairment in childhood.

Poliomyelitis

(polio), an acute viral infection, has a wide range of manifestations. The minor illness pattern accounts for 80 to 90 percent of clinical infections in children. Symptoms, usually mild in this form, include slight fever, malaise, headache, sore throat, and vomiting but do not involve the central nervous system. Major illness occurs primarily in older children and adults. It may begin with fever, severe headache, stiff neck and back, deep muscle pain, and abnormal sensations, such as of burning, prickling, tickling, or tingling. These symptoms of aseptic meningitis may go no further or may progress to the loss of tendon reflexes and asymmetric weakness or paralysis of muscle groups. Fewer than 25 percent of paralytic polio patients suffer permanent disability. Most return in muscle function occurs within six months, but improvement may continue for two years. Twenty-five percent of paralytic patients have mild residual symptoms, and 50 percent recover completely. A long-term study of adults
who suffered the disease has documented slowly progressive muscle weakness, especially in patients who experienced severe disabilities initially.

Tetanus

is a bacterial disease which, once established in a wound of a patient without significant immunity, will build a substance that acts at the neuromuscular junction, the spinal cord, and the brain. Clinically, the patient experiences “lockjaw,” a tetanic spasm causing the spine and extremities to bend with convexity forward; spasms of the facial muscles cause the famous “sardonic smile.” Minimal stimulation of any muscle group may cause painful spasms.

Diphtheria
is another bacterial disease that produces a virulent substance, but this one attacks heart muscle and nervous tissue. There is a severe mucopurulent discharge from the nose and an exudative
pharyngitis (a sore throat accompanied by phlegm) with the formation of a pseudomembrane. Swelling just below the back of the throat may lead to stridor (noisy, high-pitched breathing) and to the dark bluish or purplish coloration of the skin and mucous membranes because of decreased oxygenation of the blood. The result may be heart failure and damaged nerves; respiratory insufficiency may be caused by diaphragmatic paralysis.

Clinically,
pertussis (whooping cough) can be divided into three stages, each lasting about two weeks. Initial symptoms resembling the common cold are followed by the characteristic paroxysmal cough and then convalescence. In the middle stage, multiple, rapid coughs, which may last more than a minute, will be followed by a sudden inspiration of air and a characteristic “whoop.” In the final stage, vomiting commonly follows coughing attacks. Almost any stimulus precipitates an attack. Seizures may occur as a result of
hypoxia (inadequate oxygen supply) or brain damage. Pneumonia can develop, and even death may occur when the illness is severe.

Varicella (chickenpox) produces a generalized itchy, blister-like rash with low-grade fever and few other symptoms. Minor complications, such as ear infections, occasionally occur, as does pneumonia, but serious complications such as infection in the brain are rare. It is a very inconvenient disease, however, requiring the infected person to be quarantined for about nine days or until the skin lesions have dried up completely. Varicella, a herpes family virus, may lie dormant in nerve linings for years and suddenly emerge in the linear-grouped skin lesions identified as herpes zoster. These painful skin lesions follow the distribution of the affected nerve. Herpes zoster is commonly known as
shingles.

Hepatitis
type B is much more common in adults than in children, except in certain immigrant populations in which hepatitis B viral infections are endemic. High carrier rates appear in certain Asian and Pacific Islander groups and among some Inuits in Alaska, in whom perinatal transmission is the most common means of perpetuating the disease. Having this disease in childhood can cause problems later in life. An estimated five thousand deaths in the United States per year from cirrhosis or liver
cancer occur as a result of hepatitis B. Carrier rates of between 5 and 10 percent result from disease acquired after the age of five, but between 80 and 90 percent will be carriers if they are infected at birth. The serious problems of hepatitis B occur most often in chronic carriers. For example, approximately, 15 to 40 percent of carriers will ultimately develop liver cancer. The virus is fifty to one hundred times more infectious than Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Health care workers are at high risk of
contracting hepatitis B, but virtually everyone is at risk for contracting this disease because it is so contagious.

Hepatitis type A is a virus that causes jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, and fever. Approximately 15 percent of those who have the disease will have relapsing symptoms for six to nine months. Hepatitis A is usually spread through fecal contamination, and during epidemic years over 35,000 cases are diagnosed in the United States.

Treatment and Therapy

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Department of Health and Human Services recommend immunizing all infants soon after birth and again at age one to two months, with a final dose after the age of twenty-four weeks. The Committee on Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends extending hepatitis B immunization to all adolescents, if possible. Based on field trials, the hepatitis B vaccine appears to be between 80 and 90 percent effective. The plasma-derived vaccine is protective against chronic hepatitis B infection for at least nine years. Newer, yeast-derived vaccines appear to be safe for administration to all, including pregnant women and infants: Both the vaccine and a placebo evoke the same incidence of adverse reactions. These yeast-derived vaccines will be monitored to see if a booster dose is needed.

