Save the Planet Earth

Our planet is in great danger. For the last one hundred or so years, the people of earth have wasted and misused the natural recourses of earth. Several plans have been developed to stop the abuse of earth. Some of these plans I will discuss in this essay, many of which can be executed by any one. Environmental problems have become so complex that many individuals feel they can have no effect on them.Problems like oil spills, hazardous waste, loss of rain forests, endangered species, acid rain, the ozone layer, the municipal waste crisis can feel out of our control. At the very least, these problems require group and corporate action or government intervention. However, there are some things the individual can control. Our waste reduction and recycling activities can make a difference. That's why so many communities began voluntary recycling programs.There are some household items that are dangerous if they are just thrown away with the regular garbage these items can damage the envi ronment and injure plant and animal life some of these may include moth balls, spot removers, aerosol cans, fluorescent light tubes and shoe polish. Your local waste management agency has information on how to properly dispose of these items.A compost bin may be set up in your yard. Compost bins return plant and some food materials to the soil through decomposition so it can be used as a natural soil additive, called compost. Compost improves soil texture, increases the ability of soil to absorb oxygen and water. Compost also suppresses weed growth and reduces the need to add chemicals and pesticides to plants, which may be harmful to the environment.Keeping recycle bens in the kitchen may help to stop people from accidentally throwing into the trash an item that could have been recycled. Some recyclable items include glass, paper, and most types of mettle. You want to be sure that glass, paper and mettle are all separated into different bins. Once these bins are full of recyclable materials they can be given to your local recycle center.Solar panels are a series of mirrors that transform sunlight into solar energy. Solar energy can help heat water and power home appliances. Solar energy is a great source of clean, non-polluting energy.The home is not the only place wear people can pitch in and help the environment. School playgrounds can use recyclable materials for play equipment and to make the play ground safe for the children. Old rubber tires can be made into a recreation area where kids can crawl in and out. Sports coaches may also use old tires, by having the kids run through them, to test the kids stamina and agility. Jungle gyms, slides and swing sets can be made from recycled mettles.The school and public libraries are great examples of the reuse of materials. Books can be barrowed, read and returned instead of every one who wants to read a certain book going and purchasing a copy. The reuse of these books saves thousands of trees that would be used to make copies of books. The library also offers computers that can be used for research, by using the Internet, by taping the local or global newspaper web sights and other research centers around the world. Receiving information through the Internet saves paper and energy consumption is reduced.By taking school buses or car pools to school instead of individual vehicles, students can not only save fuel but also reduce both traffic and air pollution. People may also try to invest in electronic vehicles, which do not pollute. People should make sure to keep maintenance up on their vehicles to prevent unnecessary toxins from entering the environment.The idea of a landfill is a great one, but it won’t work if people continue to believe it is a place for all trash. A landfill is a big divot dug out of the earth for garbage disposal.We need to make sure we don’t put chemicals or non-biodegradable substances into these landfills because they are harmful to plants and anima ls, they may also contaminate our drinking water. A few of these chemicals include antifreeze, insecticide, batteries and Styrofoam, for proper disposal of these items contact your local waste management agency.You can help save natural resources by taking your old belongings that are no longer needed to a second hand store or the Salvation Army. A second hand store is a place where people can purchase donated items at a cheaper price than if they were to buy it brand new. The Salvation Army is much like a second hand store, but the items are free. Most items found at a second hand store or The Salvation Army are articles of clothing. The benefit to donating old items is that when people find what they need at a second hand store or The Salvation Army fewer items are manufactured which means you are saving natural recourses.We can help, over the last twenty to thirty years we have been trying every thing in our power to conserve energy and natural resources, many plans have been dev eloped as to what should be done all of which are very good ones. The problem with these plans is that not every one contributes to the efforts to reduce pollution and waste, in fact most of the people I know believe recycling is a waste of time and they by them selves cannot make the difference.In some cases, I have found myself questioning my efforts. However, it is still important that we don’t quit. If only every one in every home would decide to do their part and help to keep our air clean, our water unpolluted and our wild life safe. The Earth is our home and we need to protect it.

Effects of Computer Use on Children’s Health Essay

Nowadays, computers have become prevalent around the world. There are more and more children playing computers in their home. However, many studies of children’s computer use show that there are some negative effects on children. The essay will explain the possible negative effects of computer use on children’s health and physical development in three aspects: children’s physical health, displacement of activities for physical development and children’s mental health. Computer use may have negatively affect children’s physical health. According to Shields and Behrman (2001), children who have escalating time on computers can suffer from the pains on their eyes, backs and their wrists. In addition, as what workers have injured because of staring too long at a computer screen, children can also have a harmful effect on their vision. Another side effect on children’s physical health is that taking more time to use computers will increase the risk of obesity. Because of excessive time on watching TV, more and more people are getting obese. Furthermore, children will have the same risk if children increase their time on computers (Shields and Behrman, 2001). As Shields and Behrman (2001) advise, parents should have a limit on computer use to decrease the risk of those pains. Children’s activities for physical development can also be displaced by the extensive computer use. Since computer use can take up a lot of children’s time, it can displace activities for health development. According to Shields and Behrman (2001), the use of computer is escalating over time. There were nearly 21,000,000 children and teenagers began to surf the internet in 2000. Many of children, whatever gender they are, use the internet to surf music they like, chat with each other and send email (Shields and Behrman, 2001). Furthermore, as what Subrahmanyam says, computer use may not decrease the time of TV. Therefore, because of computers, videogames and television, the screen time increases, which makes children have less time to do outdoor activities for their physical development (Subrahmanyam, 2001). Another disturbing effect of computer use on children’s health and physical development is children’s mental health. The research of Subrahmanyam and colleagues (2001) shows the proportion of aggressive computer games is increasing time after time. Children who play violent computer games have different experiences from those playing educational games. For instance, if children play Duke Nukem and Doom for a long time, it can expose children to aggressive behavior (Shield and Behrman, 2001). Those suggest that children’s mental will get more violent. In addition, the study that launched among third and fourth grades shows children playing aggressive computer games act more violent than children playing outdoor activities, such as basketball (Subrahmanyam, 2001). In a word, children who are exposed to violent games for a long time may be more aggressive, which has a side effect on children’s mental health. In conclusion, although there are many children use computers, it has negative effects on children’s health and physical development. As much time is spent on playing computers which increases children’s screen time, children’s outdoor activities are displaced. What is worse, computer use can make children get pains on their eyes, backs and wrists. Just as troublesome, children’s mental health can also be negatively affected by playing aggressive computer games. Therefore, it is important to set a time limit on children’s computer use. Bibliography Shields, M.K. and Berman, R.E. 2001 Children and Computer Technology Analyses and Recommendations available at http://www.futureofchildren.org/information2827 Subrahmanyam, K. et al. 2001 The impact of Home Computer Use on Children Use on Children’s Activities and Development in Children and Computer Technology available at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/-/kraut/Rkraut.site.files/articles/subrahmanyam00-computer&kids.pdf

