Concepts of The City

Crowded, overwhelming, hard work, polluted, stressful and chaotic. Not only words frequently used to describe western cities in a post-modern era, but also concepts portrayed through David Williamson's play â€Å"Corporate Vibes†. The city is definitely a diverse place. There is not one phrase that can entirely describe a city, as its image is shaped not only through its aesthetic nature, but also the people who make it up, and the industries that it is well known for. People's perceptions of the city vary with experience. Therefore many texts are opinionated. Even Leo Meier's stunning photograph of Sydney Harbour was carefully planned to produce a flawless representation of the city. It is clearly evident the city is a source of inspiration to composers. There are a vast range of texts featuring the city as a central element, which all convey varying images, ranging from iniquity to modernity, sexuality, beauty and freedom. Corporate Vibes by David Williamson is a play centralised around a city environment. It is my belief the text inadequately portrayed the whole concept of the city, as Williamson stereotyped not only his characters, but focused his entire approach on business life – as unrealistic as it was. The corporate world is definitely a major component associated with the city, yet it is just one aspect of the typical civilized society. Williamson attempts to humour sympathetic audiences with the central theme a conflict between the traditional autocratic mode of management and modern schools of intervention. He presents an idealistic organisational theory within the practical reality of corporate power structures, which itself contributes as a source of humour to the familiar city-dweller. The whole structure of a company is emphasised on a small scale by the composer. A Chief Executive Officer exists as well as a Marketing and Sales Manager, and the Human Resources and Equal Opportunities Officer. This prevalent business structure is used to identify with an audience, and satirize the often inefficient strategies used in the play. Williamson also focused on the specific jobs, training and connections that are unique to the city, and are rarely seen in country towns. The company â€Å"Siddons Residential† designs apartments to fit the cityscape, and thus this whole notion is very much an urban issue. When discussing selling characteristics of apartments, the character of Megan mentioned, â€Å"People are sick of social isolation†¦ the new move is towards connectedness, community, interaction†. This highlights the idea of anonymity and alienation in the city, which can be viewed on both a positive and negative basis. It can be very comforting to walk down the street and know not one person has any idea as to who you are; yet this can also be a very lonely thought. Sexual freedom is a subject, which in itself can lead to isolation. Freedom in this manner is suggested several times throughout the play, especially in reference to James Glenby, who Sam refers to as â€Å"†¦ the Oberfuhrer and great gay God of all things†¦. † The management team also need to be very understanding when Brian expresses his aspiration to become an interior designer. It is often considered effeminate for a male to enter such a profession, so Brian's colleagues were mindful to be particularly sensitive when he expressed his aspirations to create his own unique style, – a style which can only be found in the city. This freedom of sexual expression is more firmly demonstrated by the liberty felt by minority groups in the city, such as homosexuals who express their uniqueness in such festivals as the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gra. Pressure to perform in a job is a significant issue in the corporate world. Stress over the possibility of losing a job is constantly seen in the city where competitiveness is incredibly high. The character of Brian mentioned a typical complaint by employees, when he stated â€Å"†¦ Flat structures. Get rid of middle management. Save costs by getting three times the work from half the staff. † This idea of cutting jobs and thus overheads is rather a taboo amongst staff. Sam realized this problem, when he commented, â€Å"When guys hit fifty they're finished†¦ everyone gets rid of them these days. † It is obvious this pressure originates from highly competitive work environments which advocate a ‘healthy' struggle, for both jobs, and market share. Companies are out to make a profit, and have no issue with culling â€Å"dead wood†, as there will always be younger, more technologically advanced workers ready to fill empty places, and willing to work for less. The character of Sam summed up this idea when he remarked, â€Å"Feelings have nothing to do with business – you either perform, or you don't perform†. Sam had no time for Deborah – ironically the EEO officer, who is an Aboriginal woman. Sam is faced with the issues of multiculturalism and political correctness – matters that are ubiquitous in the city environment. Programs such as Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, aim to give people of all backgrounds and gender a chance in the working world. It is only in city areas, that such a necessity is recognised; and this whole notion has been incorporated in the play by both the race and gender of particular characters. Acceptance of diversity is essential in an urban environment, for life to run comparatively smoothly. The corporate relationship between Deborah and Sam was constantly a hostile one, because he could not accept Deborah as a serious working associate due to her background and qualifications. Especially considering the city is such a large place in population, the acceptance of others is important to both a company and a city itself . Relationships must be maintained for the good of efficiency and productivity. People constantly rely on each other, and without people there would be no city. Even thousands of years ago, this notion was still respected. The philosopher Aristotle criticized Plato's idea that the greater the unity of the state the better, when he remarked, â€Å"A city only comes into being when the community is large enough to be self-sufficing. If self-sufficiency is to be desired, the lesser degree of unity is more desirable than the greater. † Of course self-sufficiency is only achieved through co-operation and cohesion. What good is a large city if it will not work together? Here, Aristotle is essentially commenting that it is more beneficial to have a smaller unit of people working together in a community, rather than a large group moving in opposing directions. Thus differences need to be overcome through acceptance, for people to collaborate and for a city to function. This stress and chaotic life experienced in the city can be contrasted by the perfect images often presented in travel brochures and on postcards. Leo Meier's untitled photograph of Sydney Harbour is one such example. The text depicts the city to be a magnificent, aesthetic place, which is still in touch with nature. The setting of dusk captures the moment when the city is just beginning to come alive, and is by no means peaceful after a long day. The composer has intended the city to be portrayed as continuous, yet an icon of beauty, which is distinctly Australian. The impression expressed by the image is that of vigilance and a never-sleeping city, yet one which has a famous nightlife and festive atmosphere. The working life by day has disappeared, and the social side of the city is just being revealed. The wide lens used, which has created a panoramic view, captures the sheer expanse of the Harbour. The water itself inspires a sense of calm, as it appears somewhat like glass, reflecting the chaos of the city nightlife above. The Harbour contrasts the city to emphasise Sydney's chaotic nature and the element that is never sleeping. The array of colours, the lighting used, and vantage point all stress the connection between the city and its historic and natural components. Corporate Vibes is simply centred on the internal and external struggles encountered by a company in the workforce, where as this photograph demonstrates the relationship between the economy and the city's aesthetic qualities found in nature and historical structures. Although Corporate Vibes focused on challenges and difficulties encountered in the workplace, its perception was not entirely negative. The poem ‘City Trip' by Cynthia L Hoefling, is rather damning about the city in general, with the text centralising its main theme on depression and hopelessness. Despite this feature, the composer also attempts to create compassion for a city, in the midst of expressing pathos and negativity. The author personifies the city so that it can be compared to a mother, which is evident in the line â€Å"†¦ I have seen her weep for her children†. A once happy and lively place, now the city has been undermined by the evil of its inhabitants and their apathetic attitude, transforming it into a threatening, unnatural and lonely area. In the poem, the negative elements are seen to destroy the city's aesthetic and cultural beauty, not so much that the audience comes to despise it, but more so feels sorrow for a potentially vivacious and striking feature of a nation. The poet portrays the city in a critical state, as depicted by the line â€Å"†¦ eon lights flashing with urgency†. Unwelcome industries have invaded this centralised area. The prostitutes are described as â€Å"pooling like tears†, giving an impression of a great puddle, with each individual an insignificant, identical portion. What legitimate industry does exist is depersonalised, especially in the phrase â€Å"blind businessmen†¦ in their world of grey and green†, which signifies homogeny, drudgery and conformity, while the colour green symbolises the dirty colour of money – a frequent drive for a city. Ending the poem with the emphasis of architecture, described as â€Å"brick, steel and stone†, Hoefling has stressed the meaning to the poem – that the city is a lonely, depressing and futile place to live. The futility of a city is expressed nowhere as vividly as the modern appropriation of Little Red Riding Hood, titled ‘Scarlet'. The text gives a very interesting view of the City of Sydney. The story focuses on the drug and sex industry of the city, as well as its speed and corruption. The phrase â€Å"Electric neon pulsed across the footpath†¦ signs flashing Live Sex, Pussycat, Love Machine†¦ contrasts the innocence, which would normally be associated with the life of an 11 year old. Scarlet was exposed to lesbians, prostitutes, and drug users. Every negative aspect a city could possibly possess, the author focuses on. No beauty can be found in the image portrayed – which is an image created to disturb. Dirty – morally, socially and physically, the city is illustrated as a repulsive place – a representation which can be contrasted with Leo Meier's photograph of the Harbour, which gives a flawless image of the city. The story emphasises a dark and disturbing element, in which anonymity can be a dangerous aspect. The concept of being a stranger, and thus being surrounded by strangers is a hazardous situation for Scarlet, who is lulled into a false sense of security by the ‘policeman' – a figure of society that ironically symbolises protection. Represented as the modern jungle, the city is seen as an environment in which it is essential to possess knowledge in order to survive. Scarlet saved herself from the rapist by injecting him with an overdose of drugs. The disturbing aspect is that she learnt the method and amount to use from her mother and grandfather who are both drug users. The city is not only seen as a sexual centre evident by the live shows, services and the sinister rapist, but it is also a commercial hub, still attracting tourists. The author refers to the â€Å"large red and white Coca Cola sign† at the cross, and the cars â€Å"crawling between traffic lights†. This story acts as an unhealthy contrast to the many glowing representations of the city – especially of Sydney. Drug use is apparent, and even prevalent in Kings Cross, but sex, drugs and crime is not all what the city stands for. This text in my opinion has failed to so much as touch on any positive aspects of the city. Although it has fulfilled its purpose of a good appropriation, the author has intentionally omitted any good qualities Sydney boasts. The Lands Department, Macquarie Place Sydney is a remarkable building that possesses historic beauty amongst a chaotic built-up area. As one of Sydney's oldest buildings that represents heritage and culture, it is no wonder why Roland Wakelin chose this structural feature of Sydney as the subject matter for his landscape painting. The emphasis on architecture suggests the recognition of the pride and beauty of the city. There is no evident sign of litter in the artwork, and a significant absence of congestion by cars and other conspicuous high-rises. The poem ‘City Trip' represents the city in an urgent state. The surreptitious nature of the city is expressed by the impoverished homeless and the desperation of the prostitutes. This is in contrast to Wakelin's artwork, which presents the city as an exposed, yet rather harmonious place. The dull colours, along with the pale blues, deep reds and charcoals illustrate a quiet and serene quality. Since the artwork was composed 57 years ago, it is evident much of the city has changed. Many people believe this change is for the worst. However my perception of the city is somewhat in between. I realise that no city is perfect, yet I believe every city has at least sone positive attributes. It is possibly just the number of these that may vary. In my eyes, the concepts of the city differ dramatically. The element of the corporate world does exist in most cities, yet for a person who is educated five days a week in the city, my perception will of course be persuaded by what Sydney has to offer. I see the city as an energetic and every changing place. It is true crime and immorality exists, and I accept this notion, however my experiences have led me to feel that isolation is not a problem, and anonymity is a positive characteristic. I sense freedom of all categories is extensive, whether it is freedom of sexuality, or the expression of unique style. Personally I could never call the heart of the city ‘home'. I adore the city, especially Sydney, yet I believe the mind needs to take time to relax and unwind – and to me the city is not a tranquil and soothing place.

