Why would more countries join the communist side if colonialism had continued during the Cold War?

First, for oppressed people, Communism sounds rather appealing.  The people get rid of their upper-class oppressors, and many in the developing world felt this way towards the Western colonial powers.  However, these people were not true Marxists.  The Soviet Union, in order to gain support overseas, sent aid and military advisers to countries that they thought would be friendly to them.  North Vietnam asked for and received lots of support from the Soviet Union during the Vietnam War--Hanoi's air defense system was largely funded by Moscow.  Of course, the developing world was often able to play the rival superpowers off each other.  The United States often had to match and exceed the aid package given by the Soviet Union in order to make sure that its potential client states stayed in the Western camp.  

You mention colonialism continuing after the Cold War, and outside of monetary and ideological reasons, this would have been very difficult to continue in the traditional sense anyway.  When you look at the traditional colonial powers of Europe, France and Britain, they payed a very heavy price in terms of blood and treasure during WWII.  For a time during the war, France lost its colonial possessions to the Axis powers.  WWII was the final death blow against colonialism for the Western world and the end of this time period began the rush to create client states by the two remaining superpowers, America and the Soviet Union.  

What is a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test?

Cancers diagnosed:
Prostate cancer

Why performed: The benefit of this test is that it can detect signs of early-stage prostate cancer when there are no symptoms. When this cancer is treated in the early stages of the disease, there is a high probability of cure.

Prostate cancer is the second most common form of cancer among men in the United States (the most common is skin cancer) and the second leading cause of death behind lung cancer. The American Cancer Society estimated that nearly 220,800 men in the United States would diagnosed with this disease in 2015, and more than 27,000 men would die from it.

Certain groups of men are at a greater risk of developing prostate cancer. Age is a risk factor; the older a man gets, the higher the risk of getting prostate cancer. More than 60 percent of all diagnosed prostate cancer is found in men sixty-five years of age or older. Men with a family history of prostate cancer in an immediate relative, such as a father, brother, or son, are two to three times more likely to develop the disease. It is also more common among African American men, with more men in this racial group dying from the disease than in any other ethnic group. It is less common in men who are Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or from the Pacific Islands.

In the past, men who at high risk for the disease were advised to begin testing with both a digital rectal examination (DRE) and a PSA test at age forty-five, while all men fifty years and older were advised to be screened. However, there is not currently a consensus among medical professionals regarding the PSA test. For men who have had prostate cancer, the test should be repeated yearly unless a medical provider suggests otherwise.

Patient preparation: No special preparation is needed for this blood test. There are indications that a recent urinary tract infection, a recent urinary catheter, prostate stones, a prostate massage, or a DRE right before the blood test may cause the PSA levels to rise. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid those situations before the blood test in order to avoid a false rise in PSA.

Steps of the procedure: Since this procedure is a blood test, it takes only a few minutes to perform. The blood is then sent to a laboratory for analysis. It may take a few days up to two weeks before the test results are available.

After the procedure: The patient can return to normal activity. It is important to follow up on the results of the blood test to ensure that the PSA levels are within normal limits.

Risks: False positive or false negative results; resulting procedures that may negatively affect other body parts.

Results: There are several ways to interpret PSA results. A more traditional approach considers less than 4 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) to be normal, 4 to 10 ng/mL slightly elevated, 10 to 20 ng/mL moderately elevated, and over 20 ng/mL significantly elevated. Other physicians evaluate the PSA level based on age and suggest that the normal ranges vary by age group. For physicians who take that approach, less than 2.5 ng/mL is normal for men forty to forty-nine years old, less than 3.5 ng/ml is normal for men fifty to fifty-nine years old, less than 4.5 ng/mL is normal for men sixty to sixty-nine years of age, and less than 6.5 ng/mL is normal for men seventy or older.

If the initial PSA level is found to be within normal limits, then one of the most important factors in determining whether prostate cancer is present is the change in PSA level from year to year. A dramatic rise in PSA levels from one screening to the next may be indicative of the presence of prostate cancer or other problems with the prostate. When the PSA level is elevated, it is important to have additional testing to determine the cause. Additional tests may include a transrectal ultrasound, in which a small probe is inserted into the rectum to take video images of the prostate, or a biopsy of the prostate, which involves inserting a needle into the prostate to take tissue samples. These samples are then checked for evidence of cancer.

Ablin, Richard J., and Ron Piana. The Great Prostate Hoax: How Big Medicine Hijacked the PSA Test and Caused a Public Health Disaster. New York: Palgrave, 2014. Print.

American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures. Atlanta: American Cancer Society, 2015. Print.

Bostwick, D. G., et al. “Human Prostate Cancer Risk Factors.” Cancer 101.10 (2004): 2371–2490. Print

Ellsworth, Pamela, John Heaney, and Cliff Gill. One Hundred Questions and Answers about Prostate Cancer. Sudbury: Jones, 2003. Print.

“Prostate Cancer.” American Cancer Society. American Cancer Society, 2014. PDF file.

US Cancer Statistics Working Group. “United States Cancer Statistics: 1999–2011—Incidence and Mortality Web-Based Report.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute. US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2014. PDF file.

Do people talk the way they do in Shakespeare's plays?

No. Most of Shakespeare's plays are written in what is known as blank verse. Blank verse is an unrhymed line of speech written in iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is a line of poetry or verse that contains ten syllables (two syllables equal one foot; you may hear this expressed as five feet in future study). The first syllable in a line of iambic pentameter will be unstressed and the second will be stressed and continue in this pattern until the tenth syllable.

o ROmeo, ROmeo! WHEREfore ART thou ROmeo?

