Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction in which females produce eggs that develop without fertilization. Parthenogenesis is seen in aphids, daphnia, rotifers, and some other invertebrates, as well as in some plants. Among vertebrates, there are several genera of fish, amphibians, and reptiles that exhibit differing forms of asexual reproduction, including true parthenogenesis, gynogenesis, and hybridogenesis (an incomplete form of parthenogenesis).
The offspring of parthenogenesis will be all female if two like chromosomes determine the female sex (such as systems where XX is female and XY is male), but male if the female sex is determined by unlike chromosomes (such as systems where WZ is female and ZZ is male), because the process involves the inheritance and subsequent duplication of only a single sex chromosome. The offspring may be capable of sexual reproduction, if this mode exists in the species. A parthenogenetic offspring is sometimes called a parthenogen. As with all types of asexual reproduction, there are both costs (reduced genetic diversity generated and susceptibility to adverse mutation) and benefits (reproduction without the need for a male) associated with parthenogenesis.

Parthenogenesis is distinct from artificial animal cloning, a process where the new organism is identical to the cell donor. Parthenogenesis is truly a reproductive process which creates a new individual or individuals from the naturally varied genetic material contained in the eggs of the mother. A litter of animals resulting from parthenogenesis may contain all genetically unique siblings without any twins or multiple numbers from the same genetic material. Parthenogenic offspring of a parthenogen are, however, all genetically identical to each other and to the mother, as a parthenogen is homozygous.
The alternation between parthenogenesis and sexual reproduction is called heterogamy. Forms of reproduction related to parthenogenesis but that require the presence of sperm are known as gynogenesis and hybridogenesis.

Reptiles

Most reptiles reproduce sexually, but parthenogenesis has been observed in certain species of rock lizards, geckos, whiptails, and Komodo Dragons.
Recently, the Komodo dragon which normally reproduces sexually was found to also be able to reproduce asexually by parthenogenesis. Because the genetics of sex determination in Komodo Dragons uses the WZ system (where WZ is female, ZZ is male, WW is inviable) the offspring of this process will be ZZ (male) or WW (inviable), with no WZ females being born. A case has been documented of a Komodo Dragon switching back to sexual reproduction after a parthenogenetic event. It has been postulated that this gives an advantage to colonisation of islands, where a single female could theoretically have male offspring asexually, then switch to sexual reproduction to maintain higher level of genetic diversity than asexual reproduction alone can generate.Parthenogenesis may also occur when males and females are both present, as the wild Komodo dragon population is approximately 75 per cent male.

Insects

An example of non-viable parthenogenesis is common among domesticated honey bees. The queen bee is the only fertile female in the hive; if she dies without the possibility for a viable replacement queen, it is not uncommon for the worker bees to lay eggs. Worker bees are unable to mate, and the unfertilized eggs produce only drones (males), which can only mate with a queen. Thus, in a relatively short period, all the worker bees die off, and the new drones follow. In one subspecies from South Africa (Apis mellifera capensis) workers are capable of producing diploid eggs parthenogenetically, and thus the queen can be replaced if she dies. It is believed that a few other bees may be truly parthenogenetic (for example, at least one species of small carpenter bee, in the genus Ceratina), and many parasitic wasps are known to be parthenogenetic, sometimes due to infections by Wolbachia.

Mammals

In April 2004, scientists at Tokyo University of Agriculture used parthenogenesis to successfully create fatherless mice: see Kaguya. In theory, the process could be used to reproduce humans after extensive testing and perfection.

Store your data and carry software applications!

Imagine carrying your software on the same flash drive that carries your files. That’s what you can do with a U3 smart drive. You can plug it into any PC and work, play a game, message friends, send email, edit photos and more. A U3 smart drive makes any PC your own PC. And when you unplug it, it leaves no personal data behind.

