.

Monday, September 30, 2019

Gender Inequality in the Neolithic Era and Gender Equality in the Paleolithic Era Essay

Throughout history women have not always been treated with equality, this inequality is also shown in prehistory. The Paleolithic and Neolithic eras contrast when it comes to gender inequality or gender equality. In Paleolithic times, Women easily had a greater amount of equality and not so much of that equality in Neolithic times. In Paleolithic times, women were the ones who invented and began the use of farming and agriculture, without this great source of food, humans may have not been able to settle as easily, and the Neolithic times would have never began. The men and women had equally important jobs in their groups or tribes, for this, they were able to survive. In the Neolithic times, women had a much lesser role, and less of a say when it came to leadership. This particular law in The Code of Hammurabi showcases the inequality of genders in Neolithic times â€Å"110. If a sister of god open a tavern, or enter a tavern to drink,then shall this woman be burned to death† Such a small act of disobedience by a woman in the Neolithic era left a big punishment. This law gives proof that if a man were to do the same thing, he would not be punished as harshly (or even at all) as a woman would be in this era. In Paleolithic times, equality was shown between genders and to counteract this, in Neolithic times, inequality was shown between genders. Women began to lose less of their leadership or power that they shared with the men in the Paleolithic times.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

What is meant by unemployment and what are its different types? Essay

Unemployment cannot be simply defined as the number of people without jobs. Such a definition would include children who are too young to work, pensioners and housewives and others who choose not to take up paid up employment. Since these groups pose no serious economic problems. Unemployment in a country refers to all those people who are willing to work, but are unable to find a job. Moreover unemployment is a very complex phenomenon. It is rather easy to notice but difficult to define. Broadly, unemployment may mean lack of employment. Thus, anybody who fails to work may be considered as being unoccupied and therefore unemployed for the concerned period. Ordinarily, the term unemployment denotes a condition of joblessness. In the early 1980’s worldwide unemployment rose to very high levels, higher than during some of the year 1930s although not as high as the peak unemployment rates of that earlier ‘Great Depression’ whereby the overall level of unemployment as well as the structure of unemployment was extremely varied. (References Wikipedia.com) The measurement of unemployment is very important for any economy. Unemployment is one of the most serious economic problems and it is important for the government to know the level and the rate so that it can take appropriate corrective measures. Formula for calculating rate of unemployment: Unemployment Rate = Total number unemployed x 100 Labour Force Labour Force = Number of people employed + Number of people unemployed Unemployment rate in Mauritius The graph above shows the historical trend of unemployment. In year 2004 unemployment rate was high 10.8% then it decreased from 2005. As from 2008 to 2011 we can observe that the unemployment rate was stabilized at around 7%. Which shows good reforms campaign by the government despite the economic crisis which affected Mauritius in 2008. Types of Unemployment: There is a lot of confusion and disagreement regarding the meaning and nature of unemployment. So, to comprehend the problem in a proper way and suggest remedies, we may discuss the various types of unemployment. Unemployment thus may be discussed broadly under several heads: Seasonal unemployment Frictional unemployment Structural unemployment Cyclical unemployment Technological unemployment Disguised unemployment Seasonal Unemployment: According to Beveridge, â€Å"Seasonal unemployment means the unemployment arising in particular industries through seasonal variations in their activity brought about by climatic changes.† Seasonal unemployment occurs due to lack of productive work during certain periods of the year. Certain industries or occupations are seasonal in character.Take the case of ice-cream production, which has a peak demand during the summer. In the winter season, with a fall in the demand for ice-cream, the demand for labour engaged in its production also falls, and seasonal unemployment takes place.A sugar mill may be closed for a number of months in a year, as the supply of sugarcane stops. Seasonal unemployment may also be witnessed in the case of traditional and underdeveloped agriculture. For instance, in India, the cultivators tilling the unirrigated lands very often remain idle for 120 to 150 days in a year. Seasonal unemployment takes place mainly due to the lack of suitable alternative employment opportunities in the slack season. Such unemployment usually does not lead to serious distress, as the wages in seasonal occupations are comparatively higher, which provides for the period of unemployment. Solutions to Seasonal Unemployment Such unemployment can be reduced by encouraging people to take different jobs in the â€Å"off season†. Reduced unemployment benefits and improving the flow of information may also be beneficial. 2. Frictional Unemployment The term frictional unemployment refers to the unemployment that is associated with the normal turnover of labour. People leave jobs for many reasons and they take time to find new jobs; old persons leave the labour force and young person enter it, for example, school leavers but often new workers do not fill the jobs vacated by those who leave. Inevitably all of this movement takes time and give rise to a pool of persons who are frictionally unemployed while in the course of finding new jobs. This unemployment would occur even if the occupational, industrial and regional structure of unemployment were unchanging. When the welfare payments are more attractive than the work itself, some of the unemployed believe that the tax and the benefit system will reduce significantly the net increase in income from taking paid work and choose to be on the welfare instead. Causes of frictional unemployment: The relationship between workers and employers tends to be heterogeneous in some or the other way. This mismatch can lead to frictional unemployment, which makes it closely related to structural unemployment. Fresh graduates looking for a good job, but are not able to get it right away because of certain demands by the employers in terms of skills and experience, therefore resulting in frictional unemployment. Factors related to preference, work environment, skills, remuneration, location, work timings, etc., always rise a sense of dissatisfaction in the workers or employers. This is one of the main causes of frictional unemployment. Solutions to frictional unemployment The government can make the information about the labour market more readily available. Schools can provide more guidance about the jobs in the market and invite professionals to speak about their jobs so as to provide more information to the school leavers. The government can create some part time jobs as a solution to the unemployment. Proper educational advice to college students in terms of the job demands and skills required to get job faster. (Reference tutor2u.com) 3. Structural Unemployment Structural unemployment takes place because of a change or defect in the economic structure of a country. It occurs as a result of changes in demand and supply conditions for certain categories of labour. According to Beveridge, structural unemployment means â€Å"the unemployment arising in particular industries or localities through a change of demand so’ great that it may be regarded as affecting the main economic structure of a country.† There are some distinct similarities between frictional and structural unemployment, as both arise due to maladjustment between the demand for and supply of labour. However, there are certain important differences between the two. Frictional unemployment is of a shorter duration and takes place because of temporary factors. Hence although the demand for labour may decline in certain industries this fall in demand is counterbalanced by a rise in demand in some other industries. In case of structural unemployment, the deficiency in demand for labour is more permanent, extensive and deep rooted. The barriers to mobility are rather more formidable. According to Thomas D. Simpson structural unemployment is more heavily concentrated among certain employment and demographic groups. It affects a significant number of workers in certain occupations, industries, racial, and age groups, whereas frictional unemployment tends to occur more widely. Secondly, structural unemployment is less voluntary than frictional unemployment. Solutions to Structural Unemployment: The government can retrain the workers to meet the demand for a new set of skills. For example, farmers should learn the new techniques of production using automation rather than rely only on the traditional method of farming. Workers should improve their skills and reduce occupational immobility. Policies should provide the unemployed with skills they need in order to be re-deployed. In this era of information technology, workers should have IT knowledge to remain employed. Education and training opportunities should be made available to the workers so that they can get trained and improve their chances of taking on new jobs that are available in the economy. 4 Cyclical/ Keynesians unemployment/ deficient-demand unemployment Cyclical unemployment happens to be the most common type of unemployment in an industrially developed capitalist economy. According to the classical economists, in the long run there would be a full employment equilibrium. But in reality we find that a capitalist economy is characterised by alternate periods of prosperity and depression, rising economic activity and employment and sluggish business conditions and falling employment opportunities. Cyclical unemployment is also popularly known as Keynesian unemployment, following Keynes. Keynes has culled this type of unemployment as involuntary unemployment. Lerner has termed this unemployment during an economic depression as deflationary unemployment. Moreover, cyclical unemployment is when workers lose their jobs during downturns in the business cycle. It generally happens when the economy contracts, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If the economy contracts for two quarters or more, then the economy is in a recession. Cyclical unemployment is usually the cause of high unemployment, when rates quickly grow to 8% or even 10% of the labor force. It’s known as cyclical because, when the economy re-enters the expansion phase of the business cycle, the unemployed will get rehired. Cyclical unemployment is temporary — although it could last anywhere from 18 months (the typical time frame of a recession) to ten years (during a depression). (Reference, Wikipedia) Cyclical unemployment through a diagram As we can see in the AD/AS diagram, the fall in AD to AD1 will result in a fall in the Real output (Y1).This will force the firms to reduce their output and hence reduce their workforce from ADL to ADL1. However, due to ‘wage stickiness’ it is less likely that real wages will fall (as seen in the labour diagram). Therefore, the wages instead of coming down to W1 will remain at We. This will create a surplus situation where the aggregate demand for labour will be at ‘a’ and the aggregate supply of labour will be ‘b’. (reference tutor4u.com) 5. Technological Unemployment. Technological unemployment takes place because of rapid technological improvements. Introduction of improved machinery and labour saving know-how has a tendency to displace labour force. Myrdal cites the example of technological unemployment in the American agricultural sector in the fifties, when due to the introduction of labour-saving techniques, the agricultural workers as part of the total civilian labour force declined from 12’6 to 8’5 per cent. Introduction of improved technology in production will lower the capital-output ratio and the labour-output ratio. This will increase the productivity of capital and labour, causing technological unemployment. Probably due to this reason, even now introduction of electronic computers has always been viewed with suspicion by the workers. 6. Disguised Unemployment. As the word suggests, disguised unemployment refers to a situation when a person is apparently employed, but in effect unemployed. !t is a phenomenon of concealed unemployment, not visible to the open eyes. Here it is not possible to identify as to who are unemployed, as all â€Å"appear to be working.† As Nurkse has remarked, â€Å"In an overpopulated peasant economy, we cannot point to any person and say he is unemployed in disguise. The people may all be occupied and no one may consider himself idle.† The concept of disguised unemployment was originally conceived by Mrs. Joan Robinson. Her concept of disguised unemployment is more applicable to the advanced developed countries. According to her, â€Å"a decline in demand for the product of the general run of industries leads to a diversification of labour from occupations in which productivity is higher, to others where it is lower. The cause of this diversion, a decline in effective demand, is exactly the same as the cause of unemployment in the ordinary sense and it is natural to describe the adoption occupations by dismissed workers as disguised unemployment.