Stacks :: Free Essay Writer

Stacks Data Structures and Algorithms 3.3 Stacks Another way of storing data is in a stack. A stack is generally implemented with only two principle operations (apart from a constructor and destructor methods): push adds an item to a stack pop extracts the most recently pushed item from the stack Other methods such as top returns the item at the top without removing it [9] isempty determines whether the stack has anything in it are sometimes added. A common model of a stack is a plate or coin stacker. Plates are "pushed" onto to the top and "popped" off the top. Stacks form Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) queues and have many applications from the parsing of algebraic expressions to ... A formal specification of a stack class would look like: typedef struct t_stack *stack; stack ConsStack( int max_items, int item_size ); /* Construct a new stack Pre-condition: (max_items * 0) && (item_size * 0) Post-condition: returns a pointer to an empty stack */ void Push( stack s, void *item ); /* Push an item onto a stack Pre-condition: (s is a stack created by a call to ConsStack) && (existing item count * max_items) && (item != NULL) Post-condition: item has been added to the top of s */ void *Pop( stack s ); /* Pop an item of a stack Pre-condition: (s is a stack created by a call to ConsStack) && (existing item count *= 1) Post-condition: top item has been removed from s */ Points to note: a. A stack is simply another collection of data items and thus it would be possible to use exactly the same specification as the one used for our general collection. However, collections with the LIFO semantics of stacks are so important in computer science that it is appropriate to set up a limited specification appropriate to stacks only. b. Although a linked list implementation of a stack is possible (adding and deleting from the head of a linked list produces exactly the LIFO semantics of a stack), the

The portrait of a real man in modern society

The portrait ofa real man in modern society Life has always made great demands on man and these demands change unrecognizably as years go by. For instance, all that was required of a primitive man was the ability to hunt well, whereas modern people have to combine different complicated roles. We live in a dynamically developing world where everything Is planned down to the minute. All the systems of todays society function together and men are just â€Å"cogs in the machine†. And yet these â€Å"cogs† must be flexible, intelligent and active. But on the other hand, our lifestyle offers some benefits as well.For example, meeting numerous challenges gives you the sense of achievement and raises your self-esteem. But If our world today Is so diverse, Is there a unified Image of the real man? This question troubles many people and a great number of them try to find an answer to it. To my mind, one of the most valuable qualities today is intelligence, which allows one to ful fil one's duties, get and analyse information and come up with effective solutions. But Intelligence alone Isn't enough to make a successful person. creativity and Imagination are quite Important qualltles ppreciated by todays employers.In such a highly-developed world as ours man should be capable of inventing new methods of doing routine things. That's why discovering your talents Is becoming more vital nowadays than ever before. Having an activity that you are good at can brighten up your life and, what's more, protect you from all the temptations which can attract idlers so much. Furthermore, they say, â€Å"A sound mind in sound body'. That's why all the qualities listed above are Inseparable from physical fitness. Many people nowadays attend gyms or work out by hemselves In order to stay fit and healthy.Another pastime which Is gaining popularity is extreme sports. Daring people go in for mountaineering, surfing, bungee jumping or other risky activities to see how far their l imits may go. However, this tendency isnt as admirable as It may seem, for many people put their lives at risk lust to fill the emptiness In their souls or minds with adrenaline. Speaking frankly, I'd rather they took up something useful for the society instead. Everybody knows that our world today is full of problems – global and local, major and minor, and people ith an active life position cant but think about the poor, the homeless and the disabled.The majority of us have understood the importance of charity, volunteer work and fighting against such social evils as alcoholism and drug addiction. To sum up, a real man should possess all the qualities which I have mentioned. In my opinion, one of the examples ofa real man of the 21 st century is Chulpan Khamatova, a gifted actress whose talent Is unique and lustrous. She Is also known for her unprecedented social activity which draws public attention to the problems of children with cancer.In the year 2006 Chulpan became a co-founder of a charity fund â€Å"Gift of life† which helps children suffering from oncological diseases. She manages to find time for charity work although the actress's profession Is extremely hard and , besides, she has three children of her own to take care of. Of course, not everyone can live up to todays expectations and it has always been a hard task to meet the demands of the society. No one is perfect, but we can try to develop all tnese good qualltles In ourselves, as ellow once put It, â€Å"All are arcnltects 0T Fate working in these walls of Time†¦ â€Å"

