An Explanation of Unicode Character Encoding

For a computer to be able to store text and numbers that humans can understand, there needs to be a code that transforms characters into numbers. The Unicode standard defines such a code by using character encoding. The reason character encoding is so important is so that every device can display the same information. A custom character encoding scheme might work brilliantly on one computer, but problems will occur when if you send that same text to someone else. It wont know what youre talking about unless it understands the encoding scheme too. Character Encoding All character encoding does is assign a number to every character that can be used. You  could make a character encoding right now. For example, I could say that the letter A becomes the number 13, a14, 133, #123, and so on. This is where industry-wide standards come in. If the whole computer industry uses the same character encoding scheme, every computer can display the same characters. What Is Unicode? ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) became the first widespread encoding scheme. However, its limited to only 128 character definitions. This is fine for the most common English characters, numbers, and punctuation, but is a bit limiting for the rest of the world. Naturally, the rest of the world wants the same encoding scheme for their characters too. However, for a little, while depending on where you were, there might have been a different character displayed for the same ASCII code. In the end, the other parts of the world began creating their own encoding schemes, and things started to get a little bit confusing. Not only were the coding schemes of different lengths, programs needed to figure out which encoding scheme they were supposed to use. It became apparent that a new character encoding scheme was needed, which is when the Unicode standard was created. The objective of Unicode is to unify all the different encoding schemes so that the confusion between computers can be limited as much as possible. These days, the Unicode standard defines values for over 128,000 characters and can be seen at the Unicode Consortium. It has several character encoding forms: UTF-8: Only uses one byte (8 bits) to encode English characters. It can use a sequence of bytes to encode other characters. UTF-8 is widely used in email systems and on the internet.UTF-16: Uses two bytes (16 bits) to encode the most commonly used characters. If needed, the additional characters can be represented by a pair of 16-bit numbers.UTF-32: Uses four bytes (32 bits) to encode the characters. It became apparent that as the Unicode standard grew, a 16-bit number is too small to represent all the characters. UTF-32 is capable of representing every Unicode character as one number. Note: UTF means Unicode Transformation Unit. Code Points A code point is the value that a character is given in the Unicode standard. The values according to Unicode are written as hexadecimal numbers and have a prefix of U. For example, to encode the characters we looked at earlier: A is U0041a is U00611 is U0031# is U0023 These code points are split into 17 different sections called planes, identified by numbers 0 through 16. Each plane holds 65,536 code points. The first plane, 0, holds the most commonly used characters and is known as the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP). Code Units The encoding schemes are made up of code units, which are used to provide an index for where a character is positioned on a plane. Consider UTF-16 as an example. Each 16-bit number is a code unit. The code units can be transformed into code points. For instance, the flat note symbol â™ ­ has a code point of U1D160 and lives on the second plane of the Unicode standard (Supplementary Ideographic Plane). It would be encoded using the combination of the 16-bit code units UD834 and UDD60. For the BMP, the values of the code points and code units are identical. This allows a shortcut for UTF-16 that saves a lot of storage space. It only needs to use one 16-bit number to represent those characters. How Does Java Use Unicode? Java was created around the time when the Unicode standard had values defined for a much smaller set of characters. Back then, it was felt that 16-bits would be more than enough to encode all the characters that would ever be needed. With that in mind, Java was designed to use UTF-16. The char data type was originally used to represent a 16-bit Unicode code point. Since Java SE v5.0, the char represents a code unit. It makes little difference for representing characters that are in the Basic Multilingual Plane because the value of the code unit is the same as the code point. However, it does mean that for the characters on the other planes, two chars are needed. The important thing to remember is that a single char data type can no longer represent all the Unicode characters.

