A Case Against Slavery & Uncle Tom’s Cabin Essay

HB Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a powerfully evocative condemnation of slavery, and was famous in its own time. While many held that Stowe herself knew nothing about slavery or southern life, having never seen southern plantation life, it had its intended effect regardless: to stir up anti-slavery sentiment in the north, and to a lesser extent, in the South. Chapter VII is called â€Å"A Mother’s Struggle,† and it brings together many of the themes that dominate this book. First, the centrality of motherhood and the invincible power of a mother that is soon to be separated from her only son leads the action of this work. Second, the dominance of the Protestant Christian faith, a faith that serves to both assist slaves in tolerating their condition as well as providing them the strength to escape is the engine of the action. Since God is on the side of those who oppose slavery, ultimately, their struggle will emerge victorious and hence, the strength to persevere is present. Hence, this chapter is a central part of the work as it synthesizes the main themes of the book in rather stark terms, since this chapter is really the first â€Å"action† chapter of the book, that is, it is the beginnings of Eliza’s escape from her bondage and traces her moves northward to the Ohio river. The first real issue that drives Eliza to escape is the fact that she and her son are possibly to be sold. The Shelby family that owns them seeks to sell several slaves to pay off debts, and Eliza, who is not poorly treated by her mistress, Mrs. See more:  First Poem for You Essay Shelby, will not be separated from her only son (1-2). Here, the institution of slavery is shown in its worst aspect: the breaking up of families in the interest of the financial solvency of their masters. It was debated how often this was actually done, but this first few pages show the slave owning Shelby family as more or less humane, but forced due to circumstances to part with slaves, slaves, like Tom himself, who has befriended the son of the Shelby family. But stronger than all was maternal love, wrought into a paroxysm of frenzy by the near approach of a fearful danger. Her boy was old enough to have walked by her side, and, in an indifferent case, she would only have led him by the hand; but now the bare thought of putting him out of her arms made her shudder, and she strained him to her bosom with a convulsive grasp, as she went rapidly forward (1). This passage is an important part of the introduction to this chapter in that it places maternal power at the center of the war against slavery. It is this fear mixed with love that will keep Eliza moving forward. â€Å"Sublime is the dominion of the mind over the body, that, for a time, can make flesh and nerve impregnable, and string the sinews like steel, so that the weak become so mighty. † It is love, ths power of mind, the love for her son that keeps her moving forward, rather to face death, freezing, or torture if caught rather than be apart from her boy (2). It seems that, as Eliza continues her trek forward, that her body has become completely subsumed under her mind, and her love. Hence, she refuses to eat what she has packed for the trip North, and instead only wants her son to eat (3). But along with the power of a mother’s love, is the power of the belief in God and his Scriptures: â€Å"An hour before sunset, she entered the village of T — — , by the Ohio river, weary and foot-sore, but still strong in heart. Her first glance was at the river, which lay, like Jordan, between her and the Canaan of liberty on the other side. † (4). This passage is telling, in that it provides Old Testament references to the move toward liberty. The move of slaves northward to freedom is likened to the move of Israelites, themselves slaves to the Egyptians, over the Jordan river to the Canaanite valley which God has chosen for his people. For the slave treated harshly and not given even basic freedoms, the move northward was considered the promised land, the land of freedom, regardless of the hardships of slavery: this is the indictment of the institution as a whole. Slaves wold risk everything to avoid the institution, even a more or less comfortable existence that Eliza enjoyed with the Shelby’s. In this chapter, the mood is that if God closes one door, He opens another. So with Eliza gets to the river, the barrier between herself and freedom, it has been largely iced over (5). Given this, the ferry will not run. However, she is briefly taken in by a family connected with the ferry house on her side of the river. The action quickly and awkwardly shifts back to the slave quarters at Mrs. Shelby’s, where the slaves are speaking about the upcoming sale. Speaking of the slave trader, Chloe says, â€Å"He desarves it! † said Aunt Chloe, grimly; â€Å"he’s broke a many, many, many hearts, — I tell ye all! † she said, stopping, with a fork uplifted in her hands; â€Å"it’s like what Mas’r George reads in Ravelations, — souls a callin’ under the altar! and a callin’ on the Lord for vengeance on sich! — and by and by the Lord he’ll hear ’em — so he will! † (7). This is very important, since it is clear that the slaves hold that God is on their side, not the other way around. On the other hand, this point of view is made more ambagious by Uncle Tom’s statement that damming people to Hell is not a very nice thing to do, and that eternal punishment is not a fit crime for selling slaves, which after all, is not eternal (7). This creates a concept of equivocalness where two factions of the slave population have two different points of view: the first, that of Chloe, that slavers are evil and will be punished to Hell, and the more moderate view of Uncle Tom, that slavers are victims of circumstance, who themselves, did not invent this institution. But Aunt Chloe responds, though indirectly to Uncle Tom: â€Å"Don’t natur herself kinder cry out on ’em? † said Aunt Chloe. â€Å"Don’t dey tear der suckin’ baby right off his mother’s breast, and sell him, and der little children as is crying and holding on by her clothes, — don’t dey pull ’em off and sells ’em? Don’t dey tear wife and husband apart? † said Aunt Chloe, beginning to cry, â€Å"when it’s jest takin’ the very life on ’em? — and all the while does they feel one bit, don’t dey drink and smoke, and take it oncommon easy? Lor, if the devil don’t get them, what’s he good for? † And Aunt Chloe covered her face with her checked apron, and began to sob in good earnest. (8) Again, Stowe is making another attack on slavery here, using the splitting up of families as her center line of argument. Since she is dealing with a family that treats their slaves moderately well, she cannot really rely on the physical violence argument so common in anti-slavery polemics. Since motherhood is at the center of this work, it seems that the basic argument against slavery is that since slaves have no freedom, they cannot fight back when their families are taken apart. Hence, Stowe holds that the family, especially the mother, is the institution of society that maintains moral norms and hence, will be the institution that takes slavery apart. If anything, this is the primary case against slavery being made here. Moving back to the action on the Ohio river, Eliza has been spotted by the slave trader, the very focus of evil throughout this book. It must also be pointed out that the trader and his style of life are equally repugnant to the Shelby’s (10). But as far as Liza is concerned, when she is spotted, A thousand lives seemed to be concentrated in that one moment to Eliza. Her room opened by a side door to the river. She caught her child, and sprang down the steps towards it. The trader caught a full glimpse of her just as she was disappearing down the bank; and throwing himself from his horse, and calling loudly on Sam and Andy, he was after her like a hound after a deer. In that dizzy moment her feet to her scarce seemed to touch the ground, and a moment brought her to the water’s edge. Right on behind they came; and, nerved with strength such as God gives only to the desperate, with one wild cry and flying leap, she vaulted sheer over the turbid current by the shore, on to the raft of ice beyond. It was a desperate leap — impossible (14). This passage is worth extended comment. First of all, as God has closed the door of the ferry, he has opened another, more dangerous door, that of skipping over the ice cakes. This seems powerfully symbolic: the ice represents the cold hearts of the slave traders and even the good slave owners. Under intense pressure, the power of family–of motherhood–takes over, what seems impossible is not so, if God is on your side. Slavery, it seems, will be defeated by slave mothers trampling on the cold hearts of the slave owners through material love and devotion to get to freedom. On the other side, Eliza meets a friendly farmer, Mr. Symmes, who assists in her escape. Stowe remarks on page 10, â€Å"So spoke this poor, heathenish Kentuckian, who had not been instructed in his constitutional relations, and consequently was betrayed into acting in a sort of Christianized manner, which, if he had been better situated and more enlightened, he would not have been left to do. † Again, a powerful statement is being made here: since slave owners were normally of the â€Å"gentlemanly† class, that is, the civilized class, civilization is equated with the dominating of slaves. Since poor whites were not slave owners (and treated only little better than the blacks) and were not part of their civilization, they had not â€Å"learned† about the inferiority of blacks and the racial and class hierarchy of the South. Therefore, their lack of civilization is a good thing, since simple common sense seems to dominate over â€Å"civilized manners. † Hence, the hero of the story (or at least of the chapter) is this simple farmer from Kentucky who does not represent civilization, but simple agrarian manners and common sense morality. Hence, in conclusion, Stowe is making several points here. First, that the real evil of slavery is the destruction of the family. If the family is the center of social life in that it is the bearer of tradition and moral values, then its destruction must lead to the beastialization of society. This might explain the evil of the slave traders, since they seem to specialize in breaking up families, and hence, are the very symbol of this beastialization. Second, a mother’s love, coupled with God’s force, will lead the southern slaves to freedom. Third, that freedom must be earned, and this is applicable to slaves and slave owners, both of which have not known freedom. Slave owners are as debased by slavery as the slave, since he is dependent upon them and hence, not free. Lastly, that nothing is impossible with God, and with a love of freedom. This is the case against slavery, in that it crushes all of these impulses, impulses that God as implanted in the human spirit and hence, are part of His creation, now enslaved by others. All quotes above are from the Virginia University edition of Uncle Toms Cabin, Published by the University of Virginia E-Text Center of the University of Virginia Library System. (http://etext. lib. virginia. edu/etcbin/toccer-new2? id=StoCabi. sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=7&division=div1)

Mother and Twin Brothers Eli Essay

In The Droughtlanders, by Carrie Mac, Twin brothers Eli and Seth, both Keylanders, live inside a privileged and protected city surrounded by huge walls to protect them from the filthy, sick Droughlanders. Eli’s mother teaches him to view Droughtlanders sympathetically and Eli changes his opinion about them. As a result Eli joins a rebellion group against the Keylands. Initially Seth is furious about Eli’s decision and attempts to hunt Eli and kill him but ultimately realizes the truth and joins his brother. At the beginning Eli and Seth have a bitter hate for each other which intensifies due to their different view points regarding the Droughtlanders. In the end, they make up and the hate they had between them fades away. Right from the start Eli and Seth do not get along, this relationship soon turns into hate and distrust between them. Near the end Seth also changes his mind about Droughtlanders and they get along. From the beginning Eli and Seth dislike each other because of Seth’s constant harassment. Seth is constantly making harsh jokes about Eli’s bladder problem, â€Å"do you have to sit down like a girl?† (36). This quote shows how Seth bullies Eli. Seth and Eli get in a lot of fights and Seth says mean thinks like â€Å"If father wasn’t in the room I’d kick your face in† (44). Seth bullies Eli because he thinks that he is weak and pathetic. After getting in yet another fight Seth says to Eli â€Å"You really are a baby. Get a diaper, Eliza† (55). Eli hates Seth’s bullying and they never get along. They have always had a poor relationship, but it becomes worse once Eli sympathizes with the Droughtlanders. Seth and Eli’s relationship and distrust gets even worse. When the explosion goes off where their mother is, Eli cries â€Å"Maman. She was in there, Seth† (45). Eli had a very strong connection with his mom, but Seth not so much. Eli tells Seth how their father killed their mother and Seth whispers into his ear â€Å"Say that one more time, or to anyone else, ever, and I will kill you† (54). This quote demonstrates how seriously angry they are with each other. Eli tries to tell Seth that their mother was a rebel but Seth responds â€Å"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard you say† (56). This quote illustrates how much distrust they have between them. When Eli secretly leaves to look for the Droughtlander rebels, Seth views him as a traitor and this betrayal leads to Seth hunting Eli. When Seth finally catches up with Eli, he tells Seth the truth about their mother’s death and how their father was responsible. Seth also comes to accept the Droughtlanders for the decent and ill-treated people they are. Eli and Seth find each other in a forest. â€Å"When Eli heard the name he’s not been called in so long, he felt some thing snap with a sharp, invigorating pain. Keenly aware of his intentions, he brought out his own knife and in one fluid motion flicked the wider blade open, turned and plunged the knife through Seth’s pants and as deep as it would go† (300). It is this moment that Seth gains respect for Eli and starts to question his own beliefs. After Seth is captured he does his sin inventory and comes to realize how horrible of a person he was. Although Eli is still very angry with Seth, Seth says, â€Å"I’m sorry, Eli, for being such a terrible brother† (317). This is the start to their relationship reuniting. They discuss and finally agree about the tragic events that lead to their mother’s death. Sabine, their triplet sister, is also there and for the first time they all connect peacefully. During the circus they all collapse and are sent to the infirmary. â€Å"They speculated on why only now they felt a connection† (323). They figured it was because this was the first time they were all happy together. In the end, Seth and Eli are no longer enemies and can be happy. The relationship between Seth and Eli started with mutual hostility and ended in admiration. It is a unique relationship between Seth and Eli in search of the truth. Eli pursues the truth of his mothers legacy as Seth searches for the truth about Eli’s defection.

