Management of Bipolar (Manic Depression)

Forgotten Kids are children that have disabilities that are barely visible. They have their arms and legs, can see and hear, run, play, etc. , but most have never been invited to a birthday party or to a sleep over. They are the last to be chosen to play and the first to be blamed. Their illnesses aren†t fatal, but a small part of their hearts and souls die with every rejection. Their behaviors seem odd or unpredictable to themselves as much as to society. They are misunderstood and overlooked, thus the name â€Å"Forgotten Kids. Maybe I can bring understanding by showing and providing insight into the life of a child struck with mental illness and hopefully people will realize that my child is just as special as the next. An estimated 7,000,000 children in Missouri that suffers from these â€Å"invisible disabilities. † Mental illness not only affects the life of the child but the whole community. I live with this fact every day because my son suffers from Bipolar, better known as Manic Depression. Bipolar children long to be free of the strange feelings of sadness or euphoria and the voices that torment them. They wish for a good nights sleep and hope for a day when they can put their words on paper. They dream of friends who don†t abandon them when their moods change; and look for a miracle in the eyes of doctors who don†t always believe that bipolar can happen to a child. Until society becomes more aware and accepting of these illnesses, our future children with these disabilities stand no chance. My son,was diagnosed at age nine after his third stay in a child†s psychiatric unit. He was admitted following a period of behaviors I could not understand nor control. I remember him being â€Å"different† (I now know he was Manic) as far back as three years old, leaving me with raging emotions of guilt, shame, loss and grief. By age nine, he had begun lying, stealing, destroying property, setting fires, and hurting himself (these are called rages. ) He had no friends at school, though he would say that wasn†t true. He was filled with an anger I could not comprehend. Most people who knew us said it was my fault as a parent that if I would just â€Å"control† him, he would be fine. Not only was my son stigmatized but so was I. Not until we located the right doctor and started the proper medications that he needed was he â€Å"fine. † Through the years as the medication began working its wonders a new child began to emerge. He laughs, he plays, but most of all he talks about what he feels. He would say that we cannot conceive his isolation, and the depth of it at times. He would apologize for the fact that he couldn†t offer me better understanding. I realized then that what he gives is so much more valuable. He gives me an opportunity to discover the depth of my character, my love, my commitment, my patience, my ability to cope, and the opportunity to explore my spirit more deeply than I ever imagined. I told him that because of him, I am driven to go further than I would have ever gone on my own, working harder, seeking answers to the many questions that seemed to have no answers. He describes a world that seems to pass him by. How he longs to run and play like other children. How sometimes it is a challenge just to crawl from his bed in the morning. Hearing this it becomes obvious how much â€Å"normal† people take for granted and how we forget how precious life is. We†re not burdened with the strifes and conflicts of a much more complicated life. I only wish he could enjoy the freedom of just being a child. He cries from the loneliness that tears his world apart wondering if he is bad or evil and why he isn†t like everyone else. I can†t answer, except to say there is a reason we just don†t understand it. His ability to live through the nightmare of his life is amazing. It†s not easy raising a child with a mental illness but what is even harder is not being accepted by your community because of ignorance and fear. To let a physical, neurological, biochemical or mental handicap stand in the way of these children†s future would be a major tragedy.

Origins, After/Otherworld & Codes Of Living Essay

Literature has been a useful way of understanding many aspects about the world and even the essence of the existence of mankind. The connection of literature with humanity can be evidently seen in different historical accounts of stories that have become famous internationally. These literary works may have been mythological, fantasy, religious or even non-fictional, but despite all of this. Finding greater realizations about man can be deeply understood within the confines of these stories. There can be similarities and differences that might appear at the stories. But sometimes, readers would find it surprising when he or she realizes the connections. To further understand man’s origins, understanding literature is one form of assistance. The contents within stories across the centuries of literature define and display messages about the possible origins of man. The following paragraphs showcase two examples of literary examples of the accounts of the creation of man. Genesis Then God said, â€Å"Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. † So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, â€Å"Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. † (Genesis: 1: 26-28). Genesis, the initial part of the bible discusses the creation of everything. The book of Genesis made clear the importance of man and the explanation of how man came to be and how man should live. It stated clearly the purpose of man, to rule over the fish and the sea and the birds and every living creature. This account clearly states the importance of man and man’s role on earth. Greek Mythology’s Creation of Man â€Å"By now all was ready for the appearance of mankind. Even the places the good and bad should go to after death had been arranged. It was time for me to be created. There is more than one account of how that came to pass. Some say it was delegated by the gods to Prometheus, the Titan who had sided with Zeus in the war with the Titans, and to his brother, Epimetheus. Before making men he gave all the best gifts to the animals, strength and swiftness and courage and shrewd cunning, fur and feathers and wings and shells and the like – until no good was left for men, no protective covering and no quality to make them a match for the beasts. Prometheus, then, took over the task of creation and thought out a way to make mankind superior. He fashioned them in a nobler shape than the animals, upright like the gods; and then he went to heaven, to the sun. where he lit a torch and brought down fire, a protection to men far better than anything else, whether fur or feathers or strength or swiftness† (Hamilton, p. 71, 1942). The Creation of Man in Mythological description has been plenty. The above paragraph is just one account of man’s mythological creation. However, despite the various accounts, one common theme occurs, and that is man is created by the inspiration of the image of the gods. Death is inevitable.  One question that would come to mind to those who wonder about the afterlife is how does it look like? Is there such truth regarding life after death? These questions attract attention and interest. There are many literary accounts about the afterlife. Understanding them can help give a rather broad description or even just possible options of what the afterlife might really look like. Dante’s Divine Comedy This series shows the three phases of the afterlife according to Dante. Used in a 1st person point of view story-telling, Dante discusses the different places after a man dies. These places attributes to how man lived on earth. The places are the effect of life’s justice. The three places that were tackled are Hell, Purgatory and Paradise which is Heaven. Hell was described to have 9 circles, while Purgatory has 7 terraces, and then the 9 spheres of Heaven. Despite the religious transcription of the Divine Comedy, there are no other literary work that has become more influential about the afterlife than this work by Dante. It almost clearly describes the possibility of the afterlife. Greek Mythology Greek Mythology has been the product of classical literary work. Despite its mythological sense, there has been a good comparison with regards to the afterlife. Greek Mythology consists of the Heavens which is ruled by Zeus, the Waters which lorded over by Poseidon, and the Underworld which is under the control of Hades. The Underworld is the place for the dead. It’s description is a place of shadows and spirits. Most Greek Myths took place in the Underworld. Being considered as a place where the mortals live on after death, the concept of the afterlife is clear in this Greek Mythological place. There are many aspects of how man should live life. The Bible suggests a lot of stories that assists man in living the right kind of way. There are so many inspiring stories that advises how man should roam the earth and in the end reach the common goal of life. There are two striking accounts about the struggles in life but in the end achieving a positive result. The following literary accounts showcase stories about the remarkable aspect of life. These two stories display an interesting and enlightening statement about life.