Comparative Analysis of Two Films Essay

Stereotyping can be defined as sweeping generalizations about affiliates of a certain gender, nationality, religion, race, or other group. Social stereotyping has been a worldwide issue for many years. More specifically, stereotypical assertions, based on both gender and race, have been a common theme throughout many 20th and 21st century films. Both Crash, directed by Paul Haggis in 2004, and Girlfight directed by Karyn Kusama in 2000, address the issue of stereotyping in their own unique way. Girlfight does this by placing a female in the spotlight of a sport that is predominantly dominated by males, whereas, Crash confronts our problem with racial stereotypes and racism, and the need to counter them, by focusing on the â€Å"crash† humans experience by encountering people that they actually are already linked to. Throughout the film Girlfight, the crowd may have been against Diana, but her determination allowed her to fight off skeptics outside the ring and her opponents in the ring. Crash is a movie that brings out bigotry and racial stereotypes. While one story revolves around a gender debate, the other approaches the argument from the aspect of race and ultimately both combat the greater social issue of stereotyping. The film Girlfight depicts the struggle of Diana Guzman, a high school girl, and how she overcomes gender barriers to dominate the boxing arena. Her mother passed away when she was young, and she lives with her father and younger brother, Tiny. They reside in the projects of New York City, a tougher area where the ability to defend yourself is basically a prerequisite. Her father forces Tiny to train at the local gym to become better suited to defend himself and that is where Diana is introduced to the sport of boxing. Setting is a key aspect of the film and director Karyn Kusama’s choice of realistic venues for each and every scene help create a documentary-like atmosphere. One scene that illustrates this quality is when Diana and Adrian learn that they will both be fighting each other in the final bout. The scene takes place inside the manager of the ring’s office; a small but well organized office. The camera pans from character to character as they discuss Diana’s next fight and the viewer is placed in the back corner of the office space. A key detail to be noticed is that the door is open and one can see that boxers are still training in the background. This gives the audience the idea that what they are viewing is very real, almost like a documentary, and Kusama’s film work adds to that with a picture that is both grainy and misty. The scene is also full of dialogue, which is a common attribute of any documentary. It seems as if the scene would have occurred even if the camera had not been rolling film. The realistic aspect correlates back to the underlying premise of the movie, gender stereotyping. At the time, female boxers were a rarity and Diana was an exception not only because of her gender but also because of her skill. The boxers at this gym are all male except for Diana who happens to be the main character in the film. This creates an immediate gender barrier the second that Diana steps in the gym merely because she isn’t of the norm. The film Crash attempts to tackle the issue of racial stereotyping though the stories of several characters who all turn out to be connected in some way, shape, or form. Anthony and Peter are partners in crime who hijack cars for a chop shop. Anthony believes that society is unfairly biased against blacks, and at one point in the film he justifies his actions by claiming he would never hurt another black person. Rick Cabot, district attorney of Los Angeles, and his wife Jean are two other main characters throughout the film. One scene that reinforces the use of stereotyping is when Anthony and Peter stroll a Los Angeles shopping strip. As they walk along, Anthony explains to Peter how whites are so quick to judge blacks at night. The dialogue throughout the scene is especially important because Anthony quickly changes from complaining about racial tendencies around him to hiding behind a handgun as both he and his friend hijacks a car. The audience sides with Anthony, as he begins his rant, but out of the blue, the two men pull a gun on an innocent couple and the audience is left in shock. Anthony states, â€Å"You couldn’t find a whiter, safer or better-lit part of this city right now, but yet this white woman sees two black guys who look like UCLA students strolling down the sidewalk, and her reaction is blind fear† (Crash). This statement draws light on the fact that we as humans tend to jump to conclusions often too quickly. Anthony and Peter had done nothing out of the ordinary but the town happened to be predominantly dominated by whites and that set off a red flag in Jean’s mind. Anthony flips the subject based on the fact that they are the only blacks in the area and asks Peter, â€Å"Why aren’t we scared? † Peter responds, â€Å"Cause we got guns? † and both men proceed to pull out their weapons and hijack the Cabot’s vehicle (Crash). This scene is greatly enhanced by the use of sound. As both of the couples stroll down the boulevard, one can hear a peaceful Christmas carol in the background, but as the men approach the Cabots, the music increases in volume and changes to a more upbeat, edgy track. The film does this in order to create tension between both sets of characters; it changes the norm and keeps the audience anxious. To reinforce this, the sound increases once more as Anthony and Peter peel out of the street with the stolen car creating a definitive point in the scene. By transitioning from calm to chaos, Haggis demonstrates how a simple misinterpretation, a stereotype, could pay dividends in the long run. Jean Cabot had suspected something was not right as soon as she locked eyes with Anthony. The fact that Anthony gave a rather thought-provoking talk on racial tendencies shows that stereotyping does not go unnoticed. An act as simple as interlocking arms with your husband as you pass two young, African American teenagers may seem like an act of safety to you but to the teenagers it is offensive. This also proves that this is not a one-sided debate. Both parties are involved and equally held responsible for their criticisms. In â€Å"Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,† Aaron H. Devor discusses the distinction between gender and sexuality. Gender is typically based on anatomical differences between men and women, but does not necessarily match with them. In Diana’s case, she is a female yet she demonstrates masculine tendencies through her animosity and fury in the boxing arena. According to Devor, Diana fails to follow â€Å"the natural role† of her sexuality (Devor 160). Devor states, â€Å"persons who perform the activities considered appropriate for another gender will be expected to perform them poorly† (Devor 159). He point is valid because there are always cases when a male or a female may not fit the norm and fight off a society that is so fixated on masculinity versus femininity. This statement connects with the film Girlfight, in which Diana Guzman distinguishes herself by becoming a boxer, a sport dominated by males. Devor states that even if the athlete does succeed, it is a â€Å"reward with ridicule or scorn for blurring the gender dividing line† (Devor 159). The film Girlfight somewhat argues this statement because Diana was cheered as she finished her final bout against Adrian. Adrian was obviously the favored fighter, mainly due the act that he was a male, yet Diana pulled off the victory. The fact is that gender is socially and culturally determined; it is not biologically determined. At the time, boxing gurus failed to give credit to Diana by being an underdog and decided to instead critique and stereotype her based on her sex. Today more and more women have become boxers but there are still those that frown upon their presence in the ring. Even though people have become more tolerant, there are still some who are not willing to except things out of the norm, which is why society has not gained the balance it needs and social stereotyping exists. Gender stereotyping is a very serious issue in today’s society, but another dilemma just as grim is that of racial stereotyping. Larry Aubry’s Los Angeles Sentinel article titled, â€Å"Undoing Racism in American Cities,† argues how racism is still very much with us and is still a barrier to the realization of the American dream in the nation’s cities and towns. His main point is that in order to â€Å"undo racism† one must â€Å"move from being a part of the problem to becoming a part of the solution† (Aubry, par. 3). Throughout the film Crash, the main characters are given various opportunities to combat racism but instead act on poor judgment by stereotyping. The fact is that stereotyping never leads to a proper outcome. A proper outcome may not be what either party had intended but most of the time an ethical outcome is best. In Anthony’s case, he fumed on how whites were racist yet he became part of the problem by doing exactly what Jean Cabot had foreseen him execute. Anthony stereotyped against himself and further worsened the problem. According to Aubry, â€Å"there is a consensus that everyone is part of the problem in many different ways† (Aubry, par. ). Most people place the blame on others when in fact they escalate the argument. Stereotyping has set societies back time and time again and until society is guided by the fairness of its ideas, its politics, and its culture and not by the fairness of one another’s skin or gender, progress cannot be made. Girlfight attacks the issue from the gender side while Crash from the racial side. Stereotyping is vague in nature but both films key in on these issues through their storyline and cinematic techniques. Girlfight did this through a realistic portrayal of the life of a young female boxer and her struggles. Crash decided to create a segmented story in which characters interact through their abuse of stereotyping. If Anthony and Peter had decided not to go through with the car hijacking, both them and the Cabots would have been closer to the realization that they were in fact, out of line. In Diana’s case, the public is against her, even her father is against her, yet she knows she can fend off the skeptics. Social stereotyping is pervasive and without both parties grasping that fact, both racist and gender stereotyping will continue to exist.