Spirit Bound Chapter Nineteen

â€Å"ARE YOU CRAZY?† I ASKED. He gave me the same wordless look he always did when I asked that question. I sighed and tried again. â€Å"A party? That's pushing it, even for you. People just died! Guardians. Priscilla Voda.† Not to mention, people had just come back from the dead. Probably best to leave that part out. â€Å"This isn't the time to get trashed and play beer pong.† I expected Adrian to say that it was always a good time for beer pong, but he remained serious. â€Å"Actually, it's because people died that there's going to be a party. It's not a kegger type. Maybe party's not even the right word. It's a†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He frowned, grasping at words. â€Å"A special event. An elite one.† â€Å"All royal parties are elite ones,† I pointed out. â€Å"Yeah, but not every royal is invited to this. It's the†¦ well, elite of the elite.† That really wasn't helping. â€Å"Adrian–â€Å" â€Å"No, listen.† He made that familiar gesture of his that indicated frustration, running his hand through his hair. â€Å"It's not so much a party as a ceremony. An old, old tradition from†¦ I don't know. Romania, I think. They call it the Death Watch. But it's a way to honor the dead, a secret that's been passed on through the oldest bloodlines.† Flashbacks of a destructive secret society at St. Vladimir's came back to me. â€Å"This isn't some Mana thing, is it?† â€Å"No, I swear. Please, Rose. I'm not all that into it either, but my mom's making me go, and I'd really like it if you were there with me.† Elite and bloodline were warning words to me. â€Å"Will there be other dhampirs there?† â€Å"No.† He then added quickly, â€Å"But I made arrangements for some people you'll approve of to be there. It'll make it better for both of us.† â€Å"Lissa?† I guessed. If ever there was an esteemed bloodline, hers was it. â€Å"Yeah. I just ran into her at the medical center. Her reaction was about like yours.† That made me smile. It also piqued my interest. I wanted to talk to her more about what had happened during her visit to Dimitri and knew she'd been avoiding me because of it. If going to some silly royal ritual or whatever it was could get me to her, then so much the better. â€Å"Who else?† â€Å"People you'll like.† â€Å"Fine. Be mysterious. I'll go to your cult meeting.† That earned me a return smile. â€Å"Hardly a cult, little dhampir. It really is a way to pay last respects to the people killed in that fight.† He reached out and ran a hand along my cheek. â€Å"And I'm glad†¦ God, I'm so glad you weren't one of them. You don't know†¦.† His voice caught, the flippant smile trembling for a moment before stabilizing again. â€Å"You don't know how worried I was. Every minute you were gone, every minute I didn't know what had happened to you†¦ it was agony. And even after I heard you were okay, I kept asking everyone at the medical center what they knew. Had they seen you fight, did you get hurt†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I felt a lump in my throat. I hadn't been able to see Adrian when I'd returned, but I should have sent a message, at least. I squeezed his hand and tried to make a joke of something that really wasn't funny. â€Å"What'd they say? That I was a badass?† â€Å"Yeah, actually. They couldn't stop talking about how amazing you were in battle. Word got back to Aunt Tatiana too about what you did, and even she was impressed.† Whoa. That was a surprise. I started to ask more, but his next words brought me up short. â€Å"I also heard you were yelling at anyone you could to find out about Belikov. And that you were beating down the guardians' doors this morning.† I looked away. â€Å"Oh. Yeah. I†¦ Look, I'm sorry, but I had to–â€Å" â€Å"Hey, hey.† His voice was heavy and earnest. â€Å"Don't apologize. I understand.† I looked up at him. â€Å"You do?† â€Å"Look, it's not like I didn't expect this if he came back.† I glanced back at him hesitantly, studying his serious expression. â€Å"I know. I remember what you said before†¦.† He nodded, then gave me another rueful smile. â€Å"Of course, I didn't actually expect any of this to work. Lissa tried to explain the magic she used†¦ but good God. I don't think I could ever do anything like she did.† â€Å"Do you believe?† I asked. â€Å"Do you believe he's no longer Strigoi?† â€Å"Yeah. Lissa said he's not, and I believe her. And I saw him from a distance out in the sun. But I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to try to see him.† â€Å"That's your jealousy talking.† I had absolutely no right to sound accusing, considering the way my heart was all tangled up over Dimitri. â€Å"Of course it's jealousy,† said Adrian nonchalantly. â€Å"What do you expect? The former love of your life comes back–from the dead, no less. That's not something I'm really excited about. But I don't blame you for feeling confused.† â€Å"I told you before–â€Å" â€Å"I know, I know.† Adrian didn't sound particularly upset. In fact, there was a surprisingly patient tone in his voice. â€Å"I know you said him coming back wouldn't affect things between us. But saying one thing before it happens and then actually having that thing happen are two different things.† â€Å"What are you getting at?† I asked, kind of confused. â€Å"I want you, Rose.† He squeezed my hand more tightly. â€Å"I've always wanted you. I want to be with you. I'd like to be like other guys and say I want to take care of you too, but†¦ well. When it comes down to it, you'd probably be the one taking care of me.† I laughed in spite of myself. â€Å"Some days I think you're in more danger from yourself than anyone else. You smell like cigarettes, you know.† â€Å"Hey, I have never, ever said I was perfect. And you're wrong. You're probably the most dangerous thing in my life.† â€Å"Adrian–â€Å" â€Å"Wait.† With his other hand, he pressed his fingers over my lips. â€Å"Just listen. It'd be stupid for me to think that your old boyfriend coming back isn't going to have any effect on you. So do I like you wanting to see him? No, of course not. That's instinct. But there's more, you know. I do believe that he's a dhampir again. Absolutely. But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"But what?† Adrian's words had me more curious than ever now. â€Å"But just because he isn't a Strigoi doesn't mean it's entirely gone from him. Hold on.† Adrian could see my mouth opening in outrage. â€Å"I'm not saying he's evil or means to be evil or anything like that. But what he went through†¦ It's huge. Epic. We really don't know much about the changing process. What effect did that kind of life have on him? Are there violent parts of him that might suddenly lash out? That's what I'm worried about Rose. I know you. I know you aren't going to be able to help yourself. You'll have to see him and talk to him. But is it safe? That's what no one knows. We don't know anything about this. We don't know if he's dangerous.† Christian had said the same thing to Lissa. I examined Adrian intently. It sounded like a convenient excuse to keep Dimitri and me apart. Yet, I saw truth in those deep green eyes. He meant it. He was nervous about what Dimitri might do. Adrian had also been honest about being jealous, which I had to admire. He hadn't ordered me not to see Dimitri or tried to dictate my behavior. I liked that too. I extended my hand and laced my fingers with Adrian's. â€Å"He's not dangerous. He's†¦ sad. Sad for what he's done. The guilt's killing him.† â€Å"I can imagine. I probably wouldn't forgive myself either if I suddenly realized I'd been brutally killing people for the last four months.† Adrian pulled me to him and kissed the top of my head. â€Å"And for everyone's sake–yes, even his–I really hope he is exactly the way he was. Just be careful, okay?† â€Å"I will,† I said, kissing his cheek. â€Å"Inasmuch as I ever am.† He grinned and released me. â€Å"That's the best I can hope for. For now, I've got to head back to my parents' for a little bit. I'll come back for you at four, okay?† â€Å"Okay. Is there anything I should wear to this secret party?† â€Å"Nice dress clothes are fine.† Something occurred to me. â€Å"If this is so elite and prestigious, how are you going to get a lowly dhampir like me in?† â€Å"With this.† Adrian reached for a bag he'd set down upon entering. He handed it to me. Curiously, I opened the bag and gaped at what I saw. It was a mask, one that just covered the top half of the face around the eyes. It was intricately worked with gold and green leaves and bejeweled flowers. â€Å"A mask?† I exclaimed. â€Å"We're wearing masks to this thing? What is this, Halloween?† He winked. â€Å"See you at four.† We didn't actually put on the masks until we arrived at the Death Watch. As part of the secret nature of it all, Adrian said we didn't want to call any attention to ourselves while going to it. So we walked across the Court's grounds dressed up–I wore the same dress I'd worn to dinner at his parents'–but not getting much more notice than the two of us usually did when we were together. Besides, it was late, and a lot of the Court was getting ready for bed. Our destination surprised me. It was one of the buildings that non-royal Court workers lived in, one that was very near Mia's. Well, I supposed the last place you'd look for a royal party would be at the home of a commoner. Except we didn't go to any of the apartments inside. Once we stepped into the building's lobby, Adrian indicated we should put our masks on. He then took me over to what appeared to be a janitor's closet. It wasn't. Instead, the door opened to a staircase leading down into darkness. I couldn't see the bottom, which put me on high alert. I instinctively wanted to know the details of every situation I entered. Adrian seemed calm and confident as he headed down, so I took it on faith he wasn't leading me to some sacrificial altar. I hated to admit it, but curiosity over this Death Watch thing was temporarily taking my mind off Dimitri. Adrian and I eventually reached another door, and this one had two guards. Both men were Moroi, both masked like Adrian and me. Their postures were stiff and defensive. They said nothing but simply looked at us expectantly. Adrian said a few words that sounded like Romanian, and a moment later, one of the men unlocked the door and gestured us inside. â€Å"Secret password?† I murmured to Adrian as we swept past. â€Å"Passwords, actually. One for you and one for me. Every guest has a unique one.† We stepped into a narrow tunnel lit only by torches embedded in the walls. Their dancing flames cast fanciful shadows as we passed by. From far ahead, the low murmur of conversation reached us. It sounded surprisingly normal, like any conversation you'd hear at a party. Based on Adrian's description, I'd half-expected to hear chanting or drums. I shook my head. â€Å"I knew it. They keep a medieval dungeon under the Court. I'm surprised there aren't chains on the walls.† â€Å"Scared?† Adrian teased, clasping hold of my hand. â€Å"Of this? Hardly. I mean, on the Rose Hathaway Scale of Scariness, this is barely a–â€Å" We emerged out of the hall before I could finish. An expansive room with vaulted ceilings spread out before us, something that boggled my spatially challenged brain as I tried to recall just how far underground we'd gone. Wrought-iron chandeliers holding lit candles hung from the ceiling, casting the same ghostly light the torches had. The walls were made of stone, but it was a very artful, pretty stone: gray with reddish flecks, polished into smooth round pieces. Someone had wanted to keep the Old World dungeon feel but still have the place look stylish. It was a typical line of royal thinking. Fifty or so people were milling around the room, some huddled in groups. Like Adrian and me, they wore formal clothing and half masks. All the masks were different. Some had a floral theme like mine, while others were decorated with animals. Some simply had swirls or geometric designs. Even though the masks only covered half the guests' faces, the sketchy lighting went a long way to obscure any other identifying features. I scrutinized them carefully, hoping I might pick out details that would give someone away. Adrian led me out of the entryway and over toward a corner. As my view of the area expanded, I could see a large fire pit in the middle of the room, embedded in the stone floor. No fire burned in it, but everyone kept well away. For a moment, I had a disorienting flash of deja vu, thinking back to my time in Siberia. I'd been to a type of memorial ceremony there too–though hardly one with masks or passwords–and everyone had sat around a bonfire outdoors. It had been in Dimitri's honor, as all those who had loved him sat and told stories about him. I tried to get a better look at the fire, but Adrian was intent on keeping us behind the bulk of the crowd. â€Å"Don't bring attention to yourself,† he warned. â€Å"I was just looking.† â€Å"Yeah, but anyone who looks too close is going to realize you're the shortest person here. It'd be pretty obvious you're a dhampir. This is elite old blood, remember?† I frowned at him as much as I could through the mask. â€Å"But I thought you said you'd made arrangements for me to be here?† I groaned when he didn't answer. â€Å"Does ‘making arrangements' mean just sneaking me in? If so, those guys were kind of crap security.† Adrian scoffed. â€Å"Hey, we had the right passwords. That's all it takes. I stole–er, borrowed them off my mom's list.† â€Å"Your mom's one of the people who helped organize this?† â€Å"Yup. Her branch of the Tarus family's been deep inside this group for centuries. They apparently had a really big ceremony here after the school attack.