Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 12

Business Ethics - Essay Example The researcher of this essay states that in current times, a success of an organization is not only judged based on their financial profits, but also based on whether they achieve those profits through ethical means. Thus, ethics has become a crucial part of any organizations’ success, brand image, etc, and so it needs to be incorporated into every aspect of its internal functioning as well as in organization’s external environment. Most organizations only follow ethics in their external environment, thereby fulfilling their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). However, it is of utmost importance to include ethical aspects in the internal functioning as well, particularly in relation to gender equation between the male and female employees. Although, women in current times, are playing key, optimum and leading roles in various ‘spheres’ of life including business organizations, there is still some ethical issues relating to them in the form of gender disc rimination. The researcher reviews the book, GenderTalk Works: 7 Steps for Cracking the Gender Code at Work written by Connie Glaser that focuses on these gender issues and the related ethical aspects. With certain gender-specific impediments blocking smooth communication between the male and the female employees, and also preventing women from reaching the top levels in the hierarchy, it is mentioned that this book provides practical advices on how to bridge the gender gap at work and also how to provide a conducive environment, for the development of women leaders.

The Beginning of Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. Essay Example for Free

The Beginning of Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. Essay â€Å"Being a Negro in America means trying to smile when you want to cry. It means trying to hold on to physical life amid psychological death. It means the pain of watching your children grow up with clouds of inferiority in their mental skies. It means having their legs off, and then being condemned for being a cripple.1† These were the words of Martin Luther King Jr.. For nearly 80 years after being freed from slavery, African-Americans suffered under the discrimination and segregation of their fellow Americans. After World War II, African-Americans were ready for change and the nation could feel the inevitable Civil Rights Movement coming. With nonviolence and motivation the Civil Rights wheels were set in motion led by determined leaders and brave youth, which would have a permanent effect on American society. After the Civil War ended on June 22nd, 1865 and the Emancipation Proclamation was enforced in the last states that still had slaves. With the passing of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, African-Americans had for the first time in history the privileges of citizenship and the right to vote. Unfortunately, with the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, the situation for African-Americans, all across the nation, would only deteriorate until the Civil Rights Movement starting in 1954, keeping most African-Americans unable to vote making them â€Å"economically and politically powerless†.2 Many unsuccessful attempts for civil rights, unsupportive presidents, and violence from groups like the Ku Klux Klan made Civil Rights progress nearly impossible for nearly 80 years, even under the support from organizations such as the NAACP. African-Americans had to abide by Black Codes and Jim Crow laws in many parts of America and faced daily discrimination. Segregation under Black Codes and Jim Crow laws became a part of daily life for African-Americans all over America. The â€Å"separate but equal† reasoning was backed by the US Supreme court in the Plessy v. Ferguson case after a Louisiana Law stated that railroads must provide â€Å"equal but separate accomm odations for the white, and colored, race.†3 African-Americans tried to push Civil Rights on different occasions such as  World War II, where the idea of a â€Å"Double V† (spreading democracy abroad and at home for African Americans) began after James G. Thompson wrote a letter to the Pittsburgh Courier in 1942; â€Å"let colored Americans adopt the double VV for a double victory.†4 Though somewhat successful with the passing of the Fair Employment Act, most consider the Civil Rights Movement to begin after the Brown v. Board of Education case5 in 1954, ruling segregated schooling unconstitutional. The Brown v. Board of Education was a major step in the Civil Rights Movement. One of the first attempts to integrate a school in Little Rock, Arkansas received national attention after the nine black students who were selected to join a previously white high school were met by an angry mob. President Eisenhower had to send troops in just so that these students could go to school unharmed, a headliner that shocked the nation.6 This would not be the only violent reaction to the Civil Rights Movement. The majority of Civil Rights activists, though, believed in nonviolence.7 Martin Luther King Jr., a leader in the Civil Rights Movement who was a supporter of nonviolence, said, â€Å"Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a sword that heals. (It) cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.†8 This nonviolent approach to Civil Rights could be seen in the way African-Americans used Buses to break down segregation; both in the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 and the Freedom Rides in 1961. Claudette Colvin was 15 years old when she was arrested for refusing to move to the black section of a bus. Nine months later, a more famous bus arrest happened to Rosa Parks. Martin Luther King Jr. saw the opportunity to start a mass boycott coordinated the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), of which he was president of.9 The boycott lasted 13 months and was a major success, when bus segregation was abolished in Montgomery. This proved that peaceful methods could be used to successfully achieve change for Civil Rights. Another popular nonviolent method of civil disobedience were the â€Å"Sit-ins.† One famous â€Å"sit-in† was lead by the â€Å"Greensboro Four† a group of four African-American college students who sat at the lunch counter of a segregated store, sparking a wave of similar sit-ins around the country.10 The nonviolent mindset of many Civil Rights activists was often not reflected in the resistance they met, particularly in Southern states. The Freedom Rides of 1961 were originally led by thirteen college students, seven black and six white, who tr aveled with  interstate Greyhound buses from the North to the South to defy the segregated busing system and segregation at the interstate transportation facilities.11 As the movement grew in numbers and recognition, so did the violence that met them when the buses rolled into the South. Angry white mobs, mainly made up of KKK members, threw firebombs and beat and tortured the students as they stumbled out of the burning buses. As media caught wind of this and images began circulating, the nation was shocked. The eventual desegregation on the interstate buses was pushed in most part by the newly elected President John F. Kennedy and his brother, the Attorney General, Robert Kennedy.12 In the election of 1960, the two candidates were Richard Nixon for the Republican Party and John F. Kennedy for the Democratic Party, though he was part of a more liberal part of the Democratic party, causing much of the South to be somewhat hesitant in their support.13 The election ended up being one of the closest elections of US history, and Kennedy won mainly due to the first-ever televised presidential debate. Kennedy was good-looking, and charismatic whereas Nixon was nervous and sweating; unprepared for the media.14 He appointed his brother, Attorney General shortly thereafter. P resident Kennedy was a supporter of civil rights, but had to choose between the support of the South and his belief in civil rights, so he started taking only small steps towards progress. His brother was also a supporter of Civil Rights and helped by integrating the government. Many Civil Rights activists, who were hoping Kennedys would kick the Civil Rights Movement into motion were disappointed by the slow process. Kennedy changed his cautious approach after violence escalated in the town of Birmingham, Alabama as a result of a peaceful protest led by Martin Luther King Jr. The Birmingham Campaign of 1963 was located in Birmingham, Alabama, considered at the time to be â€Å"America’s most segregated city.† Martin Luther King Jr. took up the challenge of desegregating this town believing that if he could successfully desegregate the town of Birmingham, he could desegregate any town in America. A court order was obtained by the city against the protests, though Martin Luther King Jr., along with the other leaders of the movement decided to disobey the order and continue. King was arrested and kept in solitary confinement for eight days.15 The campaign leader came up with the idea to bring young people and even children into the protest, representing innocent and pure intentions of  young Civil Rights activists.16 On May 2nd, thousands of young people protested and hundreds were arrested. Images of policemen clubbing, shooting with high powered hoses, and releasing dogs on the youth flooded the media, causing once again, a very outraged nation. Pressure mounted on the government and President Kennedy. Kennedy, who had only been dipping his feet in the Civil Rights Movement until that moment, now cannonballed his way into full-fledged support of Civil Rights after giving a very clear message in his Civil Rights Address on June 11th, 1963, â€Å"The events in Birmingham and elsewhere have so increased the cries for equality that no city or State or legislative body can prudently choose to ignore them.†17 In this speech he also declared that he was going to propose an act allowing all Americans to use public facilities without facing discrimination or segregation, continuing the integration of schools, and other features, such as more protection for voters. This would be known as the Civil Rights Act, and would be passed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Though the government had proved supportive in this case, many in the government tried to suppress the Civil Rights Movement, such as J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI from 1924 to 1972. Many of the direct attacks on the Civil Rights Movement came from groups like the Ku Klux Klan and policemen, but the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover led a much more invasive attack on the movement and Dr. King in particular. J. Edgar Hoover was a white supremacist with no sympathy for Civil Rights and spent much of his time trying to discredit the movement and Dr. King. Even as the Red Scare died down in the 1950’s, being accused of communism or affiliations with communism was often a serious blow to a person’s career and reputation.18 The FBI and J. Edgar Hoover were also responsible for investigations against communist activities. Hoover used an allegation of communism to keep Martin Luther King Jr. and the movement under constant investigation and surveillance. He used tapes of Kennedy affairs as blackmail, so that President Kennedy would allow him to wiretap King’s phones in October 1963. What he found though, were not communist activities, but affairs King had. T he FBI then mailed the tapes to him, encouraging him to commit suicide to spare him public embarrassment.19 The FBI continued investigating King even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, when the FBI’s responsibility of investigating crimes against civil rights greatly increased.20 After King spoke out against the Vietnam War in  1967, the FBI saw this as proof that he was being influenced by communist advisers. However when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the FBI launched a successful investigation finding his killer. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous speech, â€Å"I have a dream,† was given at the March on Washington on August 28th, 1963, the largest peaceful rally of the time with around 250,000 people of all ages, races, and walks of life. The march had been planned in 1941 by A. Philip Randolph for equality in the jobs market, but never happened after Randolph threatened the 100,000 strong march to President Roosevelt and Roosevelt passed the Fair Employment Act.21 The event was sponsored by numerous organizations and people. There were also a variety of speakers (among them a rabbi representing the overwhelming proportion of Jewish supporters of the civil rights movement22) and musicians including Bob Dylan.23 The most memorable moment, was of course, the speech of Martin Luther King Jr. towards the end of the event. This historical speech was not only on Civi l Rights, but also of the dream that King had of a nation where blacks and whites would live together in friendship and acceptance. 24 After the historical march, King and other Civil Rights leaders met with President Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson to discuss the necessity the complete support of Civil Rights.25 Some of the terms discussed in the aftermath of the March on Washington were reflected the the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act after Kennedy was assassinated. President Kennedy was the hope and inspiration of many young Americans of the Baby Boomer generation, especially African-Americans. In the midst of campaigning for his second term, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22nd, 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald. This stunned the American people and caused a wave confusion and grieving. The resulting mood was one of grief and apprehension of the future of the American government. Kennedy’s vice president was Lyndon B. Johnson, an avid supporter of Civil Rights and social justice, but also known for his â€Å"arm-twisting† methods of getting things through Cong ress and being a drunkard, was somewhat of a love-hate figure of American Politics. He used his questionable methods to push Kennedy’s proposed Civil Rights Act through Congress in 1964. The Act made it illegal for private businesses to discriminate, effectively destroying the Jim Crow system and making Civil Rights crimes a matter of the federal court, not the state court. The act was a huge step forward, but  did not address voting rights. Voting rights were passed in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 after a wave of violence in the town of Selma, Alabama when a nonviolent campaign to register African-American voters led by Martin Luther King Jr. and many Civil Rights leaders marched it’s way from Selma to Montgomery. Things began escalating about a month in on February 2nd, 1965 when a young African-American was shot to death by a state-trooper after trying to protect his mother from the police.26 This sparked the Selma to Montgomery March on March 7th, 1965. The march met a police blockade in Selma with clubs and tear gas and that day became known as â€Å"Bloody Sunday,† sparking national outrage. The march continued and was continually met by police and KKK brutality and added deaths. On August 6th, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act; the events in Selma greatly impacting the act. This is considered the â₠¬Å"political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement.†27 The movement began to stray from the nonviolent tradition in the late 1960’s and especially after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. Many African-Americans in the North felt left out from the successes of the Civil Rights. The suburb culture of the 1950’s and 60’s led to a flood of rich white Americans moving out of the cities, leaving the poor African-Americans in the North, stuck in a cycle of poverty and crime. The more militant movement challenging Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas was led by Malcolm X, formally part of the Nation of Islam. He promoted the idea of black pride and that African-Americans should defend themselves against white aggression.28 Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, but his ideas of black pride led to the Black Power movement, empowering African-Americans and instilling a sense of pride among them. Unfortunately it also promoted a very â€Å"macho† culture, which was not very women’s rights friendly. Many consider the Civil Rights Movement to have ended in 1968, and may believe that racism is a thing of the past and that this generation has learned, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, â€Å"not be judge by the color of their skin but by the conte nt of their character.†29 Unfortunately, discrimination for many minorities is a very real part of their life in America today. There is statistical data showing that problems like discrimination in the workplace30, wealth gaps between races31, and disproportionately high crime and incarceration rates for minorities exist. A study done in 2000 to 2002, showed that most employers called back  applicants with resumes with white-sounding names (versus black-sounding names) more often than not.32 Nonwhite families earned approx. 65% of what white families earned in 2012.33 This gap between whites and minorities is a battle still being fought today. Many believe that the minorities are also unrepresented in the government, thus hindering any major progress for minorities. The Civil Rights movement was a movement against hundreds of years of oppression and discrimination. It was a movement that swept the country and changed the culture and politics of America forever, led by determined, courageous leaders whose names will always be remembered. It opened the economic, political, and social doors that African-Ameri cans had never had the privilege to explore in the days of segregation and discrimination. Though racism will probably always be present in some form, the impact of the civil rights movement was a necessary and undeniable step for all of mankind.