Articulating The Importance Of Leadership On School Essay

Articulating The Importance Of Leadership On School - Essay Example An educational leader should have the ability to understand himself and develop sufficient self-confidence. Whenever a person develops believe in himself, he or she has the ability to fulfill many things. Those educational leaders who have self-confidence do not get scared or nervous when placed in a position that challenges them to make decisions. In this perspective, they should know how they are supposed to start each day to lead the school, the students as well as their fellow teachers. This way, they would be able to help them accomplish the desired goals of a classroom as well as the school. A good educational leader should be in possession of excellent communication skills. It is not possible for a leader to head a particular group if he is unable to communicate with them. A good leader is able to reach a large number of people through various ways. For example, the principal may have a face-to-face conversation with his subordinates every week as well as send them email updat es every day (Chiappetta, 2004). An education leader is supposed to be resourceful and open to new ideas. For example, with the improvement of technology and the prevailing economic times, educators should be open to new concepts for them to change the classroom or educational environment. Additionally, an educational leader should learn how to use the resources that available. A good leader does not just set his own way, but he uses the information available to him and applies to the future resources.  

NONE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NONE - Essay Example This is the most popular and long lasting pedagogic economic notion and the best example in the combination of both economic and moral arguments that economists based on. Some of the aspects of the concept of just price, such as the production cost and the biased efficacy concept of value continue to be controversial. One group of scholars is for the view that just price concept is purely the modern marketplace price and functions similarly in the competitive environment. While on the other hand another group argues that, the concept does not describe the current market and gives principles that contradict the modern developments in our economies. Traders must reach to an agreement in which both the seller and the buyer will consider it fair (Wilson 56). Thus, the concept of just price, which advocates for mutual benefit, is among the best bequest scholastics to the economic thinking. The theory plays a vital role in the process of price determination in the current market. Human beings depend on each other and it is therefore morally wrong to exploit others through unfair dealings. On the other hand, traders must understand that the main purpose of creating goods and services is to satisfy human needs therefore, there should be fair rules and regulations to ensure efficient production and distribution of commodities to the people. Every private owner selling something does not only deal with his commodity but also deals with the necessity, which is common to himself and the buyer (Monsalve 7). There are some circumstances in which the just price theory becomes irrelevant acting in opposition to fairness in the current economies. Some of these include the condition of high number of buyers and shortage of goods and services together with the mode of sales and high sums of money involved. When goods are sold on credit, the number of buyers increases because they will not need cash to buy the goods and there is the risk of damages that must be put

The future of electric vehicles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The future of electric vehicles - Research Paper Example Replacing such vehicles with the ones that use electric energy will bring positive changes in the environment. Electric cars are vehicles that use electricity as a source of energy instead of fossil fuel. It is possible to use the cars since they already exist in some countries (Reddy & Tharun 957). The cars are environmental friendly because they do not emit pollutants in the air. Instead of fossil fuels, they only need to be recharged using renewable sources of energy such as solar energy. The first electric car was introduced in Australia in the year 2008. Each year more of such vehicles are introduced at affordable prices (Reddy & Tharun 957). There two types of electric vehicles entail the battery-electric and hybrid-electric vehicles. The battery electric ones have rechargeable batteries that can be charged at home or at charging stations. The hybrid ones have rechargeable batteries, but they need a small amount of fossil fuel to increase its effectiveness. The distance travelled using electric vehicles varies depending on many factors just like the non-electric ones. For instance, if the road conditions are poor, one will require recharging it more times. In addition, the size of the battery will also determine the distance covered using the cars (Reddy & Tharun 957). The use of electric cars will reduce overreliance of fossil oil that has led to environmental degradation. The use of standard cars leads to the production of polluting gases such as carbon dioxide in the air. The increase in the amount of carbon dioxide and other gases produced cause the destruction of ozone layer. The layer helps in regulating the amount of heat reaching the earth. Due to the high usage of fossil fuel, this layer continues to be destroyed causing the increase in temperatures. The temperature rise has led to the degradation of the natural environment (Davis 4). For instance, temperatures

Sports Products Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sports Products - Assignment Example Through the commercial that run during designated times, Fitbit advertisement intend to convince the consumers that the product offers real-time feedback, and thus suitable for tracking steps and vital statistics such as the calorie consumption (Salah, MacIntosh, & Rajakulendran, 2014). Notably, the FuelBand and Fitbit Flex advertisement compete to attract consumers to purchase the products. The FuelBand and Fitbit Flex target the both male and females who are health oriented and interested in tracking their vital statistics. The company segments the market according to none and sports participants. The marketers position the products as the replacement to physical trainers, workout logs, and other sports accessories (Guarda, 2013). Notably, the competing goal of the two companies is to create loyalty to the consumers through the focused-differentiation strategy. Nike’s advertisement depicts the company as the market leader in the sports product and technology, and it will always strive to reach the consumers through social media, families, and friends in order to increase the Nile community. On the other hand, the Fitbit adverts employ the geographic and behavioral segmentation. Salah, MacIntosh, and Rajakulendran (2014) contend that company targets the technologically savvy consumers in the middle and upper-classes. Guarda, D. (2013). Nike Takes Digital Data and Social Media Marketing Seriously. Retrieved 21 Apr. 2015, from http://www.intelligenthq.com/social-media-business/nike-takes-digital-data-and-social-media-marketing-seriously/ Salah, H., MacIntosh, E., & Rajakulendran, N. (2014). Wearable tech: Leveraging Canadian innovation to improve health. Retrieved 23 Apr. 2015, from

Communication Subject --RESEARCH PAPER Research

Communication Subject -- - Research Paper Example Parents have been pointed out to be substantial advocates of their own children and more so students. In many cases, they are termed as informal consultants when their children are making career choices and academic conclusions. According to Bhakar, & Seema, (2009), children who were born after 1982 want to be close to their parents to feel protected. Diane, (2010) also pointed out that since the introduction of electric devices, 48% talk with their parents daily. Frequent communication between parents and students contributes largely in maintaining a good relationship between the two. This is because the student feels free open their problems to the elders. This too helps parents in understanding their children better and know what they need from time to time. Not all parents have access to social network. Thus, this can be a slow or poor form of communication as compared to phone calls and text messages. Students who communicate with their parents via phone tend to get feedback faster than those using social media. Student’s performance is highly determined by how much the parent’s concern is. Through frequent communication, parents can learn their children’s weaknesses and rectify them immediately. In addition, parents can nurture good values of respect, honor, cooperation and responsibility, which in turn help in good academic performance. In efforts to nurture and back up student’s effective and social growth as well as academic advancement, parents have been encouraged to build a communication system with the teachers, which will in turn help them in monitoring their student’s progress. Communication with the student will also help you to know what kind of support your child needs if financial or emotional support the earlier you solve their problems the highly they will feel motivated to perform better. Students love and honor their parents very much and are never ready

The Role of WTO in the Liberalization of Trade Literature review

The Role of WTO in the Liberalization of Trade - Literature review Example International monetary affairs and trade are interlinked due to the fact that monetary and fiscal areas are also associated with exports and productivity growths. Integration of evolving economies into the international economy facilitates competition for capital and aid. It is evident from capital flow from expanding markets by commercial banks, private investors and multinational enterprises. The recent financial crisis has highlighted the risks involved in this process. Therefore, IMF and World Bank actively play their roles as financer or as a watchdog.WTO plays a critical role in drawing funds through trade and foreign investment liberalization. International trade is imperative for economic growth; therefore, it is essential for emerging economies to accelerate economic reforms (Hoogmartens, 2004, p.9). The fundamental objectives of WTO as well as its predecessor GATT, as Hoogmartens (2004) observes are to serve as a forum to negotiate trade liberalization, to monitor and develop better measures for transparency and to work for resolve issues between trade participants. In addition to that, the fundamental objective includes raising living standards, working towards providing full employment, production and trade expansion, and ultimately, optimal utilization of the world’s resources. In order to achieve these objectives, WTO/GATT work towards fixing or limiting the impact of trade barriers, for instance, quotas, customs process, tariffs, state trading and subsidies in addition to paving the way for trade liberalization(p.10). Hoogmartens (2004) further states, â€Å"Tariffs are generally believed to distort competition and to attribute monopoly rents to producers in countries that uphold them. Quotas are also believed to distort competition, but usually, do not yield more p rofit for domestic producers. Furthermore, their administration may yield corruption, just as discriminatory licensing may†. (p.10)  