Health care economics history Essay

Before 1900, there really wasn’t what you could call major health care in this country. The American Medical Association (AMA) was just getting off the ground, hospitals were just getting established, doctors still made house calls and traded their services for goods, and people still used a lot of home remedies to treat their ailments. Health insurance was unheard of! Between the years 1750 and 2000, healthcare in the United States evolved from a simple System of home remedies and itinerant doctors with little training to a complex, scientific, Technological, and bureaucratic system often called the â€Å"medical industrial complex The history and evolution of health care economics involve economist analyzing the health care system. Over the past 60 years health care scientific advancement and economic growth have persisted. Modern advances in health care are driven by market prices. Economists must follow the flow of money to understand health care decisions. Healthcare funding is very complex and assist individuals in ensuring quality service is provided. Thus economist’s decision-making affects the health care system and advancements made. Economists think of strategic solutions to improve the way health care operates. Economists make decisions that affect individuals’ lives. According to wikipedia (2010) the history of economic thought deals with different thinkers and theories in the subject that became political economy and economics from the ancient world to the present day. Economics is the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The moral obligation of businesses is to sell goods at a just price for individuals to consume. In the 1900s individuals paid out of their own pocket for health insurance. No one needed health insurance because it did not cost much. The healthcare system started around the 1920s where the employers paid for individual’s health insura nce. Healthcare began to grow with much more effective treatments and for much more money. Medicines became effective,  research increased, and medical schools expanded to teach physicians proper treatment methods. When people became ill they were willing to pay for their care. The health insurance system began According to Blumberg and Davidson (2009) Thomasson says that if the Great Depression inadvertently Health care economics have drastically altered over the course of annals in the United States. While some can assist these alterations due to the evolutionary alterations the US has undergone since her inception, the foremost assisting components that leverage the alterations in wellbeing care economics are improvement in expertise and health care. By comprehending the annals of wellbeing care economics, and recognize the flow of capital scheme, economic managers are adept to be more amply arranged for the future. It is crucial to recall that the propelling force behind wellbeing care economics is cash, and it performances an integral part to the achievement of the wellbeing care industry. Who buys for what has altered spectacularly in the past 60 years. Whereas in the past, the most of persons paid their health accounts with personal capital, today protection companies are responsible for the cost. Discussed will be the history, evolution of health care economics, the timeline of funding, and its terms. However, individuals give only a little part of the total flow of capital with personal money. The flow of capital is a scheme in which economic managers are adept to â€Å"follow† the cash through the wellbeing care scheme, and as asserted overhead the primary flow of capital have drastically altered from past years. History displays that numerous physicians would trade services for non-money pieces (such as kernel, cotton fabric, livestock, etc.) as types of fee if the one-by-one was incapable to use money. Essentially, these physicians were tradesmen, with the persevering giving one century per hundred of the cost for health services rendered. As the US started to advancement, with improvement in expertise and other chronicled components, a new scheme had to be put into location to help the American community in buying health services. Every year, the United States allots a restricted allowance of cash that may be expended on wellbeing care. The United States health care system is currently getting ready to evolve tremendously through the organization, management structure, and payment structures. The economic component in health care is very important to understand in order to structure it successfully. This papers discusses the evolution of economics in the health  care system and the structure of health care funding timeline. History and Evolution Health care economics presents an information framework were efficiency and equity goals are pursued. Furthermore, economics establishes a framework by maximizing benefits using resources at hand. Kenneth Arrow, the person responsible for mentioning the idea of health economics as a discipline, wrote an article titled â€Å"Uncertainty and the Welfare Economies of Medical Care† in 1963. The article discusses how the medical care industry benefits society compared to the â€Å"norm†. Furthermore, Mr. Arrow wrote about the significance of supply and demand. Arrow discussed that the average person has the characteristic of only seeking medical care when they are suffering from a critical injury or illness. It’s not common for the average person to receive routine medical services on a regular basis. As Mr. Arrows discussed supply condition, he quoted â€Å"Entry to the health care profession is controlled by licensing. Licensing manages the supply which consequentl y increases the cost of medical care. Davis, H. (2003). National center of biotechnology. Retrieved from http://WW.NCBI.NLM.GOV

Should Abortion be Illegal Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Should Abortion be Illegal - Research Proposal Example Oktay Kadayifci -- professor from the Medical Faculty of University of Istanbul titled â€Å"Ethical and Legal Aspects of Abortion†, a philosophical outlook on the topic from â€Å"Abortion and the Unborn Life† author Patrick Lee who holds the John N. and Jamie D. McAleer Chair of Bioethics and is the director of the Institute of Bioethics at Franciscan University Steubenville, as well as the National Right to Life website that contains vital information regarding some important abortion information that not all people may be familiar with. Abortion is a highly controversial topic that has been debated about through the decades with both the pro-life and pro-choice sides making highly valid and acceptable pleas on behalf of their stand. While the pro-choice stance makes a good point of indicating that a woman should have the right to make a decision about what goes on and happens with her body, it still does not erase the fact that abortion is, as the pro-lifers point out, tantamount to murder because the woman is carrying a life within her womb and that fetus has a right to live, just like any other child who was conceived, regardless of how the conception was done (e.g. rape) or accepted by the woman. The aforementioned information is but a few reasons to consider the total ban on abortion. Other information to consider cover the aspects of moral and ethical arguments. Conscionable considerations also take an important place in the discussion as the idea of abortion as murder must be considered and understood by the public. Therefore, it is important to listen to information being shared by both the pro and anti-abortionists. According to a journal article by Prof. Oktay Kadayifci, society must learn to respect the views of the pro-abortionists. That is actually not the point of discussion at the moment.

ASSIGNMENT1-THE PROCESS &PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATION Essay

ASSIGNMENT1-THE PROCESS &PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATION - Essay Example rvice provider regarding the issue and express his dissatisfaction without incurring additional costs of conveyance and wastage of time that he would otherwise occur if he were to opt for a face-to-face conversation as well. Ideally, an assertive style of communication should be adopted. However, the customer can use a passive-aggressive communication style as well to express his dissatisfaction in relatively more commanding manner so that the service provider takes a more a serious note of the issue and resolve it as soon as possible. iii. It is best to sympathize with the friend in a face-to-face conversation because it would also require physical contact to express love and affection during the condolence. This communication medium should be complimented with an assertive style to communicate clearly and show interest in strengthening the relationship. However, the personality of the friend who suffered the loss should also be considered. Sometimes, a person would prefer to be left alone after a tragedy such as this. In this case, a telephonic conversation could also suffice. iv. Congratulating someone should be done, preferably, through a face-to-face conversation or telephone if meeting in person is not feasible. Voice and visuals are important for effective communication especially when it involves emotions. This, coupled with an informal, assertive style of communication should be adopted v. Advertising for a job vacancy must be done in the most cost effective manner. Paper medium or electronic medium should be used as these medium would offer the company the more coverage across the biggest audience as compared to, for example, telephone messages. It would be very important to adopt an assertive style of communication following a more formal structure so as to give the applicants a feel of professionalism while offering them a healthy, relationship building, environment vi. It depends a lot on the type of product that is being advertised. For example,

Stuffed and Starved Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Stuffed and Starved - Essay Example He also says that also included are urban consumers who live in slums and do industrial jobs, or those who live in exclusive houses and work in big offices. The only people exempted from the list are corporate food executives. To them, the food system works excellently. The value of the food chain lay square at the hands of these corporations. Patel argues out his point using an appropriate example from India where farmers committed suicide due to agriculture and trade liberalization. The liberalization led to 20% fall in the rural income. Free Trade treaties cannot solve poverty issues in the developing nations. Chapter three of this book provides a definite example to Rajab’s stand in food distribution in most developing nations. Most Americans think and believe that it is the fault of the Mexicans that causes their poverty. However, according to Rajab, the problem or poverty in Mexico has its foundational cause in the American government and trade. The US and Canada entered a treaty with Mexico in order to allow free trade of goods among the countries. The treaty was signed in 1994. One of the examples that Patel uses in the book is that of the Mexican Free Trade Treaty with the US and Canada in 1994. 60% of Mexican cultivated land was used for growing corn, which was the key staple food for the larger Mexican population (Patel 54). The supporters of free trade had one thing in mind that by forcing producers to enter into competition with each other, there would be an automatic price fall, thus, helping the mass urban population. Corn price in most of the Mexican markets collapsed while the US imports into the country increased significantly (Ning.com). The US corn farmers, on the other hand, were heavily funded by their government through subsidies creating a conducive environment for them to carry out their trading activities. The market competition between the farmers from the two countries was, therefore, biased on the side of the Mexicans. The im pact of this type of trade was predictably undesirable on the Mexican side. Most of the Mexicans suffered malnutrition, with a great number becoming obese. Moreover, the step taken by Wal-Mart to organize and conduct a joint trade with Mexican’s Wal-Mex worsened the situation. Wal-Mart took three out of every ten pesos that was spent on food in the country (Patel 34). Another related epigraph that Raj is using in his book is about the step made by Britain, as the pioneer of grain trade, to encourage nations like India to sell their wheat stocks. This automatically brought about famine in the entire Asian continent, as India is the production house of grains in the entire continent. The British, on the other hand, enjoyed cheap foods especially the factory workers. Raj’s first insight was that free market always favors consumers, and not producers. It lowers the prices, at the same time forcing most of the weakest products out of the market. This is not entirely true an y way. However, it does fit well in such a case. Free market certainly causes market price fall. This permits the same population to live with very few farmers and focus on knowledge or other skill related opportunities. For the profitability to be maintained, traders have an obligation to ensure that they expand their market and sell to more people. The more the number of buyers, the lesser the price, this is because of

HCM367-0801B-01 The Health Care Organization - Phase 2 Project Essay

HCM367-0801B-01 The Health Care Organization - Phase 2 Project - Essay Example own lovingly as Doc Vinny is well respected and admired by both the board of directors and the other senior leaders of Vitruvian health plan and Vitruvian physician partners. A change in the environment brought along with change in the senior management is always hard to accept at first; however it becomes easy if the change brings out more positive outcomes than negative consequences. Doc Vinny is a very pleasant and affable person, which makes it easier for the patients and the workforce to get along wit him. He seems to be the type that will allow everyone to perform their tasks with their control and allow freedom of decision making but under a strict eye. A lot of success and growth of Vitruvian Health plan can be accredited to his personalized of way of dealing with people. When it comes to being a leader, your human skills are as important as your technical knowledge. Doc Vinny fulfills both criteria at par. As a CFO, I know how important business clients are to this organizat ion; it is not only the patients but people who invest in the company that matter. Dr. Durro’s leadership style appeals to all and he has used his style to make relationships and ties that have helped him to build a several related companies that contributed to his "healthcare for all" philosophy that he has believed in ever since has graduated from medical school. His leadership style is more participative and democratic, which I think in today’s world is the key to success. His leadership style will have a positive impact on the people of VH as well people from VPP as his easygoing nature and people skills will keep the team close to each other. he is capable of creating an open and friendly organizational culture. (Clark, 1997) Doc Vinny, unlike Dr. Montenegro is completely inspired by technology. Dr. Montenegro did not believe in investing in expensive technology and investing in the computer systems. He was used to working with more traditional methods of management. Since