Effect of Changing Concentration on the Order of Reaction

Effect of Changing Concentration on the Order of Reaction Title : An Investigation into the Effect of Changing the Concentration by Continuous Method on the Order of Reaction Planning A. Hypotheses I predict that the rate of reaction is influenced by the concentration of the reactants; and that the rate of reaction and the concentration of reactants decrease as time intervals increase. I predict that the order of reaction is affected or influenced by the concentration of the reactant. I also predict that the change in concentration of reactants affects the rate of reaction proportionately and hence, the order of reaction. Such that, if the concentration of the reactants is reduced by half, the rate of reaction will also decrease by a certain proportion. The reaction that will be analyzed in this experiment is between a metal (magnesium ribbon) and an acid (sulfuric acid). The reaction is shown by the chemical equation below: Mg (s) + H2S04 (aq) → MgS04 (aq) + H2 (g) In this experiment, 0.15 grams of magnesium ribbon will be used in excess, together with 10 cubic centimeters of 0.3 M sulphuric acid (H2SO4). The continuous method will be used, where the metal is in excess and the reaction goes to completion. The volume of the hydrogen gas (H2) will be collected at a measured time interval of 30 seconds. These volume readings at the time intervals shall be recorded and analyzed. III. Background The rate of a reaction depends in part on the concentrations of the reactants. The rate at which a reactant or reactants is transformed into products is the change in concentration of the reactant or reactants with time, (Wilbraham, et.al., 1997). Mathematically, the rate can be expressed as: Rate = Change in Concentration of Reactants / Change in time The formula implies that the rate of disappearance of the reactants is proportional to its molar concentration. Hence: Change in Concentration of Reactants / Change in time = proportional to the concentration of reactants The reaction rate has to be experimentally determined. From the reaction rate equation, the order of reaction can be obtained. The order of reactions can be classified as zero order, first order, or second order, with respect to only one reactant. IV. Risk Assessment In this experiment, sulphuric acid (H2SO4), will be used as a reactant. Since it is a strong acid and is very corrosive, I will observe the following precautionary measures: Wear protective goggles for the eyes. Avoid pipetting the sulphuric acid by mouth. Avoid inhalation of sulfuric acid. Care in handling the acid should be observed. It should be prevented from being knocked over. V. Fair Test To ensure that the results that I will obtain in the experiment are reliable and accurate, I will observe the following: The volume measurements of the sulphuric acid reactant will be made very accurately by reading from the lower meniscus of the 10 cubic centimeter mark The bung will be securely and tightly placed to prevent the collected hydrogen gas (H2) from escaping. The weight measurements of the magnesium ribbon will be made very accurately. All materials will be thoroughly cleaned before each use in order to prevent contamination. The experiment will have 3 runs or replicates in order to attain a high reliability of results. VI. Procedure of the Experiment: Materials needed: Stopwatch for time interval measurements 100 cc gas syringe for the Hydrogen gas collection 100 cc conical flask for the sulphuric acid 100 ml graduated cylinder for measuring the sulphuric acid Analytical balance for measuring 0.15 grams of magnesium ribbon Procedure: 1. Set up the materials while making sure that they are thoroughly clean and dry. 2. Using a graduated cylinder, measure 10 cc of 0.3 Molar concentration of sulphuric acid. 3. Carefully weigh 0.15 grams of magnesium ribbon using an analytical balance to make sure that the weight measurement is accurate. 5. Put the 0.15 grams of magnesium ribbon into the conical flask with the sulphuric acid. 7. Measure the volume in cubic centimeters of hydrogen gas collected in the gas syringe at every time interval of 30 seconds. 8. Record the volume of collected hydrogen gas at each set time interval. 9. Make 2 more runs of this experiment by repeating steps 1-8 at every run. VII. Results. Below are the tabulated volume measurements at every time interval: Table 1: Volume Measurements for Run 1 The data in Table 1 were plotted in a graph below: Graph 1: Volume vs. Time (Run1) For Run 2, the data were obtained were tabulated below: Table 2: Volume Measurements for Run 2 The data in Table 2 were plotted in a graph below: Graph 2: Volume vs. Time (Run 2) For Run 3, the data were obtained were tabulated below: Table 3: Volume Measurements for Run 3 The data in Table 3 were plotted in a graph below: Graph 3: Volume vs. Time (Run3) All three graphs show the trend that as time increases, the volume of the reactant decreases, while the volume of the product increases. B. Calculation of the Concentration of Reactant From the reaction: Mg (s) + H2SO4 (aq) → MgSO4 (aq) + H2 (aq) Concentration is measured in terms of Molarity, where Molarity is equal to the number of moles of solute divided by liters of solution: Molarity = No. of moles of solute / Liters of solution For Magnesium (Mg), 0.15 grams were added to sulphuric acid. The number of moles is equal to: weight in grams divided by the formula weight. Hence, the number of moles = wt. in grams / FW. Since 0.15 grams were used, 0.15 grams should be divided by the formula weight of Magnesium (Mg), which is 24. So: 0.15 grams / 24 = 0.00625 moles for Mg. To get the molar concentration, the number of moles will be divided by the volume of the solution in liters, which is 0.01. So, the molarity of Mg is : 0.00625 / 0.01 = 0.625 M For the sulphuric acid (H2SO4) used, the molarity is 0.3 M. The number of moles of H2SO4 used is determined by multiplying the molar concentration by the volume of solution in liters. Hence: 0.3 moles/L X 0.01L = 0.003 moles. From the chemical equation of the reaction, for every 0.003 moles of H2SO4 used, the same amount of moles (0.003) of hydrogen gas (H2) is given off. The molar concentration of the hydrogen gas evolved can now be determined for each respective time interval, by dividing the number of moles by the volume obtained. For run 1: The concentration of the product can now be calculated, using the formula for reaction rate, where: Molarity = Number of moles / Liters of solution The data for the concentration of the hydrogen gas are tabulated below: Table 4: Molarity of the hydrogen gas (H2) The molarity values tabulated above are plotted in the graph below: Graph 4: Concentration vs. Time (Run1) Graph 5: Concentration vs. Time (Run 1) Showing the Gradient of the Tangent Curve The rate of reaction was calculated by measuring the gradient of the tangent of the curve above, as depicted by the red line. Hence, the gradient of the tangent is equal to 0.12 – 0.05 / 150 = 0.00046. From the rate equation, the rate constant (k) can be obtained by the formula: k = rate x [H2SO4]. So: k = (0.00046) / 0.3 = 0.153. The rate equation is: Rate = k [H2SO4] Rate = (0.153) (0.003) = 0. 000459 or 0.0046. Hence, this value is equal to the gradient of the tangent of the graph above. This shows that the rate is directly proportional to the concentration of the sulphuric acid (H2SO4). Table 5: Concentration of Gas Collected and Rate of Reaction (Run 1) The plotting of tabulated data above results to the graph below: Graph 6 Rate vs. Concentration (Run 1) The Rate –Concentration Graph for Run 1 above shows that the concentration of hydrogen gas (H2) is directly proportional to the rate of reaction. Thus, the concentration of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) is also directly proportional to the rate of reaction, whereby, as the concentration decreases, the rate of reaction also decreases. Since the Magnesium ribbon is in excess, only the sulfuric acid can be allowed to change. Having it in excess is to make sure that its concentration does not change. Using the rate of reaction: Rate = k [H2SO4] And applying the rate equation to the chemical equation in the reaction: Mg (s) + H2SO4 (aq) → MgSO4 (aq) + H2 (g) The rate equation is now: Rate = k [Mg] Â º [H2SO4]Â ¹. Since Mg concentration does not change in the reaction, it is the zero order. On the other hand, since H2SO4 is in the first order of reaction, the rate is directly proportional to its concentration, as measured in the experiment by the concentration of the H2 gas collected, the overall order of reaction is: 0+1 = 1. For Run 2, the table below shows its concentration. Table 6: Molarity of the Hydrogen gas (Run2) The table of Concentration and Time for run 2 gives the following graph: Graph7: Concentration vs. Time (Run 2) The Concentration –Time Graph for run 2 above shows the same trend as in run 1, where it shows an inverse proportionality: as time increases, the concentration of the sulfuric acid ( H2SO4) decreases as measured by the concentration of the hydrogen gas (H2) collected. The rate of re