Location Decision and Sustainability Essay

In this paper we are going to give an in-depth perspective on the subjects of location decision, clusters and corporate social responsibility. First, we will address the location decision subject. Second, we will discuss clusters and different cluster types. Last, we will review the corporate social responsibility subject. After giving an in-depth perspective on the three subjects, we will discuss the relationship between these different topics. Location Decision Location decision is an important strategic decision that must be considered by a firm. It is important because the location strategy could affect the ability of the firm to reach it consumer, to produce in economic scale, or even to get access to the resource they needs. Location decision could also be able to give the firm a competitive advantage, because of transfer of knowledge, innovation, specialisation, and complementariness. In choosing a country, there are two main dimensions that usually be considered. Those two main dimensions are country competitiveness and also risk of the country. The country competitiveness usually is divided into two main categories, which are the market competitiveness and also the industry competitiveness. A firm should able to assess those categories to find out in which location or in which country they should operate to maximize their opportunity and profits and minimize their risks and costs. Country Opportunity Assessing the market opportunity for a country means that we assessing the potential demand that available in a country. The variables that take into account for this assessment are the growth of the market, the size of the market, and also the quality of the demand that exist on the market in a certain country. This market assessment will define whether it is worth or not to start a business in that country, will the firm have a good demand or not, and will that demand able to generate profit for the firm or not. Looking some macroeconomics indicators can assess the market opportunity. Those indicators can be the GDP, GDP per capita, and income distribution, etc. ooking to those indicators can give us an insight about the market size of the country or country buying power compared to another country, etc. the quality of demand is describing the segmentation of the countries. Generally countries are grouped into 4 main clusters: †¢Developing countries, low income per capita, and low growth †¢Emerging countries, relatively low income per capita but high in growth †¢The newly industrialized economies, high growth and moderate to high wealth †¢The final cluster, low growth and high wealth, usually these countries have already reached their ‘maturity’. The other important opportunity that needs to be considered is the industry opportunities. The industry opportunity is including a broad part of aspects. Those aspects are the resource (including human resource and natural resource), the infrastructures, and also government policies (such as government incentive to enhance foreign investment, or tax reduction). A company needs to consider the human resource issue. It is usually addressing the quality of the labor in a country. It is also considering the minimum wages or average wages of labor in a country. That issue is an important issue because it will affect the production cost and production process. The natural resource issue usually also become some major strategic issue because it enables the firm to get closer to the input that they needs including strategic geographical location that can benefits their mobility. Country Risks Beside the opportunities, a firm should also consider the risks of the country. There are some major risks that need to be considered. Political risk, this risk have a high relation with the government policies and political condition in each country. A country with an unstable politic environment may have higher risk of rioting or policy changed. It can cause disadvantage for the firm such as vandalism to firm’s assets, or difficulties from the bureaucracy. Economic risk, this economic risk is including the inflation rate, economic growth, exchange rates of the currency, and also the variability. A firm needs to consider it carefully because it surely will affect the company stability and profitability. Competitive risk, this risk refers to the risk that company gets from the competition, the business group, cartels, or even the competitive advantage among product that being sold in the company. Operational risk, this risk is covering the risks from infrastructures, supplier policy, or even government regulation such as taxation, and nationalistic preference. Location Strategy After knowing the opportunity and the risks that exist in a country. A company should use that data to forming their strategy. The firm needs to compare a list of country to know which country that is the best for their investment, considering the risk and the opportunity of each of them. Clusters In this section of the paper we are going to discuss clusters. In order to explain what clusters are, we will use the definition given to clusters by Michael Porter (1990), which he used for his study of clusters. â€Å"clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, firms in related industries, and associated institutions in a particular field that compete but also cooperate†. There are many different types of clusters, which we will discuss below. However, we are going to start by explaining how and why corporations form clusters. Usually for clusters to arise there are already certain resources and capabilities available in a certain area, which are important for the industry and thus the cluster that is formed there. Next, there need to be several corporations that see the advantages of joining and creating a cluster. This is necessary so the different corporations can work together to improve their cluster and add value to it. This will attract new players for it, who can add even extra value to the created cluster. As this process continues, more players tent to join the cluster because it becomes more important every time for the general industry on which the cluster is based, but also because a lot of knowledge and resources are generated within the cluster on which a corporation not joining it, would miss out. Besides generating a lot of knowledge and industry advantages, clusters also improve the general competitiveness of a certain area. Moreover, they can significantly boost the economy of the area were the cluster is situated as many employment opportunities are created alongside the expansion of the cluster. According to the research of Lundequist and Power (2002) four types of clusters exist. These are the industry-led initiatives, the top-down cluster-branding exercises, the visionary projects and temporal clusters. We will discuss each type separately below. The industry-led initiatives are clusters that depend greatly on involving the public sector into the cluster. Moreover, they are the key importance of regional economic growth in their area and they can even bring national economic growth. The second cluster type is the top-down cluster-branding exercises. This type does not have the industry as its key building block but instead builds on the public sector. Also, this type does not find the creation of the clusters itself very important, but focuses on the creation of a brand name first. The third cluster type is the visionary cluster. As the name says, this cluster builds on one strong vision and it therefore needs good leadership in order to execute this vision. Thus, this type needs ‘cluster motors’ (Lundequist and Power, 2002) which are firms that can really start up the cluster and keep it going. In order to sustain this cluster there needs to be a good task division in terms of responsibilities and tasks. This all needs to be supported by a good and strong network and environment. The last cluster type is the temporal cluster and is usually build up around natural resources and physical conditions. Noteworthy is that this type can even be climate-driven and seasonal, meaning that the cluster does not always exist outside certain seasons for example. Lundequist and Power (2002) mention some similarities in all these types of clusters and they are worth mentioning quickly. First, all types work best when there are multiple players with a large interest in the cluster. Moreover, it is important that a clear vision is present for it. Above we mentioned the ‘cluster motors’ which is especially important with regard to the visionary cluster, but all types benefit greatly if such motors are present. Second, it is important if every corporation has a clear view of what they add to the cluster. Thus, good management should be present to support this. Third, it was mentioned explicitly for the second cluster type, but again all types benefit from brand building and thus attention should be paid to marketing this. Last, the progress made within the clusters is very important and appropriate policies and strategies should be present to support this. To conclude, not all cluster types fit exactly in the definition given at the beginning of this part but all have proven to be successful initiatives (Lundequist and Power, 2002). However next to Porter also Eden (2002) and Markusen (1996) identified a cluster typology. According to Eden a cluster could be horizontal (specialized) or vertical (complementary). However it must be said that Eden actually identifies the cluster characteristics than cluster types. Markusen on the other hand identifies the type of clusters by the geographic area, the type of clusters are formed within a metropolitan area. The four types she identifies are Marshallian Industrial Districts and Subdistricts, Hub and Spoke Industrial Districts, Satellite Platform Districts and State Anchored Industrial Districts. The typology in her case is derived from the geographic, public or private investment decisions, the availability of labor, and amount of trade within and outside the district. It is said that there are several similarities between Markusen and Porter’s work. (Fraizer and Zelbst, 2010) Corporate Social Responsibility Affected by the globalization and thus growing importance and awareness of ethics and human rights, as well as being environmentally, socially and economically responsible, internationally operating corporations have to deal with a lot more issues than several years ago. This area of growing importance is called â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† (CSR) and will be explained as follows: In the past decades most of the corporations did not care about issues like sustainable development, business ethics, human rights or global citizenship, instead only focused on making as much financial profit as they can, however they could achieve it. But over the last several years the number of natural disasters and the increasing warming of the planet have made the people more aware of issues such as sustainable development and allocation of resources. Furthermore the globalization and advanced technologies such as the World Wide Web make the markets and the operations of internationally operating corporations much more transparent to all parties concerned. This is why consumer have also started to base their buying-decision on issues such as human rights, business ethics and sustainable development and take into account if a company does well in the field of â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† or not. Moreover, laws and public initiatives put a lot more pressure on corporations to improve ethical and sustainable actions in the regions they are operating in. As a consequence, companies started to consider these aspects more seriously than before and tried to implement such topics in their strategic activities. To combine ethical, environmental and social aspects with economic aspects is a challenge and one of the most difficult strategic issues corporations have to deal with. Nowadays, corporations are ade feel responsible for the regions they are operating in, as well as for the people who are working for them. Because of that, â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† has become one of the core strategic issues of them to maintain a good image, which is finally responsible for their financial results. By investing in their employees, in infrastructure of the region they are operating in and in acting natural friendly or investing in sustainable energy, corporations not only generate a greater image of them and help the public, they also make finally profit out of it. Because of that, we can say that it is a â€Å"win-win situation† for both. Customers are being strongly influenced by such issues, because they sensitively recognize the â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† performance of a corporation. When a company does well in this field, the customer is finally willing to buy its product or to keep on buying its product, because he or she feels comfortable investing in a company who helps the public and treats its employees very well. This finally results in better revenues, which is a financial parameter. Furthermore employees are feeling much more comfortable and thus work more efficient, when the corporation gives them the feeling of feeling important and investing in them. Higher Efficiency finally results in better products, which affects the buying-decision of the customer, again. Moreover business partner and suppliers are more willing to cooperate with a corporation, who has a good image and who treats them fairly. By cooperating with good business partner and suppliers the corporation ensures good quality of its products, which finally results in better products and thus greater customer-satisfaction, again. So we can see that there is a strong correlation between the financial performance of a corporation and its social performance, which we also know as â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility†. Additionally, according to Kanji and Chopra (2010) these are the six dimensions in CSR that are most important for companies, they are (1) Organizational Strategic Planning Systems, (2) Social accountability and Social Investment, (3) Environment Protection and sustainability, (4) Corporate Governance and Economic Responsibility, (5) Ethics and Human Resources, and (6) Corporate Social Responsibility Index. Furthermore, there are more advantages of â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† than the financial one, which we can see while looking at the business relations, mentioned above. Although, â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† has become much more important over the last years, it is still a field, which has to be more researched about, when we refer to the number of articles already published. The less number of articles published in this field could be related to its definitions, which are very broaden and sometimes difficult to express, because of large number of issues involved. To sum it up, because of the growing awareness of ethical, social and sustainable activities of corporations the field of â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† has become a core strategic activity of corporations and for some even a source of competitive advantage. Location decision, clusters and CSR in relationship. As one can already notice when reading the in-depth perspectives above, there are some common grounds for the three topics. When one forms a cluster it will likely increase the country opportunity by specifically creating very attractive industry opportunities. As the cluster generates knowledge, resources, and capabilities attractive for some specific firms. Moreover, they create the necessary infrastructure and often the right political climate is thus present. Often this contributes to better economic circumstances in that area or region, increasing the market opportunities. Market opportunities are strongly connected to corporate social responsibility. Often industrialized countries demand more corporate social responsibility of a firm than a developing country does. Again this whole process influences the location decision that a company has to make and the market attractiveness for a firm.