Sex Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sex Crime - Essay Example "After a three-year period of consultation with those dealing with crimes and sexual offences, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 came into force on 1 May 2004" (The Office for Criminal Justice Reform, 2006, p.12). The sexual offences act, 2003 has revealed a detailed discussion as regards consent in regard to rape. The Law Lords overturned this common law idea that marriage means a man has a 'continual' consent from his wife for sexual activity at any time (R v. R [1992]). Thomas (2005) describes as "[t]his was later brought into statute in 1994, now in Sexual offences Act 2003" (p.11). The present paper is intended to justify whether the guidance of consent as provided in the said enactment is proper or warrants further explanation and amendment. The Sexual Offences Act, 2003 has been designed to make the process easier and convenient for prosecuting people who use physical force to others for having sex despite the unwillingness of the other party. The legislation provides that a person would not be charged with the offence if he or she intends to protect a child from sexually transmitted infection, from physical safety of the child or from becoming pregnant. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 has made a greater legal protection for victims by clarifying the law on consent. Section 1 of the Act states, a person commits an offence of rape if he intentionally penetrates to the vagina, anus or mouth of another person despite her reluctance. The phraseology "reasonable belief" as enunciated in section 1 is determined in regard to the particular context of a given circumstance. Section 74 of the Act defines consent as stating that a person is presumed to give consent if he agrees by choice, and has the freedom and capacity to make tha t choice. Section 75 provides a list of circumstances where it may be considered that the victim or complainant did not consent to the said sexual interaction. From a perusal of section 76, it is clear that if (a) the defendant intentionally deceive the complainant as to the nature or purpose of the relevant act; or (b) the defendant intentionally induce the complainant to consent to the relevant act, it is presumed that the victim did not give his or her consent. As per the provisions of section 79(2) penetration is a continuing act from entry to withdrawal and if the victim consents to penetration but withdraws consent after penetration, the accused must withdraw his penis immediately.Consent in the sexual offences ActConsent must be obtained peacefully and without the use of force or violence. If it is obtained by force, threat or inducement or any other unlawful means, said consent would be declared as void and illegal. The meaning of the term "consent" as given in the Sexual offence act, 2003 is an aiding tool for the juries in deciding whether the victim was able to give or did actually give his or her consent to the said sexual transaction. In this connection, the defendant must show that his belief in consent was reasonable and obtained in due manner and a jury must consider all the circumstances including any step which he has taken to ascertain in determining whether the vi

Pay day loan companies should be subject to more regulation Assignment

Pay day loan companies should be subject to more regulation - Assignment Example Vega (2014) argues the loans offered range from  £100 to  £1000 and this is offered for a period of few weeks or months. However, these lenders face a lot of criticism. This is because lots of people argue that they lend money irresponsibly and charge very high interest rates to individuals (Bonnette, 2005). This is unlike the traditional lenders who required lots of details so as to lend money to their clients. In light to this argument, this essay shall attempt to evaluate if the pay day lenders should have their businesses regulated or not. As seen in the work of Vega (2014), pay day lenders subject their borrowers to misery. This is from the verity that they ask for very high interest rates to desperate individuals who wish to sort out their financial issues with immediacy. One would argue that these pay day lenders are simply on the move to make huge amounts of profit by frustrating poor individuals who lack better alternatives to their present situations. In fact, the Perry (2011) and Cresswell (2009) refer to the pay day lenders as the worst offenders that the society can breed. However, the pay day lenders defend their mission by arguing that they save situations that cannot get assistance from the traditional lenders (Vega 2014; Jefferson, 2012.). They also argue that their services are better as they prevent borrowers from yearly interest rates that are high and may rise to 400% (Vega, 2014). The most interesting part, though, is that more and more people are caught up with this system with the day. Pay day loan companies should be regulated by the government as they offer extremely high interest rates to their clients. As argued by Cackley (2011) in an event that the pay day companies are regulated, it will be easy for regulation to take place as the government will ask for a clear range of the interest rates payable by the clients. This means that the pay day companies will only deal with persons can

BIM (BUILDING Information Modeling ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

BIM (BUILDING Information Modeling ) - Essay Example The lifecycle of a product involves designing, building, operation, and maintenance activities. Since current buildings rely upon drawings, building designs have formerly focused upon communications through numerous distinct and often inconsistent documents. With BIM, building designs are not just about drawings and numerous documents, but about a data repository where structure and continuation information is combined in one expedient model for sharing amongst all stakeholders (McNell et al, 5). As a model-based design process, BIM offers explicit design information, for instant consideration and evaluation of the design objective and program. As a result, BIM model offers augmented process competence and superior quality accuracy compared to conventional 2D CAD drawings. 2.0. Management of BIM Previously, architects designed buildings which were then scrutinized by engineers who offered feedback and technical responses concerning the design (AUGI, 1). Conversely, the contractors ob tained the drawings and build the structure. At this point, every party played their own part. However, BIM and all its inventions, ideas, methods and designs are all owned by the Department of design and Construction. According to AUGI, the other persons using BIM like contractors only have temporary use for given time extents after which all BIM copies are submitted to DDC. In the BIM model, the owner hires an architect and contractor. The architect is the design review agency while the contractor performs QC testing and inspection (Ashcraft and Shelden, 7). The architect works with specialist consultants and engineers (A+E). The contractor works with engineer contractors and subcontractors. The subcontractors work as product suppliers, material suppliers, installers and labor unions among others. The contractor have a construction simulation model and fabrication model, the architects have the design model, and the engineer will have the analysis model depending on their discipli ne (Ashcraft and Shelden, 7). BIM collaborative use requires that all available models are interoperable and that each model is a clear and consistent representation of the same structure. 3.0. BIM practice The building industry comprises of architects, engineers, contractors and owners or (A/E/C/O). The architect is provided with a service request (Ashcraft and Shelden, 7). The architect is responsible for designing buildings and space using BIM and has the intentions to have the building executed to work. However, the role of the architects expanded to business strategy, and technology among others. The professional engineers then utilize recent 3D modeling and visualization (Revit and AutoCAD) for 3D design. After receiving the request, the architect validates and designs the structure. Conversely, the engineer imports conventional 2D drawings that have 3D information for precise establishment of 3D renderings. When coupled with onsite coordination, 3D visualization offers improv ed accuracy for detection and resolution of instances of collision among infrastructure components. The process used here is crash detection (Ashcraft and Shelden, 7) and is cost saving since component collisions are only detected after commencement of construction. The engineer then documents the findings and issues to the designer. The designers utilize BIM to discover substitute concepts, perform value engineering and optimize designs. Given the BIM model, t

Greek religion and mythology Essay Example for Free

Greek religion and mythology Essay In Greek religion and mythology, Pan (Ancient Greek: ÃŽ  Ã¡ ¾ ¶ÃŽ ½, PÄ n) is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs.[1] His name originates within the Ancient Greek language, from the word paein (πΠ¬ÃŽ µÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ½), meaning to pasture.[2] He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner as a faun or satyr. With his homeland in rustic Arcadia, he is recognized as the god of fields, groves, and wooded glens; because of this, Pan is connected to fertility and the season of spring. The ancient Greeks also considered Pan to be the god of theatrical criticism.[3] In Roman religion and myth, Pans counterpart was Faunus, a nature god who was the father of Bona Dea, sometimes identified as Fauna. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Pan became a significant figure in the Romantic movement of western Europe, and also in the 20th-century Neopagan movement.[4] Origins In his earliest appearance in literature, Pindars Pythian Ode iii. 78, Pan is associated with a mother goddess, perhaps Rhea or Cybele; Pindar refers to virgins worshipping Cybele and Pan near the poets house in Boeotia.[5] The parentage of Pan is unclear;[6] in some myths he is the son of Zeus, though generally he is the son of Hermes or Dionysus, with whom his mother is said to be a nymph, sometimes Dryope or, in Nonnus, Dionysiaca (14.92), Penelope of Mantineia in Arcadia. This nymph at some point in the tradition became conflated with Penelope, the wife of Odysseus. Pausanias 8.12.5 records the story that Penelope had in fact been unfaithful to her husband, who banished her to Mantineia upon his return. Other sources (Duris of Samos; the Vergilian commentator Servius) report that Penelope slept with all 108 suitors in Odysseus absence, and gave birth to Pan as a result.[7] This myth reflects the folk etymology that equates Pans name (ÃŽ  ÃŽ ¬ÃŽ ½) with the Greek word for all (Ï€á ¾ ¶ÃŽ ½).[8] It is more likely to be cognate with paein, to pasture, and to share an origin with the modern English word pasture. In 1924, Hermann Collitz suggested that Greek Pan and Indic Pushan might have a common Indo-European origin.[9] In the Mystery cults of the highly syncretic Hellenistic era[10] Pan is made cognate with Phanes/Protogonos, Zeus, Dionysus and Eros.[11] The Roman Faunus, a god of Indo-European origin, was equated with Pan. However, accounts of Pans genealogy are so varied that it must lie buried deep in mythic time. Like other nature spirits, Pan appears to be older than the Olympians, if it is true that he gave Artemis her hunting dogs and taught the secret of prophecy to Apollo. Pan might be multiplied as the Panes (Burkert 1985, III.3.2; Ruck and Staples 1994 p 132[12]) or the Paniskoi. Kerenyi (p. 174) notes from scholia that Aeschylus in Rhesus distinguished between two Pans, one the son of Zeus and twin of Arcas, and one a son of Cronus. In the retinue of Dionysos, or in depictions of wild landscapes, there appeared not only a great Pan, but also little Pans, Paniskoi, who played the same part as the Satyrs.

