Gradient descent

“That is inhumane, gruesome, and most of all against my beliefs.” A person’s cultural views can differ from another’s by a great and can create rifts between people and oneself. A person looking at a “6” may interpret it is a six while a person who is standing on the opposite side may view it is a “9”. The way someone looks at something isn’t the only way to see it. There is no right or wrong way to view something because it all relies on your cultural background and how one was raised to see…

The 1973 short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a tale of culture, heritage, and Family. Walkers claim in this story is that some things can mean more to an individual than meets the eye. Just because something does not look valuable does not mean it is worthless or to be put to everyday use. This story follows a mother and her two Daughters on a small farm in Georgia post-Civil Rights act. Dee, the oldest daughter, wants the quilts that were hand stitched by her Grandmother, but Mama…

Wonder How would you feel if one day your parents decided it was time for you to start school, with facial deformity, after being homeschooled your entire life? This is exactly how August Pullman felt in R.J Palacio’s “Wonder”. Many would argue that Auggie’s experiences at his school, Beecher Prep, had a negative impact on his life. I, on the other hand, believe it had a positive impact. In fact, I believe that Auggie going to school changed his life for the better. I have reason to believe…

the social determinants of health, his or her physical, emotional and mental health are all likely to suffer (Davidson, 2015, pg.8). Digger, one of the main characters in Richard Wagamese’s Ragged Company, was born into a poor family of Aboriginal descent, though it becomes clear that had he been born into a family of higher social status he would have been given more opportunities to discover his talents and put them to use. While negative social determinants have an obvious and clear effect on…

My motivation to study machine perception is my long-term passion for mathematics, programming, and the human brain. Before knowing much about machine perception, my main motivation was to participate and securing the first prize in Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad for three times. Following this achievement, I graduated in Electrical Engineering taking major classes on theoretical signal processing and accomplishing a bachelor thesis on the modeling of brain hemodynamics. This made me…

“With these grand structures, so numerous and indispensable, carrying so many waters, who indeed would compare the idle Pyramids or other useless, although renowned, works of the Greeks?” – Sextus Frontius in reference to Pliny. “It must be admitted, this is the greatest wonder the world has ever seen” – Pliny, NH XXXVI, 24, 123 Ancient Rome is famously known for its intricate water management systems such as its baths, artificial pools, reservoirs, irrigation channels and other similar…

When one thinks of the word “insane”, what typically comes to mind? Abandoned insane asylums, with dark passages and clawed doorways? Rusted shackles and distant screams? Whatever comes to mind, it is certainly not a sunlit nursery atop a mansion, outfitted in a distasteful yellow wallpaper. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” upends stereotypical depictions of mental illness in order to discuss insanity--what exactly defines one as “insane” versus “sane”, and where is the boundary…

There is no doubt about that. With this power, they could be used both positively and negatively. Throughout my life, I have been called a lot of words; ching, chink, gook. These words are used to discriminate against people of Asian descent, making fun of their ethnicity or how their eyes look. They used to trigger a negative emotional response in me, until one day as I was walking to class, one of my classmates called me a chink and a gook. To my surprise, I didn’t feel anything, nothing…

The CCR5-Δ32 Allele: A Natural Resistance to HIV Virus Human immunodeficiency virus, most commonly known as HIV, is an acquired virus that attacks the immune system of the host and eventually leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome otherwise known as AIDS. HIV is a relatively new disease in human populations, AIDS was first observed in homosexual males in 1981 (Herron et al., 2014, p. 2). Later, in 1983, soon after the discovery of AIDS, scientists identified HIV virus as being responsible…

1. Genetic Diversity: The most important and pivotal element in biodiversity is the Genetic diversity (Gaston, 1996; Mallet, 1996). The “fine scale” level of biodiversity is measure in the multiplicity of expressed genes or meticulous featured attribute in the midst of organisms (Williams et al, 1996). Genetic diversity denotes the peculiarity within species in the purposeful units of heredity existing in any plant, animal, microbial or any other source of life. However as a crucial unit for…