Law and Morality

Law and Morality Sir John Salmond described the law as ‘the body of principles recognised and applied by the state in the administration of justice’. They are a set of rules and boundaries that are established by authorities which must be obeyed, otherwise, a sanction may be given. Morals are beliefs, values and principles that are set by society or part of a society, determining what is right and wrong. Phil Harris stated that they are â€Å"standards of behaviour†.Unlike legal rules, compliance with moral rules is voluntary, that are often informally enforced through social or domestic pressure. Law and morals are both normative; they specify what should ideally be done and mark the boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable conduct. However, the ways in which they both do this are different: laws are codes of conduct which a superior power has decided should be compulsory. They are formally enforced by appointed authorities and relate to all members of soci ety.One example is the ‘smoking ban’ which was introduced by the Smoke-Free (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations 2007 and more recently the proposed change to the legislation regarding same-sex marriage under the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, which previously meant that gay marriage was prohibited. Morals can be seen as a set of values which are not enforced by law. They define how one ought to act not how one must act and whilst they are not subject to moral enforcement, they can be informally imposed.There are significant differences between moral rules and legal rules; whereas Laws can be introduced almost immediately by Parliament or the Courts, morals tend not to be backed by legal sanctions and are often reinforced by social pressures; such as family and friends. They can have powerful influences on people’s behaviour, and develop over many years; often heavily embedded in religious and social history. Compliance with moral rules is voluntary and ther e are often no formal punishments.Today we live in a diverse society which has meant that as morals have developed: they have become pluralistic and between individuals or social groups opinions on moral codes now vary. Within Christianity, acts such as abortion and euthanasia are strongly opposed, while other religious groups may not deem these as wrong. Similarly, in Hindu and Muslim communities arranged marriages are encouraged whilst in non-religious communities these are disfavoured.Furthermore, legal rules can enforce strict liability, such as the requirement of wearing a seatbelt in a car or not exceeding a speed limit, whereas moral rules cannot- they can only be broken voluntarily. Legal and moral codes can coincide; law can often be seen reinforcing and seeking to uphold our moral values. For example, Lord Atkins’ ‘neighbour principle’, which is the basis of the tort of negligence and is thought to have derived from the biblical command to ‘love t hy neighbour’ which is also believed to mean do not harm thy neighbour.However, this can be seen as a major problem as morals will consistently change over time, to reflect a change in attitudes, and the law must attempt to keep up in these situations. An example of this can be seen in R v R (1991), which changed the law, so that rape within marriage became a crime. It was viewed that the wife was legally seen as almost the property of the husband, via the marriage agreement. This was view was morally outdated and wrong, yet the law was very slow in adapting this moral view. Another example of how moral change has led to legal change is the case of Diane Blood. Mrs Blood’s husband died from meningitis.They had been trying to start a family and she arranged for sperm to be extracted from him. Following his death she attempted to use the sperm to become pregnant, but this was banned under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. She won the right to have the inseminat ion carried out abroad. Under UK law their births had to be registered with a blank where their father’s name should have been. This was held to be incompatible with the human right to private and family life and the law has since been changed. With actions like theft and murder, they are classed as ‘wrong’ both morally and legally.But for crimes such as parking violations they are not seen as immoral, whilst immoral acts such as adultery are not a criminal offence under UK law. If laws enforce morals, then we are faced with the problem that what one person considers immoral, another might not, making it harder to decide which viewpoint it should sanction. This is established in the case of Gillick, where Mrs Gillick sought a declaration that what she saw as an immoral activity (contraceptive advice and treatment available to girls under the age of consent) was illegal regarding its immorality.There was a conflict, as some saw this as immoral (as it would encoura ge underage sex) whilst others felt that it was moral (as underage sex would occur anyway, but this would help prevent unwanted pregnancies). This shows that if such conflict can arise between law and morality, then the two cannot be viewed as equal. There are further disputes that the law should respond to the changing moral attitudes on euthanasia; the British Social Attitudes Survey 2007 found that 80% of people are in favour of legalising it and despite this, there has been no further change.There are various theories on what the relationship of law and morals should be. The first theory is natural law, which is based on morality. This states that there is a higher law to which laws must conform and one should disregard an immoral law, unless doing so would lead to social unrest. Another theory is positivism, which holds a more scientific view of the law and states that if legislation has been correctly made it should be obeyed even if it is immoral. The Hart/Devlin Debate follo wed the publication of the Wolfenden report in 1957.Lord Devlin was a prominent judge and a supporter of natural law whereas the academic Professor Hart was a positivist. The report recommended the legalisation of prostitution and homosexuality ‘should not intervene in the private lives of citizens or seek to enforce any particular pattern of behaviour further than necessary’ to protect others. Hart, who was influenced by the earlier theories of John Stewart Mill, supported