Market Segmentation Essay

An organization cannot satisfy all the needs and wants of all the consumers. Therefore, Market is divided into different segments so an organization can focus on the needs and wants of the specific consumers who share similar needs and demonstrate similar buyer behavior. In the world, there are different types of buyers with their own needs and behavior. Segmentation is the process to match groups of the purchasers with same needs and wants. Market segmentation: The division of a market into different groups or the process of splitting customers in a market into different groups or segments, within which customers show similar buying behavior and share a similar level of interest in the same set of needs and wants satisfied by a marketer is called Market segmentation. Reasons for segmentation of market: The reason for segmenting a market is to allow your marketing program to focus only on the segment that is most likely to buy your offering. Market segmentation makes possible how to use marketing mix for different target markets. A company is then able to determine which groups of customers are best suited to serve and which product and service offers will meet the needs of the customers and will satisfy them. Therefore, the main objective of segmentation must be how to win and retain the customers you want to serve. If the segmentation process is done properly then it will insure the maximum return for your marketing and sales expenditures, depending on what you are selling and whether you are selling your offerings to individual consumers or a business. Levels of Market Segmentation †¢Segment Marketing †¢Individual Marketing †¢Niche Marketing †¢Local Marketing Segment Marketing: Dividing the market into different segments on the basis of homogenous need. Segmented on basis of broad similarity with regard to some attributes. Segmentation is also sometimes identifying, capturing & retaining potential new markets. Individual Marketing: Extreme marketing in which marketers focus on individual customers. Keep track of individual tastes & preferences of individual customers. Many companies are approaching individuals through e-mails to promote their products. Niche Marketing: Marketer’s effort to position their product or service in smaller markets that have similar attributes and have been neglected by other marketer. Segment further divided into sub segments to cater unsatisfied needs of small group is called as niche. Local Marketing: Marketers offer customized products to suit the local markets. McDonalds introduced â€Å"Muslimized† or â€Å"Arabic† products such as Big Mac, Halal Chicken, Mac Arabia, and more†¦ Variables to Segment the Market: There are a number of segmentation variables that allow an organization to divide their market into homogenous groups. These variables will be discussed briefly below: †¢Geographic †¢Demographic †¢Psychographic †¢Behavioral Geographic segmentation It is based on regional variables such as region, climate, population density, and population growth rate. Geographic segmentation divides markets into different geographical areas. Marketers use geographic segmentation because consumers in different parts of world vary in characteristics and behaviors. An area can be divided by the town, the region or the country. If you are an organization working on a global scale you may divide by global regions such as Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Example: McDonalds globally, sell burgers aimed at local markets, for example, They also offer vegetable burgers in India due to lots of vegetarians and burgers are made from lamb in India rather than beef because of religious issues also. In Mexico more chili sauce is added and so on. In Muslim countries halal food is offered. In Arabic countries Arabic food is offered like Mc Arabia. Demographic Segmentation It is based on variables such as age, gender, ethnicity, education, occupation, income, and family status. Demographics originate from the word ‘demography’ which means a ‘study of population’. The population can be divided into age, gender, income, and family lifecycle amongst other variables. As people age their needs and wants change, some organizations develop specific products aimed at particular age groups. Gender segmentation is commonly used within the cosmetics, clothing and magazine industry. Income segmentation is another strategy used by many organizations Products and services are also aimed at different lifecycle segments. Examples: ïÆ'ËœFor different age groups: Nappies for babies, toys for children, clothes for teenagers and so on. Introduction of Maxim, (www.maxim-magazine.co.uk)A male lifestyle magazine covering male fashion, films, cars, sports and technology. Psychographic Segmentation: oIt is based on variables such as values, attitudes, opinions, interests, personality and lifestyle. oIt is used highly in the hospitality industry oVALS (Values And Lifestyles) Principle Oriented- principles or beliefs rather than feelings, events, or desire for approval. Status Oriented- status or other people’s actions, approval, or opinions. ï‚ §Action Oriented- action prompted by a desire for social or physical activity, variety, and risk taking. Behavioral Segmentation: It is based on variables such as usage rate and patterns, price sensitivity, brand loyalty, and benefits sought. It refers to why people purchase a product or service. How will the product enhance their overall lifestyle? Occasion is another variable. When should a product be purchased? Occasion segmentation aims to increase the ‘reason to buy factor’ and thus increase sales. Usage rate divides customers into light, medium and heavy users. Heavy users obviously contribute more to turnover then light or medium users, the objective of an organization should be to attract heavy users who will make a greater contribution to company sales. It is based on benefits people seek when buying a product. It is based on Total satisfaction from a service rather than individual benefits. Examples: When someone is going out to dinner McDonalds and local restaurant will not come in the same breathe for choices of where to go. When purchasing a computer the benefit sought will be of ‘ease of use’. ïÆ'ËœThe demand for turkeys increases during Christmas, flowers and chocolates on mother’s day and so on.

