Ethical Implications of Cloning and Stem Cell Research Essay

Bio-medical breakthroughs in the fields of genetic and tissue engineering hold great promise. However, as modern medicine advances, it often poses major ethical issues on which people are seriously divided. The argument in favor of proceeding with research at unrestrained pace is mainly advocated by scientists and medical experts who would like to see some fantastic therapeutic benefits that science promises in the form of stem cell technologies. Scientists are absolutely thrilled by the possibilities looming on the horizon (Thompson, Harrub 2001c). On the other side of the debate are people, sometimes led by religious groups, who are concerned we may going too far too fast, using unacceptable means and in unknown directions. Stem cell research has the greatest potential for saving lives, but is controversial for its research based on embryos and fetuses (Rickard 2002). Stem cells are immature and unspecialized cells that that possess both the capacity to renew themselves indefinitely as well as the capability to differentiate themselves into specialized and mature cells. Mature cells, such as the heart’s myocytes or the liver’s hepatocytes, stop dividing after several dozen divisions, while stem cells can keep on dividing indefinitely, either renewing themselves or bringing out specialized cells. There are four types of stem cells in the human body 1) adult stem cells, 2) fetal stem cells 3) embryonic stem cells, and 4) nuclear transplant stem cells. For the first three months of pregnancy, a fertilized cell, or zygote, divides and grows in the mother’s womb and is referred to as an embryo. The embryo’s stem cells are the precursors of the development of a complete human baby. They produce all of the body’s various 100 trillion cells. It should become possible to use embryonic stem cells to regenerate any type of cell that the body needs. When the embryo assumes an apparent human body form, it becomes a fetus. Because the fetus is growing rapidly, all tissues and organs, including the brain, contain stem cells. It is for this reason that stem cell researchers are interested in studying fetal tissues. Studies suggest that human embryonic stem cells have immense potential in terms of developing into multiple tissue types and long-term self-renewal. Therefore, stem cell research entails the intentional creation of human embryos in the highly artificial context of an IVF clinic, using cloning techniques, and discarding them after their use for research is exhausted (Thompson, Harrub 2001a). The question to be resolved is whether research on embryonic stem cells constitutes a violation of fundamental human rights, in particular the principle of respect for human dignity and the right of life. However, many believe that conception/fertilization is not a moment but a process, and the early development does not indicate true individuality in any sense of the word, and therefore there is violation of human rights. The promise of embryo research, liberal-minded people tend to think, is too real to ignore any longer by sticking to conservative attitudes that stand in the face of pragmatism. And yet, even they would flinch at the possibilities of reproductive cloning. The difference between therapeutic cloning using embryonic stem cells (stem cell research) and reproductive cloning is the distinction between creating cloned body tissue or organs for therapeutic purposes and creating cloned human beings. Reproductive cloning is generally viewed as morally abhorrent because it is seen as unnatural and a â€Å"commodification† of human life, and it captures public fears about the power of science to pursue a eugenic agenda. When governmental organizations of today debate ban on human cloning, the main issue in such debates would be whether to ban outright all forms of embryo cloning, which a number of countries seem to support, or to permit the cloning of embryos for research purposes (therapeutic cloning/ stem cell research) while outlawing human reproductive cloning. Besides reproductive cloning, there is another untoward ramification to therapeutic cloning, which is cloning for enhancement. The issue of using advances in stem cell research for the purposes of enhancement, as against solely therapeutic purposes, opens up a Pandora’s box of all kinds of complications, ethical, social, psychological, philosophical and practical. For instance, stem cell approaches might help to cure Parkinson’s patients, but, in the not too distant future, they could also be used to improve brain functions. Rich people would be able to afford this therapy and poor people would not. This could create a most undesirable stratification of the society. But where does therapeutic cloning end, and enhancement cloning begin — even if cloning was advanced for purely therapeutic purposes, it would soon spread into the domain of enhancement. This is the argument of â€Å"slippery slope† commonly advanced against all biomedical research involving genetic and cellular manipulation. Last but not least, thanks to the promise that genetic engineering and human cloning research hold, the prospects of achieving capabilities for indefinite life extension even within the next twenty to thirty years are very high (Thompson, Harrub 2001b). The consequences of physical immortality for whole populations are simply inconceivable. But today, the possibility of human race becoming permanently deathless looms uncomfortably close to us. Therefore it becomes imperative that something be done to stem the advances of genetic and cloning research before the situation goes out of hand. A number of states have already enacted specific cloning-ban legislation, either banning the cloning of humans or imposing a moratorium on cloning within the state. Other states have taken action at least to consider formally similar legislation. At federal level, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003, which bans the process of human cloning for any purpose and the importation of any product derived from an embryo created via cloning, was passed by the U. S. House of Representatives on 27 February 2003. It was not ratified by the senate though. The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2005 bans only reproductive cloning while allowing therapeutic cloning. To date, federal regulations only prohibit federal funding for research into human cloning (Cash 2005). Though the science of bio-medical engineering is making rapid strides, and offers the promise of unveiling radical new therapies, simply the fact that a technology exists does not imply that anyone who can pay for it can be automatically allowed to use it. This is because the emerging genetic and cellular techniques and technologies raise all kinds of issues, ethical, philosophical, social, psychological and so on. They carry with them implications very difficult even to comprehend.

What Is True Love

Charles Argument Essay Many people have wondered can true love last forever. I agree and disagree that true love can last forever because true love is how you feel and feelings can always change. True love is described in three words – infatuation, lust, and friendship/companionship. True love can be disproved by infatuation. Infatuation is temporary euphoric state of that is the research on blood chemistry when someone says they’ve â€Å"fallen in love† as stated by Bill Ferguson in his research â€Å"Studying the Science of Falling in Love. He says that love is a temporary state that people go through but it can at any point. Infatuation proves that true love can’t last forever because it’s a temporary state that express how a person feel for example when a person sayâ€Å"I’ve fallen in love† which can change at any point in a relationship. However, true love can last forever is expressed by friendship, or companionship. Friendship , or companionship if you will, is the one element of a love relationship that can, potentially, go on indefinitely as stated by Ferguson in â€Å"Studying the Science of Falling in Love. What Ferguson may have meant was that a truly in love couple is like a relationship that they enjoy being in company with so it has the potential to last forever. Friendship and companionship proves that true love can last forever because it is possible/capable to last forever Cofer’s essay â€Å"I feel in love, or my hormones awakened† supports Ferguson’s claim of infatuation and lust. For example, in her essay she says â€Å"Week after week I wandered up and down the aisles taking furtive glances at the stock room in the back, breathlessly hoping to see my prince. What this mean is that she was in love with a rich senior that every week she just hoped to see him in the stock room. Cofer’s essay proves that true love can’t last forever because she admired him a nd it can last forever because she wants to be with him but she holds it as a secret love.Cofer’s essay â€Å"I feel in love, or my hormones awakened† and Ferguson’s research â€Å"Studying the Science of Falling in Love† both states that true love can and can’t last orever by relating it to three words – infatuation, lust, and friendship. Both Cofer and Ferguson described that true love can last forever with lust and it can’t last forever with infatuation. Ferguson described that true love can last forever with friendship/companionship. These three words helped both Cofer and Ferguson decide if true love can last forever or not. Both stated that true love can and can’t last forever.

An investigation into the potential impact of using a different Dissertation

An investigation into the potential impact of using a different approach of people management and its possible benefits in impro - Dissertation Example ually helps to improve the overall organizational performance has been argued a lot. Organization around the world has now understood that employees are the biggest asset. Likewise the attitude and performance of the employees can act as a decisive factor for the success and failure of a venture. Various studies often shed light on the fact that management of people or people management is the most difficult task for an organization (Bach, 2005). The term people management can be simply referred to as the management of human resources of an organization. It encompasses various tasks such as hiring, training and management, providing support to the employees and also controlling the workforce. Moreover the specified tasks are hiring, administration, communication, organization development, compensation, safety, wellness, benefits, performance management, employee motivation and training. In this context according to some eminent scholars, the key requirements towards the success of an organization are highly dependent on the commitment levels, management dedications as well as the performance of the employees of the organization. 1.1 Introduction to the Study The study will entail various performance management tools and will also highlight different techniques of people management. Furthermore the report will give insights to the topics pertaining to people management in an organization. It will be segmented into five sections. The first section will define the important concepts and will offer a brief overview of the company. Furthermore the research objective along with the research questions will be also presented. The second section of the project will be the literature review of the area of study. In this context, the study will describe earlier works of the scholars in the field of people management. In addition books and scholarly articles will be also consulted. The sources that will be used to accomplish the study include electronic sources, books, and journal articles. The third segment will portray the research methodology. The methodology to be followed for a conducting the study will be illuminated. In this context of the study, both primary as well as secondary data will be collected. The instruments to be used for collecting the primary data are questionnaire and focus group interviews. The questionnaire survey is meant for the employees of BeechWood, while the focus group interview is meant for the HR executives and managers of Beechwood Company. The fourth section will be about analyzing the data. The recorded data will be analyzed and meaningful information will be provided. Both qualitative as well as

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - Research Paper Example Born in a provincial and remote city on the shores of the Sea of Azov, Chekhov experienced philistine poverty under the supervision of a suppressed mother and tyrant and religious zealot father who was a grocer and son of a serf.Chekhov’s grandfather bought freedom for himself and his three sons in 1841 and taught himself reading and writing. Chekhov’s early life is shadowed by his father’s suppression and strict behavior. Frenzied father forced his sons to sing in evening church choirs. He not only tormented Chekhov and his brothers with late-night rehearsals but also asked them to play their roles as â€Å"master’s eyes and ears† in his shop. Antonsha was soon discovered to be more reliable than his brothers; therefore, father relied on him frequently. However, this compulsion proved to be productive for Chekhov and the world in the form of stories like; â€Å"The Sacred Night,† â€Å"The Sacred Mountains,† â€Å"The Student,† â€Å"Perhaps,† â€Å"and The Archbishop.†Chekhov would have never aware of the religious services and people with simple souls without these exercises. (Bunin 4). Chekhov's Education and Profession Chekhov attended a Greek school in Taganrog (1867-68 and then Taganrog grammar school (1868-79).Hid father’s bankruptcy forced the family to migrate to Moscow. Tutoring made Chekhov independent enough to support himself and spend some time alone in his hometown. In 1879, Chekhov got enrolled in Moscow University Medical School. He supported himself and his family by publishing hundreds of comic stories. Subjects of Chekhov’s stories were nonsensical social situations, marital issues, absurd encounters between husbands, wives, lovers, and mistresses, and whimsical young women. Though Chekhov had much knowledge of these issues, he was shy even after his marriage (Liukkonen). Chekhov worked as a physician in most of his life as adult. He gave credit to his medic al profession for his power of observation and sense of direction in literary work (Loehlin viii).He often stated that, â€Å"Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress† (qtd. in Loehlin viii). Writing and Achievements Nenunzhaya pobeda (1882) was Chekhov’s first novel, written in Hungarian context, this novel parodied famous Hungarian writer Mor Jokai’s novels. Jokai was also ridiculed for his ideological optimism during that time period. Chekhov established himself as a famous writer by 1886. The Shooting Party, Chekhov’s second full-length novel was translated into English in 1926.Its characters and atmosphere was also used by Agatha Christie’s mystery novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in 1926(Liukkonen). Chekhov’s first story book was a success which transformed him into a full-time writer. His denial to join ranks of social critics annoyed liberal and radical intelligentsia. Their wrath appeared in the form of criticizin g Chekhov for dealing ad raising social and moral issues and avoiding answers. However, Chekhov won the support of

