Rise in Bed Bug Infestations

Rise in Bed Bug Infestations Question: Why Are Bed Bugs Making a Comeback? Answer: For centuries, bed bugs were a common pest wherever humans lived. According to Susan C. Jones, Assistant Professor of Entomology at Ohio State University, bed bugs traveled to North America with the colonists. From the 17th century until World War II, people slept with these bloodthirsty parasites biting them. Just after World War II, strong pesticides like DDT and chlordane came into widespread use. Bed bugs nearly disappeared completely over several decades of heavy pesticide use. Bed bug infestations were limited, and bed bugs were no longer considered a major pest. Eventually, these pesticides were proven harmful to peoples health and the environment. The U.S. banned DDT in 1972 when it was shown to contribute to the decline of birds like the bald eagle. A total ban on chlordane followed in 1988. Peoples attitudes about pesticides also changed. Knowing these chemicals could harm us, we lost our enthusiasm for fumigating every last bug in our homes. The pesticides used in homes today do a better job of targeting specific pest populations. Rather than spray a broad spectrum pesticide in their homes, people use chemical baits and traps to kill common pests, like ants or roaches. Since bed bugs feed only on blood, they arent attracted to these pest control baits. Just as broad spectrum pesticide use waned, cheap air travel allowed people to visit places where bed bugs still persisted. Bed bugs hadnt made headlines in years, and most travelers never considered the possibility of bringing bed bugs home. Stowaway bed bugs in luggage and clothing made their way to cities and towns where they had been eradicated decades ago. Bed bugs now infest numerous public places, where they can crawl onto clothing and hitchhike to your home. Hotels top the list of bed bug hideouts, but they may also be found in theaters, airplanes, subways, trains, buses, prisons, and dormitories. Your best guard against bed bugs is information. Know what they look like, and take appropriate steps to keep them from crossing your threshold.

Economics - Public Utilities Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Economics - Public Utilities - Term Paper Example Then a critical evaluation of empirical studies in this regard is done and country experiences are also discussed. The main countries included in the analysis are USA, UK, South Africa, Lebanon, Latin American nations, MENA nations, India, China, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The last section concludes the essay on the basis of the discussion given. The essay shows that initial conditions existing at the time of privatization process, the nature of privatization, the regulatory practices existing in a nation all determine the impact of privatization process in a nation. In the countries however, most evidence support our thesis statement in this regard. Telecommunications has been one of the rapidly growing sectors in countries all over the world. This sector provides significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product of many nations (Li and Xu, 2002).Moreover, the sector contributes to other businesses by reducing their transaction costs and thus creating positive externalities. Thus telecommunication sector is considered to be of much economic and technological importance (Li and Xu, 2004). There had been significant changes in this sector transforming from a state owned, state operated an monopolistically behaved sector to a private owned and liberalized one since the 1980s with the privatization of British Telecom and the introduction of competition in the US long distance services (Wallsten, 2001).Based on the theoretical perspective son privatization, it has been argued that the privatization of telecommunication sector will result in increasing the sector’s efficiency and overall performance. The empirical studies show the results varying in different countries. Given this background, this essay critically evaluates the privatization process of telecommunications all over the world and its impact. This essay is

Canadian National Health Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Canadian National Health Plan - Assignment Example In carrying out the above research, it would require the researcher to analyze the two health plans in terms of coverage, care, and choice of doctors, an analysis that requires an understanding of the human behavior (Monette, Sullivan and Dejong 125). According to August Comte, the French philosopher whose ideas form the basis of the approach, true knowledge can be obtained by experiment and observation and is based on experiences of the senses. Positivist thinkers use this research approach as a way of generating knowledge, so it has to be understood within the framework of the assumptions and principles of science. All the knowledge available to humans came from positive information of experience that can be observed. One disadvantage of social research is that it is difficult to obtain repeatable and solid results as human beings are variable and complex species, thus leaving the positivist approach as the one best suited. Positivism roots lie in empiricism that works with facts that can be observed only. Its basic principle is that all knowledge that can be classified as facts is based on the positive information obtained from experience that can be observed (Monette, Sullivan and Dejong