The incidence of infection with hepatitis B increases rapidly in adolescence, but teenagers are less likely to comply with immunization than are infants. Asking adolescents to participate in a three-dose immunization program over a six-month period is likely to result in high dropout rates. Therefore, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended combining vaccination at birth with vaccination of teenagers. Two states, Alaska and Hawaii, have implemented universal immunization of infants with hepatitis B vaccine, and so have twenty nations. Thirty-four states require vaccination for students before entry to middle school. Hepatitis A vaccine is recommended by the CDC for all children between twelve and twenty-three months of age. Two doses of the vaccine should be given, at least six months apart.

Primary vaccination with DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis) vaccine is recommended at two months, four months, and six months of age, followed by boosters at fifteen to eighteen months and upon entry into school (at four to six years of age).

Once a child reaches fifteen months of age, only one dose of the Hemophilus influenzae type B vaccine is necessary, but vaccination should begin at two months of age. Three vaccines are licensed for use in infants. Depending upon which vaccine is used, shots are given at ages two, four, and six months, with a booster between twelve and fifteen months. These vaccines are safe and at least 90 percent effective in preventing serious illness, such as sepsis and meningitis, from influenza B.

At two and four months of age, infants should receive an inactivated poliovirus vaccination, with boosters between six and eighteen months and upon entry into school (four to six years of age).

MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccination should take place at twelve and fifteen months and at four to six years of age. If the infant lives in a high-risk area, the first dose should occur at twelve months of age. While women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant in the next three months should not receive MMR vaccination, children may receive the vaccine even if the mother is pregnant, since the viruses are not shed by immunized individuals. Children who have not received the second dose should be vaccinated at eleven to twelve years.

In the 1990s, researchers announced that they had developed a vaccine to prevent chickenpox. According to the CDC, the first dose of varicella vaccine should be given to children between twelve and fifteen months of age who have not had chickenpox. The second dose is given between ages four and six, but may be given as soon as three months after the first dose. Individuals age thirteen and older who have never had chickenpox or the vaccine should get two doses given at least twenty-eight days apart. The chickenpox vaccine is contraindicated for those who have had life-threatening allergic reactions to a prior dose of the vaccine, gelatin, or neomycin; children who are taking aspirin or other salicylates should not be given the vaccine. Those who are ill at the scheduled vaccination time and pregnant women should wait before being vaccinated. Those who have immune system diseases, are taking drugs that affect the immune system, have cancer, are receiving cancer treatments, or have had a recent blood transfusion or other blood products should check with their health care provider before receiving the vaccine.

The CDC states that a combination vaccine called MMRV containing both chickenpox and MMR vaccines can be given instead of the two individual vaccines to children twelve and under. The combination vaccine is associated with rash and higher rates of fever than the two vaccines administered separately; seizures caused by a fever are also more frequently reported with the combination vaccine.

Influenza vaccine, containing two strains of type A and one strain of type B, is now recommended to be administered to all children to prevent infection with seasonal influenza viruses. Annual vaccination is necessary as influenza viruses continually mutate, resulting in new strains not present in previous vaccines. Sometimes, special strains of influenza, such as H1N1 (swine) influenza, may necessitate adding a separate influenza vaccine. Vaccination is particularly important for children with chronic heart and lung disease, diabetes, HIV, sickle cell disease, and other chronic conditions that place them at greater risk for severe influenza.

Pneumococcal vaccine is now routinely given to children aged two to twenty-three months and to certain children aged twenty-four to fifty-nine months who are at risk of overwhelming pneumococcal infections. For example, children without spleens and children with sickle cell disease should be considered for vaccination against pneumococcal disease.

Meningococcal vaccine, which protects against bacteremia and meningitis caused by some strains of meningococci, should be given to children with certain immune deficiency states, including the absence of a functioning spleen. The vaccine may also be given if there is an outbreak of meningococcal disease caused by a strain included in the vaccine, or if the child is traveling to a part of the world where the disease is common.

Some parents refuse to have their children vaccinated against
pertussis because of concerns about the vaccine’s safety. Media focus on the safety of pertussis vaccines, as well as lawsuits, has frightened many physicians as well, the result being that they may be overly cautious in interpreting vaccine contraindications. Yet primary care physicians have also been sued for failing to give timely immunizations, which may result in complications from preventable disease. The Tennessee Medicaid Pertussis Vaccine Data should reassure them of the vaccine’s safety. Other pertussis vaccine safety information is also available, including reports from the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Pertussis and Pertussis Immunization. Some parents have feared that there is a link between vaccinations and neurological disorders such as autism, but studies have found no connection.

The means exist to prevent many serious illnesses from infectious diseases in childhood, but both parents and health care professionals must make the effort to vaccinate all children at the appropriate times in their lives.

Perspective and Prospects

Some vaccines are more protective than others; effectiveness may hinge on a number of factors. In 1989, for example, 40 percent of people who developed measles had been vaccinated correctly under the old guidelines of one dose. Recommendations were therefore revised to include a booster dose. In the case of the hepatitis B vaccine, initial recommendations for administration of the vaccine established no injection site (only intramuscular), but studies revealed that there were fewer vaccine failures in recipients who were vaccinated in the deltoid region of the arm as opposed to the buttocks. The recommendation for injection site was therefore revised.