The Art of Strategy Essay Example for Free

The Art of Strategy Essay Introduction The ongoing debate on the concept and definition of strategy is as interesting as the process of making the strategy itself. This discussion happens probably because different organisations (business entity, non-profit, governments, non-government, military, etc.) interpret strategy differently, one organisations might see it as a CEOs personal mission while other perceives it as a tool to achieve the organisations collectively decided goals. One organisation sees it as a game plan while other defines it as a set of pattern in a stream of not planned actions. Hofer and Schendel tried to give a comparison of some of the notable strategy definitions formulation as shown in Table 1. It can be clearly see that although slightly different from one another, there is some consistency as well in it. In addition, one think to note is the way an organisation defines the concept of a strategy will affects the way they formulate their strategies and the strategies resulted (Evered, 1983, p.60). Coming from this situation, this essay will try to identify the concept of strategy using the war analogy to offer another perspective on what strategy is and the implications of the said perception. Figure 1. Hofer and Schendel comparison of various author’s concepts of strategy and the strategy formulation process in the business management field (Everend, 1983, p. 60) The Art of War In this essay, I will use the same approach as James Brian Quinn (1996, pp.5-6), by using the history of the Kingdom of Macedon to illustrate the essence of strategy from my point of view. Figure 2. The Kingdom of Macedon, from Wikipedia, Map Macedonia 336 BC-en, (2009) Philip II and Alexander III of Macedon had very clear goals. They wanted to established their supremacy by conquer the other city-states in Ancient Greek area and put them under the Kingdom of Macedon. Moreover, they also need Athens’ troops to be in their alliance to defeat Persian Empire. When the city of Amphissa did a sacred land violation, the Macedonians used it as an opportunity to interfere. On their way to punish Amphissa, they made a detour in Elatea and built a defence base. Following this, Philip sent a peace offer to Thebes and Athens which got rejected by both parties and led to resort to battle. The Macedonians then made a scheme to prepare themselves in winning the battle using their specific strengths in the new spear technology, their strong phalanx’s formation, as well as the powerful cavalry. However, they knew that they were outnumbered and will face the best ground soldiers in the world. Therefore, they decided to attack Thebes and Athens from Chaeronea which is lightly armed using their strongest units. They also split their force, Philip engaged the full force phalanxes to the right wing and Alexander commanded the cavalry to the left wing. After fought hard Philip deliberately withdrew his troops. The Athenians on the left followed which made them breaking their army lines. After the enemy’s unity broke, Alexander attacked from the left side (the Theban lines). At the same time, Philip’s army then pressed forward and quickly scatter and defeat the enemy. After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander then occupied the other city-states unchallenged and declared it as a Hellenic Alliance. Later on the Hellenic Alliance will try to expand its authority to the Persian Empire. From the illustration above, several apparent points could be pointed out. The king’s and his successor’s grand strategy was to establish its dominance throughout the Greek land. In order to achieve it, they arranged a strategy which was to conquer all city-states and put them under the Kingdom of Macedon’s wing, either using peace offers or battles. Should the battles arise, they need to made tactics on the spot to win the battles, like the one they made in Chaeronea. So in this military context, the word â€Å"strategy† can be described as â€Å"the actual direction of military force† to achieve the policy’s (king’s) objectives (Evered, 1983, p.63). This aligns with the literal meaning of the word itself, stratos (army) and ago (leading)  (Evered, 1983, p.58). Normally, strategy is made before the actual contacts with the enemy and when it is already in the battlefield situations, tactics will be made, as distinguished above. Grand Strategy, Strategy, and Tactics Similar approach can also be applied to examine the concept of strategy in the management field. In my opinion, any organisation will need to have a grand strategy, strategy, and tactics which will be describe below. Grand Strategy As an organisation tries to define the intention of their existence, they will have to consider several questions, such as: Why are they here? What the key objectives are? Where is it going? What the organisation want to be in the future? What are their values? The answers to these questions will set the tone to their organisations quest. It will lead them to determine their grand strategy, or in this case I would refer it as the organisation’s mission, vision, and core values. According to Raynor (1998, p. 371), mission is a statement of the organisation’s core competencies and values that will give the organisation characteristics that will allow it to perform successfully in a particular area. While vision is the state in the future that the organisation wants to achieve within the area defined already in the mission. This includes setting up their objectives and goals. These components also famous to be categorized as strategic intent (Campbell Yeung, 1991, p.146; Phillips, 2011, p.928). Although some organisation might not have a specific explicit statement of their mission and vision (Ireland Hitt, 1992, p.36), the similarity of values and interest of the people within an organisation could accidently set an implicit mission and vision, which still could be considered as a grand strategy, like what happen in Lonely Planet company (Hubbard, et.al, 1996, pp.215-235). Strategy After an organisation becomes clear with who they are and the intention of their existence(mission), they know what their state of position in the future (vision), they have set their objectives and goals, now it is time  for them to determine their strategy to achieve it. Using the war analogy, the way I see a strategy is to treat it as a long term blueprint of an organisation that breaks down the big picture of grand strategy into smaller tangible milestones by understanding the organisations position at the time the strategy was made. A clear comprehension of the organisations internal strengths and weakness as well as the external opportunities and threats will help the organisation decide the ideal respond to take and the best way of recognising it is by using Porters SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, and Threats) analysis (Phillips, 2011, p.928). Once the active responses are determine, it will hopefully achieve competitive advantage. According to Arnoldo Hax, the linkage between external and internal conditions and competitive advantage is very close in the strategy concept, he even put those together in one dimension in his redefinition of strategy concept (Hax, 1990, pp.35-36) whereas before he put those in two separate dimensions (Hax Majluf, 1988, pp.100-101). The benefit of having a strategy is to give the organisation a sense of unity, direction, and purpose, especially when it comes to the resources allocation as it will be more direct and clear. The other benefit is to give the organisation the ability to have a logical system for differentiating managerial tasks in an organisation, especially the one that has many layered of organisational structure (Hax, 1990, p.36). From this perspective, it is clear that in the grand strategy and strategy parts, the information processing and knowledge ordering use a top-down approach. Tactics Once the strategy is being declared, the organisation then have to set the tactics to match the strategy or in this case I would also like to refer it as a set of programmes or courses of actions. Tactics defines the details of strategy especially the resources allocations part and it is more of a short-term plan compares to strategy which makes it more adjustable than strategy to facilitate the necessary changes that come in the future. Since the creation of tactics occurs in a more daily basis with more dynamic activities, the information processing and knowledge ordering in this segment ideally use a mixture of top-down and bottom-up approach. The reason why I think the mix approach is ideal was because same as what happens in  normal battlefields, the frontline soldiers sometime know the situation on the field better than the general. That way the input from them is valuable to decide the next tactics. Same as in an organisation, when it comes to daily running, the operational staff would have a better and detail insight then the Chief Executive Officer. Once the programmes are implemented, the organisation will have to see the result and compare it to the strategy and then again to the grand strategy. The similar cycle (mission, objectives, goals, strategies, plans, operations, results) also suggested by LD Phillips (2011, p.928). Combining these three elements together, I think the suitable kind of strategy to this point of view is the Process Strategy which can be define as the leadership controls the process aspects of strategy, leaving the actual content of strategy to others; strategies are again partly deliberate (concerning process) and partly emergent (concerning content), and deliberately emergent (Mintzberg Quinn, 1996, p.13). By using this type of strategy, I think I position myself in between the two strategy mainstreams: Porter and Mintzberg. Porter with his deliberate strategy concept is in line with my point of view of formulating a strategy. It has to be carefully crafted because it will control all critical variables and activities in an organisation in a long run. However, as it is widely known, Porters concept on strategy has a flaw as well. It is accused to be too rigid, taking a long period of time to define, and not flexible for todays environment where the boundaries between industries are more fluid and the environment becomes less stable. Therefore, to accommodate this issue, I add the tactics element to it to give an option to the organisation to be more flexible. As already stated above, tactics are made to tackle the issue in the daily basis implementation and are more easily modified. Furthermore, I think it is appropriate to say that strategy, with the addition of tactics, is a living system rather than a static formula to be applied (Evered, 1983, p.61). Strategy as Plan (and Ploy) Coming from the illustration above, it is clear that my point of view about strategy aligns with Mintzbergs definition of strategy as plan. It has the two essential characteristics of plan which are: made in advance of the  actions to which they apply, and they are developed consciously and purposefully (Mintzberg, 1987, p.11; Mintzberg Quinn, 1996, p.10). Unlike the pattern definition that sees strategy as sporadic actions that are not intended but somehow consistent in behaviour, the way I set the strategy framework is to treat it as a clear and intended plan that is made to deal with a situation from the beginning (Mintzberg, 1987, pp.11-13; Mintzberg Quinn, 1996, pp.10-12). The interlock between strategy and tactics was noted by Mintzberg who stated that as a plan, a strategy can be a ploy too (Mintzberg Quinn, 1996, p.11). Similar thing also expressed by Rumelt in 1979 who stated that one persons or one departments strategy can be a tactic to another division depending on where and when you sit (Mintzberg Quinn, 1996, p.13). The other thing that I would like to point out is Mintzbergs definition of strategy as perspective which he describes as an ingrained way of perceiving the world (Mintzberg, 1987, p. 16). This means strategy as a perspective could also be seen as an ideology or a collective mind in an organisation that can be an umbrella for the other definitions of strategy (plan, pattern, and position). Although this interrelating connection is acceptable, I personally would consider perspective as a part of a mission rather than a strategy. The Argument One might argue that having a strategy is unnecessary and outdated for an organisation as it will restrain the organisation from being adaptive and flexible in a turbulent environment. To answer this question, I would like to use the Japanese competition style and practice in the 1970s and 1980s as illustrated by Michael Porter in one of his discussions (Porter, 1996, p.63). During this period of time, most of the Japanese companies did not develop a rigid mission, vision, or a distinctive strategy. They did not have a certain plan and did not position themselves in a certain market. Most of them copied and follow each others new development and being responsive to the markets demand by becoming all things to all customers. At first this style successfully made the operational process became effective as they did not need to spend time to formulate the strategy. However, over time it was destructive for the organisation itself. As the organisation did not have a clear direction of th eir quest, it had to  constantly change its orientations. As a result, not only the resources allocation needed to be repeatedly revised, it was also confusing the stakeholders. From the illustration above, it is clear that any kind of organisation will need to have a strategy to set direction for themselves and to outsmart competitors, or at least enable themselves to manoeuvre through threatening environment (Mintzberg(a), 1987, p.25). Even if it refuse to have a strategy, an organisation has to have a grand strategy at the very least as quoted here by Chandler, one of the men who was behind the success of Sears Roebuck. He stated business is like a war in one respect- if its grand strategy is correct any number of tactical errors can be made and yet the enterprise proves successful (Mintzberg(a), 1987, p.25). The importance of strategy is also to help the organisation to be focus on its effort and coordination as well as providing consistency. Conclusions Using the war analogy and different range of viewpoints from several authors, I have drawn a conclusion of my own definition of strategy. A strategy is a set of guidelines that forge the resource allocations, other critical activities, and a set of tactics in an organisation intended to achieve its objectives and goals. By adding the element of tactics there, it becomes the advantage for the organisation that afraid of having a strategy because it can be too long-term vision and cannot facilitate the rapid growing and changes of the environment. This definition is versatile as it can be used in any types of organisation and can always be re-used and re-apply should one objective or goal has been achieved. However, the definition can be too broad for some organisation that again can cause confusion in understanding the concept of strategy. If this happen then I would like to address the statement in the beginning of essay that there is no certain and specific definition of strategy. It is very subjective and depends on ones knowledge and interpretation which I personally think is the art of strategy. References Andrews, K. R. 1. (1980). The concept of corporate strategy. Homewood, Ill: R. D. Irwin. Evered, R. (1983). So what is strategy? Long Range Planning, 16(3), 57-72 Hax, A. C. (1990). Redefining the concept of strategy and the strategy formation process. Strategy Leadership, 18(3), 34-39. Hax, A. C., Majluf, N. S. (1988). The concept of strategy and the strategy formation process. Interfaces, 18(3), 99-109. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Macedonia_336_BC-en.svg Mintzberg, H and Quinn, J.B, The Strategy Process: Concepts, Content, Cases, 3rd Edition, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996 Phillips, L. (2011). What is strategy? Journal of the Operational Research Society, 62(5), 926-929. Porter, M. (1996). What is strategy?. BOULDER: Harvard Business Review. 74(6), 61-78. Raynor, M. (1998). That vision thing: Do we need it? Long Range Planning, 31(3), 368-376