Enterprise in action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Enterprise in action - Essay Example The specific process needs to be developed in a series of phases, aiming to limit the chances of failures. However, in extremely turbulent market conditions, like the current ones, it is quite difficult for business opportunities to be identified and developed. The use of the effectual approach in the decision making process could help to manage such projects more effectively. Current paper presents the phases of the identification and the development of a business opportunity. Suggestions are made regarding the processes through which a business opportunity can be identified and developed. Appropriately literature has been also used for explaining the requirements and the challenges of the particular process. It is concluded that the use of appropriate techniques for identifying and developing the particular business opportunity can reduce the risks involved. However, it is necessary that all phases of the process are continuously monitored so that the chances for major losses to be eliminated. 2. Describing and processing the opportunity In order to identify and develop a business opportunity it is necessary to follow certain processes. These processes are analytically described below. At a first level, it is necessary to choose the approach on which the processes will be based. The effectual approach of decision-making has been chosen under the terms that the future conditions of the market involved cannot be precisely defined in advance – taking into consideration the strong market turbulences because of the global recession. Each of the phases of the processes is justified using relevant literature; additional literature is analytically presented in a separate section. 2.1 Effectual approach The effectual approach of the decision making process is based on the proposition that since certain elements of the future are known, there are measures that can be taken for controlling it, even if its precise characteristics are not known. In the terms of the business environment, the above approach means that the future performance of business plans can be guaranteed – at an important level - by taking measures which are appropriate in terms of the common market conditions. The above approach is not based on the perspective that the exact future conditions of the market can be known, a perspective accepted in the causal approach of decision making. For this reason, the effectual approach has been chosen as most appropriate for checking a business opportunity, since this approach has the following benefits: a) it does not require accurate decisions but just effective plans; emphasis is given on the construction of the business projects and not on the development of a series of decisions; this fact can help to save time in realizing the projects, b) it does not require precise goals or stable market environment; this fact is an advantage of the effectual approach taking into consideration the turbulences in the global market, c) i t does not require extensive market research, a fact that could also save time/ resources in the completion of the business project involved(Doke et al. 2007). The principles and the rules of the effectual approach have been critically examined in order to decide on their use in the identification/ development of a business opportunity. The effectual principles that have been proved more effective in the identific

Preliminary Outline and Draft Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Preliminary Outline and Draft - Assignment Example In 10 years to come, approximately 25% of American vehicles will be running on biodiesel. Public health institutions attribute increase in cancer and respiratory complications to pollution from fossil fuels. Undeniably, any alternative fuel that causes less or no pollution would be adopted as a solution to the health impacts of fossil fuels. Recent increase in biodiesel campaigns and consumption is attributed to potential benefits of the fuel. Unlike gasoline, biodiesel is non toxic. Gasoline releases unpleasant fumes upon combustion. On the contrary, biodiesel emit fumes with a pleasant smell, no greenhouse gases and absolute absence of carcinogenic hydrocarbon compounds. Occasionally, air pollutants like carbon dioxide are directly associated with gasoline and other fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide, together with other greenhouse gases causes global warming. Scientific research indicates that global warming will lead to increased desertification, climate change, increased acidity of fresh water and rise in sea levels. Among the identified mitigating factors of global warming include use of less polluting and renewable energy sources like biodiesel. Since biodiesel burns cleanly, it releases negligible amounts of greenhouse gases compared to gasoline. Therefore, biodiesel features as a viable solution to the global warming monster together with other complications related to air pollution. A scientific research exercise will be appropriate in substantiating claims relating to the benefits of biodiesel in addressing issues of air pollution. The research hypothesis asserts that increased use of biodiesel reduces emission of carbon dioxide and air pollution. This hypothesis contains both the dependent and independent variables. A null hypothesis, which contradicts the earlier statement, will be introduced to test the validity and reliability of the alternative hypothesis. Undeniably, biodiesel reduces pollution. However, other sources of pollutants

Future Trends in Health Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Future Trends in Health - Assignment Example The major area of interest is the increased cost in health care and the advances made in information technology. Cost of health care is core in determining health education procedures because health care costs continues to escalate, nevertheless it has been more slowly over the years which compels their prices up. Younger and healthier people are prone to see higher premiums because of the benefit mandates and other requirements under the health care laws. Increased individual premiums among many employees are a common phenomenon. Due to increased health rates and healthcare costs, quality assurance is taking central roles in the transformation of good health. For this reason heath information technology (HIT) has taken over to try and cut down the healthcare spending and in the long run increase efficiency, safety and quality of medical care delivery. This has greatly influence the health care education and the entire sector as whole. The major roles that IT has played in transforming healthcare education are healthcare delivery and in general how government registration supports the widespread of better and satisfactory medical services among its

What is the Electoral College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is the Electoral College - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the Electoral College attempts to propose and elect districts’ representatives, states’ governors and the President and vice president of the United States of America. The Electoral College comprises of 538 electors selected from all over the states of the US. The number of electors in each state always coincides with the number of the district representatives and the two senators usually representing a state. The Electoral College was established with the sole aim of neutralizing the conflicts of interest among various states fighting to forward their particular candidate for the presidential position. The Electoral College was also established to facilitate the election of preferred candidates at each state level in order to avert .cases of corruption, bribery, and foreign influence. The Electoral College was also set to address issues of imbalance between the legislative and executive federal branches of federal governments by prohibiting Congress and employees of the federal government from voting. Furthermore, the Electoral College was designated to prevent citizens from electing sons of their regions by commissioning voting for two presidential candidates one of whom is from another state. It is worth acknowledging the significant roles played by the Electoral Colleges in the election ‘system of the US since its formation. One of the significant roles played by the Electoral College involves a contribution to the reconciliation and cohesiveness the by advocating and backing for a popularly elected candidate.

A Short History and Summary of the Current Conditions in Chile and Its Geographical Situation Essay Example for Free

A Short History and Summary of the Current Conditions in Chile and Its Geographical Situation Essay Chile is a country situated on the west coast of South America. It is also known as The Republic of Chile. The size of Chile is 289,112 square miles with a width of less than 100 miles. It is basically a little larger than Texas. Chile is divided into three main parts, mainland and two territorial islands named Isla Sala y Gomez and Easter. Chile has an interesting history and it has seen many ups and downs in its economic development (Hudson, 1994). A description of the history of the 20th century of Chile and its current economic and political situation is presented below. The history of the 20th century of Chile is mainly focused on its entrance to the parliamentary system and thus it saw the changes in its political situation. In the beginning of the 20th century, Chile was stable despite of having lesser power in the hands of presidents. During this time, congress selected the president for the country. The presidents of this century mainly includes: German Riesco Errazuriz, Pedro Montt, Ramon Barros Luco, and Juan Luis Sanfuentes. During the 1920’s, there was an increasing gap between the middle class and lower class of society (Bizzarro, 1987). Due to this gap, the masses were dissatisfied and they called a new leader, Arturo Alessandri Palma, who brought the system of election for the selection of president. He brought other changes as well such as compulsory primary education and separation between the church and state. After a few months’ service of Alessandri, Carlos Ibanez came into power and promoted public works and industry; however, he is known as a military dictator. Electoral Democracy was there during the years of 1931 to 1971 in Chile. After a period of uncertainty in Chile, Alessandri came into power again. Alessandri ruled Chile almost like a dictator and restored the power of Constitution of 1925. Considering the presidency elections of 1958, it is found that there were three candidates and all were from different types of people. They were conservative, Christian Democrat, and Socialist (Zanartu, Kennedy, 1969). Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez won the election of 1858 and maintained a stable situation in Chile. Alessandri was sensible and with his ability to maintain the economic and political situation, he put a halt to the inflation in Chile; thus, contributed in the economic development of the nation. In 1964, Frei defeated Allende again. Frei was a Christian Democrat and took control over the copper industry of Chile. In the next elections, Allende came into power with his socialist view. Allende was the first elected Marxist in Chile. Allende brought new policies and changed the existing policies; such as, he finished the nationalization of the copper firms of the United States, nationalized banks, and sped up land distribution in the country. Some leaders in Chile were against the socialists programs of Allende. In 1973, with the help of the U.  S. , a military coup ousted Allende (after which he committed suicide). After Allende, Pinochet ruled untill 1990. He was mainly focused on privatization and returned the banks, factories and lands to the private owners, and put strict economic and social condition on the people of Chile (Weil, 1969). Overall, it can be said that Chile saw many different leaders in the history of the 20th century and developed in many directions. Current economic and political situation of Chile is described below in the paper. The Economic Situation During the 1970’s Chile saw the economic growth, but in the next decade it experienced recession. Pinochet was the president of Chile and he put some strict economic conditions on Chileans. Looking at the current economic condition of Chile, it can be said that it is a growing and prosperous economy. The government of Chile has a played an important role in the economic development of Chile. Peso is the official currency of the country. The government has intervened many times in the financial market of Chile to control the economic situation of the nation and promoted the social spending (Loveman, 1988). According to the current economic condition, the total GDP of Chile is U. S. $ 268. 3 billion and its GDP growth is 5%. Inflation in the country is 4 to 5% and its main industries include copper, iron, lithium, fish processing, foodstuffs, wood and woods products, cement, textile, etc. (Thomas White International, 2013). It is already discussed above that culture and history of Chile has affected the economic development of the country many times and its reflection can be seen in the economic system of Chile. Chile has seen both growth and recession (with the different economic treatments of its presidents) It is currently able to manage a decrease in the foreign debt and open for the foreign investment. The Current Political Situation The current political system of Chile is also stable. It is nation with multiparty. The country has three branches of executive, legislative, and judiciary. The cxecutive branch selects the president for the country and the legislative branch has two houses named Chamber of Deputies and Senate. The Supreme Court and other lower courts come under the judiciary system. There are many political parties involved in the Chilean Government and they are trying to maintain the social and economic condition of the country (Kelleher Klein, 2011). Analysis and Conclusions Concluding the paper it can be said that Chile has now become an important part of the global economy with its growing industries. Due to many changes in its political atmosphere in the 20th century, Chile faced many challenges in its economic development as it saw growth as well as recession. In 1990, the democratic government was again brought into Chile. A Christian democrat Eduardo Frei won the election in 1993. Currently, the condition of Chile is stable. Chile is facing some challenges in its development of having some problems between the military and the government. Also, there is a belief in the people of Chile that the income inequality is getting worse. Apart from the economic problems, the people of Chile are facing the problems of natural disaster. A devastating earthquake has affected the economic condition of Chilean. The newly elected president of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, is trying to control the challenges that the country is facing (Cynthia Crabtree, 2010).