In the United States, vaccine coverage increased by the late 1990s after having been woefully inadequate during the 1980s. One state’s department of health, in a 1987 study, discovered that only 64 percent of children who were two years old were adequately vaccinated with DTaP, oral polio, and MMR vaccines. Although by 2000, rates were closer to 80 percent, in 2011, the rates had only moved to 82 percent. Undoubtedly, multiple and interacting factors have inhibited full vaccine coverage for all American children, including physicians’ attitudes and practice behaviors. For parents, the cost of vaccination, lack of health insurance, and other barriers to health care frustrate their efforts to get their children immunized. Some parents, for ideological or other reasons, may even be disinterested in or opposed to vaccination. In today’s highly mobile society, however, all persons should keep a standard personal immunization record to facilitate immunization coverage.

Bibliography:

Beers, Mark H., et al., eds. The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. 18th ed. Whitehouse Station, N.J.: Merck Research Laboratories, 2006.

Behrman, Richard E., Robert M. Kliegman, and Hal B. Jenson, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2007.

Biddle, Wayne. A Field Guide to Germs. 2d ed. New York: Anchor, 2002.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Chickenpox Vaccine: What You Need to Know." CDC, Mar. 13, 2008.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Immunization Schedules." CDC, Jan. 29, 2013.

Child Trends. "Immunization." Child Trends Data Bank, Sept. 2012.

Kimball, Chad T. Childhood Diseases and Disorders Sourcebook: Basic Consumer Health Information About Medical Problems Often Encountered in Pre-adolescent Children. Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics, 2003.

Kumar, Vinay, Abul K. Abbas, and Nelson Fausto, eds. Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease. 8th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2010.

MedlinePlus. "MMR Vaccine (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella." MedlinePlus, July 18, 2012.

Preidt, Robert. "HealthDay: Measles Can Spread Further Than Thought on Airplanes: Study." MedlinePlus, Mar. 20, 2013.

Woolf, Alan D., et al., eds. The Children’s Hospital Guide to Your Child’s Health and Development. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus, 2002.

Zieve, David. "DTaP Immunization (Vaccine)." MedlinePlus, Feb. 1, 2012.

How did Rome's acceptance of Christianity change the world?

The adoption of Christianity by the Romans in the late Fourth Century had a dramatic impact on the world.  Early Christianity had a relatively small following and much of it was underground.  Through the infrastructure and organization of Rome, the religion gained remarkable traction and became one of the major religions of the world.  This had the effect of changing the Roman culture. Romans lost a sense of tradition and culture that they shared for centuries as their pagan beliefs became targets of the early Christian church.  Some historians attribute the adoption of Christianity as one of the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire.  The fall of the Roman Empire ushered in a period of decline called the Dark Ages.  During this time, the Roman Catholic Church enjoyed a period of great wealth and influence.  If not for the adoption of Christianity by Roman emperors, the religion may have remained obscure and underground. All of the positive and negative actions of the Roman Catholic Church in history should be attributed to the conversion of the Romans to Christianity.  

What is the difference between biochemical, pharmaceutical, and diagnostic chemical reactions?

We are talking about biochemical, pharmaceutical, and diagnostic chemical reactions.  Biochemical reactions are chemical reactions that naturally take place in living organisms like plants and animals.  They usually involve large organic chemicals (biochemicals) like lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, etc.  Pharmaceutical chemical reactions involve the chemistry that takes place when a medicine is introduced into the body to evoke a certain pharmacological or physiological effect.  In many cases this involves a small molecule having a very specific reaction with a protein or polysaccharide to do things like inhibiting an enzyme or activate a cell signalling system.  Finally, a diagnostic chemical reaction is one that involves a diagnostic chemical test to measure or test a certain aspect of a person's health.  A sample of a person's body chemistry is obtained (urine sample, blood sample, etc.) and treated with a particular chemical or set of chemicals as part of a test to aid in a diagnosis by a healthcare professional.

So while all of these reactions are health related, biochemistry is what naturally takes place within an organism, pharmaceutical chemistry is what happens in the organism upon the introduction of a specific medicine, and diagnostic chemistry usually takes place in a testing instrument or vessel outside of the organism. 

Please provide a summary of Chapter 5 in The Story of My Life by Helen Keller.

Helen climbed a tree and was frightened by a storm, but later that spring she climbed another tree anyway. 

Helen is still young and learning about the world after her “soul’s sudden awakening.”  Helen enjoys nature.  She spends time exploring and learning the names of objects, increasing her “sense of kinship with the rest of the world.” 

One day she learns that nature can also be frightening and dangerous.  She had climbed into a tree when a sudden thunderstorm hit. 

Suddenly a change passed over the tree. All the sun's warmth left the air. I knew the sky was black, because all the heat, which meant light to me, had died out of the atmosphere. A strange odour came up from the earth. I knew it, it was the odour that always precedes a thunderstorm, and a nameless fear clutched at my heart. (Ch. 5) 

Anne Sullivan came along and helped her down, but Helen had a better appreciation for the diversity and force of nature after that.  For a long time, she did not climb another tree.   What once seemed pleasant and inviting now held possible terror. 