Database management Essay -- essays research papers

Introduction:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The purpose of the case study is to examine the concepts and ideas that Anthony Ng used to somewhat develop a digital database system. â€Å"The Hong Kong architectural industry had derived enormous gains from the unparallel economic success in real estate and stock market speculation†(CABC, 2000).This new economic surge caused much stress to come in contact with the architectural profession This stress was to produce quantity instead of quality designs. This was to meet demands of the rapidly growing society, causing building to be built by the masses. This is not the way â€Å"Anthony Ng Architects Ltd† wanted to run their business, it was not the way the corporation did business.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anthony Ng, was the managing director for â€Å"Anthony Ng Architects Ltd†. His goal for the company as managing director was to develop a highly advanced EDMS, a paperless office. This paperless office would allow the architects to spend more time on designing, and less on paperwork. His plan was to have â€Å"in place an Intranet and a web-based document management system when they moved into the new office†(CABC, 2000). Anthony main goal or primary objective was that this new paperless office will increase his corporation get back to creating quality designs as well as a quality of them. The new paperless office will allow for better communication both outside as well as inside the corporation. Also would allow for the architects to focus on designing instead of paperwork.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A) Change in Communication Patterns:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While Anthony was aware of some of the potential setbacks that are going to show up in the process of changing the style of communication, I feel that he did not cover all the essentials. A very important issue that Anthony may have overlook, called dismemberment. â€Å"Dismemberment can be described as the challenge of technological incompatibility†(Sutton, 1996). This can happen frequently in large corporations such as Anthony Ng Architects Limited, when there are many different departments or divisions communicating together. What happens is that each division needs to make sure that they are all using to same programs to communicate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If would have been good for Anthony to make sure that the EDMS ... ...sp;  Ã‚  All data recovery covers is back ups to all the documents that a stored in the system. Backups are critical to protect valuable data. All thought the expertise is needed, to be sure that important data is safely backed up. This is goes back to the importance of the planning stage to make sure that this area is covered before hand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The loss of imporatant and valuable data or records can cause huge problems to corporations. Data recovery should be one of the most important aspects of you EDM system. This is what Anthony’s plan was missing for his corporation. For example if Anthony’s plan had gone into effect with no data recovery system, what would have happen if important documents were lost to the design of a new building. This problem would have cause the corporation to question if they made the right decision to switch to an EDM system. Conclusion:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anthony was correct in understanding that his Architectural firm need to move to and EDM system. For a business to be competitive in today growing economical market, it is important to focus more on the product then the documents relating to the business.

Career Plan Building Activity: Reasoning Aptitude

Completing the Career Plan Reasoning Aptitude Survey my profile shows that I could work well in careers where success comes from applying practical skills and where thinking is used mostly to solve practical problems. It also states that I am likely to be attracted to very practical jobs and careers. There are two tabs, Strengths and Opportunities for the results of the Reasoning Aptitude Survey. The first tab Strengths has five bars and out of five bars I received three for each of the six categories. The six category results show I focus on customer needs and satisfaction, sets high standards for both quality and quantity, works in an orderly way, and achieves project goals. I show an interest in new experiences, I am punctual, follows instruction, safety instructions and requirements of their role, adapts to changing circumstances, and I adapt interpersonal style to suit different people or situations. The next tab is opportunities and there are also 5 bars for score and six categories, on opportunities I received one bar out five and I am unable to get the results to these categories. My thinking style can help influence my approach to arguments by being more in tune with the different ways people understand and learn things and how I approach these methods of understanding. Consider how to best respond to others whether it is information for a meeting or another co worker and evaluate how each person will receive the information. By learning how to approach others and understand how each person learns will allow me to be able to communicate persuasively with others and build a rapport with others.

Chris Cunningham as a Director essays

Chris Cunningham as a Director essays Movies are a dream, and probably a picture of the images in the mind that are formed of a person and this is the person who is guiding the entire movie. Normally this individual is the leader of the pack making the movie, and he is the director. In the past, this was not the scene and the movies were being made by studios, which had set formulae for making movies and through the movies, money. That was money making venture, but it did not have many dreams woven into them. This still exists in certain types of movies in certain countries, but the cheapest method of making movies is now on the video, and this has led to enormous dynamism in the production of these movies. They were also not so original a few years back and did not get into diversions regarding ART or similar outlandish' ventures. (The Duke on The Work of Chris Cunningham') At that time there would be just a few songs playing and this would be the main music element in the music video. This music would have a visual accompaniment from persons like Madonna or Thin Lizzy, or any other popular artiste. This was felt to be enough as a visual, and the concerned viewers would be happy. There would not be demands from the audience about unusual pictures like a sex action between robots or kids chasing pensioners around the housing area. Today, the dialogue of these video movies has changed and they usually start with a lot of motherfucker' and ho' filled words that would not have even appeared in print earlier. Along with that there are a lot of effects like SFX, CGI, malarkey and other effects. All this is added to make the nonsense that is coming out of the video movie interesting' to the viewers. Other interesting bits are added through robots engaging in sex and SFX. One of the greatest in this field was Chris Cunningham. (The Duke on The Work of Chris...

The Reasons Why Firms Want to Use Earning Management Essay Example

The Reasons Why Firms Want to Use Earning Management Essay Example The Reasons Why Firms Want to Use Earning Management Essay The Reasons Why Firms Want to Use Earning Management Essay Good afternoon everyone, today we are going to continue to talk about the consequence of Earning Management, I am xxx We will present the bad side of earning management through 2 cases, The first one is Enron: what happened and what we can learn from it and the second one is the ethical dilemma at Northlake. Both cases are present how management is motived to manipulate accounting numbers to achieve their specific purpose, for example in the first case, Enron increased their net income through many methods to rise their share price, but in the second case, the company decreased their net income. However, both earning management comes with the bad consequences happened to the society. Next, we are going to see another example which is how management is motived to manipulate accounting number to reduce or underprovide for environment and restoration costs. As a result, there cause some ethical issue. First let us go through the Background information: (A. F. P. Company). It is in the Pulp and Paper industry. The company had three major mills, located in some of the more remote location in the province. From A. F. P. Company’s standpoint, of course they do not want to expend too much money on the discharge of waste water from pulp and paper mills; furthermore, the firm had been facing difficult financial times due to recession, and this had caused substantial hardship in the three small communities where the mills were located. But, as in the Pulp and Paper industry has the responsibility to the new government proposals to put effluent controls on the discharge of waste water from Paper mills in environmentally sensitive regions of the province. Therefore, the managers in the (A. F. P. Company) find a way to give themselves a reasonable reason not to install the cleaning equipment. CEO and V. P. of A. F. P. collude together to use earning management to increase their cost on the financial analysis. in the financial report, they states that â€Å"we will have severe financial problems if we are forced into building a lagoon for waste water treatment†, in order to show their fake severe financial problem going to happen, they highly estimate their operating cost would rise 30%, but in fact their cost only can be rise around 8%-10%). And they also highly estimated all other costs. In addition, they don’t take into account the damage to the local river at all. The people live in the downstream are still drinking the garbage or damaged water In this case, let us put all the legal issues behind, and focus on the ethical issue first. As the case mentioned the down totally dependent on the mill for economic survival. It is kind of like Blackberry in Waterloo. As the mills goes, so goes the town. And will thousands of people lost their jobs, if put you in the position to decide between the economic survival or environment damage, how will you decide? If you in the position of A. P. F’s accountant how do you decide between your personal benefits and code of professional code? Let’s say, if you do not use earning management to increase the cost, you will force to lose your job by the CEO.