Organisational Behaviour and Team Work in Business

Organisational Behaviour and Team Work in Business INTRODUCTION The assignment brings out the discussion over the organisational behaviour in life experience of team work in organisation or in classroom activities. Organisational behaviour in a team work plays a vital role and it is the topic has been discussed for a very long time and now nearly everyone knows about its concepts. Simply the organisations wont perform but the one person or many people. When it comes to organisations there should be a team work and perform individuals cant perform whatever they want in an organization they have to form a team and perform individually as well as teams. So when forming a team, organizational behaviour influences toward its success. Organizational Behaviours is the key aspect to maintain and enhance interaction levels amongst people in the organizations. Other attributes like leadership, motivation, decision making, openness to discuss problems, challenge-initiative is all in the base concept of Organizational behaviour to help the business achieve its strategic and in some business objectives. The proper definition of organizational behaviour with its understanding and management has resulted in development of few key offshoots to the concept of Organizational behaviours In my view a personality behaviour means how can we describe a person, how this person differences from the others behaviour, how we can measure the characteristics and differences. Psychometrics is also the most important related to the assessment and measurement of the personality, aptitude, intelligence. It is like the unique character of the individual and measure and understands the differences between the individuals. I think the term itself indicates the properties of behaviour which are both enduring and set the individual apart from others. These properties concern the individuals typical ways of coping with life. I am going to explain a few words about the group because it will explain the importance of individual in the group. The group may spend a lot of time on the each stage, but some groups never reaching the final stages because the personality and levels of dominance of each member may play a large part in the failure or success of the group and its ability to progress through the different stages, the time goes by changes occur, such as new members joining the group or old members leaving the group may re-enter the cycle and begin the development of the process all over again. In this assignment i am going to use the Leadership theory and Motivation Maslows theory. These theories are best suitable for my opinions or views that are raised in my experience and i like those theories a lot so the two theories are chosen. Let me start with those theories Leadership theory A simple definition of leadership is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. Leadership is one of the most hotly debated topics in management studies, social psychology and organisational psychology (Pfeiffer 1993). Despite the depth and breadth of debate concerning leadership effectiveness, it remains an elusive construct. As a result, researchers and practitioners have not reached a consensus on a true and concise definition that represents an accurate depiction of effective leadership in all situations and possibilities. The leadership is one of the effective concepts and well defined as: Treat people with politeness, respect and dignity and in doing so create a strong role model for others to follow. Building a reputation of fairness gives you a buffer against the times when the policy is wrong or you behave badly Gratton (2000:206) According to Nathan F. Iannone, leadership can be defined as the art of influencing, directing, guiding, and controlling others in such a way as to obtain their willing obedience, confidence, respect and loyal cooperation in accomplishment of an objective. Leadership is about the future and about how do I tap into the group orientation (into what everybody shares). According to Jago (1982) the quality and the qualified, good leaders are not born instead they are made with the influenza ion of the training and the self-assessment, developing skills by improvising others. The natural people ability is also evaluated as a measure of walk their talk. The fascination of the leadership is much higher in terms of the charismatic leader. The leadership based on this charismatic model is really being focused towards the vision and also the ability and the talents are naturally born and also termed as gift. The natural leader adapts the tapping of their inner resources and also natural leaders are more often generalist (Stonefield, 1992:3). The leadership theory based on this contingency model states that there is no particular model of leadership which suits as appropriate in all times of situation. The variables are the basic elements and the preliminary components which determine the success rather than the leadership style which we intend to follow or insist. The leadership has a quality in order to follow the vital roles and also in order to perform the action depending and assessing the situation through various means (Cherry, 2010). The trait approach to personality is one of the major theoretical areas in the study of personality. The trait theory suggests that individual personalities are composed broad dispositions. Consider how you would describe the personality of a close friend. Chances are that you would list a number of traits, such as outgoing, kind and even-tempered. A trait can be thought of as a relatively stable characteristic that causes individuals to behave in certain ways. Unlike many other theories of personality, such as psychoanalytic or humanistic theories, the trait approach to personality is focused on differences between individuals. The combination and interaction of various traits forms a personality that is unique to each individual. Trait theory is focused on identifying and measuring these individual personality characteristics. According to Offer Mann, Hanges and Day (2001) much of the discourse on the internal characteristics of leadership over recent years has focused on values and ethics. They argue that disillusionment and a lack of confidence in political leadership have been generated by the particular values that political leaders use to motivate their actions. As a result, Offermann, Hanges and Day (2001) claim that the world is more aware of the importance that values play in leadership effectiveness and success. In addition, it has been shown that particular types of leaders attract different followers depending on their value types (Ehrhart Klein 2001). McShane (2001) argues that in order to motivate, influence, be liked and respected, a leaders values need to align themselves with those of their employees and to reflect integrity, honesty, compassion and assertiveness. The contingency leadership is one of the effective leadership techniques and also has an ability to act as a vital tool in establishing the focus on variables in an environment in order to determine the situations which really opt for our behaviour in any kind of situation. The leadership theory based on this contingency model states that there is no particular model of leadership which suits as appropriate in all times of situation. The variables are the basic elements and the preliminary components which determine the success rather than the leadership style which we intend to follow or insist. The leadership has a quality in order to follow the vital roles and also in order to perform the action depending and assessing the situation through various means (Cherry, 2010). My definition of Leadership is being able to: inspire others, motivate, set a vision, communicate, respect others, and lead by example. A leader must have an honest understanding of who they are, what they know, and what they are capable of. To be successful person you have to convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors. In my opinion this can build confidence in your followers in their faith in you to be able to lead. Followers Different person require different styles of leadership. For example, a company I was working requires more supervision than an experienced employee. A person who lacks motivation requires a different approach than anyone with a high degree of motivation. You must know your people! The fundamental starting point is having a good understanding of human nature, such as needs, emotions, and motivation. You must come to know your employees be, know, and do attributes. Communication Communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another person; it involves a sender transmitting an idea, information, or feeling to a receive. What and how you communicate either builds or harms the relationship between you and your employees. Situation Situations are different from all time. Leader is an individual who can use different leadership styles based on the situations .decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behaviour, but if the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective. Also note that the situation normally has a greater effect on a leaders action than his or her traits. This is because while traits may have an impressive stability over a period of time, they have little consistency across situations (Mischel, 1968). This is why a number of leadership scholars think the Process Theory of Leadership is a more accurate than the Trait Theory of Leadership. Every organisation is subdivided into two different categories such as formal and informal. The organisation when seen as external spectator it appears to be formal with its will defined mission statement, policies and procedure and organisation structure charts, but this is just the tip of the great iceberg floating underneath in the form of informal organisation which a manger has to face. This informal organisation includes informal leaders which have no formal authority given by organisation but they have their influence on many employees, to maintain good relation with such informal leaders as sometimes they can help in getting things done. Internally organisation is subdivided into many groups based on their nature of job, their ethnicity, their culture, their language having their own norms and sentiments managers need to identify such groups and make consistent effort to maintain peace in groups by serving the role of mediator, for smooth running of organisation. Organisation consist of another route of power which can be said as counter organisation, that can be seen in the form of labour unions which are formed to keep check on organisation and make sure that profit hungry organisation dont exploit them. Such counter organisations are needed to be handled with great care. It can be said informal organisations are formed by the people of organisation to satisfaction of their cultural needs and a sense of personal identity and personal belonging. It also provides means to highlight deficiencies in the formal organisation such as excess time taken to complete a task. MASLOW THOERY OF MOTIVATION Motivation is a fundamental driving force behind people behaviour and performance. When the research was done to explain different aspects of motivation from an organisational behavioural perspective many theories or models used to describe the topic of motivation basically it is described as the extent to which persistent effort is directed towards a goal. It is very important to know about different types of motivation theories and their implementation in a group or organisation. These motivation theories specify the kinds of needs people has and condition in which they would want to exemplify these needs. Motivation can be internal or external. Example of external motivation is Deadlines. The fear of losing a contract or of not finishing a job on time you started is an example of internal motivation. Both internal and external motivation can be equally powerful. Why i am using this Maslows theory to reflect on my behaviour in group situations. This theory comes under content theories of motivation. There is significant relationship between behaviour and motivation particularly between group and individuals. Motivations of group have a serious impact on individual behaviour likewise the motivation of an individual can have serious impact on group. Abraham Maslow theory was proposed by Dr. Abraham Maslow in 1943, this theory is general overview of human motivation. His theory strikes a distinctive sense of balance between biological and social needs that integrates many motivational concepts. According to Maslow individual needs are set in a hierarchy, and everyone must satisfy their basic needs before they can satisfy their higher needs. The hierarchy is many times portrayed, as a pyramid beginning with physiological needs at the bottom and self-actualization at the top of this pyramid. The needs at the lower level are the most basic. These basic needs must be satisfy well before an individual can become concern with the higher needs like physiological needs, safety needs, security needs, social needs, law and affection, esteem needs. These needs must be satisfied before a person can act unselfishly. He called these needs deficiency needs. As long as we are motivated to satisfy these craving, people are moving toward growth, s elf-actualization, satisfying needs is healthy, which preventing gratification makes us sick or act evilly. Gareth Morgan suggests that employees are people with complex needs that must be satisfied if they are to lead perform effectively in a work place. Employees perform best when they are motivated by task, which will earn them some reward that satisfies their personal needs. Abraham Maslows theory of motivation most widely famous as hierarchy of needs states that human needs when arranged in form of hierarchy, ascending from lowest to the highest, as soon as need at lower level gets completed, the need at next level servers to be a motivator. Maslow divided human needs into five main categories such as physiological which include basic needs for sustaining life like food, water, shelter and sleep. According to Abraham Maslow there are five different levels in hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing Needs Self-actualizing Needs is the highest level of Maslows hierarchy of need. People are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others and interested fulfilling their potential. Esteem Needs Esteem needs include the things that reflect on self-esteem, personal worth, social recognition and accomplishment. Social Needs Social needs include belonging, love and affection. Maslow considered these needs to be less basic than physiological and security needs. Relationships such as friendships, love, romantic attachments and families help fulfil this need for companionship and acceptance, as does involvement in social, community or religious groups. Security Needs Security needs include safety and security. Security needs are important for survival, but they are not as demanding as the physiological needs. Examples of security needs include a desire for steady employment, health insurance, safe neighbourhoods and shelter from the environment. Physiological Needs A physiological need is low needs. These include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air, food and sleep. Maslow believed that these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy because all needs become secondary until these physiological needs are met. Maslow was correct when he said that one need has to be fulfilled before we can move to the next one. Without sufficient amount sleep I wouldnt be able to think of nothing but sleep. Also if I am hungry food will be the only thing on my mind. But because each day I satisfy these basic needs I am able to think about other things because these needs are no longer controlling my thoughts. Next priority is given to security which includes freedom from physical danger and other fears like losing job, property, food, or shelter. Since people are social animals they need to belong, to be accepted by others, hence acceptance third in the list of needs. Once people satisfy their need to belong esteem needs emerge in the form of satisfactions as power, prestige, status and self-esteem and at last when all the other needs are satisfied need for self-actualization which is the desire to maximize ones potential and achieve something. Applying this theory many organisations where suggested to motivate their employees by monetary gains or assuring security of their job. , Koontz, H, Weihrich (2008), Morgan (2006). There was a research conducted by Douglas T Hall and Khalil Nongame which studied needs of hierarchy involving a group of managers over a time span of five years. They found that there was no strong evidence of hierarchy, as managers get promoted in organisation their physiological needs tend to decrease, while on other hand needs for self-actualization tend to increase H, Koontz , H, Weihrich(2008). Upcoming flaws of Maslows theory the process theory of motivation stated, with the study of ones decision making process and deter mining how individual behaviour is energised, directed and maintained. The major process theory of motivation includes expectancy theory, equity theory, goal setting theory and reinforcement theory. In my classroom activities I am relating this theorys to my classroom activities in a group. When considered my experience in a group situation once while doing a group presentation in collage we all are five people. We had a 20 days time to presentation and from first day we all thought to meet at my place but no one turn up this happened many time every one say some other reason. It happened for all 19 day only 1 day left to submit the presentation than I thought to divide the task to my group members. Each one is assign a separate task and the task should complete before the particular schedule time. With this I emerge as leader that made me influenza ion as Leadership. Not only Leadership but also motivation In order to sleep tonight I have to complete my task of presentation before sleep. I need to satisfy my physiological need that is to sleep in time. I should complete the presentation before night CONCLUSION According to the trait theory the question arises of weather a leader is born or developed. There is no defined answer as many theorists have different answers to this. Understanding the concepts from above of motivation its rewards systems as to how useful it is for a leader to understand how it can be utilized in getting work done from people, decision making and its importance in growing more efficient, managing change and adapting quickly to it, understanding human perceptions and how they affect management, understanding the value of power in an organization without which a leader is nothing, politics and control and the other factors finally lead towards the understanding that leaders are developed. Many individuals may be born with the skill to be a leader this does not prove that he grows up to be an effective leader. However he can develop the ability to become one. Experience and the urge to learn can help one become an efficient leader. According to my understanding a pers on might be born with natural abilities to become a leader. This assignment is very useful to assess my past behaviour to the present behaviour and ways to develop the behaviour and to assess the performance by using these theories in a group. These are the two oldest theories what I used because older principles are the basic for anything i.e. the applications should follows the basic principle. Only few people are reached the self-actualization concept in the Leadership theory and Maslows theory. I am very much willing to taste that step. So I am going to putting my effort in this way and also looking the ways to develop. In my opinion if the group activities are conducted from the child hood they will be a very useful to the individual to improve their personality, behaviour and from that the concept of Leadership and motivation skills will also improve for the betterment of the future.