One spring morning Helen was encouraged by the smell in the air and the sunshine on her face to try to climb a tree again. 

But I had a delicious sense that I was doing something unusual and wonderful, so I kept on climbing higher and higher ... I sat there for a long, long time, feeling like a fairy on a rosy cloud. (Ch. 5) 

After this, Helen spent many hours in the “tree of paradise.”  She had gotten over her fear, and the result was that she had learned that despite challenges, there are some things worth doing.  While Helen might be more wary of the world because she cannot experience it with all of her senses, she is learning to rely on the senses she has.

As they age, ___________ stars move up and to the right on an H-R diagram.

The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram or H-R diagram is a plot between the temperature of a star and its luminosity. It can also be drawn between the color of the star and the absolute magnitude. Either way, this plot is extremely useful to astronomers. Any given star can be plotted on this diagram and the position of the star gives an idea of the life stage the star is in. For example, the main-stage stars (such as our sun) occupy the central diagonal region of the diagram, from the upper left to the bottom right. White dwarfs are in the bottom left corner, while red giants occupy the top right area in the diagram.

When stars are in the main sequence, they are converting hydrogen to helium and using this nuclear reaction to produce energy. When all the hydrogen in a star's core runs out, stars convert into red giants. A red giant has higher luminosity than a main-sequence star and hence is found on the upper side of the diagram. Red giants also have a higher radius and lower temperature than the main-sequence stars and hence move to the right of the main sequence stars. 

Thus, as stars age, main sequence stars convert into red giants and move up and to the right on the H-R diagram. 

Hope this helps. 

What is Higgins' attitude toward Eliza's feelings in Act IV?

Act IV begins to illustrate a change in Higgins' attitude towards Eliza. When Pickering, Higgins, and Eliza return to the Wimpole Street laboratory after the party, both Higgins and Pickering proceed to freely discuss the night's happenings.

While Pickering admits that he was nervous during the evening, Higgins maintains that he became immediately bored when he realized that they were going to win the bet. Higgins then continues to speak insensitively about how weary he became of training Eliza after the newness of teaching phonetics to a novice wore off. Meanwhile, Pickering insists that the venture was well worth the time and effort; as both continue to discuss their thoughts about the evening, neither Higgins nor Pickering bothers to acknowledge Eliza's presence in the room.

Meanwhile, Eliza has brought Higgins' slippers to him, but he hardly notices her efforts to make him comfortable. Greatly offended, Eliza eventually throws the slippers at Higgins, and this prompts a measure of corresponding anger from the man. Eliza accuses Higgins of having no more consideration for her than he does for his inanimate slippers. She thinks he is self-absorbed and callous in his disregard of her and demands to know what will happen to her now that she has won his bet for him.

Meanwhile, Higgins refuses to acknowledge Eliza's efforts; he angrily maintains that it was he who had won the bet, and he accuses Eliza of being presumptuous. Higgins' attitude towards Eliza is one of paternal concern; he thinks that she is emotionally overwrought by the whole affair and that she just needs to sleep her anxiety away. However, Eliza finds his attitude patronizing and she continues to press Higgins for more details about her future. Insensitively, Higgins suggests that Eliza might marry or even open her own florist's shop.

The exchange ends on an emotional note. Eliza angrily returns the ring Higgins had given to her in happier moments, while Higgins accuses his protege of being a 'heartless guttersnipe' who is ungrateful for all he has done for her. So, you can see that Higgins' attitude towards Eliza evolves from initial incredulity at her offended feelings to actual distaste and mortification at her sullen anger.

Is The Merchant of Venice a romantic comedy? If so, why?

The play is classified as a comedy, specifically a "Christian comedy," but it is not necessarily a romantic comedy. Normally the definition of a romantic comedy hinges on the story's use of comedy to somehow advance the romantic plot line. This play could possibly be performed in a way that emphasizes the humor in various situations. The scenes where suitors come to woo Portia and choose the wrong casket could be played for comedy. It is also possible for some of Antonio's friends, who are minor characters, to be portrayed in a comic manner. Gratiano is also a somewhat comedic character.

When we describe one of Shakespeare's works as being a romantic comedy, the comedy generally takes place within a familiar context, by way of a theatrical conceit common in the majority of his comedic works. These conceits include mistaken identity or disguise as a way to create confusion or deception in a way that somehow advances the romance. Portia dressing as a doctor of law could be interpreted in this way. In Bassanio's presence, she also refers to her husband and hints she'd be dismayed if he placed his friend's well-being over hers, as Bassanio claims he would do for Antonio. These parts of the courtroom scene can be done humorously, but the menace of Shylock's desire to kill Antonio in a violent manner seems to hint this play was not solely intended as a work of romantic comedy.

What would happen if living cells were placed in a sugar solution and then in water?

The process of osmosis is the movement of water through a selectively permeable membrane from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration without the input of energy.

If a living cell was placed in a sugar solution, it would cause outward osmosis to occur. The cell would then shrink as it lost water to the outside environment. 

This would occur because the sugar solution outside the cell would be hypertonic (have more solutes) relative to the inside of the cell. There would be a gradient between the inside of the cell and the outside environment. Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from high to low concentration. Therefore, the cell would lose water and it would dehydrate.