† I turned all of this over in my mind, trying to decide how I felt. I hated when people were obsessed with status and appearances, yet it was hard to fault them wanting to honor those who had been killed–particularly when a majority of them had been dhampirs. The Strigoi attack on St. Vladimir's was a memory that would forever haunt me. Before I could ponder much further, a familiar sensation swept me. â€Å"Lissa's here,† I said, looking around. I could feel her nearby but didn't spot her immediately in the sea of masks and shadows. â€Å"There.† She stood apart from some of the others, wearing a rosehued dress and a white and gold mask with swans on it. Through our link, I felt her searching for anyone she knew. I impulsively started to go to her, but Adrian held me back, telling me to wait while he retrieved her. â€Å"What is all this?† she asked when she reached me. â€Å"I figured you'd know,† I told her. â€Å"It's all top secret royal stuff.† â€Å"Too top secret for me,† she said. â€Å"I got my invite from the queen. She told me it was part of my heritage and to keep it to myself, and then Adrian came and said I had to come for your sake.† â€Å"Tatiana invited you directly?† I exclaimed. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. Lissa would have hardly needed sneaking in like I did. I figured someone would have made sure she got an invitation, but I'd assumed it had all been Adrian's doing. I glanced around uneasily. â€Å"Is Tatiana here?† â€Å"Likely,† said Adrian, voice annoyingly casual. As usual, his aunt's presence didn't have the same impact on him that it did the rest of us. â€Å"Oh, hey. There's Christian. With the fire mask.† I didn't know how Adrian spotted Christian, aside from the not-so-subtle mask metaphor. With his height and dark hair, Christian easily blended in with the other Moroi around him and had even been chatting with a girl standing nearby, which seemed out of character. â€Å"No way did he get a legit invite,† I said. If any Ozeras had been deemed special enough to come to this, Christian wouldn't have been one of them. â€Å"He didn't,† agreed Adrian, making a small gesture for Christian to join us. â€Å"I gave him one of the passwords I stole from Mom.† I gave Adrian a startled look. â€Å"How many did you steal?† â€Å"Enough to–â€Å" â€Å"Let us come to attention.† A man's booming voice rang out through the room, halting both Adrian's words and Christian's steps. With a grimace, Christian returned to where he'd been standing, cut off from us now on the other side of the room. It looked like I wouldn't have the chance to ask Lissa about Dimitri after all. Without any direction, the others in the room began forming a circle around the fire pit. The room wasn't big enough for us to make a single-layered circle, so I was still able to stay behind other Moroi as I watched the spectacle. Lissa stood by me, but her attention was fixated across from us, on Christian. She was disappointed that he hadn't been able to join us. â€Å"Tonight we come to honor the spirits of those who died fighting the great evil that has plagued us for so long.† This was the same man who had called us to attention. The black mask he wore glittered with silver swirls. He wasn't anyone special that I recognized. It was probably safe to assume that he was someone from an important bloodline who happened to have a good voice for bringing people together. Adrian confirmed it. â€Å"That's Anthony Badica. They always recruit him as an emcee.† Anthony seemed more like a religious leader than an emcee right now, but I didn't want to answer back and attract anyone's notice. â€Å"Tonight we honor them,† continued Anthony. I flinched as almost everyone around us repeated those words. Lissa and I exchanged startled looks. Apparently, there was a script we hadn't been told about. â€Å"Their lives were taken from us too soon,† continued Anthony. â€Å"Tonight we honor them.† Okay, this script might not be so hard to follow after all. Anthony kept talking about how terrible the tragedy was, and we repeated the same response. The whole idea of this Death Watch still weirded me out, but Lissa's sadness permeated the bond and began to affect me too. Priscilla had always been good to her–and polite to me. Grant might have only been Lissa's guardian a short time, but he had protected her and helped her. In fact, if not for Grant's work with Lissa, Dimitri might still be a Strigoi. So, slowly, the gravity of it all began to hit me, and even if I thought there were better ways to mourn, I appreciated the acknowledgment the dead were getting. After a few more refrains, Anthony gestured someone forward. A woman in a glittering emerald mask came forward with a torch. Adrian shifted beside me. â€Å"My darling mother,† he murmured. Sure enough. Now that he'd pointed it out, I could clearly make out Daniella's features. She tossed her torch into the fire pit, and it lit up like the Fourth of July. Someone must have doused that wood with either gasoline or Russian vodka. Maybe both. No wonder the other guests had kept their distance. Daniella melted into the crowd, and another woman came forward holding a tray with golden goblets. Walking around the circle, she handed a cup to each person. When she ran out, another woman appeared with a tray. As the goblets were distributed, Anthony explained, â€Å"Now we will toast and drink to the dead, so that their spirits will move on and find peace.† I shifted uncomfortably. People talked about restless spirits and the dead finding peace without really knowing what that meant. Being shadow-kissed came with the ability to see the restless dead, and it had taken me a long time to gain control so that I didn't see them. They were always around me; I had to work to keep them blocked out. I wondered what I'd see now if I let down my walls. Would the ghosts of those killed the night of Dimitri's attack be hovering around us? Adrian sniffed his cup as soon as he got it and scowled. For a moment, I felt panic until I sniffed mine too. â€Å"Wine. Thank God,† I whispered to him. â€Å"From your face, I thought it was blood.† I recalled how much he hated blood that wasn't straight from the source. â€Å"Nah,† he murmured back. â€Å"Just a bad vintage.† When everyone had their wine, Anthony raised his cup over his head with both hands. With the fire behind him, it gave him an almost sinister, otherworldly look. â€Å"We drink to Priscilla Voda,† he said. â€Å"We drink to Priscilla Voda,† everyone repeated. He brought the goblet down and took a sip. So did everyone else–well, except for Adrian. He gulped half his down, bad vintage or not. Anthony raised his cup over his head again. â€Å"We drink to James Wilket.† As I repeated the words, I realized James Wilket was one of Priscilla's guardians. This crazy group of royals really was showing respect to dhampirs. We went through the other guardians one by one, but I kept my sips small, wanting to keep a level head tonight. I was pretty sure that by the end of the name list, Adrian was faking his sips because he'd run out. When Anthony finished naming all who had died, he held his cup up again and approached the blazing fire, which had begun to make the small room uncomfortably hot. The back of my dress was growing damp with sweat. â€Å"To all those lost by the great evil, we honor your spirits and hope they will move on in peace to the next world.† He then dumped the remainder of his wine into the flames. All this talk of spirits lingering in the world certainly didn't go along with the usual Christian afterlife beliefs that dominated Moroi religion. It made me wonder just how old this ceremony really was. Once more, I had an urge to drop my barriers and see if any of this had really drawn ghosts to us, but I feared what I'd find. Besides, I promptly got distracted when everyone else in the circle began dumping their wine into the fire as well. One by one, going clockwise, each person approached. All was silent as this happened, save for the crackling in the fire pit and shifting of logs. Everyone watched respectfully. When my turn came, I fought hard not to tremble. I hadn't forgotten that Adrian had sneaked me in here. Lowly Moroi weren't allowed, let alone dhampirs. What would they do? Declare the space violated? Mob me? Cast me into the fire? My fears proved unfounded. No one said or did anything unusual as I poured out my wine, and a moment later, Adrian stepped forward for his turn. I melted back beside Lissa. When the entire circle had gone up, we were led into a moment of silence for the departed. Having witnessed Lissa's kidnapping and subsequent rescue, I had a lot of dead to ponder. No amount of silence would ever do them justice. Another unspoken signal seemed to pass through the room. The circle dispersed, and the tension lifted. People again fell into small chatty groups, just like at any other party, though I did see tears on the faces of some. â€Å"A lot of people must have liked Priscilla,† I observed. Adrian turned toward a table that had mysteriously been arranged during the ceremony. It sat against the back wall and was filled with fruit, cheese, and more wine. Naturally, he poured a glass. â€Å"They aren't all crying for her,† he said. â€Å"I find it hard to believe they're crying for the dhampirs,† I pointed out. â€Å"No one here even knew them.† â€Å"Not true,† he said. Lissa quickly caught his meaning. â€Å"Most of the people who went on the rescue would have been guardians assigned to Moroi. They couldn't all be Court guardians.† She was right, I realized. We'd had too many people with us at the warehouse. Many of these Moroi had undoubtedly lost guardians that they'd become close to. Despite the disdain I often had for these types of royals, I knew some had probably formed legitimate friendships with and attachments to their bodyguards. â€Å"This is a lame party,† a voice suddenly said. We turned and saw that Christian had finally made his way over to us. â€Å"I couldn't tell if we were supposed to be having a funeral or summoning the devil. It was kind of a half-assed attempt at both.† â€Å"Stop it,† I said, surprising myself. â€Å"Those people died for you last night. Whatever this is, it's still out of respect for them.† Christian's face grew sober. â€Å"You're right.† Beside me, I'd felt Lissa light up inside when she saw him. The horrors of their ordeal had brought them closer together, and I recalled the tenderness they'd shared on the ride back. She offered him a warm look and got a tentative smile in return. Maybe some good would come of all that had happened. Maybe they'd be able to fix their problems. Or maybe not. Adrian broke into a grin. â€Å"Hey. Glad you could make it.† For a moment, I thought he was speaking to Christian. Then I looked and saw a girl in a peacock mask had joined us. With the mingling people and masks, I hadn't noticed that she was purposely standing near us. I peered at her, seeing only blue eyes and golden curls before I finally recognized her. Mia. â€Å"What are you doing here?† I asked. She grinned. â€Å"Adrian got me a password.† â€Å"Adrian apparently got passwords for half the party.† He seemed very pleased with himself. â€Å"See?† he said, smiling at me. â€Å"I told you I'd make this worth your while. The whole gang's here. Nearly.† â€Å"This is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen,† said Mia, glancing around. â€Å"I don't see why it has to be a secret that the people who got killed were heroes. Why can't they wait for the group funeral?† Adrian shrugged. â€Å"I told you, this is an ancient ceremony. It's a holdover from the Old Country, and these people think it's important. From what I know, it used to be a lot more elaborate. This is the modernized version.† It occurred to me then that Lissa hadn't said a single word since we'd noticed Christian had come with Mia. I opened myself to the bond, feeling a flood of jealousy and resentment. I still maintained Mia was one of the last people Christian would be involved with. (Okay, it was hard for me to imagine him involved with anyone. His getting together with Lissa had been monumental.) Lissa couldn't see that, though. All she saw was him continually hanging out with other girls. As our conversation continued, Lissa's attitude grew frostier, and the friendly looks he'd been giving her began to fade. â€Å"So is it true?† Mia asked, oblivious to the drama unfolding around her. â€Å"Is Dimitri really†¦ back?† Lissa and I exchanged glances. â€Å"Yes,† I said firmly. â€Å"He's a dhampir, but no one believes it yet. Because they're idiots.† â€Å"It just happened, little dhampir.† Adrian's tone was gentle, though the topic clearly made him uncomfortable too. â€Å"You can't expect everyone to get on board with it right away.† â€Å"But they are idiots,† said Lissa fiercely. â€Å"Anyone who talks to him can tell he's not a Strigoi. I'm pushing for them to let him out of his cell so that people can actually see for themselves.† I wished she would push a little harder for me to get to see him, but now wasn't the time to talk about that. Eyeing the room, I wondered if some people would have trouble accepting Dimitri because of his role in the deaths of their loved ones. He hadn't been in control of himself, but that wasn't enough to bring back the dead. Still uncomfortable around Christian, Lissa was growing restless. She also wanted to leave and check on Dimitri. â€Å"How long do we have to stay here? Is there more to–â€Å" â€Å"Who the hell are you?† Our little cluster turned as one and found Anthony standing by us. Considering most of us were here illicitly, he could have been speaking to anyone. But, based on where his gaze was fixed, there was no question who he meant. He was talking to me.