† Conclusion Unemployment is something which is of great concern to individuals as well as the economy. It is surely something to worry about as it wastes economic resources and causes human suffering such as poverty, famine, depression and so on. Also experiences of unemployment are becoming much longer in duration and are increasing significantly. Hence alleviation of unemployment is a prime aim of the government in order to boost the economy. How could you measure unemployment and discuss the problem associated with each measure? Most people understand intuitively that being unemployed means not having a job. That said, it’s important to understand more precisely how unemployment is measured in order to properly interpret and make sense of the numbers. Basically there are two types of method to measure unemployment: I. Claimant count method II. The Labour Force Survey Claimant Count Method This method calculates unemployment by measuring the number of people receiving benefits (Job Seekers allowance). If the rate is up, it indicates a lack of expansion within the labor market, while it indicates economic expansion and could spark inflationary pressures if the rate is down. Generally, a decrease of the figure is seen as positive, while an increase is seen as negative. Source: www.fxwords.com Graph 2 shows: claimant count of United Kingdom An example of a claimant count chart can be illustrated above where we can analyses a decreasing trend during the years of people claiming for unemployment benefits thus indicating beneficial economic conditions, ceteris paribus. The Labour Force Survey A labour force survey is an inquiry directed to households designed to obtain information on the labour market and related issues by means of personal interviews. The information collected on the labour market can then be used to develop, manage, evaluate and report on labour market policies. According to the Mauritius Labour Force, Employment and Unemployment survey the following result were obtained: Second quarter 2012 1. Employment of Mauritians is estimated at 548,300 at the second quarter of 2012 compared to 535,500 at the first quarter of 2012 and 531,400 at the second quarter of 2011. 2. The unemployment rate is estimated at 8.2% for the second quarter of 2012 compared to 8.0% at both the first quarter of 2012 and the second quarter of 2011. 3. The main characteristics of the unemployed at the second quarter of 2012 were: (i) The 48,900 unemployed comprised 20,100 males (41%) and 28,800 females (59%). (ii) Around 22,300 (46%) of them were aged below 25 years. (iii) About 55% of the unemployed were single. Among males, the majority (80%) was single while among females, the majority (61%) was ever married. (iv) Some 7,800 or 16% had not reached the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) level or equivalent and a further 21,900 (45%) did not have the Cambridge School Certificate (SC) or equivalent. (v) 11,300 (23%) had been looking for work for more than one year. (vi) 18,900 (39%) were looking for a job for the first time. Thus these result could be use to devise policies by the government for example whether to invest more or not, in order to combat unemployment and other economic turmoil. Reference: gov.mu Problem associated with claimant count: The criteria to be eligible for benefits often changes, usually this has been to reduce the claimant count. This makes it difficult to compare over time. The claimant count excludes: People over pension age, who will typically claim pensions rather than Job Seekers allowance People under 18, (with a few exceptions) People in full time education, who may still be classed as unemployed. People not eligible for contribution based JSA. To claim the contributions based JSA they need to have paid at least two years of NI contributions. Also, their level of savings or their partner’s income may be too high to be eligible. Any one on a government training schemes Married women looking to return to work Those looking for part time work and not full time work Some people may claim benefits whilst still working in the â€Å"black market† i.e. claim JSA fraudulently. Some people may be able to work upto 16 hours a week and still legally claim JSA (JSA- Job Seekers allowance) Problem associated with Labour force survey It could be subject to sampling errors and may not be truly representative. The sample chosen may be from just few regions of the country, instead of the whole population/every region. This will generate bias result thus it will be wrongly interpreted leading to inefficient policies to combat unemployment. It is time consuming and costly, basically conducting this survey may take months or years depending on the size of the economy and the number of population. In the same vein a lot of paper work is needed for this survey, more officers must be hired to conduct private interview. Hence there is no perfect method to measure unemployment accurately, as all measures have theirs pros and cons. For example claimant count consider various criteria to be eligible for the allowance whereas Labour Force Survey may not be representative. The method to measure unemployment also depend on the type of economy Discuss the effect of unemployment on an economy? Unemployment is universally recognized as a bad thing. It brings a lot of adverse effect to an economy. The consequences are as follows: 1. The consequences to the individual Increase health risk Unemployment increases susceptibility to malnutrition, illness, mental stress, and loss of self-esteem, leading to depression. Not everyone suffers equally from unemployment, highly conscientious people suffers more than twice. For example fresh graduates or people holding a degree but is unable to find a job are the most affected. Basically the table below shows the unemployment rate of people having a tertiary education in Mauritius. The Unemployment with tertiary education (% of total unemployment) in Mauritius was last reported at 7.90 in 2010, according to a World Bank report published in 2012. Graph 3 show: Unemployment with tertiary education (% of total unemployment) in Mauritius Source: indexmundi.com /cso Loss of income Unemployment normally results in a loss of income. The majority of the unemployed experience a decline in their living standards and are worse off out of work. This leads to a decline in spending power and the rise of falling into debt problems. The unemployed for example may find it difficult to keep up with their mortgage repayments. 2. The Consequences to the business Less overall spending When people are unemployed in large numbers, it hurts the rest of the economy, creating a cyclical problem. When people have less money to spend because of unemployment, other companies suffer from less consumer demand. Then, when companies suffer because of lost business, they might in turn be forced to make layoffs of their own, making the unemployment rate rise and overall spending drop even more. The cyclical effect of unemployment is the reason for government-issued economic stimulus packages to help businesses in difficulty. Logic suggests that when people have more money, they spend it, thereby stimulating the economy and simulating job growth. Social problems Business may be impacted by social problems associated with high unemployment (e.g. rising crime). If the market of a business is situated in a place where the crime rate is high and where there is high unemployment rate, it can have adverse effect on the business. Demand may fall due to the negative image of the areas, potential consumers may prefer to purchase their goods and services at a more secure place for personal security thus if demand fall, the firm’s revenue will decrease which can lead to bankruptcy consequently more people will be unemployment. Inferior goods Demand for inferior goods (lower price, quality) may increase, the demand for luxury goods will decrease. Thus business engage in production of inferior good will gain and those in luxury good will lose. Graph 1: demand for luxury goods under unemployment Graph 2: demand for inferior goods under unemployment As shown above, in graph 1 the demand of luxury goods has decrease from D to D1 due to unemployment, lack of potential buyers. Quantity supply has decreased from Q to Q1 leading to a decrease in price from P to P1. Area P,T,Z,P1 is the loss incurred by the firm operating under luxury goods production. On the contrary graph 2 shows the increase in demand for inferior goods from D to D1 due to unemployment. People will prefer to buy cheap goods due to lack of income. Quantity supply has increase from S to S1 causing price to rise in the long run from P to P1. Area P1,T,Z,P is the profit incurred by the firm operating under inferior goods production due to a rise in demand. 3. The Consequences for the government Fiscal costs High unemployment has an impact on government expenditure, taxation. An increase in unemployment results in higher benefit payments and lower tax revenues. When individuals are unemployed, not only do they receive benefits but also pay no income tax. As they are spending less they contribute less to the government in indirect taxes, the government will have to scale back plans for public spending on public and merit goods. Government Borrowing Spending along with the fall in tax revenues due to unemployment may result in a higher government borrowing requirement (known as a public sector net cash requirement). The Central government debt; total (current LCU) in Mauritius was last reported at 113289300000 in 2010, according to a World Bank report published in 2012. Graph 4 shows: The government of Mauritius debts 4. The Consequences for the economy as a whole Lost output of goods and services Unemployment causes a waste of scarce economic resources and reduces the long run growth potential of the economy. An economy with high unemployment is producing within its production possibility frontier. The hours that the unemployed do not work can never be recovered. Negative multiplier effects The closure of a local factory with the loss of hundreds of jobs can have a large negative multiplier effect on both the local and regional economy. One person’s spending is another’s income so to lose well-paid jobs can lead to a drop in demand for local services, downward pressure on house prices and ‘second-round employment effects’ for businesses supplying the factor or plant that closed down. Hence unemployment affects many aspects in an economy such as social, individual, economical and so on. Unemployment affects the economy in ways that most people do not visually see. Some effects are avoidable and some are inevitable. Evaluate the impact of the different policy measures adopted by the government of Mauritius in order to control unemployment? A range of government policies are available for the Government of Mauritius wanting to reduce the scale of unemployment in the economy. The Government can do many things to try and influence the level of employment. However some policies the government use can conflict with other policies for example if they were to spend more on education and training (so increasing the skills of workers) they would have to spend less on other things such as health-care. Basically the situation of unemployment in Mauritius is alarming, here is a chart to illustrate the seriousness of the issue: ChChGraph 5 : shows the Mauritius unemployed persons Unemployed Persons in Mauritius increased to 44000 Persons in February of 2012 from 43800 Persons in November of 2011, according to a report released by the Central Statistics Office, Mauritius. Historically, from 2004 until 2012, Mauritius Unemployed Persons averaged 45757.6 Persons reaching an all time high of 56100.0 Persons in May of 2005 and a record low of 35000.0 Persons in November of 2008. Source:indexmundi.com Fiscal measure: The ‘Additional Stimulus Package’ was presented in December 2008 to support enterprises on a short-term basis. The package introduced a ‘Mechanism for Transitional Support to the Private Sector’, which was eventually replaced by ‘the Economic Restructuring and Competitiveness Programme’ in 2010’ under the â€Å"Facing the Euro Zone Crisis & Restructuring for Long Term Resilience’ Memorandum presented in August 2010. This programme also included SURE (Support Unit for Re-Employment of Employees), and plans for restructuring the tourism industry, and for supporting the sugar industry. In 2012, Rs 7.3 Billion has been committed to a National Resilience Fund to help businesses better face the economic downturn. Thus this would secure current employees job and would create new jobs. During the financial crisis in the 2008, The government of Mauritius injected Rs6 billion in the economy for education, training, food security and This massive investment has been possible due to the fruit of past reforms in terms of fiscal benefits. In addition to these policy options, the Mauritian government introduced an Additional Stimulus Package in December 2008. In effect, Rs4 billion was earmarked to save employment. Much effort was made to sustain, modernise and ease the access to finance of local enterprises to help them improve their productivity and competitiveness. In year 2011, 5000 new Small & Medium Enterprises were created and were awarded grants by the government compared to 7,600 in Reunion Island in the same year. Thus creating jobs. The government proposed a tax rebate on all earnings for new entrepreneurs in the first two years, certain taxes have been suspended over two years, in tourism, construction and other sectors. Consequently, there will be a boost in their revenue and it may encourage the creation of new jobs. Source: Le Matinal(newspaper) Supply side policies (reduce frictional and structural unemployment) To educate is to empower. The government proposed more funds allocated to SMEs so that they can provide required training to their employees. The National Resiliency Fund was created last year by the Minister of Finance to encourage ‘the youth employment. The government in his last budget proposed that all secondary schools have a qualified career advisor and propose that all schools promote extra-curricular activities such as the ‘Young Enterprise Awards’. There should also be qualified staff in each state school, to help channel underperforming students in their right vocation. The Minister of Finance promised Rs 500,000 to schools around the island. The more skillful you are the more secure you are to get a job. Reflating Aggregate Demand The government succeeded in attracting foreign direct investment in Mauritius as it rose by 19.8 percent in the first six months of 2012 to 4.077 billion Mauritius rupees ($133.89 million) from 3.401 billion a year ago, according to the central bank thus contributing in enhancing the real national output consequently increasing the demand for labour. Foreign direct investment has risen causing aggregate demand to shift from AD1 to AD2 consequently the demand for labour to shift from LD1 to LD2 causing an obvious decrease in unemployment. Basically in assessing the effectiveness of these measures we just have to compare the working population to previous years: Graph 6 shows: Employed persons in Mauritius Economic policies till 2008 to 2012 had a positive impact on the labour market as there has been a rise in labour force which shows the effectiveness of these policies adopted by the government of Mauritius. Hence unemployment do not have an exact definition, it do not have a measure to calculate it exactly, its effects are vast and there are various measures to combat it. Unemployment is inevitable in an economy. The economy must see unemployment as a challenge, opportunity and tackle the issue with intelligence, not as a major economic turmoil, or be afraid of.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Assess the importance of setting in Heart of Darkness Essay