If a cell was placed in a solution of water, then there would be a higher concentration of water molecules outside the cell compared to inside the cell. The solution outside the cell would be hypotonic (containing fewer solute molecules than inside the cell). Water will move into the cell by inward osmosis and the cell would then swell.

I have included a link with pictures of red blood cells in isotonic, hypertonic and hypotonic solutions to show the direction of osmosis of water molecules into or out of the cell.

What do Cherry and Marcia do when the Socs find them with greasers in The Outsiders?

Cherry and Marcia are afraid that the Socs are going to make trouble when they see them with greasers, so they leave with their boyfriends. 

Cherry and Marcia are Soc girls.  They abandoned their boyfriends at the movies because the boys were drunk, and the girls did not approve.  They then befriended Pony and Johnny, especially after Dally hassled the girls and Johnny stood up to him.  

Cherry did not mind being seen with greasers, even though she knew she was not going to hang out with them at school.  She found Pony and Johnny endearing.  Cherry impressed upon Pony that everyone has problems, regardless of how much money they have. 

The issue came when they were leaving the movies.  Bob’s car drove by, and the girls knew that there would be trouble if their Soc boyfriends saw them walking with greasers.  They were scared and worried. 

We all looked and saw a blue Mustang coming down the street. Johnny made a small noise in his throat and when I looked at him he was white.

Marcia was shifting nervously. "What are we going to do?"

Cherry bit a fingernail. "Stand here," she said. "There isn't much else we can do." (Ch. 3) 

Cherry knows that Randy and Bob will hassle her new friends.  She decides to go with them to avoid a fight.  The boys drive off, but that will not be the end of it.  Later, Johnny and Pony are walking around the park late at night after Pony ran away from home since Darry hit him. 

Johnny swore under his breath, and I muttered, "What do they want? This is our territory. What are Socs doing this far east?"

Johnny shook his head. "I don't know. But I bet they're looking for us. We picked up their girls." (Ch. 4) 

Trouble does indeed follow.  The Socs are drunk, and the boys get into a fight in the park, and Johnny kills Bob in self-defense when Bob is trying to drown Pony in the park fountain.  Pony and Johnny go on the run because they do not believe anyone will give a couple of greasers who killed a rich kid the benefit of the doubt.

What are the reactions of Benvolio and Tybalt when they come upon the servants fighting?

The two men have opposite reactions. Benvolio, the first to encounter them, attempts to stop them from fighting. He tells them that they "know not what you do," and that, essentially, they will be in a great deal of trouble if they get caught. This is in keeping with Benvolio's personality throughout the play. He is loyal to the house of Montague, but he attempts to talk sense into the belligerents, including Mercurio later in the play. Tybalt, on the other hand, steps into the fight, and immediately challenges Benvolio to a duel. When Benvolio tells him that his sword was drawn in an attempt to keep the peace, Tybalt retorts that he hates the word peace, as much as he hates "hell, all Montagues, and thee." Tybalt is hot-headed and totally consumed by hatred for the Montagues and his desire to protect his own honor, which is seemingly constantly under threat. The Prince arrives, averting a duel and validating Benvolio's concern--he decrees death to whoever from the two families disturbs the peace.

Provide one quote that depicts Scout Finch's cowardice in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

In Chapter 8, Miss Maudie's house catches on fire and Atticus wakes Jem and Scout from their sleep. He tells them to go outside and stand in the Radley yard at a safe distance. Scout and Jem stand in the Radley yard and watch as their neighbors attempt to save Maudie's furniture before her house collapses. The next morning, Atticus and the children are drinking hot chocolate in the kitchen when Atticus notices that there is a blanket draped over Scout's shoulders. He asks Scout where she got the blanket, and both Scout and Jem are bewildered. They are shocked and don't know who could have given Scout the blanket. Atticus laughs and says, "Looks like all of Maycomb was out tonight, in one way or another" (Lee 95). Jem realizes that Boo Radley was responsible for giving Scout the blanket and begins to tell Atticus about all their exploits. Scout is still unaware of the situation when Atticus says, "Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up" (Lee 96). Scout asks Atticus who he is talking about, and Atticus says, "Boo Radley" (Lee 96). Atticus then explains to Scout that Boo Radley walked up to her and covered her with a blanket. Scout is horrified, and she mentions,

"My stomach turned to water and I nearly threw up when Jem held out the blanket and crept toward me" (Lee 96).

Scout's reaction portrays her cowardice. She is terrified of Boo Radley and naively believes that he is a "malevolent phantom." The thought of Boo Radley sneaking up on her and standing so close makes Scout want to throw up. However, as the novel progresses, Scout begins to mature and views Boo Radley as the compassionate, though reclusive, individual he truly is.

What could be a thesis statement about Lady Macbeth's character changing over time?

Lady Macbeth is ruthless and power-hungry, but by the end of the play, her guilty conscience has ruined her mind and made her feel that her life is not worth living.  