Introduction to Bim Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Bim Essay What Is Bim? Building Information Modeling (BIM): A Gateway for the Future Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a process of creating and managing building data during its development. Is a three-dimensional, real-time, dynamic building modeling computer program in which you can increase productivity throughout building design and construction. This process produces the BIM, which then inter-connects the building geometry, spatial relationships, geographic information, quantities and properties with all the related building components. What Is Bim? BIM Basics BIM makes a reliable digital representation of the building available for design decision making, high-quality construction document production, construction planning, performance predictions, and cost estimates. Having the ability to keep information up-to-date and accessible in an integrated digital environment, gives architects, engineers, builders, and owners a clear overall vision of all their projects, as well as the ability to make informed decisions faster. The building information modeling process covers geometry, space, light, geographic information, quantities and properties of building components. BIM can be used to demonstrate the entire building life cycle, including the processes of construction and facility operation. What Is Bim? Benefits of BIM BIM can be seen as a companion to product life-cycle management as in the product development domain, since it goes beyond geometry and addresses issues such as cost management, project management and provides a way to work concurrently on most aspects of building life cycle process. It requires changes to the definition of traditional architectural phases and more data sharing than most architects and engineers are used to. The representations modeled in the BIM process are integrated to the actual parts and pieces being used to build. This is a substantial shift from the traditional computer aided drafting method of drawing with vector file-based lines that combine to represent objects. This BIM Modeling Video, will provide you with a better understanding of the purpose and uses of the modeling system. It is anticipated by proponents that BIM can be utilized to bridge the information loss associated with handing a project from the design team, to the construction team and to building owner/operator, by  allowing each group to add and reference back to all information they acquire during their period of contribution to the BIM model.