River flowing through a village - High Atlas mountains in Morocco Essay

River flowing through a village - High Atlas mountains in Morocco - Essay Example But this transportation depends upon the how much area is available to the river for carrying the water downstream. The High Atlas is the biggest mountain range in North Africa. This area covers some of the most beautiful regions of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. There are a number of streams flowing with volumes of water downstream. Cross section of the channel of stream can be depicted as in fig-1 below; As the stream approaches leaves the hill areas and reaches the plain areas its width tend to increase owing to spread of the river. But at the same the depth also varies. The depth may become more or slightly less, but generally there is no drastic reduction in depth. In addition the average speed of the river also slows down in plain areas. Efficiency of a water channel is determined by the amount of water it carries along. The channel works as a conduit for water. Cross Sectional Shape of the channel keeps varying with position in the stream, and discharge. The channel becomes deep at places where the velocity of river is high and results in deeper penetration. In general both width and depth increase downstream with increase in discharge downstream. The channel will be termed as most efficient at places where it can carry the maximum amount of water. Tourism plays an important role in understanding the region, the country, its people and the region. Tourism is also an integral part of the economy of Morocco. After the terrorist attacks against Casablanca Moroccan economy was badly hit as the inflow of tourists decreased. The country is now gradually recouping the lost opportunities with gains in this major industry. i.e. The first direct economic consequences of the terrorist attacks against Casablanca are already visible in Morocco's major industry; the tourism trade. The High Atlas Mountains in Morocco are a major attraction for tourism and trekking events. The Atlas Mountains and Morocco's imperial cities are the main centres of attractions for Morocco. Besides the continuing efforts of the local government, in 2003, a USAID contractor (Chemonics International), selected southern High Atlas Mounta