Lekythos Essay Example for Free

Lekythos Essay A lekythos is an ancient Greek vase made of ceramic; the plural of lekythos is lekythoi (Reference #2). It has a narrow neck, single handle, and is tall with a small, deep mouth (Reference #7). The lekythos was used as a flask, used to hold olive oil and perfumes (Reference #1), and were developed in ancient Athens during the fifth century. In Classical Athens, lekythoi were painted in white ground with figurative scenes. White ground is a form of art used by Athenians in which they created the vase, fired it, and then the lekythos was painted in white. The figures and scenes were then painted on top of the white ground. This method meant that the paintings did not last as well, but were very beautiful in their original state (Reference # 8). Lekythoi were mainly used during funerary rituals, but they were also used by Greek athletes. In ancient Greece, the athletes would practice and compete outdoors, getting themselves covered in sand and dirt. Rather than cleaning themselves at the bath-house, they would rub themselves down with olive oil from a lekythos, then scrape off the excess dirt and oil, leaving their skin soft and clean (Reference #8). The lekythoi used by athletes would be covered in depictions of scenes from Greek mythology, often including imagery of Greek goods such as Zeus and Achilles (Reference #8). The role of lekythoi in funerary rituals is made clear by their excavation from cemeteries and tombs (Reference #7). A lekythos that was meant to be used during a burial ceremony would be painted with scenes of mourning or scenes from the life of the deceased (Reference #5). These lekythoi were sometimes painted with scenes depicting Greek gods, perhaps to cast the deceased in the light of heroic warriors of history (Reference #8). Researchers have been able to put together the funeral process the Athenians went through, and have found that lekythoi played a key role in funerary rites. Firstly, a lekythos would be brought in during the preparation of the body for burial. The body would be prepared by a woman from the same household as the deceased, and it would then be anointed by the oil from the lekythos (Reference #6). Secondly, some lekythoi were filled with scented oils and perfumes and placed around the body, while others were set along the approach to the grave or placed beside the tomb (Reference #5). This was done as a part of the religious focus of the burial ceremony, and was given as an offering. Lastly, a lekythos would often be brought to the gravesite or tomb of the deceased after the burial. It was very important to ancient Greeks to visit the gravesite of loved ones quite often, and when they visited, they would bring offerings to the deceased such as fruit, a feast, or a lekythos filled with olive oil or perfume (Reference #6). In time, the Lekythos was developed into a much larger version of itself, being called â€Å"Huge Lekythoi†. These were often left on top of a grave, or beside a tomb opening, almost as an ancient grave marker (Reference #7). Though they would not be inscribed with any words or the name of the deceased, they would have a painted scene depicting the deceased, some scene from their life, or a scene depicting a sport or activity the deceased greatly enjoyed. Many lekythoi have been recovered and are currently housed in museums all over the world. Though many are not in their original glory, most have been reconstructed. New lekythoi have been made in Greece and are still used today in some small Greek communities during the preparation of the body, and left by the tombstone of the deceased.

Negative Schizotypy Reflect A Continuously Deficit Psychology Essay

Negative Schizotypy Reflect A Continuously Deficit Psychology Essay The DSM-IV: APA, diagnosiss schizophrenia based on reoccurring symptoms, including hallucinations delusions, disorganised speech, disorganised or catatonic behaviour and negative. One reason for cognitive impairments observed in schizophrenia is the processing of context. Cohen (1999) states context processing is used in general to mean the functioning of mental effort or cognitive control. It is referred to actively holding information to be used to mediate task appropriate behaviour. Buchanan et al (1994) states negative symptoms of schizophrenia are connected with deficits involving executive functioning memory. Further evidence from Dibben, et al (2009) explains executive dysfunction shows difficulty in maintaining contextual information, therefore may be an endophenotype of the schizophrenia spectrum of disorders. Research has found there are certain negative schizotypy traits, associated with schizophrenia. Lenzenweger (2010) defines schizoptypy as an underlying personality construct rather than a set of explicit behaviours, which may indicate a concealed risk of future schizophrenia. Schizotypy traits which parallel symptoms of schizophrenia vary from low to pathological, suggesting schizophrenia as a spectrum disorder. Schizotypal Personality Disorder (SPD) presents as similar symptoms to schizophrenia but are explained as a border line state in DSM-III (APA, 1980) SPD not severe enough to meet the criteria to be diagnosed as schizophrenic. Therefore signifying schizophrenia corresponds to the severe end of the spectrum. Additional support from OFlynn et al (2007) shows individuals with high schizotypy scores are cognitively linked to schizophrenia as part of a schizophrenia spectrum. Furthermore Diforio (2000) found SPD patients exhibit cognitive impairment in numerous areas, such as execu tive functioning, dual task information processing and working memory. These are similar to those seen in schizophrenia, although less severe. Studies by Barch (2004) also found individuals expressing schizotypal characteristics express deficits in attention and working memory. Studying individuals with schizotypy traits or SPD can help towards understanding systems and psychological processes contributing to schizophrenia, without confounding factors such as medication effects intervening, which is problematic when researching schizophrenia. The O-LIFE was developed to focus on traits rather than symptoms. It measures four sub-scales associated with schizotypal traits, all have been recognized to have high internal consistency. These are unusual experiences = 0.89, cognitive disorganisation = 0.87, introvertive anhedonia = 0.82 and impulse nonconformity = 0.77. (Mason et al 1995) Evidence from Burch et al (1998) found O-LIFEs test-retest reliability to be very high. However this investigation just measures introvertive anhedonia commonly referred to as a negative schizotypy trait. Meehl (1962) states Anhedonia is the reduced ability to experience social and physical sources of pleasure, as well as avoidance of intimacy, it is an important characteristic of negative symptoms describing it as one of the most consistent and dramatic behavioural signs of the disease. Additionally high social anhedonia as suggested by Blanchard et al (2000) may indicate schizotypy, relating it to a taxon amongst an undergraduate population. A study by Kwapil (1998) suggests higher scores of social anhedonia have been correlated to a greater probability of being diagnosed with future schizophrenia. This investigates uses the O-LIFE questionnaire to measure scores on the introvertive anhedonia subscale and to observe if higher scorers have difficulty with contextual processing. Haddon et al (2011) claim biconditional discrimination in the form of a contextual processing task may be used to measure the way in which task-setting cues control performance. Participants are required to learn relationships by trial-and-error between random pairs of stimuli and feedback responses. Cohen Servan-Schreiber (1992) propose task-setting cues are essential in resolving conflict which opposing stimulus-response pathways create. A study by Mason et al (1995) examined performance of participants with high and low schizotypy scores, using biconditional discrimination and a control discrimination which did not use task-setting cues. Findings showed those who scored highly on the introvertive anhedonia subscale performed weakly on the biconditional. Therefore Liddle (1987) suggests deficits in bic onditional discrimination are directly related to the introvertive anhedonia schizotypy subscale. Furthermore Burch et al (1998) states high schizotypy scores are related to impairments on cognitive tasks, similar to those with schizophrenia. Looking at previous research this investigation aims to replicate (using a related discrimination procedure) and generalise findings of Haddon et al (2011), also to contribute to developing projects on schizotypy which looks to understand effects of core cognitive deficits on severe mental illness. The investigation hypothesises the high schizotypy group will find completion of biconditional discrimination more difficult than lower groups. Method Design An experimental design was used in this study. The independent variables were the schizotypy groups 1, 2, 3 and 4. The dependent variable was the biconditional discrimination score. Participants 92 undergraduates (75 females and 17 males) participated in return for course credit and were undiagnosed as schizophrenic or taking psychotropic medication. Materials Materials included the O-life (The Oxford and Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences) questionnaire and a contextual processing task. (O-LIFE; Mason 1995) This was chosen as it is a reliable and valid measure that was specifically designed for use with sub-clinical populations. A desktop computer running windows and visual basic was used for displaying the stimuli and recording the participants responses. The contextual processing task programme was designed specifically for the investigation. Procedure Participants were tested individually in a quiet environment. The 160-item O-LIFE questionnaire used for measuring schizotypal characteristics within the normal population was shown on a projector screen and participants had to circle yes or no to the corresponding question on an answer sheet. Participants were allocated to schizotypy groups of 20 based on their introvertive anhedonia score relative to the distribution of this trait in participants of similar age and gender. They carried out a contextual processes task which tested biconditional discrimination. Participants assumed the role of a stockbroker and advised clients on stock profitability. In total of 80 training trials presented the participant with pairs of hypothetical stocks including chemicals and paper or metal and wood. Participants then discriminated on a 9 point scale which pairs of stocks would result in profit (positive outcome) and which would result in losses (negative outcome). Participants were instructed to provide a confidence rating of 1 if certain there would be a loss a rating of 5 if uncertain and a rating of 9 if certain of a profit, feedback was provided on the outcome. All four types of trial (AX, BX, AY, BY) (see fig 2) were presented randomly once within each cycle, 20 trials of each compound in total. Biconditional training AX+ AY- BY+ BX- Fig 2 Table of contingences. Completing the task involves attending to both cues consecutively to predict important events. When processing one cue (X) participants have to consider the context in which it is displayed (A or B). Data Analysis As there were multiple levels of the independent variable a one way between ANOVA was used to test for a difference. This analysis decreases chance of a type 1 error. The dependent variable biconditional discrimination was measured by taking the average difference between profit (AX BY) and loss (AY BX) trials in the final 40 trials of learning. Analysis was carried out this way because as Haddon et al (2011) show the effects between the groups emerge as learning progresses. A single score ranging from -8 and +8 was therefore produced reflecting each participants contextual learning ability. The higher the participants score the more context learning ability they have. As ANOVA only states whether there is an overall significant effect Bonferroni post hoc tests were carried out to find which means were significantly different from each other. Results Levenes test of homogeneity of variance is used to report whether variance is significantly different between groups. We cannot use the ANOVA model if there is a significant difference, although for this study Levenes test of homogeneity of variance was non-significant, (p>0.05) therefore ANOVA data can be interpreted. One way between ANOVA shows an overall significant difference between introvertive anhedonia score and contextual processing. (F (3, 88) = 6.019, p Pairwise comparisons using post hoc test bonferroni showed scores for group 1 were significantly higher than those in group 4 (p0.05). As figure 1 shows a linear association was found. (See figure 1). Figure 1. Mean discrimination score by group (s.e shown as error bars) Discussion The aim of this investigation was to further examine and replicate the findings of Haddon (2011). Findings have provided evidence consistent with this aim and hypothesis that high schizotypy groups have difficulty completing biconditional discrimination compared to lower groups. Specifically participants with higher introvertive anhedonia scores (group 4) displayed more impaired biconditional performance compared with those with low scores (group 1). The connection found between high Introvertive Anhedonia scores and impaired biconditional performance is consistent with Liddles (1987) research linking cognitive dysfunction to negative symptoms of schizophrenia and schizotypy characteristics. However it is essential to note anhedonia is not an exclusive feature of schizophrenia, having also been found in bipolar disorder. These results not only give further support to Haddon et als (2011) findings but also maintains the theory from Cohen and Servan-Schreiber (1992) that high schizotypy individuals, should be impaired on biconditional discrimination tasks since contextual information is essential for resolving conflict between opposing stimulus-response. Futhermore the statistical test ANOVA only shows there is a difference between groups scores, not stating exact cause and effect. Variation within groups could be due to individual differences or other factors that were not controlled (tiredness or mood) could affect concentration. Participants could have found the task uninteresting therefore not engaging fully; also participants different approaches to answering biconditional discrimination task can have an impact upon results. The O-LIFE questionnaire has good test-retest reliability and is useful in studying a nonclinical population. Although O-LIFE is not a diagnostic test for risk of mental illness, testing only personality traits. However there are limitations in the investigation, the sample had a clear gender bias with a larger female to male ratio. Another drawback being a young age bias as it used undergraduate students, although sampling from younger age groups produces groups with comparable distributions of introvertive anhedonia scores. Further research is needed to determine the significance of these results and their implications for the relationship between negative schizotypy traits and context processing. Researchers looking for objective indicators for causes of decline into schizophrenia could use further research using these results. Additionally larger understanding of negative symptoms could motivate research into producing therapies effective for negative symptoms. References Association, A. P. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (thrid ed.). Washington: Author. Association, A. P. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (fourth ed.). Washington: Author. Barch, D. M., Mitropoulou, V., Harvey, P. D., New, A. S., Silverman, J. M., Siever, L. J. (2004). Context-processing deficits in schizotypal personality disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 556-568. Blanchard, J. J., Gangestad, S. W., Brown, S. A., Horan, W. P. (2000). Hedonic capacity and schizotypy revisited: A taxometric analysis of social anhedonia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109(1), 87-95. Buchanan, R. W., Strauss, M. E., Kirkpatrick, B., Holstein, C., Breier, A., Carpenter, W.T. (1994). Neuropsychological Impairments in Deficit Vs Nondeficit Forms of Schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51(10), 804-811. Burch, G. S. J., Steel, C., Hemsley, D. R. (1998). Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences: Reliability in an experimental population. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 37, 107-108. Cohen, J. D., Barch, D. M., Carter, C., Servan-Schreiber, D. (1999). Context-processing deficits in schizophrenia: Converging evidence from three theoretically motivated cognitive tasks. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 108(1), 120-133. Cohen, J. D., Servan-Schreiber, D. (1992). Context, Cortex, and Dopamine a Connectionist Approach to Behavior and Biology in Schizophrenia. Psychological Review, 99(1), 45-77. Dibben, C. R. M., Rice, C., Laws, K., McKenna, P. J. (2009). Is executive impairment associated with schizophrenic syndromes? A meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 39(3), 381-392. Diforio, D., Walker, E. F., Kestler, L. P. (2000). Executive functions in adolescents with schizotypal personality disorder. Schizophrenia Research, 42(2), 125-134. Haddon, J. E., George, D. N., Grayson, L., McGowan, C., Honey, R. C., Killcross, S. (2011). Impaired conditional task performance in a high schizotypy population: Relation to cognitive deficits. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(1), 1-9. Kwapil, T. R. (1998). Social anhedonia as a predictor of the development of schizophreniaspectrum disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107(4), 558-565. Lenzenweger, M. F. (2010). Schizotypy and schizophrenia: The view from experimental psychopathology. New York: Guilford Press. Liddle, P. F. (1987). The Symptoms of Chronic-Schizophrenia a Reexamination of the Positive-Negative Dichotomy. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 145-151. Mason, O., Claridge, G., Jackson, M. (1995). New scale for the assessment of schizotypy, Personality and Individual Differences 18(1), 7-13. Meehl, P. E. (1962). Schizotaxia, schizotypy, schizophrenia. American Psychologist, 17, 827-838. OFlynn, K., Gruzelier, J., Bergman, A. and Siever, L.J. (2007) The Schizophrenia Spectrum Personality Disorders, in Schizophrenia, Second Edition (eds S. R. Hirsch and D. R. Weinberger), Blackwell Science Ltd, Oxford, UK.