What Caused the Defeat of the essays

What Caused the Defeat of the essays When looking at the Battle of the Little Big Horn there are many reasons why General Custer lost the battle. Many will say that he made bad choices and others will say that his luck just happened to run out that day. I think the reason why Custer lost the battle was a combination of both but it was his choices in the end that cost him his life and the battle. The events that went on around him that are considered his bad luck could have been looked at when they happened and fixed. There was a lot going on around Custer that could have made his mind not focused at the time of the battle such as running for president and also his ego along with overconfidence. From what Steven Ambrose put forth in his opinion of the battle I agree with most of the mistakes that he says Custer made. The first one and I think second most important mistake that Custer made was not taking the 2nd Cavalry when it was offered to him. This would have given him around a 1,100 men and that would have definitely been enough to defeat the Sioux. This can be countered by that Custer had too much pride with the 7th Cavalry and that he didnt want to share it with anyone else. Custer also knew that he was going to face the largest amount of warriors ever so having more men wouldnt hurt him at all and of course increase his chances of winning the battle. The next mistake that Custer made was underestimating the enemy that he was about to face. He figured that there would be about 1,500 warriors at max where there were actually almost double that. Custer probably didnt think that there would be any Cheyenne either. It was also known that at around that time of year the entire Sioux nation comes together for a big get together. This all stems back to others in the army not doing good reconnaissance of the area where they believed the Sioux were. The area that the army believed to be around at first stretched for 125 miles and was about 50 miles...

The newly hired pharmacist Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The newly hired pharmacist - Case Study Example The Relevant Issues For decades some pharmacists have chosen to use moral convictions steeped in Judeo-Christian ethic as a right in their dispensing of medications (Wernow &Grant, 2008). Some states in the USA give legitimacy to this stand of these pharmacists. Yet only six percent of pharmacists are likely to adopt such a stand and that too from their religious beliefs (Davidson et al, 2010). Even so this right of the pharmacists runs counter to the principles of autonomy, non-maleficence, and beneficence in patient rights for the dispensing of legitimately required drugs. It is this opposing stances combined with the lack of uniform laws across the USA that has led to a controversy over the use of â€Å"conscience clause† laws by the pharmacists (Weisberg & Fraser, 2009). The Legal Position There are no current laws on whether a pharmacist should dispense emergency contraceptives, or may refuse to do so. In the absence of such laws existing state laws are applicable to whet her a pharmacist may refuse to dispense emergency contraceptives. Not all states have enacted such laws. The states of Alabama, New Hampshire, and Vermont have chosen to remain silent on the issue.

Benchmark Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Benchmark - Research Paper Example The company began in the early 80s with only a single line specializing in office systems. Currently, the company has tremendously grown to offer a wide variety of different decking systems and freestanding systems and panel based altos and optos architectural demountable wall products (Teknion, 2011). The company through this strategic expansion managed to improve its marketing segment drastically and expanding its production lines to meet demands of the new markets in furniture products. For example, the company has handled numerous projects in different countries. These include the Barnes Jewish Hospital, Agilent technologies in Israel among other numerous global projects that the company has successfully implemented. This global expansion helped the company in expanding its production lines, improving its design work to meet the current customer demand in a highly competitive market, and coming up with designs and technologies that are in accordance with the advocacy of the day. An example is the embracing of green technologies that are environmentally friendly. As the company expanded to international markets, there were more demands in different markets to have products in accordance with certain environmental specifications, motivating the company to initiate massive design and innovative works to correspond to such market demands. Therefore, from producing a single line of furniture for the domestic market, international expansion helped Teknion in providing much advanced office furniture and other high end furniture to clients in different market segments. Teknion’s expansion to international market did not comprise its domestic market share, but instead the domestic market became much stronger as new international designs previously not made for the domestic market were available to the domestic customers, offering them a large variety of designs with international tastes. The company was in fact named among the top 50 best managed Private Comp anies, with its presence not only growing domestically, but also regionally (Anonymous, 2010). International expansion led to an enhanced image of the company and its products; the company was more involved in international tendering processes, such as in interior and exterior design of the Bow, a 58 story tower near the Bow River in Calgary (Anonymous, 2010). It is such manifested prowess in interior design and furnishes that has enabled the company to control not only the domestic, but also the regional market; meaning its international expansion was a real benefit to the company. Teknion is faced with several risks in its international market operations. Sargent (2011) explains some of these risks as increase competition. The company is faced with stiff competition from much larger multinationals especially from U.S, North America, and other regions. The stiff competition requires strategic operations in realigning with the market demands to offer much superior and competitive pr oducts at a price that will offer much more value addition to customers. The company through design and innovations in office furniture work has been able to compete effectively and capture its sizeable market segment in the international market. In order to ensure a competitive edge in the market, the company has collaborated with renowned construction industry leaders such as Mathews Southwest developments, Ledcor Group of Companies, Gensler among others, making the company’

Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 6

Interview - Essay Example The US had to react to this visit because Nixon’s stance against Communism was not a secret, while China was, not only a Communist country, but practiced an extreme form of communism no different from Stalinism. Moreover, Americans were perplexed at President Nixon’s decision, as his anti-Communist rhetoric had gotten him elected in 1952 as Vice President (Ragone & Velshi 13). With this background in mind, this interview will seek to uncover the machinations behind the visit and its consequences. A. As president of the United States, Richard Nixon travelled to the Communist People’s Republic of China in 1972. There he met both the Central Committee of the Communist Party’s Chairman Mao Zedong and the premier of the PRC Zhou En-Lai. The two governments agreed on the Chinese Communiquà © during the visit, which was one of the most important agreements between the two countries in improving relations following years of mistrust and hostility (Ragone & Velshi 33). A. Well, you have to realize that the two countries had been estranged diplomatically since the 1940s and the Chinese Communist Revolution. Following Chairman Mao Zedong’s victory for the Communists in 1949 and the establishment of the PRC on the mainland of China, officials and soldiers of the vanquished Republic of China moved to Taiwan. Relationships soured totally when the US chose to recognize the ROC over the PRC as China’s legitimate government, leading to a complete break in diplomatic relations (Ragone & Velshi 34). A. You see, despite the obvious lack of diplomatic channels, there were all indications by the late 60s that the PRC and the US were considering rapprochement. The escalation of the Vietnam War with the Soviet-backed Viet Cong and the US-backed KMT led officials in the US government to improve relations with China. This was important in the new US strategy to decrease

Nahum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nahum - Essay Example Proofs to support his claim include one of the relics found in the excavations in Pompeii, a city destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius tremendous volcanic eruption. This artifact which Feder referred to was a wall painting dug from a building known as the House of the Physician. It had images of two mothers, the butcher block, the baby, the soldier waiting to divide the baby, and the onlookers (Feder, 2010). Feder explained that â€Å"these images of the painting represent a popular scene in the Bible where King Solomon displayed his wisdom when two women came to him, each claiming to be the mother of the same infant. When Solomon ordered the baby to be divided in half, the real mother, shown at the foot of the dais, pleaded with him to spare the child and announced her willingness to relinquish her claim. The other woman was shown standing by the butcher block on which the infant has been placed asked to continue with the King’s order to divide the child in half. It was obvious who the real mother was. So the child was given to the former woman who pleaded to spare the child’s life unharmed as soldiers and observers look on, marveling at Solomon’s wisdom (1 Kings 3:16–28). The painting contained all the essential narrative elements in the Biblical story without omissions or adumbrations. This wall painting is now on exhibit at the Museo Nazionale in Naples.† (Feder, 2010) Using this painting, Feder enumerates a number of possible drawn inferences, as follows: â€Å"First of all, this painting is â€Å"the earliest depiction of a full-fledged Biblical scene as there is no known precedent in the history of art. It must have been dated from the period immediately preceding the Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D. Secondly, the onlookers in the painting were stand-ins for Socrates and Aristotle whose images clearly resembled the prototypes of the two Greek great thinkers. This becomes significant as it implies that their presence in the composition attested to the

Financial Concepts and Their Applications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial Concepts and Their Applications - Essay Example Good financial decision making can make or break an organization. Hence, the role of a financial manager is vital to any firm and they are the heart of an organization. Market prices are great indicators for a financial manager. They are usually signals that help the financial managers in planning and controlling, mergers and acquisitions, deciding on financial policy and a lot of other things. A good financial manager does not make decisions based on intuition. Instead, a good decision is only made after a careful examination of the markets and a lot of other external influences. Market prices are one of the external influences that have to be dealt with. Market prices guide the financial managers to set their financial policies and where to invest their funds. If a price of a commodity or an investment is rising, it is better that the financial manager move his funds or resources to that investment and make capital gains by selling those investments when the market has peaked or th e investment prices start falling. Similarly, market prices are also very useful in mergers and acquisitions.... This principle guides the financial managers to determine the accurate price of these investments and hence preventing them to pay in excess of the fair price of an investment. This helps in keeping the profitability of a business high. This is important because most of the business investment is made in portfolio and if one of these investments is made in a venture that is not profitable or less profitable than the previous investments, then the entire portfolio’s profitability would decrease. Therefore, valuation principle is very important to an organization and financial managers. Net present value is calculated by discounting the future net cash flows and then subtracting the investment price of an equipment, plant or machinery. The positive result indicates that the investment is worth undertaking and negative result indicates that the investment in hand is inferior and should not be undertaken. This is similar to cost benefit analysis. Cost benefit analysis calculate th e costs and benefits of an action. It states that only those actions should be undertaken that give more benefits than costs. In the very same way, Net Present value approach suggests that only those investments should be undertaken that give positive result. Positive result indicates that future net cash inflow’s present value is greater than the investment price and hence the investment yields good results. This is an important tool to evaluate and assess the profitability of an investment and helps the financial managers into making shrewd investment decisions. Interest rate is the cost of borrowing money. It is what an investor pays over and above the borrowed amount. Interest rate is the price at which the