Deadly Outbreak :: SARS Health Medical Essays

Deadly Outbreak It is March 2003 and my life-long dream of traveling around the world is finally coming true. It seems like since I was born I have longed to visit the far corners of the world, and finally, now that I finished college and I have some time to travel I get to visit Europe and Asia. Yet somehow my visit to Asia is not exactly what I imagined it would be. It is not the diverse culture; it is not the unusual food; it is not the remarkable atmosphere or the people that are marring my trip. It is a deadly outbreak of a disease that only emerged a few months ago. They call it SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. I am in Hong Kong, one of the world's most demanding and most interesting places in the world, yet I am trapped on the 19th floor of my hotel, staring at the busy sidewalks from my window. The busy sidewalks that I see are not nearly as busy as they should be. People are afraid. The World Health Organization says the disease symptoms mimic those of influenza, starting with fever, headaches, cough, and body aches that are hard to distinguish from other respiratory illnesses. That is why this disease went undetected for some time. SARS is a virus from a family of viruses that cause a small percentage of common colds. The average time from when the patient gets infected to when he/she develops the disease is five days; however, the incubation period lasts anywhere from two to ten days. The worrisome fact about this new disease is that it is highly contagious. Studies done at universities in the Netherlands and China say that SARS may even be transmitted through contaminated food and water, sweat, and any other body fluids. Thus, the reasons for my watching the busy sidewalks instead of walking the busy sidewalks. I want to live to travel the rest of the world, so I would rather enjoy the view at this particular moment, rather than join in the cultural activities. It was only a few days ago that I joined the crowds in the swarming subway stations and walked the vendor-filled sidewalks. Nonetheless, the face-masks, gloves, scarves, glasses and other protective gear that are the fashions of the moment made me feel like the best precaution may be to stay away.

Essay --

Scope of practice is defined as the broad framework of procedures, actions and processes that are permitted under a specific licence of an allied health professional. This medical terminology is used by both the national and state licensing commissions for various professions, including nursing, midwifery and paramedicine. The scope of practice restricts and limits the allied health professional, under an act of law, to have undertaken specific education, followed regulation guidelines and registered under licensing bodies in order to practice in their individual health profession. Additionally, every individual health profession (nursing, paramedicine, midwifery, doctor, surgeon, etc.) has specific requirements and levels which define the scope of practice for each individual. The definition of each individuals scope of practice is important, as it ensures the safety of both patient and professional. The scope of practice ensures the individual does not participate in practices that they may be deemed unsafe and ensures the individual does not partake in unskilled practices. ...

Lord of the Flies :: essays papers

Lord of the Flies Golding uses many symbols in the novel, Lord of the Flies, to represent good and evil in society. He uses Simon to represent the peacefulness of life and the kindness of a good heart, while Piggy represents the civilization on the island and the adult viewpoint of the children. The conch symbolizes order and also adult behavior. It is a symbol of strength and knowledge as well, as the evil of the beast represents the fear in the boys. All of these symbols change as the story goes on, some changes are less obvious and are the result of the readers new perspective while others undergo dramatic, and quite obvious, change. Simon is a symbol of peace who sees only good in the world. The name Simon itself means, listener, and depicts Simon's character well as he always listens instead of giving an alternative opinion. Although at times his opinion differs from the others, he never complains. Simon's great sacrifice for the boys, dying for their sin, is a trait of a martyr. Simon's death results in a change of his affect on the boys and on the reader. Because he is killed by the other boys, he begins to represent the evil that has dominated over the good on the island. Piggy is another symbol for goodness, however his goodness is not the same as Simons. Piggy represents the goodness that comes from adults and order. Piggy's inability to see well makes him a perfect symbol for that of blind justice. Piggy not only thinks like an adult, but also is constantly worried about how adults would view the society on the island, showing he is concerned with the order and justice of things and want to be civilized. Piggy is picked on a lot by the other boys because of his weight and sight hindrance, but nonetheless he does not give up his share of the authority. Piggy is constantly saying, "I've got the conch," ( a sign of authority and a sign that all should listen to the person with the conch. Piggy's death symbolizes the destruction of society and civilization on the island, and the rise of savage behavior. It also shows the demise of order and the rise of the devil.

GLOBALIZATION AT GENERAL ELECTRIC Essay

1.Why do you think GE has invested so aggressively in foreign expansion? What opportunities is it trying to exploit? ïÆ'ËœI think GE acted so aggressively because they saw a great opportunity to expand the company and if they didn’t do so, another company would have grabbed the opportunity and purchase the companies that were in trouble. In order for a company to grow at a rapid pace, it would have to take over other companies that are in financial jeopardy. Going international allowed the company to reach millions of new customers. ïÆ'ËœThe opportunities that they are trying to exploit are (1) the economic weakness in certain parts of the world with the aim of investing to the region, but in fact to acquiring companies, (1) to take advantage of economic uncertainty caused by the currency market collapse for the aim of purchasing or acquiring companies, (3) to help in process of development in under develop areas with the aim of profiting from it later 2.What is GE trying to achieve by moving some of the headquarters of its global businesses to foreign locations? How might such moves benefit the company? Do these moves benefit the Unites States? ïÆ'Ëœ GE strongly believes that to succeed internationally, it must be close to its customers. That’s why it builds or transfers its headquarters abroad. ïÆ'Ëœ The company might benefit from more attractive location, Tax advantages, Lower wages, well-educated labor force, Costs reduction, Industry of specialization, Foreign government invitation, Good infrastructure. ïÆ'ËœThe USA can benefit from good reputation of American companies, can establish diplomatic relationship with foreign counties, there might be a potential influence on Gross National Product (GNP). 3.What is the goal behind trying to â€Å"internationalize† these ranks? What do you think it means to â€Å"internationalize† these ranks? ïÆ'ËœThe goal behind internationalization is to get closer to its customers and have better knowledge of the local market, local culture and language of the country that they are doing business. ïÆ'ËœInternationalize is the integration of the local market knowledge and application of cultural sensitivity approach through engaging their local managers in the managerial decision-making process. 4.What does the GE example tell you about the nature of true global business? ïÆ'ËœGE’s example tells us that the true global business is a business that is headquartered locally (in overseas) for the aim of getting closer to its customers. It exploits their local market knowledge as well as their local culture and language knowledge.

Computers Science Essay

Living just for existence has never been the objectives of my life.I have always looked forward to get the best out of my life. As a student of Bachelor of Technology in E.I.E(Electronics&Instrumentation Engineering), I look to graduate study to widen my ken, which would facilitate in fulfilling my ambition of doing Master’s program in Computer Science Engineering. Technology and its myriad aspects fascinate me! Specifically the Computers stream that pervades all areas of business in today’s world. I have been interested in problem solving from a very young age, especially problems related to mathematics. Now that I have completed my bachelor’s degree, and working as a programming developer in Cloud computing Technology for 13 months,has made me to so fascinated for technology and moved my steps towards learning software languages.i feel pursuing masters in Computers would give me an ample scope in fullfilling my dreams as a good developer and have a research project in cloud computing. Deep in my heart, I feel this inordinate urge to do whatever possible within my reach for the less fortunate would take me forward in achieving my goals. Integrity, both in thought and action has meant everything to me. My strong set of value has helped me grow into a responsible citizen with a keen sense of duty. It has also furthered my thirst for newer horizon. This course is one of them. It’s a pathway to newer grounds, pivotal to both my professional and personal agenda. My objective for a master’s degree is to get involved in such a course which could help me in achieving my ultimate goal. I believe that a career in such a field in an intellectually stimulating academic environment will offer me an excellent way to contribute my bit to the life long process of development and dissemination of knowledge. I am fully aware of the kind of dedication and hard work needed, and I am confident of meeting the challenges. Interactions with your theoretical & technical expertise of the faculty and the environment in the University will add to my vision. Understanding this quest needs considerable persistence & an infinite capacity to learn. And if at all I can assure you of anything, it is my desire to learn, evinced by the fact, that I have always tried learning, whenever an opportunity presented itself at all points of my life Why Computers Science? I was thoroughly fascinated by the Computers and technology from my teenage days I always thought that computers was my career option as I was greatly influenced by my brother who is a successful person in this field .But for my undergraduate course I opted for the electronics and instrumentation due to the recession at that time because of which the future in computers was unclear. It was easy for me to go for electronics as it has been my subject of interest next to computers. I was introduced to the subjects C, Computer Organisation,Micro Processor& Micro Apllications, Java .Especially java in my 4th year of Btech and I started liking the subject instantly because during whole of my life I was amused with the OOPS concepts and its real time implementation in many domains,mobile applications. I wish to join the bandwagon in this field of study and would like to contribute something to it. It was only during my under graduate course that I discovered this to be an apt field of study that suited me and my passion for it grew much stronger and I felt reaching distances in this field is my destiny. so ,I have made ground myself and got successfully placed in multinational company(TCS). This is the place where i found myself and started developing penchant for programming and decided it as my career for future.As,I had my training in java and later my first project was on Cloud Computing technology,Salesforce( CRM tool) as a developer which has OOPS concepts with apex language as its programming core.My project was on insurance domain.I really felt that this is good opportunity to learn things and grabbed every opportunity to learn the concepts. As it was enterperneur tool , i had a good scope for analysing requirements and work accordingly to complete goals assigned to me on time . I had also pursued DEV 401 certification in Salesforce.This 13 months of job experience has made me to decide that programming would be my passion and decided have concrete skills in programming and decided to pursue masters in computer science. A thorough browsing through the web pages of your university helped me discover that your university is an ensemble of excellent faculty and innovative research facilities. An environment replete with extensive academic activity and a Master’s program at the cutting edge of every other sub-field further enticed me and motivated me to choose your university. I strongly feel that Masters in Computer Science Engineering Program from your University is a highly structured program because it provides the right balance between theory and practice.A premier seat of knowledge and information derived from the cream of intelligentsia coupled with excellent infrastructure is where I would get ample oppurtunities to apply knowledge and excel my programming skills to be a technical gem. I write to you with the earnest that my background and qualifications will be found suitable for admission to this prestigious program,Masters in Computer Science Engineering from your University. An assistantship besides providing financial support would give me an invaluable research/ teaching experience. I am keen to be a part of the student community at your esteemed university with suitable financial assistance. I am very much obliged to you for providing me with this opportunity to express myself.