F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood :: Biography Biographies Essays

F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood "I saw the novel...was becoming subordinated to a mechanical...art...I had a hunch that the talkies would make even the best selling novelist as archaic as silent pictures." (Mizener 165) F. Scott Fitzgerald was keenly aware of the shift in the public's interest from novels to movies. This change made Hollywood stand alone for Fitzgerald as the sole means for expressing his talent and for gaining appropriate recognition, as well as the new way to make money. For F. Scott Fitzgerald, the combination of celebrity and financial benefits made Hollywood an alluring scene. In 1927 Fitzgerald got his first chance to go to Hollywood. The financially strained Fitzgeralds moved out to California when Scott accepted an offer from John Considine of United Artists. While in Hollywood, Zelda and Scott fell into a lively social scene. It was during this time that Scott met the actress Lois Moran. The mutual attraction inspired Scott to take a screen test so that he could star in a movie with her. While Scott never got to act with Lois, he did use her to create the character of Rosemary in Tender Is the Night - even including the screen test arrangement! Social engagements aside, Fitzgerald worked hard on his script for United Artists. Titled Lipstick, the movie was to be designed specifically for Constance Talmadge, a well-known actress of the time. The script was ultimately rejected, however, and the Fitzgeralds left California. Years later, Fitzgerald commented on this time in Hollywood, At that time, I had been generally acknowledged for several years as the top American writer both seriously and, as far as prices went, popularly. I...was confidant to the point of conceit. Hollywood made a big fuss over us and the ladies all looked very beautiful to a man of thirty. I honestly believed that with no effort on my part I was a sort of magician with words...Total result - a great time and no work. I was to be paid only a small amount unless they made my picture - they didn't. (Mizener 205) Fitzgerald had officially begun his painful relationship with Hollywood, which for the remainder of his life would simultaneously represent endless promise and unceasing frustration. The second time Fitzgerald went to Hollywood was in 1931, under the invitation of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who wanted Scott to do an adaptation of Red-Headed Woman, a book by Katherine Brush.

America’s Prisons and Their Effects On Society Essay -- law, police, g

Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment. What are prisons for? This is a question that must be asked in order to understand the problems facing prisons. Prisons serve two main functions; separation and rehabilitation. Criminals cannot be allowed to walk around with everyone else without being punished; they must be separated from society. The thought of going to prison helps deter most people from crime. Rehabilitation is the main goal of prison; making a bad person into a good person by the time they are released. These seem like cut and dry functions, but as of late some believe that prisons in the United States have failed in their attempts to separate and rehabilitate. Not only do prisons separate the criminals from the innocent, to be effective, according to Lappin and Greene, they must also separate the criminals from the worse criminals. Convicts in prison for non-violent offenses are not supposed to be housed with violent offenders. â€Å"Unfortunately, our prisons are becoming more and more overcrowded maki... ... abuse offender policy options.(The field works.). Policy & Practice, 33-34. Lappin, H. G., & Greene, J. (2006). Are prisons just? In C. Hanrahan (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints: America’s prisons (pp. 51-98). Detroit: Bonnie Szumski. Muhlhausen, D. B., Dyer, C. C., McDonough, J. R., Nadlemann, E., & Walters, R. (2006). Do prisons protect public safety? In C. Hanrahan (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints: America’s prisons (pp. 16-48). Detroit: Bonnie Szumski. Shaw, V. N. (1998). Productive labor: A secondary goal but primary activity. Prison Journal, (78), 186. Trachtenberg, B. (2009, February). Incarceration policy strikes out: Exploding prison population compromises the U.S. justice system. ABA Journal, 66. Young, M. G. (1998, July). Rethinking community resistance to prison siting: Results from a community impact assesment. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 323-325.