How Do Restriction Enzymes Cut DNA Sequences

In nature, organisms constantly have to protect themselves from foreign invaders, even at the microscopic level. In bacteria, there is a group of bacterial enzymes that work by dismantling foreign DNA. This dismantling process is called restriction and the enzymes that carry out this process are called restriction enzymes. Restriction enzymes are very important in recombinant DNA technology. Restriction enzymes have been used to help produce vaccines, pharmaceutical products, insect resistant crops, and a host of other products. Key Takeaways Restriction enzymes dismantle foreign DNA by cutting it into fragments. This disassembling process is called restriction.Recombinant DNA technology relies on restriction enzymes to produce new combinations of genes.The cell protects its own DNA from disassembly by adding methyl groups in a process called modification.DNA ligase is a very important enzyme that helps to join DNA strands together via covalent bonds. What Is a Restriction Enzyme? Restriction enzymes are a class of enzymes that cut DNA into fragments based upon recognizing a specific sequence of nucleotides. Restriction enzymes are also known as restriction endonucleases. While there are hundreds of different restriction enzymes, they all work in essentially the same way. Each enzyme has what is known as a recognition sequence or site. A recognition sequence is typically a specific, short nucleotide sequence in DNA. The enzymes cut at certain points within the recognized sequence. For example, a restriction enzyme may recognize a specific sequence of guanine, adenine, adenine, thymine, thymine, cytosine. When this sequence is present, the enzyme can make staggered cuts in the sugar-phosphate backbone in the sequence. But if restriction enzymes cut based on a certain sequence, how do cells like bacteria protect their own DNA from being cut up by restriction enzymes? In a typical cell, methyl groups (CH3) are added to the bases in the sequence to prevent recognition by the restriction enzymes. This process is carried out by complementary enzymes that recognize the same sequence of nucleotide bases as restriction enzymes. The methylation of DNA is known as modification. With the processes of modification and restriction, cells can both cut up foreign DNA that pose a danger to the cell while preserving the important DNA of the cell. Based on the double-stranded configuration of DNA, recognition sequences are symmetrical on the different stands but run in opposite directions. Recall that DNA has direction indicated by the type of carbon at the end of the strand. The 5 end has a phosphate group attached while the other 3 end has a hydroxyl group attached. For example: 5 end - ... guanine, adenine, adenine, thymine, thymine, cytosine ... - 3 end 3 end - ... cytosine, thymine, thymine, adenine, adenine, guanine ... - 5 end If, for example, the restriction enzyme cuts within the sequence between the guanine and adenine, it would do so with both sequences but at opposite ends (since the second sequence runs in the opposite direction). Since the DNA is cut on both strands, there will be complementary ends that can hydrogen bond to one another. These ends are often called sticky ends. What Is DNA Ligase? The sticky ends of the fragments produced by restriction enzymes are useful in a laboratory setting. They can be used to join DNA fragments from both different sources and different organisms. The fragments are held together by hydrogen bonds. From a chemical perspective, hydrogen bonds are weak attractions and are not permanent. Using another type of enzyme however, the bonds can be made permanent. DNA ligase is a very important enzyme that functions in both the replication and repair of a cells DNA. It functions by helping the joining of DNA strands together. It works by catalyzing a phosphodiester bond. This bond is a covalent bond, much stronger than the aforementioned hydrogen bond and able to hold the different fragments together. When different sources are used, the resulting recombinant DNA that is produced has a new combination of genes. Restriction Enzyme Types There are four broad categories of restriction enzymes: Type I enzymes, Type II enzymes, Type III enzymes, and Type IV enzymes. All have the same basic function, but the different types are classified based on their recognition sequence, how they cleave, their composition, and on their substance requirements (the need for and type of cofactors). Generally, Type I enzymes cut DNA at locations distant to the recognition sequence; Type II cut DNA within or close to the recognition sequence; Type III cut DNA near recognition sequences; and Type IV cleave methylated DNA. Sources Biolabs, New England. â€Å"Types of Restriction Endonucleases.† New England Biolabs: Reagents for the Life Sciences Industry, www.neb.com/products/restriction-endonucleases/restriction-endonucleases/types-of-restriction-endonucleases.Reece, Jane B., and Neil A. Campbell. Campbell Biology. Benjamin Cummings, 2011.