The setting is the basis of every story or novel, the basis of every prose work. Heart of Darkness is by no means an exception. Joseph Conrad’s nouvelle or rather said mysterious work is not being easily understood let alone assessed. But each reader of Heart of Darkness should try to solve the mystery the author has opened. The setting reveals itself to be a mystery within the mystery. What is really the setting of Conrad’s nouvelle? And is it at all important to the work as a whole? Is it the usual setting of an adventure story that was popular at the time, is it a place of darkness, the heart of it, or just the jungle in the Congo region? The setting may be all of the above and it looks like composed of several different ones colouring the mysteriousness of the nouvelle, some contrasting the others. Heart of Darkness begins in a voice that is not belonging to the protagonist. This later appears to be the auditor of the protagonist’s(Marlow’s) story, so for short he may be called the Auditor. His introduction reveals that the setting is a yawl, called Nellie, swinging on the surface of the Thames awaiting for the turn of the tide so she can sail off. The beginning of the setting reminds the Auditor of England’s naval glory, he recalls the great knights – known and unknown – of the sea while the banks of the Thames remind Marlow that they have also been â€Å"one of the dark places of the earth†. And exactly the word â€Å"dark† is the one that defines the setting throughout the whole of the nouvelle, varying only in shades. This becomes crystal clear from the moment Marlow begins to speak and he speaks through the whole of the nouvelle except the few introductory paragraphs. Going further to describe the setting Marlow begins his s tory about his journey in the Congo region, the heart of darkness. The protagonist explains that as a boy he looked at the blank spaces on the maps and dreamed of exploring them, but the Congo region was no blank space anymore, ironically according to Marlow it has become a place of darkness. He is fascinated by the river in the heart of darkness, for him it resembles a snake, symbol of evil; while the river Thames described earlier is calm and serene contrasting the setting in the Congo river. Both rivers may be symbol of the tamed and untamed. London is tamed by civil and moral rules, that’s why it’s calm  while the untamed Africa is cruel but free. Marlow sees danger even before his journey has begun but it doesn’t stop him from going to the other setting, the office of the Company. The following description is the gate towards darkness and death, the gate of Hell. The setting stays in Marlow’s mind and later on in his journey he remembers the two women dressed in black, knitting black wool and holding a black cat; guardian angels to the â€Å"gate of Darkness†. Conrad reveals that not many of those who have been introduced to the Company by the younger woman had the chance to return and look at her again, as if by giving them a glance she turns them to stone like the Gorgone Meduse and dooms them to eternal darkness. Relatively the same is the moral â€Å"preached† in the setting in the doctor’s office. The doctor is interested in measuring the skulls of all those who leave for the Congo with the distinct idea that he could measure them again on their returning but so far none of them has returned. A fact that suprises Marlow who understands from the doctor that no matter what, the changes take place inside the skull; the doctor seems like the prophet to Marlow’s enlightment. Finally Marlow leaves in a French steamer for the Congo. The setting changes as they sail nearer to the coast of the jungle. Marlow feels isolated and delusional by the immense water and the only touch with reality are the boats coming from the shore with â€Å"black fellows† in them. This particular setting is the first touch of civilization with wilderness and savagery. Civilization is characterized by light and â€Å"straight forward facts† while to the wilderness is given the heart of Darkness and freedom. The setting communicates the meaning of the episode. As it does in the next one presenting the Company’s station that Marlow is left in. The black boy he meets fascinates him with the white thread from beyond the seas around his black neck. Civilization intrudes the lives of the Africans and enslaves them. The white thread looks like a manacle around the boy’s neck. After such a sight the white man Marlow meets at the â€Å"station† setting looks like a sort of vision. This miracle later appears to be the Company’s chief accountant. He strikes Marlow with devotion to his work and the fact that he had achieved something in his life, everything in it is in order while the whole station is falling apart. The accountant and his office is the island of salvation for Marlow when he wants to get away from the misery at the  station. The importance of this particular setting is the mentioning for the first time the name of Mr.Kurtz, defined by the accountant as a remarkable person and from this moment on the mysterious Kurtz enters the thoughts of Marlow as well as the reader’s. The setting of the Central Station serves its purpose too to the whole of the nouvelle. The forest near it looks huge and calm to Marlow, the setting alone sends the feeling to all of the readers, misery and greatness fill their hearts. Together with this the tickling feeling of the awaited by Marlow meeting with Kurtz makes the breathing of the reader harder. In the Central Station he meets a brickmaker who gives more detail to the fast-growing character of Kurtz in Marlow’s mind. He is an extraordinary human being, an emissary of pity and what not, bringing civilization to the dark continent. The brickmaker is sure that Marlow has some resemblance to Kurtz and if this is true the reader is only to find out on their own. The months spent awaiting the needed rivets for the repair of the mysteriously broken down steamer are over. Marlow leaves for the Inner Station where he is to find out if the rumors about the best Company’s agent are true, the narrator leaves in search for the ill Kurtz whose death is awaited by most of the Company’s staff. The setting changes once more only to become the same as earlier in Marlow’s journey. Black people, enemies that are hiding on the shore like evil that is creeping and getting closer and closer to the steamer. Finally the evil prevails, the devoted black helmsman is murdered from a spear. The setting had built an unhealthy darkness that doesn’t allow the reader even the slightest chance to forget the focus of the nouvelle; the darkness within the heart of the jungle gradually fills the heart of the protagonist and respectfully the reader’s too. Maybe the most interesting part of the setting is Marlow’s meeting with Kurtz at the Inner Station. The setting presents the true darkness, the very heart of it. It also echoes the cries of the Russian sailor who meets Marlow at his arrival. From the story of the naà ¯ve young sailor Marlow understands about Kurtz’s brilliance and the semi-divine power he exercises over the  natives. The setting provides the visual confirmation of Kurtz’s cruelty. A row of severed heads on stakes round the hut gives an intimation of the barbaric rites by which Kurtz’s has achieved his ascendancy. An educated man like Marlow, a very intelligent one, a man of promise for the Company Kurtz has used his brains and gun, symbol of civilization, to enslave the natives and make his one dark tribe that would inhabit the heart of darkness. Though at first sight the setting looks like a true adventure one underneath transpires the psychological and moral level of the work as a whole. Moreover Conrad’s nouvelle and respectfully it’s setting is also a symbolic journey of the soul towards the heart of man which he sees as capable of great evil. Kurtz is good personification of this particular idea. The setting may be interpreted as an allusion to Dante’s The Inferno, Marlow’s journey looks like an expedition to the underworld, a journey through the circles of hell and Kurtz is the devil himself. But the devil doesn’t want to leave his tribe nor do they want to leave him. When his tired and sick body is taken in the steamboat his black mistress appears. She looks at him with her â€Å"wild-eyes† giving Kurtz the power to live on but he couldn’t. The setting changes and presents the deck of the steamboat. Kurtz is lying there awarding Marlow with his manuscripts and his words, his last ones â€Å"The horror! The horror!†. The setting reveals the whole moral of Conrad’s work, or in Marlow’s words â€Å"the moral victory†. For Kurtz the horror he talks of is his life and like he has shown the reader man is capable of great evil. Kurtz has neglected the signals of his heart that evil was inside him. Kurtz is outside of control of the moral rules of civilization whose representative he is. So the horror is he himself, the heart of darkness is not the jungle anymore but his own. The setting has changed once again only to become Kurtz himself, the most important figure for the nouvelle, the heart of it, the heart of darkness. The setting is one of the most important for the work because it reveals simple but existential truths to the reader. Man finds himself when is isolated especially from civilization as Kurtz does. But why is he considered mad by the â€Å"civilized† people that get in touch with him. He is mad for them because he had taken off the mask and everybody can see his true face – evil or remarkable is up to the reader to  decided. The important role of the setting is capturing the attention and the thoughts of the reader. Kurtz was like Marlow – an uncorrupted creature from the imperialist world that wanted to help the natives rather than colonize them but the darkness prevailed his heart and Marlow sees what he could become if he lost the trail. But Kurtz recognizes his action as cruel and evil that is his horror, he knows that what he is doing is wrong but the heart of darkness haven’t given him another option to survive. The setting also reminds the reader through the character of Kurtz of Europe at the end of the Imperialism era. The nouvelle is not only an adventure story but a political statement as well. Kurtz’s relationship with his mistress represents Europe’s love for their imperialized country, only the passion is temporary. Kurtz dies leaving Marlow and the reader with the conviction that they should explore what is inside them and in most cases they’ll find their own heart of darkness. Intriguing are also Kurtz’s manuscripts and the words â€Å"Exterminate all the brutes!† He never told who are the brutes but the overall impression is that the brutes are not the uncivilized man, maybe everyone should find the brute within himself and exterminate it. The philosophical manuscripts did not solve any problems they just have shaped Marlow’s perspective and although he didn’t approve of Kurtz’s actions he was amazed with his spiritual and intellectual power, with the ability to persuade. That is exactly why Marlow stays loyal to Kurtz’s even after his death. The setting takes the reader back to Belgium in the house of Kurtz’s fiancà ©e. She, the woman that will always wait for him and always will mourn for him. She believes that she is the person that understood Kurtz best but Marlow is not convinced in that and he lies her about Kurtz’s last words. He never tells her what they really were, he mentions only that they gave him her name and that’s why he found her. Marlow is not sure if she’ll understand Kurtz’s ‘horror’. Africa has become a topology of his mind and the mind in general. Letting the forgotten savagery in the European and being the symbol of man’s inner change. Kurtz’s ‘horror’ is Marlow’s self discovery. The importance of the setting, given that it has shown to the reader the Congo region in it’s very heart of darkness, is that reminds the reader that it is time to make their own self searching. Last but not least the setting of the nouvelle has shown darkness, the heart of it. It is important for the work as a whole because it presents Marlow’s individual journey towards enlightment that serves the purpose of a model for the reader to follow. It presents also Kurtz’s ‘horror’ who has taken one step further in the dark continent that Marlow is not ready and willing to take. The setting of the whole work enriches the reader following the narrator in the serpentine Congo. The setting emphasizes the idea of the conflict of what is real versus what is ‘dark’. Here particularly the word ‘real’ represents the civilized part of the world while dark is Africa. Marlow represents civilization on the edge while Kurtz represents civilization stepped over leading in the ‘darkness’. The setting also is ivory, Conrad uses it as a symbol of man’s inner savagery, greed and evil. The author also uses ivory as contradiction to the usual symbols of good and evil. If good is represented with the white colour, here is Heart of Darkness ivory is the evil part no matter that it is one of the purest and whitest materials in the world. The contradiction the setting presents entraps the attention of the reader and provokes once again his search for self-discovery. The setting is pretty important to the work as a whole because it reveals the darkness within every one of us; the question is whether like Marlow we shall defeat it and gain enlightment or be defeated by it like Kurtz and fall in the very heart of Darkness.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Sosial anthropology (Satanism,Youth Gang Satanists ) Essay