Marketing Plan for Coca-Cola Co Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing Plan for Coca-Cola Co - Term Paper Example To create awareness about a healthy lifestyle should be the focus of its strategy and the sales would automatically follow. Regular monitoring is essential to know where the strategy is moving. 1. Company History Started in 1886, Coke was marketed as a tonic containing extracts of cocaine and caffeine-rich kola nut until 1905 (Bellis 2011). As the popularity of soda fountain declined, the company released the â€Å"New Coke† formula in 1985. Today more than one billion drinks of Coke are consumer every day. In 125 years of its existence the company has developed more than 160 low and no calories drinks in its range of products (The Coca-Cola Company 2010). It currently has more than 500 brands and is available in more than 200 countries across the world. Coke now plans to launch an energy drink in the UK market and since the market is already saturated, it has to evaluate the market characteristics, which would help the company to formulate the marketing strategy. 2. Environme ntal Analysis 2.1 Economic Analysis The UK is one of the most globalized countries and its economy is the sixth-largest economy in the world. The UK has a GDP of 1.353 Euro or 23.300 Euro per inhabitant, which is the European average (Senior Watch n.d.). The UK has the opportunity to invest at the national as well as the individual level. The UK economy is just recovering and hence even short-term tax imposed on soft and energy drinks could jeopardise the fragile economy recovery (BSDA 2011). The food and drink sector represents over 15% of manufacturing turnover and employment (IfM 2010). Its output was not affected even during the recession. The weekly earnings of people employed in this sector are above average and the job tenure is over nine years; the sector has only 6% temporary workers. 2.2 Social Analysis The wealth of an individual elderly person in UK is high (Senior Watch n.d.). The education level of the people is also high in UK. Obesity levels are very high in UK. Almo st two in every adult in the UK are overweight. The quality of food and drink, as well as the sedentary lifestyle has been identified as the reasons for overweight in UK (EMIS 2008). UK soft drinks consumption has gone up by 4% since 2009 as per chart shown in Appendix A. People are keen to include daily exercises and workout because of this the health and energy drinks market has high growth potential. 2.3 Political analysis The UK does not have a President and historically most British governments are composed of ministers from a single political party although at times there is a small opposition party (Darlington 2011). Generally the UK enjoys high political stability and hence the regulations for sectors such as food and drinks sector would not change drastically. The three parts of the UK have their own local administration and responsibilities. 2.4 Legal and regulatory analysis Since soft drinks contain high caffeine levels and since their popularity is growing, the BSDA (Bri tish Soft Drinks Association) has released a code of practice stating how the drinks should be labeled and marketed so that consumers have all the information. The labels are also expected to carry the statement, â€Å"Not suitable for children, pregnant women and persons sensitive to caffeine†

Nahum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nahum - Essay Example Proofs to support his claim include one of the relics found in the excavations in Pompeii, a city destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius tremendous volcanic eruption. This artifact which Feder referred to was a wall painting dug from a building known as the House of the Physician. It had images of two mothers, the butcher block, the baby, the soldier waiting to divide the baby, and the onlookers (Feder, 2010). Feder explained that â€Å"these images of the painting represent a popular scene in the Bible where King Solomon displayed his wisdom when two women came to him, each claiming to be the mother of the same infant. When Solomon ordered the baby to be divided in half, the real mother, shown at the foot of the dais, pleaded with him to spare the child and announced her willingness to relinquish her claim. The other woman was shown standing by the butcher block on which the infant has been placed asked to continue with the King’s order to divide the child in half. It was obvious who the real mother was. So the child was given to the former woman who pleaded to spare the child’s life unharmed as soldiers and observers look on, marveling at Solomon’s wisdom (1 Kings 3:16–28). The painting contained all the essential narrative elements in the Biblical story without omissions or adumbrations. This wall painting is now on exhibit at the Museo Nazionale in Naples.† (Feder, 2010) Using this painting, Feder enumerates a number of possible drawn inferences, as follows: â€Å"First of all, this painting is â€Å"the earliest depiction of a full-fledged Biblical scene as there is no known precedent in the history of art. It must have been dated from the period immediately preceding the Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D. Secondly, the onlookers in the painting were stand-ins for Socrates and Aristotle whose images clearly resembled the prototypes of the two Greek great thinkers. This becomes significant as it implies that their presence in the composition attested to the

Marketing Plan for Coca-Cola Co Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing Plan for Coca-Cola Co - Term Paper Example To create awareness about a healthy lifestyle should be the focus of its strategy and the sales would automatically follow. Regular monitoring is essential to know where the strategy is moving. 1. Company History Started in 1886, Coke was marketed as a tonic containing extracts of cocaine and caffeine-rich kola nut until 1905 (Bellis 2011). As the popularity of soda fountain declined, the company released the â€Å"New Coke† formula in 1985. Today more than one billion drinks of Coke are consumer every day. In 125 years of its existence the company has developed more than 160 low and no calories drinks in its range of products (The Coca-Cola Company 2010). It currently has more than 500 brands and is available in more than 200 countries across the world. Coke now plans to launch an energy drink in the UK market and since the market is already saturated, it has to evaluate the market characteristics, which would help the company to formulate the marketing strategy. 2. Environme ntal Analysis 2.1 Economic Analysis The UK is one of the most globalized countries and its economy is the sixth-largest economy in the world. The UK has a GDP of 1.353 Euro or 23.300 Euro per inhabitant, which is the European average (Senior Watch n.d.). The UK has the opportunity to invest at the national as well as the individual level. The UK economy is just recovering and hence even short-term tax imposed on soft and energy drinks could jeopardise the fragile economy recovery (BSDA 2011). The food and drink sector represents over 15% of manufacturing turnover and employment (IfM 2010). Its output was not affected even during the recession. The weekly earnings of people employed in this sector are above average and the job tenure is over nine years; the sector has only 6% temporary workers. 2.2 Social Analysis The wealth of an individual elderly person in UK is high (Senior Watch n.d.). The education level of the people is also high in UK. Obesity levels are very high in UK. Almo st two in every adult in the UK are overweight. The quality of food and drink, as well as the sedentary lifestyle has been identified as the reasons for overweight in UK (EMIS 2008). UK soft drinks consumption has gone up by 4% since 2009 as per chart shown in Appendix A. People are keen to include daily exercises and workout because of this the health and energy drinks market has high growth potential. 2.3 Political analysis The UK does not have a President and historically most British governments are composed of ministers from a single political party although at times there is a small opposition party (Darlington 2011). Generally the UK enjoys high political stability and hence the regulations for sectors such as food and drinks sector would not change drastically. The three parts of the UK have their own local administration and responsibilities. 2.4 Legal and regulatory analysis Since soft drinks contain high caffeine levels and since their popularity is growing, the BSDA (Bri tish Soft Drinks Association) has released a code of practice stating how the drinks should be labeled and marketed so that consumers have all the information. The labels are also expected to carry the statement, â€Å"Not suitable for children, pregnant women and persons sensitive to caffeine†