Diet and Depression Free Essays

â€Å"Can Diet Help Stop Depression and Violence? † Every prisoner in jail most likely incarcerated due to some sort of violence they’ve committed or been a part of. There are many suggestions as to what can bring down depression and violence rates like Jurriaan Kamp explained. Some given information from the passage includes more physical activities, yoga, meditation and a well balanced diet. We will write a custom essay sample on Diet and Depression or any similar topic only for you Order Now Yes, these symptoms might help bring down the depression and violence rates but that is not the only thing that has been researched on. Weirdly enough fish oil can provide the extra boost. Having a healthy diet with enough vitamins and nutrients are a great start for a healthy well-being. After researching and doing studies on certain prisoners and students by feeding them fish oil it is provident to say that prison violence dropped, children in school began to achieve better grades, and depression rates have fallen. Bad diets cause bad behavior and good diet prevents it. 231 British prisoners were rounded up and began to be investigated upon for four months. Bernard Gesch, a psychologist and the researcher spitted the men aged 18-21 in half. Half of them would be receiving multivitamin, mineral, and fatty-acid supplements with their meals. The other half would be taking placebos, a substance containing no medication to see if the vitamins and fatty acid like omega 3 really had an effect on prisoners’ violence and minor infractions. As month passed and Gesch observed that minor infractions of prison rules by the group consuming multivitamins and omega 3 had fallen by 26 percent. On the other hand the group taking the fake medication barely changed. The most dramatic changed was showed in the group taking the fish oil, incidents of violence dropped to a staggering 37 perfect while the prisoners on placebos did not change. Gesch did the same research in the Netherlands but results were different than in England. This time around he conducted research with 221 inmates ages 18-25. 116 of them were given daily supplements for up to 3 months. The other 105 receive placebos. Report of violence dropped by 34 percent but contrastingly the prisoners on placebos rose 13 percent. Better healthy can only help violence and can not hurt it, so why not take the chance. Additionally, another place where nutrition as been improved and seems to be working is in the city of Durham, England. A psychologist conducted a study in 12 primary schools. The study was based on 117 children ages 5-12. Students were of average ability but underachieving in some aspects. Likewise in the prisoner’s research half of the students were given omega-3 supplements for 3 months and the other half received an olive oil placebo. Results showed that those students taking the omega-3 did significantly better in spelling than those students who were taking placebos. The psychologist also goes to explain that yes there are prescriptions for disorders such as Ritalin, but states that there’s also something more than can be done. One of the choices is to increase your child’s intake of omega-3. It may not totally cure his disorder but it will cause no harm and omega-3 will only benefit the child’s disorders. It can play an important role in stimulation the brain, keeping it healthy, and helping it ward off debilitating conditions. Seeing as the number of people with psychological disorders will double. People should take into consideration and should want to take omega-3 to better their health and their brain by just taking a simple fish oil pill. Jurriaan Kamp stated that 6. percent of New Zealanders suffer from severe depression; these citizens also eat very little fish. In Japan where the fish consumption is high, 0. 1 percent of the people suffer from depression. After carefully looking at the statistics psychologist have come to the conclusion that in countries in which fish consumption is low there is a new found theory that it is more likely of suffering from depression by 50 times greater than in countries where the consumption is high. People should eat fish regardless if it does help depression or not. Fish isn’t only beneficial to depression but it is also good for ones health. Depression is rare in Iceland, which has the highest per capita fish consumption in the world. It was also found that the risk of being murdered is thirty times higher in countries where fish consumption is low compared to countries where fish consumption is high. In conclusion, after reading all these statistics it’s safe to say everyone should take fish oil or omega-3. Hibbeln found that depressive and aggressive feelings diminished by about 50 percent after taking fish-oil capsules. Not only does it better your chances of being ‘violent’ or even going into ‘severe depression’ but also it’s excellent for your body over all. Even just increasing your consumption of fish it self can do the body nothing but it nothing but multiple of superb results. How to cite Diet and Depression, Essay examples