She told her husband, immediately after Duncan's murder, that they should not dwell on what they had done or else it would "make [them] mad"; clearly she did not take her own advice because she has essentially gone mad, imagining that she cannot wash Duncan's blood off her hands.  Further, she had said then that "a little water clears us of this deed," and it was Macbeth who feared that there was so much blood on his hands that it would turn the ocean red.  By the end, however, it is Lady Macbeth who feels that not even "all the perfumes of Arabia" could get the scent of blood off her hands.  

Moreover, Macbeth was initially afraid that he would never be able to sleep peacefully because he murdered Duncan while he was sleeping.  However, it seems that it is Lady Macbeth whose sleep is fitful as a result of her guilt.  She seems to feel guilty for creating a monster: she only wanted Macbeth to kill Duncan; then Macbeth arranged for the murder of Banquo and attempted murder of Fleance without consulting her, and now she cries, "The Thane of Fife had a wife.  Where is she now?"  Her husband ordered the murder of this poor woman and her children all because he was angry at her husband.  This doesn't seem to sit well with Lady Macbeth.  Finally, we never see the Macbeths together after the banquet scene and the only other time she appears on stage is during the sleepwalking scene, and this seems to confirm the distance that has grown between she and her husband and their priorities.  Her eventual suicide confirms how guilt-ridden she is.

What is a raw foods diet?

Overview

The raw foods diet began in the mid-nineteenth century, when health reformer Sylvester Graham claimed that illness could be avoided by consuming only uncooked foods. In the 1940s, German physician Max Gerson claimed that his particular raw foods regimen could cure advanced forms of cancer. The popularity of the diet has grown in recent years, perhaps because of its use among celebrities.

Raw food consumption can vary, according to the specific diet, from 50 to 100 percent of a person’s food consumption. Experts recommend that the diet’s foods be unprocessed. Many elements of the diet can be prepared in unique ways, such as presoaking nuts and grains. Food may be “cooked” using a food dehydrator, but the temperature of the food should not exceed 118° Fahrenheit. Because beverages including coffee, tea, alcohol, soda, and bottled juice are processed, raw food dieters generally drink only water and freshly made juices.

Mechanism of Action

Proponents of the raw foods diet note that a key benefit of the diet is the preservation of health-promoting enzymes in uncooked foods; these enzymes are deactivated by cooking. However, sources in the medical community note that enzymes in food are destroyed by stomach acids. Raw food diet proponents counter that the enzymes are later reactivated in the small intestine.

Uses and Applications

Proponents of the raw foods diet view it as a lifestyle rather than as a time-limited diet or one chiefly intended for weight loss. The diet is often credited by proponents with promoting general health and improved energy and with helping to alleviate chronic illnesses, including cancer and fibromyalgia.

Scientific Evidence

A limited body of published scientific research exists on the rationale for the raw foods diet or associated outcomes. Research findings suggest that a raw foods, vegan diet may help to reduce symptoms of fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis and to promote weight loss. In one study of Americans who had been on the raw foods diet a long time, respondents reported improved health and quality of life. The study found that the average nutrient intake while on the diet was higher for some components (such as vitamins A and C) and lower for others (such as protein and vitamin B12).

Safety Issues

Extremely restrictive diets such as the raw foods diet can impair growth and are not recommended for infants and children. Fresh produce can be a source of food-borne illness, and a raw foods diet can increase the risk of infection in persons whose immune systems are compromised, such as persons undergoing bone marrow or stem cell transplantation.

Bibliography

Cunningham, C. “What Is a Raw Foods Diet and Are There Any Risks or Benefits Associated with it?” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 104 (2004): 1623.

Dina, Karin, and Rick Dina. The Raw Food Nutrition Handbook: An Essential Guide to Understanding Raw Food Diets. Summertown: Healthy Living, 2015. Print.

Fleming, Amy. "Could Choosing Raw Foods Rather than Cooked be the Key to a Health Diet?" Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 13 Jan. 2015. Web. 27 Jan. 2016.

Havala Hobbs, S. “Raw Foods Diets: A Review of the Literature.” Vegetarian Times, issue 4 (2002): 30-31.

“Living and Raw Foods: Frequently Asked Questions.” http://www.living-foods.com/faq.html.

What is the product of 2-chloro-2-methylpropane and sodium hydrogen carbonate?

Sodium hydrogen carbonate is the Internation Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) name for the compound more commonly known as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). The chemical formula for this compound is NaHCO3.

2-chloro-2-methylpropane is the IUPAC name for tert-Butyl chloride, an organic compound with 4 carbons. It is so named because a chain of 3 carbons is called propane. The carbons are labeled in order, so substituents in the 2- position would be bonded to the middle carbon in the 3 carbon chain. 

Sodium bicarbonate is a weak base and will not react with tert-Butyl chloride. These compounds are typically found in a standard organic chemistry synthesis of tert-Butyl chloride from tert-Butanol (2-methyl-2-propanol). This reaction occurs in the presence of a strong acid, hydrochloric acid (HCl). The HCl protonates the oxygen in the alcohol group. Following the loss of a water molecule, the carbocation (in the 2-position) reacts with the chloride ion in a substitution nucleophilic unimolecular (SN1) reaction. Because this reaction requires HCl, sodium bicarbonate is added to neutralize the acid. Sodium bicarbonate is utilized precisely because it will not react with the tert-Butyl chloride. 