Yoga Sutras Essay Example for Free

Yoga Sutras Essay My husband insists that yoga is nothing but stretching. I knew there had to be a little more to it than just stretching, but before I started this course I mostly agreed with his opinion. In fact, thats the main reason I decided to take this class. I hoped to incorporate stretching into more of a routine for me so that my flexibility would improve. In just three short weeks I have learned that there truly is much more to yoga than bending and stretching: its a lifestyle. When we first discussed the Yoga Sutras in class I wasnt entirely sure what to make of them. But reading further into them I have discovered how much yoga has to offer a person. Comparable to the Ten Commandments I was raised to follow, the Yamas teach selflessness and responsibility. Applying this to real life is much easier said than done, but definitely a goal to be set and taken seriously. I dont consider myself a bad person, and Im certainly not perfect either. I dont make a habit of lying, but it would be a lie for me to say that everything Ive ever said was one hundred percent truth. I stole a candy bar from a grocery store when I was a kid. I learned my lesson then and havent stolen since. I consider morals to be the foundation to a solid and happy life. There is so much controversy these days regarding religion and what is right and wrong. I am a Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ. Each religion has its own dos and donts, but you dont have to be of a certain spiritual-mindedness to learn the art of yoga. Its refreshing to find that yoga goes beyond lessons of physical well being to teach morality and ethical conduct. My priority in this class still remains the same to refine my flexibility. But I have been reminded of my roots, of my foundation of morals. I aim to continue yoga and work towards achieving the universal morality it teaches.

Video Games and Ethical Responsibility Essay -- Video Games Ethics

Video Games and Ethical Responsibility We are the first generation to grow up in a world full of computers. Everyone and their cousin has one. It is almost impossible to go on a vacation anymore without seeing a computer. Some hotels and cruise ships have public computers and even many planes have video game systems built into the back of every chair. With computers being so predominant in our daily lives, we must have some use for them. Many people use them for work and many for the internet, but an overwhelming amount use them to play games as well. Games as simple as solitaire, as fun as pinball, or as challenging as chess. These are simple games that almost anyone can pick up. You can teach your four year old child how to play solitaire before you even have to teach them to shuffle a deck of cards. The simplicity of being able to play a game on a computer and the advancements in technology creates a huge market for video games, and with this, much more in depth and advanced games are created. Such as games where you c an charge onto Omaha Beach as a soldier in World War II, or you can live the life of a gangster and break every rule in the book, or you can build and then govern your own modern day city. These are just a few examples of what video game creators are offering people these days. Each of these games not only offers more in terms of how interactive they are, but they are also visually breath taking. Certain games are capable of letting you zoom in and to see a worm in an apple and then progressively zoom out to see the whole world. Other games allow you to shoot an enemy and watch his arm fall off or his head explode. Others even allow you to watch your army destroy and pillage an entire town. The appearance of everything is slightly less than lifelike and mistaking a video game for real life currently would be near impossible, but that is rapidly changing. The mental effects of allowing people to easily commit such atrocities in a realistic but virtual world are not known since we are the first generation to grow up with video games. Is it desensitizing us? Will we be more likely to perform these actions in real life? With questions like these being thrown up in the air, people wonder whether game developers have any responsibility over the content in their video games. The creation of the video game industry The first video game, P... ....S. Congress, House Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, The Impact of Interactive Violence on Children (Washington, DC: GPO, 2003) 2. 4 Pew Internet, Gaming Technology and Entertainment Among College Students, 2003, Pew Internet & American Life, 16 Nov. 2003, . 5 Andy Patrizio, Did Game Play Role in Suicide?, 2002, Wired News, 16 Nov. 2003, . 6 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, The Impact of Interactive Violence on Children (Washington, DC: GPO, 2003) 6. 7 Entertainment Software Rating Board, ESRB Game Ratings, 2003, Entertainment Software Rating Board, 16 Nov. 2003, . 8 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Governmental Affairs, Rating Entertainment Ratings: How Well Are They Working for Parents and What Can Be Done to Improve Them (Washington, DC: GPO, 2002) 2. 9 David Walsh, Sixth Annual Video and Computer Game Report Card, 2001, National Institute on Media and the Family, 16 Nov. 2003, .