Police Technology Essay Example for Free

Police Technology Essay 1. Introduction A gun may be a useful tool to arrest a suspect in a traditional crime scene, but what about a crime committed on the Internet to steal billions of dollars in a few minutes or even confidential information? Will guns be useful in this case? According to Goodman, â€Å"the world isn’t run by weapons anymore, or energy, or money, it’s run by ones and zeros It’s not about who has the most bullets. Art’s about who controls the information –what we see and hear, how we work, what we think. It’s all about information.† (p.466) With the technological revolution we have nowadays, that changed every aspect of our lives representing new threats and new crimes, police officers should be equipped with new technological tools or techniques to be able to face these new challenges. This paper aims at giving an idea about police technology and how does technology help police officers by defining the term â€Å"police technology†, shading the light on history of police technology, and giving some of the impacts of technology on police work and practice. 2. Definitions To understand exactly how does technology help police officers, this section will define what is meant by both terms â€Å"technology† and â€Å"police technology†. 2.1 Technology The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia defines technology as â€Å"Application of knowledge to the practical aims of human life or to changing and manipulation the human environment. Technology includes the use of materials, tools, techniques, and sources of power to make life easier or more pleasant and work more productive. Whereas science is concerned with how and why things happen, technology focuses on making thing happen.† 2.2 Police Technology According to Encyclopedia Britannica the term â€Å"police technology† refers to â€Å"the wide range of scientific and technological methods, techniques, and equipment used in policing.† 3. Police Technology in History and Literature This section will shade the light on the history of police technology since 1840 when officers only had guns and night-light sticks, â€Å"then came technological progress with the invention of the patrol wagon and signal service (which have) effected a revolution in police methods.† (Seaskate, Inc). (See police technology timeline in Table 1) â€Å"The adoption of information technology by police departments in the united States is a relatively recent phenomenon. Before 1987, less than 2% of the 2.200 US police departments with fewer than 100 employees used computers. And as recently as 2003, only 40% of police departments had mobile computer terminals.† (CentrePience) Moving to information technology,   â€Å"only in recent years have many agencies found the use of information technologies significantly helpful. Examples include fingerprinting databases, computerized crime mapping, and records management systems doing everything from inventory property and cataloging evidence to calculating solvability factors.† (Seaskate, Inc) 3.1 The political era (1840-1920) This period witnessed technological advances such as â€Å"telegraph, telephone, police callboxes, Bertillon system of criminal identification† (Seaskate, Inc) and (Stewart, R. W.). â€Å"The advent of fingerprinting in the 1900s and of crime laboratories in the 1920s greatly augmented the police capacity to solve crimes†. (Seaskate, Inc) 3.2 The professional model era or Nationalization of Crime (1920-1970) This period witnessed efforts that tried to â€Å"rid the government of undesirable political influences and create what they deemed professional police departments† (Seaskate, Inc). â€Å"The model was the crime laboratory in Berkeley, California, Police Department then the FBI inaugurated its own laboratory which eventually became recognized as the most comprehensive and technologically advanced forensic laboratory in the world† (Seaskate, Inc). This period â€Å"saw the widespread police adoption of the automobile and the introduction of two-way radios† (Seaskate, Inc). Then, in response to rapidly rising crime rates and urban disorders, the Crime Commission was established in the 1960s (Seaskate, Inc). This period witnessed the nationalization of crime. â€Å"In 1967, the Crime Commission produced a long report that gave recommendations, 11 of them dealing with police technology (Seaskate, Inc). The President’s Crime Commission found that the nation’s criminal justice system suffered from a significant Science and technology gap (Seaskate, Inc). Then came â€Å"the advent of 911 after the commission called for establishment of a single telephone number that Americans could use to call the police† (Seaskate, Inc). The computerization for American policing was a result for the commission’s recommendations and the 911 system (Seaskate, Inc). â€Å"The 911 system became enhanced (E911) when computer got smarter, showing the telephone number, address, and in some cases, the name of the person who owned the number† (Seaskate, Inc). â€Å"One of the most important computer-based innovations in American policing was the advent of National Crime Information Center (NCIC), administered by FBI† (Seaskate, Inc). Computers also were â€Å"essential in the development of Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS)† (Seaskate, Inc). 3.3 The Community Policing Era or Computerization of American Policing (Since 1970) The introduction of computers into policing corresponded to the beginning of the third and current era in American policing or â€Å"the Community Policing Era† from 1970 up till now (Seaskate, Inc). â€Å"In 1995, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) was created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994†. (ITI, p.3) With funding provided by COPS and other federal and state grant programs, the use of computers in law enforcement gained widespread acceptance in law enforcement agencies of all sizes. (ITI p.3) 4. The Impact of Technology on Police Work Technology has had its impacts on police work especially since the process of computerization of American policing (Figure1 in the appendices shows trends in technology use by police agencies). According to Davis, J. N., â€Å"the continuing development of computer technology has had critical impacts on law enforcement. Mobile data terminals in police cars, automatic vehicle locator systems, and computer-assisted dispatch are now commonly found in police departments. The use of expert systems and artificial intelligence by police agencies in the United States and Canada is on the increase. Examples can be found in agencies ranging from small rural Alliance, Nebraska to urban Baltimore County, Maryland†. (p.1) This section will show how does technology affect police work either in increasing effectiveness, enhancing officer safety, or assisting law enforcement agencies to meet new challenges of terrorism and cyber crimes. 4.1 Increased Effectiveness Research showed that â€Å"police departments that adopted computers together with IT management/governance practices such as CompStat did experience reduced property and violent crime and significantly increased crime clearance rates (by around 8%). Thus, researchers concluded that computers do increase the effectiveness of police work, but only if police work is substantially reorganized to take advantage of their presence† (CentrePiece, p.2). Also according to ITI, â€Å"Significant technological breakthroughs have resulted in products that have increased their crime solving effectiveness† (P.4). For example â€Å"studies led to the widespread use of night vision gear by today’s police agencies† (ITI, p.4). A technology such as fingerprint reader â€Å"has resulted in the creation of automatic fingerprint identification systems (AFIS)†. (ITI, p.4) â€Å"AFIS has resulted in the clearance of thousands of crimes that would have otherwise gone unsolved†. (ITI, P.4) The â€Å"enhanced† 911 â€Å"allowed dispatchers to see on their computers screen the address and telephone number from which a 911 emergency call originated† (ITI, p.4).   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The miniaturization of body microphones and closed circuit television has benefited law enforcement in a variety of investigative and crime prevention initiatives†. (ITI, P.4) 4.2 Changed the Role of Police and How They Carry Out Their Duties Technology has changed the role of both police officers and law enforcement agencies. â€Å"With the introduction of the Community Oriented Policing model, a dramatic change occurred in how agencies measured their effectiveness†. (ITI, P.3) The previous section showed that COPS was a result for introducing computers into policing.   â€Å"The emphasis on quick response to calls for services and the number of arrests made and crimes cleared was replaced by the reduction of crimes committed†. (ITI, P.3) â€Å"The COPS program promoted the development of close/citizen relationships with a focus on improving the quality of life on a neighborhood-to-neighborhood basis. From this effort grew programs such as neighborhood Policing and Problem Solving Policing† (ITI, P.3). â€Å"For the COPS concept to be successful officers needed timely information about crime patterns and other social problems occurring on their beats†. (ITI, P.3) â€Å"In police practice the possibility to access and use electronic records has opened up a new way of gathering information for police officers. This has created and developed new ways of working for police officers: they can gather more information when involved in operational work as well as when they are present physically at the police station†. (Borglund, E.) 4.3 Improved Record Keeping and Report Writing Computers have led to a key advantage â€Å"improved recordkeeping†. â€Å"Research showed that introducing computers for record-keeping did increase the amount of recorded ‘minor crimes’ such as larceny† (CentrePiece, p.2). According to Davis, J. N., â€Å"police report writing has also evolved with changes in technology, especially the use of lap-top computers. The continued development of new computer technologies will also bring changes in police report writing†. (p.1) 4.4 Enhances Officer Safety â€Å"Significant technological breakthroughs have resulted in products that have improved officer safety† (ITI, P.4). â€Å"Soft body armor has saved hundreds of officers from death or serious injury† (ITI, P.4). â€Å"Information used in conjunction with Computer Aided Dispatch software allowed dispatchers to warn officers of potential dangers and the history of previous calls at locations prior to their arrival†. (ITI, P.4) The use of safe weapons such as â€Å"non-lethal weapons such as the Taser, beanbag shells and pepper mace had been added to the list of force options available to officers in the field† (ITI, p.4). 4.5 Assist Local Law Enforcement Agencies Meet the New Challenges of Terrorism and Cyber Crime According to Reichert, K. â€Å"creative uses of information technology have the potential to increase the capacity and effectiveness of law enforcement in fulfilling its complex mission today. Including increased demands in the post-September 11 World†. (p.4) â€Å"The pace of the use of technology in law enforcement continues to accelerate. New technologies such as the use of DNA for the criminal investigation, the growth of AFIS and Livescan fingerprinting systems, GPS tracking, and reverse-911 software are all computer dependent systems now being more widely used by agencies around the country†. (ITI, p.4) â€Å"New hardware such as Personal Digital Assistance (PDAs) and other wireless devices such as web-enabled cellular telephones are changing the way information is collected and shared†. (ITI, p.4) â€Å"The 911 systems have precipitated the use of computerized mapping and links between 911 systems and computer aided dispatch software† (ITI, p.4). â€Å"Incident-based reporting is being implemented across the country requiring new records management software designed to capture and report crime statistics electronically† (ITI, p.4). â€Å"The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon significantly increased awareness for the need to share information between law enforcement agencies at all levels of government†. (ITI, p.4) â€Å"Antiquated radio systems are being replaced so that multiple agencies can communicate during joint operations and disaster responses. Integration of computer databases is being developed for intelligence gathering and criminal investigation†. (ITI, p.4) â€Å"Detection technology, protection equipment and training are being provided to public safety personnel to meet the challenges of a nuclear, biological or chemical threat as well as an attack using conventional weapons†. (ITI, p.4) â€Å"The use of the Internet for the commission of crimes is increasing at an alarming rate†. (ITI, p.4) â€Å"Thieves, hackers, hate groups, pedophiles, cyberspace stalkers, drug cartels and terrorist groups freely use the Internet to carry out their illegal activities†. (ITI, p.4) The Internet also offers many benefits to law enforcement† (ITI, p.5). â€Å"The ability to share information between agencies and with the public has been greatly enhanced by the use of the internet†.

