Ferdinand and Isabella essays

Ferdinand and Isabella essays Spains Middle Ages were marked by dramatic cultural contrasts, rapidly changes boundaries, and constant interaction, both good and bad, among the Christian, Muslims, and Jewish societies that shared the Iberian peninsula throughout the time frame until nearly the start of the 16th century. Until the late 1200s, religious tolerance and multiculturalism was a hallmark of Spanish royal society. Isabel (Isabella) was born at Madrigal on April 22, 1451, the daughter of John II of Castile and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal. Almost against her own volition she was drawn into the political intrigue of Castilian politics. Because of her family's importance, she was brought to court at the age of thirteen to be under the eye, and the protection, of her half-brother the king. As the heiress of Castile, the question of Isabel's future marriage became a matter of frenzied diplomatic activity both in Spain and throughout the other royal courts of Europe. France, Portugal, and Aragon each put forward a potential suitor. Ultimately, between her advisors and her own strong will, the decision came down to Ferdinand of Aragon. She married Ferdinand in October of 1469. Ferdinand was born in Sos on March 10, 1452, the son of John II of Aragon and Juana Enriquez, both of Castilian heritage. He was the focus of a bitterly contested succession when his father named him heir apparent and the governor of all his kingdoms and lands. When Ferdinand came of age in 1466, his future was assured. His father had put all the pieces in place for Ferdinand to be accepted into the Castilian court, exactly where John II wanted him. In addition to participating in the world of intrigue at court, Ferdinand also saw battle in the Catalonian wars. When he began to sow his first "wild oats," he went courting and was very favorably received in the home of King Alfonso of Aragon, Isabel's half-brother. Ferdinand had an imposing personality but was never...