Neriagi Nerikomi

Neriage and Nerikomi are two ceramic techniques that have been used for many years by various ceramicists. Although the terms Neriage and Nerikomi are used interchangeably they are very different. Neriage is done on a potter’s wheel and means that the clay is being mixed and pulled up as it is thrown where as Nerikomi is done by hand and by pressing clay into a mold. Both methods are done with colored clays which are usually earth tones such as grey, reds, blues, and beige. Neriage and Nerikomi both originated from Japan and other areas of Asia where they have been practiced for a period of time. Neriage means to pull up and mix. This is what creates the pattern of colors within the clay. Two different color clays are mixed together to try and imitate the look of agate; that is why is it also called agateware. Agate is a variety of quartz that comes in a variety of colors. Neriage was brought into America and Europe in the twentieth century by the Mingei. The founder of the Mingei was Yanagi Soetsu. Mingei means art of the people and was an art movement in Japan. The goal was to create basic art made by ordinary people that still had an artistic flair. Nerikomi means to mix and press into. Nerikomi is done by hand rather than on a wheel. The same concept of mixing is used in Nerikomi as in Neriage. It is made by mixing metal oxides and stains into the clay to give it it’s color. The clay is then shaped into logs and then molded into forms. Each form is molded to a uniform thickness and an identical pattern is created on each side of the form. Nerikomi began in the Tang Dynasty in the seventh century and has been practiced by the Europeans and Egyptians. This technique is very complex but is very down to earth in the making process. It is made by hand and is very traditional. Nerikomi is a very difficult process but the end result is beautiful. Various artists throughout time have used these techniques. Matsui Kosei has used both techniques. Matsui Kosei is considered a master of Neriage. He researched the ceramics of Japan, China, and Korea to become a scholar of his trade. He was born in 1927 which was the start of the folk art movement in Japan. Being born in this time probably influenced him greatly because its main goal was to support the belief that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. He has made many pieces such as bowls, vases, vessels, and various other things. Rich Alexander is another artist that has been introduced to Neriage. He is from Clinton, Washington and aspires to create rustic pieces with a modern feel. His work is simple pots and vases. He chooses to use browns and beiges because of his closeness to nature. His signature designs and glazes include wood ashes to give the piece a more natural texture and color. Another artist is Thivo. Her work consists of Nerikomi and other ceramics. She was originally born in Vietnam but moved to France for professional arts training. After this she moved to New York City. Her main designs are flowers and abstract colors. Her bowls and vessels are odd designs and contain an almost mesh like pattern on the edges. Her pieces are also very symbolistic of nature. Neriage and Nerikomi are both ceramic methods that originate from Japan and other areas of Asia. Although the techniques are often confused they are very different and started over a hundred years apart. Neriage is a much younger art form compared to the ancient Nerikomi. Both techniques are very complex and take much study to perfect. Many artists such as; Matsui Kosei, Rich Alexander, and Thivo have reached a greatness within these art forms and many will continue to practice these timeless methods.