Sosial anthropology (Satanism,Youth Gang Satanists ) - Essay Example Satanism is commonly defined simply as devil worship, the religion of worshiping and imitating Satan, the biblical enemy of Christians and Jews. Satanists are more against Christianity than Judaism, though, condemning Christians for the censure of the Church and defiling Christian practices, specifically the Eucharistic celebration. Christians, in turn, severely oppose the satanic beliefs that man is an animal, just like the other creatures in this planet, and that man is a god of his own life (Dominguez). Among the supposed deeds of the Satanists include cannibalism, serial killings, terrorism, and witchcraft (Dawson 258). Rituals summoning the devil and prayers adoring Hell and its master are two of the usual charges hurled towards satanic cults. These rituals are said to invoke the help of the devil before performing magic and casting spells on another, usually helpless, human being. Satanists are often associated with the symbol of a pentagram with a goat’s head in its center, identified as their emblem (Dominguez). There are two kinds of Satanists, according to Dr. Jerome Dominguez, writing from his website explaining religion and cults. The first kind comprises those believers in Satan’s existence and power. They sacrifice animals and children in order to worship and gain favors from him. Their main rite is the Black Mass, a distorted version of the Catholic Church’s Eucharistic celebration, performed to obtain magical powers through sexual orgies. The other kind of Satanists do not believe in Satan’s existence, only in him as the personification of human desires. They act on these desires through drugs, promiscuous sex, murder, theft, etc. Groups based on this kind usually protest the label of Satanism. Satanists comprise only a small percentage of the world’s non-religious, usually distributed within cults and secret organizations (Domiguez). They can be categorized into seven often-overlapping categories:

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Critical Evaluation of Current Integrated Marketing Communications Essay - 3

Critical Evaluation of Current Integrated Marketing Communications Practice(BKK) - Essay Example This article looks at the communication tools that the Ford Motors Company deploy in ensuring effective communication and transfer of the message from the sender to the receiver as intended. The receiver in this case being the target market, the company has to ensure the right information is conveyed otherwise it may easily be knocked out of the market. The article further explores the various challenges that face the company in the process of implementation of its communication activities both in the internal and external environment of the company. Different companies use different communication tools and media to convey information to the target markets. The incorporation of the communication tools and media together to keep the customer updated is summarized in what is called integrated marketing communications. Such communication tools include personal selling, publicity, sales promotion and advertising. The communication tools are print media, broadcast media or electronic media. Many challenges are faced in the practice of integrated marketing communication that need to be looked into with as much concern as they deserve. Ford Motors Company promotes the sales of the automobiles it produces worldwide thereby enabling it to maximize profit from the broad market base due to the vast number of consumers. (Banham, 2002, p. 234)The commodore and falcon brands manufactured by ford motors have outdone all the other traditional cars in the Australian markets with more than 20% of the total number of new cars in the country being from Ford Motors Company. Ford also makes sales in the United States of America from which its headquarters is based. (Banham, 2002, p. 236) It’s the second largest automobile industry in the country after general motors. The company produces a wide variety of automobiles to capture maximum number of consumers. Cars are

E-Learning Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

E-Learning - Thesis Example Based on the overall finding of the research, it has been ascertained that continuous advancement in technologies imposed considerable impact over the inhabitants of Saudi Arabia especially in the circumstance of e-learning. The study further revealed that administrative, personal, technical and financial aspects mainly prevent e-learning success in primary public schools within the nation. Based on this fact, in this research study, the above discussed four aspects were considered as independent variables and e-learning success to be the dependant variable. Moreover, it was found that the average numerical value in terms of mean of responses of the teachers in technical barriers was recorded at 4.1996, administrative barriers with 4.2206, financial barriers around 4.2479 and personal barriers with 3.6811. Furthermore, the findings also indicated that administrative barriers have high effect in the succession of e-learning, as reflected by the value of coefficient. Nevertheless, the findings depicted the important fact that in order to attain greater success in the context of e-learning approach in Saudi Arabia, the teacher and the students must remain highly concerned about mitigating the above identified barriers in an effective manner. E-learning refers to the form of learning approach or its related activities, which involves the transmission of information with the use of internet. The e-learning approach has wider applicability from the students’ learning viewpoint, as a form of gaining new learning experiences.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Rational persuasion Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rational persuasion - Term Paper Example The bargain wilds intensely as the teachers are seriously on the neck of the government terming them not serious about the lives of the children who are not being taught, as the government is quite reluctant about their issues (Hoch 2004 pg 64-9). Through out the bargains, the government given the tough economic times tries to use rational persuasion to try to sway the angry teachers to class. This evident since the government has directed their negotiations towards the influential minorities that is the teachers’ consultees; they are trained and given non-factual promises by the government (Hoch 2004 pg 97). The promises are non- factual given that they do not give any timelines and are not giving any statistical figures in form of percentage increase of the mentioned benefits. The limitation of this is that the method would not suppress the angry teachers are they are already aware of the conning that the government is likely to direct to them. Faced with such a situation in the future, an integration of both factual and rational would be considered to relay quite convincing information. Scenario 2 Rational persuasion for security of a country There is a terrorist group, which is seriously terrorizing the citizens’ of the country jeopardizing the role of the government of protecting its citizens. Though power is held by the state, the group is reckless and does not mind hurting any individual as they have nothing much to lose. The government on the other hand is not in the position of attacking those head on, as this may lead to the group unleashing its potential on the innocent civilians through their poisonous biological weapons. The government has therefore the option of engaging... There is a terrorist group, which is seriously terrorizing the citizens’ of the country jeopardizing the role of the government of protecting its citizens. Though power is held by the state, the group is reckless and does not mind hurting any individual as they have nothing much to lose. The government on the other hand is not in the position of attacking those head on, as this may lead to the group unleashing its potential on the innocent civilians through their poisonous biological weapons. The government has therefore the option of engaging the group in a discussion for a negotiation, which cannot be factual as the terror group, cannot be promised facts given that this would be against the sovereignty of the state.   In the persuasion efforts, the government presents on the table goodies for the terror group and promises them to be integrated in the running of the government. They are therefore, invited to select their top officials or the individuals they entrusts with t he promised positions and the intention of the government inviting them to this table is to peacefully detain the officials without the followers awareness. This is a divide and rule technique of running the government as the result is directed towards making the followers realize that soon they are likely to be detained as their leaders hence scaring their activities and the harms they are likely to create to the government. The rebels on the other hand purpose a negotiation through representatives.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Human Behavior and the Enviroment Unit 2 Discussion Research Paper