the report’s approach, stating that legal enforcement of morals was unnecessary as it interferes with individual liberty.He believed that law and morals should be separate and the state should not intervene to restrict the freedom of individuals. Mill stated that one should not have to follow society’s morals; they should be free to act as they wish, provided their acts do not harm others and Hart only added to this so that their acts also do not harm themselves. Devlin, on the other ha nd, was strongly opposed to the report on a natural law approach. He felt that society had a certain moral standard, which the law had a duty to support, as society would disintegrate without a common morality and this morality should be protected by the law.In this debate Devlin stated â€Å"individual liberty could only flourish in a stable society; disintegration of our society through lack of shared morality would, therefore, threaten individual freedom†. This highlights his beliefs that law and morality are inseparable and the law should in fact intervene in order to support morality. Jeremy Bentham, a philosopher and jurist, rejected natural law theories as ‘nonsense upon stilts’ and concluded that the validity of law does not depend on whether it is good or bad.Ideally, the law should aim to provide the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people, but even if it doesn’t, it may still be a valid law. He added that what the law is and what it should be are different issues. Contrary to Bentham, Aristotle a 4th century Greek philosopher based his ideas on the laws of nature. He stated that ethics is all about learning to be a ‘good person’ and you should not do anything wrong unless there is a very good reason to do so. These views have been perceived as a ‘balancing exercise’ as it is necessary to determine the correct way to behave by weighing up the benefits against the consequences.The Wolfendon Report supported Professor Hart’s view that law and morality should be separate, however, various cases decided since the report show that judges are imposing their moral views in their judgements, such as in the case of R v Brown and Others, the defendants had willingly consented to sado-masochistic practices. Despite that this act was chosen, they were prosecuted and convictions were upheld based on public policy to defend the morality of society. The law is therefore seen to attempt to upho ld what it considers to be public morality, even if some may dispute the correctness of that moral code.This is a contrast to the case of R v Wilson, at her request the defendant branded his initials on his wife with a hot knife. The scars led to him being charged with ABH S47. COA held his conduct amounted to â€Å"tattooing† and that it was not in the public interest to impose a criminal sanction, still showing that the public and their moral views still influence our law. The differing approaches in these cases clearly show that judges are letting their own moral values affect their judgements. The courts often find themselves at the centre of hugely difficult moral decisions involving life and death.They are often forced to decide between individual rights and moral codes. Diane Pretty contracted motor neuron disease and was confined to a wheel chair. She required no treatment to keep her alive, but had great difficulty talking, eating and sleeping. She was concerned that her husband would be convicted of a serious criminal offence if he helped to end her life and sought the permission of the court for active euthanasia. The courts reluctantly refused her request. This relates to euthanasia which can be seen as both morally and legally wrong, reinforcing the idea that certain views in ociety share the same moral and legal opinion. On the other hand, only a year later it was decided that ‘Miss B’, who was suffering from a terminal illness and receiving medical treatment keeping her alive, had the right to refuse to continue with the treatment. This was allowed as it amounted to passive euthanasia which is legally acceptable. Society considers it wrong to take the life of another human being and these two cases reflect this moral viewpoint. In the case of Re A (2000), Siamese twins who had their major organs conjoined were both at risk of dying.However, separation of the twins would have led to the death of one of them. The parents were a gainst the operation and wanted to put the girls fate in the hands of God. The courts however, intervened and decided the operation should go ahead; it was considered a successful operation if one girl survived while her weaker sister died. This follows Bentham’s views that overall more people would benefit if the operation were to go ahead, although this has caused controversy over which individuals moral code should have applied to the situation.The influence of both Hart and Devlin has continued into more recent cases further fuelling the debate as to whether law should enforce moral values or not. In Shaw v DPP the influence of Devlin was seen in the decision with the court describing the ‘fundamental purpose of the law, to conserve not only the safety and order, but also the moral welfare of the state. ’ This was also seen in Knuller v DPP which raised the issue of outraging public decency.Hart has had influence on the infamous Sexual Offences Act 1967 as we ll as reforms in legislation such as the Obscene Publications Act 1968 and the Divorce Law Reform Act 1969. A substantial body of English law is based on moral rules: there is a close relationship between law and morals, as the law does uphold moral values: the existence of laws that serve to defend basic values, such as laws against murder, rape and fraud prove that the two can work together. They both influence each other to a certain extent with the highly moral Ten Commandments being the basis for the UK legal systems most fundamentally important laws.On the other hand, alcohol or smoking restrictions do not reflect a moral code as they have no negative effect on other people. The extent to which law should be influenced by morality remains topical, as mentioned before with laws regarding same-sex marriage and euthanasia. While it can be argued that a significant section of society has come to adopt the view taken by Professor Hart, there nevertheless remains a widely shared bel ief that weakening of the moral basis of the law is dangerous.