Alzheimer’s Disease Amyloid Precursor Protein Gene

Alzheimer’s disease, AD, is a distressing condition that involves the decline in cognition of the mind which results to psychotic disorder, and affective and behavioral disturbances (Bloom 9). It is a progressive central nervous system disorder and the main cause of dementia (Stavljenic-Rukavina 1). Alois Alzheimer in 1907 reported the case of a 51-year old Frankfurt woman who died in dementia (Bloom 9). He described the neuropathological condition of the woman with neurofibrillary tangles or NFTs and amyloid plaques or NPs (Bloom10). NPs are extracellular beta-amyloid peptide or A?Spherical deposits closely related to dendrites, reactive astrocytes, dystrophic axons, and activated microglia (Felician and Sandson 19). Thus, for several decades, collaborative efforts of experts from different scientific and medicinal endeavors were devoted for the neurological and pathophysiological characterization of this disease (Bloom 9). As such, the roles of four specified genes, as well as the mechanism of oxidative stress, tau, inflammation, hormonal changes, and inflammation on the AD’s neurodegeneration have been the central theme of scientific studies conducted on this disease (Felician and Sandson 19).As experts continuously gained insights on the mechanisms of neurodegeneration, pharmacological strategies are concurrently devised for the development of appropriate drug treatment and interventions (Felician and Sandson 19). Molecular Mechanism Early and late onset ADs are types of familial AD which are genetically heterogeneous. Familial AD is accounted for 10% of AD cases from 30-60 year old patients and ascribed to three types of genes which included APP, presenilin-1 or PSEN1 and presenilin-2 or PSEN2 (Stavljenic-Rukavina, 1).Nonetheless, the mutations in these genes also cause A? -level increase; A? is generated by proteolytic APP fragment that was also observed in the brains of AD patients (Stavljenic-Rukavina, 2). However, not all AD cases can be attributed to the three identified genes. Genes are then the most important determinant of AD development (Stavljenic-Rukavina, 2). On the other hand, there is a great chance for children with parents having history of familial AD to inherit the genetic traits and develop either early-onset or late-onset AD (Jayadev et.al. 375). As well, AD development threat in the offspring is directly related to age; the tendency of AD occurrence among children of parents with historical AD background increases as the children gain progress in their growth and development (Jayadev et. al. 375). The pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, on cellular level, has been consistently observed. The pyramidal neurons are the type of cortical cells that are fundamentally deteriorated in AD pathogenesis resulting to the spread of NPs and NFTs in cortex areas (Felician and Sandson 20).Both NPs and NFTs are normally found in brain areas in the aging process but their concentrations and densities are pecu liar in the case of AD (Felician and Sandson 20). Originally, NPs are found at the amygdala and concentrated in parietal association and order temporal cortex parts (Felician and Sandson 20). In the maturity of AD, NPs can also be observed in hippocampus, in other structures of mesial temporolimbic brain, and even in cortical and meningeal blood vessels (Felician and Sandson 20).Luckily, the areas for sensorimotor and visual are remained unaffected. Meanwhile, in the early stage of AD, NFTs can be found hippocampus, amygdala, and in entorhinal cortex, the association cortex has abundance of NFTs (Felician and Sandson 20). However, NFTs are not exclusively for the cases of AD, these are also detected in the several cerebral troubles like in dementia pugilistica, postencephalitic parkinsonism, and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (Felician and Sandson 20). The formation of NPs is attributed to the A ? peptide deposition; A ?peptide types that only differ in C-terminal are common in cerebrovascular and extracellular plaques (Felician and Sandson 19). A ? peptide, made up of 39-43 amino acids, is normally generated from APP or amyloid precursor protein. In addition, the series of hydrophobic C-terminal is crucial in its solubility and amyloid formation rate (Felician and Sandson 19). As such, A ? with 40 amino acids, A ? 40, as well as A? peptide with 42 and 43 amino acids or A? 42 and A ? 43 respectively (Felician and Sandson 19). However, in vitro, the variants of A?42 and A? 43 can easily form insoluble fibrils as compared with the A? 40 variant (Felician and Sandson 19). Furthermore, the incubation of these A? variants can immediately lead to coalescence implying the possible amyloid plaque deposition through these components. In line with this, diffuse plaques have nonfibrillary and A? soluble constituents denoting the senile plaques’ early stage (Felician and Sandson 19). Likewise, diffuse plaques have A? deposits in the absence of neuritic degener ation (Felician and Sandson 19).On the other hand, neurofibrillary tangles, comprised of abnormal bundles of intraneuronal filaments, are made up of tau microtubule-associated protein with high degree of phosphorylation (Felician and Sandson 19). The degree of phosphorylation is largely dependent on the enzymatic activities of kinases that are not yet fully understood (Felician and Sandson 19). Nevertheless, the intraneuronal abnormal filaments arrange themselves in either parallel or helical bundles in perikaryotic cytoplasm that make them in contact with the dentritic processes (Felician and Sandson 19).The amyloid precursor protein, a membrane glycoprotein, is consisted of 28 A? extracellular residues and 12 to 15 putative transmembrane residues (Felician and Sandson 20). It also occurs as 695, 751, and 770-amino acid isoform. While the 695-amino acid isoform occurs mainly in neurons, 770 and 751-amino acid forms are seen on both non-neural and neural cells along with protease in hibitor domains (Felician and Sandson 20). APPs are carried into the cell membrane by secretory vesicles and may undergo proteolytic bond breakage through the action of ?-secretase (Felician and Sandson 20). Consequently, this cleavage generates ? -APP, a soluble ectodomain and the precursor for A? peptide production through cleavage in A? domain. As the generation of soluble APP is, in vitro, ascribed with the activity of protein kinase C, uncleaved APP is inferred to take the proteolytic pathway (Felician and Sandson 20). On the other hand, APP intracerllular recycling and management are done through endocytotic or endosome-lysosome means. The endocytotic route causes proteolytic cleavages by means of ?– and ? -secratases leading to the synthesis of A? (Felician and Sandson 20). Moreover, A? production is enhanced by intracellular calcium concentration which denoted the significance of calcium-rich proteases in A? production (Felician and Sandson 20). In vivo, APP cleavage occurs at N-terminus at the A? -region through the action of ? -secretase and at the C-terminus by means of ? -secretase activity (Mohan 1). Also, APP can take a pathway facilitated by ? -secretase at the A? -peptide domain producing soluble ? -APP (Mohan 1).Ezymes can also possibly attack APP without A? -peptide generation (Stavljenic-Rukavina, 1). Since the putative ? -secretase, under the control of kinase C, regulates the generation of soluble APP, any agents that supports this metabolism may hinder the A? production (Felician and Sandson 21). As well, A? deposition may also be lessened by drugs which inhibit APP cleavage into ? – and ? -secratases (Felician and Sandson 21). Nonetheless, agents that can impede A? coalescence would decrease its neurotoxicity effects (Felician and Sandson 21).After the formation of amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and inflammation dictates the death of neurons (Stavljenic-Rukavina 1). In relation to this, microglia and astrocytes ce lls of the brain are heavily affected by inflammatory process (Stavljenic-Rukavina 1). In AD patients, astrocytes are enlarged and produce prostaglandin which in turn sends signal to activate the inflammation mediated by arachidonic acid (Stavljenic-Rukavina, 1). On the other hand, microglia generates free radicals which cause neurons’ death (Stavljenic-Rukavina 1).Meanwhile, cell nutrients as well as its regulation components are transported through the microtubules in which structural properties are mainly dependent on tau protein (Stavljenic-Rukavina 1). In AD condition, the tau lessens its capability to bind with microtubules and binds with other tau protein resulting to knots of helical filaments called as neurofibrillary tangles (Stavljenic-Rukavina 1). APP Duplication is Sufficient to Cause Early Onset Alzheimer’s Dementia with Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Studies showed that A? encoding through APP gene expression leads to the development of Alzheimer-type demen tia (Sleegers et.al. 2977). APP genetic expression results to elevated levels of A? 42, a 42-amino acid product of the proteolytic process (Sleegers et. al. 2977). Aside from the cleavage of APP into alpha, beta, and gamma secretases, high APP genetic expression results to elevated levels of A? 42 and A? deposition (Sleegers et. al. 2977). Meanwhile, it has been long known that APP level triplication in Down’s syndrome patients results to the development of Alzheimer type dementia at early stage; the APP excessive expression leads to neurodegeneration and A? deposition (Sleegers et. al.2977). In relation to this, it was reported that families with cerebral amyloid angiopathy and early onset Alzheimer type dementia had APP genomic duplications which implied that APP over-expression, without full trisomy 21, has triggered the Alzheimer-type dementia (Sleegers et. al. 2977). In addition, Alzheimer-type dementia patients have elevated APP mRNA levels in their brains (Sleegers et. al. 2977). Further, the variation on the transcription of APP gene due to genetic factors was believed as the underpinning factor in the pathogenesis of the disease (Sleegers et.al. 2978). In fact, three APP mutations were observed on Alzheimer-type early-onset dementia patients. These mutations, as seen in vitro by means of trisomy 21, caused a two-fold elevation of in APP transcriptions (Sleegers et. al. 2978). With the aforementioned evidences on APP elevation through APP genomic mutations or duplications which resulted to the development of early onset AD, it could logically infer that A? has a crucial role in its aetiology (Sleegers et.al. 2978). Hence, for the evaluation of APP locus duplication on Alzheimer-type dementia cases, Sleegers et. al. conducted a study on Dutch population with early onset Alzheimer-type dementia patients. Material and Methods In the approval of the University of Antwerp medical ethical committee, the respondents of this research were recruited form an epidemiological study on early onset AD in several provinces of The Netherlands and in Rotterdam (Sleegers et. al. 2978).Patients with early-onset dementia diagnosis were enlisted based on the recommendation of medical experts and healthcare providers. As such, the assessment of the patients’ conditions was done in accordance with the standards of the Stroke-Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association, and the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders (Sleegers et. al. 2978). Medical records of the patients and their respective relative with similar trait inheritance were made available for an in-depth examination.Meanwhile, for the assessment of genetic inheritance, 111 patients with ages 33 to 65 years old of which had 75 respondents with familial background of either late or early-onset of dementia and 10 of which have autosomal dominant inheritance history for several generations of their respective clans were studied (Sleegers et . al. 2978). The genomic DNA or gDNA was derived from lymphocytes and alleles of APP were measured by means of real-time polymerase chain reaction, PCR (Sleegers et. al. 2978).Also, the PrimerExpress software was utilized for the design of ? 2-microglubulin or hB2M, exon 5, 11, and 18, ubiquitin C or hUBC, ATP5J, APP, and GABPA (Sleegers et. al. 2978). As the APP alleles were normalized for hB2M and hUBC, 20 nanograms of genomic DNA were combined with the PCR and 400 nanomoles of the respective primers (Sleegers et. al. 2978). Finally, the duplication of the samples was done by means of dosage quotients or DQs calculation through six normal individuals and dementia patients.Patients with trisonomy 21 were also included as controls (Sleegers et. al. 2978). Fluorescence in situ hybridization, FISH, was utilized to determine APP genomic duplication (Sleegers et. al. 2978). FISH was performed on both interphase nuclei and metaphase chromosomes while the Epstein-Barr virus-transformed pa tients’ lymphoblasts were taken from the metaphase period by means of 0. 1 microgram/milliliter colcemid treatment and incubated, at 37 °C for 25 minutes, in hypotonic solution of 1 molar sodium hydroxide, 30 millimolar glycerol, 0.8 millimolar magnesium chloride, 2 millimolar HEPES, and 1 millimolar calcium chloride (Sleegers et. al. 2978). This suspension then was used for 106 cells per milliliter as the chromosomes’ mechanical stretching was done through cyto-centrifugation. On the other hand, the Multiplex Amplicon Quantification, MAQ, was applied in the detection of APP locus duplication. MAQ was comprised of multiplex PCR amplification of the reference amplicons and targets which were tainted with fluorescent substance (Sleegers et. al. 2978).After MAQ, DNA fragment analysis, and comparison target amplicon DQ between control individuals and the patients were done (Sleegers et. al. 2979). Results and Discussion Real-time PCR APP measurements of 10 probands showe d heterozygous duplication (Sleegers et. al. 2982). Based on the Dutch population sample, APP duplication along with segregation pattern and neuropathology tantamount to autosomal dominant inheritance and AD with excessive CAA were identified with APP duplication in a family (Sleegers et. al. 2982).Specifically, the genomic APP locus duplication were observed in five of the 65 family cases with early onset AD autosomal dominance while APP duplication was detected in a single out of ten family cases early-onset AD autosomal dominance (Sleegers et. al. 2982). Even though these numbers are small, the data generated from this study illuminated the significance of genomic APP locus duplication assessment when simple mutations were excluded in AD known genes (Sleegers et. al. 2982). In the 65 patients with familial AD history, a single genomic duplication was identified (Sleegers et. al. 2982).In addition, the genomic duplications among the Dutch samples have 1. 8% overall frequency and 2 . 7% frequency in AD patients and family (Sleegers et. al. 2982). In contrast, duplication was failed to be detected on 36 patients with irregular early-onset AD which denoted that the duplication of de novo genomic APP is a weak cause of early-onset Alzheimer-type dementia (Sleegers et. al. 2982). Moreover, the duplication observed among the Dutch family samples has only APP which proved that genomic APP duplication, regardless of adjacent genes, has the capacity for AD and CAA mixed phenotype (Sleegers et.al. 2982). As well, duplication size differences signified the non-specific recombination substrate from the genomic attributes of APP locus; APP rather is in increased recombination region as imparted by other factors such as low transcription repeats (Sleegers et. al. 2982). Nevertheless, the mutation that affects APP expression among 4. 5% of the Dutch participants that either genomic APP duplication or APP mutation promoter carrier, are the frequent cause of Alzheimer-type de mentia (Sleegers et. al. 2982). Polymorphism in the Promoter of the Human APP GeneThe cleavage of APP produces A? with associated neurotoxicity; hence, genetic studies postulated that abnormal A? deposition neuropathologic AD conditions (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1793). The abnormal deposition of A? in AD patients has been ascribed to APP gene missence mutations and the proteolytic APP cleavage producing A? 42 which in turn triggers the development of early-onset AD (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1793). The most solid proof for this notion is the case on trisomy 21 wherein the duplication of APP gene results to increased A?peptide level and aggregation of such in the amyloid plaques of the brain (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1793). While the presenilin enyzymes enhance fibrillogenic APP conversion, the APOE or alipolipoprotein-E elevates A? coalescence and deposition (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1793). Since A? production is associated with APP con centration and on other factors in both A? and APP syntheses, it was hypothesized that the expression of APP gene is a determinant of AD development (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1793).Recently, a study reported the weak relation between AD inheritance and microsatellite sequence in the APP first intron and a tetranucleotide non-association with AD (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). Hence, to further scrutinize this issue, Athan et. al. anchored their study on APP promoter variant screening in tri-ethnic populations which included white, Caribbean Hispanic, and African-American as they intended to determine APP promoter identities. MethodologyThe respondents in this study were Manhattan residents of Washington Heights with ages of more than 65 years (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). Personal interview and medical background check, neuropsychological, physical and neurological examinations were done on the participants. In addition, individuals with quest ionable dementia, Parkinson disease, and other types of dementia were excluded in the study. Consequently, a total of 1,077 participants was successfully enlisted, whereas, 16% of them has family history of stroke (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794).For genotyping, DNA from 1,013 respondents was taken as the panel of neuropsychologists and physicians established the criteria for the identification of AD patients along with the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). The oligonucleotide primers used for APP promoter PCR amplification came from GenBank (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). From genomic DNAs and by means of Platinum Taq DNA Polymerase, the fragments were amplified while the product sequence was determined through dye terminators (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794).Meanwhile, 15 microliter of the PCR products was introduced into WAVE fragment DNA analyzer (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). The haplotyp es PCR products were individually cloned through pGL3 vector in between SacI and Bg III sites (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). On the other hand, U-87 MG glioma cells were cultured with the solution of Earle’s balanced salt and 2 millimolar L-glutamine with 10% fecal calf serum in EMEM medium (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794).At 70% confluence, the cells were transferred by means of FuGene 6 reagent and pGL3 vectors were added to transfected DNA to maintain a constant concentration of about 1 microgram per plate of 35 squared millimeter (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). While the isotonic solution of phosphate-buffered sodium chloride was used to wash the U-87 cells, the 250 microliter Reporter Lysis Buffer was applied for cell lysis (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794).After this, the centrifugation of the cell extract was done at 10,000 g for five minutes. From the supernatant, 20-microliter aliquot was taken and combined with 100 mic roliter Luciferase Assay Buffer for luciferase activity measurement (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). Then, with 10-20 microliters of the lysate ? -galactosidase assays were performed. This ? -galactosidase measurement was utilized for the normalization of the luciferase data (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794).Each allele was counted and by sample proportion calculation, the frequencies were computed (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). For the ethic group comparison of allele frequency, chi square analysis was applied while logistic regression was utilized for APP promoter and AD polymorphisms odd-ratio calculation (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). As well, for each ethnic group, logistic regression was employed as the data were classified with respect to the APOE allele’s occurrence or non-occurrence as education and age discrepancies were adjusted.Finally, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was analyzed through chi square analysis while the e thnic comparison of APP promoter and AD polymorphisms odd-ratio calculation as their education, age, and sex were adjusted (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1794). Results and Discussion Two types of APP promoter polymorphisms were detected and identified, with respect to the starting site of the transcription, as G>C at +37 and G>C at -9 variants (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1797).In connection to this, +37C allele was typically observed among 18% African-American respondents while European and Caribbean-Hispanic have 3% and 10% respectively (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1797). Although +37C allele was commonly observed among AD patients, the adjustment of their socio-demographic attributes with respect to this allele produced non-significant observations (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1797). Also, -9C allele was hardly detected for disease association.On the other hand, even though the adjustment with respect to socio-demographic traits was made, still a strong link was found between APOE allele and AD (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1797). Moreover, the evaluation of both +37C and -9C allele variants in U-87 glioma cells through promoter-reporter assays has resulted to non-significant promoter activity (Athan, Lee, Arriaga, Mayeux, and Tyco1797). The early onset, less than 60 years old, of AD has been ascribed to APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2 while the late stage, greater than 65 years old, AD development has not yet fully explained by the genetic model (Waring and Rosenberg 329).The development of AD in late age stage was associated with APOE and to other reported genetic variants and alleles, however, they still insufficient to plausibly explain the mechanism involved in the AD occurrence (Waring and Rosenberg 329). Summary Alzheimer ’s disease is a progressive degeneration of the capacity of the mind for cognition thus affecting the psychological and affective attributes of the inflicted individual.Based on genome-wide stu dy, children of parents with familial Alzheimer’s disease are more prone to inherit and develop this condition either as they take progress in their growth and development or at the senescence stage of their lives (Jayadev et. al. 375). The primary pointed culprit for this cognitive deterioration is the beta-amyloid peptide which is a part of amyloid precursor protein. APP passes through the fatty membrane of the cells and delineated in the different areas of the brain, even though, the normal function has not yet been fully known.As APP is attacked by enzymes, fragments are generated including A? -peptide with associated neurotoxicity. Sleegers et. al. in 2006 found the coincidence of cerebral amyloid angiopathy with Alzheimer’s disease in a Dutch multigenerational family. This genomic duplication was attributed solely to APP gene expression that was also observed in 65 Dutch families with early-onset of AD cases. However, APP locus duplication was not observed in 36 AD patients that signified the case of de novo mutation. On the other hand, Athan et. al.in 2002 reported the two types of APP promoter polymorphism which involved +37C and –9C alleles. Moreover, they found a strong link between AD inheritance and the apolipoprotein-E role. In this connection, the genetic traits of every individual should be scientifically scrutinized for an accurate determination and identification of the substance involved in the development of the disease in parallel with its molecular mechanisms. Works Cited Athan, Eleni S. , Lee, Joseph H. , Arriaga, Alex, Mayeux, Richard P. , and Tyco, Benjamin. â€Å"Polymorphism in the Promoter of the Human APP Gene.† Archives of Neurology 59 (2002): 1793-1799. Bloom, Elin. Genetic Studies of Alzheimer’s Disease. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University, 2008. Felician, Olivier and Sandson, Thomas A. â€Å"The Neurobiology and Pharmacotherapy of Alzheimer’s Disease. â⠂¬  Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 11, 1 (1999): 19-31. Jayadev, Suman, Steinbart, Ellen J. , Chi, Yueh-Yun, Kukull, Walter A. , Schellenberg, Gerard D. and Bird, Thomas D. â€Å"Conjugal Alzheimer Disease. † Archives of Neurology 65, 3 (2008): 373-378.

Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Plan - Essay Example An attempt has been made to delineate the sales and market strategy for the restaurant. Finally the paper projects the cash inflows and outflows of Kids Bistro under different market conditions. Market Analysis Restaurants can broadly be classified into full service restaurants and quick service restaurants (QSRs). A full service restaurant offers a wide array of food and beverages options and table service. QSRs on the other hand have limited or no table service. The objective of these restaurants is to serve food to the customer as fast as possible. The concept of segmenting, targeting and positioning suggests that one particular organization cannot satisfy the needs of all the customers. Therefore different organizations strive to satisfy the unmet needs of a particular consumer segment in the best possible manner (Carpenter, 2005). The same concept holds true for the restaurant industry in the United States. Different restaurants strive to woo a certain section of the society. Th e prominent full service restaurants include Darden Restaurants, Dine Equity, and Brinker International Inc. Such restaurants generally appeal to the adults and families who intend to spend quality time together. Business meetings and small corporate events can also be held at such restaurants. Some of the QSRs which have an international presence and are also operating in the United States include behemoths like McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, Taco Bell and Subway (Business Wire, 2006). While KFC boasts of its unique taste, McDonald’s positions itself as a family friendly, kids-oriented restaurant. Outlets like Baskin-Robbins, Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin Donuts are also frequented by kids. In addition to these outlets, there are numerous local and regional players that cater specifically to the kids or have a particular attraction for kids. Barrio offers a kids meal for $7. During some promos, the restaurant offers one free kids' meal with each adult meal that is p riced $15.   Theme restaurants attempt to target a certain segment and indulge in niche marketing. Alice's Tea Cup, American Girl Cafe, Barking Dog Luncheonette, Big Daddy's Diner, Planet Hollywood, the Burger Garage and the Rainforest Cafe are some of the players in this market. Company Description The Kids Bistro will be a theme restaurant that targets children aged between 4 and 11 years. The decor and the ambience of the restaurant will appeal to the kids. Cartoon characters will be painted on the walls and light music will be played at the Kids Bistro outlets. The restaurant will use colourful plastic furniture. Additionally, gunny bags, booster seats and high chairs would be kept at the restaurant to seat other family members who accompany the kids. Kids Bistro will be operational six days a week including Sunday. The restaurant will remain closed on Monday. The theme for Tuesday and Wednesday would be ‘fancy dress’. While children would be encouraged to visit t he restaurant in fancy dresses on these days, the staff would also be required to wear non-traditional dresses. Kids will be surprised to see ‘Superman’ taking orders behind the counter or ‘batman’ mopping the floor. The theme for Thursday and Friday would be ‘jungle’. On these days, the Kids Bistro will place numerous plastic trees and vegetations alongside the regular furniture of the restaurant. Kids will get to see snakes, birds and other insects perched

QUESTIONS FOR AN EXAM Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

QUESTIONS FOR AN EXAM - Assignment Example The less dangerous amongst all these kinds of mutations is duplication of gene as it does not impact the actual genetic sequence. Amongst various point mutations, the least disastrous in my consideration is silent mutation as it causes a change in DNA sequence but this change does not impact on the type of protein that is to be produced. Carbon dioxide is formed as a by-product during Krebs cycle when 6-Carbon molecule renders electrons to NAD+ and converts it into NADH. This Carbon dioxide is then carried via blood to the lungs from where it is exhaled. On the other hand, oxygen is inhaled during respiration as it is consumed during the electron chain as it binds with the free H+ ions to form water. The alternative way of respiration is anaerobic respiration. The anaerobic respiration is not a viable option for organisms to respire as it restricts the generation of FAD+ and NAD+ and may result in halting the whole process of respiration. However, for a limited time the pyruvate may accept electrons from NADH and thus form lactic acid but respiration can’t be continued for a long time in organisms (Starr

The main differences between conventional bank and Islamic bank Essay

The main differences between conventional bank and Islamic bank - Essay Example Even this is unchanged in the asset category. All assets including fixed assets and other assets are summed accordingly after that. The total assets are written below. Doha Bank had an additional investment in an associate company which Qatar Islamic Bank did not have. In the liabilities section, again there are a lot of similarities. Net liabilities at the end of 2010 for Doha Bank stand at 39, 319, 885 Qattari Riyals while those of Qatar Islamic Bank stand at 20, 979, 710 Qatari Riyals. Qatar bank had liabilities due from Sukook financing activities which are nowhere to be seen in the Doha Bank balance sheet statement. Total shareholder’s equity of Qatar Islamic Bank stood at 9,124, 004 while that of Doha Bank stood at 6,043, 493 (All amount in Qatarri Riyals) . There is hedge reserve in Doha Bank while Qatar Bank did not have any hedge reserve. Income statement: Net income for Qatar Islamic Bank as of year ending December 2010 is specified as 1,833,139 while that of Doha Ba nk is 1,054,245 (all figures stated in QR). The way in which income is calculated is very different for both banks. In Doha Bank net operating income is calculated as the sum of net income from insurance activities, net Islamic financing and investing income, net fees and net commission income. In Qatar Islamic bank the above categories are not used.