Human Behavior and the Enviroment Unit 2 Discussion - Research Paper Example Most women are ignorant on the significance of an excellent and regular prenatal care (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2007). They do not make arrangements, and if they do, they ignore them. This is common with girls who have no experience in childbirth. Scarcity of qualified doctors has led to women being put on hold due to extensive waiting lists (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2007). In addition, when mothers get a chance to visit, they find long lines at the clinics. This frustrates the pregnant women who have other places to be. Prenatal care for the mother and the child lessens a lot of threats that could occur during delivery, and after. At a prenatal clinic, a mother will be directed on the diet, for example, intake of folic acid condenses prospects of abnormalities. In addition, the right diet will guarantee the child grows at the normal, healthy rate. The public need to be aware of the significance of prenatal care, thus health specialist, can use the following ways. Firstly, they could initiate campaigns to create awareness all over the country, and advertise it thoroughly. Secondly, experts should learn to treat mothers with trust and comfort, since some women fear medical procedures. Lastly, the professionals can join forces with film makers, and authors to film documentaries, and publish books on pregnant

Monday, September 23, 2019

21st Century Technology in Today's Classroom Essay

21st Century Technology in Today's Classroom - Essay Example Some of these reasons are pragmatic – e-learning helps ease congestion of crowded classrooms, while providing a means for those who might not have access to higher education, such as the disabled or people who live far from a university, the opportunity to gain a proper education. Other reasons are socially based, in that e-learning fosters a collaborative atmosphere where social skills are used and enhanced. E-learning offers advantages for instructors who want to use the tool as a way to reinforce concepts that are taught in the traditional lecture hall. While these are certainly advantages to e-learning, there are also potential pitfalls. The technology that this research proposal will center upon will be E-Learning. E-learning is, in a nutshell, a way for students to gain knowledge and competence by interacting with adults and peers in an on-line community (Kim & Bonk, 2002, p. 3). E-learning uses the process of collaborative learning, which â€Å"has the potential to foster interaction and social support lacking in traditional learning environments â€Å"(Kim & Bonk, 2002, p. 3). On-line learning also aids in reflective interaction, which is not encouraged in traditional classroom settings and also helps foster social interaction, which, in turn, helps build students critical thinking and perspective taking abilities (Kim & Bonk, 2002, p. 3). E-learning is important, as it distributes learning material and processes over the Internet, which can help ease the decongestion of overcrowded lecture halls, provide a way for students and teachers who live far from a university an avenue for teaching and learning, as wel l as enable specific groups of students, such as the disabled, a chance to gain an education (Ardito et al., 2006, p. 270). The principles of e-learning, and how students adapt to e-learning have a basis in educational theory in general. The learner-centered psychological principles state that there

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Adventurous Days in Florida Essay Essay Example for Free

Adventurous Days in Florida Essay Essay There are three incredible reasons I would want to convince someone to go to the state of Florida. The warm, hard to believe weather, the fun beaches, and incredible, outstanding boardwalks are great reasons to go to Florida. These three things go hand in hand as well. You can spend all day at the beach, but if you have children you are sure to end up at the boardwalk, but with the nice weather Florida has, it is no problem. There are more than three reasons for me to convince you to go to warm state of Florida; however, these are three of the best. The weather is always nice, and you never have to worry about snow storms. Sun block is advised if you burn easily, but it is nice weather for tanning. Family activities go on year round. Florida is a very active state due to their amazing weather. You can do just about anything in Florida as far as sports go, because the weather is so unusual. You wear whatever you want due to the fact it is never too cold and never too hot. All these things are terrific things about the weather in Florida. Beaches have advantages and disadvantages, but if you read these great tips you will be just fine. The water can cool you off after a long day at work or even a day after the board walk; however, sun block is strongly advised. The best part about the beach is it is convenient for everyone, because the beach is there for swimming, tanning, fun, family activities, sports, exercise, and you can even take your dog on a nice walk out there. With the many people there though, you must make sure you keep a good eye on your children at all times. There are so many things at the beach that you can do and it is free, unlike water parks. Lastly, the fun-filled boardwalk every child wants to adventure. There are so many rides, arcades, food areas, and shopping areas, and as you are doing these things you can sit back and eat while enjoying the nice sounds of the waves, or even get up and join the activity all around you. The boardwalk has many nice things to do, and the rides are there for almost everyone, of course you must be a certain height. The food and drinks are not expensive and nothing beats time with the family. Their boardwalk is like our Oklahoma State Fair times ten, considering all their rides, food stands, selling tents, and arcades. They have hotels right outside this area just for the convenience; therefore, you will spend many nights just gazing at the stars and listening to the soothing, relaxing waves. This is why the boardwalk is so adventurous and a must do deal there in Florida. So, as you can see, Florida has so much fun, action packed stuff in just these three things that I have listed. These are not the only three things in the state of Florida worth going. You will have a great time here, and this is where I would suggest a vacation because of the nice relaxing feel it has there. Sure there are other places that have these same things but not the perfect weather all year round. With all this being said, this is why I would convince you to visit Florida.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Frank Wedekinds Lulu: An Analysis