Human resource management Essay Example for Free

Human resource management Essay Human resource management is a sequence of decisions that gives the employment relationships, these decisions leads to the success of the organization and allows the employees to reach their target. Human resource management is related with the attitudes of the people and their taste. As every company works with the people, by taking their services, it develops their skills so that they give their level best talent and giving the support so that they can continue in the organization showing their talent that is necessary for the organization to achieve their goals. This is the necessary condition for every company like: business, government, education, social and education, health departments. Human resource planning, directing , organizing of the procurement is to develop, maintain, separate the human resource to the end of the individual, organization and social objectives to be achieved. The term Human Resource Management has many forms of definitions stated by different people in different perspectives, and still there is no standard and fixed definition for it. Because it is the management of different people with varieties of needs and vast individual opinions, there is no standard or strict policy kind of rules to manage people. The Human Resource Management is nothing but managing the employees in an organization with certain policies particularly dependent on the basis of organization and the kind of business it does. 1. 4 Purpose Statement The main purpose of selecting this particular topic is that I my self very much interested in the human resource management and its concepts. Because of the interest on HRM I have read many books and articles on the human resource management and the human resource strategies I came to know that the HRM and the HRM strategies are the main aspects that are leading to the success of the organization, so this statement initiated me to conduct the research on the HRM and get more information on it and provide my new ideas and views for the future enhancements. Chapter 2 Literature Review Meaning of human resource management Human resource management is the management function that allows the human resource managers to select, train, and develop the skills of the members in the organization. In addition, human resource management is associated with the needs of the people. Human resource management is referred by the activities, functions and programs that are carried out.Core Elements of human resource management People: organization itself is the people. It works with the talent of the people. Management: human resource management has to maintain the organization, solve the problems that are present in the organization. Integration and consistency: decisions taken by the human resource management regarding the people must be integrated and consisted. Influence: decisions taken should influence the people by increasing their productivity in the market and allowing the company to get succeed. Applicability: human resource management principles and policies are applicable to human resource management and non human resource management like education, health, etc. 2. 2 Role of human resource management 2. 2. 1 Advisory role: Human resource management gives solutions to any problems that are affecting the people, personnel policies and procedures. a). Personnel policies: organizational structure, social responsibility, employee terms and conditions, rewards, career and promotion, development and industrial policies are the personnel policies. b). Personnel procedures: man power planning procedures, recruitment and selection procedures, employment and training, management and development, industrial relations are the personnel procedures. 2. 2. 2 Functional role: The personnel functions help to communicate the personnel policies. It provides the support to the manager, which will enable that the given policies are implemented. 2. 2. 3 Service role: Personnel functions are provided by the employees who will work for the all time. The services are in the hands of personnel departments. They carry out the main activities of their services and implement the policies and practices that are given above. 2. 3 Challenges of human resource management in Indian economy 2. 3. 1 Globalization Growing the business to the world wide involves the problems on the human resource management in terms of laws, practices, competitions, management styles, work ethics and more. Human resource managers have to deal with many challenges of functions, more heterogeneous functions, more involvement in employees personnel. 2. 3. 2 Corporate re-organization Reorganization relates to mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, takeovers, internal constructions of organization. In these situations it is more difficult to imagine the circumstances that create great problems to them than reorganizing itself. It is a challenge to manage employees fears during the dynamic trends. 2. 3. 3 New organizational forms The main challenge for the human resource management comes from the changing the characters. The competitions are not between the individual forms and group firms. Major companies are running through the local suppliers and forgings. This leads to rise of the new organizational forms. 2. 3. 4 Challenging demographics of work place Changes in the work place are largely related by the dual nature. There is difference between the young blood and old age employees, working mothers, more educated and sensitive workers. These challenging work forces have their effects on human resource managers and from the human resource point of view it is a great challenge. 2. 3. 5 Changed employee expenditure With the changes in the work place the employees attitude also has to be changed. Traditional things like giving house, job security, remuneration are not interested by the employees today instead they the equality and power along with the management. Hence it is the challenge for the human resource management to redesign the profile of the workers and discover the new methods that are liked by the workers like training and supporting them for their work. 2. 3. 6 New industrial relation approach In todays world the employees union has understood that strikes and militancy are not having much importance and are unnatural. The employee union membership has fallen severely and the future labor is of dangerous. The challenge before the human resource management is to maintain the industrial relations so as control the challenges and get grip over them. 2. 3. 7 Renewed people focus Todays world and business need is the peoples approach. The structure, strategy and systems that had worked in the past have no importance in the present situation with the increasing competitions. The challenge of the human resource management is to make people continue and reasonable to the work in the organization. 2. 3. 8 Managing the managers Managers are very unique from the others, they thing that they are different class apart from the others. They command for the decision making, bossism, and operational freedom. When these things are given to them in the past they have misused their powers in removing their coworkers and the talent, hard working employees. The challenge before the human resource management is how to manage this problem. How to make them realize that they have given freedom to make the decisions and implement them but not to misuse. 2. 3. 9 Weaker society interests Other important challenge for the human resource management is to protect the interest of weaker society. The increase in the women workers, minorities and the backward communities has lead to re-examine the practices policies and values. In the name of the globalization, the productivity, quality, the needs of weaker should not be given up. It is a challenge for human resource management to see that weaker sections are not seen and their rightful jobs are not discriminated in services. 2. 3. 10 Contribution to the success of organization The main challenge of the human resource management is to make all the employees to work for the success of the company in an ethical and culturally responsible way, because the society mainly depends on the organization. 2. 4 Human resource management overview The term Human Resource Management has many forms of definitions stated by different people in different perspectives, and still there is no standard and fixed definition for it. Because it is the management of different people with varieties of needs and vast individual opinions, there is no standard or strict policy kind of rules to manage people. The Human Resource Management is nothing but managing the employees in an organization with certain policies particularly dependent on the basis of organization and the kind of business it does. Managing the people with different mentalities, different approaches they follow, different complexities in their thinking, makes the task very difficult for the management. So to continuously improve this process of managing the human resources in the organization, the institutional (e. g. universities) and specialized bodies (e. g.Chattered institute of personal and development CPID) keep busy in investigating on development of new HR related issues faced or to be faced and at the same time practices and remedies to be followed. Managing the people with different mentalities, different approaches they follow, different complexities in their thinking, makes the task very difficult for the management. So to continuously improve this process of managing the human resources in the organization, the institutional (e. g. universities) and specialized bodies (e. g.Chattered institute of personal and development CPID) keep busy in investigating on development of new HR related issues faced or to be faced and at the same time practices and remedies to be followed. 2. 5 HRM resoruces As stated by Werner felt, the word Resource in the context of an organization is defined as Any aspect that may become a strength or weakness of a given organization including substantial and visionary valuable assets of the organization. The organizational resources can be segregated into human resources, technological resources and financial resources. In these three resources of organization, philosophy and the character of human resource management is under considerable scrutiny with continuous debate on the subject. As it is dealing with managing vast varieties of individuals, there is no widely accepted definition. But below given are some of the definitions of Human Resource Management from early years specified by different people in different perspective, which can be used for capturing the glimpse of its idea in use: The main function of the Human Resource Management for an organization is to find the best possible way to utilize the abilities of the employees to the greatest possible benefit and development of the organization and at the same time make sure that employees get financial as well as personal growth and psychological rewards for their work (Graham, 1978). Storey (1995: 5) stated Human Resource Management is individual approach for the management of employees, which needs structural, cultural and skilful measures to take advantage of well capable and dedicated employee resources. 2. 6 Human resource management in the organization The department of Human Resource is treated by most of the organizations as an administrative body and its association with the strategic plans is mostly ignored. Even though HR is about the employees who are very important for any organization, the Human resource department is only included in planning of the organization, but most of the time it is not utilized actively and strategically. Even though the Human Resource is not considered as an important factor in the strategy development and is not associated with strategy of the organization, the effect and success of the Human resource is invisible. Human resource is treated as a department policing the administration properly in hiring and firing as per the letter of law. Strategic Human resource practices are more existing concepts, which is entirely different from administrative function. So organizations ignore most of the time these practices to improve the bottom line business results (Huselid, Jackson, Schuler, 1997). Strategic Human Resource management can be defined by (Huselid, Jackson, Schuler, 1997) as the design and fulfillment of a group of policy practices made by the organization for the best utilization of the human capital contributions for the achievement of the required business objectives. Human resource people often do not act as the exact business persons and become responsible for lack of credibility in gaining business, so are unable to contribute for the success of the organization and its strategies for the development. 2. 7 The importance of Human Resource being Strategic Human resource should not be involved only in the strong administrative foundation of the organization, but also come up with the successful strategy which influences the financial bottom line of the company. Human resource should take active role in planning, guiding itself to provide continuous eventually effective strategies which will be recognized by the organization for the competitive success. It should monitor at regular intervals and also evaluate the strategies being followed and strategies need to be improved, so that Human resource play active role to be recognized as the peoples department in success of the organization. This concludes that strategic approach of the company along with Human resource completely involved in every strategy implementation will ensure that the organizations business goals can be effectively achieved by the use of skilful and able employees to the maximum effect (Huselid, Jackson, Schuler, 1997). 2. 8 The consequences of Human resource not being strategic 2. 8. 1 Human Resource being too involved in administration Apart from the main function of the Human resource department being strategic effectiveness in the development of the employees, the other function is to take care of the administration of the organization, where the department spends most of the time. This administrative work involves Human resource person in handling the selection process, recruitment strategies, appraisals based on performance, plans for the compensation (Huselid, Jackson, Schuler, 1997). Human resource department should give importance to both administrative and strategic effectiveness, because the administration is the basic building blocks for the foundation and functioning of the organization and cannot be ignored. So after the basic organization is formed, the Human resource should concentrate more on the strategic development for the effective utilization of the employees skills effectively. 2. 8. 2 The poor human resource Personal competencies Due to the reason that sometimes the human resource is ineffective in tasks, incompetent and costly in maintenance, Human resource bad reputation is treated as well deserved. The change in the Human resource persons thinking and acting could bring the change expected by the senior management and they can start believing that Human resource can play active role in strategic planning and implementation of the organization. Human resource must upgrade them by learning about the business, culture of the work to influence the positive change in the organization and at the same time increase the credibility of the human resource department. Human resource should give more importance to the business competitiveness than employees personal good feelings and must also lead the organizations work culture. Human resource should be more competent supporting staff as well for the organization (Ulrich, 1997). 2. 8. 3 The human resource not measured in dollars As most of the people believe that Human resource is group of clerks who work more in processing benefit forms, taking care of administration paper work and tracking employees vacation days, and think that there is no strategic accountability apart from these administrative functions, the accountability of the Human resource is always being questioned (Galford, 1998). The Human resource department should play active role with full potential in creating the organization value and work with good strategies for profitable returns on the investment made by the organization (Frangos, Fitzenz, 2002). Normally, Human resource strategic play brings more business returns to the organization, but there is no proper business measure for this achievement. Mostly the human resource value is measured based on the cost savings in administrative and recruiting process of the employees. As Human resource lack the tools to measure the business value of the strategic gains for the organization, most of the industry researches reveal that 60% so the Human resource people play less role and only 40% of the people actively take part in strategy table for the development of the company. This is the conclusive reason for Human resource not being considered as an strategic asset to the organization. 2. 8. 4 The human resource not in co-ordination with other department goals. Human resource need to me more aligned with the over-all strategy of the organization to be more effective in business development of the organization. One of the Harward university survey says 80% of the Human resource departments has no planning for aligning itself with the other departments and its expenditures within the organization (Norton, 2001). Human resource need to be more interdependent and consulting body with all the departments and should take strategic approaches to align itself with entire departments and their strategies. Human resource need to support and contribute more in strategic involvement into different departments and different layers of the employees. This will improve the competitive advantage in the organization and leads to the business development. The main goal for human resource is to manage the human capital, motivate them which are one of the roles in being part of the broader organization management strategy. The human resource should be more involved with the top management and give appropriate support and align itself with the company strategy for the business development of the organization (Freedman, 2004). The overall company profits in the business depends on the Human resource involvement in the recruitment of persons with perfect match for the role, effectively encourage and motivate the employees, full contact with the top management, communicate well with the customers and co-coordinating all these departments. 2. 9 Strategic human resource management The way of doing something is the strategy. It includes t he execution of goals and set of action plans for gaining of the goal. Strategic management is a process of theorizing, executing and passing on the business plannings to achieve the companies goals. A set of managerial decisions and actions that determine the long term performance of organization is the strategic management. Environmental scanning, strategy theorizing, strategy execution, judging and control are included in this strategic management. The study of strategic management allows understanding the strengths and weakness of organization by evaluating the environmental opportunities. 2. 10 Role of human resource management in strategic management Role of strategy formulation: human resource management plays an unique role in supplying the competitive intelligence that will be helpful in strategic formulation. The human resource management can provide the details like advanced motivation plans used by the competitors the opinions given by the employees, bringing out the complaints given by the customers, information about the pending plannings etc. In strategic formulation the human resource capabilities serve as a driving force. Role of strategy implementation: human resource management gives the competition and the work force that will give the success of strategies. It is important that linkage strategy and human resource management needs the series of practice choice. The challenge is to develop the human resource practice choice that will be helpful in implanting the organization strategy and increase its competition. 2. 11 Human resource development Human resource development is the executing and increasing the physical, mental and emotional capabilities of individuals for productive work. Human resource development means to bring out the talent and the individual growth. Human resource development is a process to help the individual to gain the knowledge, improve the skills and capabilities, to performance well in the organization and increase the productivity. 2. 12 Proactive human resource strategies for future plannings and growth In todays competitive and challenging world the human resource development has to take a positive care to maintain the human relations. The human resource development has to play an important role in utilizing the all opportunities that are present to it for the development and success of the organization. Long term goals can be achieved by employing the efficient professionals who have aims to do the work. A proactive human resource development can execute the activities to get the competence and increase the productivity potential of human resource. 2. 13 Human resource planning Human resource planning is a process of having the sufficient people to do the given work at the right time having the ability to work efficiently so that the company can meet its objectives. Human resource planning is useful in giving information like estimating the number of people that are required for the work to be completed. To know how many people are required for the work is know by the human resource planning. Human resource planning plays an important role in avoiding the situations like having more or less people in the work place in future. Human resource enables the organization to go with the changing world like market, technology. Since jobs are based on intellectual skills and technical skills the human resource plannings help to prevent the storage of workers. In addition, due to the technical skills increasing the man power can decrease or increase in future. Human resource planning system Human resource planning system have the following elements for the planning.   The total organizational objectives   The business environment Giving the manpower needs   Evaluating the man power supply   Matching the man power supply demand factors 2. 14 Human resource planning process The objectives of human resource planning process are obtained from the organizational objectives like the necessity and working nature of the employees. Human resource should work on all the objectives by using all the man power that is available. In human resource planning process certain policies are to be made to make decisions like internal employing and external employing, giving the training and developing the plans, union restrictions, job improvement problems, rightsizing the organization, automation needs, continuous availability of the work force. Man power forecasting is the process which gives the information about the number of people that are required in the future. The demand forecasting has the following factors: The internal factor: The internal factor includes controlling of the budget, production levels, new products and services, organizational structure and employee separation. The external factor: The external factor includes competitive environment, economic climate, laws and regulatory bodies, technology changes, social factors. In the man power forecasting techniques the managers across all the levels depend on their own judgment. This can be bottom up or top down approach and judgment is reviewed in all departments and top management concludes on the total number of employees. Man power supply forecasting process measures the number of employees available that are present in and outside the organization after doing some of the changes like promotions, wastages, internal movement, conditions of work. 2. 15 Existing human resources Human resource facilitates the examination of the skills and abilities of employees. The employees that are working in the organization are categorized into skill inventories and managerial inventories. The skill inventories include personal data, special qualifications, salary, skills, job history, company data, capabilities, special preferences. The managerial inventories include work history, strengths, weakness, promotional potentials, personal data, career goals, number of subordinates, type of budget managed, previous management duties. Man power supply forecasting is categorized into internal and external supply. The internal supply is useful to know the following things: the level of production, working times, overtimes, leaves or absence, annual income, recruitments, promotions. The external supply is necessary for the following the reasons: new blood, new experiences, replacing the lost ones, organizational growth. Employees are selected based on the job vacancies. The selection of employees required is done on the basis of supply forecasts. For the selection process the internal and external supplies are used. Human resource professional gives the training to the employees and budget allocation is made for them. When the technology changes the existing employees are to be trained or they have to be shifted to the other departments where they can show their talent. 2. 15. 1 Managerial succession planning. Many methods are used for the managerial succession. Many of the successions involves the top management decisions and commitment. A typical succession plans have the following activities *Examination of demand for managers and professionals   Skills of existing executives   Knowing the future from the supply of external and internal factors   Individual career path planning Career counseling   Increased promotions   Performance related training and development Strategic recruitment Human resource plan should clarify the responsibilities for controlling and establishing of procedures, which will enable the achievements of plans. Succession planning Succession planning is the process of filling of the main positions in the organization by the persons. The main concentration is on the person who is taking the main position of the organization. Succession planning mainly concentrates on the vacancies that are present in the company and filling that vacancy with the appropriate one. Succession planning comes into light when an important person is retired. The employee feels happy when his talents are recognized by the organization and the vacancy is filled by him. By having the talented employee in the organization the organization can get succeeded. 2. 15. 3 Career planning Career planning is the process offered by the company to the employees to know their talents, weakness, jobs they wanted to occupy in the organization. Career planning is a sequence of professional, educational and developmental experiences that allows the individual to go the world of work. It is the sequence of positions occupied by the person. Career can also be considered as the mixtures of the changes in values, attitudes and the support given to the person as he grows. Career planning is regarded as the developmental questions of the organization. It is also concerned with the employment of the graduates, engineers, scientists etc. Career planning gives the succession plans to the employees as per the organizational needs. Career planning is based on the performance, and experience. The objectives of the career planning are building up the confidence in the individual, develop the perspective, reducing the expenses of the employee, make certain organizational effectiveness, allow the employee to reach his goals in the organization.