The History of Bogota, Colombia

The History of Bogota, Colombia Santa Fe de Bogot is the capital of Colombia. The city was founded by the Muisca people long before the arrival of the Spanish, who established their own city there. An important city during the colonial era, it was the seat of the Viceroy of New Granada. After independence, Bogota was the capital of first the Republic of New Granada and then Colombia. The city has occupied a central place in Colombias long and turbulent history. The Pre-Colombian Era Before the arrival of the Spanish into the region, the Muisca people lived on the plateau where modern-day Bogot is located. The Muisca capital was a prosperous town called Muequet. From there, the King, referred to as the zipa, ruled the Muisca civilization in an uneasy alliance with the zaque, ruler of a nearby city on the site of present-day Tunja. The zaque was nominally subordinate to the zipa, but in fact the two rulers often clashed. At the time of the arrival of the Spanish in 1537 in the form of the Gonzalo Jimà ©nez de Quesada expedition, the zipa of Muequet was named Bogot and the zaque was Tunja: both men would give their names to the cities the Spanish founded on the ruins of their homes. The Conquest of the Muisca Quesada, who had been exploring overland from Santa Marta since 1536, arrived in January of 1537 at the head of 166 conquistadors. The invaders were able to take the zaque Tunja by surprise and easily made off with the treasures of that half of the kingdom of the Muisca. Zipa Bogot proved more troublesome. The Muisca chief fought the Spanish for months, never accepting any of Quesadas offers to surrender. When Bogot was killed in battle by a Spanish crossbow, the conquest of the Muisca was not long in coming. Quesada founded the city of Santa Fà © on the ruins of Muequet on August 6, 1538. Bogot in the Colonial Era For a number of reasons, Bogot quickly became an important city in the region, which the Spanish referred to as New Granada. There was already some infrastructure in the city and plateau, the climate agreed with the Spanish and there were plenty of natives who could be forced to do all the work. On April 7, 1550, the city became a Real Audiencia, or Royal Audience: this means that it became an official outpost of the Spanish Empire and citizens could resolve legal disputes there. In 1553 the city became home to its first Archbishop. In 1717, New Granada - and Bogot in particular - had grown enough that it was named a Viceroyalty, putting it on a par with Peru and Mexico. This was a big deal, as the Viceroy acted with all of the authority of the King himself and could make very important decisions alone without consulting Spain. Independence and the Patria Boba On July 20, 1810, patriots in Bogot declared their independence by taking to the streets and demanding the Viceroy step down. This date is still celebrated as Colombias Independence Day. For the next five years or so, Creole patriots fought mainly among themselves, giving the era its nickname Patria Boba, or Foolish Homeland. Bogot was retaken by the Spanish and a new Viceroy was installed, who initiated a reign of terror, tracking down and executing suspected patriots. Among them was Policarpa Salavarrieta, a young woman who passed information to the patriots. She was captured and executed in Bogot in November 1817. Bogot remained in Spanish hands until 1819, when Simà ³n Bolà ­var and Francisco de Paula Santander liberated the city following the decisive Battle of Boyac. Bolivar and Gran Colombia Following liberation in 1819, creoles set up a government for the Republic of Colombia. It would later be known as Gran Colombia to distinguish it politically from present-day Colombia. The capital moved from Angostura to Cà ºcuta and, in 1821, to Bogot. The nation included present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador. The nation was unwieldy, however: geographical obstacles made communication extremely difficult and by 1825 the republic began to fall apart. In 1828, Bolà ­var narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Bogot: Santander himself was implicated. Venezuela and Ecuador separated from Colombia. In 1830, Antonio Josà © de Sucre and Simà ³n Bolà ­var, the only two men who might have saved the republic, both died, essentially putting an end to Gran Colombia. Republic of New Granada Bogot became the capital of the Republic of New Granada, and Santander became its first president. The young republic was plagued by a number of serious problems. Due to the wars of independence and failure of Gran Colombia, the Republic of New Granada began its life deep in debt. Unemployment was high and a major bank crash in 1841 only made things worse. Civil strife was common: in 1833 the government was nearly toppled by a rebellion led by General Josà © Sard. In 1840 an all-out civil war broke out when General Josà © Marà ­a Obando tried to take over the government. Not all was bad: the people of Bogot began printing books and newspapers with materials produced locally, the first  Daguerreotypes  in Bogot were taken and a law unifying the currency used in the nation helped end confusion and uncertainty. The Thousand Days War Colombia was torn apart by a Civil War referred to as the  Thousand Days War  from 1899 to 1902. The war pitted liberals, who felt they had unfairly lost an election, against conservatives. During the war, Bogot was firmly in the hands of the conservative government and although the fighting got close, Bogot itself did not see any strife. Still, the people suffered as the country was in tatters after the war. The Bogotazo and La Violencia On April 9, 1948, presidential candidate Jorge Elià ©cer Gaitn was gunned down outside of his office in Bogot. The people of Bogot, many of whom had seen him as a savior, went berserk, kicking off one of the worst riots in history. The  Bogotazo,  as it is known, lasted into the night, and government buildings, schools,  churches, and businesses were destroyed. Some 3,000 people were killed. Informal markets sprung up outside of town where people bought and sold stolen items. When the dust had finally settled, the city was in ruins. The Bogotazo is also the informal beginning of the period known as La Violencia, a ten-year reign of terror which saw paramilitary organizations sponsored by political parties and ideologies take to the streets at night, murdering and torturing their rivals. Bogot and the Drug Lords During the 1970s and 1980s, Colombia was plagued by the twin evils of drug trafficking and revolutionaries. In Medellà ­n, legendary drug lord  Pablo Escobar  was by far the most powerful man in the country, running a billion-dollar industry. He had rivals in the Cali Cartel, however, and Bogot was often the battleground as these cartels fought the government, the press and one another. In Bogot, journalists, policemen, politicians, judges, and ordinary citizens were murdered on a nearly daily basis. Among the dead in Bogot: Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, Minister of Justice  (April  1984), Hernando Baquero Borda, Supreme Court Judge  (August  1986) and Guillermo Cano, journalist  (December  1986). The M-19 Attacks The 19th of April Movement, known as the M-19, was a Colombian socialist revolutionary movement determined to overthrow the Colombian government. They were responsible for two infamous attacks in Bogot in the 1980s. On February 27, 1980, the M-19 stormed the Embassy of the Dominican Republic, where a cocktail party was being held. Among those in attendance was the Ambassador of the United States. They held the  diplomats  hostage for 61 days before the standoff was settled. On November 6, 1985, 35 rebels of the M-19 assaulted the Palace of Justice, taking 300 hostages including judges, lawyers and others who worked there. The government decided to storm the palace: in a bloody shootout, more than 100 people were killed, including 11 of 21 Supreme Court Justices. The M-19 eventually disarmed and became a political party. Bogot Today Today, Bogot is a large, bustling, thriving city. Although it still suffers from many ills such as crime, it is much safer than in recent history: traffic is probably a worse daily problem for many of the citys seven million inhabitants. The city is a great place to visit, as it has a little of everything: shopping, fine dining, adventure sports and more. History buffs will want to check out  the July 20 Independence Museum  and  Colombias National Museum. Sources Bushnell, David.  The Making of Modern Colombia: A Nation in Spite of Itself.  University of California Press, 1993.Lynch, John.  Simon Bolivar: A Life. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2006.Santos Molano, Enrique.  Colombia dà ­a a dà ­a: una cronologà ­a de 15,000 aà ±os.  Bogota: Planeta, 2009.Silverberg, Robert.  The Golden Dream: Seekers of El Dorado. Athens: the Ohio University Press, 1985.