Frank Wedekinds Lulu: An Analysis Discuss Frank Wedekinds Lulu in relation to its cultural and social context. Pay particular attention to the ways in which the play challenges and/or perpetuates certain assumptions concerning gender and sexuality; include a discussion of the plays relevance to our contemporary context. This essay will be exploring and discussing the character of Lulu in Frank Wedekinds play of the same name. It will delve into the relationship that Lulu has with the men and women of the late 1800s, as well as the challenges that women have experienced over the centuries having to deny their sexual appetite in a patriarchal world. There will be investigations into female oppression and gender status. Also one will be looking at the roles of fictional and factual Femmes Fatales throughout the ages, from those in story books to actual icons who have reached out to the world through modern media coverage. It will discuss whether being a sexually attractive woman is help or hindrance, is a woman a slave to mens desires or is it a tool that women use to live and lead the life that they wish? In research of the character of Lulu I read the introduction from the play Lulu adapted by Nicolas Wright and his insight to the character of Lulu and Frank Wedekinds method research by having sexual encounters with a number of prostitutes. Using this method Frank Wedekind created lulu, by taking different the qualities and flaws of the prostitutes he had met, women who are described as irresistible, some fearlessly honest, some devious, some manic, all doomed. (Wedekind/Wright, 2007:11) Nicolas Wright gives the impression in the introduction that Certainly he must have come across a woman who, at the age of five or so, was raped and prostituted by a man who may have been her father. This is exactly what had happened to Lulu, as Wedekind goes to some trouble to spell out. Is he saying that this hideous event has formed her life, thats its made her what she is as an adult? As a 19th-centery buck, he may not spot the connection. Yet his comments on women are full of insight, and the way the way lulu sexualises every relationship she enters into with a man seems very much part of damaged- child syndrome. (Wedekind/Wright, 2007:11) By reading Nicolas Wrights thoughts on how the character of Lulu is an abused child and is a damaged soul and as a character has a very warped view of what is acceptable and what is normal in a relationship. Due to the impression of her childhood raised by a man who is said to be her father who is insinuated in the play they had an inappropriate relationship. This is apparent in Act 4. She asks Schigolch to kill Rodrigo (an acrobat who is blackmailing lulu) for her. Lulu: what do you want? Dont ask too much. Schigolch: well, now. if you ever felt nostalgic for our old arrangement.. Lulu: oh god..! Schigolch: Why not? Lulu: Im .changed. Im not a child any more. Schigolch: what do see when you look at me now? Some aged monster? Lulu; but youve already got a mistress. (Wedekind/Wright, 2007: Act 4:94) Lulu from a young age was passed around like a toy for mens enjoyment. This information reflects that Lulu is always looking for someone to look after her, and the security which comes with marriage, as she has never had that as a child. Now as an adult Lulu can only rely on her exceptional beauty and the fact all men from different status are drawn to her. This in turn empowers her to manipulate the men in her life, to bend to her every whim while the man still thinks he is in control. But in return by becoming what the man wants from her Lulu is able to enchant them by targeting their weaknesses and getting what she may want in that times before her eyes start to wonder again. This is more apparent when she marries for the second time, Eduard Schwarz. In this relationship she is the one who is control and she doesnt like this as she has nothing to manipulate him with, so it is my belief this is the reason she begins an affair with Dr Franz Schoning. This marriage to Schwarz seems t o be a healthy relationship and very comfortable life style, and which by Lulu entering into this affair with Schoning makes me wonder that Lulu is not wanting a loving family and the security of being married, she wants some danger and excitement to her life, and to me this selfish attitude which many women from her background would kill for makes me think what does Lulu really want? Its apparent she needs the security of marriage which is what society expects of women in her status and situation. But this isnt what lulu wants she is a healthy sexed woman with a natural sexual appetite which unfortunately was going against the society grain. Lulus character was ahead of the times as she was written in a time when women were repressed and had to marry for security. In a way that was most women in that era ambition was to marry well and above their station. In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin Mrs. Bennet was obsessed with finding husbands for her five daughters. The heroine of Pride of Prejudice Elizabeth Bennet is the complete opposite of Lulu. Whereas Elizabeth Bennet wants to marry for love, and disliked the idea of marrying just for security. When she was proposed by her cousin Mr Collins it takes him some time to understand that his proposal is being rejected by Elizabeth, in that time was quiet unheard of to actually refuse a proposal. Your portion is unhappily so small that it will be in all likelihood undo the effects of you loveliness and amiable qualifications. As I must therefore conclude that you are not serious in your rejection of me, I shall chuse to attribute it to your wish of increasing my love by suspense, according to the usual practice of elegant females. (Austin,1996:106) Even Jane Austen herself in 1802 accepted a marriage proposal from Harris Bigg-Wither, but she later changed her mind the next day. In all of her novels the heroine somehow ended in a suitable marriage with the man of their affections, yet she herself went on to becoming an old maid which was her choice but in this article it states that Austen never felt she had been presented with adequate choices: it was either get married or become a governess or a teacher. (http://www.sexualfables.com/spinster.php). Harris Bigg-Wither who after her death read her books more closely in trying to understand her refusal of him and came to conclusion that marriage didnt interest her, because in her novels she didnt include sexual passion, and also she would only write about the prelude to marriage in a platonic way. So does this mean that Austen felt that sexual tension in a marriage would be the downfall of a relationship that started without it and that was based on affection? I feel that Austen a women of the early 1800s who was expected to marry and was scared of sex and the complications that come with it, and thought marriage should be the product of two people in love and not a realistic and practical arrangement. She is quoted from a letter to her niece Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection, (http://www.sexualfables.com/spinster.php). So in the early 1800s Jane Austen was changing the way women behaved towards marriage that being an old maid was the only acceptable life style if one wasnt inclined to marry. But by not marrying sparked rumours in the 1990s that Austen was in fact a lesbian and that was the real reason she didnt marry. This theory hasnt be proved or disproved, I think its an insult to any women if they choose not to marry that they are assumed be a lesbian. Even in todays society women are targeted and frowned upon if they choose to have a career over starting a family, which in my opinion it is a mans ego that is being injured by not being needed. Frank Wedekind went a different way his play Lulu by making her of sorts a high class prostitute and giving Lulu the looks and the skills to manipulate the men she wanted to pursue. In my opinion the reason why Lulu was shocking for the time it was written in is because, it was common thought that men were driven by their sexual desires and women had none. If Lulu was a man this play would be called Casanova. If the lead was a male it wouldnt be as shocking as the world would have heard of the antics of Giacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt who had died 1798 who was renowned for a sexual predator of young women and a gambler. But Lulu wasnt a man but she was influenced by the men in her life, she tried to gain power by enslaving the men she wanted with her sexual desire. Another woman in fiction used the same skills in attain what information her pray had. Milady Clarick de Winter from The Three Musketeersa novelbyAlexandre Dumas. Milady Clarick de Winter was a teenager forced to enter the convent, but when she gets there she falls in love with a priest with who she escapes with. They leave the church with stolen property to fund their new life together, for which both of them get caught and were branded criminals with the fleur de liys. Then she appears in Athos village living with a man, and pretending to be his sister. When Athos, fell in love with her and married her. After some time together he finds the brand on her shoulder, saying she was a thief. Thinking she had married him only for his money which is not true, a heart-broken Athos tries to kill her by hanging her from a tree. But she survived. At the time the book is written, apparently it was acceptable to kill your wife if you found out she had committed a crime. Milady Clarick de Winter is a capable and beautiful spy, she is an example of a strong, independent woman with a tragic past, and filled with hate for men, she enjoys seduction and the destruction of men. The men she traps will provide her with support for a short period of time but will most likely to meet an untimely end if they learn of her past. Milady Clarick de Winter is remorseless for her countless crimes. In my opinion Lulu and Milady Clarick de Winter are femme fatales, and to achieve their hidden purpose, by using their feminine assets such as beauty, charm, and sexual allure. Both seem to be victims, caught in a situation from which they cannot escape; the connections between Milady Clarick de Winter and Lulu are uncanny having relationships ending in deadly consequences for the men they ensnare. Both Milady Clarick de Winter and Lulu have many names given or changed them through marriage. Dr Goll Lulus first husband in the play is in discussion with Dr Franz Schoning on their preferences on what they like to call her.With all these men renaming her is it any wonder that no-one knows the real Lulu? Does lulu exist anymore? I feel that there is such a power in a name, and by changing that aspect of a person they no longer exist. So by changing lulus name constantly she becomes a whole new person with a new personality over and over again, and is sculptured into whatever the man want s. Goll: You see I call her Popsy. Schoning: I thought Mignon suited her well. Goll: Mignon? No, Popsys better, from my personal point of view. I have a weakness for the incomplete . . . the immature . . . the innocent child in need of fatherly protection. (Wedekind/Wright, 2007:18) In the case of Milady Clarick de Winter she had to change her name as Athos, her first husband whom she loved deeply thought she was dead after hanging her from a tree, and for her own protection she changed it when she married Lord De Winter. With all these name changes is there wonder that these women manipulate men for their own gain. When its the man who has the power to change their names a moulding them into their puppets or to force them to change their name for protection. In the process stripping them of whom there are and who they could have been. Does society put the pressure on women to behave a certain way still? In a culture that is obsessed with the celebrity and the morbid fantasy of when things go wrong trying to find the information because even in death we as a society still want more. Marilyn Monroe was a beauty with curves; she was more than a 50s sex goddess. She dominated the age of movie stars to become the most famous woman of the 20th Century and still has a strong fan base growing 45 years after her death. She was born Norma Jeane Mortenson and never knew who her father and was baptized Norma Jeane Baker. Her mother was mentally ill and Norma Jeane had to spend most of her childhood in foster homes and orphanages until she moved in with family friend, but when she was 16 the family she was living with was going to move and couldnt take Norma Jeane with them. She had two options: return to the orphanage or get married.So even in the 1940s girls without family had two choices the state or marriage, she married a boy who she had been dating for 6 months. On being discovered by a photographer while helping towards the war effort in a factory, and from then on she became a model and Marilyn Monroe. But her marriage didnt survive her new found career. Then she soared to fame by landing film roles and various awards, but on the 5th august 1962 she died of a possible suicide. The events surrounding her death isthe most talked and debated conspiracy theories of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Many believe she was killed by order of the Kennedys and this was the belief of her second husband Joe DiMaggio and he died convinced the Kennedys were to blame, in an article about a book of his life written by his long term lawyer and friend Morris Engelberg. DiMaggio is to of expressed They murdered the one person I loved, DiMaggio confided to Mr Engelberg. (http://news.scotsman.com/marilynmonroe/Joe-DiMaggio-died-convinced-JFK.2401434.jp) These beliefs come from man who loved her very deeply and expressed that the men she was in a romantic relationship was the cause of her demise, and many of her fans believe that there are allot of unanswered questions connected with her death and I agree the masses there is too much information missing. She was at the mercy of very powerful men who wanted to keep her quiet and the scandal if she ever diverged in the information she knew. The allegations of the Kennedys being connected with her death has not been proved or disproved. Like Lulu, Marilyn Monroe was playing a very dangerous game by underestimating the power she had over men and the men in power. It is insinuated that Lulu was killed by Jack the Ripper an educated man who used his status to lure vulnerable prostitutes with his refinery and wealth, one the suspects was Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondalehe was grandson of Queen Victoria but this was neither proved or disproved. When doing my research the s imilarities between Lulu and Marilyn Monroe was very chilling both women were killed as the result of men, but for me the fact that Lulu is a fictional character based on the women Wedekind met on his sex romping with prostitutes and his character has so many similarities with the icon Monroe is disturbing that plight of women hasnt changed much in a hundred years and more. My aim in this essay was to Discuss Frank Wedekinds Lulu including the context and time it was written in, and if the female gender role has changed much in the time scale, by exploring other writers, and eventually looking at a modern day icon. I feel my discussion is in a very female point of view and Im sure that if this was written by a man it would have a very different angle and maybe I should have gotten a male opinion on the subject. Did Frank Wedekind write Lulu to shock society? Or to show that women of the 1800s were restricted my gender and status through text. When Frank Wedekind wrote Lulu I think he knew it would be shocking in his society as a sex tragedy but I dont think that knew that he had divulged so much into the way women were repressed by their gender and how certain sexual traumas can affect the way women as a gender enter a sexual relationship. Even today women use their sexual allure to get what they want or to influence a man into doing things for them. Im my opinion women have been fighting for the right to be equal with men but yet we as a sex still choose to use our beauty to get what we want and is that because from a young age society and story books use the stereotype of the woman is at home with the children and the man makes a living and supports his family. The times have changed and as a culture we have accepted same sex marriage, same sex adoption and a black president which I thought I would never see in my life time, but the life long battle of the sexes continues and I dont think this is going to end with any outcome which will be acceptable for either side. Lulu is a modern drama of sex. Its not a helpful story about gender roles or sexual politics, or even at heart a marriage play, as all four of her marriages end badly. Lulu is a ruthless test of the terrible destructive would be of a basic human drive, and of that favourite scapegoat for that destruction, the femme fatale. Bibliography Austen.J (1996) Pride And Prejudice, London, Penguin Group. http://news.scotsman.com/marilynmonroe/Joe-DiMaggio-died-convinced-JFK.2401434.jp http://www.sexualfables.com/spinster.php Wedekind.F/Wright.N (2007) Lulu, London: Nick Hern Books limited. Research Ascription of Identity: The Bild motif and the character of Lulu, Silvio Jose Dos Santos, The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 21, No.2 (spring 2004), pp. 267-308 http://www.marilynmonroe.com/ Masterpieces of French literature By Marilyn S. Severson Refraction of the Feminine: The Monstrous Transformations of Lulu, Karin Littau, MLN, Vol. 110, No. 4, Comparative Literature Issue (Sept., 1995), pp. 888-912 The Three MusketeersbyAlexandre Dumas