Feminism as Archetype fpr Overcoming Prejudice Essay

Feminism as Archetype fpr Overcoming Prejudice - Essay Example With that said, a close look will be taken in Glaspell’s â€Å"Trifles† to illuminate the portrayal of women within a patriarchal society and define how those women work together to overcome their oppression, even though their choices may not have been the best in regards to actual justice. To begin with, â€Å"Trifles† is about two women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale and the discoveries they make about a Minnie, a woman wanted for the murder of John Wright, her husband. They find conclusive evidence of her guilt, but are sympathetic to Minnie, whom they both see as the victim in the situation. But what, then, is the purpose of justice if women like Minnie can kill whomever they please without consequence? The truth is that Minnie may or may not have been a victim of her situation. She may have had reason to kill John, but there is no real evidence to suggest that she couldn’t have reasoned with him and gotten out of the relationship. Perhaps John was an extr emely violent man who would never have let her leave and who would have continued to abuse her for the rest of her life until she was finally killed herself. Or maybe, Minnie was seeing things in the relationship that weren’t as bad as she believed and she could have found a different route for resolution. The plot is frustrating in that the men are portrayed as cold hearted investigators who care nothing about Minnie’s potential reasons for the murder, or that she might have done so out of self defense or to save herself from a situation she felt she couldn’t control or escape from. This is maddening for a reader because both sides have clear reasons for viewing the situation as they do, and both sides are ultimately correct in their assumptions. Where the women take the sympathetic route, the men take the analytical route, and both come to the same conclusions about Minnie; it is the execution of her justice, however, where the two sides differ. Because Mrs. P eters and Mrs. Hale believe Minnie to be guilty but are more sure of her guilt due to being a victim of her situation, they find themselves trapped in the moral dilemma of whether or not to help her or to hand her over to the proper authorities. One thing that â€Å"Trifles† achieves is to grant the reader enough information to be taken on the morality trip with Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale as well. Evidence for both sides is presented, and though there is a clear bias as to whether or not the men should be trusted because of their callous and over-bearing nature, a reader has to question their own resolve as to what they would do if placed on either side. To take the feminist route and let Minnie go free, or to punish Minnie for murder, despite whatever led her to commit the act. More, to choose to side with the men leaves the clear impression that such a choice is wrong because of the archetypal manner in which the women are defined. The men are almost cruel in their analytica l natures and are described as showing almost zero empathy in their placement of justice. On the opposite side, the women are defined as creatures of pure empathy, sympathetic to the wounded creature of Minnie, willing to help her because she is a human being in pain in need of assistance. It is a jarring sensation, to feel confident in both sides, yet knowing that neither is exactly right. True justice should take both

Current International Human Rights Law issues in the Middle east Essay - 1

Current International Human Rights Law issues in the Middle east - Essay Example 1). However, despite the influence of modernisation, Islam remained powerful. International human rights, one of the components of modernity, have penetrated the Middle East at a period when established Islam is being disputed by new ideas of Islamic principles. These new ideas hold the changing hopes and outlooks of Islam’s devotees, which involves desires for higher freedom. The progress of modernisation has intensified Muslim’s hatred of tyrannical, oppressive, and capricious regimes of their nations and has promoted the emergence of movements campaigning for greater freedom and human rights (Mayer, 1991, pp. 1-2). This essay discusses the conflict between Sharia (Islamic) law and international human rights law in the Middle East, with references to current cases of human rights issues in Middle Eastern countries. There is a sharp disagreement between the judgments of Islamic human rights scholars and Islamic governments. Islamic scholars could be generally classified into two groups, namely, liberal and conservative. The liberals accept the conflict between human rights ideals and Islamic doctrine and pursuit of reconciliation. In contrast, the conservatives believe that Islam has an independent and unique set of obligations, rights, and practices, and thus, they oppose intrusion of external human rights law processes (Shah, 2006, p. 3). Generally, Islamic societies conform to the conservative view of Islamic doctrine and this is the reason most Islamic societies have resisted the imposition of international human rights law in their local administrations. Saudi Arabia and Iran are excellent examples (Baderin, 2008). There are Islamic countries which have approved international human rights principles but with major restrictions, declaring that international human rights law would be applied locally provided that it does not run counter to the Sharia law.

Consolidation of an ERP system on a global standard to enhance Research Proposal

Consolidation of an ERP system on a global standard to enhance visibility - Research Proposal Example Another pointer to the need for an ERP is when the existing system is unable to support the needs of the organization or when many resources are required to maintain and support the organizational activities. Growth of an organization leading to incompatibility of the various information systems used is also a driving force towards adoption of ERP. Lastly, when organizational employees are unable to respond to questions from their key suppliers and customers, it is time to implement an ERP system (Awad and Nassar 3). In the current world, the main question is not whether to implement an ERP system, but what system they should implement (Awad and Nassar 2). Consequently, once an organization has decided to implement an ERP system, the next step should be deciding on how such project would be undertaken and the goals of such a venture. At this stage, the organization determines the functionalities and modules to be included into the new system. According to Awad and Nassar, installatio n of ERP system demands that companies be able to match its business process to the functioning of the ERP systems (3). Additionally, in implementation of ERP there is a need for the organization to fully understand all the requirements which come with such an initiative. The top management must be willing to support the installation of ERP even after completion of the project by offering education to all employees (Carter et al. 23). According to Jitpaiboon, consolidation of the enterprise resource plan in an organization is critical for its global strategy (2). Consolidation of enterprise resource planning is critical in automating all the functions needed for managing the various local operations. The most critical activities supported by ERP include customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (CRM) and accounting systems. Data stored in ERP system is critical in enabling the employees to gain visibility into consolidated and accurate information about busines s performance (Fawcett and Magnan 24). Furthermore, a well implemented ERP system is a key performance indicator (KPIs) needed by organizations to ensure achievement of the corporate objectives. Moreover, Awad and Nassar explain that an ERP solution can enhance transactional interoperability (3). Organizations can choose to implement ERP solutions for each business division or the entire business can adopt a single ERP system to standardize and centralize its key operations. The chosen configuration can have a significant impact on the ability of an organization to enhance visibility and ensure that they achieve all the operation functionalities envisioned during its development. For globalized organizations such as Thermo Fisher, it is critical to consolidate their business operations into a fewer ERP systems. Problem Statement Thermo Fisher is an international organization dealing with scientific equipment and reagents required for research, diagnostics, analysis and discovery. Th e company has annual revenue of around 11 billion USD and has about 37,000 employees (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

COMPUTER CRIME Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

COMPUTER CRIME - Coursework Example The latest statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI (2014) indicates that the complaints received in 2012 were 289,874 amounting to losses of $525,441,110, this representing 8.3% increase in losses reported to the agency in a span of one year. The trend is similar to what has been recorded from 2008. In spite of the adjustments by the FBI in tackling current wave of crimes, the threat continues to present most dynamic transformations, making them increasingly sophisticated, dangerous and common. The widespread interconnectivity leveraging on the Internet is to blame for this trend. The Internet provides a shared and integrated platform that fosters anonymity and inability to be traced thus propagating computer crimes (Stephenson & Gilbert, 2013). Furthermore, there is a rapid increase in computer knowledge in the modern world which propagates formulation of complex attacks. There is an increasing list of the types of computer crimes. Among the common types are hacking, phishing and virus distribution. Hacking refers to the beating of computer system security capabilities so as to gain illegal access to information stored therein. This also includes the hacking of IP addresses so as to transact under a false identity, hence anonymity in carrying out crime. Secondly, phishing entails the acquisition of sensitive information such as passwords, usernames and credit card details in the disguise of a trustworthy source. It could be executed through emails or luring users to key in personal information in criminal websites. Criminals would often use websites having familiar looks so as to gain the users’ confidence. Finally, the crime of computer viruses involves use of computer programs with the capability of self replication that harms computer systems in a network. This occurs without the user’s knowledge and spreads from a computer to anothe r through