Security Audit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Security Audit - Essay Example Also, some team members violated integrity and confidentiality assertions by disclosing information to external parties. This paper entails the details and implications of security audit procedures carried out and observations noted. Conducting audit Lafleur has a complicated network of information systems in place, with various remote offices and centralized IT function. Therefore, to evaluate this complex system, detailed audit procedures were planned including manual as well as automated assessments. Manual assessments mainly comprised interviewing procedures, performing physical checks and security scans and reviewing effectiveness of application and logical controls at different levels of organization. We prepared system notes after developing comprehensive understanding of company’s business activities. Thereafter, we conducted meetings with IT personnel to identify weaker areas requiring more attention and discuss IT policies and procedures. An exhaustive review of orga nogram was conducted to ensure proper segregation of duties were in place between employees holding influential or connected positions such as COO and CIO or programmer and end-user. Automated assessments were computer-aided techniques whereby software was used to assess reporting and change management capabilities of system. All operating systems, physical equipment and applications were appraised for their technical specifications and development capabilities. Contingency and disaster recovery planning for each office was reviewed for effectiveness, physically inspecting for any alternate site and analyzing backup procedures for critical data. Physical security controls, including key cards and biometric devices to different offices were checked for any loopholes allowing unauthorized access. Moreover, environmental controls were also verified to be in place, regulating appropriate temperature and providing adequate fire-fighting equipment and uninterrupted power supply. Additiona l physical security checks were checked and recommendations were made accordingly, such as bodyguards, locks, single entry points and surveillance systems. Due to remote offices and presence of wireless networking, interception during transmission of data was a crucial issue and was tested through procedures. It was ensured that networks are accessible and available at all times to all offices since there is a centralized IT function. (http://www.aurco.com/images/security_audit.png) Recommendations Based on findings and observations noted during fieldwork, we made some voluntary and mandatory recommendations to improve information system controls. We recommended that encryption be adopted to avoid intrusion of sensitive data during transmission on wireless networks. Often malwares limit the passage of traffic allowed on network. To combat this, we recommended that firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and antivirus applications must be installed promptly. We highlighted more focus on protecting information flowing on enterprise systems, mail servers, intranet networks and host applications that are accessed by customers. Since this company relies heavily on wireless networks, we suggested that dual-control access keys must be designed, maintaining them on system that is exclusively accessible to authorized personnel only (Saint-Germain, 2005). We laid great emphasis on monitoring closely all activities being carried out on the network,

Discussion Question Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 25

Discussion Question - Assignment Example These are optional and vary depending on the terms agreed between the employee and the insurance company or bank. Employers have to be aware of the amount they are required to withhold from each employee. According to the Internal Revenue Service (2015), employers determine the amount to withhold based on the employee’s earnings and the information in the employee’s W-4 form (Internal Revenue Service, para 5). The W-4 form is also referred to as the Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate. It specifies the person’s marital status and the withholding allowances they have, thus determining the amount to be withheld by the employer. The most common reason a company can choose to buy back bonds before their maturity period is due to declining interest rates because bond prices are usually inversely proportional to interest rates. The company may or may not benefit from this action depending on the terms agreed in the bond’s indenture. For instance, the company can pay outstanding debts with a lower rate coupon issue after redeeming the bond. However, if the call price is very high, the company may be at a disadvantage; as they may be forced to pay more than if they waited for the bond to

The Unrepentant Chocolatier Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Unrepentant Chocolatier - Essay Example This will directly lead to the generation of revenue from the intended target consumers over a longer period of time as compared to that of new products introduced by various other competitors in the market. The company has increasingly committed itself to the development and fulfillment of long term goals and is dedicated to a slow process of brand building for its products. The long term dedication shown by the company towards the brand building as well as its promotion efforts of Nespresso led to increase in the number of consumer conversion from high profile coffee selling brands like Starbucks to a more affordable cheaper alternative provided by the Nestle brand. This shows that the long term effort of the brand has helped to establish consumer connect for the global Swiss company. Weakness The global brand Nestle has been facing a severe shortage in sales for the bottled water products. The bottled water division which constitutes 10% of its entire business interest around the world has been declining sales figures from the established markets due to the impact of recession. Though there are chances of revival of the bottled water market with the bouncing up of the economy, there are also chances of facing increasing resistance from the environmental groups. The lineup of bottled water products is also a source of tremendous weakness for the company as the quality of the bottled water products is declining significantly. In the second quarter of 2009, the products of Nestle’ lost high percentage of market share to various competitors in the high value market that is existent in the United States. The impact of recession has also hit the consumers spending on the company’s product lines in the advanced economies. As a direct step towards the reducing of lifestyle costs, consumers are increasingly shifting to unbranded food items, which have taken a direct impact on the revenue generation cycle of the company. The investors in the share market are also highly concerned with the fact that Nestle might reinvest majority or the entire portion of the cash that it will be receiving from the divesting off the shares of its eye care business in building up and developing the company’s non profitable businesses. This has brought down investor confidence in the company’s processes of handling its own businesses and has reversely affected the company’s share prices in the equity market. The brand Nestle has also stirred significant investor skepticism as the investors feel chiefly that the company has become large as well as unproductive. Opportunities The brand of Nestle is increasingly focusing its attention on the research and development of functional foods, which have high health benefits. Reports by Pricewaterhouse Coopers significantly predict that the global market for functional foods is estimated to stand at $128 billion by 2013. Also, with the increase in market demand for the functional foods in th e European market, it can be increasingly assumed that it will be the new product lines surrounding the functional foods that will be acting as a significant source of revenue for the future and will promote strong growth for the company in the European markets. The brand Nestle has made investments towards the development of functional foods almost a decade ago. This particular early investment plan provides the company with an advantageous position as

Video games as a for of art Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Video games as a for of art - Research Paper Example Why are they perceived as toys and not art? They are as beautiful as the works of arts we see in museums. Art is a manmade object, which is an illustration of an individual’s (artist) emotion and ideas that engage the audience’s emotions. Videogame engage people’s emotions and they are an imaginary world created by emotion and ideas of designers. It might not be made by artists or intended to be art, but that does not make it any less than a piece of art. Videogames even have more influence to people compared to a piece of art because you are in control, you make the calls, which engage an individual more. Have you ever walked into a class and look at the teacher for the full 45 minutes without understanding anything? Well, all people have been through that moment. A school in NYC uses only videogames to educate their students. All the students are paying attention and doing everything they could because they enjoy it. They are emotionally engaged in that videogame they are playing. Videogames are made to entertain people. They entertain people by engaging their emotions and feelings. Many people cried and laughed over a videogame. There are games that need the player to think in order to solve a riddle. Videogames create an imaginary world that an individual is ruling. As a player you’re the protagonist, you’re the king, you’re everything in the game. What is a better place to stay in other than the world you are ruling? As a player, you might like a game and praise the company that made it. What individuals do not think about are the people who made them (Robinson). A game is in a different world, with new building and new creatures that we never saw in real life, but where does all of that come from? It is all the imagination of an individual who spends 12 hours a day for about 4 or 5 year that is working on a game that his name will never be put into. Designers spend years making

Analytical paper on either Daisy Miller Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analytical paper on either Daisy Miller - Essay Example The heroine of the story Daisy miller is a typical representative of American life. Winter Bourne first meet this girl of beauty of charm in Vevey , Switzerland. At the first sight itself Winterbourne is attracted towards her and thinks that all Americans are like her. After a few talks with her he remarks that the young lady is â€Å"really not in the least embarrassed.† Winter Bourne came to know about her father that he is veryrich and does not like European culture. The free will of Daisy is exploited by Winter Bourne though he knows that such advancement in behavior is not polite. He continues to keep in relation with her against the opposition of his aunt Mrs. Costello. She considers Daisy as a disgraceful character only because that she agrees with Winterbourne to visit the Chateau de Chillon immediately after they have known each other for only half an hour. â€Å"I haven’t the least idea what such young ladies expect a man to do. But I really think that you ha d better not meddle with little American girls that are uncultivated, as you call them. You have lived too long out of the country. You will be sure to make some great mistake.† What the readers feel at this moment is about the absolute innocence of the character Daisy Miller. She is incautious and behaves according to her own impulses instead of vigilance and rule. This is the typical nature of the Americans. She was bold enough to break the barriers of the European culture even if it happens unknowingly. During their visit Winterbourne informs her about his coming visit to Geneva the next day. Daisy expresses freely to him her sadness of the event and asks him meet her later. The lack of knowledge and experience, both the leading characters face in the story is also a mindful attempt from the writer .In Rome Daisy and Winterbourne meet meeting the parlor of Mrs. Walker. When he comes to know about the relation between Daisy and Giovalli, he doubts whether he failed to unders tand Daisy. It is more clear when he sees the two sitting their in colosseum and Winterbourne is unable to understand the right and the wrong. One of the main themes of the story is Winterbourne s question about Daisy’s innocence. It can also be considered as ignorant or untamed etc. At first he considers Daisy as merely ignorant and harmless. But when the story progress he even doubts her mindset, lack of concern for modesty etc. The problem of communication is also a major theme with regards to the relation between Daisy and Winterbourne. Daisy reacts on impulses to the world around her without bothering about the response and felling of the public. Winterbourne on the other hand who is a typical representative of European American culture often feel inwardly. He always thinks about how to view Daisy. He even applies the known conventional rules. Towards which Daisy seems to be ignorant. The incapability of Winterbourne to come deep in the life of Daisy is due to his lack o f compassion. Sometimes we feel that fate of Daisy is due to Winterbourne and he himself is the leading character of the novella. His waiting and trying to find a proper answer to the questions in his mind about life seems to of misuse at the end of the story. Daisy is affected by ‘roman fever ‘and dies at the end. Only at that point Winterboune comes to understand that Daisy is innocent. The author himself says that the theme of this novel is innocence