In A Brave New World, what does the Director mean by Bernard's lack of "infantile decorum"?

The word "decorum" means that a person behaves properly for polite society. In Huxley's A Brave New World, adults behave properly by acting "infantile," or like children, in social circles. When the Director tells Bernard Marx in chapter 6, "If ever I hear again of any lapse from a proper standard of infantile decorum, I shall ask for your transference to a Sub-Centre," the Director is telling Bernard to act more like a child socially (115). This includes dating many different women, taking the drug soma, and going to Feelies without any complaint.

For example, one way Bernard doesn't comply with the social standard is when he goes on a date with Lenina and he doesn't eat ice cream tainted with soma. He does not want to take soma because it would drop his inhibitions and make him forget to act like an adult. He wants to act like an adult because he feels like everyone else is too shallow to understand and experience life more profoundly, and he's right. From the time children are very little they are encouraged to play naked together so that when they are adults, they will continue to behave promiscuously. If people started acting like adults, then they might get the crazy idea to create monogamous relationships and have families, completely changing their culture.

Explain how your hand is used to find the direction of the North Pole on a solenoid or an electromagnet.

A solenoid is a coil of insulated wire wound on a rod made of solid iron or solid steel.

Due to Lenz's law of induction, the current carrying coil generates a magnetic field which in turn gives the solid iron core magnetic polarity. If you face one end of the solenoid and the current is traveling in a counter-clockwise direction in that face of the solenoid then that end is a north pole. So using your right hand you would curl your fingers in the direction of the current. If when you curl them they go anticlockwise you have a north pole; if when you curl them you go clockwise you have a south pole. The reference links show the corkscrew rule and right hand rule which are other ways of determining the polarity of an solenoid electromagnet using the hand.

Solenoids are used to make transformers.

How many bones does a newborn baby have?

A human neonate, or newborn baby, has around three hundred individual bones and cartilage elements. That sounds like a lot, considering that adults have only two hundred and six bones. As a baby grows into a child and then into a young adult, many of the bones and cartilaginous elements of the body "fuse" or grow together into a single piece. Babies are so flexible because some of their future, bony tissues haven't hardened together yet, and this makes it much easier for the newborn to pass through the mother's birth canal. Some of these bones that fuse together are located in the cranium. If you look at an adult skull, it looks as though a seam runs along the back and sides of the skull. This is where three individual plates of bone have grown and fused together to protect the brain! It's very important that babies heads be protected because there is actually a small portion of the top of the skull that isn't fully protected by bone. 

Another part of a baby's body where ossification (bone growth) occurs is the kneecaps. If you look at an x-ray of a baby's legs, it might look like they don't have patellae. They do, but during infancy, the patellae are made of cartilage and so they do not show up on an x-ray. As the child grows, this cartilage will calcify and turn into the sturdy bone all healthy adults have.

What are examples of symbiosis involving microorganisms in the termite digestive tract?

Termites feast on wood but they lack the enzymes needed to hydrolyze the polysaccharide cellulose into simpler compounds to provide energy to the termite. Cellulose is found in the cell walls of plants and is a principal component of wood.

Within the gut of termites are microbes that live symbiotically in a relationship known as mutualism. In this feeding relationship, each organism benefits. Various bacteria, archaea and protists reside in the termite's digestive tract. Their job is to break down and release energy from the plant material that termites consume. In return, they receive a place to live as well as a supply of food.

The type of symbiosis described here is obligate symbiosis because without all of the partners present, none will survive.

The relationship between termites and their microscopic inhabitants illustrates how each depends on the other for their survival. It is also an example of co-evolution.

What does the future of genocide look like?

If the past 40 years are any indication, we can expect more instances in the future of genocide. Fundamentally, genocide is one category of human being seeking to exterminate another category of human being out of prejudicial notions regarding race, ethnicity, and/ or religion. The last century, beginning with the decimation of Armenian villages and towns by the Ottoman Turks and continuing through the Holocaust, the reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the attacks by Hutu against Tutsi populations in Rwanda, the genocidal campaign waged by Serbs against the Muslim population of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the deliberate slaughter of secessionists in the region of Darfur in Sudan, and the brutal, ethnically-influenced fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the recent past gives lie to the post-Holocaust refrain of "Never Again." Unfortunately, yes, there will be more instances of genocide.

The most prevalent examples of genocidal practices today mainly involve the actions of the Islamic State militias in Syria and Iraq, as well as the Taliban's campaigns against Afghanistan's Hazara population, a Shi'a Muslim people who ascribe to Sufiism, which makes them apostates to all Sunni and many Shi'a. Ancient Christian populations in Iraq and Syria are under sustained attacks by Islamic State militants in a deliberate effort to force Christians to convert to Islam or die. Ethnic conflicts in countries as disparate as Burma/Myanmar, Nigeria, and others, as well as China's protracted strategy of eliminating any semblance of Tibetan national identity and the troubling pattern of anti-Semitic policies and activities across Europe and North America all constitute genocidal or examples of potential genocidal developments. To the extent that Jewish populations around the world are increasingly under attack in campaigns that include the use of ancient and discredited propaganda (e.g., references by anti-Semitic activists to the Russian-devised "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and the continued unfounded accusation across the Muslim world that Jews use the blood of non-Jews in their rituals, the so-called "blood libel"), then the prospects for another genocide directed against Jewish populations seem frighteningly real. 