Module project part 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Module project part 1 - Assignment Example This is because depending on the type of business that an investor wants to introduce to a particular emerging market, there may be peculiar risks and challenges that must be taken care of to ensure guaranteed success and growth. Apart from the nature of business, the vision that the investor carries is also very important in determining risk because each vision may have its own challenges that it must seek to overcome in order to achieve success. In line with this understanding, this module paper is prepared for the company, which is currently seeking to enter Mexico as an emerging market. As part of ways of benefiting fully from the market, a comprehensive vision statement, description of the target market and risk and their mitigations shall be outlined. Vision Statement The vision statement of the company is to become a company whose success is build on an enablement created for the customer to do business with us by ensuring quality and price competitiveness. Description of Mexi co as an Emerging Market Political Factors Politically, Mexico has been found to possess very low foreign debt, which makes it possible for the government to have a very huge budget reserve that is used in the financing of various businesses, especially foreign direct investment (Rutherford, 2005). Due to this, the government has for long practiced macroeconomic policies that focus on bringing about industry wide economic leverage, instead of organizational level leverage. As part of such macroeconomic policies, investors in Mexico benefit from lower tax rates, easy access to government assisted loans, low inflation, and sufficient state protection for legally registered businesses. These political factors have made most multinational companies whose focus has been on short term expansion to look to Mexico, knowing that the political ground has been laid for business to take place in a more welcoming atmosphere (Morris and Pavett, 2002). Economic Factors Economically, Mexico has bee n given a country rating of A4 by global Edge, which is a company rating firm that seeks to compare countries one to other in terms of viability in doing business in these countries (Davidson and Burke, 2004). A major economic advantage that Mexico has been identified to have is the fact that it has a ready market with the United States, which is responsible for 80% of all exports from Mexico (Schuler, 2006). For business owners who are in the manufacturing sector like the company in question, the benefit is that exportation of finished products will not pose much of a problem for the company. Mexico has however been criticized for having a weaker exchange rate, that makes importation expensive in that country. Acquisition of raw material has therefore being a problem for most manufacturers (Hall, 2006). Social Factors Socially, Mexico’s population has been described as commercially informed (Rutherford, 2005). What this means is that the population understands the basic rudi ments in conducting business and get themselves actively involved in the business market. The major factor that accounts for this is the high literacy level in the country with the aim of the government in achieving 100% enrolment with a universal compulsory education scheme. Because most of the people are