SARS Outbreak in Toronto Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SARS Outbreak in Toronto - Research Paper Example But he was not sure how to communicate the crisis to the community at large. Moreover, a timeline of events occurred that led to misinformation to the public thus proving a difficult task to find ways to curb the epidemic. Many of those mistakes were preventable, for instance the World Health Organization produced numerous reports contradicting to the previous ones. In their reports the disease which had been stated as having an incubation period of two days was later said to have a ten days incubation period. For another thing, the disease was at one time thought as been bacterial, besides it being viral so this made it harder to cure the disease. Additionally, the mode of transmission was said to be through immediate contact with an infected individual but later on the virus was found that it might live on surfaces for days. Communication errors also made it difficult to manage the situation; whenever a report was released by the WHO it was not marked as important but was placed in other categories as normal flues. Moreover, there was a detachment amongst organizations. The physicians could have prioritized the urgency of the reports so as to make it easier for disease prevention. In addition to the information gap, the structure of health care systems and public health in Ontario and Toronto was another root cause of this endemic. Most hospitals in Toronto operated devoid of any local health authority leading them. Also, there were no pandemic control centers that could be delegated authority in cases of an outbreak. Lastly, spokespersons conveyed inconsistent information’s and this ensued confusion. Therefore, the core problem that led to SARS getting out of hand is misinformation by the WHO. If the reports could convey genuine information then even if there was poor communication between companies, those measures could have been put in place and would have helped to curb the endemic (Berry,

What does it mean to act morally Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

What does it mean to act morally - Term Paper Example The proposed model adopts theories of Psychological Egoism and Ethical Egoism but it is largely based on the Buddhist philosophy of enlightenment. Analysis on Existing Theories of Moral Philosophy Sense of â€Å"morality† occurs naturally in human mind. Pursuing private benefits and ignoring the wellbeing of other living beings are also natural human behaviors. Conflicting mortal forces of â€Å"morality† and â€Å"immorality† are responsible for a great amount of literature in the human history. Lord Buddha taught 2600 years ago that correctly comprehending these forces is the path way to the ultimate freedom of humans. Theology play a vital role in moral philosophy. However the divine command theory is inefficient in describing the religion lead morality. It acknowledges the significance of religion in moral philosophy. But it is based on a rather ambiguous presumption i.e. â€Å"there exists a God†. Accordingly God defines what is good and what is bad. Approximately 2500 years ago Plato questioned: â€Å"is something right (or wrong) because the gods command it, or do the gods commands it because it is right?† Religion lead morality had been much easier to widely implement during the pre-industrial revolution. In the history fear and faith towards religious abstracts kept humans from acting upon immoral desires. ... Thus the divine command theory is not an efficient approach for contemporary moral philosophy. Psychology is acknowledged as a vital component in moral philosophy. There are many theories advocated by the psychologists relating to the moral judgment example: Piaget’s â€Å"genetic Epistemology† and Haidt’s â€Å"social-intuitionist† theory (Bucciarelli et. al., 2008). Piaget, 1975, described the cognitive development process of children in terms of their biological makeup and psychological process involving adaptation and organization. When a new situation is presented to a child it becomes assimilated and accommodated in memory. These two processes jointly results in adaptation to the new situation. Creating structures of related and interconnected information is a natural process occurring in human minds (known as organization in Piaget’s theory). Thus when the same situation is presented repeatedly child reacts according to what is already been a ssimilated and accommodated. According to Piaget’s theory logical reasoning is the aftermath of adaptation and organization. Haidt, 1978, described â€Å"immediate intuition† as the judicable basis for identifying what is right and what is wrong. Haidt’s theory postulates that conscious reasoning of humans is not effective for identifying what is right or wrong. Alternatively it is vital for influencing the actions of others. Haidt’s theory defines immediate intuition as â€Å"the sudden appearance in consciousness of a moral judgment, including an affective valence (good-bad, like-dislike), without any conscious awareness of having gone through steps of searching, weighing evidence, or inferring a conclusion† (Haidt, 2001, p. 818). Limitation of Haidt’s above definition is discussed in the

Globalization Impacts On The Poor And Inequality Essay

Globalization Impacts On The Poor And Inequality - Essay Example Financial integration should be accompanied with the pursuit of macroeconomic stabilization policies. Both traditional and modern trade theories suggest that gains from the free trade will not be distributed equally within economies. The World Bank studies several ways in which globalization affects inequality within and across countries. A very important factor in the distribution of income is the initial income of the country. The empirical literature reveals that free trade contributes only to 20% of the world inequality, being less important than such factors as technological innovations or demographic changes. The economists use the term globalization to refer to international integration in the capital, commodity, and labor markets. The crucial economic features of the two most recent periods of globalization (1950-73 and 1974-2007) involve increased integration in trade, international capital flows and movement of labor. However, as we can see in table 1 (WTO,2008), there are differences in the importance of these factors in each period. During the entire 1950-2007 period, the trade expanded by 6.2 percent. In the first decades after World War II (WWII), due to the reconstruction of the country economies, the most dynamic traders were the Western European countries and Japan.From 1974 to 2000, newly industrialized Asian economies (NIEs) were the main beneficiaries of globalization, with their merchandise exports comprising raising from 2.4 percent to 9.7 percent within only two decades.  

Encounter of the East and West Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Encounter of the East and West - Essay Example The three years spent by the French team in Egypt had great influence on the west and specifically Europe at that time. The invasion of the outsiders to Egypt has formed a benchmark onto which the east and west convened and exchanged different aspects. The western culture diversified because of the Egyptian influence. The Egyptian ancient society fade away with time as the encounter between east and west persisted over time. Ancient Egypt civilization as described by the napoleon team was rich in artefacts that triggered great interest to the west. These included the famous Egyptian pyramids, temples, and representations of pharaohs and gods. The sphinx of Giza is one of the statues that have amazed the world because of its age and meaning. The sphinx is a monument that bears the head of a human and the body of a lion. The great monument standing on the Egyptian desert is currently in ruins because of the persistent wind, sand of the desert and rainfall. The sphinx lies amidst Egypti an pyramids in Giza and the meaning that Egyptians have attached to the monument over time is perplexing. Time has redefined the meaning and representation repeatedly. The sphinx stands as a clear illustration of the dynasties existing in the previous civilizations before European intervention. Speculations from the old times indicate that the human face was in honour of one of the pharaohs. The sculpture probably dates back to the fourth dynasty and the face represented belonged to pharaoh Khafre. The monument dimensions are 238 feet in length and 65 feet in height. The origins of the bedrock making the sculpture re not very clear. The lion body depicts the royalty awarded to the dynasty by the people. Ancient Egypt was rich in style and this is the reason why the pyramids of the old times have persisted in world history. The ancient Egyptian civilization greatly influenced the succeeding new kingdom of the modern history. The great sphinx receives respect and honour from the peopl e. For some people, it represented the pharaoh who instructed its building. Others believe that the pharaoh Khafre’s father instructed its building (Bayly, 2004:75). The monument has both political and religious value for some people. While some regard the essence of the sphinx as an important aspect reflecting the fourth dynasty, others associate it with the Egyptian gods. ‘The dream stela’ in the middle of the paws of the sphinx that has inscriptions on it tells the story of prince Thutmosis who slept in the middle of the paws and had a dream in which the gods spoke to him. After this, some Egyptologists claim that the monument had transformed from a king icon to a god icon. The sphinx holds a lot of mystery concerning origin, purpose and disproportion of the monument. Question two Mehmet Ali is a name familiar in Egyptian history because he established a new Egypt after the French troop led by Napoleon left (Darwin, 2007:66). Egypt was an agricultural country during napoleon’s rule. Mehmet was formally a member of the ottoman army and was an Albanian. He moved to Egypt after the departure of napoleon and was ready to transform the empire. He moved to Egypt under the instruction of his uncle the governor. Having grown up in the uncle’s family, he had received responsibilities that presented him with an opportunity to develop great leadership and political skills. In 1801, his mission in Egypt was

Lower Body Injury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lower Body Injury - Essay Example In football and rugby, traumatic injuries are the major contributors while in basketball, lawn tennis, hockey and badminton sudden stopping and twisting tops the list. However, no sport is limited to a single cause. The major symptoms include mild to severe pain, swelling of the knee joint, audible click or pop in the knee, and at times knee lock occurs. The magnitude and the number of the symptoms observed in a casualty are not fixed (Engebretsen & Bahr 2011). In many case they vary depending on the severity of the injury. In case of a cartilage tear, the patient is first given a physiotherapy treatment to lessen the pain and inflammation or swelling of the joint. This involves application of ice parks at interval of 20 minutes hourly. For severe cases, the patient is hospitalized immediately (Engebretsen & Bahr 2011). Returning to the field to play once again may be immediate depending on how fast the knee settles down, swelling and pain disappearing. Although in complicated cases, this will be indefinite. This is because it is subject to type of treatment given and rehabilitation period based on the doctor’s opinion (Engebretsen & Bahr 2011). In sports, tearing of cartilage is not an injury that can be easily prevented. However, there are measures that can be employed to minimize the frequencies of such occurrences. In the field, players in any particular sport should avoid playing or training in uneven or grounds, do warm up activities before engaging in any intense physical sport and should have a knee strap to aid in restriction of joint rotation but permits knee movement. Also performing exercises that develops thee quadriceps and hamstring muscles can be handy in preventing cartilage tear (Sohn & Toth