In the aftermath of the Holocaust, it was widely believed in many regions of the world that another genocidal campaign such as that waged by Nazi Germany against Europe's Jews could never be repeated. It didn't take long for that assumption to prove flawed. There is no reason to believe another genocide will not occur again in the not-too-distant future.

Do the Weird Sisters control the events that happen in Shakespeare's Macbeth?

Most people would answer this question with a negative.  If we assume that the Weird Sisters control Macbeth's fate, then that means that he lacks free will and can do nothing but what fate dictates.  Further, he has no tragic flaw and he cannot, ultimately, be blamed for any of the terrible acts he commits.  If fate rules, then Macbeth is only traveling the path laid out for him.  This is problematic because Shakespeare's audience didn't care for the idea that their choices weren't really their own, that fate ruled their lives instead of their own decisions affecting their outcomes.  If free will determines one's future rather than fate, then we can hold Macbeth and Lady Macbeth responsible for the terrible things they do.

On the other hand, the Weird Sisters do seem supernatural (they can vanish and they do seem to know about some things that haven't happened yet).  This is the primary evidence used to support the idea that they control or at least know the future.  However, it seems even more likely that they only told Macbeth that he would become king because they were trying to manipulate him into corrupting himself, a process they would enjoy watching because they are malicious creatures.  In the first scene, they say "fair is foul and foul is fair," implying that what they tell him is going to seem fair (or good) but really be foul (bad).  They mean to deceive him, and even Banquo suspects this.  This evidence coupled with the above is enough for me to believe that the sisters do not control the future and that fate is not in play.

What are the different forms of perception?

I think you are asking about the five senses: taste, touch, hearing, sight, and smell.

Taste allows you to experience the sensation of food and other substances. This sense is experienced with the tongue and is closely related to smell.

Smell allows for the sensing of aromas through the nose. The combination of taste and smell allows for the experience of flavor.

Sight allows for the experience of vision in which the eyes detect and focus on objects and environments. Sight is dependent on the amount of light and is a mental, rather than physical, experience - vision happens in the brain with the eyes as a conduit.

Hearing is a physical and mental sense that allows for the perception of sound. Physical structures in the ears send sensory signals to the brain.

Touch is a sensory-motor sense allowing for the experience of physical sensations. The experience of "feeling" something physical happens through touch and relies on variations of pressure on nerve receptors.

A 1-year zero coupon bond has a yield of 6%. A 7-yr zero coupon bond has a yield of 6.25%. Confirm that 6 year forward rate starting 1...

The key thing to understand here is what we're talking about when we say "forward rate".

The yield of a given bond is fairly straightforward; since these are zero-coupon bonds, they don't pay out anything until they mature, at which point they will pay out the original value plus their yield. For the 1-year bond we can just read this off; 6% yield means that we'll receive 1.06 times the original value when the bond matures. Yields are calculated on a per-year basis (APR, "annual percentage yield"), so the 7-year bond will pay out 1.0625^7 = 1.5286 times its purchase price.

The forward rate is a somewhat trickier concept, however; it's the expected yield that a bond should have if we buy it at some point in the future. In order to price the forward rate, we use the assumption of zero-arbitrage; that is, we assume that there's no way for someone to make guaranteed money simply by buying some bonds and selling others.

This means that we have two portfolios to consider.

Portfolio A is just buying the 7-year bond, paying 6.25% APR.
Portfolio B is buying the 1-year bond, then a year from now when it matures, buying a 6-year bond at whatever the going rate is.

By the zero-arbitrage assumption, these two portfolios should pay out the same amount in 7 years. The rate we expect the 6-year bond bought a year from now to be is the forward rate we're looking for; it should work out so that we make the same amount of money in portfolio B as we did with portfolio A.

For simplicity, let's assume we invest $1000. (The amount you choose is arbitrary, simply for convenience. You could say X or something, but I think it's easier to visualize with $1000.)

The 7-year bond will yield 6.25% each year, compounded annually, so after 7 years we'll have:
$1000 * (1.0625)^7 = $1,528.63
We're done with portfolio A; it gives us $1,528.63 after 7 years.

The 1-year bond will yield 6% the first year, so after 1 year we'll have:
$1000 * (1.06) = $1,060.00

To make portfolio B match portfolio A, we need to buy a 6-year bond with an appropriate yield so that this $1,060 ends up becoming $1,528.63. Call the rate we need r:
$1060 * (1 + r)^6 = $1528.63

Solve for r:

(1 + r)^6 = 1.4421
1 + r = 1.0629
r = 0.0629

Thus, the interest rate on the 6-year bond needs to be 6.29%, so that portfolio B will pay out the same as portfolio A. Thus, the forward rate must be 6.29%.