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Sociology - Essay Example ciologists tend to come up with theories that picture the society as a whole, or traditionally concentrate on private issues, but failed to analyze the individual’s tie-up with the society which Mills argued as totally important. With Mills’ ideas, he relates how important it is for an individual to understand the greater sociological patterns that is relevant to their private situations. Many people as he said failed to understand it because of their inclination to their personal family, neighbors or job which in turn makes them trapped in a situation wherein they will not be able to comprehend the greater sociological reason that drove them to their present social status and private problems. He establishes the linkage between the person and the society, the phenomenal interaction that exists to both, and the importance of developing a quality of mind that can grasp history and biography and the relationship that links society and an individual. The highlight of his understanding, (which can not be found in other sociologist ideas) describes that the relationship of the public issues and persons’ private troubles are closely connected, therefore arriving to an analysis that points out relativ e changes to private troubles as the society wherein an individual belongs changes too. Criticisms about symbolic interactionism appeared only when quantitative approaches to sociology have been applied. However, it could not be concluded that it does not have viable notion to social structure. Evidently, this kind of approach does not violate any quantitative sociological approaches, but on the other hand is a helpful in the broader understanding of the society. The pragmatic approach or the qualitative research method does not mean that it is removing its link to the social structure, but in the other hand it links to the social structure as the society itself produces realities that can be observed. In symbolic interactionism perspective, Blumer said that,

Indian Literature Essay Example for Free

Indian Literature Essay Indian Literature, writings in the languages and literary traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The subcontinent consists of three countries: India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The political division of the area into three nations took place in the 20th century; before that, the entire region was generally referred to as India. For centuries Indian society has been characterized by diversity—the people of modern India speak 18 major languages and many other minor languages and dialects; Urdu is the principal language of Pakistan, and Urdu and Bengali are used in Bangladesh. The people of the subcontinent also practice all the world’s major religions. Throughout its history, India has absorbed and transformed the cultures of the peoples who have moved through the region. As a result, the Indian literary tradition is one of the world’s oldest and richest. Religion has long exercised a strong influence on Indian writing. The major religions of the area have been Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. Throughout the history of Indian literature, certain religious doctrines have formed common threads. One such doctrine is karma—the chain of good and bad actions and their inevitable consequences, which result in the repeated birth and death of the soul. The mythology of the dominant Hindu religion portrays the deities Vishnu, Shiva, the Goddess (Devi), and others. This mythology has influenced Indian texts, from ancient epics in the Sanskrit language to medieval poems in the various languages of different regions to modern works in English. The Vedas, which are Hindu sacred texts, are the earliest examples of Indian literature. The Vedas were composed between about 1500 bc and 1000 bc in Old Sanskrit, also called Vedic Sanskrit. This language belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. Indo-Aryan languages dominated northern India in ancient times, and Sanskrit became the major language of Indian religious and philosophical writing and classical literature. It also served as a common language with which scholars from different regions could communicate. No longer spoken widely, it is maintained as a literary language in modern India, meaning that people still use it for written works. The emergence of the popular religions Buddhism and Jainism in the 6th century bc gave rise to literature in Pali and in the several dialects of Sanskrit known as Prakrit (meaning â€Å"natural language†). Meanwhile, Tamil, a Dravidian language, emerged as the most important language in the south. A recorded literature in Tamil dates from the 1st century ad. Rich literary traditions have emerged in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam, which are modern languages that developed from Old Tamil and its dialects. Between the 10th and 18th centuries, the medieval dialects of the earlier languages evolved into the modern languages of India. Eighteen of these languages now have official status in India, as does English. As the different tongues evolved, a distinctive literature with particular styles and themes developed in each tongue. At the same time, Indian literature was influenced by the Persian language and its literature, which various Muslim conquerors brought to the Indian subcontinent. Muslims also introduced Islam to India, and Islamic philosophy and traditions affected Indian literature. After the British became active in India in the 1700s, English language and writing had a significant impact on Indian literature. Oral traditions have always been important in Indian literature. Many storytellers present traditional Indian texts by reciting them, often with improvisation. Others use song, dance, or drama to tell tales. In both its oral and written forms, Indian literature has produced great works that have influenced national and regional literary traditions in other parts of the world.