Christians Should Not Take Part In Sport Or Shopping Essay Example for Free

Christians Should Not Take Part In Sport Or Shopping Essay The important thing about this statement is that it can be argued two ways. Many people would see sport or shopping as a chore therefore related to work. Others would argue that it is a leisure activity and it is not work. With this in mind the church instated a law saying that all Catholics must attend mass on a Sunday. The Catholic Church itself has no laws or restrictions about shopping or playing sport on a Sunday. By tradition Sunday was the holy day separated and set aside by the fact the mass going was essential to the days activities. In The Old testament there is a saying in the book of Ecclesiastes saying there is a set and provide time for everything which basically means people should balance out there time between things. In todays society were everything is on the move and rushed priorities should be examined and people should use the gift of time wisely. God himself as many believed set down the day of worship. Sunday has three main important events, which coincide with this day. One: Jesus rose from the dead on this day.  Two: Sunday was the first Day of the week and the first day of creation.  Three: Jesus sent down the Holy Spirit On The Pentecost.  Sunday is also a day of celebration when Catholics come together to give praise to God and to thank God for what he has given all of them.  Sport nowadays has become big business for all involved. Among all the big names in sport no one objects to playing on Sundays because of all of the money involved. This is just a small list of all the sports that are being played on Sundays Although sport is played on money for reasons other the money many include because of TV rights and because of sponsors. Christians should not take part on sport on Sunday because sport is seen as work in the churchs eyes. Many values are expressed in sport such as sportsmanship, fairplay etc.  Shopping is the second of the changing faces of Sunday is becoming the most popular one. Many family lifestyles revolve around the parents work and therefore many parents only get to see their children at the weekends. The weekend is often regarded as the days to get the shopping done and many rely on Sunday heavily. Since seven day shopping was legalised in 1977, many have taken advantage over the law. Teresa Murray head of the N. Ireland Region Of Shopping Centres said Sunday Shopping has become like a leisure pursuit for families and has become an important trading day for people in business. Business provides a service and depending on the demand it either succeeds or fails and on Sunday nowadays shopping has become a demand so in order to make money business open for the maximum hours allowed which is six. Many working families dont have much time to spend so end up using Sunday to spend time with there children or getting tings that they could get during the week such as grocery shopping. All the added time spend on Sundays has increased the employment needed for Sundays. Bob Gourley head of N. Ireland Shop Workers Union said they had been opposed to the Sunday trading laws and had in fact boycotted them for many years but however hard they try Sunday trading has become a reality. Our workers only work on Sunday where it is done by agreement

Airborne infectious disease

Airborne infectious disease Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne infectious disease which is caused by bacteria belonging to Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex1. There are approximately one third of the worlds population are infected with tuberculosis where nine millions of new cases reported annually2. Although tuberculosis is essentially curable and preventable, it continues to cause millions of deaths every year2. When infected individual coughs, sneezes or spits, M. tuberculosis is propelled into the air and infected those who breathed in the bacteria that existed in droplets of saliva3. Primarily, tuberculosis will affect the lungs, known as pulmonary tuberculosis3. It will also affect other parts of body, for instance lymph nodes, bones, brain and kidneys3. Once a person is infected with tuberculosis, there are basically three possible ways may occur. Firstly, the immune system plays a vital role and strong enough to kill the bacteria3. Secondly, immune system is not strong enough to fight off the bacteria bu t is able to build a defensive barrier against the bacteria3. Individuals who are latently infected with M. tuberculosis show asymptomatic where these bacteria lie dormant in the lungs and able to reactivate after years1. The disease is often reactivated in those who are immunocompromised or generally weakened. Lastly, the immune system fails to kill bacteria causing the bacteria to grow and spread towards other parts of body which is called active tuberculosis3. In the fight of tuberculosis, World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends universal Bacille Calmette-Guà ©rin (BCG) vaccination in the countries with high TB burdens4. BCG vaccine contains weakened form of M. tuberculosiswhich will induce antibodies to fight against this type of bacteria. The efficacy of BCG vaccination can be ranging from 0% to 84%5. This may be due to the frequency of TB exposure and quality of vaccine used, leading to arguments on BCG vaccination efficacies4. One of the greatest arguments is that BCG vaccination causing positive reactions to tuberculin skin testing and hence interfere with the diagnosis of latent TB4. Existence of evidences showing the rates of efficacy also depends on geographical location, age at vaccination and form of TB further complicate the situation. Currently, TB chemotherapy is made up of a cocktail of first-line drugs isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RIF), pyrazinamide (PZA) and ethambutol (EMB) 6. If the treatment fails due to bacterial dr ug resistance, or patient unable to tolerate, second-line drugs for instance para-aminosalicylate (PAS), fluoroquinolones, ethionamide and cycloserine are introduced6. These are considered as second line drugs generally either less potent with larger doses or more toxic with serious side effects6. Tuberculosis is presently treated in two phases, namely initial phase and continuous phase7. In initial phase, the patient will be treated with concurrent use of four first line drugs, with the aim to eradicate or control bacteria population to replicate in rapid motion and also avoid the emergence of bacteria resistance7. The treatment choices available for initial treatment include isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol7. Streptomycin is used rarely but can be used in patients who infected with bacteria that are resistant to isoniazid before the therapy is commenced7. The duration for initial phase is 2 months whereas the continuous phase takes 4 months7. During the four months of continuous phase, patients are treated with isoniazid and rifampicin at same doses7. Most of the TB treatment is supervised where drug administration needs to be fully supervised by healthcare professions since lengthy duration of treatment causing incompliance in patients7. These patients who are unlikely to be compliance will be given the drugs three times a week until the course is completed while patients who able to comply with the treatment will not be supervised7. Despite the chemotherapy treatment and BCG vaccine, TB remains as a significant infectious disease due to increasing emergence of drug resistant TB and co-infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) 6. Since the host defense in HIV patients is suppressed, they are more susceptible to TB infections. Moreover, drug- drug interactions between antiviral therapy and anti-TB also causing complications in treating co-infected patients6. Drug resistant TB has evolved mainly because of improper treatment or incompliance in patients who stop taking their medications before the bacteria is being fully eradicated since the duration of treatment is lengthy which takes 6-9 months8, 9. The mechanism involved includes chromosomal mutations in genes that responsible for drug targets encoding9. When there is a sequential accumulation of mutations, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) emerges where the M. tuberculosis strains will resistant to two of the most commonly used drugs, Isoniazid and Rifampicin9. Patients with MDR-TB are then relying on the second-line drug classes, fluoroquinolones and the three injectable agents namely amikacin, capreomycin, and kanamycin10, 11. The chances to cure would dramatically be reduced for patients who infected with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), a situation where the isolated strains are resistant against any one of fluoroquinolones and at least one of three injectable drugs12. In order to combat with the MDR-TB or XDR-TB and optimize the tuberculosis drug regimen, it is crucial to understand the mechanism of action of current using first-line drugs and how resistance is developed against these drugs. Isoniazid (INH) or isonicotinic acid hydrazide is discovered in 1952, a bactericidal agent which active against organism of the genus Mycobacterium, especially M. tuberculosis, M. bovis and M. kansassi6, 13. In vivo, INH has shown to be bactericidal in culture over the first 48 hours which become bacteriostatic after this particular time frame13. This indicates that INH is bacteriostatic for slow growing or resting bacilli but is bactericidal for rapidly dividing mycobacterium. The minimal tuberculostatic concentration is 0.025 to 0.05ug/ml14. INH is a prodrug that needs to be activated by catalaseperoxide hemoporotein, KatG before acts by inhibiting mycolic acid synthesis and cell wall disruption in susceptible mycobacterium14, 15. This inhibitory action is very specific since mycolic acids are unique to mycobacteria14. INH acts by inhibit enoyl acyl carrier protein (ACP) reductase, InhA, and a beta-ketoacyl-ACP synthase, KasA that are crucial in fatty acid synthesis system for myco lic acid16. Resistance to INH is believed due to mutations in gene encoding catalaseperoxidase katG or InhA or lacking KatG9, 15. Isoniazid is metabolised in the liver, mainly by acetylation and dehydrazination where slow acetylator may experience higher concentration leads to potential toxicity before excreted in the urine within 24 hours14. Rifampicin (RIF), discovered in 1963, is a lipophilic semisynthetic derivative of rifamycin antibiotic which is produced by the fermentation of a strain of Amycolatopsismediterranei6, 9, 17. RIF has bactericidal activities against a broad spectrum of microorganisms including gram-positive and gram-negative. RIF will inhibit the action of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase of mycobacteria that is encoded by rpoB through formation of a stable drug-enzyme complex9. This will suppress the initiation chain formation in RNA synthesis and hence prohibit protein synthesis in M. tuberculosis9. Development of resistance to RIF is mostly due to mutation in 81 base pair region of rpoB gene thus facilitate a straightforward approach to detect MDR-TB since 85-90% RIF-resistant strains are also resistant to INH9. RIF produces peak plasma concentration of 7ug/mL in 2 to 4 hours after ingestion of 600mg18. It also distributed well to most of the body tissues and fluids, including cerebrospinal fluid since it is lipophilic18. Following absorption from the gastrointestinal tract, RIF is eliminated rapidly in the bile with fewer amounts excreted through urine18. Pyrazinamde (PZA) is discovered in 1954 and it produces excellent sterility effects against semidormant tubercle bacilli at slightly acidic pH6, 9. The antimicrobial activity of PZA is through interference with mycolic acid synthesis in M. tuberculosis by pyrazinoic acid, an active moiety of PZA9. Conversion of PZA to pyrazinoic acid is mediated by pyrazinamidase enzyme that is encoded by pncA gene in M. tuberculosis, thus indicating that these bacilli are sensitive to PZA9. Resistance against PZA evolved when mutation occur at pncA gene that is responsible for pyrazinamidase, hence affecting the activity of this enzyme9. PZA is well absorbed from gastrointestinal tract and is widely distributed to most tissues and fluid too18. The oral administration of 500 mg PZA produces plasma concentrations of 9-12ug/ml after two hours and 7ug/ml after 8 hours18. PZA is metabolized in liver whereas the metabolites are excreted through renal glomerular filtration18. Ethambutol (EMB) is discovered in 1962, acts as bacteriostatic agent and is active against undergoing cell division6, 19. EMB primarily targets on impairment of cell wall polymerization by inhibits arabinosy transferase, a vital enzyme responsible for mycobacteria cell wall biosynthesis9, 19. Since arabinosy transferase enzyme is encoded by embC-embA-embB genes, resistance against EMB evolved is believed due to mutation of these genes9. EMB is currently used as one of the first-line treatment for tuberculosis mainly because of its synergistic effect with other front-line drugs and its low toxicity property19. There is roughly 75-80% of an oral dose of EMB is rapidly absorbed in gastrointestinal tract with absorption unaffected when administered with foods20. In addition, EMB is distributed widely to body tissues and fluid, including cerebrospinal fluid before being metabolized in the liver and excreted in urine20. Streptomycin (SM) is an aminoglycoside antibiotic, used as first line treatment for TB when it first discovered in 19441, 6. Streptomycin is isolated from the bacteria Streptomycesgriseus and its antimicrobial effects against M. tuberculosisis highly effective when use in combination with other first line agents21. However, SM is no longer considered as first line treatment as resistance against it has developed rapidly1. The optimum pH for SM is at pH8 where its bacteriostatic activity will reduce with increasingly acidic environment21. SM acts by binding tightly to A site of 16S ribosomal RNA subunit, interferes with mRNA translation, causing faulty protein being produced1, 9. Resistant emergence when the mutation occurs at gene rpsL and rrs that encoded for 16S and S12 ribosomal protein1, 9. Upon administration, SM is poorly absorbed from gastrointestinal tract and mostly administered parentally1. SM is mostly excreted in urine and patients with low renal profile might experience toxicity such as neurotoxic reactions1. When the first line treatment is no longer suitable for patients or patients develop multi-drug resistance TB, second line drugs will then be introduced in combating the TB. Second line drugs that are mostly used include Ethionamide (ETH), Cycloserine (CS), Para-Aminosalicylic Acid (PAS) and Fluoroquinolones (FQ). ETH has been in use since 1960s, is a structural analogue of INH and it targets at inhibition of mycolic acid biosynthesis in tubercle bacilli9, 22. INH however is much more potent than ETH since the minimal inhibitory concentration for ETH is 0.5-5.0ug/mL22. Resistance evolved due to mutation at gene InhAand ethA which encode for oxygenase enzyme in activation of ETH 9. In vitro, CS has inhibitory effect on M. tuberculosis at 5-200ug/mL and there is no cross resistance occurred between CS and other drugs14. CS acts by interfereing the biosynthesis of bacterial cell wall14. CS is well absorbed in gastrointestinal tract and also widely distributed to body tissues and fluid including cerebrospinal fluid14. PAS was first introduced as first line drug but being replaced by Ethambutol in 1960s1. It acts bacteriostatically with possessing inhibitory effect at concentration less than 1mg/ml by interfere with folic acid metabolism in bacteria1. PAS is readily absorbed from gastrointestinal tract and distributed well throughout the body. Approximately 80% of the drugs will be excreted via kidney after being metabolized to acetylated form1. Moxifloxacin and Gatifloxacin are both been synthesized and evaluated as excellent bactericidal agents through inhibiting DNA gyrase, an ATP-dependent enzymes topoisomerase II which is responsible in bacteria DNA transcription9. DNA gyrase is consisted of two subunits that is arranged in a complex, is encoded by two different genes, gyrA and gyrB where mutations at gyrA will normally cause bacteria resistance to these new generation of flouroquinolones9. Due to the increasing incidence of multidrug resistance TB, it is highly desirable to develop new drugs that are not only potent and effective against current resistant strains of M. tuberculosis but also possess shorter treatment duration since most of the incompliance of patients is brought up by lengthy TB treatment. Most of the mechanisms of action of current treatments are involved in interfering the bacterial DNA synthesis, protein and mycolic cell wall biosynthesis. The enzymes that participate in these pathways could also be the target of newly designed drugs such as TMC207, one of the new drugs which are currently under investigations and clinical trials. TMC207 is a member of diarylquinoline class of compound which target at adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase by binding to subunit C of the synthase, blocking the energy pathway of mycobacteria23, 24. In vitro, TMC207 not only possesses ability to inhibit both drug sensitive and resistant M. tuberculosis isolates, but also able to sterilize the patient through killing the dormant bacilli bactericidally23. TMC207 showed a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.03ug/mL against M. tuberculosis, suggesting a more potent agent compared to current first- line treatments such as isoniazid and rifampicin24. Apart from that, its synergistic effect with pyrazinamide could promise as effective drug combination for sterilizing the patients against TB23. A phase I clinical trials which involved short terms administration of TMC207 in healthy individuals showing no adverse effects and the subjects are well tolerated with it24. However, it is essential to investigate the selectivity of TMC207 again st mammalian ATP synthase with longer periods to ensure the patients safety when administered with TMC207. Thiacetazone (TAC) is widely used as second line anti-TB agent against multiresistant tuberculosis at present25. TAC acts by interferes the biosynthesis pathway of mycolic acid in tubercle bacilli25. The fact that M. tuberculosis has been difficult to eradicate and remains persistent is due to its cell wall that composed of mycolic acid which is resistant against chemical injury, dehydration and also has low permeability to antibiotics25. Mycolic acid contains cyclopropane rings that is activated through cyclopropane mycolic acid synthase (CMASs), has a significant contribution to tuberculosis25. By inhibiting the cyclopropanation, the cell wall biosynthesis will then be interrupted, introducing the bactericidal effects25. The aim of this research is to synthesis and evaluates the analogues of Thiacetazone which might be potential anti tuberculosis agents. The analogues will be tested against different strains of mycobacteriain lab. The target actions of these analogues will also be identified based on the structure of the analogues. The above analogue is synthesized when a benzylaldehyde reacts with a primary amine. This is a condensation process and an imine is produced. The changes at position R1 to R3 with different electron withdrawing groups are first planned to be evaluated. However, the plan is prohibited since the corresponding structures are either unavailable or too expensive that falling outside the budget. After revised on the previous analogues that were discovered and their respective MIC values obtained from lab, the structures of new analogues that are going to be evaluated are finally sorted out. The R1 to R3 positions would be replaced by either a -chloro or a -methoxy with R8 position would either be an amine, a methyl or a benzene ring. A chloro is used at position R1 to R3 since it is electron withdrawing, big and lipophilic molecule whereas the methoxy group is electron donating, small and quite lipophilic. For R8 position, an amine is selected because it is electron withdrawing and small. A methyl is also selected since it is quite lipophilic, small and electron donating. On the other hand, benzene ring which is highly lipophilic, neither electron donating nor withdrawing group might have a different effect on the analogue synthesized.