The Struggle Of Oil In America Essay Example for Free

The Struggle Of Oil In America Essay Introduction Since its discovery 150 years ago, petroleum oil has become lifeline of the world, the functional equivalent of blood in the human body. The mechanism driving the entire transportation system from automobiles, airplanes, railways, ships to space rockets is based on utilization of energy of petroleum oil. Petroleum products are also extensively used in a number of infrastructure industries that form the core of industrial processes and basis of existence of modern world. However, the petroleum resources of world are very limited and they cannot endlessly meet human demands. Various estimates have put the total extractable oil stock to exist for another 50-75 years if world continues to consume them at present rate. After that the cost of extraction of remaining petroleum products would become much more than the benefits obtained them and world would require new resources of energy to exist. These concerns have already spawned intense research in alternative technologies to meet the future energy needs in the face of an impending petroleum crisis. United States of America is world’s leading consumer of petroleum products accounting for approximately 25 % of total consumption of petroleum oil world over. In 2003, world’s consumption of petroleum oil stood at around 80 million barrels per day, out of which US’s share was close to 20 million barrel (Hirsch, Bezdek, Wending, 2005). To meet these huge petroleum demands US depends crucially on oil imports that is well above 50 % today and continuing to rise upward. This overwhelming dependence on imported oil poses various strategic and security challenges for US interests in the long run. The sharp oil price increases of 1973 and 1979-81 serve as testimony to the dangers of import dependence. Further as the oil sources would continue to deplete, the prices of oil would steadily and inexorably rise until the level when world is faced with an acute fuel crisis. Based on these observations it’s vital that U.S explores alternative technologies and fuels to sustain its development and growth structure. Oil Imports The continuous rise in U.S oil consumption has forced it to rely increasingly on imported oil to meet its expanding requirements. In the past 50 years, oil consumption fell just on two occasions that were marked with international increase in prices of oil, in 1973 and 1979-81.. Domestic production of oil that peaked in 1971 has fallen since then while oil imports have continued to rise, crossing the domestic supplies in 1994 (EIA, 2005). The net imported oil share in the net oil consumption was 34.8 percent in 1973 which went lowest at 27.3 percent in 1985 but since then it has continued to rise against a dropping domestic production levels (Reaardon, 2002). The upward trend in oil consumption and consequently in oil import have continued to take place despite multiple efforts and policy intervention that government has tried to introduced (Deutch J, Schlesinger J.R, and Victor D.G., 2006, 29). As of today with its 20 million barrel per day consumption U.S is the largest consumer and importer of oil, surpassing the combined consumption of Japan, Germany, China, Russia and South Korea (Reardon, 2004).. The share of oil in total energy produced in USA is just 17.2 percent while in consumption it rises to 40 percent that explains the need for huge oil import. Imports constitute 11 million barrels per day that is more than the aggregate oil import of Japan, Germany, and South Korea (Reardon, 2004). For oil imports U.S relies heavily on Canada, Venezuela and Middle east oil with Canada being the single largest exporter country of oil to U.S. However as a group the OPEC dominates among all the exporters supplying more than 50 percent of total oil imported by U.S (Petroleum Navigator, 2006). The total petroleum imports for U.S stood at over 5 billion barrels in 2005 out of which crude oil constituted 3.69 billion barrels which means that oil accounts for almost three-fourth of the total imports (Petroleum Navigator, 2006). Finished petroleum products constituted the second largest import segment with close to 15 percent contribution. The bulk of the oil consumption takes place in the transportation sector, which accounts for the 69 percent of the total oil consumption in US (Basic Petroleum Statistics, 2007). Overall there are five major sectors accounting for petroleum oil consumption. These sectors, along with their consumption share in year 2005 are (Petroleum-EIA, 2006) Domestic/Household: Consumption in 2005 was 869 thousand barrels of petroleum per day Commercial: 386 thousand barrels of petroleum per day Industrial: 5061 thousand barrels of petroleum per day Electric Power production: 545 thousand barrels of petroleum per day Transportation: 13, 825 thousand barrels of petroleum per day. A breakup of consumption pattern in the transportation sector reveals that consumption stands highest for motor gasoline. Average daily consumption of motor gasoline in U.S, according to Petroleum data (EIA, 2005) is 8933 thousand barrels per day. Distillate fuel oil is the second most consumed petroleum product with daily consumption at 2817 thousand barrels. These figures give a realistic view of inevitable oil import dependency U.S for present and future if it carries on the present rate of consumption. Indeed the chances to curb the massive oil imports are slim considering the fleet of 210 millions vehicle that depend solely upon motor gasoline for their functioning (Hirsch R.L, Bezdek R, Wending R, February 2005, 4). As on 1st January 2006, the total proven oil reserves with U.S was just 21.6 billion barrels, which implies that in future U.S would be forced to rely almost completely on oil imports for its entire transportation requirements. As the closer sources shall run dry, U.S’ dependency would shift to further sources from where oil must be transported over vulnerable supply lines, leading to rise in global oil price. The greater risk is certainly compromising with U.S national interests. The oil supply lines would always be at risk against subversive elements requiring another set of huge investment in ensuring safe transportation of oil to U.S onshore facilities. It will also place U.S interests in the hands of oil cartels such as OPEC that may freely manipulate oil supplies according to their own interests. The shortage of oil would be more manifest in coming times as oil demands are growing world wide, especially in China and India with rapidly expanding economy, transportation system and consequently requirement of petroleum oil. Even at present consumption rate there are grave uncertainties on the secure prospects of future supplies within next 50 years time frame, and the rising consumption rates threatens to bring the approaching crisis nearer. United States is thus faced with a great responsibility to secure its future interests without sacrificing its present requirements and needs. This issue forms the topic of the next section. Part II: Alternative fuel technologies The impending oil crisis has finally stirred policy makers in US. A number of approaches are suggested that include a. imposing taxes on oil consumption b. using tradable gasoline permits and c. exploration of new sources of oil ( Deutch J, Schlesinger J.R, Victor D.G. 2006 ). However, the pressing need of situation demands measures that would sustain the present structure while safeguarding the future against depleting sources and rising petroleum prices. As the world’s oil reserves are finite, even measures such stagnating oil consumption and using oil more efficiently are just helpful in delaying the inevitable without offering any permanent solution to the issue. Oil reserves are going down steadily and within a couple of decades prices will soar up inexorably disrupting the economy, industry and society in turn. The only practical solution to this problem is technological innovations in energy field that can reduce dependence on petroleum oil by providing alternative and sustainable sources of energy. It shall serve two immensely useful purposes that are a. minimizing U.S dependence on foreign oil and b. preventing the environment from damages associated with use of petroleum oils and products. The certainty of oil exhaustion has inspired efforts from both government and corporate sector to research and develop the new fuel technologies as a providential measure for survival, growth and progress in forthcoming days of oil crisis. Past decade has seen great thrust on technological researches in alternative fuels. Various new techniques and models have already been introduced in the market to test their viability and capacity to successfully replace petroleum as chief source of energy. Most of these innovations are specifically aimed at transportation sector owing to its liability as chief consumer of petroleum oil and as principle cause of soaring oil imports. Due to distinct requirements of different sectors in transportation, the technologies vary. Passenger vehicles, public transport vehicles and freight transportation carry specific needs that are difficult to be met by a single alternative fuel technology.   Some of the major and most popular of these technologies, where majority of research and development has taken place, are (Aldrich, 1996) 1.Hybrid Vehicle, 2. Bio-diesels 3. Ethanol 4. Hydrogen and 5.Solar energy Following section discusses the technology used in each of these new vehicle-systems and their benefits over conventional gasoline based internal combustion engine. Hybrid Vehicles: As the name suggests, hybrid vehicles combine dual technologies for their operation. Technically they are hybrid electric vehicle with an electric motor that drives the vehicle (Hoogma, Kemp, Schot and Truffer, 2002, 41 ). In the case of a typical electric vehicle, hydrogen fuel cell or chemical batteries such as advanced sealed lead battery, nickel cadmium and lithium ion are used for auxiliary power (Aldrich, 1996). However in the hybrid electric vehicles, the electric drive technology is combined with a gasoline-based power generator for running the electric motor and charging the batteries. Hybrid vehicles are either full hybrid or mid hybrid. A full hybrid vehicle can move forward from standstill purely on electric power while a mid hybrid requires gasoline power for initial movement, although both technologies concentrate on maximum utilization of electric motor power while reducing the use of gasoline as far as possible (Hybrid Terms, 2007). The electric motor and internal combustion engine (ICE) are connected either in parallel or in series in a hybrid vehicle. In parallel hybrid cars, power to engine is supplied by both the electric motor and internal combustion engine while in the series hybrid car the gasoline engine powers the electric motor and batteries to generate electricity, without directly providing power for the vehicle (Hybrid Electric Vehicles, 2007). There is another category of hybrid vehicles, called as ‘plug-in hybrid’ that can operate as a full electric vehicle. They require some additional batteries and use electricity net to charge the batteries thereby minimizing gasoline use to its lowest possible levels (Hybrid Terms, 2007). All hybrid electric vehicle use computer that constantly monitors speed, power required and charge conditions of batteries (Hybrid Electric Vehicles, 2007). Bio-diesel: Bio-diesel, as the term suggests, is a type of renewable fuel obtained by agricultural products and used as fuel in heavy-duty vehicles. The major sources currently under research for bio-diesel are soybean, rapeseed, corn, cottonseed, peanut, sunflower, and canola (Aldrich, 1996, 85). The process of making bio-diesel involves use of an alcohol such as methanol which is treated with oil of selected agricultural produce to form glycerin followed by separation of fatty esters, recycling of excess alcohol and purification of esters to produce a fuel that bears remarkable closeness to diesel, however with higher octane number (Aldrich, 1996, 85). Currently bio-diesel is used when blended with petroleum diesel, especially in European markets, with commendable results. Ethanol: Ethanol as a very long history as an alternative fuel, and it was tried in even 1880 as a fuel option for Ford cars (Aldrich, 1996, 51). Ethanol is derived from agricultural produces by process of fermentation and distillation to form a high-octane liquid fuel. Normally ethanol is not used alone as a fuel, instead it is blended with gasoline in ratio of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline to form a fuel E-85, which is approved as an alternative fuel in US (Ethanol, 2007). The vehicles run on this fuel are called as flexi fuel vehicles. Ethanol has emerged as a successful alternative to fossil fuels in Brazil where more than 4 million vehicles on ethanol based fuel and it is finding increasing application in US as well. The benefits of using ethanol are multifold and they include (Ethanol, 2007) Hydrogen: There are great interests in using hydrogen as fuel in transport industry due to the great flexibility of options and performance it offers. Hydrogen can either be used as fuel in place of gasoline in internal combustion engine or it can be used as energy carrier in fuel cells, the latter being the major research area in automobile sector (Aldrich, 1996, 87). Solar Power: Use of solar power as energy in transportation sector has been subject of intense technological research. While the solar energy has found wide application as domestic energy supply, there are difficulties in their application in transport sector. Photovoltaic cells, that absorb sunrays to provide electricity, are inefficient under the current technology strains and unable to generate even a fraction of required power to drive a normal passenger vehicle. However, solar power has turned as a dependable source of energy in areas other than transport. All the initial costs are high in maintaining a solar energy power plant, its been shown that with increasingly sophisticated technology and wider application the cost of installation as well as generation of electricity can get comparable to normal power plants (Borowitz, 1999,112). Mass Transport System Apart from introducing alternative fuel and technologies to replace and minimize fossil fuel consumption, another area where fuel consumption can be easily reduced is creating a more robust and functional public transport and mass transit system. It is cost effective and time consuming to redesign the existing public transport system, especially in major cities, to cut down fuel consumption by reducing number of vehicles on the road. While airplanes are already a popular and heavily used long distance intercity mass transit system, there are many available areas of intervention in short distance intercity and intra-city transport to provide fast and reliable transit facilities while simultaneously reducing traffic, freeing up space on roads and parking and moderating fossil oil consumption. The transportation system of US, excluding freight transport, is presently divided in two broad categories a. privately owned individual all purpose vehicle transport system and b. public transport system consisting of buses, trains, trams, and metros under the control and maintenance of public administration and public transport companies ((Hoogma, Kemp, Schot and Truffer, 2002, 36-37). Public transport system is usually characterized by low cost, fuel-efficient transit system capable of carrying large number of people on a fixed route (ibid). It has been felt over time that a sustainable and efficient fuel policy needs to incorporate advanced public transport system as one of its key focus area. To improve the services of public transport system, increase its popularity and acceptance among people and highlight its role as an efficient and fuel incentive mode of travel, public authorities and corporations are required to introduce some important policy and technological measures. Three policy measures as highlighted by Hoogma, Kemp, Schot and Truffer (2002, 43)   are 1. Developing an integrated public transportation system where a single ticket can be used to commute irrespective of the number of switchovers made in the process. 2 Development of strong travel information structure in the public transport system, which can help people to navigate to their destinations easily. 3. Providing easy payment facility such as smart cards. These policies would greatly enhance the image and services of public transport system. Additionally the light rail and bus services can be expanded to cover specifically high traffic and downtown areas of major cities. An integration of public transport and private vehicle system can be achieved by providing sufficient parking space at stations and depots of public transport system. It would encourage people to use their private vehicles to access public transport system, resolving one of major issues of limited accessibility involved with mass transit system. Conclusion When fossil fuels were discovered around 150 years back, the existing technologies of steam engines were unable to utilize them. However, soon completely new technologies were developed in the face of these new energy sources and they were used to capitalize on the energy content and efficiency of fossil fuels. Soon petroleum fuels revolutionized the way the world moved and worked. The past 100 years of consumption has comprehensively depleted non-renewable petroleum deposits and estimates give another 50 more years before the remaining available sources would get almost exhausted. This fact is indeed a cause of concern, but only if viewed from existing technological frame. Declining petroleum resources offer the signal that its time to make transition towards different energy sources. Countries that would fail to read this signal or close their eyes to it are certainly heading for a major crisis. But fortunately US has the capacity to read these signals and develop reliable intermediate technologies and systems such as hybrid electric vehicle, ethanol and public transit systems that would considerably reduce fossil fuel consumption without adding to infrastructure cost thereby extending the life period of petroleum reservoirs. Meanwhile research can take place on new age technologies such as fuel cell and solar photovoltaic cells to complete replace fossil fuels as a source of energy. It is possible that if government and industry institute providential policy measures, there would be a host of alternative technologies in transportation sector by the time petroleum oil would get exhausted. But the question is that has US opened its eyes to the approaching crisis of oil shortage and if so, then what are the policy measures that are being taken to avert and stultify the crisis. Depleting oil resources are a reality, and it is certain that within decades oil prices would climb to astronomical height, bringing the entire present system to standstill. The whole structure of US is running efficiently on the energy of petroleum and it would collapse if this energy dries up. The responsibility to start transition towards new system, however, is not only of government but of every person because the future of crisis would be a common future. It would a collective exercise upon to use alternative technologies in their personal life, make maximum possible use of mass transit system and send the message to government and industry that people are ready for the great shift from petroleum oil. Reference Reference Basic Petroleum Statistics. Jan 2007. Energy Information Administration. 31st Jan. 2007 http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/quickfacts/quickoil.html Benefits of Public Transport System-An Overview. 1st Feb-2007. American Public Transportation Association. 1st Feb 2007. http://www.apta.com/research/info/online/ben_overview.cfm Bob Aldrich.. ABCs of AFVs: a guide to alternative fuel vehicles. California Energy Commission, Sacramento-CA. April 1996. 1st Feb 2007 http://www.p2pays.org/ref/26/25156.pdf Borowitz, Sidney.   Farewell Fossil Fuels: Reviewing Americas Energy Policy.: Plenum Trade: New York: 1999 Deutch J, Schlesinger J.R, Victor D.G. 2006. Consequence of U.S Oil Dependency: Report of an Independent Task Force. 30th Jan. 2007 http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/EnergyTFR.pdf Ethanol. 2007. Alternative Fuel Data Center. US Department of Energy. 1st Feb, 2007, http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/ethanol.html Faupel Karen and Al Kukri, 2002. Biodiesel: A Brief Overivew. NCAT Agricultural Specialist. 1st Feb, 2007. http://www.msenergy.ms/biodiesel.pdf Hirsch R.L, Bezdek R, Wending R. February 2005. Peaking of World Oil Production: Impact, Mitigation, Risk Management. 30th Jan. 2007 http://www.pppl.gov/publications/pics/Oil_Peaking_1205.pdf Hoogma Recmo, Rene Kemp, John Schot, Bernhard Truffer.   Experimenting for Sustainable Transport: The Approach of Strategic Niche Management.: Spon Press: New York: 2002. 36 Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Feb 2007. Hybrid Electric Vehicle: Implementing Agreement. International Energy Agency. 1st Feb, 2007. http://www.ieahev.org/hybrid.html#Anchor3 Hybrid Terms. HybridCars.com. 1st Feb 2007 http://www.hybridcars.com/types-systems/hybrid-terms.html Petroleum. July, 2006. Annual Energy Review-2005. 31s Jan, 2007 http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/petro.html Petroleum Overview, 1949-2005. Annual Energy Review.31st Jan, 2007 http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/petro.html Prospects For A Hydrogen Economy. Oct. 2002. Postnote. Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. 1st Feb, 2007. http://www.parliament.uk/post/pn186.pdf Reardon Jack. .An Institutionalist Critique of the Bush Administrations Journal of Economic Issues. Volume: 38. Issue: 2. Publication Year: 2004. Page Number: 449+ Sanna Lucy. Driving the Solution: Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles. EPRI Journal. 1st Feb 2007. http://www.calcars.org/epri-driving-solution-1012885_PHEV.pdf U.S. Imports- Petroleum Navigator.Energy Information Administration. 31st Jan 2007 http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_d_NUS_Z00_mbbl_m.htm