“August Houseplant”: A Commentary Essay

‘August Houseplant’ details the encounter of a beautiful and wild philodendron by the protagonist in his backyard. Astounded by the plant’s beauty and wilderness, the protagonist establishes an emotional connection with the plant and contemplates bringing it into his home to protect it from the autumn cold. The narrative perspective and concrete language of the August Houseplant serves to present his themes as experiences associated with society, resulting in highly original and symbolic body of work charged with semantic associations that must be intuitively comprehended by the reader. The first aspect a reader notices about â€Å"August Houseplant† is its irregular structure. August Houseplant is a ‘concrete poem’, in which its poetic structure is used to represent the structural pattern of a philodendron plant. To achieve this irregular structure Levertov generously uses enjambment and caesuras. The purpose of a scattered structure could also be argued to be a rebellion against the neat structure of a regular poem, thus making irregularity an equivalent to the plant’s wilderness. Through the poet’s diction, use of stylistic devices such as personification, enjambment, structure, and the use of vivid sensory imagery, the poet beautifully depicts the wilderness of the philodendron plant and suggests that the intention of forcefully domesticating the wild would only prove to be naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve and futile, (even if the intention were good), as it is unnatural to displace the wild of its natural environment. We are first exposed to the plant’s beauty and wilderness in the opening stanza in which the author anxiously questions what may be lurking in his backyard, â€Å"Is there someone, an intruder, in my backyard?† We later realize that the intruder is a wild philodendron plant, and this immediate image brings an aura of â€Å"wilderness†; of something that is â€Å"untamed†, uncultivated, undisciplined and uncontrollable: it summers on the deck, touches the floor, feels the chair and explores new ground, as if it were a wild animal craving for more space to reside in. The wilderness of the plant is a sharp contrast to the impression of the protagonist’s backyard in which the plant enters. The protagonist’s backyard is a private and domesticated sanctuary, complete with a â€Å"deck, a floor, a chair†-all elements pointing to cultivation and civilization, and immediately we sense that the plant has been displaced out of its natural habitat. We are also drawn by the sheer size of the plant; as the first part of the plant that is seen by the protagonist is its leaves, (â€Å"Ah! It’s you, dear leaves†). With this, Levertov has now established the main features of the plant, that it is wild, displaced and large, which leads us to empathize with it when the protagonist contemplates bringing it in for the winter-The fact that the narrator wants to believe that the mouse has actually become his pet, and wants to imagine that it no longer fears him, says more about the narrator than the mouse. He wants the mouse to trust him, and to feel like he is a care-taking figure to it, when perhaps he realizes that it can not perceive him as such. The narrator states: â€Å"And when you’re maneuvered in, how small the room will become; how can I set you where your green questions won’t lean over human shoulders†¦to enquire, mutely patient, about the walls?† In other words, â€Å"Is my plant more comfortable with me now than before?† Here Levertov suggests that the plant might accept captivity, but it is not certain. When the mouse disappears, the narrator is troubled because he feels protective of the mouse, fears for its safety from hawks, owls, snakes and cats. He sees these threats as negative influences, which demonstrates his naivetà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and simplicity, for the fear of them teaches the mouse how to survive. The â€Å"hawks† are an essential part of life; even humans cannot live without the existence of threats. Throughout the poem the protagonist has a tone of awe and anxiety. He is fascinated at the sight of the beautiful plant: (â€Å"Ah! It’s you, dear leaves,† / â€Å"As if you knew fall is coming, you seem to desire everything that surrounds you, all of air, all of light, all of shade.†) and his thought of bringing the plant in also suggests to the fact that he is fascinated by its beauty. This fascination for the plant establishes an emotional attachment of the protagonist for the plant; he begins to worry what will become of the plant when it gets cold. â€Å"How am I going to carry you in, when it gets cold?† This tone of anxiety is parallel to the tone a protective parent would feel for his child, which ironically, we reject entirely: Levertov has established that the plant is wild, large and already displaced out of its home when in the protagonist’s backyard, yet if the protagonist brings the plant into his home, it is perhaps more likely to be because of his fascination for it, instead of his wanting to protect it; domesticating something that is born wild would do more harm than good to it. Moreover, we realize that the protagonist is aware that the plant is wild and would not adapt to his small home, he states, â€Å"It’s those long, ever-longer, reaching arms that don’t fit through the door† This protection is both forceful and naive-the plant is wild and won’t â€Å"fit through the door†, thus the protagonist’s intention of domesticating the plant is a naive The plant is personified; The plant is personified, By allowing the philodendron to plant to have such This personification not only establishes a feeling a wilderness of the plant but also establishes the persona’s emotional attachment to the plant. Finding the plant so beautiful, the protagonist deliberates how he can bring the plant indoors, fearing that it will be cold once autumn arrives (-cold: â€Å"How am I going to carry you in, when it gets cold?†). September 19, 2008 Angelica Tong, 12BJ â€Å"August Houseplant† (Levertov) from A Door in the Hive (1989) English A1 HL (CYeo)