Thai Immigration In United States

Thai Immigration In United States Throughout the history, America is considered as the destination for a stream of immigrants from various parts of the world. Immigration plays a significant role not only in making Americas development possible but also in shaping American society. High rates of migration from distinctly different places in the world reflect and also shape a lot about the basic nature of American society and economy. They came to make new lives and livelihoods in the New World, and their hard work benefited themselves and their new home country. The immigrant group not only comes from European countries, but also comes from Asian countries. Thai immigrant is also considered as one of the largest group of Asian immigrants in United States. They flee from their mainland to the various destinations in United States. Some immigrants settle down there, but some just stay for a while and leave this country. This paper will cover three parts which are the history of Thai immigrants in US, Thai immigrant lif estyle in US (destination choices and employment and occupation pattern), and Thai culture represents by immigrant group (assimilation, tradition and beliefs, cuisine, religion, and family unit). History of Thai Immigrants in US In Thai history, there was no evidence of Thai immigrants to US until 1961. The beginning point of Thai immigration to United States started during the Vietnam War. At that time, the official American military arrived to Thailand in order to settle down the US stationed troops and prepare for war in Vietnam. US military supported Thai military programs in terms of financial support. Moreover, money that came in the country from military tourism changed the living standard of Thai people at that time. After interacting with the American soldiers, Thais saw that United States was full of opportunities in both education and economics, and immigration to this country can lift up the living standard (Immigration History of the Thai to the United States, n.d.). Apart from these factors, the immigration law of US at that period is attractive to the new coming immigrant. In 1965, U.S. enforced the immigration and nationality act which aims to support family unification. It also aims to encou rage U.S. citizens in the U.S. to patronize their family members as a new immigrant. This seems to be the important opportunity for Asians who are the citizens of U.S. to bring their family members. Moreover, it makes immigration become easier for Asian especially Thais. However, in fact, the target group of this immigration act is the European immigrants, but as a result, there were lots of Asian immigrants pour in to the country which was never happen before (Asian Nation, n.d.). In 1970, around 5,000 of Thais immigrated to United States with the ratio of three women to one man. Most of immigrants were composed of medical doctors, business men, and wives of U.S. military. We can assume that the ratio of three women to one men come from wives of U.S. military (Immigration History of the Thai to the United States, n.d.). The immigrant of Thai ancestry also includes the Thai Dam and other ethnic groups from the northern Vietnam and Laos (Megan Ratner, 2011). According to J.S. Lindber g, Thai immigration is categorized into three stages which are pioneer migration, group migration, and mass migration. The first stage or pioneer migration is a few of educated, middle class Thais who flee to U.S. around two postwar decades. The second stage or group migration is immigrants who entered U.S. in the period of the change in American immigration laws. This stage has stable increase in numbers and gradually changes in composition of the immigrant flow. The last group is mass migration which is the transition to the third stage. In this stage, number of Thais who got nonimmigrant visas is stable. (Jacqueline Desbarats, page 303). The unprecedented increase in number of Thai immigrant continues many decades until it reached 44,000 immigrants in 1980, and 64,000 immigrants in 1990 (Thai American, 2011). Thai immigrants in US came in both legal and illegal status. However, there was Refugee Act in October 28, 1977 in order to legalize the illegal immigrant. Its provision is to permit the permanent resident status for Indochinese refugees who were physically present in the United States for at least two years, and were admitted into the United States during specified periods of time (US Citizenship and immigration service, page 5). Thai Lives in US Since Thai immigrated to United States, two largest communities of Thai immigrants are in Los Angeles and California. The number of Thais in California is approximately 32,064, and Thais in Los Angeles are around 19,016. Moreover, other significant concentrations are in Hollywood, between Hollywood and Olympic boulevards and near Western Avenue. Thais are also found in New York City which has population around 6,230 and in Texas with 5,816 populations (Megan Ratner, 2011). The largest concentration runs along Hollywood Boulevard between Normandie Avenue and Western Avenue in Hollywood which is called Thai town. It located in Los Angeles. This city is also the first largest and only Thai town outside Thailand. There are lots of homes and businesses of Thai immigrants scatter around the city. Most of them came to Los Angeles for educational opportunity, and some of them decided to settle down there and open their own businesses. Furthermore, financial crisis in 1980 caused numerous Tha is came to Thai Town and seek for jobs. In 2002, there were around 80,000 Thai immigrants in this city which also includes Thai Chinese population. Because of the influx of Thai immigrants, Los Angeles seems to be the 77th province of Thailand. In Thai town, there are numerous Thai restaurants, glossary stores, markets, silk shop, massage spa, book stores, and import stores (Thai Town, 2011). Everything from Thailand can be found there. Thai Town is established by the Thai Community Development Center (CDC) which is to provide tourists to the town for benefiting those Thai businesses in that area, and to promote this community as a cultural haven. The community promotes Thai culture by celebrating Songkran Festival (Thai New Years Day) every year. The festival is set on the first Sunday in April. This festival is an important day of Thai culture, food, and entertainment which can gather Thais and tourists together. The activities in the festival include fruit and vegetable carvings, Thai painting and handicraft demonstration, and Thai folklore program. In 2008, there were more than 100,000 people joined the festival, in which the number of participants increased as a tenfold in only five years since the first celebration started. This is a great chance to give visitors and locals to experience the diversity of Thai Town, and also to support the local economies in the area (Preserve America Community, 2009). In the same year, Thai Town in Los Angeles was also awarded a Preserve America Community by the White House. This means a lot for the community because it increases the visibility of Thai Town for nationwide, and represents the cultural and historical significance of Thai. Thai town will be received government funding for promoting their culture and activities (Thai Town Designation, n.d.). Apart from the destination points of Thai immigrants, employment and occupation pattern of Thai immigrants are different from other groups. They owned numerous kinds of business such as gas stations, travel agencies, beauty shops, grocery stores, and restaurants. The occupation characteristics of Thais are focused to grocery stores and restaurant more than other kinds of business which is composed one-third of all Thais businesses. The occupation pattern of Thai immigrants also affects the residential mobility in US. According to Jacqueline Desbarats, as Thais become better-integrated in the American community, it is likely that their employment opportunities will diversify and that the residential pattern will become more dispersed (page 316). Moreover, the jobs available for new Thai immigrants also provide various services to the community. Thai Culture by the Immigrant Group Even though, immigration to US led to experience the new culture and new way of life, Thai immigrants still chose to remain their own valuable tradition. They learned to adapt well to fit in the new social norm and the new practices in society. Because of their flexibility in the new society, the result is that the first generation of American-born Thais can be easily Americanized. However, the acceptance of the American way of life in this new generation influenced their parents to accept more about American way. American thinks that Thais are too flexible and lacking of newness. They identified Thais by noticing their common expression, mai pen rai, which means never mind or does not matter. Some of them think that this phrase shows the reluctant to develop thought. Furthermore, the relationship in Thai family is still important though they are in United States. Thai family structure represents togetherness. Family members are defined and named based on the relation, their age and the side of family. When Thai immigrants come to settle in United States, these kinds of thing seems to be disappeared from Thai family because of the American society. Thais also maintain their traditions, customs, and beliefs of their native lands. We can see from the most common tradition which is greeting gesture (wai). In Thai tradition, children have to show their respect to the elders by wai, and the elder will smile in a return. Their ways of life in United States are similar to their own land. They do believe in one proverb which is that do good and you will receive good; do evil and you will receive evil (Megan Ratner, 2011). Thai immigrants not only maintain their own tradition and custom, but their religion was also remained. The belief in Buddhism did not gradually disappear from Thais lives. In 1970 Thai immigrants started to form temples in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and in the same year, Ven. Phrakhru Vajirathammasophon (Thai monk) of Wat Vajirathamsathit in T hailand came to teach Buddhist sermon and to perform Buddhist ceremonies. Most of Thais believe in Theravada Buddhists which its root comes from India. There were many temples that were created by Thais in US such as Wat Thai in LA and Wat Thai in Washington D.C. Thais and other Asians in US still carry on the religious ceremony like ordination ceremony. Young men who reach the age of twenty will ordain for several days or a month in order to requite their parents and shows that they are ready for marriage (Wendy Cadge, 2005). After Thai immigrants visited United States, they also bring Thai cooking style to this country as well. Thai food seems to be one popular choice in many cities. Thai cuisine is popular in United States, and there are many Thai restaurants throughout the city. Thai cooking style uses only a few ingredients, but they give the priority to the taste of food as an important factor, and they also use the seasoning ingredients in their food. The main dish of Thai co oking style is rice. When Thais talk about rice, they usually mean food. They are accustomed to spoon instead of fork and knife. Food for Thais also means the work of art. The method that represents art is in the fruit or vegetable carving. The pattern of carving shows Thai style of painting and Thai lives. (Megan Ratner, 2011). To recapitulate, Thai immigrants are one group of Asian immigrant in United States which is one factor that shapes United States. They bring the new way of life and new culture to this country. As I read through the information, I think that Thais are well adapted and flexible in various situations. Although, they can accept new thing in society, they still remain their valuable culture and inherit to the next Thai generation.

What Montag Learned in Fahrenheit 451 :: Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451

Simplicity vs. Reality Above all things, Montag loved to burn. It was pleasurable for him to set aside his ignorance, watching as the little papery ashes shrivel up, and wisp into the air like fireflies. But that was before he took the time to ask why. Montag had to ask himself why he was burning these books, when he didn’t even know what they were. So he decided to take action and read them. Where he lives, this is illegal. Reading these books brought misfortune, like loosing his wife, house, and being forced to become a nomad. But he also benefited from this. By reading these books and ruining his life he also gained many things. A few of these are knowledge, feelings, and understanding. Gaining this knowledge is the very thing that ruined his life, though it gave him a sense of meaning. Through all of this Montag learns the information he finds in the books was what he needed all along. The life he was living was a lie. He was an ant to his society, and it must have come as a relief to finally realize he was no longer being controlled by his lack of intelligence. Throughout this story as I started to become more familiar with the characters I noticed something quite unusual. In essence, the people around Montag only have two basic feelings, happiness and sadness. All these people ever know is that they want to be happy and they don’t care at what cost. They don’t have any knowledge or understanding of the way things work and that’s exactly what their government wants for them, because as soon as you have knowledge and understanding you start having more in depth emotions and begin asking questions, which leads to trying to makes changes. This causes complication, and that’s just the sort of thing they cannot allow in their simple, ant-like society. Montag gets feeling from the books, and the feelings he gets motivates him to do what’s right. Even if everyone else around him is self centered, they only care about their own happiness. In chapter One Clarisse asks Montag if he’s happy. She makes it seem like such an easy question, while in fact it’s one of the hardest questions he has ever had to ask himself. The truth is that Montag doesn’t understand what true happiness is. All he knows is that he needs to make some drastic changes, and Montag doesn’t even know how.

Compare the relationships and emotions in the following poems; Home :: English Literature

Compare the relationships and emotions in the following poems; Home Burial, Long Distance and My Grandmother. I am going to compare the relationships and emotions in the following poems; â€Å"Home Burial, â€Å"Long Distance† and â€Å"My Grandmother†. In all three of these poems, there is a common theme. They are all to do with the breakdown in communication and relationships between family and have characters, which are dealing with grief. Each of the poems tackles these themes in different ways. The first poem† Home Burial† is a dramatic narrative poem in which we are presented with a couple whose marriage is in crisis, It explores how the different responses of a husband and a wife of the death of their child has had a damaging affect on their relationship. The poem â€Å"Long Distance† is written by a son reflecting on the experience of his fathers’ grief of the loss of his wife. In the final poem, the poet writes an account of the life and death of her grandmother and how she responds to it. The wife from â€Å"Home Burial† is stood upon the top of their stairs looking out at the mound under where her child is buried. â€Å"What is it you see? She in her place refused him any help.† This shows the inadequacy of communication between them, as struggles to find the reasons for her behaviour she won’t let him past her barrier, give him any help or any insight to her problem. It also displays that she feels as though he couldn’t possibly understand why she is so dull because she sees him as blind and unable to relate to what she is feeling. It also suggests a feeling of resentment towards her husband. â€Å"Her face changed from terrified to dull.† This leads us to believe that there is no spark of love between them anymore and that she has grown a sense of hatred towards him. Amy doesn’t want her husband to speak of the loss of his child because she believes that her husband doesn’t have any respect for their child as he dug the grave for it. â€Å"Can’t a man speak of his own child he’s lost?† â€Å"Not you!† I feel that the women has misunderstood the mans actions and that by burying his child is his way of steeping himself in his grief, of forcing it into his muscles of his arms and his back, of feeling the dirt on his clothes. She wants to get out of the house and to get out of having this conversation with him. This sort of situation has happened before as the man says,

Create A Classic Detective Story Essay

In this assignment I will analyse the classic Sherlock Holmes detective story the â€Å"Speckled Band† and find out how sir Conan Doyle takes a basic idea from all detective stories, a murder and still create a classic story.  First off a detective story needs a murder and in this case it was the death of Sarah stoner that starts the story off, but no death in any detective story would be complete without a mysterious death and the way Sarah died was a mystery. And I think that most detective stories use mysterious deaths because this makes the story more interesting and more intriguing because if the death was straight forward then the reader might be able to predict the ending of the story before actually reading the end of the story. This story also has its fair shares of mysterious characters for instance Helen Stoner, who is Sarah stoners sister is as mysterious as they get, like when she first met Sherlock she was wearing black clothes like she just came from a funeral. But why use mysterious characters? Because it is these characters that keep the reader guessing as to who the suspects may be and sometimes the writer can use this as an advantage to create a huge twist in the end of the story. The story describes the atmosphere as well such in the case of Sarah’s death the atmosphere was described as dark, mysterious sounds etc and this is very important to use descriptions of certain atmospheres and locations because they will help the reader create a sort of picture of the scene in their heads therefore making them want to read more because it helps them get more involved with the story – and also makes them think about what’s going to happen next. The location of the story is also important and in this story most of the tension is created in the mansion of Helen stoner, which is owned by Dr Roylott. And in this mansion are a number of false clues such as in the room of Sarah stoner there’s an emergency bell that don’t work, her bed bolted to the ground, no windows and a ventilator that goes straight in to Dr Roylotts room. But the biggest false clue to me was the title itself the â€Å"Speckled Band† and it was pure genius for Conan Doyle to use a title like this because some people read the story purely out of curiosity to find out what the speckled band was. So by using mysterious deaths, mysterious characters, atmospheres, locations & false clues the writer is able to draw the reader in the story, use tension to create questions in the mind of the reader but it also helps the writer stay 5 steps ahead to create a classic detective story.