Note the lines will often have either nine, ten or eleven syllables but will still follow blank verse.

For the most part, in real life, we speak in various patterns. Occasionally, that will include a blank verse line, but in general, people do not speak this way. Shakespeare's language employed a great deal of puns (word play hinting at two or more meanings to any given word or phrase). Yes, we do speak in puns in day-to-day language, especially when speaking casually or employing common slang with peers. However, Shakespeare’s use of puns was deliberate and measured, and therefore it is likely that we are not quite as deliberate as Shakespeare was when selecting specific speech for his characters. Therefore, though we may find examples of human speech that mirror Shakespeare’s language, we do not, on the whole, speak as Romeo, Juliet, Macbeth, or Lear do.

Provide a summary of "A Night-Rain in Summer" by James Leigh Hunt.

In the first stanza, the speaker seems to be addressing an absent person, which is an example of apostrophe, or perhaps he is addressing himself. Given that he uses a first person narration (using "I") in the second stanza, he does seem to be addressing himself and/or giving himself advice. 

The outside air is refreshing. He wants it to fill the room as it fills the outside world "With the breath of rain's sweet might." He tells himself to listen ("Hark") to the "burthen" of the rain. This "burden" of the rain is meant to be ironic because the rain is actually a cleansing, refreshing notion to him. The burden is just the rain striking the ground and the walls of his room. Note that "Love" is capitalized. With this, the speaker notes either the abstract notion of love or maybe even God. Thus, there is the presence of an abstract love or some spiritual Being that persists in the air and rain providing for peace and "gentle sleeps." The rain has a calming effect on him. 

In the second stanza, the speaker says that he will not have any lights in his room. The darkness is natural and peaceful. The window will be open ("not a window-pane") so that he can fully embrace this cleansing, fresh air and rain. He invokes God with "God's darkness" and this means the night itself. In this spiritual connection with God and nature, the speaker is very much a Romantic. He will rest peacefully because of this spiritual connection. The last line might also suggest the natural rest of death: "In the pure earth-shadow of natural rest." In either sense, the "night-rain" with its natural purity and spiritually calming presence, will bring him a peaceful sleep. 

What are the differences between monocot and dicot leaves?

Monocot leaves have one cotyledon. A cotyledon is an embryonic leaf in seed bearing plants. Another characteristic is the veins in the leaves run parallel to each other. Vascular bundles are usually complexly arranged. This means the vascular bundles are scattered throughout the stem. A fibrous root system is present in a monocot. A fibrous root is formed by thin, moderately branching roots growing from the stem. Lastly, flower petals usually occur in multiples of three.

Dicot leaves have two cotyledons. The veins in a leaf are usually net-like. There is a main vein going down the middle of the leaf where smaller veins branch off from. Vascular bundles are arranged in a ring. A taproot is usually present in a dicot. A taproot is a system of roots where the main root (taproot) is the largest root growing from the stem with little branching. Lastly, flower petals appear in multiples of four or five.

In The Pearl, what are some of the things Kino says he will have when he sells his pearl?

The first thing that Kino imagines upon finding the pearl is that he will be able to afford a doctor for his son, Coyotito, who was stung by a scorpion. 

As the novel progresses, Kino's imagination for what the pearl could offer him and his family grows. He imagines that he and his wife, Juana, could afford a proper wedding ceremony in their local church. He also imagines that their family could buy new, expensive things, like clothing, a harpoon (for fishing), and a hunting rifle. 

Kino's biggest dream, however, is that he could use the money he earns from selling the pearl to send his son to school. He imagines buying Coyotito a school uniform and books, and he imagines that his son will have many more opportunities after he is educated.

Why do you think Shakespeare included two different perspectives of the cock crowing in Act I, Scene 1 of Hamlet — Horatio’s Pagan perspective...

Old King Hamlet's ghost's origins are questionable. He claims that he is in Purgatory, purging his soul of the sins with which he died when Claudius struck him down without giving him opportunity to make confession and atone. He says he is "confined to fast in fires / Till the foul crimes done in [his] days of nature / Are burnt and purged away" (1.5.16-18). The problem? Catholics are the only Christians who believe in Purgatory; however, Hamlet attends school in Wittenberg, a city famous for being the origin of the Protestant Reformation. Protestants do not believe in Purgatory. So, is Catholicism or Protestantism ruling here? If it is Catholicism, then the ghost can legitimately be Hamlet's father, returned to charge his son with exacting revenge on his murderer. If it is Protestantism, then the ghost cannot be Hamlet's father, and this is why Horatio (Hamlet's university friend) fears the ghost might be a demon sent to "deprive [Hamlet of his] sovereignty of reason / And draw [him] into madness" (1.4.81-82). If the ghost is really a demon, then it poses a serious danger to Hamlet. This ambiguity is later indirectly answered by the fact that the ghost that visited Hamlet was speaking truthfully: his brother did murder him in the way that he described.

So, the dual accounts concerning the rooster's crow that prompted the ghost's original disappearance points to the confusion that will surround it later, when Hamlet is present and can speak to it. Horatio gives it a pagan origin; Marcellus, a Christian one. This indirection foreshadows and underwrites the similar indirection concerning Hamlet's father's ghost.