Role Of Chromosome 21 In Alzheimers Disease Biology Essay

Role Of Chromosome 21 In Alzheimers Disease Biology Essay Down syndrome is a genetic disease that caused by trisomy of Human chromosome 21. Down syndrome is common chromosomal disorder of mental retardation in humans. It is caused by the three types of chromosomal abnormalities namely, free trisomy 21, translocation Down syndrome and mosaic Down syndrome. Most of the Down syndrome individuals experience Alzheimer-like neuropathology like dementia, neurofibrillary tangles and many others. Genes that are in Chromosome 21 which includes SOD-1, DSCR1, APP gene and S100B, are highly involved in the relationship between Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease. Besides the genes involved, other factors like oxidative stress and hormone will be discussed in this review too. There are two different types of hypotheses associated with Down syndrome namely, developmental instability and gene-dosage effect. Introduction Down syndrome is a common chromosomal disorder of mental retardation in humans. It is caused by the trisomy of chromosome 21. Down syndrome is named after John Laugdon Down in 1866.There is three different types of chromosomal abnormalities namely, free trisomy 21, translocation Down syndrome and mosaic Down syndrome. Over 90% of the time, non disjunction and failure to separate the chromosome pairs during meiosis are the principal cause of Down syndrome. Down syndrome is named after John Laugdon Down in 1866. The first person that published the relationship between Alzheimers disease-type neuropathology to clinical dementia in adults with Down syndrome was Jervis in 1948 and the person to demonstrate this disorder is due to the trisomy of chromosome 21 was by Jerome Lejeune in 1959. The symptoms associated with Down syndrome are diminished muscle tone, congenital heart disease, small skull, slanting eyes and retarded growth and development. Individuals with Down syndrome usually hav e the tendency of developing neuropathological changes like Alzheimer disease. Down syndrome has an overall incidence of 1 in 1000 live births when the mother aged 30, increasing 9 in 1000 births when the mother is aged 40 (Hook et al., 1983). Alzheimer disease is a neurodegenerative disease which maybe is found in Down syndrome individuals. This disease is named after a neuropathologist, Alois Alzheimer in 1906. Down syndrome individuals experience the Alzheimer-like neuropathology by their mid-40s. In the beginning, Alzheimer disease affects parts of brain like memory and languages. But after a period of time, this disease will progress and cause problems in all aspects of our life. Alzheimer disease has 2 forms, familial and sporadic forms. Familial Alzheimer disease is a rare disease which is genetically acquired. There are mainly 3 types of lesions that are observed in Alzheimer disease. It is then caused by the mutations in several genes like APP which will lead to the over production of the amyloid-beta protein. The most common form of Alzheimer disease is sporadic form which contributes to 90% of Alzheimer disease cases. The first type is the neuritic plaques, extracellular deposits of fibrillar beta amyloid surrou nded by degenerating neuronal processes and terminals. The next type of lesions is intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles, primarily composed of abnormally hyperphospholated tau protein and lastly, it is vascular beta-amyloidosis associated with fibrillar amyloid deposition within the vascular wall. Over time, these pathological processes contribute to synaptic and neuronal loss, deterioration of neuronal networks, brain atrophy and dementia (Victor Ropper, 2001). Nowadays, people have longer life span and hence the Alzherimer disease become much more worrying for us as it will become a major public concern. There were 26.6 million of people that are suffering of the Alzheimer disease in 2006 and this number will continue to grow. It is then estimated to affect 1 in 85 people worldwide by the year of 2050. In fact, it was not until 1985 that research explicitly focused on aging related changes in health status and cognition of adults with intellectual disabilities, and in particular those with Down syndrome, began in earnest (Janicki et al, 1985). In Down syndrome, there are two different types of hypotheses associated namely, developmental instability and gene-dosage effect. The developmental instability hypothesis indicated that the correct balance of gene expression in the development is being disrupted. But this hypothesis is being questioned since other autosomal trisomy syndromes do not lead to the same clinical pattern (Shapiro et al,2001). In another case, the gene-dosage effect hypothesis, specific gene that is over expressed is responsible for the Down syndrome phenotypic abnormalities which indicated is trisomy of the Chromosome 21 (Delabar et al,1993). The Genes In chromosome 21, the most critical part that affects Down syndrome phenotype is the long arm(q) of chromosome 21. The critical region in chromosome 21 that is important to Alzheimer disease are amyloid precursor protein (APP) located at Chromosome 21q21.3 , superoxide dismutase gene (SOD-1) located at Chromosome 21q22.11, Beta-site APP-cleaving 2 enzyme (BACE2) located at Chromosome 21q22.3, carbonyl reductase (CBR) located at Chromosome 21q22.1 and cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) located at Chromosome 21q22.3 . The critical region in chromosome 21 that is important to Down syndrome are glycinamide formyl transferase (GART) located at Chromosome 21q22.1, SOD-1, Cu2+/Zn2+ superoxide dismutase, beta subunit of S100 calcium-binding protein (S100B) located at Chromosome 21q22.3, Down syndrome critical region gene 1 (DSCR1) located at 21q22.3 and Intersectin 1 (ITSN1). The Amyloid precursor protein (APP) APP gene is located on human chromosome 21 and codes for a transmembrane protein that is expressed in both neurons and astrocytes. This gene is important in the relationship between Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease. Overexpression of APP gene will lead to the increase production of amyloid-beta protein which is the main protein component of senile plaque. The cause of the familial Alzheimer disease is by the mutation n the APP gene. The amyloid-beta protein is formed by the proteolytic cleavage of the large, type-1 integral membrane-spanning glycoprotein APP by secretases. It has two different pathways, the amyloidogenic pathway and the nonamyloidogenic pathway. The amyloidogenic pathway is beta-secretase cleaves APP to generate APPsB, a 100-kDa soluble NH2-terminal fragment and a 12-kDa membranebound carboxyl-terminal fragment. Hence, the nonamyloidogenic pathway is that cleaved within its amyloid-beta region (aminoacids 16-17), at the alpha-secretase cleavage site, to produce an N-terminal fragment, APPsa, and a C-terminal APP fragment of 83 amino acids (Kang et al,1987). In normal mechanism of the brain, there is stable distribution of beta-amyloid in the brain and this intracellular beta-amyloid is essentially in the entire life indicated that beta-amyloid within neurons represents a product of normal metabolism. The two most common species of beta-amyloid are AB40 and AB42. Beta-amyloid will start to accumulate during younger times and with increasing in age, the amount will progressively increase. During middle ages like 35 years, beta-amyloid associated neuropathology will accelerate tremendously. The soluble APP is the most toxic APP which can have neurotrophic activities and longer aggregating forms. The amyloid-beta protein at high concentration will lead to neurotoxic whereas at low concentration it can function as a neurotrophic factor. When amyloid-beta protein is oxidized, the solubility will decrease and hen will result in the accumulation of the intracellular microglial. This accumulation will increase the concentration of amyloid-beta protein and lead to more plaque formation. Amyloid-beta protein will also induce oxidative stress directly and activating microglia indirectly (Yankner et al, 1990). Although it has been a strong standing that amyloid-beta protein contributes to the Alzheimer disease but there is evidence that amyloid-beta protein is very useful in our body. Amyloid-beta protein provides an important role in both synapse and in synaptic structure-functional plasticity that underlie learning and memory (Koudinov et al, 2001). The autopsy studies in brains of older Down syndrome individuals showed that senile plaque and neurofibrillary tangles and in the brains and some indivuals show a much earlier onset. This maybe suggest that there is an apoptotic action happening and may result in the large amount of neuronal death in the brain. It has been studies to show that APP metabolism in involved in the peripheral tissues. Changes occurs in APP metabolism is noted in the platelets, lymphocytes and fibroblasts in both Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease individuals. This change in APP showed that there is two to three fold of increase plasma concentration in both amyloid-beta protein(1-40) and amyloid-beta protein(1-42) in Down syndrome individuals and also increase of mRNA of APP. The Beta-site APP-cleaving 2 enzyme (BACE2) BACE is a transmembrane aspartyl protease and has a second protein called BACE2 that is 55% identical to BACE.BACE2 has two active site motifs of aspartic protinases which are located at residues 93 to 96 of DTGS and residues 289 to 292 of DSGT. BACE2 has a minor cleavage site at the beta-site of APP and also a major cleavage in the beta-amyloid region that is close to the alpha-secretase site. BACE2 is said to contribute to the amyloid-beta protein production. Some authors investigate the expression of BACE2 in the frontal context of the Down syndrome patients and hence, the immunoreactivity of BACE2 in Down syndrome patients with Alzheimer disease and control is compared. The results show that in neurorofibrillary tangle-bearing neurons there is BACE2 but not in those Down syndrome patient without Alzheimer disease. So, this will give an indication that BACE2 contribute to the Alzheimer-type neuropathology of Down syndrome (Barbiero et al, 2002). In Alzheimer individual platelets, there is a significant amount of reduction in the BACE2 which suggest that this BACE2 cause increase Alzheimer neuropathology. The Down syndrome critical region gene 1 (DSCR1) and The Intersectin 1 (ITSN1) The DSCR1 gene is located at the human chromosome 21 and it encodes for the calcipressin 1 which inhibit calcineurin activity by interacting with calcineurin A. So, phosphorylation of calcipressin 1 will inhibit the activity of calcineurin and this will allow the control the half life of calcipressin by increasing its degradation. To protect the cells from getting damaged, negative feedback mechanism of DSCR1 gene should be activated. In brain, heart and skeletal muscle, the DSCR1 is highly expressed. It was shown that DSCR1 is over expressed in the individual brain of the Down syndrome fetuses and post mortem and for those Alzheimer disease individuals, they also showed DSCR1 mRNA levels to be two to three times higher than the control. Basically, overexpression of DSCR1 can affect two calcineurin-dependent pathways by blocking calcineurin activity. So, when there is an increase of DSCR1, it may disrupt endocytosis and the vesicle recycling because of the calcineurin-dependent dephosphin dephosphorylation. Next, the hyper The ITSN1gene is located in human chromosome 21 and it encodes for endocytic protein ITSN1. In this gene, there are two major mRNA transcripts which divided into 6kb and 11kb, short and long isoforms. These isoforms are expressed in the brain but in different cell types. It has been detected in western blotting that long form is neuronal specific while the short form is in glial cells and for those Down syndrome individual, there is an over expression of the long isoform in the brain. These genes are involved in the neruronal endocytosis in the pathology of the Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease. In neuronal endocytosis, it is very important for the neuronal repair and survival as the secretory vesicles need to be reuptake during the synaptic transmission after any neuronal damage. The Minibrain-Kinase Gene The gene minibrain-kinase maybe associated with Down syndrome. This gene is encoded to the Down syndrome critical region 21q22.2. There has been studies that showed that the over expression will cause