Food Borne Illness Essay

Food that is mishandled can lead to foodborne illness. While the United States has one of the safest food supplies in the world, preventing foodborne illness remains a major public health challenge. Often when you purchase foods from the grocery store or the food market, you have to check all the expiration dates. When a food is expired, they tend to give you a sign that the food is no good. For example, when you go to the store and shop for bread, you have to check the expiration date. If you purchase bread when the date on the bread is expired, the bread will mold within in the next three days or so. The same situation with the expiration dates is for meat as well. According to â€Å"Food Borne Illnesses & Disease† (2012), as pertaining to storage, for example meat, you can store meat in the freeze for a specific amount of time and it will still be as good as it was when you bought it from the store. * * If you store meat over the amount of time that is listed in this chart, the meat is no longer good. The presentation of the products in the store tend to look good when they might not be. Some foods are advertised as being healthy and clean but they could be bad as well. * Listeria, salmonella, E. Coli, Botulism, are some food borne illnesses that America try to avoid everyday. To prevent the food borne illness Listeria, you must set your refrigerator to 40  °F or lower, and the freezer 0  °F or lower. Use a refrigerator thermometer to check your refrigerator’s inside temperature. When you check in your refrigerator and you see juice from hot dogs or any type of meat leaking, you have to clean the inside thoroughly to avoid catching this illness. Clean the inside walls and shelves of your refrigerator with hot water and liquid soap, then rinse. Use precooked or ready-to-eat food as soon as you can. Do not store the precooked or ready-to-eat food in the refrigerator too long. Wash your hands after you touch hot dogs, raw meat, chicken, turkey, or seafood or their juices. Readers might search for more information on the food safety and inspection service website. They can and will inform you about the many illnesses that are out and how you can and can not prevent them. They will also give you many charts on how to take care of your meat and how to store your meat so you will prevent catching any food borne illness. * To determine if the research is credible, you have to search for the same information through other websites as well. Never just go along with one website and say that it is credible. It is very important to use this criteria when searching for information on nutrition and health because on some sources, they might give you information on telling you what to do with your raw foods and you end up getting sick. To avoid all of the confusion and the illnesses, make sure that the sources are credible. References: Food Borne Illnesses & Disease. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/Foodborne_Illness_&_Disease_Fact_She