Literature-based discovery of diabetes

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known mediators of cellular damage in multiple diseases including diabetic complications. Despite its importance, no comprehensive database is currently available for the genes associated with ROS. Methods We present ROS- and diabetes-related targets (genes/proteins) collected from the biomedical literature through a text mining technology. A web-based literature mining tool, SciMiner, was applied to 54 biomedical papers indexed with diabetes and ROS by PubMed to identify relevant targets.Over-represented targets in the ROS-diabetes literature were obtained through comparisons against randomly selected literature. The expression levels of nine genes, selected from the top ranked ROS-diabetes set, were measured in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of diabetic and non-diabetic DBA/2J mice in order to evaluate the biological relevance of literature- derived targets in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Results SciMiner identified 1,026 ROS- and diabet es-related targets from the 54 biomedical papers (http://Jdrf. eurology. med. umich. edu/ROSDiabetes/ webcite). Fifty-three targets were significantly over-represented in the ROS-diabetes literature ompared to randomly selected literature. These over-represented targets included well-known members of the oxidative stress response including catalase, the NADPH oxidase family, and the superoxide dismutase family of proteins. Eight of the nine selected genes exhibited significant differential expression between diabetic and non-diabetic mice.For six genes, the direction of expression change in diabetes paralleled enhanced oxidative stress in the DRG. Conclusions Literature mining compiled ROS-diabetes related targets from the biomedical literature and led us to evaluate the biological relevance of selected targets in the athogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body does not produce or properly respond to insulin, a hormone required to convert ca rbohydrates into energy for daily life. According to the American Diabetes Association, 23. million children and adults, approximately 7. 8% of the population in the United States, have diabetes [1]. The cost of diabetes in 2007 was estimated to be $174 billion [1]. The micro- and macro-vascular complications of diabetes are the most common causes of renal tailure, blindness and amputations leading to significant morta y, morbidity poor quality of life; however, incomplete understanding of the causes of diabetic complications hinders the development of mechanism-based therapies.In vivo and in vitro experiments implicate a number of enzymatic and non-enzymatic metabolic pathways in the initiation and progression of diabetic complications [2] including: (1) increased polyol pathway activity leading to sorbitol and fructose accumulation, NAD(P)-redox imbalances and changes in signal transduction; (2) non- enzymatic glycation of proteins yielding â€Å"advanced glycation end-productsâ €  (AGES); (3) ctivation of protein kinase C (PKC), initiating a cascade of intracellular stress responses; and (4) increased hexosamine pathway flux [2,3].Only recently has a link among these pathways been established that provides a unified mechanism of tissue damage. Each of these pathways directly and indirectly leads to overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [23]. ROS are highly reactive ions or small molecules including oxygen ions, free radicals and peroxides, formed as natural byproducts of cellular energy metabolism. ROS are implicated in multiple cellular pathways such as mitogen-activated protein kinase MAPK) signaling, c-Jun amino-terminal kinase ONK), cell proliferation and apoptosis [4-6].Due to the highly reactive properties of ROS, excessive ROS may cause significant damage to proteins, DNA, RNA and lipids. All cells express enzymes capable of neutralizing ROS. In addition to the maintenance of antioxidant systems such as glutathione and thioredoxins, pri mary sensory neurons express two main detoxifying enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD) [7] and catalase [8]. SOD converts superoxide (02-) to H202, which is reduced to H20 by glutathione and catalase [8].SODI is the main form of SOD in the cytoplasm; SOD2 is located within the itochondria. In neurons, SODI activity represents approximately 90% of total SOD activity and SOD2 approximately 10% [9]. Under diabetic conditions, this protective mechanism is overwhelmed due to the substantial increase in ROS, leading to cellular damage and dysfunction [10]. The idea that increased ROS and oxidative stress contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications has led scientists to investigate different oxidative stress pathways [7,11].Inhibition of ROS or maintenance of euglycemia restores metabolic and vascular imbalances and blocks both the initiation and progression of omplications [1 2,13]. Despite the significant implications and extensive research into the role of ROS in diabetes, n o comprehensive database regarding ROS-related genes or proteins is currently available. In the present study, a comprehensive list of ROS- and diabetes-related targets (genes/proteins) was compiled from the biomedical literature through text mining technology.SciMiner, a web-based literature mining tool [14], was used to retrieve and process documents and identify targets from the text. SciMiner provides a convenient web-based platform for target-identification within the biomedical iterature, similar to other tools including EBIMed [1 5], ALI BABA [16], and Polysearch [1 7]; however, SciMiner is unique in that it searches tull text documents, suppo free-text PubMed query style, and allows the comparison of target lists from multiple queries.The ROS-diabetes targets collected by SciMiner were further tested against randomly selected non-ROS-diabetes literature to identify targets that are significantly over- represented in the ROS-diabetes literature. Functional enrichment analyses were performed on these targets to identify significantly over-represented biological unctions in terms of Gene Ontology (GO) terms and pathways. In order to confirm the biological relevance of the over-represented ROS-diabetes targets, the gene expression levels of nine selected targets were measured in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) from mice with and without diabetes.DRG contain primary sensory neurons that relay information from the periphery to the central nervous system (CNS) Unlike the CNS, DRG are not protected by a blood-nerve barrier, and are consequently vulnerable to metabolic and toxic injury [19]. We hypothesize that differential expression of identified targets in DRG would confirm heir involvement in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Defining ROS-diabetes literature To retrieve the list of biomedical literature associated with ROS and diabetes, PubMed was queried using (â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] AND â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]).This que ry yielded 54 articles as of April 27, 2009. SciMiner, a web-based literature mining tool [14], was used to retrieve and process the abstracts and available full text documents to identify targets (full text documents were available for approximately 40% of the 1 , 1 54 articles). SciMiner-identified targets, eported in the form of HGNC [HUGO (Human Genome Organization) Gene Nomenclature Committee] genes, were confirmed by manual review of the text. Comparison with human curated data (NCBI Gene2PubMed) The NCBI Gene database provides links between Gene and PubMed.The links are the result of (1) manual curation within the NCBI via literature analysis as part of generating a Gene record, (2) integration of information from other public databases, and (3) GeneRlF (Gene Reference Into Function) in which human experts provide a brief summary of gene functions and make the connections between citation PubMed) and Gene databases. For the 54 ROS-diabetes articles, gene-paper associations we re retrieved from the NCBI Gene database. Non-human genes were mapped to homologous human genes through the NCBI HomoloGene database.The retrieved genes were compared against the SciMiner derived targets. Any genes missed by SciMiner were added to the ROS-diabetes target set. Protein-protein interactions among ROS-diabetes targets To indirectly examine the association of literature derived targets (by SciMiner and NCBI Gene2PubMed) with ROS and diabetes, protein-protein interactions (PPIs) mong the targets were surveyed This was based on an assumption that targets are more likely to have PPIs with each other if they are truly associated within the same biological functions/pathways.A PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets was generated using the Michigan Molecular Interactions (MIMI, http://mimi. ncibi. org/ webcite) database [20] and compared against 100 PPI networks of randomly drawn sets (the same number of the ROS-diabetes target set) from HUGO. A standard Z-test and one sample T-test were used to calculate the statistical significance of the ROS- diabetes PPI network with respect to the random PPI networks.Functional enrichment analysis Literature derived ROS-diabetes targets (by SciMiner and NCBI Gene2PubMed) were subject to functional enrichment analyses to identify significantly over-represented biological functions in terms of Gene Ontology [21], pathways (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG, http://www. genome. ]p/kegg/ webcite) [22] and Reactome http://www. reactome. org/ webcite[23]). Fisher's exact test [24] was used to calculate the statistical significance of these biological functions with BenJamini-Hochberg (BH) adjusted p-value ; 0. 5 [25] as the cut-off. Over-represented ROS-diabetes targets Defining background corpora To identify a subset of targets that are highly over-represented within the ROS- diabetes targets, the frequency of each target (defined as the number of documents in which the target was identified divided by the n umber of total documents in the query) was compared against the frequencies in randomly selected background corpora.Depending on how the background set is defined, over-represented targets may vary widely; therefore, to maintain the background corpora close to the ROS and diabetes context, documents were selected from the same Journal, volume, and issue f the 54 ROS-diabetes documents, but were NOT indexed with â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] nor â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]. For example, one of the ROS-diabetes articles (PMID: 18227068), was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Volume 283, Issue 16. This issue contained 85 papers, 78 of which were not indexed with either â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] or â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH] indexed.One of these 78 papers was randomly selected as a background document. Three sets of 54 documents were selected using this approach and processed using SciMiner. Identified targets were con firmed by manual review for accuracy. Identifying significantly over-represented targets ROS-diabetes targets were tested for over-representation against targets identified from the three background sets. Fisher's exact test was used to determine if the frequency of each target in the ROS-diabetes target set was significantly different from that of the background sets. Any targets with a BH adjusted p-value < 0. 5 in at least two of the three comparisons were deemed to be an over-represented ROS- diabetes target. Functional enrichment analyses were performed on these over- represented ROS-diabetes targets as described above. Selecting targets tor real-time R A subset of targets were selected for RT-PCR from the top 10 over-represented ROS- diabetes targets excluding insulin and NADPH oxidase 5 (NOX5), which does not have a mouse ortholog. Nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOSI), the main generator of nitric oxide, ranked at the 1 5th position and was additionally selected for inclusion in th e test set.Differential gene expression by real-time RT-PCR Mice DBA/2J mice were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME). Mice were housed in a pathogen-free environment and cared for following the University of Michigan Committee on the Care and Use of Animals guidelines. Mice were fed AIN76A chow (Research Diets, New Brunswick, NJ). Male mice were used for this study. Induction of diabetes Two treatment groups were defined: control (n = 4) and diabetic (n = 4). Diabetes was induced at 13 weeks of age by low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) injections, 50 mg/kg/day for five consecutive days.All diabetic mice received LinBit sustained release insulin implants (LinShin, Toronto, Canada) at 8 weeks post-STZ treatment. Insulin implants were replaced every 4 weeks, at 12 and 16 weeks post-STZ treatment. At 20 weeks post-STZ treatment, mice were euthanized by sodium pentobarbital overdose and DRG were harvested as previously described [26]. Real-time RT-PCR The gene expression o f the selected nine literature-derived ROS-diabetes targets in DRG was measured using real-time RT-PCR in duplicate.The amount of mRNA isolated from each DRG was normalized to an endogenous reference [Tbp: TATA box binding protein; A cycle threshold (CT)]. Identification of ROS-diabetes targets A total of 1,021 unique targets were identified by SciMiner from the 1,154 ROS- diabetes papers defined by the query of (â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] AND â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]) and confirmed by manual review. Table 1 contains the op 10 most frequently mentioned targets in the ROS-diabetes papers. Insulin was the most frequently mentioned target, followed by superoxide dismutase 1 and catalase. Table 1 .Top 10 most frequent ROS-diabetes targets The NCBI Gene2PubMed database, containing expert-curated associations between the NCBI Gene and PubMed databases, revealed 90 unique genes associated with the 54 ROS-diabetes papers (Additional File 1). SciMiner identified 85 out of these 90 targets, indicating a 94% recall rate. Five targets missed by SciMiner were added to the initial ROS-diabetes target set to result in 1,026 unique targets (Additional File 2). Additional tile 1. The list ot 90 genes trom the NCBI Gene2PubMed database tor the ROS-Diabetes literature (1 , 1 54 papers).Format: XLS Size: 35KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 2. The list of 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 229KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets The PPI network among the ROS-diabetes targets was evaluated using MIMI interaction data. This was based on the assumption that targets commonly related to certain topic are more likely to have frequent interactions with each other.One hundred PPI networks were generated for comparison using the same number of genes (1,026) randomly selected from the complete HUGO gene set (2 5,254). The PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets was significantly different from the randomly generated networks indicating their strong association with the topic â€Å"ROS and Diabetes†. Table 2 demonstrates that the mean number of targets with any PPI interaction in the randomly generated target sets was 528. 