Friday, September 20, 2019

Infective Endocarditis Caused by Viridans Streptococci

Infective Endocarditis Caused by Viridans Streptococci Case Study 1: Infective endocarditis caused by viridans streptococci Case Study 2: Haemorrhagic fever caused by Ebolavirus Case Study 1 Subject is a 48-year-old man with a history of mitral valve regurgitation who presents with a 10-day history of fatigue, fever and general malaise. Some reddish lesions are noted on his palm, which he has never noticed before. He denies any cough, but has mild new shortness of breath with exertion and with lying down flat at night in bed. He is generally in good health except for a root canal operation approximately 3 weeks previously. The history of mitral valve regurgitation is thought to be secondary to rheumatic fever as a child. Heart examination is notable for a loud systolic murmur best heard at the left sternal border with radiation over to the axilla. Lungs are clear and abdominal examination is normal. Skin examination is significant for several scattered reddish lesions over his palms and soles that are not painful when pressure is applied. Lab tests: Blood count shows WBC 14.8 with 86% neutrophils; blood cultures grew out gram-positive cocci in chains that are alpha haemolytic on horse blood agar. Evidence for Diagnosis Mitral valve regurgitation would account for the fatigue, and also the shortness of breath in the patient, however other symptoms are present that this alone cannot explain. The first of these is the fever suffered by the patient, which would signify an infection. The second is the presence of lesions on the palms and soles; Petechiae such as these, known as Janeway lesions, are an indicator of endocarditis (O’Connor, 2002), and the patient’s history of mitral valve regurgitation, along with a recent history of root canal work confirm that this is a likely diagnosis. The lungs and abdomen of the patient are clear, as would be expected in a case of endocarditis, however examination of the heart sounds displayed a clear murmer. The patient’s blood results showed clear signs of infection, with leukocytosis and elevated neutrophil count. The bacteria cultured from the patient’s blood can be easily identified as Streptococci, and since this is known to be a cau sative organism of endocarditis (Brooks, Butel and Morse, 2004, pp.197), it makes the diagnosis very likely. Further Testing Required While the diagnosis in this case should be straight forward due to bacteraemia and presence of peripheral stigmata, according to the Duke criteria, which is used as a tool for diagnosis of infective endocarditis, this patient would be classified as having only possible infective endocarditis. As they display some of the necessary pathologic and clinical criteria, they would need further tests to determine if it was definitely infective endocarditis (Li et al., 2000). The Duke Criteria was developed by Durack et al. (1994) as a means of better distinguishing infective endocarditis from other causes of cardiac problems; these were evaluated as being superior to previous methods for diagnosis (Bayer et al., 1994)(Cecchi et al., 1997)(Hoen et al., 1995) The criteria have been used since, though there have been studies done into improving the criteria further. According to these criteria, the patient’s diagnosis could be confirmed by carrying out other tests such as an ECG, echocar diogram, and chest x-ray, to exclude other possible cardiac problems. However, the patient would also meet two major criteria, and therefore be classified as definite infective endocarditis if two further cultures of blood grew causative bacteria. While the most likely causative organism is viridans streptococci, as Streptococcus pneumonia is more commonly associated with bacterial pneumonia or meningitis, the two can be differentiated quite simply by testing with optochin. S. pneumonia are susceptible to this microbial agent, where viridans streptococci are resistant. Suspending the bacteria in bile salts would also provide a suitable distinction, as S. pneumonia would lyse, where viridans streptococci are insoluble (Brooks, Butel and Morse, 2004, pp.197). Endocarditis as a result of streptococcal infection Microbiology Many textbooks, and in fact some journal articles refer to the group of streptococci which cause endocarditis by the name Streptococcus viridans, however this is actually a misnomer, as the viridans streptococci are actually a group of several different bacteria, and are referred to as viridans simply because they produce a green halo when grown on blood agar (Elliott et al., 1997, pp.30-1). Viridans streptococci are often found resident in abundance in the mouth, where they are usually commensal, or cause only mild infections; once in the blood stream, these usually passive bacteria can become pathogenic, and lead to endocarditis upon reaching the heart (Brooks, Butel and Morse, 2004, pp.197). The bacteria are able to proliferate in structurally abnormal valve surfaces and gradually lead to the destruction of the valves, resulting in regurgitation (O’Connor, 2002). Those valves damaged by rheumatic fever are particularly prone to infection (Heritage, Evans and Killington, 1999, p.185). Symptoms The physical symptoms suffered by the patient are a result of the body’s response to the infection; the fever and general malaise suffered by the patient would be as a result of cytokine generation from the low-grade infection, and the petechiae in the skin, known as Janeway lesions, are the result of immune complexes being deposited in small vessels there (O’Connor, 2002). Prophylaxis Any patient, such as the one here, assessed from their previous medical history to be at risk from endocarditis, should be given prophylactic treatment before undergoing invasive dental surgery. The current guidelines outlined by Ramsdale et al. (2004) recommend amoxicillin for this purpose, or clindamycin for those allergic to penicillin. This particular patient would only be considered a moderate risk according to the new guidelines, so there would be no need for gentamicin, however those considered at high risk would be given this intravenously in addition to IV amoxicillin/clindamycin. Treatment A combination of penicillin and gentamicin are used to treat streptococcal endocarditis. While studies have found that there is only a limited resistance to penicillin in sufferers at present, vancomycin can be used a viable alternative in those allergic to penicillin and those with more resistant strains (Johnson et al., 2001). For those who do not respond to antimicrobial treatment, surgery is often a viable option, replacing the infected valves. While not always successful, this offers an improved prognosis for those where other treatment is unsuccessful (Moon et al., 1997). Prognosis If left untreated, infective endocarditis is always fatal, as the destruction of a valve will prevent the heart from working. Even if treated, the disease carries a high morbidity and mortality rate. The factors which impact strongest on prognosis are uncontrolled infection and congestive heart failure. It is for this reason that early diagnosis and antimicrobial treatment is necessary. However, constant improvements in surgical procedures are leading to a better prognosis for those not responding to treatment (Karth et al., 2002). It could be reasoned that these advances in surgery will become even more important in prognosis as incidences of antimicrobial resistance increase, which is surely inevitable judging by trends in other bacterial infections such as Staphylococcus aureus. Case Study 4 A 34-year-old woman researcher studying chimpanzee behaviour in the Ivory Coast found several of the animals were dying. She dissected one several hours after it died and found that it had died of haemorrhage, and had non-clotting blood. She wore household gloves, but no mask or gown during the dissection. Eight days later she developed a fever and headache, which did not respond to malaria treatment. Five days into her illness, she developed vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash, and renal failure. Antibiotics did not improve her condition and she was transported home in isolation. The patient is lethargic but communicative. She has lymphadenopathy. Her lung exam is normal. She has a mildly tender and enlarged liver and spleen. Lab tests: She has a white blood cell count of 3.6, haematocrit of 40, and low platelets of 83. She has a low fibrinogen of 0.8. Her clotting times are normal, however. Serological tests for anthrax, dengue fever, chikungunya, yellow fever, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Rift Valley fever, Lassa fever, and Hantavirus are all negative. Evidence for Diagnosis The history of the patient suggests that she is suffering from something that has arisen from her contact with an infected chimpanzee. While a number of zoonotic diseases are known to be prevalent in the African continent, the majority of those have already been ruled out by negative test results. One which has not is the Ebolavirus, which gives rise to Ebola haemorrhagic fever. Transmission of the Ebolavirus from dead animals has been documented in the past, including in the Ivory Coast (WHO, 2004; CDC, 2005). The onset of the patient’s symptoms fits with the known timescale for the Ebolavirus of 2 to 21 days; the fever and headache which she experienced are classic symptoms. Later in the disease sufferers also usually develop diarrhoea, vomiting, and possibly a rash (CDC, 2005). It would obviously be expected that antibiotics would bring no improvement to the illness, as the infection is viral. In a physical examination, it would be expected that a patient infected with Ebolavirus would have an enlarged liver and spleen, as this is where virus replication is particularly proliferant. Sanchez et al. (2004) also specifies the lungs as also being one of the main sites of virus replication, implying that the patient should be suffering from tenderness of the lungs also, however this evidence is taken from studies into the Sudan strain of Ebolavirus, and this is much more likely to be the Ivory Coast strain, so some symptoms may differ. In the laboratory examination, it is expected to see a normal haemocrit, accompanied by leucopenia and thrombocytopenia as displayed in the patient. It would be usual for the clotting time to be shortened, however this patient has low levels of fibrinogen, possibly due to some secondary cause, which may alter the clotting time, making it higher than expected. Further Testing Required While virus isolation, transmission electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, reverse transcription-PCR, antigen capture ELISA, and IgG or IgM antibody capture ELISA can all been used to show Ebolavirus as the causitive agent, there are conflicting reports over which techniques are preferable for use. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2005) suggest that in a patient at this stage of the disease, testing should be carried out for IgM and IgG antibodies, Kurosaki et al. (2006) and Towner et al. (2004) recommend RT-PCR as the most efficient technique. Ebolavirus Aetiology Ebola belongs to the filoviruses or Filoviridae, which is divided into two genera, the Ebolavirus and the Marburgvirus. The Ebolavirus genus is split into four separate species: Ivory Coast ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Zaire ebolavirus and Reston ebolavirus (Hensley et al., 2005). While the disease is zoonotic, the natural reservoir of the disease is not non-human primates; the actual reservoir and the mode of transition into apes is so far unknown, although studies are currently being undertaken on the suggestion that bats may play a role. Transmission into humans is rare, and is often one isolated case (Peterson et al., 2004), although if the proper precautions are not taken it is possible for the disease to spread in the human population. Epidemiology The disease has appeared sporadically since its initial recognition in 1976, and has occurred only in specific geographical areas as per the names of the different strains (CDC, 2005). It is generally agreed that the virus is transmitted via direct contact with the blood or bodily secretions from another infected person (Dowell et al., 1999; WHO, 2004), due to the extensive viral involvement in the subcutaneous tissue (Peters, 2005). It is believed that this is also the case among non-human primates, such as the chimpanzees, although this is so far unconfirmed (CDC, 2005). In laboratory studies, the virus has shown the ability to be spread via aerosol between rhesus monkeys (Johnson et al., 1995), and while some authors such as Heeney (2006) list the virus as being aerosol, there have so far been no such documented cases in a real-world setting between humans (CDC, 2005; Dowell et al., 1999). Symptoms The World Health Organisation (2004) lists the main symptoms of the Ebolavirus as being a sudden onset of fever, accompanied by intense weakness and muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. After a few days this is followed by vomiting and diarrhoea, rashes, liver and kidney dysfunction and sometimes also both internal and external bleeding. Pathogenesis The pathogenesis of Ebolavirus is currently very hard to study, due to the rarity of occurrences in humans, and also due to the dangerous nature of collecting, storing and analysing samples from those cases. The illness is severe due to the ability of the virus to supress both adaptive and innate immune responses, and the ability to cause extreme inflammatory responses and intravascular coagulation (Mahanty and Bray, 2004). At the current time it is thought that monocytes and macrophages in the body are infected during the early stages of the virus, and these then carry the virus to other areas (Sanchez et al., 2004). The infected monocytes express large amounts of tissue factor, leading to intravascular coagulation, and causing tissue damage. Infected macrophages secrete cytokines which cause apoptosis of lymphocytes in tissues that are required for the acquired immune response (Peters, 2005), hence the presence of leucopenia in blood count results. The mobile infected cells carry the viral agent to lymph nodes, where the virus further replicates and is spread through the body. Upon reaching the liver, spleen and other tissues, parenchymal cells, including hepatocytes and adrenal cortical cells will become infected (Mahanty and Bray, 2004). This is what leads to the enlarged organs, and will also result in an increase in the levels of liver enzymes in the blood. Prophylaxis and Treatment Some progress has been made in the formation of vaccines, and these have proved successful in testing on non-human primates (Hensley et al., 2005). However other sources report that all attempts so far have met with outright failure (Peters, 2005). Barrier nursing techniques appear to be effective in preventing the spread of the disease (Dowell et al., 1999; Formenty et al., 1999). Prognosis The Zaire strain of Ebolavirus is reportedly the most lethal (Mahanty and Bray, 2004); there is only one reported case of a human contracting the Ivory Coast strain, presenting similarly to the patient, and they survived (Formenty et al., 1999). It is very difficult to form an accurate prognosis however due to the limited results on which to base it. References Bayer A.S., Ward J.I., Ginzton L.E. and Shapiro S.M. (1994) Evaluation of new clinical criteria for the diagnosis of infective endocarditis. American Journal of Medicine, 96 (3), pp.220-2 Brooks G.F., Butel J.S. and Morse S.A. (2004) Medical Microbiology 23rd Edition. McGraw-Hill, p.197 CDC (2005) Centres for Disease Control and Prevention [online]- November 18, 2005.- available from: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/qa.htm [cited February 2, 2007] Cecchi E., Parrini I., Chinaglia A., Pomari F., Brusasco G., Bobbio M., Trinchero R. and Brusca A. (1997) New diagnostic criteria for infective endocarditis. A study of sensitivity and specificity Eureopean Heart Journal, 18 (7), pp. 1149-56 Dowell S. F., Mukunu R., Ksiazek T. G., Khan A. S., Rollin P. E. and Peters C. J. (1999) Transmission of Ebola hemorrhagic fever: A study of risk factors in family members, Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1995. Journal of Infectious Disease, 179 Suppl. 1, pp. S87-S91 Durack D.T., Lukes A.S. and Bright D.K. (1994) New criteria for diagnosis of infective endocarditis: utilization of specific echocardiographic findings, American Journal of Medicine, 96 (3), pp. 200-9 Elliott M., Hastings U., Desselberger R. and Reid G. (1997) Lecture Notes on Medical Microbiology Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, pp.30-1 Formenty P., Hatz C., Le Guenno B., Stoll A., Rogenmoser P. and Widmer A. (1999) Human infection due to Ebola virus, subtype Cote dIvoire: Clinical and biologic presentation. Journal of Infectious Diease, 179 Suppl. 1, pp.S48-S53 Heeney J.L. (2006) Zoonotic viral diseases and the frontier of early diagnosis, control and prevention. Journal of Internal Medicine, 260, pp. 399-408 Hensley L., Jones S., Feldmann H., Jahrling P. and Geisbert T. (2005) Ebola and Marburg viruses: Pathogenesis and development of countermeasures. Current Molecular Medicine, 5, pp. 761 772 Heritage J., Evans E.G.V. and Killington R.A. (1999) Microbiology in Action. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, p. 185 Hoen B., Selton-Suty C., Danchin N., Weber M., Villemot J.P., Mathieu P., Floquet J. and Canton P. (1995) Evaluation of the Duke criteria versus the Beth Israel criteria for the diagnosis of infective endocarditis. Clinical Infectious Disease,21 (4), pp. 905-9 Johnson A.P. [et al.] (2001) Antibiotic susceptibility of streptococci and related genera causing endocarditis: analysis of UK reference laboratory referrals, January 1996 to March 2000. BMJ, 322, p. 7283 Johnson E., Jaax N., White J. and Jahrling P. (1995) Lethal experimental infections of rhesus monkeys by aerosolized Ebola virus. International Journal of Experimental Pathology, 76 (4), pp. 227-236 Karth G.D. [et al.] (2002) Complicated infective endocarditis necessitating ICU admission clinical course and prognosis. Critical Care, 6 (2), pp. 149 154 Kurosaki Y., Takada A., Ebihara H., Grolla A., Kamo N., Feldmann H., Kawaoka Y. and Yasuda J. (2006) Rapid and simple detection of Ebola virus by reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification. Journal of Virological Methods, doi: 10.1016. Li J.S., Sexton D.J., Mick N., Nettles R., Fowler V.G., Ryan T., Bashore T. and Corey G.R. (2000) Proposed modifications to the Duke Criteria for the diagnosis of Infective Endocarditis. Clinical Infectious Disease, 30, pp.633-638 Mahanty S. and Bray M. (2004) Pathogenesis of filoviral haemorrhagic fevers. The Lancet, 4 (8) pp. 487-498 Moon M.R., Stinson E.B. and Miller D.C. (1997) Surgical treatment of endocarditis. Progress in Cardiovascular Diease, 40 (3) pp. 239-64 OConnor D. (2002) Pathology. Elsevier Health Sciences Peters C. J. (2005) Marburg and Ebola Arming ourselves against the deadly filoviruses. New England Journal of Medicine, 325 (25), pp. 2571-2573. Peterson A.T., Bauer J.T. and Mills J.N. (2004) Ecologic and geographic distribution of filovirus disease. Emerging Infectious Dieases, 10 (1), pp. 40-7. Ramsdale D.R. et al (2004) Dental aspects of Endocarditis Prophylaxis : New Recommendations from a Working Group of the British Cardiac Society Clinical Practice Committee and Royal College of Physicians Clinical Effectiveness and Evaluation Unit [Report]: Working Group of the British Cardiac Society Clinical Practice Committee and Royal College of Physicians Clinical Effectiveness and Evaluation, 19 April 2004. Sanchez A., Lukwiya M., Bausch D., Manharty S., Sanchez A., Wagoner K. and Rollin P. (2004) Analysis of human peripheral blood samples from fatal and nonfatl cases of Ebola (Sudan) haemorrhagic fever: Cellular responses, virus oad and nitric oxide levels. Journal of Virology, 78 (19), pp.10370-10377. Towner J.S. [et al.] (2004) Rapid diagnosis of Ebola hemorrhagic fever by reverse transcription-PCR in an outbreak setting and assessment of patient viral load as a predictor of outcome. Journal of Virology, 78 (8), pp. 4330-4341 WHO (2005) World Health Organisation Ebola Factsheet [Online]available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/index.html [cited February 2, 2007]