Proposal to Cease Testing Blood Donations for CMV

Proposal to Cease Testing Blood Donations for CMV Status Public Executive summary (200 words) In response to SaBTO recommendations for replacing CMV seronegative cellular blood components with leucodepleted blood components, an implementation project has been established pending approval from the Board. The proposed implementation date of January 2018 is considered a realist timeframe for this approach. Communication with clinicians indicates the acceptance of leucodepleted components as CMV safe, replacing the selection of CMV seronegative components. Information has been obtained regarding international practices and use of leucodepletion with respect to CMV. This paper sets out key information on the proposed replacement of CMV seronegative blood products with leucodepleted blood products, provides recommendations of the optimal strategy to achieve this, and takes into consideration patient groups that may be affected. Action requested (bulleted list) The Board is asked to: Note the implementation plans for the introduction of CMV safe blood products Approve the proposal to cease production of all CMV seronegative blood products that undergo leucodepletion and consider these products as CMV safe Approve the proposal to continue the production of CMV seronegative red cell and platelet components for intra-uterine transfusions and neonates Approve the proposal to continue the production of CMV seronegative granulocyte components for CMV seronegative patients Approve the proposal to continue the production of CMV seronegative blood components for seronegative and seropositive pregnant women that require transfusions throughout pregnancy Agree the recommendation to continue to implement CMV PCR as a screening method for early detection for all haemopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplant recipients Purpose of paper (1 paragraph) For over 30 years, there has been an ongoing debate regarding the use of CMV seronegative blood components versus the use of leucodepleted blood components. To date, the use of CMV seronegative blood products has been implemented to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted cytomegalovirus in patients considered at risk. Leucodepletion has been performed on all blood products in the UK since 1999. This paper provides an overview on the use of CMV seronegative blood products in comparison to the use of leucodepleted blood components. This paper provides an assessment of patient groups that are considered at risk of CMV and considers advantages to ceasing of CMV testing in the UK. Background Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a pervasive, cell-associated prototypic virus that is a member of the betaherpesvirus subfamily (Ziemann and Hennig, 2014; Ljungman, 2004). CMV mostly causes asymptomatic infection or mononucleosis-like-infection in an immunocompetent host; however, in an immunocompromised host it can result in chronic and persistent infection with devastating outcomes (Seed et al., 2015). Patient groups that are considered at risk of life-threatening transfusion-transmitted CMV infection includes CMV seronegative patients undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and solid organ transplantation, low birth weight and premature neonates, foetuses that require intrauterine transfusion, CMV seronegative pregnant women, and highly immunocompromised patients, such as those with malignant disease (Ziemann and Hennig, 2014; SaBTO, 2012). CMV infection is frequently encountered throughout childhood and an estimated 50 60% of the adult population in the United Kingdom (UK) are CMV positive (SaBTO, 2012). CMV infection can be transmitted both horizontally and vertically (Crough and Kannah, 2009). Horizontal transmission occurs through contact with body fluids, such as urine and saliva, sexually through genital secretions, blood transfusion, and hematopoietic stem cell and organ transplant (SaBTO, 2012; Sia and Patel, 2000). Vertical transmission occurs from mother to child, via delivery and breast milk (Crough and Kannah, 2009). Additionally, congenital CMV infection is highly prevalent and may arise through a primary maternal infection during pregnancy (Crough and Kannah, 2009). Following exposure to CMV and the initial infection, the virus remains in a dormant state (Ljungman, 2004). Seroconversion of the host occurs between 6 8 weeks and mounts an immune response, producing CMV specific immunoglobulin (IgG) (Seed et al., 2014). In the UK, there is an estimated seroconversion rate of 1% per annum (SaBTO, 2012). CMV therefore has a window period, in which there may be underlying viremia and high viral load (Liberman et al., 2011). Subsequently, a CMV seropositive individual is considered to have been infected, whilst at the same time considered potentially infectious due to the life-long persistence of the virus (SaBTO, 2012). Transfusion-transmitted CMV infection is regarded as a potential threat to the safety and sufficiency of the blood supply for a multitude of reasons (Roback, 2002). Firstly, transfusion-transmission of CMV that is present in blood and blood components can result in the infection of naà ¯ve recipients (Ziemann and Hennig, 2014; Ljungman, 2004). Secondly, transfusion-transmitted CMV is acknowledged as a primary source of infection, in which donor infectivity is an underlying reason, that may result in CMV disease (Ljungman, 2004). Thirdly, CMV seropositive recipients that are exposed to blood products containing CMV may cause reactivation of the latent virus or reinfection from a new strain (Ziemann and Hennig, 2014; Ljungman, 2004). However, the risk of transfusion-transmitted CMV infection has been significantly reduced through the implementation of leucodepletion and production of specific CMV negative blood and blood products (Ziemann and Hennig, 2014). Since November 1999, all blood products (unless state otherwise) produced by the UK blood service are leucodepleted (Guidelines for the Blood Transfusion Services in the United Kingdom, 2013). Initially, this was a response taken to reduce the risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob (vCJD) disease in blood transfusions; however, this risk reduction strategy has proven beneficial in additional areas of transfusion science and blood safety (Guidelines for the Blood Transfusion Services in the United Kingdom, 2013). The UK specification for leucodepletion is: more than 90% of leucocyte-depleted components should contain less than 1 x 106 leucocytes and more than 99% of components should contain less than 5 x 106 leucocytes (SaBTO, 2012). The specification for 99% of components is regarded as the level in which blood components are deemed CMV safe (SaBTO, 2012). Leucodepletion has considerably reduced the risk of transfusion-transmitted CMV, to a level that mirrors the selection of CMV negative blood products (Ljungman, 2004; Bowden et al., 1995). However, it has yet to be shown to what extent the techniques are comparable and how this may affect patient groups considered at risk of CMV infection (Ljungman, 2004). It is important to note that whilst leucodepletion removes most white cells from blood products, it is not 100% effective (Kumar, 2006). Therefore, there is a residual risk of CMV transmission in blood products of recently infected donors (Kumar, 2006). This occurs in the window period of the virus from 6 8 weeks to 1 year following seroconversion, in which the virus may be present in the remaining plasma or white cells (SaBTO, 2012; Ziemann et al., 2010; Drew and Roback, 2007). CMV transmission can occur in both donors that have an active infection, including primary or reactivated, or latent infection (Azevedo, 2015). The leading mechanism of transfusion-transmitted CMV infection is through mononuclear cells that are believed to harbour a latent infection (Ljungman, 2004). CMV is thought to persist in circulating monocytes, in which an estimated 1 in 10,000 and 1 in 100,000 peripheral blood monocular cells carry CMV (SaBTO, 2012). Pennington et al (2001) conducted a study that provided evidence to suggest that leucodepletion filters are highly effective in removing mononuclear cells and may reduce CMV levels to 0.1 viral copies per mL in leucodepleted blood. Furthermore, blood products that have been leucodepleted are monitored continuously, using flow cytometry, to assess efficiency (SaBTO, 2012). Moreover, the prospect of having a component issued that contains a leucocyte count above the UK specification can be calculated (SaBTO, 2012). In regards to testing for transfusion-transmitted CMV, there are two main methods that are used. This includes serological testing and Nucleic Acid Technology (NAT) testing (SaBTO, 2012). Serological testing involves the use of antibody screening which is accomplished through the use of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) tests that detect total CMV antibody (Ross, 2011). Screening for CMV infection using serology is the most prevalent method used and is based on the agglutination principle (Ross, 2011; Ljungman, 2004). The method offers several advantages as it is fast, highly sensitive, and highly specific, constituting an ideal screening test (Ross, 2011). This method, however, is associated with two key limitations. Firstly, the window period presents a challenge in regards to activation of the primary infection and seroconversion (Ljungman, 2004). Secondly, there is a risk of obtaining false negative screening results (Ljungman, 2004). Therefore, there is a risk that CMV may be transmitted via a CMV seronegative component (SaBTO, 2012). In addition to serology, NAT testing is used to detect CMV DNA and subsequent infection (Ross, 2011). Several qualitative and quantitative assays are available for this method (SaBTO, 2012). This screening method is associated with variation in the sensitivity and specificity of available assays (Roback et al., 2003;2001). Studies have highlighted inter-laboratory variation for samples containing low viral load (Pang et al, 2009; Wolff et al., 2009). As a result, a CMV DNA reference has been developed for comparison of results when sensitivity is a challenge (Ross, 2011). To produce a supply of CMV negative blood and blood components, several donations are screened each year. Overall, an estimated 25 40% of donors are CMV antibody positive, dependent on age. The production and use of CMV negative blood components forms a significant undertaking for the blood service. According to the report released by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues, and Organs (SaBTO) in March 2012, in the last 5 years, the number of CMV negative platelets and red cells has increased. The report notes that NHSBT charge  £7.76 for CMV negative red cells and platelets, covering the inventory and screening costs. This amounts to a total of  £2.5 million per annum, in which  £230,000 is dedicated to apheresis platelets and  £2,270,000 to red cells. The number of donations that are screened is greater than the number of donations that are issued as CMV negative. In addition, not all donations screened will deliver a negative result. Subsequently, it has been proposed that the use and production of CMV negative components is reviewed. SaBTO recommends the use of a single inventory and accepting leucodepleted blood products as CMV safe. This is outlined in section 6. Proposal 6.1 This proposal has been written to ask the blood centre to consider ceasing CMV testing for an agreed list of blood products and in its replacement, support the use of leucodepleted blood components that are considered CMV safe. 6.2 The proposal of ceasing CMV testing for the replacement of leucodepleted components that are considered CMV safe is associated with several advantages. Inventory management Management of a single inventory would offer an advantage to blood banks and hospitals. This would be a preferred method to the current used for ease of access. NHSBT must ensure CMV negative components are available across the country on multiple NHS sites. To achieve this, NHSBT spend approximately  £95,000 n the delivery of CMV negative components. Wastage The Belgian Blood Service have produced a report that states implementation of pathogen reduction in platelets to inactivate CMV may result in an overall decrease in the wastage of platelets. A 1.5% reduction is estimated, which would result in a saving of  £0.22 million. Improved compliance with safety initiatives Reduction in the wastage of blood products and implementation of a single inventory would enable the target of 80% platelets by apheresis to be met sooner. Furthermore, this would support transfusion related acute lung injury (TRALI) prevention, as the number of male platelet donors would increase due to enhanced recruitment strategies. This would further enable costs of HLA antibody screening of potential female platelet donors to be avoided. Reduction in hospital blood bank workload Because of the removal of CMV seronegative components, the workload in hospitals and blood banks would decrease. Staff would no longer have to spend time ordering or checking platelets as CMV negative components. This would have a direct positive impact on the stock management. Staff that may potentially be free from the responsibility associated with CMV negative products will be able to invest their time elsewhere, to improve the efficiency of the blood service. Reduction in clinical errors The Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT) have reported from 2000 to 2010, 1040 reports were filed stating special requirements were not met. Of these, 83 were attributed to the inappropriate selection of blood components that were not CMV negative. 65 were attributed to selection of blood components that were both CMV negative and irradiated components. However, none of these cases reported CMV transmission. 6.3 The proposed implementation date of this project is January 2018. Further clinical guidance is to be requested from SaBTO who will instruct in the implementation plan of this proposal. 6.4 Consideration must be given to specific patient groups that are considered at risk of CMV infection. This includes: Haematopoietic stem cell transplant patients Leucodepleted blood products can be used for all patient groups post haemopoietic stem cell transplantation Patients receiving transfusions and may need a transplant also may receive leucodepleted products CMV PCR should be used to assess CMV infection for patient groups to enable early detection and treatment Intra-uterine transfusions and neonates CMV negative components should be provided for intra-uterine transfusions and neonates (up to 28 days post expected due date) All blood products produced at a reduce size for neonates should be CMV seronegative Pregnant patients CMV seronegative blood products should be provided to pregnancy women, regardless of CMV status. Components should also be provided for transfusions throughout pregnancy, for example in the case of haemoglobinopathies. HIV and immunodeficient patients These patients should receive leucodepleted blood as there is no evidence to suggest a benefit with the use of CMV seronegative components Organ transplant patients Organ transplant patients should receive leucodepleted blood only CMV PCR should be used to assess CMV infection for patient groups to enable early detection and treatment Granulocytes Granulocyte components provided should be CMV seronegative for all patients as these components cannot be leucodepleted 6.5 Potential impact on blood centre employees includes the reduction in workload. Considerations needs to be given towards how this workload can be replaced. Consideration also needs to be given towards the possibility of redundancy, as a successive effect of this proposal. 6.6 The board must be aware of the clinical and financial benefits of this proposal; however, the board should also be aware of potential limitations regarding the operation of the proposal. The board should also be aware of potential legal repercussions should someone become infected with CMV through a blood component. 6.7 Stakeholders that will need to be involved include both internal and external. Internal stakeholders will include the manager of the NHSBT site and the head of testing. External stake holders will need to raise public awareness regarding the change in production of seronegative CMV components. Doctors will also need to be aware of the changes implemented to CMV negative components and be aware of who this applies for. E.g. certain patient groups will still receive CMV seronegative components. References A. Ross, S., Novak, Z., Pati, S. and B. Boppana, S. (2011). Overview of the Diagnosis of Cytomegalovirus Infection. Infectious Disorders Drug Targets, 11(5), pp.466-474. Azevedo, L., Pierrotti, L., Abdala, E., Costa, S., Strabelli, T., Campos, S., Ramos, J., Latif, A., Litvinov, N., Maluf, N., Caiaffa Filho, H., Pannuti, C., Lopes, M., Santos, V., Linardi, C., Yasuda, M. and Marques, H. (2015). Cytomegalovirus infection in transplant recipients. Clinics, 70(7), pp.515-523. Crough, T. and Khanna, R. (2009). Immunobiology of Human Cytomegalovirus: from Bench to Bedside. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 22(1), pp.76-98. DOH UK, (2012). SaBTO Report of Cytomegalovirus Tested Blood Components, Position Statement. [online] pp.1 15. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/215125/dh_133086.pdf [Accessed 13 Mar. 2017]. Drew, W. and Roback, J. (2007). Prevention of transfusion-transmitted cytomegalovirus: reactivation of the debate? Transfusion, 47(11), pp.1955-1958. Guidelines for the Blood Transfusion Services in the United Kingdom. 8th Edition, TSO Norwich, http://www.transfusionguidelines.org/transfusion-handbook/3-providing-safe-blood. [Accessed 25/10/2016] Kumar, H., Gupta, P., Mishra, D., Sarkar, R. and Jaiprakash, M. (2006). Leucodepletion and Blood Products. Medical Journal Armed Forces India, 62(2), pp.174-177. Ljungman, P. (2004). Risk of cytomegalovirus transmission by blood products to immunocompromised patients and means for reduction. British Journal of Haematology, 125(2), pp.107-116. Pang, X., Fox, J., Fenton, J., Miller, G., Caliendo, A. and Preiksaitis, J. (2009). Interlaboratory Comparison of Cytomegalovirus Viral Load Assays. American Journal of Transplantation, 9(2), pp.258-268. Pennington, J., Garner, S., Sutherland, J. and Williamson, L. (2001). Residual subset population analysis in WBC-reduced blood components using real-time PCR quantitation of specific mRNA. Transfusion, 41(12), pp.1591-1600. Roback, J. (2002). CMV and blood transfusions. Reviews in Medical Virology, 12(4), pp.211-219. Roback, J., Drew, W., Laycock, M., Todd, D., Hillyer, C. and Busch, M. (2003). CMV DNA is rarely detected in healthy blood donors using validated PCR assays. Transfusion, 43(3), pp.314-321. Roback, J., Hillyer, C., Drew, W., Laycock, M., Luka, J., Mocarski, E., Slobedman, B., Smith, J., Soderberg-Naucler, C., Todd, D., Woxenius, S. and Busch, M. (2001). Multicenter evaluation of PCR methods fordetecting CMV DNA in blood donors. Transfusion, 41(10), pp.1249-1257. Seed, C., Wong, J., Polizzotto, M., Faddy, H., Keller, A. and Pink, J. (2015). The residual risk of transfusion-transmitted cytomegalovirus infection associated with leucodepleted blood components. Vox Sanguinis, 109(1), pp.11-17. Sia, I. and Patel, R. (2000). New Strategies for Prevention and Therapy of Cytomegalovirus Infection and Disease in Solid-Organ Transplant Recipients. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 13(1), pp.83-121. Wolff, D., Heaney, D., Neuwald, P., Stellrecht, K. and Press, R. (2009). Multi-Site PCR-Based CMV Viral Load Assessment-Assays Demonstrate Linearity and Precision, but Lack Numeric Standardization. The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, 11(2), pp.87-92. Ziemann, M. and Hennig, H. (2014). Prevention of Transfusion-Transmitted Cytomegalovirus Infections: Which is the Optimal Strategy?. Transfusion Medicine and Hemotherapy, 41(1), pp.7-7. Ziemann, M., Unmack, A., Steppat, D., Juhl, D., Gà ¶rg, S. and Hennig, H. (2010). The natural course of primary cytomegalovirus infection in blood donors. Vox Sanguinis, 99(1), pp.24-33.