The Meaning And Definition Of Bpr Information Technology Essay

Business procedure reengineering, as a term and as a pattern, has a tarnished history. Reengineering become really popular in the early 1990 ‘s, nevertheless, the methodological analysis and attack was non to the full understood nor apprehended. Many times, betterment undertakings labeled with the rubric â€Å" BPR † were ill planned and executed. Employees and organisations cringed at the idea of another â€Å" BPR † experience. The term itself is being used less, or is being altered so that these types of enterprises are non associated with the â€Å" BPR † of the yesteryear. Despite this maltreatment of the pattern and tarnished name, the pattern of redesigning concern procedures and the associated engineering and organisational construction is more popular today than of all time. Companies continue to review and basically alter the manner they do concern. Competitive force per unit area and a sulky economic system provide the effectual tool for organisations endeavoring to run as efficaciously and expeditiously as possible.Learning aim:The chief of fixing and showing this study is to understand about the construct what concern procedure technology is, and how it benefited the companies in decrease on procedure clip and costs. Another aim is to measure how concern procedure reengineering enhances the capablenesss and working capacities of companies. This survey will besides affect the survey of those factors that companies use to develop concern procedure reengineering a more profitable one.Meaning and definition of BPR:Business procedure reengineering i s the redesign of concern procedures and the associated systems and organisational constructions to accomplish a dramatic betterment in concern public presentation. The concern grounds for doing such alterations could include hapless fiscal public presentation, external competition, and eroding of market portion of emerging market chances. BPR is non downsizing, restructuring, reorganisation, mechanization, new engineering, etc. It is the scrutiny and alteration of five constituent of the concern: Scheme, processes, engineering, organisation, and civilization. Michael Hammer defines concern procedure reengineering in his book Reengineering the Corporation as:â€Å" Cardinal rethinking and extremist redesign of concern procedures to convey about dramatic betterments in public presentation. †Davenport defines BPR as: â€Å" The analysis and design of work flows and procedures within and between organisations ‘ ( Davenport & A ; Short 1990 ) Teng et Al. ( 1994 ) , define BPR as:â€Å" The critical analysis and extremist redesign of bing concern procedures to accomplish discovery betterments in public presentation steps. †Hammer focuses on one of the cardinal constructs of BPR, that it is cardinal and extremist. The alternate concern betterment methodological analysis is Continuous procedure Improvement ( CPI ) , which emphasizes little and mensurable polishs to an organisation ‘s current procedures and systems. CPI has its beginnings in entire quality direction ( TQM ) and Six Sigma, a plan that began at Motorola.BPR and some MythsThe popular direction literature has created more myth than practical methodological analysis reengineering. The construct of BPR has been with us since about 1990, nevertheless it is widely misunderstood and has been equated to downsizing, client/server computer science, quality, ABC, and several other direction panaceas of the past several old ages. Based on interviews and conver sations with more than 20 companies, and 35 reengineering enterprises, Davenport & A ; studded ( 1990 ) place seven reengineering myths: The myth of Reengineering freshness: reengineering, although about familiar constructs, is new in that these constructs are combined in a new synthesis. These cardinal constituents have ne'er been together earlier. The myth of the clean slate: regardless of cock ‘s ( 1990 ) exhortation â€Å" Do n't automatize, obliterate! † Clean slate alteration is seldom found in pattern. Or, as Davenport and Stoddard ( 1994 ) province: A â€Å" clean sheet of paper † used in design normally requires a â€Å" clean cheque † for execution is done over several phased undertakings. Besides supported by preliminary findings of Stoddard and Jarvenpaa 1995 their findings ran contrary to Hammer ( 1990 ) â€Å" although reengineering can present extremist Furthermore, a radical alteration procedure might non be executable given the hazard and cost of radical tactics, † The Myth of IS Leadership: In contrast to the much touted leading function, IS is by and large viewed as a spouse within a cross-functional squad that is by and large headed by a non-IS undertaking leader and a non-IS concern patron who have better control over the procedures that are being redesigned. The Myth of Top-Down Design: The execution and executing of the redesigned procedures depends upon those who do the work. Hence, the engagement, and more significantly, credence and ownership/at the grass roots degree is indispensable for successful BPR. The Myth of Reengineering VS transmutation: BPR is a procedure that contributes to organisational transmutation ( OT ) ; nevertheless it is non synonymous with transmutation. OT is defined as, â€Å" Profound, cardinal alterations in idea and action, which create an irreversible discontinuity in the experience of a system: ( Adams 1984 ) . OT is defined as, â€Å" Profound, cardinal alterations in idea and needfully involves reframing, which is a discontinuous alteration in the Organization ‘s or group ‘s shared significance or civilization. It besides involves wide alterations in other organisational dimensions besides the work processes such as organisational construction, scheme, and concern capablenesss. The Myth of Engineering ‘s Permanence: Davenport and Stoddard ( 1994 ) speculate that reengineering has peaked in the US in 1994 and would likely go incorporate with much broader organisational phenomena such as another synthesis of thoughts that includes the percepts of reengineering: its integrating into bing alteration methods: or its combination with quality and other process-oriented betterment attacks into an incorporate procedure direction Approach.BPR and TQMTeng et Al. ( 1994 ) note that in recent old ages, increased attending to concern procedures is mostly due to TQM ( entire Quality motion ) . They conclude that conclude that TQM and BPR portion a cross-functional orientation. Davenport observed that quality specializer tend to concentrate on incremental alteration and gradual betterment of procedures, while advocates of reengineering frequently seek extremist redesign and drastic betterment of procedures. Davenport ( 1993 ) notes that quality Management, frequently referred to as entire quality direction ( TQM ) or uninterrupted betterment, refers to plans and enterprises that emphasize design or procedure invention, refers to discrete enterprises that are intended to accomplish radically redesigned and improved work processes in a delimited clip frame.Relation between BPR and Information TechnologyHammer ( 1990 ) considers it as the cardinal enabler of BPR which he considers as â€Å" extremist alteration. † He prescribes the usage of IT to dispute the premise inherent in the work processes that have existed since long before the coming of modern computing machine and communications engineering. He argues that at the bosom of reengineering is the impression of â€Å" discontinuous thought or recognizing and interrupting off from the outdated regulations and cardinal premises underlying operationsaˆÂ ¦ these regulations of work design are based on premises about engineeri ng, people, and organisational ends that no longer keep, † He suggests the following â€Å" rules of reengineering ‘ : Form around results, non undertakings: Have those who use the end product of the procedure execute the procedure: Subsume information processing work into the existent work that produces the information ; Treat geographically dispersed resources as though they were centralized ; Link parallel activities alternatively of incorporating their consequences ; Put the determination point where the work is performed, and construct control into the procedure ; and Capture information one time and at the beginning. Davenport and Short ( 1990 ) argue that BPR requires taking a broader position of both IT and concern activity, and of the relationships between them. IT should be viewed as more than an mechanization or mechanising force to basically reshape the manner concern is done. Business activities should be viewed as more than a aggregation of single or even functional undertakings in a procedure position for maximising effectivity. IT and BPR have recursive relationship. IT capabilities should back up concern procedures, and concern procedures should be in footings of the capablenesss IT can supply. Davenport and Short ( 1990 ) refer to this broadened, recursive position of IT and BPR as the â€Å" new industrial technology † . Business processes represent a new attack to coordination across the house ; IT ‘s promise and its ultimate impact is to be the most powerful tool for cut downing the costs of coordination ( Davenport and Short 1990 ) . Davenport and Short ( 1990 ) outline the undermentioned capablenesss that reflect the functions that IT can play in BPR Transactional, Geographical, Automatical, Informational, Sequential, cognition Management, Tracking, and Disintermediation. Teng et Al. ( 1994 ) argue that the manner related maps participate in a procedure the functional yoke of a procedure can be differentiated along two dimensions degree of mediation and grade of coaction. They define the: Degree of Mediation † of the procedure as the extent of consecutive flow of input and end product among take parting maps. They define the Degree of Collaboration of the procedure to the extent of information exchange and common accommodation among maps when take parting in the same procedure. In their model, information engineering is instrumental in cut downing the Degree of Mediation and heightening the Degree of Collaboration Besides, advanced utilizations of IT would inevitable take many houses to develop new, coordination-intensive constructions, enabling them to organize their activities in ways that were non possible earlier. Such coordination-intensive constructions may raise the organisation ‘s capablenesss and reactivity, taking to possible str ategic advantages. Participants represented a wide sampling of industry groups. Product development and fabrication, finance and banking and consulting were the three largest sectors, accounting for over one-third ( 37 % ) of participants. Over a one-fourth of the participants were team leaders. Approximately 56 % of participants were either a squad leader, or a team member or a adviser.What processes are marks for Reengineering?Customer service was once more the most often reengineered procedure, as it had been in 1997 and 1999, but by less of a border. Information ( computing machine ) services about doubled in frequence, traveling it from the fifth to the 2nd most targeted concern for reengineering.Why are they being targeted?In each study ( 1997, 1999, 2002 ) , the demand to cut down cost/expense was the most often cited concern driver for reengineering undertakings. In 2002, 65 % of participants stated that disbursal decrease was the primary driver. The other three concern drivers are: competitory force per unit area ; hapless client satisfaction ; and hapless quality of merchandises and services.Are BPR undertakings successful?Survey participants showed much higher overall expected betterments from their BPR undertakings in 2002 than in 1999 or 1997. Over half ( 54 % ) of participants expected betterments of over 30 % . In add-on to anticipating higher betterments, survey participants were more successful in their undertakings. About 113 survey participants were able to mensurate their undertaking against the initial aims that were set. Over 73 % met or exceeded their aims, with about half ( 47 % ) of survey participants run intoing their undertaking within 10 % .What are the most critical undertaking activities?Participants overpoweringly indicated that the planning phase where range and functions were set was the most of import stage in the undertaking. The most of import measure was the planning and design stage, which formed the basis and set mileposts for the undertaking. † Other stairss participants cited as critical to project success included a high degree reappraisal of the concern as usual or ‘as is ‘ province of the organisation ( although squads cautioned against passing excessively much clip with this activity ) and deriving support and ‘buy-in ‘ from top direction ( including edifice executive sponsorship ) . Over 75 % of participants were required to subject a concern instance that included the projected ROI for the undertaking to see support. The undertaking had to bring forth a significantly positive ROI and show consequences within a specified clip frame.How did squads pass their clip?About two-thirds of a typical undertaking clip was spent planning, planing and deriving blessing with lone one-third spent on development and execution of the solution.Are undertakings acquiring longer or shorter?Continuing the tendency of shorter undertakings from 1997 and 1999, the norm undertaking lasted 13.8 months in the 2002 survey. In 1999 undertakings lasted 14.5 months and in 1997 they lasted 19.7 months.What would teams make otherwise?The top activity that undertaking squads would make otherwise on the following undertaking was more effectual alteration direction. Study participants cited increased preparation in the countries of BPR, alteration direction, engineering and direction rules as the figure one activity they would make otherwise with their following undertaking.Why are certain squads successful?Participants cited a figure of factors that contributed to their squad ‘s success. The top three factors were: Team members demonstrated a dedication to the undertaking The squad had strong committedness and support from the top direction The squad shared a clear vision of the aims and ends and had a common focal point and apprehension of the undertaking ‘s success. The sum of clip that squad members are able to perpetrate to the undertaking ( full-time vs part-time ) is steadily diminishing from the degrees in 1997 and 1999. At the same clip, stud participants felt that a deficiency of focal point on the undertaking, caused by preoccupation with regular responsibilities, inhibited the squad ‘s success.Did utilizing advisers pay off?Teams used advisers for the undermentioned three grounds: To move as the squad leader or cardinal facilitator within the reengineering squad To supply and/or organize the preparation of squad members. To supply specific and elaborate IT or proficient systems advice and expertness. More than three-fourthss of companies that used advisers rated the advisers ‘ effectivity excellent or really good, and more than three-fourthss of organisations cited the advisers ‘ influence as critical or really critical to the undertaking ‘s success.Did utilizing alteration direction truly do a difference?Excellent or really good alteration direction plans straight correlated with squads that met or exceeded their overall undertaking aims. The top-three alteration direction activities were: Changeless and diverse communicating. Training of employees on the new procedure and systems to be used. Planing the passage and invariably re-evaluating short-run ends and marks. Communication was once more the most of import alteration direction activity listed by participants. Participants cited the usage of multiple communicating methods as the key to guaranting successful communicating. Electronic mails and web sites were successful in making the broad audience, but as the subject was driven deeper in the organisation, there was no replacement for face-to-face treatments.What can Exceed direction make to promote undertaking success?Reflecting the consequences from the 1999 study, squads whose undertakings were driven or to a great extent supported by top direction were more likely to finish their undertaking at or above outlooks. The biggest error made by senior directors or executive patrons was a failure to demo sufficient seeable engagement in the undertaking.â€Å" aˆÂ ¦ non remaining involved plenty after the initial stage, presuming that everyone in the organisation understood their vision and scheme. †An overpowering bulk of squads had senior directors or executive-level directors as their undertaking patrons, and most squads rated their patron effectivity as really good or first-class.What were the biggest obstructions?Participants cited a figure of obstructions during execution. Resistance to alter within the organisation was cited six times more frequently than any other obstruction. Resistance came in many signifiers, including organisational inactiveness, corporate civilization, front-line opposition and direction opposition. The most normally cited subscribers to implementation success were: Buy-in from upper direction, including an executive patron ; A clear apprehension of the concern issues and the BPR solution ; and Employee support and buy-in for the proposed solution.How long earlier undertakings show consequences?Survey participants reported a short sum of clip before they realized betterments. A sum of 70 % of participants realized betterments within six months of undertaking execution and merely 12 % of undertakings required over a twelvemonth before betterments were realized.What else does the 2002 study screen?A list of the most critical â€Å" must make † and â€Å" must non make † recommendations from undertaking reams and squad leaders The complete set of direction errors most normally made during major alteration undertakings A comprehensive usher to BPR methodological analysiss and activities used by squads An analysis of which concern procedures are the future marks for alteration by companies The functions of executive patrons ( what they can lend most ) Key success factors for undertaking execution Guidelines for choosing the most effectual undertaking squad Most of import start-up activities for new undertakings What squad would make otherwise on their following undertaking Charts and graphs demoing what benefits squads are accomplishingFuture way of BPROver the last few old ages, the reengineering construct has evolved from a â€Å" extremist alteration † to account for the contextual pragmatism ( Caron et. Al. , 1994, Earl 1994 ) , and to accommodate with more incremental procedure alteration methods such as TQM, towards a broader, yet more comprehensive procedure direction construct ( Davenport 1995 ) . Based upon a theoretical analysis and study of literature relevant to reengineering, Kettinger and Grover ( 1995 ) sketch some propositions to steer future enquiry into the phenomenon of BPR. Their propositions centre around the constructs of cognition direction, employee authorization, acceptance of new ITs, and a shared vision. Earl et al. , ( 1995 ) have proposed a â€Å" procedure alignment theoretical account † that comprises four lenses of enquiry – procedure, scheme, MIS, and alteration direction and control, and used it for developing an inductive taxonomy of BPR schemes. Malhotra ( 1996 ) has developed the cardinal accent on these issues based chiefly on an integrative synthesis of the recent literature from organisation theory, organisation control, scheme, and MIS. King ( 1994 ) believes that although the current faddism of BPR may stop, nevertheless, procedure reengineering, in some signifier or known by some other name ( californium: Davenport & A ; Stoddard 1994 ) would be of digesting importance.Decisions on Business procedure reengineering:Companies sought out methods for faster concern procedure betterments. Furthermore, companies want breakthrough public presentation alterations, non merely incremental alterations, and they want it now. Because the rate of alteration has increased for everyone, few concerns can afford a slow alteration procedure. One attack for rapid alteration and dramatic betterment that has emerged is concern procedure reengineering ( BPR ) . BPR relies on a different school of idea than uninterrupted procedure betterment. In the extreme, reengineering assumes the current procedure as irrelevant – it does n't work, it ‘s broken, bury it. Start over. Such a clean slate position enables the interior decorators of concern procedures to dissociate themselves from today ‘s procedure, and concentrate on a new procedure. In a mode of speech production, it is like projecting yourself into the hereafter and inquiring yourself – what should the procedure expression like? What do my clients want it to look like? What make other employees want it to look like? How make best-in-class companies do it? What might we be able to make with new engineering? In drumhead, the utmost contrast between uninterrupted procedure betterment and concern procedure reengineering prevarications in where you start, and with the magnitude and rate of ensuing alterations. Therefore it is hard to happen an exact matched BPR to a peculiar company ‘s demands, and the challenge is to cognize what method to utilize when and how to draw it off successful such that bottom-line concern consequences are achieved. Such are the subjects which have to be studied farther.