Commodity Chains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Commodity Chains - Essay Example In this regard, the paper will discuss Diamonds from Angola produced by DeBeers De Beer operates in over 25 nations and mining occurs in Namibia, Angola, South Africa, Botswana and Canada among others. In Botswana mining is done via the mining firm Debswana while in Namibia it occurs through Namdeb, which is a 50-50 joint venture with the Namibian government. Due to its massive market share, the firm has dominated diamond sale, mining, trading, and industrial manufacturing sectors. It is headquartered in Luxembourg and was founded in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes. In 2012, the company got revenue of $6.1 billion. It has over 20,000 employees. The key people in De Beer Group of Companies are Mark Cutifani as the Chairman and Philippe Mellier as the chief executive officer (De Beers Group, 2014). According to McConnell and Brue (421), De Beer used monopoloid practices all through the 20th century. However, there are numerous amounts of hours that are spent on examining the piles of rough diamonds, dividing them as well as subdividing them into over 7,000 categories. In the diamond industry, from to cutting to polishing is an art that requires several years of apprenticeship and skill. Subsequently, the stones are re-sorted into a further 5,000 categories. From the dealers, to cutters, to polishers, and to jewellery sellers, the price of a diamond usually increases by about 10-fold by the time it leaves the De Beers vaults in Charterhouse Street and arriving in the shop shelves. The diamond industry relies upon a standard supply at a stable price, and that is what De Beers provides.  In this perspective, De Beer has been involved in various controversies including price fixing and acquiring diamonds from war torn nations, such as, Angola. Angola is the seventh largest nation in Africa with a population of 21.47 million according to the 2013 World Bank statistics. The country measures about 1,246,620 km2. In relation to the socio-economic conditions of the nation,

Foundations of Microeconomics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Foundations of Microeconomics - Assignment Example On the other hand, adult users are mostly addicts and as such, adults’ demand is less price elastic compared to teenagers’ demand. a) It is incorrect that a tax that does not have a deadweight loss cannot raise any revenue for the government. When the demand of a good is perfectly inelastic, a tax would have no effect on the quantity or any deadweight loss. However, the tax would still raise revenue for the government. In the graph above, the demand curve is perfectly inelastic. An introduction of tax shifts the supply curve inwards from Se to S*. The quantity supplied reduces from qe to q*. However, the price remains constant. In such a case where the demand of a good is perfectly inelastic, there is no deadweight loss yet the government is still able to raise revenue through taxation. b) It is incorrect that a tax that raises no revenue for the government cannot have any deadweight loss. When the government imposes a 100% tax on goods, sellers will not supply any of the good and the tax will raise no revenue. However, the tax has a large deadweight loss as it reduces the quantity sold to zero. When the government imposes a 100% tax on a good, there will be no supply of that good and the supply curve will be equal to the price axis. The tax will not raise any revenue for the government and it will have a large deadweight loss as shown in the figure

Fraud and Cyber Terrorism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fraud and Cyber Terrorism - Research Paper Example When implemented proactively to identify unknown fraud, it depicts laser-like precision that allows for much more efficient investigation. (Sanjay Goel. 2010). Cyber terrorism is the act of illegally accessing computers and information chiefly via the internet to create physical harm or severe disturbance of infrastructure. Cyberterrorism could scholarly be defined as â€Å"The premeditated use of disruptive activities, or the threat thereof, against computers and/or networks, with the intention to cause harm or further social, ideological, religious, political or similar objectives or to intimidate any person in furtherance of such objectives.† Agencies that deal with fraud such as Interpol and the FBI are doing a great job in fighting against cyber terrorism. Interpol on its part is assisting all the member countries and training their personnel to equip themselves with the current trends and forms of fighting cyber terrorism. The Council of Europe Convention on Cyber Crime, which is the first international treaty for fighting against computer crime, is the product of 4 years work by experts from the 45 member and non-member states that include Japan, USA, and Canada. The treaty has already imposed after its endorsement by Lithuania on 21st of March 2004. (Achkoski, J., & Dojchinovski, M. 2011) With the ever-changing trends in the cyber technology sector, there are no foolproof methods to protect a system. To say that you have a completely secure system, then it means that it can never be accessed by anyone. Even in most military set up, top secret information is kept on servers with no outside connection as a form of deterrence of cyber terrorism. Another common way that cyber terrorism can be avoided apart from such isolation is encryption.