Effect Of Cystic Fibrosis On Epithelial Cells Biology Essay

Effect Of Cystic Fibrosis On Epithelial Cells Biology Essay Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) is a glycoprotein found in the plasma membrane of exocrine organ cells, and is composed of about ~1500 amino acids1,2. Identified as an ion channel, the CFTR is composed of five domains: 2 transmembrane domains, 2 nucleotide-binding domains (NBD) and an R domain1,5. Transmembrane domains have 6 alpha helixes each, and are embedded in the plasma membrane as a transmembrane protein like its name suggests. NBDs are connected to transmembrane domains, and its role is to interact with ATP for opening of the ion channel, along with the R domain1. R domain, a domain that is unique only to the CFTR protein, regulates the ion channel along with NBDs by ATP phosphorylation1. CFTR is found in cells of most exocrine organs, including the lung, liver, pancreas, and the sweat glands1,3,4. In a normal individual, CFTR protein plays a significant role over reabsorption of salt in some tissues such as the sweat glands, while in other tissues (like the intestines), CFTR regulates hydration of the lumen by secreting Cl- ions1. Protein kinase A phosphoylates the NBDs and the R domain, which then activates CFTR. When NBD and the R domains are phosphoylated by ATP, lung cells then are able to secrete Cl- ions via activated CFTR, and water follows Cl- ions outside the cell due to the hypertonicity of the cell1. However, this is not the case for patients suffering from Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Cystic Fibrosis is mostly caused by mutations in the CFTR gene3. F508, a common mutation of the CFTR gene, deletes 3 base pairs from the nucleotide sequence of the CFTR gene3. Although the deletion seems miniscule, this mutation alters the phenotype of the CFTR protein, rendering CFTR protein useless. The CFTR protein is still found in patients with F508 mutation, but the protein loses its function, and does not allow passage of Cl- ions3. Most CF patients with F508 mutation find their condition fatal before the age of 302. In the lung for example, mutated CFTR protein does not allow Cl- ions to escape into the lumen1,4. This creates a build up of Cl- ions and negative charge inside the cell, which increases the intake of positive Na+ ions via Na+ channels into the cell to balance the negative charge. Due to hypotonicity of the cell because of unbalanced ion levels, the cell increases the intake of water from the lumen. This results in dehydration of the lungs and buildup of thick mucus in absence of water1,2,4. The thick mucus layer is harder for cilia on the lung cells to remove, and therefore debris and bacteria from inhalation sticks to the mucus layer. The mucus layer can obstruct the air passages, as well as increase the chance of bacterial lung infection. Although treating CF has become more effective in recent years, there is still no known cure for CF2. Curing CF would mean restoring CFTRà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s function and phenotype in all cells that contain CFTR in their plasma membrane, but this has proven to be a difficult task, because CFTR are found in various types of cells, and its mechanism changes slightly depending on the tissue the protein is embedded in2. A research in gene therapy does not aim to cure CF completely, but rather targets defect CFTR proteins in the lung of the patient by delivering normal CFTR genes to the target tissue, allowing normal CFTR production in epithelial cells of the lung2. Gene therapy research by Genetic Science Learning Center in University of Utah is looking at inserting a CFTR gene into a vector (eg. a virus), and infecting lung cells with modified viruses which will integrate the normal CFTR gene into the gene of the host cell2. The host cells which are integrated with normal CFTR genes will produce functioning CFTR proteins, removing the effects of dehydration and thick mucus in the lungs. Lung cells were chosen because the modified virus can be easily delivered via inhalers2. Theoretically, gene therapy seems promising for curing CF, but researchers have faced many challenges. Human trials for gene therapy were run in 1993, 1995, and 1998, and all trials proved ineffective in treating CF in the lungs2. The first human trial in 1993 used adenovirus as a vector, and delivered full length CFTR gene to lung cells using inhalers2. The results showed that because of the low doses of adenovirus in the treatment, the virus could not enter and infect lung cells easily. When patients were treated with higher doses of genetically modified viruses, an immune response was triggered in most patients, and they fought off the adenovirus2. Similar results were shown in human trials of 1995 and 1998. In conclusion, Cystic Fibrosis is the result of a mutation of the CFTR gene that disrupts the phenotype of the CFTR protein found in the plasma membrane of exocrine organs1-5. Loss of function in CFTR protein does not allow exchange of Cl- ions between the cytoplasm and its environment, which affects Na+ and water concentration of the cell and the lumen. By inserting a normal CFTR gene into cells affected with CF, gene therapy researchers hope to create normally functioning CFTR proteins in the plasma membrane of the cells, but integrating the normal CFTR gene into an affected cell have proven to be a difficult task2. Annotated References 1. Hwang, TC, Nagel, G, Nairn, AC, Gadsby, DC. (1994). Regulation of the gating of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductanceregulator c1 channels by phosphorylation and atp hydrolysis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 91(11), 4698-702. The article studies the mechanism behind opening CFTR protein to allow exchange of Cl- ions. It goes to explain the structure of CFTR, as well as the molecules/enzymes involved such as protein kinase A. 2. Genetic Science Learning Center (2010) Choosing a vector for CF gene therapy. University of Utah Learn.Genetics. Retrieved February 15, 2010, from http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/genetherapy/cysticfibrosis/vector.html These case studies explain Cystic Fibrosis disorder in depth, and explain why CF is a good candidate for gene therapy. The study also describes how gene therapy can be used to treat CF. 3. Bobadilla, JL, Macek, M, Fine, JP, Farrell, PM. (2002). Cystic fibrosis: a worldwide analysis of cftr mutationscorrelation with incidence data and application to screening.. Hurn Mutat, 19(6), 575-606. This article looks at mutations that occur frequently on the CFTR gene, and identifies Delta F508 allele as the most common mutated allele. 4. Xu, Y, Szep, S, Lu, Z. (2009). The Antioxidant role of thiocyanate in the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis and other inflammation-related diseases. PNAS, 106(48), 20515-20519. The article describes the cells CFTR protein can be found in. The article also briefly describes the consequences of a thick mucus in the lung, and the mechanism of CFTR. 5. Arcellana-Panlilio, M. (2010, February 02). Plasma membrane ii. Retrieved from https://blackboard.ucalgary.ca/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_73080_1%26url%3d The notes describe the structure of and mechanism of CFTR protein in detail. Notes also describe the importance of tonicity between the cell and its environment.

Why Is Religion Important? Essay -- Why Study Religion?

"Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life." -- Buddha "So I say to you, Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you." --Jesus Christ Whether you consider yourself a religious person or not, or whether you think religion has played a positive or negative role in history, it is an incontrovertible fact that from the beginning of time, humans have engaged in activities that we now call religion, such as worship, prayer, and rituals marking important life passages. Moreover, religions have always asked fundamental questions, such as: What is the true meaning of life? What happens to us after death? How do we explain human suffering and injustices? The answers different religious traditions give to these important questions are many and varied and often contradictory. But the questions themselves are ones with which humans throughout time have grappled, and probably will continue to grapple with into the indefinite future. Thus, one of the first reasons to study religion is sim...

Great Conversations :: essays papers

Great Conversations In Robert M. Hutchins essay, †Preface to The Great Conversation† he discusses how he believes Great Books are the finest creations. According to Hutchins, Great Books are the books written in the Western civilization. Robert Hutchins believes reading these books will help everyone morally, intellectually and spiritually. In the fifth paragraph Hutchins state, â€Å"the rising generation has been deprives of its birthright: adults have come to lead lives comparatively rich in material comforts and very poor in moral, intellectual, and spiritual tone.† Hutchins believes this because this generation isn’t reading the Great books, to such on the materialistic thing in life. I disagree with Hutchins. I don’t’ believe everyone should read Great books. I disagree, everyone opinion of a great book is different. I disagree with Hutchins belief, who is he to define Great books? I don’t think reading the books he describes in his essay will help our generation do better or worse. I think it’s up to our generation to define Great books. Our generation s is diverse. Everyone learning style and taste is different. However I do belief education is the key to our success, but the reading the books he describes in his essay will not do the trick. Our generation and society isn’t lacking because we aren’t reading these so-called Great books, it’s lacking for varies individual reasons. Knowledge is gained through several daily activities. Reading these Great books is essential. I would consider the works of Terry McMillan, Alex Walker and Maya Angelou to be Great books. These authors talk about issues that affect me, my peers, and my community in today’s society. Reading the books Hutchins described help them overcome trials in their day.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Single Parent Homes

The purpose of this paper is to express the advantages and disadvantages of single parent homes. As compared to over forty to fifty years ago, single-parent families are common in today’s world. A single parent is a parent with one or more children, who is not living with any of the children’s other parents. The percentage of children who live with two parents has been declining among all racial and ethnic groups throughout the years. It has been found that children in single-parent homes generally fare worse than those in homes with two parents. In today’s single parent households there are many advantages and disadvantages. Even after you weigh the single parenting pros and cons you will see that the disadvantages of single parenting usually outweigh the advantages. The biggest concerns about single parenting are the children. Single parenting is not an easy thing to do. You must be both mother and father to a child or children. Youth from single mother homes, especially those living in poor communities, are at higher risk for adjustment difficulties (Shook et la, 2010). National estimates from the United States have found that the poverty rate of single parent homes was 43. 5% as compared to 21. % of cohabitating families and 7. 6% for married families. Single and cohabitating parents also had fewer assets, less stable employment and higher levels of material hardships. Among single parents and never married mothers, they may be even worse off than divorced mothers, because they had lower levels of human capital or family support and were less likely to receive child support (Gibson-Davis and Gassman-Pines, 2010). Research has shown that low income parents were more likely to use harsh discipline, engage in erratic and inconsistent parenting practices, and provide less cognitive stimulation. Economic well-being has also been directly linked to parental psychological health, because financial strain increases stress, anxiety and depression, further compromising parenting ( Gibson-Davis and Gassman-Pines, 2010). Growing up in a low socioeconomic household increases vulnerability to a wide array of risk factors that can have long-term developmental effects among children (Taylor et la, 2010). Stress and psychological vulnerabilities negatively influence parenting quality through behaviours such as ineffective monitoring of children, harsh or hostile parenting, and inconsistent parenting. Distressed parents are typically less affectionate and report feeling less capable in disciplinary interactions with their children. These types of poor parenting behaviours predict lower levels of children’s positive social behaviour and higher ratio of behaviour problems. Children from single mother families are at increased risk of maladjustment as a result of exposure to adverse environments resulting from poverty, parental internalizing symptoms and ineffective parenting (Taylor et la, 2010). Children from single parent families have very poor and behavioural outcomes. The transition to adolescence is a particularly vulnerable time as youth begin to exhibit lower social competence, declines in academic performance and increased levels of delinquency do to the lack of monitoring from their parent. It is proven that children living in single parent homes, in poverty ridden neighbourhoods are more likely to drop out of school, both so they could go and work to help with the household income or do to the lack of interest in academics. Pregnancy rates also increase for children between the ages of 15 to 17 years of age who live in single parent homes. There are also signs that children who have gone through a divorce may have problems with depression, and emotional stress. It has been found that adolescents from single parent families were found to be three times more likely to be depressed than those living in two parent households. Single-parent homes are also associated with criminal activity, such as murder, rape and other violent crimes. And they are also more likely to use drugs. Problems found in the single parent household may not be because of the parent who raised the child, but can be linked to other things that are also related to single parenting. The effects of coming from a low income family can include things like lower education levels, lower economic achievement and can result in leaving the child feeling isolated and lonely. It would appear that being a part of a single-parent household indicates a negative family environment. It should be said however that many single parent families find a balance and successfully thrive in today’s world. Single parents often worry that their children will somehow be damaged from living in a single parent family. While a single parent family may not be the ideal situation for raising children, many two parent families are also less than desirable. Kids can actually benefit from living in a single parent family. A home filled with conflict is the least desirable home environment for children. When the child’s prior two parent household included frequent fighting between the adults the child can benefit from living in one parent home provided that the conflict is stopped. Children observe adult relationships and usually apply what they have learned to their own relationships as adults. By residing with only one parent, the child may actually have a chance to observe healthier adult relationships. Children learn valuable lessons from dealing with hard times and having a difficult lifestyle from many of their peers. A single parent may actually have more time for the kids that a married parent would have. Since there is no longer a spouse around at mealtime, meals don’t have to be as substantial and can be structural around kid-friendly ingredients. The opportunity to spend time in two separate homes can be a good experience for your children. They will see different approaches to life and hopefully, take the best of both homes to use in establishing their own households as adults. Kids who live with one parent tend to develop independence faster than their peers. Since the parent will probably have a job and other many other duties, the kids may have to learn to do things for themselves such as preparing a single meal or participating in household chores. The kids also learn that they need to be ready to take care of themselves, since they, too, could end up on their own or in a single parent situation someday. Another benefit of a single parent household is the child may become extremely close with the parent they live with. Because in some circumstances children only have one parent so the child will want to form a strong bond with the only parent they have. Your kids will have more opportunities to develop responsibility. Although no one wants their kids to grow up before it is time, as part of a single parent family it will be easier for your kids to feel like partners in the family as opposed to â€Å"just the kids†. They will have more opportunities to contribute and grow into responsible adults. The single-parent and the children will learn resiliency. Resiliency, the ability to â€Å"bounce back† when negative things happen, is one of the most valuable skills one needs to survive in this world. Facing some of the difficulties of a single parent household, the parent and child will have numerous opportunities to practice resiliency. Face difficult situations with a positive attitude and hope, and learn to look outside the box when seeking solutions. They will develop a skill that can get them through the toughest of times together. Even though woman face greater financial problems, they tend to be more nurturing to their children by telling them they love them, hugging them, and showing affection towards them. In conclusion it is apparent that single parent households, whether headed by a mother or father, have more to deal with than two parent households. Single-parent households will continue to exist in society. It is also evident that children in two-parent households generally fare better than children who are raised by only one parent. With single parenthood being such a commonality in today’s world, it is important to take a close look at the research out there regarding this type of family unit and the effects it can have on children. With this knowledge, individuals are better able to address the many challenges accompanying single parenthood. Parenthood is challenging. Single-parenthood is excruciatingly challenging, I know because I am a single parent myself.

Editorial Essay

Deryn 6 June 2012 Should Uniforms be Worn in Schools? In recent years we have been faced with the question; should uniforms be worn in public schools? Some would agree with the idea of students switching out their regular attire for khakis and button-ups. But on the other hand, others, considering me, would like to see this generation flourish and express individuality. I understand that the supporters of this conception would like to see all students as equal beings and to not worry about whose wearing the latest outfit or coolest clothes.They believe it will eliminate barriers, social and economic, among schools, which is partially true, considering they all will be dressed alike, so no one will be cast out. However, this will just be another expense to the parents who already fund public schools through taxes. Also, it will make students potential targets for bullies from other schools, only masking the already present school violence. Faculty and school districts will also find i t difficult to enforce new dress codes, due to the fact that students will not be used to the new imposed apparel.Furthermore, students will have no sense of uniqueness because they will all be identical in a manner. They will have no right to freedom of expression because they will be bonded down by the chains of equality. We should not be forced to be the same. We should be encouraged to be different. Maybe if schools would teach kids to be proud of who they are we wouldn’t have to debate over whether or not we should wear school uniforms. We should keep school uniform wearing to a minimal and display distinctiveness in schools nationwide.