How do bacteria affect human lives? Essay

Bacteria interact and are a constant in our day to day lives, perhaps more than suspected. Bacteria are often thought of as bad, however this is untrue, there is also many types of ‘good’ bacteria. ‘Good’ bacteria can benefit us by simply helping our digestive system work and helping us in the process of fermentation. Bacteria are extremely helpful in the production of many things such as fuel and medicine. But bacteria directly affect our production of food which, therefore, directly affects us. Without bacteria we wouldn’t have things like; cheese, sour cream and yoghurt. Bacteria are extremely helpful in the dairy industry as it works within food as a decomposer. Bacteria is needed in cheese as a starter culture, the culture grows in the milk, converting the sugar, lactose, into lactic acid giving the cheese the correct amount of moisture and the correct acidity. Cultures are also used in yoghurt, where it does a similar job as the one done in cheese. The culture is responsible for its taste, texture and once more, its acidity. The viscosity of the yoghurt is determined by its quantity of polysaccharide chains. Food products other than dairy which use bacteria in their production are; wine, dried meats and health food industries, where yeast, lactic bacteria and starter cultures are used. Bacteria doesn’t stop helping us with food there, some bacteria defend against harmful bacteria and aid digestion. These are all examples of bacteria benefiting human life. Bacteria even help destroy toxins and help the immune system mature (1)! However they’re bad bacteria often found in foods, products like milk can contain less beneficial bacteria which can be harmful. Most bacteria in milk comes from the skin of the cow and in production, however healthy cows equal less bacteria. This means in third world countries such as Uganda, where they often use unhealthy cows and goats as their main source of milk, more bacteria is likely to be within the milk making some ill and passing on disease. In places such as Britain, the milk goes through many processes making sure all or most harmful bact eria have been removed. An example of when bacteria are really not that beneficial to our lives is  disease causing bacteria. Bacterial pathogens can cause things like salmonella (food poisoning). Bacteria can also cause diseases like Cholera. Cholera is a huge killer, killing 120,000 a year and making many others extremely sick. Its bacterium is Vibrio Cholerae which is often killed by acidic conditions in the stomach, where the hydrochloric acid and digestive juice stay. Vibrio Cholerae is often taken in to the body through the ingestion of water contaminated with faecal matter containing the pathogen and rarely the ingestion of food, also containing faecal matter with the pathogen. Carriers then carry the pathogen; therefore it is able to spread making it very deadly. Unfortunately, cholera has few or no symptoms, so it is hard to tell if someone has Cholera meaning it sometimes spreads unnoticed. A symptom which can be linked with cholera is diarrhoea, meaning many carriers are often left being severely dehydrated. The amount of deaths that Cholera causes really reflects on how much this disease affects our lives. In 2010 and 2011, certain areas went through the major cholera epidemics, these were; Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Central Africa and the Pacific region with Papua New Guinea. The major cholera epidemic started in Haiti in October 2010, and it also affected its close neighbouring country, the Dominican Republic. At the end of 2011 (when the outbreak was still ongoing) there were 522,335 cases of cholera and 7001 deaths had been reported by the 25th of December in Haiti (2). Another example of bacteria benefiting us is bacterial vaccines. Bacterial vaccines are full of killed or attenuated bacteria. It seems crazy to inject bacteria which cause very harmful diseases into the body; however since they are dead they are not able to harm the body. But they do activate the immune system as it recognises it as foreign so it has to attack the bacteria. The immune system starts to produce antibodies for that particular bacteria and these build up and build up until there is enough to destroy the bacteria, this bacteria and antibody is then are remembered by memory cells meaning that next time they are infected with that bacteria the immune system instantly recognises the bacteria therefore killing it straight away, preventing the disease and preventing the same bacterial infection later. One example of a bacterial vaccine is the Tuberculosis vaccine (3). The BCG vaccine is the most common vaccine. It gets to over 80% of all new born  children in the countries which are part of the national childhood immunisation programme. In 2011, in the countries who were hoping to vaccinate each and every child, the levels of use of the vaccine ranged from 53% in Equatorial Guinea and 54% in Ethiopia, to more than a much larger 99.5% in India and China, two largely expanding countries (4). The increase of vaccinations in poorer areas of the world has lead to a much higher life expectancy, greatly affecting our lives. Bacteria are majorly affecting every single one of us in our lives, from common colds or to making cheese. The ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria help and harm us. Overall, bacteria affects our lives more than any other and are highly beneficial and dangerous. References (1) – http://www.effca.org/content/bacteria-food-production (2) – http://www.who.int/gho/epidemic_diseases/cholera/epidemics/en/ (3) – http://www.drugs.com/drug-class/bacterial-vaccines.html (4) – http://www.tbfacts.org/bcg-tb-vaccine.html (5)