Uncovering the Mystery of Capital Review Essay Example for Free

Uncovering the Mystery of Capital Review Essay Nigeria post independence has aimed to develop an economic system in which investment and ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations. Sadly she suffers the same fate most developing countries and former communist nations that trend the same path encounter: Abject Failure. Hernando De Soto in his book; The Mystery of Capital, studies the effect of capitalism in the west and tries to analyse why such a strategy is so successful there, but fails to make an impact every other place it is being introduced, Nigeria inclusive. Capitalism entails among other things foreign investments, stable currencies, transparent banking practices, free trade and also privatisation of state owned industries. However, Hernando describes the major ingredient that is missing in countries trying to adopt capitalism as â€Å"Ability to produce Capital†. Capital is a force that raises the productivity of labour and creates the wealth of nations. It is the lifeblood of the capitalist system, the foundation of progress and the one thing that poor countries of the world fail to produce. Nigeria is a typical example of a country with vast potential that has tried and failed to adopt capitalism system of governance and this is due to the fact that she has failed to produce enough capital to propel her growth. Nigeria has adapted all the western inventions that support capitalism system but has failed to set up the necessary structure required to take off the system. In the west, every asset is represented in a property document that is the visible sign of a vast hidden process that connects all these assets to the rest of the economy. Effective documentation of such asset can lead to the becoming source of capital. The west has effectively implemented such a system and as such draw capital out of the assets documented. In America for instance, mortgage on the entrepreneur’s asset is the easiest source of fund. This is due to the fact that the assets are registered and well documented, can be proven to belong to the said entrepreneur, has a documented value that covers the credit amount he needs, and can be sold off legally to recover the credit if it crystallises. The same cannot be said of Nigeria, where assets are poorly registered, documentation outdated and exchange of assets from one owner to another is largely untraceable. Trade within the country is usually focused on local buyers who usually have a long friendship with the property owner and a certain level of comfort in the transaction. Most capitalist nations suffered similar problems before finally perfecting the implementation of the capitalist system. The United States in 1783 had to deal with illegal squatters and settlers who occupied land that legally did not belong to them. This was as a result of no one legal system acceptable in all parts of the country that indicated the various processes that had to be used to legally acquire such lands and document the transaction. Nigeria also suffers similar problems presently as a flaw legal system is implemented and fails to check the various transactions that involve acquisition of assets that can lead to capital generation for the nation. Hernando De Soto analysed that capital is the most essential component of western economic advancement and is also the most neglected by developing including Nigeria. He explained that for any nation to successfully implement capitalism, certain areas of the transition had to be conquered. They are: 1. Mystery of Missing Information 2. Mystery of Capital 3. Mystery of Political Awareness 4. Mystery of Lessons of the West 5. Mystery of the Legal failure Nigeria is a country that suffers from poor record keeping and this has often lead to problems where identification of owners of various asset, verification of addresses, description of assets, and imposition of charges and regulation becomes necessary. Identifying the proper owner of a particular asset becomes a cumbersome problem as records are usually not updated and such assets might have changed ownership more than once in the last couple of years. Cases of illegal acquisitions become common place with complaints being logged in courts and other legal bodies for a resolution of such conflicts. Poor documentation and recording processes often leads to the emergence of an illegal trade that often tends to cripple the conversion of assets into capital. The high demand of the legal system in the country makes it difficult for the average citizen to fulfil all the required criteria under law to acquire such assets. The high fees and charges coupled with the often times prolonged delays encountered before completion of the legal documentation acts as obstacles of legality to citizens, who opt out of such a legal system and prefer to take part in illegal trade transactions that are not documented by the government and as such leads to a loss of potential capital that asset could generate. Such illegal transactions are governed by the laws the trade merchants implement to suit them and not those of the government. Illegal businesses have become the norm in the Nigerian economy. They are not registered or recognized by the government, and this is due to the negligence of the government concerning the importance of having a registration system that will be responsible for keeping details of all businesses that are running in the country and therefore improve the capital generating capacity of such a country. Various sectors of the Nigerian economy have been attacked by such businesses, be it transportation, real estate etc. The conversion of such assets into capital can only be achieved when such black marketers are properly registered and guided by the law of the government. The sectors of the economy that are classified as undercapitalized is a world where ownership of assets is difficult to trace and validate, governed by no legally recognized set of rules. Hernando De Soto states in his book that about 80 percent of the world is undercapitalized. This means that there is mass failure in drawing economic life from their assets to generate capital. People own assets as security and do not have the required know how to convert such assets into capital for their businesses. This leads to such assets categorised as dead capital, as there is no conversion process available to generate the said capital. Capital is responsible for two things, namely; 1. Capturing the physical dimension of assets 2. Generate surplus value Every country requires capital, as that is the part of the country that initiates surplus production and increases productivity of the nation. Every asset requires an external man made process that allows the identity of the potential of the asset and also to convert this potential into capital. The process is setup not to create capital, but to protect the ownership of such property. The west for example creates such wealth from the formal property system which has over the years been streamlined to a credible system, guided by the rule of the government and registered and recognised by the said government. Adam Smith states that the division of labour and subsequent exchange of products in the market was the source of increasing productivity. This was made possible by capital which is the stock of assets accumulated for productive purposes. This accumulated resource was used to support specialised enterprises until they could exchange their products for other things they needed. The more the capital means more specialization and thus, the higher the society’s productivity. However, assets must be fixed and realised to become active capital and put additional production in motion. Every asset must be registered to a particular person or group of persons to be considered to be productive. This helps to confirm the existence of the said asset as well as the processes required to convert them into capital generating transactions. The introduction of a formal property system is necessary to provide the process, forms and rules that fix assets in a condition that allows the realization of such assets as active capital. These assets have to be described and organised according to their economic values. The record is updated into a recording system and a title for the assets now is given to enable easy identification. This should be guided by a set of legal rules. This describes the creation of a formal property system where capital is born. Nigeria still finds it difficult to identify the owners of certain assets as the recording system is outdated and there is no formal property system being developed. This often leads to lengthy and cumbersome procedures for sale or lease of property. The majority of citizens who are classified as the poor of the economy usually do not have access to the property mechanism that could be used to produce, secure or guarantee greater value in the expanded market as against the lack of entrepreneurial knowledge that the west assumes is the cause of failure of the capitalism system in such countries. Upon examination, it can be drawn that the west cannot paint a broad picture of their formal property system used as a means for generation of capital. This is as a result of the system being hidden in thousands of pieces of legislation, statues, regulations and instructions that govern such a system. This formal property system produces as a side effect various consequences that lead to capital generation. They are: 1. Fixing the economic potential of assets: This is as a result of the proper and effective registration and description of property that help in tracking changes in ownership of such property as well as their value generating capacity. 2. Integrating dispersed information into one system: The development of a single legal system to govern the property system is a necessary control measure used in ensuring up to date records of all registered property in the government’s records. 3. Making people accountable: Registration of owners of property meant people no longer are anonymous and could be easily located. This formal system encourages people to respect title, contracts and obey the laid out laws. Failure to adhere to such laws lead to the offence being recorded in the system and this poses a reputation risk with other parties for the defaulting citizen. The unavailability of such laws is the major reason for the inability of citizens to make profitable contracts with strangers; they cannot also get credit facility, insurance and utility services. 4. Making assets fungible: Assets become more accessible and are able to do additional work to generate capital. Registered assets are easily combined, divided, mobilized and used to stimulate business deals. Such assets are able to be fashioned to suit practically any transaction.

Virtue And Empire Life Of Cato The Elder History Essay

Virtue And Empire Life Of Cato The Elder History Essay Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC) also known as Cato the elder was a political leader of great integrity and determination. Often referred to as the elder to identify him from his equally renowned great-grandson, Cato the younger was born in Tusculum in the Sabine mountains. Cato was also a well known Roman soldier, censor, national leader, public speaker, and writer. His stern morality in office as well as in his private life became proverbial. His early life was spent on his fathers farm near Reate, in the Sabine country. Here he acquired early in life those qualities of simplicity, frugality, strict honesty, austerity, and patriotism for which he was regarded by later generations as the embodiment of the old Roman virtues the third name of Cato the elder was not Cato at first but Priscus, he obtained the surname of Cato as a result of his great abilities since the Romans call a man who is wise and prudent, catus. Catus is also a Latin word meaning clever. His native ability and shr ewdness, says Plutarch, gave him the surname Cato (the shrewd) replacing the earlier name of Priscus. Love of the soil, implanted in him in his youth, remained throughout his life; though not content with the agricultural limitations of a Sabine farmer he became in later years the owner of great plantations worked by slave labor Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of Ancient Greek culture and language. The result of hellenization was that elements of Greek origin combined in various forms and degrees with local elements, which is known as Hellenism. In modern times hellenization has been associated with adoption of modern Greek culture and the ethnic and cultural homogenization of Greece to be Hellenistic is to make or become Greek in character, language, culture, or civilization. The hellenization and the various conquests in Rome made a great impact on the life of Cato the elder both professionally and personally. Cato was a censor, orator, author, soldier and a statesman. He entered the military service at a tender age of 17 where he participated in the Second Punic war. As a Roman soldier, he helped his country go through some conquests such as conquests of Egypt and wars in Spain successfully. As the city grew by virtue of its exceptional military skill and boundless appetite for territory, it assimilated lands and people at first immediately adjacent-the Sabines and Etrusca-and then further and further a field, until by the time of birth of Christ Rome dominated the Mediterranean, Europe as far as the Rhine, Turkey, Middle East, North Africa and more. Each act of conquest was also an act of negotiation He obtained virtues such as eloquence and courage which came in handy when he retired from the army and became an orator and a statesman. As a censor, he was a strong guardian of morality. Censorship role involved condemning issues that were meant to deny some segment of the population justice in the society. Thus Cato was a man of integrity and uprightness and adopted an anti-Hellenistic attitude arguing that though the Greek culture was attractive and necessary for progress of Rome, in the long run it may lead to collapse of the Roman society. Cato ceaselessly sought out those who misused public property. Pipes with which people used to illegally draw water from the public water supply, were simply severed. Private buildings which overlapped onto public land were demolished. The rich suffered enormous taxation, and severe regulations were introduced to prevent any luxuries Cato deemed excessive Cato was a respected good orator or a public speaker. He gave numerous speeches whether in the senate or elsewhere that were inspirational, more specifically the memorable quotes that he came up with. He is said to have been the first to teach Rome to speak Latin and thus he is credited as the father of Latin prose. He was also a renowned author. Though even once retired from politics Cato still would not rest. He created the first Roman encyclopaedia, produced a work on medicine, wrote a history of Rome, and also, due to having grown up on a farm, wrote a text on farming (the oldest complete Latin prose work) Through oratory Cato was able to display his eloquence gained from the military service and pass to the generations to come, wisdom through the various proses that he authored. The considerable, though fragmentary, remains of his speeches show the unmistakable influence of Greek rhetorical training, and yet are throughout concerned with moulding his Roman audiences ethically an d morally in ways consistent with Roman tradition Cato was a responsible father and husband. He always considered his family more important than the rest of the responsibilities held outside home and thus he found valuable time to spend with his family. Â  He used to say that the man who hit his wife or child, laid violent hands on the holiest of holy things thus he considered wife battery and child abuse as crimes. In addition he treated the slaves that worked in his household well and he could train the youthful slaves into better careers in future. Cato was influenced by the Greek rhetorical training that assisted him build his charismatic abilities and consequently contributing to his eloquence during his time as the Roman senator. However he was not in support of the mass importage of the Greek culture which is manifested by his refusal to learn Greek language in early life though he lived in Athens for some time. As the result of the hellenization and the conquests, Cato had the knowledge of the practical morally corrupting consequences which Greek philosophy and culture has had on the Greek society and consequently the same consequences probably would be replicated in the Roman culture in the future. This would be detrimental since Greek culture by that time was supporting some immoral sexual practices such as pedophilia. Thus Cato reacted to this changes brought about by hellenization by adopting an anti-Hellenistic attitude as he continued strengthen his virtues such as patriotism and frugality acquired earlier in life. In conclusion, Cato was undoubtedly one of the most striking characters of the Roman Republic, and his name became similar with the stern old Roman morality for generations to come. In its early point of development, Roman Empire suffered from the twin problems of foreign influence and imperial expansion. Roman Empire has managed to rise against all odds and presently, Rome is at a peak of political success and has appropriated Greek learning and culture.