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Miscommunication :: essays research papers

â€Å"Miscommunication† Problems in every society usually derive from one specific thing. Miscommunication. How many times have you gotten in an argument or a disagreement with someone over what someone said, and then you later found out that that person meant something completely different from what was running through your head? How many times have you gotten off the phone with someone—someone important, --and wondered, what in the world were he or she talking about? I often get this feeling after class. Now, have you ever looked—I mean really looked at the English language? It is a very confusing language and it’s no wonder so many other people have so much trouble understanding it. Have you ever talked to someone from a foreign country and you’ve had to rephrase the entire thing you were trying to say because they didn’t understand? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Let’s start with something simple. Oxymorons. Let’s say you’re getting ready for a job interview and as you’re leaving the house, someone yells out behind you, â€Å"Just Act Natural, you’ll be fine.† You get in the car and the only thing you get on your mind is â€Å"acing natural.† A person can’t act and be natural at the same time and the entire time you’re driving to the job interview, you’re thinking, what can I do to act more natural. That, my friend, is an oxymoron and can easily be mis-interrupted. You’ve heard of them before. They can easily be defined as a couple of words contradicting one another but used as a fixed expression. A couple of examples, found missing, same difference, good grief, and airline food. Expressions such as these can cause miscommunications, misunderstandings, and basically just a lot of confusion. Have you ever been watching the news or Sportscenter ® and they show a clip with the small title of â€Å"taped live† down in the corner? How can something already have been taped and yet they’re showing it over live television? Our government seems to enjoy these phrases quite a bit. In our government, they have many divisions called government organizations. Tell me if I’m wrong but I believe the government is an organization itself. How can they call them government organizations if the government IS an organization? That’s like saying organization organization. We also have a division we call the Peace Force. How can a person force peace without destroying the entire definition of the word?