Diet and Depression Free Essays

â€Å"Can Diet Help Stop Depression and Violence? † Every prisoner in jail most likely incarcerated due to some sort of violence they’ve committed or been a part of. There are many suggestions as to what can bring down depression and violence rates like Jurriaan Kamp explained. Some given information from the passage includes more physical activities, yoga, meditation and a well balanced diet. We will write a custom essay sample on Diet and Depression or any similar topic only for you Order Now Yes, these symptoms might help bring down the depression and violence rates but that is not the only thing that has been researched on. Weirdly enough fish oil can provide the extra boost. Having a healthy diet with enough vitamins and nutrients are a great start for a healthy well-being. After researching and doing studies on certain prisoners and students by feeding them fish oil it is provident to say that prison violence dropped, children in school began to achieve better grades, and depression rates have fallen. Bad diets cause bad behavior and good diet prevents it. 231 British prisoners were rounded up and began to be investigated upon for four months. Bernard Gesch, a psychologist and the researcher spitted the men aged 18-21 in half. Half of them would be receiving multivitamin, mineral, and fatty-acid supplements with their meals. The other half would be taking placebos, a substance containing no medication to see if the vitamins and fatty acid like omega 3 really had an effect on prisoners’ violence and minor infractions. As month passed and Gesch observed that minor infractions of prison rules by the group consuming multivitamins and omega 3 had fallen by 26 percent. On the other hand the group taking the fake medication barely changed. The most dramatic changed was showed in the group taking the fish oil, incidents of violence dropped to a staggering 37 perfect while the prisoners on placebos did not change. Gesch did the same research in the Netherlands but results were different than in England. This time around he conducted research with 221 inmates ages 18-25. 116 of them were given daily supplements for up to 3 months. The other 105 receive placebos. Report of violence dropped by 34 percent but contrastingly the prisoners on placebos rose 13 percent. Better healthy can only help violence and can not hurt it, so why not take the chance. Additionally, another place where nutrition as been improved and seems to be working is in the city of Durham, England. A psychologist conducted a study in 12 primary schools. The study was based on 117 children ages 5-12. Students were of average ability but underachieving in some aspects. Likewise in the prisoner’s research half of the students were given omega-3 supplements for 3 months and the other half received an olive oil placebo. Results showed that those students taking the omega-3 did significantly better in spelling than those students who were taking placebos. The psychologist also goes to explain that yes there are prescriptions for disorders such as Ritalin, but states that there’s also something more than can be done. One of the choices is to increase your child’s intake of omega-3. It may not totally cure his disorder but it will cause no harm and omega-3 will only benefit the child’s disorders. It can play an important role in stimulation the brain, keeping it healthy, and helping it ward off debilitating conditions. Seeing as the number of people with psychological disorders will double. People should take into consideration and should want to take omega-3 to better their health and their brain by just taking a simple fish oil pill. Jurriaan Kamp stated that 6. percent of New Zealanders suffer from severe depression; these citizens also eat very little fish. In Japan where the fish consumption is high, 0. 1 percent of the people suffer from depression. After carefully looking at the statistics psychologist have come to the conclusion that in countries in which fish consumption is low there is a new found theory that it is more likely of suffering from depression by 50 times greater than in countries where the consumption is high. People should eat fish regardless if it does help depression or not. Fish isn’t only beneficial to depression but it is also good for ones health. Depression is rare in Iceland, which has the highest per capita fish consumption in the world. It was also found that the risk of being murdered is thirty times higher in countries where fish consumption is low compared to countries where fish consumption is high. In conclusion, after reading all these statistics it’s safe to say everyone should take fish oil or omega-3. Hibbeln found that depressive and aggressive feelings diminished by about 50 percent after taking fish-oil capsules. Not only does it better your chances of being ‘violent’ or even going into ‘severe depression’ but also it’s excellent for your body over all. Even just increasing your consumption of fish it self can do the body nothing but it nothing but multiple of superb results. How to cite Diet and Depression, Essay examples

Consequences of War free essay sample

Many people agree that War is patriotic and that it allows the American people to live freely, hence, the reason we are known as â€Å"The land of the free, and home of the brave. † War has snuck in to be a very popular topic all around the world today, as many country’s are disagreeing and entering war. But, is war really worth all the suffering it brings to humanity and the aftermath effects that may come. Whatever your outlook on war might be, we can all come to an agreement that it is not peaceful. A lot of us have not been in war, and never will be, but, we have the opportunity to see what tragedies it brings through the way authors, journalists, and photographs express the feelings of soldiers and the horrific suffering on a daily basis. By analyzing photographs by, Chris Hondros, I was very disturbed. I can say I saw some things nobody should ever see. We will write a custom essay sample on Consequences of War or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The pictures showed how the lives of people that were affected by the war have been impacted. These people are living in poverty and can not escape the dangers of what war has brought. It is not just the soldiers that suffer, it is also the families. Family’s of fallen soldiers or innocent mothers, baby’s, and fathers that have been caught in the middle of action. Looking at these pictures made me feel a sense of coldness, it is not fair to ruin lives over something political, unless the problem threatens the lives of American people. An article, Environmental Effects of Warfare: The Impact of War on the Environment and Human Health, stuck out to me. Does humanity all around the world understand the consequences war brings to nature and how it may affect civilizations for years after. War is fought over land, air, or water. Many different things are effected by this and it changes the way things are in nature. Whether it may matter to you or not, these living things also have free agency and should not be terrorized. Chemicals have become an important weapon in combat, and it is a very powerful technique. However, the aftermath is not good. Chemicals stay in the ground and can cause cancer or even kill people years after what had occurred. I have recently read, â€Å"The Consequences of War: A Veteran’s Story. † and the author portrayed an interesting point. Even after the war is done and over, the fight isn’t. Many soldiers come out of war with Post War Traumatic Stress, anxiety, and mental issues due to what they experienced. They are continuously fighting to stay sane and undo what there minds can’t forget. It shows how powerful of an impact war has on people lives, and with living evidence what it can do to your mind. In conclusion, War may be necessary but it shouldn’t be first instinct. We realize we have to protect our families and freedom but is war the answer. War takes away lives and kills happiness. Through what I have researched I have made the conclusion nobody going through war is happy, it causes fear and hatred. It leaves people with a sense of loneliness and confusion. I hope that reading this can influence you to broaden youre outlook on war and the delicateness of life, ask yourself, is it really worth it.