A New Ending for Romeo And Juliet Essay -- William Shakespeare

New Ending Act V, Scene III Verona. A churchyard; the monument of the Capulets. Enter Romeo and Paris. Paris This is that banished haughty Montague, That murdered my love’s cousin, with which grief It is supposed that fair creature died, And here is come to do some villainous shame To the dead bodies. I will apprehend him. Stop thy unhallowed toil vile Montague. Can vengance be pursued further than death? Condemned villian, I do apprehend thee. Obey and go with me, for thou must die. Romeo I must indeed, and therefor came I hither, Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man For thou nor any man shall prevent me from being with my love tonight, Put not another sin upon my head By urging me to fury. O be gone For I shall know not what I do but rather do what I must A madman’s mercy bid thee, run away. Paris I defy thee! For thou hast done my love great injustice. Romeo Her love is mine! Your love she shall never be! [they fight] [Paris is slain] Romeo Forgive me good sir For again, I know not what I do Inside the tomb of Capulet Romeo O Fair Juliet why must thou torture me so For even in death thy beauty is paralleled only by the stars in the sky. O Lord what great injustice hast thou done to thee For my love is gone And no greater crime against me can thou think of. Tis our familes’ to blame Not us. For they are blinded by tradition and driven by hatred. O but it matters not. Soon shall I be with thee and soon shall I once again be merry, For to live forth be n...

Millays View on Death as Depicted in Renascence :: Millay Renascence Essays

Millay's View on Death as Depicted in Renascence As Edna St. Vincent Millay begins her second paragraph of Renascence, she describes herself as joyous of her coming death. Millay has been telling the reader of her frustration and anguish as she lies on the ground burdened by the sin of her life. She cries out in sheer pain, "Ah, awful weight!" She actually describes herself as "craving" death. The dying experience was becoming so painful for Millay, that she just wanted the process to be finished. The second paragraph welcomes Millay into her eternity and in turn she becomes relaxed and satisfied about her passing from life. Millay takes on a very difficult task of not only describing the final stage of death as a joyous thing, but also attempting to persuade her audience into believing the same thing. Millay is associating death with happiness. This unlikely comparison allows the reader to become relaxed about the hardships the author was facing in the earlier passages of the poem. As the earth gave way and Millay sank softly and perfectly six feet under the ground, the reader celebrates as if a runner was finally crossing the finish line. Comparing death to a successful situation is an unusual way of looking at the end of life. Yet, this view of death is a positive outlook and is quite wonderful as opposed to other literary views of death such as "death: the gatekeeper of hell who has conquered the Earth." Millay makes the reader believe that the sinking earth is more of a pair of open hands waiting to hold the weary soul of man. Death is a chance of catching up on that sleep that you never quite caught up on. Another image that Millay gives the reader is that of a mother embracing her child. Mother Earth welcomes home her tired child and allows him to rest his head upon her soft breast. She runs her hands through his hair and lays them on his brow as to cool him off. She whispers her tired child to sleep through the sweet and friendly sound of rain. Through persuading the audience to believe that death is a wonderful and relaxing thing, she takes on a very difficult task. A common thought of the end of life is that it is a ceasing of all things good.

Meet me in St, Louis and the Aspect of Sound :: essays research papers fc

The Aspect of Sound in Meet Me In St. Louis In 1904 Eugene Lauste successfully recorded sound onto a piece of photographic film. This invention was known as a â€Å"Sound Grate† the results where still far to crude to be used to public display. The cameras used to film â€Å"The Talkies† as they where known, had to be kept in enormous soundproof casing. This immediately hindered directors creativity and made movies such as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) much more rigid. Because of the fascination with the lip-syncing that this new technology achieved less attention was played to other attributes that silent films used such as the comedic elements in Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights (1931.) The invention of talking pictures also had severe repercussions on the censorship process. Initially the entire process was nearly impossible, as any cuts made would have an effect on the synchronisation of the sound and the film. Minnelli’s 1944 musical Meet Me In St. Louis: â€Å"Serves to implicate the contemporary 1944 audience† (Mundy, J 1999.) This because in many ways the film aims to personify a period of loss and change as was the case in America during the Second World War period. This can be witnessed through Rose Smith’s (Lucille Bremer) loss of a possible fiancà © in New York as well as the heartache the entire family feels of the possibility of moving away from St. Louis to New York. John Mundy (1999) sums this up in the following quote: â€Å"Like so many folk musicals, the film is suffused with a yearning nostalgia for a cultural past which is both desirable and as the text suggests attainable.† This also reflects upon the 1944 audience whereby they will be â€Å"yearning† for a happier past when there is no war. The film uses the device of music to make it seem as if this is attainable for the audience. Andre Bazin saw the movement of film as a total progression towards: â€Å"A progressive movement toward an ultimate goal a total and complete representation of reality... the reconstruction of a perfect illusion of the outside world in sound, colour, and relief† (http://www.thestranger.com/2001-07-05/periphery.html) Bazin called this the â€Å"Myth of Total Cinema.† He believed that a total representation of reality was an ideal. Musicals are popularly believed to be leading away from the ideal of total cinema. This is because they are filmed using non-diegetic sound. This is to say sound that originates from outside of the film.

Can We Talk

CAN WE TALK? RESEARCHER TALKS ABOUT THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN HAPPY MARRIAGES JOSEPH BUTLER COM 200 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION PAUL HUBBLE September 11, 2012 Yes I can relate to the article on the importance of self- disclosure in relationships, without revealing this sensitive information about one’s inner desires or should I say one’s personal feelings there will be limited knowledge of that person’s private feelings in the relationship.Terri Orbuch, a research scientist at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan wrote; â€Å"In 1987, a review in the journal of sex and Marital Therapy found that higher rates of self- disclosure were tied with higher rates of marital satisfaction. Expression of love and support was also linked to happy marriages. † Tribune News Service [Washington] 17Jan 2011. My spouse had this very hard way of expressing her inner feelings to me. We lived each day wandering or trying to figure out what to say to one another at times.Also we would live and sleep together as strangers without knowing what or if a problem exist in the relationship. It is hard to live with someone and not know that person in the relationship, intimately or sexually. Yes, I agree that self- disclosure is important to satisfaction in relationship. Yes, there are certain similarities in gender concerning the role played by each in a relationship. Terri Orbuch who wrote;† Affective Affirmation†Ã¢â‚¬â€Basically, behavior that makes your partner feel loved, cared for or special—plays a role in happy marriages and that men need it more than women. † Tribune News Service [Washington] 17 Jan 2011.Doris Wild Helmering, Happy Marriages, part two wrote; â€Å"People who have good marriages are not critical of each other. The spouses realize that their partners have flaws and no one is perfect. When they see shortcomings in their spouse, they smile and think, â€Å"So what†, or â€Å"W ho cares? † With flaws that they are not able to easily discount, they ask their spouse for help. † [St. Louis,Mo. ] 02 Oct. My spouse and I find a common ground, if one think there is a problem let the other know so that we do not have to live with the problem. No, I do not think I fit into the generalization regarding ender. I live open minded and flexible in my relationship with a spouse.Reference Doris, W. H. (1995, Oct 02), Happy Marriages, part- two. St. Louis Post- Dispatch (pre- 1997 Full text), pp. 04-04, E. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/305087665? accountid=32521Schoen Shoenberg, N. (2011Jan 17), Can We Talk? Researcher talks about the role of communication in happy marriages. McClatchy – Tribune News Service,pp. n/a. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/840600645? accountid=32521Schoen