Several differences between private and public schools

Several differences between private and public schools Introduction Extant literature proposes that there are several differences between private and public schools in term of governance, facilities and even the curriculum. These studies do however record both the similarities and differences of these institutions as well as the controversial aspects of these institutions structures. Like other countries of the world, Kuwait has also various factors that affect the running of public and private schools. In this context, it is true that many several students feel and experience the difference that exists between private and public schools. The general consensus however is that private schools are better as compared to the public schools as postulated by Hannaway (1991) when he argued thatprivate schools perform better due to greater school level autonomy and their responsiveness to the needs of students and parents. Public schools have always paid for higher education programs out of general public taxation. This has prompted several students to pay little or no tuition fees at all and has also enabled number of admissions in the public schools as compared to the little or rather fewer admission in the more expensive private institutions. Most students have been able to gain access to public institutions for higher education through selective exams programs; this is mainly in an effort to have of quality education and better performance in these schools which usually enjoy adequate government funding. Due to the difference in students abilities and competition in public schools, students with low ability have a choice of increasing their education level or being uneducated depending on their financial capabilities. This simply means that a student with a low ability can equally be enrolled in a private school but after paying full tuition money which is always very expensive. On the other hand, a student with low ability and lacks enough finances remains uneducated. But studies have shown that there is an increasing demand for public schools due to high demand of higher quality education coupled with high level of students competition for the government funded learning opportunities. Overview of the Kuwaiti Education system The Kuwaiti education system in the early 20th century comprised of very basic education that was delivered through very few Koranic schools with funding from the various wealthy Kuwaiti citizens. The Koranic schools main taught the students how to read write and solve. The initial step towards the modern education system began in 1921.Thse schools mainly concentrated on the teaching of commerce and mathematics. It was later on that that writing skills were introduced. In 1967, it became necessary to compulsory to enroll students or rather school going children to primary schools (Kjeilen,2009). The Kuwaiti government dedicated a very large sum of money in funding of its educational system. The government also has made efforts to device programs that aid in improving the entry of the Kuwaiti women from education institutions to their professional work life.A considerable percentage of the Kuwaiti education is made up of private schools with about 40% being in the kindergartens and secondary category. The private schools are mainly financed by foreigners while the tuition fees and other subsidies are derived from government support. In a nutshell, the Kuwaiti education system ranks very high and attendance is open to both sexes. The Kuwaiti education is also compulsory and free for all the Kuwaiti citizens. Social changes in Kuwait have rapidly sped up since the oil boom that started in 1950s. Right before the super affluence which was caused by oil, Kuwait as a country was one of the poorest states both technologically and economically; the people from Kuwait majorly lived and survived on activities such as trading, herding, pearling and fishing. The decades following the development in Kuwait after 1950s attracted many immigrants especially those from poorer states that include Arabs from the Middle East who wanted to be part of Kuwait by Citizenship. As time accelerated to a different Kuwaiti era, more and more developments were established as the native Kuwaitis led much comfortable lives in urbanization, thus leaving most of the labor work to the foreigners who were more of laborers. Early education foundation was based on only a few Quranic schools that provided majorly religious teachings and basic literacy in Arabic tutelage at the beginning of the 20th century. In the Middle East, Kuwait was one of the nations that flagged the most sophisticated, generous, and comprehensive educational infrastructures that enabled a much extensive education boosting in the country. Al Mubarakiyya school was founded in the year 1912 as one of the most profound and modern educational institutions in Kuwait through funding by merchants to supply clerks who at least had the basic knowledge in fields of commerce, letter writing and arithmetic. This was later followed by introduction of other subjects in the curriculum like geography, history and art. English courses were first stated in the year 1921 by Al Ahmadia School and shortly followed by the first girls school which was founded and established to offer instructions in home economics, Islamic studies and Arabic. In the 1930s, the modern period of establishment of educational facilities was initiated and on going; this was after the pearling based devastation of the Kuwaitis economy. In the year 1935, public education was established after the education system was partly adopted for control by the Kuwaiti state. This chapter initiated the starting of new schools, sending of Kuwaiti students abroad for higher learning and also founding of an education mission by Palestine teachers. Among the schools which were founded, three of those schools merged a total of 600 boys, while the other primary schools were established for girls and were able to accommodate a total of 140 girls. A year later in 1936, a department of education was instituted in order to monitor the running of the public schools, oversee foreign teachers from Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon who were the pioneers of the secondary education program in Kuwait. By the year 1945, a total of 17 schools in the country were est ablished. In the academic year of 1954-1955, the first technical school and the first kindergarten were established. This clearly shows the rapid acceleration of education facilities in Kuwait since the year 1950s. In the technical college, the first year saw accommodation of 80 students who were enrolled and an increase in number courses which were gradually introduced as demand for more fields of study heightened. The educational developments continued pacing up as a new institution for the blind was inaugurated in the year 1956 with a total of 36 pupils in enrollment records. This was not enough since by the year 1973, there were approximately 1,644 students who were identified to be in need of special facilities for education. Some of these students include the blind, the deaf, and other handicapped ones. All these special students were enrolled in 11 institutions which were specially designed for them in acquiring education as other normal students. Adult education for women officially ca me underway in the year 1963; this was a result of the existing similar programs for women though dormant(Meleis et al ,1979). This system saw continuous enrollment of approximately 45,000 students of which 18,000 were girls. The education department of Kuwait was then officially inaugurated as the Education Ministry in the year 1962. This establishment gave the education ministry full mandate to oversee and manage all directions in education maintenance and development over the decades. Kuwaits state education has since progressed since the Kuwaiti nationals got involved in their education process twenty years back from the beginning of the millennium. This progress made has been quite remarkable especially in terms of expatriate to national ratio of teachers who were employed. In the year 1982, there were 24,367 teachers in total; 6,478 teachers were Kuwaiti nationals. The academic year of 1997-1998 saw total of 27,359 teachers employed in public schools and an estimate of 10,000 teachers in private schools. Of the 27,359 teachers in public school, 17,357 teachers were Kuwaiti. The ratio of Kuwaiti teachers to expatriate ones changed from approximately 1.7:1 from 1:3.76. The state of Kuwaiti managed to promote their education process by extensively increasing the number of Kuwaiti teachers between the early eighties to the late nineties. The doubling of the Kuwaiti teachers between the eighties and the nineties has relieved the reliance of foreign professional teac hers in Kuwaiti schools. This was a great change but not good enough since most of the Kuwaiti professional teachers were particularly in practice at the lower levels, mostly the primary schools. The entry of male teachers in the profession also saw many of them teaching in primary schools. Kuwaits transformation into a modern nation with remarkable education institutions has been so, thanks to the governments early decision to distribute the oil revenues to citizens through investment of education, social welfare, housing and healthcare. The Kuwaiti education system is tailored to cater for the nations needs. In their endeavor to ensure that most of its citizens are educated, the Kuwaiti government has ensured that the education is provided free of charge. This has been the case since 1966.In order to ensure that the share of national budget that is targeted towards the provision of free education yield good outcome in terms of raising the Kuwaiti Literacy level, the government has made education to be compulsory for student aged 6-14. The Kuwaiti government has in its vision and commitments the need to provide its citizens with a stable and highly educated human resource base. This is in an effort to meet the social challenges attributed to development challenges as outlined in their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).This is through the guarantee of an education slot to each and every citizen who wishes to pursue their education to whatever level that they desire. It is quite evident from the number of schools alone, the governments commitment towards ensuring that the Kuwaiti population is properly educated. The general Kuwaiti education system is made up of elementary, intermediate and secondary schooling systems. As of 1995, there were about 861 state and private institutions (schools) that fell into these categories. Once an individual goes past these three basic levels of education, they proceed to institutions of higher learning such as the Kuwait School and other educational centers where they learn various courses in various fields of study Cost of private schooling in Kuwait The private education in Kuwait makes a very crucial element of the Kuwaiti education system. There is a very strong government presence in the private schools in Kuwait. The private schools do enroll about one third of children at the elementary level.The cost of private schooling in Kuwait was a preserve for the high income families only before Kuwaiti was invaded by Saddam.This situation has however changed and students from moderate and modest families also do enroll in the private schools. This move is mainly fueled by the perceived decline in the quality of education in the public school system. Their main attraction is however pegged on the quality education that they desire for their children. There is however situations that necessitate the parents to return their children to the public schooling system due to the increase in the school fees paid in the private schools in Kuwait. Some of these parents resort to this move despite the availability of loans to fund for their ch ildrens education (Kuwaiti Times, 2007) Different students get enrolled in different schools majorly due to their level of performances and their family income, this has always been the question asked mostly and a major source of debate whether students in private schools are better than their counterparts in public schools. Several parents and guardians have developed the mentality that paying extra money for their kids education makes all the difference as far as quality and success in their childrens education is concerned. With this kind of belief in existence, more wealthy parents or guardians prefer paying so as to secure well the future of their children in the private learning institutions. On the other hand, some parents, guardians, students and even college professors believe that education is generally the same whether it is from a public institution or a private one. This depends on the attitude and mental preparedness of the student towards their education and future. When comparing the public schools to the private ones, it is quite obvious that the quality of education in private schools is much lower than those in public schools. This is mainly reflected in the strategies used when competing for students. In public schools, there has always been a setting of qualification which must be achieved by a student before being accepted for admission; this kind of admission setting is designed to enable public schools act as monopolies whereby zero tuition fees for students with high abilities is initiated. When it comes to private schools, the mode of competing for students is not through the ability of a student but the financial capability. This means low ability students can be admitted so long as they can pay for the private fee; this has enabled many students to accede higher education, thus boosts total income in the economy. Competition between private and public schools is determined by numerous variables including exams taken as well as general prices in the institutions. An active role played by schools in setting the exams and the tuition fees determines the level of quality of education provided. While public schools have always maximized public surplus. That is, the total sum of students earnings less the all the costs spent in providing education, the private schools have always aimed at maximizing profits; which is, all income generated by the students who have been admitted in the institution less all the expenses incurred in providing education for the students in the schools. This clearly shows that private schools use price as admission policy so as to ascertain their sustainability in providing better education, this is because money from students is basically the only funding they use in running their institutions. As far as price is concerned, there are variations in pricing