Occupational Safety and Heath Administration Essay

OSHA stands for the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration, which is a US agency for the Department of Labor. OSHA’s priority is the safety of workers and health protection. OSHA was created and passed by Congress in 1970. Until 1970, there were no US laws protecting employee’s safety and health in the work force and this is why OSHA came to be. There are workers who do not qualify for protection by OSHA; public employees, mine workers, truck and transportation workers, atomic energy employees, immediate members of farming families who do not employ outside employees, and the self employed. Some employees are covered by other plans and federal agencies. OSHA’s mission is to provide job training programs that increase employees knowledge about safety and health in the work place, developing job safety and health standards by enforcing them through inspections and maintaining records system of keeping track of accidents and illnesses on the job. About 5500 pe ople die each year from work related injuries. Over 4 million non-fatal injuries and illnesses are reported each year. OSHA is important for US organizations and for their continuous compliance with the agency. How do organizations keep up with OSHA’s regulations? There are plenty of options available and some that may cost hundreds of dollars to the organizations and there are some that can be absolutely free. OSHA updater services will cost the organization money but are the better choice for staying on top of OSHA’s changes to their regulations. The free OSHA updaters will require using online resources. Tips for making sure an organization stays up to date following OSHA’s guidelines would be; make sure to hold regular safety meetings with an up to date safety log. This is brownie points as well in case of a visit from OSHA to the organization occur. Different occupations require different levels of safety training. Hazardous occupations require more in depth and frequent trainings. Not properly training employees to OSHA standards can cost an organization some hefty fines. O SHA and safety training classes are generally available at job search/training centers and community colleges and many companies now require their employees to take these classes if not provided directly on  the job site during the initial hire in process. Resources: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Occupational Safety & Health, Introduction to OSHA, INSTRUCTOR GUIDE, April 2011 https://www.osha.gov/dte/outreach/intro_osha/intro_to_osha_guide.html#topic_1 B&T Concrete, CONCRETE COATINGS, Blog, How to Stay Informed with OSHA Regulations, Blog by Teribery, M. http://btcoatingservices.com/how-to-stay-informed-with-osha-regulations/

A Beautiful Mind

I enjoyed many things from the film A Beautiful Mind including the cast, the interpretations of being schizophrenic, and also the small amount of romance between John and Alicia. Think that the cast was very well picked, Russell Crower did an outstanding job portraying a man with schizophrenia. I could tell that Crower was eve comfortable with this role, considering how well he portrayed John Nash. When I think about John Nash and his awkward, yet sophisticated, rationality Russell Crower really does justice to John Nash.Also, the cast for the other students, John's peers, were well picked out also. All of the other students were intelligent and also a little cocky which makes sense as to why they don't accept John. I also enjoyed the interpretations of being schizophrenic. It is very interesting going into the mind of John Nash and seeing the people that only he sees, and hearing the voices that only he hears. Lastly enjoyed how the film had a little spark of romance between John an d Alicia, but that the entire film wasn't about the romance, and love.The film was more about John and his brilliance than his love life. My only dislike for this film is that it was slowly moving. L, personally, enjoy movies that can invest myself in and really feel the characters. I could not relate to any of the characters considering they are all brilliant. Johns Anna's second grade teacher tells Nash that he had been given two helpings of brain but only one helping of heart, I think that she means that he would stop putting math and science before how he is really feeling and that he should try to make friends and be more in-touch with others.As said before I really enjoyed Russell Crow's portrayal of schizophrenia. I thought that it was very believable, from what I have seen, and was interesting whenever he would have schizophrenic fits around other students. The scariest part of schizophrenia for me is seeing things that others cannot. People with schizophrenia do not know if what they're seeing is real or fake, and that is scary. A Beautiful Mind The movie â€Å"A Beautiful Mind† is the memorable and touching story of John Forbes Nash Jr., an economist and mathematical genius who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1994. Nash is said to have battled with an illness called paranoid schizophrenia.1) Said to be the most feared and disabling of mental illnesses, paranoid schizophrenia is said to be ‘characterized by illogical thinking and hearing unreal things’ (How to get rid). This is much like the way John Nash was portrayed by actor Russell Crowe in the movie.The initial part of the movie showed that John had such a great mind, and his mind worked in a very complicated way. He was so dedicated to his work and can get so caught up with what he was doing that he sometimes stayed at the library for 2 days in a row solving mathematical equations. For John, the numbers just seemed to come alive as if they were begging for his attention.The way he stretched the use of his brain to look at things from a mathematician’s point of view is just so astounding. John correlated everything to math – simple things like the movement of pigeons, picking up girls in a bar, and asking for approval from a girl.The later part of the movie however, shows John as slowly being transformed to the queer individual who speaks of conspiracies, Russians, classified information, and other spy terminologies. He surreptitiously spends most of his time cutting newspapers, magazines, scribbling, deciphering codes, and dealing with shady characters.As the story further unfolds, it is revealed that characters seen by John are only imaginary and that he has to be treated soon, or else he might put his own family in danger. As John’s psychiatrist, Dr. Rosen, says in the movie, â€Å"the nightmare of schizophrenia is in not knowing what’s true†. Indeed, John had a difficult time making the distinction between his hallucinations and realities.2) In the movie, John was given insuli n shock therapy 5 times a week for two weeks. Furthermore, he was released from the hospital on the condition that he would take his anti-psychotic drugs, so that the degree of his illness would not progress any further.Insulin shock therapy was discovered by Manfred Sakel in 1927, where an injection of insulin was administered to the patient, who went into a superficial coma, and eventually recovered from his/her psychotic state (The History of Shock Therapy). This therapy worked positively on John, who showed significant signs of improvement after undergoing this treatment.With regards to medications, at first, all went well when John did as he was told. Eventually, however, John stopped taking them and hid the medicines in a tin can which he – without his wife’s knowledge – hid in a drawer on his desk.This made John’s delusions all come back to life, and all the paranoia and hallucinations haunted him once again. This occurrence almost cost the life of John’s son, so John’s wife once again sought the help of Dr. Rosen so that John could be returned to the psychiatric hospital. When Dr. Rosen arrived, John was asked why he stopped taking his medications.His answer was because ‘I couldn’t work, I couldn’t help with the baby, and I couldn’t respond to my wife’. John was in such a pathetic state that his wife took pity on him and just let him stay, but she left her baby with her mom temporarily. Gradually, John recovered even without the aid of medications. As one website mentions: â€Å"The notion that schizophrenics must spend a lifetime on these (anti-psychotic) drugs is a ‘myth’† (John Nash: Recovery without Drugs), and John did pretty well on this. A Beautiful Mind Mental illness and mental disorders have plagued individuals for many years before the development of the psychiatric community embraced the challenges of treatment with understanding.   It can be assumed that everyone has had an encounter with someone who is mentally ill at some point in their life.Stereotypical images of those with mental disorders encompass the erroneous image of a filthy homeless individual viewed talking aloud to some imaginary person or thing.   Other images depict the mentally ill individual ranting and raving like some ravenous animal with wild eyes and an animal-like posture.These images are poor portrayals of the mentally disturbed often created by Hollywood as a means to keep viewers entertained.   Contrary to popular belief, a mentally ill person looks just like any other human being despite some peculiarities, however, in the society of today, anyone could be mentally ill.BackgroundThe Hollywood motion picture, A Beautiful Mind, was directed a docu mental-like story of an actual world renowned mathematician named John Nash (Grazer & Howard, 2001).   Nash was born in West Virginia and later went on to attend graduate school at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey.He was then twenty-one years old.   Throughout his secondary academic career, Nash remained somewhat unsociable and preoccupied with his research and coursework.   He did not appear to have much time for dating or socializing with members of the opposite sex either.Nash’s competitive nature served as a driving force for his academic research and achievements.   His economic theories and studies enabled him to win appointments and academic recognition through much of his time while studying at Princeton University.   While his mathematic theories would leave a reasonable person ultimately dumbfounded and confused,PSYCHOLOGYit became like a second language to Nash.   Simple tasks like games became too complicated for him to participate in (Gra zer & Howard, 2001).   If it did not equate into a mathematical equation, then in Nash’s thinking, it could not be logical or proven to be absolute.Nash later met a woman, Alicia, while teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).   Over a period of time, the two began dating and later married.   Together they would have one child, a son, named John.   During the course of their marriage, Nash would become more and more distant.   He would blame the distance on his work and research.AnalysisPsychological SymptomsFriends began to notice that his personal hygiene was lacking in the area of care and presentation.   He would regularly forget to shave, his shirts would not be tucked in properly, and his hair would be stringy and unwashed.He began walking with a noticed shuffle while simultaneously clutching his briefcase tightly against his chest as though it bore protection.   He socially disconnected from his colleagues by informing them that his re search was classified (Grazer & Howard, 2001).   Worst of all, he started forgetting that he was required to teach a class at MIT, and he would often not show up.During Nash’s time studying at Princeton University, he became good friends with his roommate.   He would meet up with his old college chum several times over the course of the following years.   It would later be revealed that Nash had no roommate at Princeton University, but rather he was assigned to a dormitory and resided alone the entire time (Grazer & Howard, 2001).The imagined roommate was a hallucination (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).