Amy Winehouse and Adele Contrast/ Comparison

Amy Winehouse and Adele are the two Englishwomen that have dominated   the UK music industry in the past few years and their impact on the global scene has made them equally memorable and inspiring. They stamped British music forever through their vintage looks but more so through their powerful voices and distinct genres. Winehouse and Adele are both white girls who owe a debt to black soul music.The distinction between them is emphasized more so through their best works, the albums ( Winehouse's † Back to Black† and Adele's † 19†³) that forever transitioned them from London's Brit art school performers(where they were alumni)to successful artists. Without a doubt, the albums these artists created are considered great achievements of our era and the most complex masterpieces of our time. They reflect these ladies' heartbreak due to failed relationships through a mesmerizing but rich sound topped by a distinct musical and lyrical style.Adele's album is simple and clean, less menacing whereas Amy's is a little slight more edgy and memorable. The album â€Å"19† encompasses a bright acoustic-guitar chime, with a lullaby twinkle of plush strings and Adele's mesmerizing  singing tone, honest lyrics, jazz and soul influences evokes Amy's. Adele's delivery is accomplished through a more delicate bluesy tone whereas Amy's is represented by a brick house jazzy expressiveness far beyond our time. Adele is simpler lyrically and occasionally even soppy and somehow redundant lyrically, she doesn't have the mature poetic heritage that Amy does.Talented writers and composers these two muses beautifully show through their lyrics a deep attachment to the lost love and the disappointments that follow its course. â€Å"Back to Black† sounds emotionally and musically true. All eleven songs seem like great lost classics from the 60s : â€Å"Rehab†Ã‚  has many shades of Motown and contemporary twists, â€Å"Me and Mr. Jones† be longs to the swing era of the 60s and   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Loving Is A Losing Game† is a stunning soul ballad with a vintage finish.Winehouse's songs are snappily written with a mix of bitterly caustic lyrics and finger popping tunes, then delivered in a voice that alternates sexy smouldering with dismissive contempt. In the song  Ã¢â‚¬Å"You know I'm No Good†, she's unapologetic about her unfaithfulness but she can also be witty, as on â€Å"Me & Mrs Jones† when she berates a boyfriend with â€Å"You made me miss the Slick Rick gig†. Some will find Adele rigidly old-fashioned with influences (Etta James, Billie Holiday) from another age and her album truly shows that forgotten era.Amy's   influence of girl groups from the 50s   and early 60s is plain: plinky keyboards, parpy brass, trebly guitar. A cursory listen to† 19†³may lead us to conclude that Adele has not just a voice but an appearance way in excess of her years. The same can be said about Wi nehouse except she's   more daring not just appearance wise but vocally and   lyrically as well and through her writings she evokes more depth. The music poures out of Amy a stream of weathered, seasoned phrases, seemingly without effort and â€Å"Back to Black†, is a more soulful and stripped album than Adele's.Strong one moment then fragile the next, † 19†³   is an album that is dominated by highlights dripping with beauty and class. On the other hand   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Back to Black† is flawless and classic and represents the artist's true masterpiece. It's not that â€Å"Back to Black† is better as an overall album but besides being a door opener for many artists its appearance  on the British scene was necessary so we can have Adele's â€Å"19†. British singer Adele has credited Winehouse's success in the USA and more so for making her journey smoother. Winehouse reacquainted an audience with a long forgotten genre by overcoming the vintage aspect.After the release of â€Å"Back to Black†, record companies sought out artists with a similar sound but also fearless and experimental female musicians. Winehouse revitalized   British music forever and influenced British female artists like Adele, Duffy, Emeli   Sande, Misha B. , Jessie J. , Paloma Faith and Florence Welch. These musicians can all be traced back to Winehouse in terms of attitude, musical styles and fashion. Adele's voice caresses and inspires and she sings with unabashed passion about a kind of pain we can all recognize.Amy's voice on the other side is full of soul and characterized by a sultry sound and she delivers amazingly strong and timeless performances that once heard can never be forgotten. Songs like † Me and Mr. Jones† and â€Å"Tears Dry On Their Own† really show her capability to seamlessly go from soul to jazz and back to soul all the while evoking that spirit that is essential in emphasizing her sophisticated and thrilling musical style. Different as they seem – in the way they evolved musically and vocally- these two divas have much in common.Under everything else they both achieved success at an early age through their mutual passion for music and their indisputable talent. Their originality and soulful mannerism is clearly evoked in their albums. Amy and Adele didn't just pave the road for new British artists but have beautifully   reinstated   love as a main theme of our musical era through their deep songs. Two Grammy winners, with retro contemporary sounds they had forever changed people's   outlook on music and will remain the most acclaimed musical game changers of our century. Amy Winehouse and Adele Contrast/ Comparison Amy Winehouse and Adele are the two Englishwomen that have dominated   the UK music industry in the past few years and their impact on the global scene has made them equally memorable and inspiring. They stamped British music forever through their vintage looks but more so through their powerful voices and distinct genres. Winehouse and Adele are both white girls who owe a debt to black soul music.The distinction between them is emphasized more so through their best works, the albums ( Winehouse's † Back to Black† and Adele's † 19†³) that forever transitioned them from London's Brit art school performers(where they were alumni)to successful artists. Without a doubt, the albums these artists created are considered great achievements of our era and the most complex masterpieces of our time. They reflect these ladies' heartbreak due to failed relationships through a mesmerizing but rich sound topped by a distinct musical and lyrical style.Adele's album is simple and clean, less menacing whereas Amy's is a little slight more edgy and memorable. The album â€Å"19† encompasses a bright acoustic-guitar chime, with a lullaby twinkle of plush strings and Adele's mesmerizing  singing tone, honest lyrics, jazz and soul influences evokes Amy's. Adele's delivery is accomplished through a more delicate bluesy tone whereas Amy's is represented by a brick house jazzy expressiveness far beyond our time. Adele is simpler lyrically and occasionally even soppy and somehow redundant lyrically, she doesn't have the mature poetic heritage that Amy does.Talented writers and composers these two muses beautifully show through their lyrics a deep attachment to the lost love and the disappointments that follow its course. â€Å"Back to Black† sounds emotionally and musically true. All eleven songs seem like great lost classics from the 60s : â€Å"Rehab†Ã‚  has many shades of Motown and contemporary twists, â€Å"Me and Mr. Jones† be longs to the swing era of the 60s and   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Loving Is A Losing Game† is a stunning soul ballad with a vintage finish.Winehouse's songs are snappily written with a mix of bitterly caustic lyrics and finger popping tunes, then delivered in a voice that alternates sexy smouldering with dismissive contempt. In the song  Ã¢â‚¬Å"You know I'm No Good†, she's unapologetic about her unfaithfulness but she can also be witty, as on â€Å"Me & Mrs Jones† when she berates a boyfriend with â€Å"You made me miss the Slick Rick gig†. Some will find Adele rigidly old-fashioned with influences (Etta James, Billie Holiday) from another age and her album truly shows that forgotten era.Amy's   influence of girl groups from the 50s   and early 60s is plain: plinky keyboards, parpy brass, trebly guitar. A cursory listen to† 19†³may lead us to conclude that Adele has not just a voice but an appearance way in excess of her years. The same can be said about Wi nehouse except she's   more daring not just appearance wise but vocally and   lyrically as well and through her writings she evokes more depth. The music poures out of Amy a stream of weathered, seasoned phrases, seemingly without effort and â€Å"Back to Black†, is a more soulful and stripped album than Adele's.Strong one moment then fragile the next, † 19†³   is an album that is dominated by highlights dripping with beauty and class. On the other hand   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Back to Black† is flawless and classic and represents the artist's true masterpiece. It's not that â€Å"Back to Black† is better as an overall album but besides being a door opener for many artists its appearance  on the British scene was necessary so we can have Adele's â€Å"19†. British singer Adele has credited Winehouse's success in the USA and more so for making her journey smoother. Winehouse reacquainted an audience with a long forgotten genre by overcoming the vintage aspect.After the release of â€Å"Back to Black†, record companies sought out artists with a similar sound but also fearless and experimental female musicians. Winehouse revitalized   British music forever and influenced British female artists like Adele, Duffy, Emeli   Sande, Misha B. , Jessie J. , Paloma Faith and Florence Welch. These musicians can all be traced back to Winehouse in terms of attitude, musical styles and fashion. Adele's voice caresses and inspires and she sings with unabashed passion about a kind of pain we can all recognize.Amy's voice on the other side is full of soul and characterized by a sultry sound and she delivers amazingly strong and timeless performances that once heard can never be forgotten. Songs like † Me and Mr. Jones† and â€Å"Tears Dry On Their Own† really show her capability to seamlessly go from soul to jazz and back to soul all the while evoking that spirit that is essential in emphasizing her sophisticated and thrilling musical style. Different as they seem – in the way they evolved musically and vocally- these two divas have much in common.Under everything else they both achieved success at an early age through their mutual passion for music and their indisputable talent. Their originality and soulful mannerism is clearly evoked in their albums. Amy and Adele didn't just pave the road for new British artists but have beautifully   reinstated   love as a main theme of our musical era through their deep songs. Two Grammy winners, with retro contemporary sounds they had forever changed people's   outlook on music and will remain the most acclaimed musical game changers of our century.