in different p rivate schools depending on various factors of which educational quality is the most paramount. Thus the better the quality level of a private school, the higher the tuition fees paid by the parents (Tabora, 2008). Students who attend public schools under public monopoly are basically the same students who are admitted in these institutions under competition. These students have always obtained similar quality in school in both cases. The existence of private schools for higher has raised total welfare since students who have not been admitted in the public monopoly have been given a chance of joining the private schools and get educated. When observing the market partitions in which both public and private schools compete for students, there is a very unique equilibrium that exists in which the private schools are lower in quality than the public schools. Importance of schooling The concept of schooling was invented in order to empower the human capital. Previous research on human capital has however been targeted on the quality and quantity of returns that a person obtains as a result of schooling. As advanced by Mincer in his outstanding and standard formulation, the amount of investment invested in a particular cause can be translated into various observable differences that various from one individual to the next (Mincer, 1976). Therefore, in case the investment in an individuals education is considered to decline on a linear scale, an all the amount of investment are considered to be forgone income, a very simple and direct correlation can be derived between the earnings and the years that an individual spends while schooling. The application of the commonly available data portrays that there is a characteristic that is eminent in all the schools allover the world. Is very important that the world provide their citizens with the best level of education. The importance of the human capital cannot be overemphasized. This is because of the various gains that result of the gainful and observable changes that come with having a population with a high literacy rate. Every country in the world must have its own dependable and experienced workforce in order for it to succeed in its endeavors of being both sovereign and prosperous. This requires the individual countries to device their own efficient and customized education system and curricula that would fully take care of its industrial and intellectual deficiencies. The investment in human capital therefore very crucial for the success of every nation. In certain cases however, it becomes crucial for certain sectors of a nations economy to require specialist support from expatriates. This is due to the fact that certain courses or rather education needs are never relevant or rather are never heavily invested on in certain specialist areas of the economy. Thus the need for expatriate support in certain areas such as engineering and other very technical areas of the economy. It is therefore necessary for every government to be heavily involved in the education of its citizens. This is very applicable in almost every country. There is however a generalizability that is used as an indicator of the role and importance of return variation of schooling investment in different nations across the globe (Psacharopoulos, 1994). The exact role of government in education is however still subject to debate and is subject to various different views. It is worthwhile to note that a high returns on the schooling level does not necessarily imply that it is the role of government intervention that has subsequent resulted to the better academic yield. However, in order to conclusively justify the level of government intervention, it is important to take into account various parameters that affect the educational yields or rather outcome. For quite a long time, the role of education to a given society has been researched upon by various scholars. The role of the government has been featured as one of the major determinants of the success in terms of schooling in the lives of the citizens. Kuwait for example has her government put in place various mechanisms to ensure that the citizens and foreigners who attend its education system do get certain critical notions and ideas imparted upon them. Kuwait being a Muslim state, has most of its schooling requirements tailored to meet the strict requirements of the Muslim religion. In fact in earlier years, the rules that govern schooling were very strict. The education of the girl child for example was forbidden for a long time. But later on, partly due to the effects of westernization, the education of the girl child became accepted as one of the steps toward a democratically balanced Kuwaiti society. The role of government intervention can however be justified using certain mechanisms such as market failure. Importance of resources availability to the quality of education Several researchers have focused their attention to the important role that is played by the availability of resources to the success in the schooling process in various countries. It is however very important that the amount of resources that are devoted to the process of acquiring proper education can not be directly tied to the outcome of the various schooling processes. In Kuwait for example, the private schools that are in essence run and managed by foreigners are better equipped as compared to the public schools. The analysis that focuses on the role of resources in the outcome of schooling process is however subject to a lot of discussions and debate. This is because of the multivariate nature of the schooling process. Despite the controversies that surround the analysis, there is however a considerable amount of evidence that supports that fact that a positive correlation exists. This is based on the minority of scholarly work that exposes a substantial and positive correlati on (Schneider, 2002). Other studies however, are focused on the simple relationship between the resources and the outcome of the schooling process. In these studies, a simple correlation is devised in order to relate the causal factors and the outcomes of the schooling process. The relationships that have been derived do not however have a systematic review but the causal factors do have a certain level of support in the review process. A proxy relationship can however be conclusively be justified as appropriate. The existence of this stronger relationship that exists between the resources and other causal factors may be applicable. Factors such as the amount of wealth in a students family background may to a large extent be an influence and a major contributor to the level of students performance as a result of a dedication and provision of more resources into the schooling of the student. The growth setting however, has no direct proxy relationship. In certain instances, poor proxies have however been a ssigned to the process of getting a correlation between the amount of resources and the outcome of schooling (Hanushek Kimko , 2000). International schooling policies have been supported hugely and are now gaining increased income. Numerous debates have been carried out and the arguments have supported interventions by the government based on spillovers which are as a result of the growth process in education. This is why the general endogenous growth model has clearly shown that education level in an economy influences the growth of a country. That is, if the education level of an economy is low, the growth of that particular nation will definitely drag unlike if the education level is was higher. The structure of the endogenous development model brings in a spillover that people will not take into consideration their own decision making process. Empirical work carried out has underscored the merits of schooling quantity in these particular places. The relationship between individual earnings and schooling have shown the most consistent and strongest support in education performance; when an individual uses own mo ney to finance schooling, the seriousness becomes extreme to the extent that exam performance of that individual turns out to be quite pleasing. While basing reliance on evidence that is limited, there has been quite promising support that exists on the importance of education and schooling in relation to effects of growth as well as the distribution of earnings (Gregorio, 1999) The economic effects as a result of differences in educational quality of secondary and elementary schools are not well comprehended as the effects of quantity, especially in relation to the aggregate performance the nations economy. This poor understanding of the implications of quality in education makes it difficult to reflect measurement. It is very difficult to precisely define the quality of education since the term quality reflects the extent of an institutions knowledge base as well as the analytical skills employed as the focal points of learning institutions. To properly build the base of this discussion, this study will rely on data sourced from standardized exams of achievements in academics and students ability in education. Re lying on this information from standardized tests to reflect quality measures is controversial in a way that there are gaps available in evidence and also the emanated conclusions follow (as stated below). All in all, these measures prove to be th e most effective indicators available of quality and have a relationship with the results that we positively satisfy us. Numerous research studies have been carried out and documented in the field of labor markets which directly focus on personal differences when it comes to cognitive ability and effects in earnings (as well as modify the estimates of returns in terms of quality). 4. The latest direct research study of cognitive achievement have recorded substantial returns in the labor market has measured individual variations when it comes to cognitive achievement. For example, ONeill (1990), Murnane, Willett, and Levy (1995), Bishop (1989, 1991), Neal and Johnson (1996), Currie and Thomas (2000), Grogger and Eide (1993), and Murnane et al. (2000) each conclude that the earnings advantages are quite substantial when standardized test are highly achieved. These conclusions have been extracted from various approaches. Bishop (1989) is much concerned about the errors that result in the most testing environments and emphasize on extreme care when dealing with that problem since it has very dramatic consequences on the estimated importance of the test variations. On the other hand, Grogger and Eide (1993), ONeill (1990), Neal and Johnson (1996), and Bishop (1991) have greatly put their reliance on the latest labor market information as well as representative sampling which suggests that earnings advantage to measured variations in skill is much greater than those of the earlier times and earlier research studies (even when reliability of the test is not corrected. In Kuwait, just like in other quickly-developing education systems, one main domain of interest is ensuring that the quality of education that is offered by both private and public providers is up to standards needed. This paper elaborates by way of a thorough review the history of development of Kuwaiti education system since its initiation. It considers several quality systems that are currently employed in other countries in the Gulf States so as to identify the effects of the education systems both private and public on the attitudes of the students towards schooling. Two main results emerge from the present analysis. The first suggests that there are no significant effects from class attendance. The second indicates that smaller classes do not translate into gains in achievement. Other results include the lack of significant peer effects and evidence of variability in teaching effects, which is, however; also not significant. These findings need to be interpreted carefully. For instance, the result of no attendance effects may not necessarily indicate that attendance does not matter per se: on the contrary, it can instead be the case that attendance does matter but that the students in our data choose optimally how many classes to attend, so that marginal variation around that attendance level does not translate into any gains in terms of achievement. The outlook of the 21st century Kuwaiti education The Gulf States have undergone a number of serious challenges both on their economic and political existence. These numerous challenges have been brought about by the prosperity and accelerated growth as well as the heightened levels in social services. There tends to be some sort of deception in some certain levels when one looks at the external wealth and modernity of some of these Gulf States. For example, it is true that Kuwait as a country is in possession of 9.5% of the proven oil reserves in the world (out of a combination of 64.9% of all Gulf States) and many of the Kuwaitis are very rich people thanks to their oil rich nation. While this is so, the oil revenues in Kuwait are very modest when comparisons are made to the gross domestic product of the developed countries of the world. The fluctuating prices of oil have greatly influenced the reliability of development as well as long term planning; this is so especially when the price per every barrel remains low on the world m arket like it was in the eighties and the nineties. According to reliable sources, studies have shown that the low oil prices in 1980s was the cause of deficit budget operation by the Gulf States; which was barely the size of Switzerlands GDP if they were combined i.e. (U.A.E, Kuwait, Oman, Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar). The Gulf States wealth illusion is as a result of control of the oil reserves by only a hand full of people who easily access the world markets through exports in ships; this clearly explains the long gap between the rich and the poor; which is bad for the economy. These Gulf States have had to deal with the grapples that affect their budgetary uncertainties in the oil markets. Some of these problems are public sector dominance, visible and hidden unemployment, poor revenues for the huge populations, dominance of foreign workers among, and also poor participation in the decision making process with the exception of Kuwait which has an elected body that represents it. The core feature of this analysis, however, is how the quality of schooling influences the national and economic growth. It is obvious that schools (no matter their geographical locations) have numerous variations as far as knowledge and general quality is concerned. These differences are always very difficult to deal with since the implications for comprehending the core issues are emphasized in this study.