U3 LLC is a joint venture that is backed by Sandisk and its subdsidiary, M-Systems. U3 is responsible for the development of a proprietary application design specification created for Microsoft Windows operating systems so that applications can be executed directly from a specially formatted USB flash drive. Applications are allowed to write files or registry information to the host computer, but this information must be removed when the flash drive is ejected.
USB flash drives adhering to the U3 specification are termed "U3 smart drives" by U3.com. "U3 smart drives" differ from traditional USB flash drives because they come preinstalled with the U3 Launchpad, which emulates the Windows OS start menu, and controls program installation.

U3 Launchpad

U3 Launch Pad, From a Geek Squad Flash Drive
The U3 Launchpad is a program manager that is preinstalled on every U3 smart drive, and is set to autoplay on insertion. A partition with the U3 Launchpad pretends to be a CD/DVD-ROM device in order to add USB mass storage device autoplay functionality on pre-Windows XP SP2 systems, or systems whose USB autoplay has been intentionally disabled.
The program is made to work with Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 and above. No Launchpad program exists for the Mac OS or Linux platforms.

U3 applications

To be fully U3 compliant, an application has to be programmed to clean up its own data from the local machine. It must also be packaged in U3's special program format. U3 applications will only run from a U3 device.

Hardware

U3 smart drives are traditional USB flash drives with a specific setup:
+Disk Management shows two drives; one emulates a read-only CD drive -- an ISO 9660 partition with the autorun and LaunchPad, and the other drive has a traditional FAT partition that includes a hidden SYSTEM folder with your installed applications.
+Optional: U3 Compliant Applications Preloaded

Compatibility

The U3 Launchpad and U3 Applications runs on Windows 2000 SP4+, XP or newer. U3 will work with Windows Vista as of version 1.4 of the U3 Launchpad. Data will continue to be accessible from any OS capable of reading from USB Mass Storage Devices, unless the U3 device is password-protected.

If the OS in question can normally see ordinary USB flash drives, then the U3 smart drive removable mass storage area (domain) should still be available for standard file system activities unless it is a private area protected by a password."
The U3 Launchpad and U3 applications present on two separate SanDisk Titanium 2GB worked on 2 separate Vista RTM installations with no issues. However, a SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4GB did not function on these same systems, the problem stems from the device driver for the virtual CD being unable to start. This is a driver issue for some of the devices and it is just a matter of time before it is resolved.

YES-O

“Each has the strength…fortune…right timing…perfect power. leadership beyond compare…perseverance…”

Unity through catastrophe

Yes-o or youth for environment of schools organization had it’s blasting camp last February 09-11, 2007 at general santos city high school,Calumpang. General santos city. There were six teams which were the avalanche, cyclone, earthquake, hurricane, tornado and the tsunami…

There were plenary sessions which were the alternative source of energy, solid waste management and food technology. There was a lot of knowledge that was absorbed by the Yes-o members who joined the camp.

Bottle of the Bands:

This was called “bottle of the bands” because instead of using band instruments the contestants should used bottles as their instrument. All of the students enjoy this challenging event.

Field trip:

The campers went to bato melong for the field trip to have a glimpse of the solar panels. It was so tiring but what the campers saw and knew was immeasurable. Having that kind of experience was so splendid. Enjoyable and super the thrill!

Mr. and Ms. Yes-o:

Every team…every member…every leader…has a contribution to this event.
This was held on February 10, 2007 at the Taiwan hall of General Santos City High School. It was a night of loud booms, deafening shouts and cheers. Just for the team. It was indeed a extravagant event of the night. There were different attires that the contestants wore. Those are the team attire, indigenous attire and the futuristic attire. The contestants for each team wore it with class, style and with their own poses. The attires were made by the team and some of the materials that were used were provided by the Yes-o committee.
That was really a night to remember.

Ms. Shoki

This was a wonderful event that the yes-o had. Boys dressed up like girls. There were six contestants who joined. Each team has its own representative. It was an affair which gave the audience the contentment and great laughs.