War on Terror Research Paper

War on Terror Do you ever have one of those moments in your life in which you will never forget where you were? I remember waking up early on September 11, 2001, getting ready for school and my dad telling me hurry up to watch the news with him. Being in 8th grade at the time, the news really wasn’t something I would watch in the mornings so I knew it had to be something important. Then I saw it. An airplane crashing into a tower, people panicking, and mayhem ensuing in a city very well known to me. When any tragic event like 9/11 occurs, the effect it will have on a nation is tremendous.It left America in shock, anger, and sadness just to name a few adjectives to describe the insurmountable amount of feelings that we felt on that day. With America being such a powerful nation, after recovering from the attack the next ideal step would be to seek retaliation, right? Well on October 7th 2001, the war in Afghanistan began marking the first step in the War on Terror. The 9/11 tra gedy was very devastating to the American morale and our sense of security. America being so powerful and strong it may be logical to see how we had a false sense of security when it came to attacks on us.I mean, who would really want to attack one of the strongest nations on Earth? No other nation in their right mind would, right? Wrong. When those two planes hit our towers and another hitting the pentagon we were slapped with a reality check. We weren’t as safe as we thought we were. To add onto things, on September 18th and October 9th, 2001, we were hit by the anthrax attack that killed five and injured seventeen Americans. Something had to be done about this. We shouldn’t be letting other nations attack us like this. So George W. Bush began the War on Terror.The single person who took responsibility for these attacks on America is the notorious Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden founded the jihadist terrorist organization known as al-Qaeda at around 1988 to late 1989. The al-Qaeda, which translates into â€Å"The Base,† is well known for the September 11th attacks on the United States, but is also responsible for the 1998 US embassy bombings as well as the 2002 bombings in Bali. The war on terror started with America going on the offensive against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. With Osama bin laden becoming the most wanted criminal in the United States, f not the entire world, other countries would join in our attempt to dismantle the al-Qaeda and their usage of Afghanistan as a home base. Australia, United Kingdom, and the united afghan front became our allies in the war in Afghanistan. These nations would launch Operation Enduring Freedom. While Operation Enduring Freedom was mainly targeting Afghanistan, it also had many subordinate operations. Along with Afghanistan, there were operations in the Philippines, Horn of Africa/Somalia, Pankisi Gorge, Trans Sahara, Caribbean and Central America, and Kyrgyzstan.The terrorist regimes were placed all o ver the world and the nations fighting terrorism found it necessary to assist these other countries in eliminating those hostile forces in their territory. Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines is a currently active mission to fight the terrorist forces of Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah. Abu Sayyaf is an Islamist separatist group that was residing around the southern islands of the Republic of the Philippines while Jamaah Islamiyah is a militant Islamic terrorist group that was spread out through Southeast Asia in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, parts of Thailand, and the Philippines.This operation is still ongoing and has tallied 17 US soldier casualties with >315 enemies killed, including Abu Sayyaf leader Janjalani. Another one of the Operation Enduring Freedom missions was the Horn of Africa (Northeast Africa/Somali Peninsula). This mission was dedicated to stopping terrorism and piracy in the Horn of Africa. The United States lost 29 due to non-combat fata lities, but so far have been able to kill 149-160 insurgents, 67-78 pirates, and captured around 1000 pirates. This mission is still ongoing since October 7th, 2002.There was also another operation held in Africa referred to as Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara. A 500 million budget was approved for the Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative (TSCTI) that would be spent over a six-year span to support those countries that were facing threats from the al-Qaeda. These countries were primarily Chad, Algeria, Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco, Mali, and Mauritania. Along with the attempts to thwart terrorism, the TSCTI were also focusing on drug and weapon trafficking. One of the main points of this specific mission was to train these 10 nations with the ecessary skills and equipment to combat these problems on their own. The last two Operation Enduring Freedom missions are â€Å"Caribbean and Central America† and Kyrgyzstan. The Caribbean and Central American mission ha s forces deployed in El Salvador, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Belize, Honduras, and Costa Rica. The US Air Force at Manas International Airport primarily runs the operation in Kyrgyzstan near the capitol Bishkek. Now onto the main mission in Operation Enduring Freedom, the War in Afghanistan.The main reason behind this war was to dismantle the al-Qaeda organization and stopping them from using Afghanistan as their base. The United States would also go on to state that they were attempting to take the Taliban out of power and create a nation with a more democratic government. This war began on October 7th, 2001, and is still ongoing today making it the United States longest running war. â€Å"Article 51 permits a victimized state to engage in ‘individual or collective self-defense’ until recourse has been taken by the Security Council to establish peace† (Maogoto, 2003).The reason that this war was criticized so much was because people felt that bombi ng and attacking Afghanistan was not self-defense because the 9/11 attacks were done by non-state actors, not Afghanistan’s own army. Either way, President George W. Bush was given authorization by Congress to go ahead and begin the war against Afghanistan on September 18th 2001, when a legislation called â€Å"Authorization for Use of Military Forces Against Terrorists,† was passed. With the War in Afghanistan being the longest war that the US has run, it is understandable that there are many losses.In our coalition there were 3,097 killed with 2,031 of them being from the United States, over 23,500 wounded, and 1 missing/captured. Of the contractors hired, there were 1,143 killed and over 15,000 wounded. The Afghan Security Forces lost 10,086+ and the Afghan Northern Alliance lost over 200. As for the opposing forces, there was no real reliable estimate, but the Taliban forces were estimated to be around 25,000 strong. One of the more shocking numbers to be brought u p in losses is how many civilians were killed during the attacks.A rough estimate of civilian casualties is 12,500 – 14,700. While there were many causes for the civilian casualties, the majority of the losses came from the airstrikes and improvised explosives by the insurgents. The civilian deaths caused a lot of tension between the foreign countries and Afghanistan government causing President Karzai to summon his foreign military commanders to tell them â€Å"his people’s patience was wearing thin† (BBC, 2007). Even though there were many losses suffered by all participants and those civilians, there was a huge victory for the United States on May 2nd, 2011.This was the day that al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, was finally shot and killed by the US forces in Pakistan (BBC, 2011). They would later confirm the death through DNA tests This could have also been another one of those â€Å"you’ll never forget where you were† events for many seeing ho w he caused so much damage with the 9/11 attacks. The next war to start after Operation Enduring Freedom began was the Iraq war. The reasons behind this war have been extremely debated and discussed since it started. The official factors were listed in the â€Å"Iraq Resolution. † Here are some of the reasons to invade Iraq (President George W.Bush, 2002): * Members of al-Qaeda, the ones responsible for attacks on the US, were residing in Iraq. * Iraq paid bounties to suicide bomber’s families. * Iraq was brutally repressing their civilian population. * Iraq was not complying with the 1991 ceasefire agreement while also interfering with U. N. weapons instructors. * Iraq was â€Å"continuing to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations,† that also included anti-United States terrorist organizations. * Turkey, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia wanted Saddam out of power in Iraq and feared what he may do.Those were listing only a few reasons, but another bi g factor in the Iraq War was that Saddam Hussein did not stop producing weapons of mass destruction in 2003 after the Duelfer Report revealed that information. In 1991, Hussein’s WMD capability was essentially destroyed by sanctions to restore Iraq’s economy to a more stable condition. On October 21, 2011, Obama announced, â€Å"After nearly 9 years, America’s war in Iraq will be over. † The last troops to leave Iraq were leaving by January 1st, 2012, and that the troops in Afghanistan would start to come home as well.A big problem that these wars caused for America, aside from the casualties, was how much money was spent. A lot of people look at the War on Terror and the Iraq War as the main reasons the American economy has taken a huge dive the last decade or so. From 2001 through 2011 the Afghanistan war cost the United States about $433 billion dollars (Bingham, 2012). The Iraq war has cost about $806 billion dollars so far, but Obama has said it may cost over $1 trillion dollars when it is all over (Krutzleben, 2011).However, with all these wars not completely wrapped up, the final price of war could be as high as $4. 4 trillion dollars when all is told (costofwar. org, 2012). War affects every country involved, but specifically the veterans who participated and contributed to the war. It would only seem logical that those countries that have had veterans deployed and fight for their nation should be taking care of them as best they can. From the veterans who came back from the Iraq war, 20. 3% of active soldiers and 42. 4% of reserve soldiers required mental health treatment (Milliken, 2007).The total numbers of those diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from the Iraq and Afghanistan war is about 30% of the 834,463 who were in those wars (Reno, 2012). These numbers were only the veterans that were treated by the V. A. (Veteran’s Association) hospitals, so there could actually be more who have not looked for fur ther treatment after returning. With some of these numbers rising as more soldiers are returning from the wars, this would mean the V. A. hospitals would need to hire more mental health professionals to deal with the influx in PTSD cases continuing to go up.The V. A. has increased their mental health investments by more than 1/3rd in the last three years. They have â€Å"hired more than 4,000 mental health professionals† and in April 2012 have announced they will add 1,600 more professionals, totaling their mental health staff to 22,000 (Reno, 2012). War has never been a good thing and there is never one side that is completely victorious when you consider how many people are killed on each side, civilians included. After the 9/11 attacks on the United States it would be hard to simply let that go unpunished, something HAD to be done.As unpopular war is in the United States, there was a lot of support from the nation as a whole. I personally found it hard for there to be some type of peaceful way to come to an agreement with a terrorist organization so I also supported the war. The cost of these wars have been devastating to our economy though and a lot of people thought we were in these places for too long trying to do too much. Overall, it’s really hard to judge whether these wars have been a success. It’s really a matter of opinion and how a person wants to analyze the results.I can only hope that we defend our nation much better, that all the troops come back, and that they receive the care they all deserve. We are doing our veterans a great disservice if we cannot properly accommodate them for life after war. Bibliography Bilmes, L. (2006, February). The economic costs of the iraq war: An appraisal threeyears after the beginning of the conflict. Retrieved fromhttp://www. nber. org/papers/w12054. pdf? new_window=1 Bingham, A. (2012, May). Afghanistan War by the Numbers: Lives Lost, Billions Spent. Retrieved from http://abcnews. go. om/ Politics/OTUS/billions-dollars-thousandslives-lost-afghanistan-war/story? id=16256292#. UIRxJmk4WA0 Faiz, S. (2006, March 17). A timeline of the iraq war. Retrieved fromhttp://thinkprogress. org/report/iraq-timeline/? mobile=nc Hoven, R. (2012, September 6). An iraq war every year. Retrieved fromhttp://www. americanthinker. com/blog/2012/09/an_iraq_war_every_year. html Iraq War Veterans. (2004, July). Iraq veterans against the war. Retrieved fromhttp://www. ivaw. org/ Kellner, D. (2004, December). Bring 'em on: Media and politics in the iraq war. Retrieved fromhttp://books. google. com/books? l=en;amp;lr=;amp;id=10BiGSdCyVQC;amp;oi=fnd;amp;pg=R7;amp;dq=iraq war;amp;ots=DpgUR6Ohbz;amp;sig=cb0_JxEuXqNrmyLL2WQEWCNLFY Kurtzleben, D. (2011, December). What Did the Iraq War Cost? More Than You Think. Retrieved from http://www. usnews. com/news/articles/2011/12/15/what-did-theiraq-war-cost-more-than-you-think Milliken, C. (2007, Novemeber 14). Longitudinal assessment of mental health probl emamong active and reserve component soldiers returning from the iraq war. Retrieved from http://jama. jamanetwork. com/article. aspx? articleid=209441 Montopoli, B. (2011, October 21). Obama announces end of iraq war, troops to returnhome by year end.Retrieved from http://www. cbsnews. com/8301-503544_16220123800-503544/obama-announces-end-of-iraq-war-troops-to-return-home-by-year-end/ Rainie, L. (n. d. ). The internet and the iraq war. Retrieved fromhttp://www. pewinternet. org/~/media/Files/Reports/2003/PIP_Iraq_War_Report. pdf. pdf Reno, J (2012, October) Nearly 30% of Vets Treated by V. A. Have PTSD Retrieved fromhttp://www. thedailybeast. com/articles/2012/10/21/nearly-30-of-vets-treated-by-va-have-ptsd. html War in iraq. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. iraq-war. ru/ Wilson, R. (2005). Human rights in the ‘war on terror'. Cambridge University Press.