Becoming A Lawyer Essay examples -- Research Lawyer Law Career Essays

Becoming a Lawyer Loving to argue, speak, and to persuade/convince, I have chosen to research the career of a lawyer. I have always been intrigued by the audacity and wit that lawyers have naturally. I will explain the steps in order to be on the right path in order to become a lawyer. While attaining a degree in your undergraduate studies, you must select a major that will be of some assistance and relevance to your particular law career. For example, if you want to be a corporate lawyer, you should major in business or if you want to be a judge, you should major in political science. After attaining your degree in your chosen major, you must attend law school. American Law schools are very expensive, especially if you plan to attend a private law school. That being said, there are excellent law schools in the States (Yale, Harvard, NYU, UT Austin, to name a few), and if you want to practice in the States, this is a good way to go about it. However, the competition to get into the top-rated law schools in the States is ferocious and exceeds by far the competition to get into Canadian law schools. The advice that most people give surrounding applying to US law schools (as there are so many), is to apply to a few "sure-thing" schools, a few schools were you would probably get in, a few where you would probably not get in, and a few "reach" schools, where it seems unlikely that you would be admitted. Keep in mind that even a very high GPA and LSAT score can not guarantee you admission to Harvard, Yale and the other top-rated schools. Because there are so many people in the US, there are more people with excellent grades applying, therefore red ucing your chances, too. After finally finalizing your arrangements and getting into your chosen law school, you must attend school. Law schools differ in their various requirements: many schools have required courses in all years, and some schools only have required courses in their first or second years. As well, many schools will require that you take some breadth courses, which are courses that are intended to round out your education. These courses are ones that are outside the canonical law school curriculum. At some point in the course of law school, you will probably have to do a moot, which is like mock court. In the moot, you are given a fact situation and you have to prepare arguments and deliver ... ... better to college life. It helps me stay focused and keep things organized by wrapping things up and reviewing all things that we learned throughout that particular week. In all, this assignment has helped me a lot by enforcing the need to research before making great decisions. One great decision in my life at this moment is trying to decide on a major and trying to reveal and find out what I really want to be. This assignment has helped me discover what it is like to get into a good law school, what the work load is like, what types of law there is to pursue a career in, and what the salary is. All these components will keep me grounded and stay true to what I originally wanted to pursue which is a career in the legal system of our country. Works Cited: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Warner, Rose. (1999). 29 Reasons Not to Go to Law School. London: Routeledge. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Serechal, J.R. (1987). Becoming a Lawyer. New York, New York: HBC Media. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabriel, Peter. (2001, November 4). Law School and its Perks. Retrieved November 7, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://lawstudents/files.html. 4) Segal, Nancy. (2001, February). So you think you want to be a lawyer. Teen People, p. 45.