9 (approximately 52% of 1,026 targets), while the number of targets with any PPI interaction in the ROS- iabetes target was 983 (96%).The number of targets interacting with each other was also significantly different between the random networks (mean = 155. 4) and the ROS-diabetes network (mean = 879). Figure 1 illustrates the distributions of these measurements from the 100 random networks with the ROS-diabetes set depicted as a red vertical line. It is obvious that the PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets is significantly different from the random networks. Table 2. Summary of 100 randomly generated PPI networks thumbnailFigure 1 . Histograms of randomly gene rated PPI networks.The histograms llustrate the distributions of 100 randomly generated networks, while the red line indicates the ROS-diabetes targets. The network of the ROS-diabetes targets is significantly different from the 100 randomly generated networks, indicating the overlap of ROS-diabetes targets with respect to the topic â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species and Diabetes†. Functional enrichment analyses of the ROS-diabetes targets Functional enrichment analyses of the 1,026 ROS-diabetes targets were performed to identify over-represented biological functions of the ROS-diabetes targets.After BenJamini-Hochberg correction, a total of 189 molecular functions, 450 biological rocesses, 73 cellular components and 341 pathways were significantly enriched in the ROS-diabetes targets when compared against all the HUGO genes (see Additional Files 3, 4, 5 and 6 for the full lists). Table 3 lists the top 3 most over-represented GO terms and pathways ranked by p-values of Fisher's ex act test: e. g. , apoptosis, oxidoreductase activity and insulin signaling pathway. Additional file 3. The enriched Molecular Functions Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 91 KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 4. The nriched Biological Processes Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 95KB Download file This tile can be viewed wit Microsott Excel Vieweropen Data Additional tile enriched Cellular Components Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 61 KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 6. The enriched pathways in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 104KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Table 3. Enriched functions of 1,026 ROS-diabetes targets Identification of over-represented ROS-diabetes targets To identify th e ROS-diabetes targets highly over-represented in ROS-diabetes literature, three sets of background corpora of the same size (n = 1 , 1 54 documents) were generated using the same Journal, volume and issue approach. The overlap among the three background sets in terms of documents and identified targets are illustrated in Figure 2.Approximately 90% of the selected background documents were unique to the individual set, while 50% of the identified targets were identified in at least one of the three background document sets. The frequencies of the identified targets were compared among the background sets for significant differences. None of the targets had a BH adjusted p-value ; 0. 05, indicating no significant difference among the targets from the three different background sets (See Additional File 7). thumbnailFigure 2. Venn diagrams of document compositions and identified targets of the randomly generated background sets.Approximately 90% of the selected background documents we re unique to individual set (A), while 50% of the identified targets were identified in at least one of the three background document sets (B). Additional file 7. Comparisons of target frequencies among three background sets. Format: XLS Size: 22KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Comparisons of the ROS-diabetes targets against these background sets revealed 53 highly over- represented ROS-diabetes targets as listed in Table 4.These 53 targets were significant (p-value ; 0. 05) against all three background sets and significant following BenJamini-Hochberg multiple testing correction (BH adjusted p-value ; 0. 05) against at least two of the three background sets. SODI was the most over-represented in he ROS-diabetes targets. Table 4. 53 targets over-represented in ROS-diabetes literature Functional enrichment analyses of the over-represented ROS-diabetes targets Functional enrichment analyses of the 53 ROS-diabetes targets were performed to identify over- represented biological functions.Following BenJamini-Hochberg correction, a total of 65 molecular functions, 209 biological processes, 26 cellular components and 108 pathways were significantly over-represented when compared against all the HUGO genes (see Additional Files 8, 9, 10 and 11 for the full lists). Table 5 shows the top 3 ost significantly over-represented GO terms and pathways ranked by p-values of Fisher's exact test. GO terms related to oxidative stress such as â€Å"superoxide metabolic process†, â€Å"superoxide release†, â€Å"electron carrier activity† and â€Å"mitochondrion† were highly over-represented 53 ROS-diabetes targets Additional file 8.The enriched Molecular Functions Gene Ontology Terms in the Over- represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 46KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 9. The enriched Biological Processes Gene Ontology Terms in the Over-represented 53 ROS- Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 95KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 10. The enriched Cellular Components Gene Ontology Terms in the Over-represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 66KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 1 1 . The enriched pathways in the Over-represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 75KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Table 5. Enriched functions of the 53 over-represented targets in diabetes Gene expression change in iabetes Two groups of DBA/2J mice exhibited significantly different levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (%GHb). The mean ? ± SEM were 6. 2 ? ± 0. for the non-diabetic control group and for 14. 0 ? ± 0. 8 for the diabetic group (p-value < 0. 001), indicative of prolonged hyperglycemia in the diabetic group [26]. DRG were harvested from these animals for gene expression assays. Nine genes were selected from the top ranked ROS-diabetes targets: superoxide dismutase 1 (Sodl), catalase (Cat), xanthine dehydrogenase (Xdh), protein kinase C alpha (Prkca), neutrophil cytosolic factor 1 Ncfl), nitric oxide synthase 3 (Nos3), superoxide dismutase 2 (Sod2), cytochrome b-245 alpha (Cyba), and nitric oxide synthase 1 (Nosl).Eight genes exhibited differential expression between diabetic and non-diabetic mice (p-value < 0. 05) as shown in Figure 3. Cat, Sodl, Sod2, Prkca, and NOSI expression levels were decreased, while Ncfl , Xdh, and Cyba expression levels were increased in diabetes. thumbnailFigure 3. Gene expression levels of selected ROS-diabetes targets in DRG examined by real-time RT-PCR. Expression levels are relative to Tbp, an internal control (error bar = SEM) (*, p < 0. 05; **, p < 0. 01; ***, p < 0. 01). Eight (Cat, Sodl, Ncfl , Xdh, Sod2, Cyba, Prkca, and Nosl) out of the nine selected ROS-diabetes genes were sign ificantly regulated by diabetes. Discussion Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are products of normal energy metabolism and play important roles in many other biological processes such as the immune response and signaling cascades [4-6]. As mediators of cellular damage, ROS are implicated in pathogenesis of multiple diseases including diabetic complications [27-30].With the aid of literature mining technology, we collected 1 ,026 possible ROS-related targets from a set of biomedical literature indexed with both ROS and diabetes. Fifty-three targets were significantly over-represented in the ROS-diabetes papers when compared against three background sets. Depending on how the background set is defined, the over-represented targets may vary widely. An ideal background set would be the entire PubMed set; however, this is not possible due to limited access to tull texts and intense data processing.An alternative method wou d be to use only abstracts in PubMed, but this may not fully represen t the literature. Using only the abstracts, our target identification method resulted in 21 (39%) of the 53 key ROS- iabetes targets (Additional File 12), suggesting the benefit of rich information in full text documents. In the present study, background documents were randomly selected from the same Journal, volume, and issue of the 54 ROS-diabetes documents, which were not indexed with â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] nor â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH].This approach maintained the background corpora not far from the ROS and diabetes context. Additional file 12. The Key 53 ROS-Diabetes Targets Identifiable Using Only the Abstracts. Format: XLS Size: 23KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data The gene expression evels of nine targets selected from the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets were measured in diabetic and non-diabetic DRG. Our laboratory is particularly interested in deciphering the underlying mechanisms of diab etic neuropathy, a major complication of diabetes.Data published by our laboratory both in vitro and in vivo confirm the negative impact of oxidative stress in complication-prone neuron tissues like DRG In an effort to obtain diabetic neuropathy specific targets, SciMiner was employed to further analyze a subset of the ROS-diabetes papers (data not shown). Nerve growth factor (NGF) was identified as the most over- epresented target in this subset when compared to the full ROS-diabetes set; however, NGF did not have statistical significance (BH adjusted p-value = 0. 06). The relatively small numbers of papers and associated targets may have contributed to this non-significance.Therefore, the candidate targets for gene expression validation were selected from among the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets derived from the full ROS-diabetes corpus. Among the tested genes, the expression levels of Cat, Sodl , Sod2, Prkca, and NOSI were decreased, while the expression levels of Ncfl , Xdh, and Cyba were increased nder diabetic conditions. Cat, Sodl , and Sod2 are responsible for protecting cells from oxidative stress by destroying superoxides and hydrogen peroxides [8-11]. Decreased expression of these genes may result in oxidative stress [32].Increased expression of Cyba and Ncfl , subunits of superoxide-generating nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase complex [30], also supports enhanced oxidative stress. Xdh and its inter-convertible form, Xanthine oxidase (Xod), showed increased activity in various rat tissues under oxidative stress conditions ith diabetes [33], and also showed increased expression in diabetic DRG in the current study. Unlike the above concordant genes, protein kinase C and nitric oxide synthases did not exhibit predicted expression changes in diabetes.Protein kinase C activates NADPH oxidase, further promoting oxidative stress in the cell [34,35]. Decreased expression of Prkca in our diabetic DRG is not parallel with expression levels of other enzymes expected to increase oxidative stress. Between the two nitric oxide synthases tested in the present study, NOSI (neuronal) expression was significantly decreased (p-value < 0. 01) in diabetes, while Nos3 (endothelial) expression was not significant (p-value = 0. 06). The neuronal NOSI is expected to play a major role in producing nitric oxide, another type of highly reactive free radical.Thus, with some exceptions, the majority of the differentially expressed genes in DRG show parallel results to the known activities of these targets in diabetes, suggesting enhanced oxidative stress in the diabetic DRG. Assessment of antioxidant enzyme expression in diabetes has yielded a variety of results [36-40] depending upon the duration of diabetes, the tissue studied and other factors. In diabetic mice and rats, it is commonly reported that superoxide dismutases are down-regulated [37-40], where data regarding catalase are variable [36,40].PKC is activated i n diabetes, but most papers that examined mRNA demonstrated that its expression is largely unchanged [41]. Among the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets, SODI was the most over- represented and was differentially expressed under diabetic and non-diabetic conditions. To the best of our knowledge, no published study has investigated the role of SODI in the onset and/or progression of diabetic neuropathy. Mutations of SODI have long been associated with the inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) [42] and the theory of oxidative stress-based aging [43].Early reports indicate that knockout of the SODI gene does not affect nervous system development [44], although recovery following injury is slow and incomplete [45,46]. With respect to diabetes, SODI KO accelerates the development of diabetic nephropathy [47] and cataract formation [48]. Thus, examining the SODI KO mouse as a model of diabetic neuropathy would be a reasonable follow-up study. One limitation of the cur rent approach using literature mining technology is incorrect r missed identification of the mentioned targets within the literature.Based on a performance evaluation using a standard text set BioCreAtlvE (Critical Assessment of Information Extraction systems in Biology) version 2 [49], SciMiner achieved 87. 1% recall (percentage identification of targets in the given text), 71. 3% precision (percentage accuracy of identified target) and 75. 8% F-measure (harmonious average of recall and precision = (2 x recall x precision)/(recall + precision)) before manual revision [14]. In order to improve the accuracy of SciMiner's results, each target was anually reviewed and corrected by checking the sentences in which each target was identified.Approximately, 120 targets (†10% of the initially identified targets from the ROS-diabetes papers) were removed during the manual review process. The overall accuracy is expected to improve through the review process; however, the review process did not address targets missed by SciMiner, since we did not thoroughly review individual papers. Instead, 5 missed targets, whose associations with ROS-diabetes literature were available in the NCBI Gene2PubMed database, were added to the final ROS-diabetes target list (Additional File 2).