Immuno-labelling, fluorescence microscopy and live time-lapse imaging Lab Report

Immuno-labelling, fluorescence microscopy and live time-lapse imaging - Lab Report Example The background of the alterations in the cell behaviour to include shape and movement is examined in the paper. The paper seeks to explain the significance of the microtubules in the cell, which is to increase the motility of the cells and the affinity of the cells on different reactions as detected in the body and the cell physiologies (Diaspro, 2011. p. 125). The examination of the process of immune labelling in the experiment to detect the presence and effects of the proteins in the cells is explained. The aims and objectives of an experiment basically answer the intent of the experiment. In this case the aims are directed towards the administration and examination of the cell physiology and the detection of the cell proteins and the reaction tests of the antibodies and antigens of the cell. This work explores on the background of the experiment and the purposes of the involvement of the cell physiological processes and the influences they have, such as the proteins, microtubules. The explanations of the experiment’s procedures, the tasks, actions, results and the findings are all covered in the paper. Introduction Immuno-labelling, fluorescence microscopy and live time-lapse imaging involves the cellular biological experiments which aim to detect as well as visualize the structures of the cells while analyzing the cellular changes in the cell and its substructures during a certain period of the body biological processes (Reimer & Kohl, 2008). This experiment involves the study of the immune system dynamics in the human tracheal cells. The involvement of the fluorescent microscopy in the experiment implies the detection of the fluorescent protein in the cell organelles, while observing other defects in the structure of the cell during the experiment. The experiment is not targeted at one result as the process includes diverse measures to analyze different structures in the cells. The process generally involves the analysis of the cell health to entire ty (Widdows, Kingdom & Ansari, 2009 pp 735). Immuno labelling is a biological process that involves the detection of antigen to a particular site in a cell, tissue or organ. In any immune labelling reaction the antigen and the antibody reacts within the given organ or tissue or cell in the experiment. The experimentation of the immuno labelling in the cell experiments are meant to reveal information about the cell or the substructures of the cells. In these processes, the antigens can be detected and visualizes using a combination of antigen-specific antibody in the process of detection referred to as tag, which is covalently related to the antibody (Tiwari & Nagai, 2013. pp 497). The immune cytochemistry, which is the process involving the imagery and analysis of the cell biology through fluorescent microscopy, compare the amplification strategies for the primary antibody detection in the cells. The results of the experiment after the detection analysis are used to direct action to wards achieving the recommended remedies (Hyatt & Wise, 2001. pp 97). Background of the Experimental Processes The cells of the immune system in the human body explore a wider existence territory than any other cells in the biological systems. The immune-imagery involves t6he visualization of the cells in the native tissues with the intent to detect the changes in the cell biological process of the cell. This process involves the quantification of the immune responses at the cellular level. It is through the process that the