Analysis on the Shift of Business Strategy for Ge Into the 21st Century Essay

Question 1: In what ways has Jeff Immelt redirected the strategy of GE? In 2001, shortly after Jeff Immelt became the CEO of GE, a series of events changed and impacted the corporate landscape. The immediate challenges that he faced included 9/11, and a subsequent series of high profile corporate scandals (Enron, WorldCom). In 2008, the financial crisis hit and had a severe impact on GE’s primary growth source, GE Capital causing it to accumulate bad debts and asset write-downs. These events caused slow domestic economic growth, crisis of confidence among investors and more global competitors. Due to the change in environment and the need to adapt Immelt shifted the focus of GE from cost cutting and deal making to new products, services and markets. He particularly focused on redirecting the strategy of GE through: organic growth, customer focus, and innovation. In 2002, Immelt committed GE to an organic growth rate of 8% per year. He identified a number of emerging global trends – the ageing population, the demand for sustainable energy, the necessity of improved infrastructure, and opportunities in the emerging markets. He aimed to create value for customers by leveraging GE’s core competencies particularly in advanced technology and related service by delivering superior, customized products and services to high-growth markets. A core component of his growth strategy was to create new ‘Growth platforms’ which could be either extensions of the existing businesses or entire new commercial areas. Through identifying a new growth platform, it would then be executed through a series of divestments and strategic acquisitions in sectors with high growth potential. Technology was seen to be a key driver of GE’s future growth which led to the launch of Imagination breakthrough. New technologies were seen as an essential ingredient to successful product innovation and quality improvement. GE expanded its research and development capabilities and supported them with adequate financial backing. Another vital part of Immelt’s growth strategy has been the implementation of the Customer Focus initiative. This lead to the revitalization of GE’s marketing function – most notably through the creation of GE’s Commercial Council and a number of customer-oriented programs. Through this customer focus imitative it became one of Immelt’s value creation strategies: exploit linkages across GE’s many companies. His efforts started off with product bundling and cross selling, which eventually led to enterprise selling. This meant seeking out customers that would benefit from GE’s broad portfolio of businesses and deliver highly customized solutions. The strategic focus was on creating differentiation advantage through innovative product-service bundles and enhanced customer focus Question 2: To what extent is this strategy well aligned: a) with the requirements of 21st century business environment Jeff Immelt took over the reins of General Electric at the end of an Era where the Market economy was buzzing with optimism, confidence and growth, and was now heading into a downturn. This shift in the Business environment and economic instability instigated a crucial issue for Immelt, which was to identify the likely sources of profit for the future. Under Jack Welch the potential for value creation through cost reduction and the elimination of under performing assets had mostly been completely utilized. So from Immelt’s view, in the current Market situation, the primary driver of growth was going to be organic growth. With the poor state that the world economy was in, the central challenge for Immelt was going to be identifying where the most promising opportunities for profitable growth would lie. He identified a number of key significant emerging global trends—the ageing population, the conflicting forces of growing energy demand and concerns over global warming, the advent of biosciences in conjunction with global warming and nanotechnology, and new commercial opportunities in the emerging markets. In order for GE to position itself for stronger growth in the changing business environment, Immelt saw the need to exit form slow growth business, and reallocate its resources where growth prospects were strong, taking advantage of the emerging global trends. At the heart of Immelt’s growth strategy for General Electric’s was the development of new Growth Platforms, which could be either extensions of the existing businesses or entire new commercial areas. Even though Immelts core focus was on organic growth, repositioning to take advantage of the emerging market trends and opportunities would require acquisition. Then once a new Growth Platform was identified, GE would build a leading position in those sectors through small strategic acquisitions and the deployment of its financial, technical and managerial resources. GE was entering a new generational era, one where technology is at the forefront of growth and adaptation. Immelt identified Technology as one of GE’s major drivers for future growth which was signaled by his expansion of GE’s R&D budgets. He shifted the importance of Technology within GE by focusing on the R&D projects that offered large scale market potential, reffered to as â€Å"Imagination breakthroughs†. Within this new business environment that GE was facing, customers needs, wants and expectations of what products can offer them is forever changing. Immelt saw and understood this from the amount of time spent with customers, and implemented this idea within GE through the IT redesign process becoming increasingly customer focused. One of the most important outcomes of GE’s enhanced customer focus would be the ability to better meet the customers needs through bundling products with support and technology services, and combine product and service offerings from different businesses (Enterprise selling) to enhance customer value. Also by increasing customer orientated products, this would also help GE to increase its success in international markets by involving more local product development and emphasis on truly aligning products and services to meet local market needs. (b) GE’s resources and capabilities The backbone GE’s success over time has been its ability to combine massive size with constant adaptation. Over the decades GE has successfully adapted both its business portfolio and its management systems to the demands and opportunities of the ever-changing business Environment. GE’s success in innovation has been built on the back of their ability to nurture ideas and innovations, and expertly managing and formulate them into successful investments. This is clearly shown through General Electric’s â€Å"Imagination breakthroughs† through Immelt. These imagination breakthroughs are promising technological R&D projects, that have the potential to create $100 million in sales over three years. Immelts emphasis on technology reflected his belief and the Belief intrinsic to GE which is that the primary driver of sales is great products. Immelt’s assessment of emerging global trends and his strategic direction demonstrate his understanding of the external opportunities and threats, and internal strengths and weaknesses. Technical leadership has proved to be not only a source of GE’s competitive advantage but it is also an important barrier to entry. For example, GE is the only US-based company with all the necessary capabilities to build a nuclear power plant. This is an example of General Electrics ability to marry Industrial and technological R&D to a business system capable of turning scientific and technological discoveries into marketable products. Question 3: What organizational changes has the new strategy necessitated? Will GE be able to successfully execute the strategy? Through placing greater emphasis on customer focus, organic growth and innovation, GE’s systems and structure must be realigned to better manage the complex situation of diversified businesses and to maintain its efficiency and performance. Immelt’s focus on greater cross integration, new growth platforms and enterprise selling lead to a major structural change in 2002. GE divisions were reorganized into a smaller number of broad based sectors. By 2008, there were 5 sectors and each of them focused on broad markets, in which they had a scale, market leadership, and superior customer offerings. GE’s 5 broad markets were: technology, infrastructure, industrial and commercial, GE capital, healthcare and NBC Universal. Through regrouping the various businesses into their markets it would be easier to identify the various connections between the businesses. Becoming a more customer focus business had a huge impact on the organization; it led to the revitalization of GE’s marketing function. A number of customer – orientated programs were created, most notably GE’s Commercial Council. The key initiative of the six part growth process in terms of marketing and sales were introduced, there were increasingly many metrics driven analysis on customer satisfaction and attitudes. This whole phase of becoming a customer focus business instead of an operating efficient one demanded the managers to become less of an operator and more of a marketer. Immelt’s reshaping of GE’s Business portfolio, through Growth platforms, required acquisition. Developing these opportunities required high levels of coordination across multiple organizational units. This further increased the organizational complexity of GE, and great difficulty in performance management as it was hard linking individual incentives to individual’s organizational performance hard to implement. Other issues arose through the organizational changes necessitated through the new strategy. Immelt had changed the rganizational structure to further integrate the different businesses, however this lead to a complex coordination problem as they have gone beyond cross selling to enterprise selling. Also through placing heavy emphasis on customer focus this caused the sales and marketing department to put less focus on particular business and just look at opportunities that they can exploit this can be seen from the example of GE medical systems. Through constantly acquiring new businesses to further fuel growth in technology and the energy sector this has made the organizational structure even more complex. Focussing on customers and enterprise selling requires a simple structure. It can be seen that if Immelt wants to successfully implement his strategies he needs to find a solution to change the organizational structure to mitigate the complexity of it, while being able to acquire new businesses for growth. Whether Immelt can execute these strategies due to these organizational issues are discussed in the further sections of this essay. Will Immelt’s strategy be successful? Are there alternatives corporate strategies that GE should consider – break up in particular? We believe that Immelts strategy will be successful and recommend that he continue to pursue his strategy of greater emphasis on technology, customer focus and increased integration. In order for this to happen in the context of the economic situation of the 21st century, we feel that it is important for GE’s emphasis to be shifted to risk-taking, sophisticated management, and innovation in order to deliver new products and services, and to penetrate new markets Immelt should continue to divest companies of low profit, growth and returns, and focus on those whose are aligned with their competencies are as a future possible growth platform. To reduce organizational complexity GE should also introduce competitive based pay which will link to all levels of employers from base workers to managers. This is to encourage collaboration through all levels of the employment ladder both vertically and horizontally. The success of Immelt’s strategy of combining innovation and efficiency in a fast-moving business environment will allow GE to capitalize on the demands and opportunities of a changing world. Thus, GE will play a leadership role as it sets the trend for the conglomerate business model to maintain its relevance. Breaking up GE There are several advantages in breaking up GE. GE will be able to focus on innovation and reinvest back on innovation and technology through the funds acquired from selling some of their businesses. There is also no need for having a complex organizational structure if GE would only focus on one segment of their business. The source of competitive advantage for GE is integration of business in its portfolio. GE Capital contributes 32% of total revenue. This is a stable source of revenue for GE. Spinning it off the business portfolio will reduce the funding for other GE initiatives. By doing so, they will not be able to address the challenges facing the business environment in the future. This proved as a disadvantage as it will alter the competitive scope of the company and will ultimately lose their capability to compete in global markets. GE should not break up as it will lose its core competencies and won’t be able to compete and enjoy the current market position that they are in. Focusing On Technology and Energy  Based on 2010 GE annual report, technology and energy infrastructure has the highest profit and revenue contribution for GE. This is the main focus of their business today. Although GE capital is not as profitable as before, it still contributes 32% of the total GE revenue. Overall, it is still growing from the period of 2009 – 2011. While GE Capital revenue does not contribute as the main source of contribution in both revenue and profit of GE, it is essential as a source of revenue to pursuit and invests in innovation that drives the Energy and Technology Infrastructure sector of GE.