congnitive impairments with Down syndrome and increases in apoptotic cell death and reduction in neuronal differentiation which altered neuronal plasticity and intellectual disability observed in Down syndrome (Murakami et al, 2006). The Immune System Astrocytes also play an important role in old Down syndrome patients brain. Upon activation in the brain of the Down syndrome patient, it will express more of the S100B, an astrocyte-derived neurite growth-promoting factor. S100B is associated in dystrophic neurite formation and in plaque evolution and also in neurofibrillary tangle evolution in Alzheimer disease. S100B is secreted by astrocytes and increase the intraneuronal free calcium levels and stimulates the growth of neuronal processes. In the studies of S100B, it showed that the number of astrocytes expressing S100B in Down syndrome patient was about twice as that to the controls of all ages. Another way to test for the relationship between Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease is by the complement cascade, C1q. C1q accumulates in amyloid-beta protein deposits in neurons within Down syndrome brain. In this case, the increase level of C1q will suggest that it is responsible for the acceleration phase of Alzheimer disease pathogenesis in Down syndrome patient (Stoltzner et al, 2000). The Oxidative Stress Another factor that is involved in both Alzheimer disease and Down syndrome is oxidative stress. As we all know that oxygen is very important for life but the byproducts are very harmful. These byproducts include reactive oxygen species like superoxide and hydroxyl and hydrogen peroxide and peroxynitrite (Andersen et al.,2004). The amyloid precursor protein and the cytoplasmic enzyme Cu2+/Zn2+ superoxide dismutase (SOD-1) are responsible for reactive oxygen species homeostasis. SOD-1 is responsible for the first line of antioxidant defense by catalyzing the dismutation of O2à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢- to molecular oxygen (O2) and H2O2, which can be converted by catalase (CAT) and by (selenium-containing) glutathione peroxidase (GPX) to water. Since SOD-1 is located at chromosome 21, so the trisomy of chromosome 21 will lead to accumulation of hydrogen peroxide because of the imbalance in the ratio of SOD-1 to CAT and GPX. Hence, this will lead to the increase of neuronal cell death which also c ontributes to the progressive mental decline in both Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease. In peripheral tissues, SOD-1 has 50% more in patients than normal in the immune system. Hence, it will disrupt the immune system to make the patients to be weaker (Benzi et al, 1997). The E2F-1 Gene The E2F-1 gene is located in human chromosome 20. It encodes a protein E2F-1 transcriptional factor E2F-1. This transcription factor plays major role in in the control of cell cycle, action of tumor suppressor proteins and DNA damage to apoptosis. The ETS2 Gene The ETS2 gene is located on human chromosome 21q22.2. This gene encodes for a protein Protein C-ets-2 which is a transcriptional factor of beta-APP gene. It will specifically bind to the beta-APP promoter and work with transcription factor AP1 (Wolvetang et al, 2003). The Oestrogen Hormone Oestrogen has a role of protecting neurons from the toxic effect by amyloid-beta , ameliorated the cerebral metabolism and also increase the level of acetylcholine in the basal forebrain and hippocampus. It also has the antioxidant effect which is very helpful towards Alzheimer disease. Other beneficial impacts include reduction of the lipid peroxidation, prevention intracellular peroxide accumulation and reduce the degradation of the neurons in the brain. So, it is said that estrogens reduce the occurrence of Alzheimer disease of Down syndrome woman. Woman patients with Down syndrome may have an earlier occurrence or more serve form of Alzheimer disease when these women has early onset of menopause compared to those late menopause women (Schupf et al., 2006). But those post-menopause women that receive estrogen replacement therapy may have a lower occurrence in having Alzheimer disease. The Apolopoprotein E Gene Another factor that attribute to the late onset of Alzheimer disease is Apolopoprotein E (APOE) gene. This gene is located on chromosome 19 and has 3 types of alleles (Corder et al., 1993). The allele that is responsible for Alzheimer disease is APOE ÃŽÂ µ4 allele. It is found that patients with Alzheimer disease has higher frequencies of the APOE ÃŽÂ µ4 allele compared with those without other APOE genotypes and have a earlier onset of Alzheimer disease (Corder et al., 1993). Another allele that has good contribution towards Alzheimers disease for adults with Down syndrome is APOE ÃŽÂ µ2. It is the least common allele but can reduce the risk of Alzheimers disease for adults with Down syndrome (Schupf et al,1996). Cholesterol is transported by high-density lipoproteins such as APOE, and these suggested of the hypothesis that the relationship between APOE and risk of Alzheimers disease may be linked to cholesterol metabolism. Statins or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors are currently the most widely prescribed class of cholesterol lowering medication. In a number of studies, it has been shown that the use of statin does reduced the risk of the Alzheimers disease. So, for participants with a total cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL or more, the effect of statin significantly lower the risk of dementia compared to that of other participants with lower total cholesterol (Green, Jayakumar, Benke, Farrer, 2002). The Sortilin-related receptor-1 Gene On chromosome 11 (11q24.1), there is this gene called sortilin-related receptor-1 gene (SORL1). It is a 250-kDa membrane protein that is expressed in the neurons of the nervous system. The SORL1 gene has the role of intracellular trafficking between membrane and hence, interacting with amyloid precursor protein (APP) in endosomes and golgi. This gene function to get rid the excess beta amyloid protein. So, when there is little expression of this gene, it will cause to the increase of beta amyloid protein hence it will lead to the accumulation of beta amyloid protein. Since there is already a large amount of beta amyloid protein in the brains of the Down syndrome patients, then it will have problem to decrease the amount of beta amyloid protein so it will increase the risk of having Alzheimer disease. (Rogaeva et al, 2007) The Phorsphorylation Phosphorylation is a mechanism that controls the activity of enzymes and receptors by switching on the regulation of the cell function. Constant activation of the phosphorylation mechanism will increase the accumulation of the of neurofibrillary tangles, abnormal twisted protein filaments that form within affected neurons and are composed mainly of hyperphosphorylated tau protein (Hardy et al, 1991). So, the hyperphosphorylated tau protein in the brain of the transgenic mice with extra human minbrain-kinase gene also give us the indication of the overexpression of minibrain-kinase could contribute to the early onset of Alzheimers disease associated with Down syndrome ( Wegiel et al, 2008). The Age There have been studies that suggest that overall dementia risk increases beginning in the late 40s or early 50s and even some twenty years earlier than it does within the general population. However, there is still some individuals vary on the onset age. A small minority of adults with Down syndrome begin to experience substantial declines in cognition before age 50, yet another minority is able to mature well into their late 60s or early 70s without experiencing signs or symptoms of Alzheimers disease (Schupf, 2002). There are studies on the different ages of mothers who give birth to their children to have risk of having dementia. The results showed a four-fold increase in risk of dementia among mothers who gave birth to their children with Down syndrome less than 35 years of age compared with mothers who were older than 35 years when their child with Down syndrome was born or compared with mothers of children with other intellectual disabilities (Schupf et al., 1994). The Biomarkers Biomarkers are used to monitor diseases progression so it is very useful in quantifying the effects of any available treatment regimen. Because biomarkers are strongly associated with disease risk, detection of early changes in biomarker levels provides an opportunity for early intervention to delay or prevent disease onset (Lesko Atkinson, 2001). To date, validated biomarkers for Alzheimers disease in adults with Down syndrome have yet to be discovered. However, there are some biomarkers that have been investigated. These include measures of the quantity and type of beta amyloid protein found in blood plasma and telomere size in metaphase and interphase preparations as well as on individual chromosomes (Schupf, Patel et al., 2001). There is a close relationship between Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease mainly cause by the overexpression of the APP gene and lead to the over production of the protein, amyloid-beta protein(1-40/42), the major contribution to Alzheimer disease pathogenesis in Down syndrome patient. It is reported in both cross-sectional and prospective analyses that beta-amyloid 1-42 levels increased in demented adults with Down syndrome but not beta amyloid 1-40 levels. For people who are nondemented but with high plasma beta-amyloid 1-42 levels were over two times as likely to develop Alzheimers disease as those with lower levels (Schupf, Patel et al., 2001). Telomeres are DNA sequences that located at the end of the chromosome which is a series of repeats of the TTAGGG nucleotide sequence. These DNA sequences undergo shortening with each cell division, serving as markers of a cells replicative history and an indicator of cellular aging. Using quantitative telomere protein nucleic acid fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses of metaphase and interphase preparations from age matched pairs of participants with Down syndrome with and without dementia, there are four observations being observed. The first observation is there are shorter telomeres in individuals with dementia. Next, the individual chromosomes 1 and 21 could be used alone and/or in combination to detect telomere shortening. The third observation is that the cells from individuals with dementia or MCI had reduced numbers of telomere signals when analyzed using a PNA telomere probe, and lastly the shorter telomeres in individuals with MCI (Jenkins, Velinov, Ye, Gu, Li et al., 2006). The Conclusion In conclusion, Down syndrome showed that it has a relationship with the pathology of Alzheimer disease. Triplication of chromosome 21that causes over expression of the amyloid-beta protein is the major cause towards the pathology of Alzheimer disease. Not only so, some other sub factors also contribute to it. After understanding the various causes that resulted in Down syndrome patients to have Alzheimer disease, it will be easier for us to invent more ways to treat all these symptoms and hence it will definitely benefit a lot of people that are associated with these diseases.

parenting Essay -- essays research papers

There are some grounds to assume that a cognitive dissonance is involved in feeling that children are more a satisfaction than a nuisance. Why do people bother with parenting? It is time consuming, exhausting, strains otherwise pleasurable and tranquil relationships to their limits. Still, humanity keeps at it: breeding. It is the easiest to resort to Nature. After all, all living species breed and most of them parent. We are, all taken into consideration, animals and, therefore, subject to the same instinctive behaviour patterns. There is no point in looking for a reason: survival itself (whether of the gene pool or, on a higher level, of the species) is at stake. Breeding is a transport mechanism: handing the precious cargo of genetics down generations of "organic containers". But this is a reductionist view, which both ignores epistemological and emotional realities – and is tautological, thereby explaining something in terms of itself. Calling something by a different name or describing the mechanisms involved in minute detail does not an explanation make. First hypothesis: we bring children to the world in order to "circumvent" death. We attain immortality (genetically and psychologically – though in both cases it is imaginary) by propagating our genetic material through the medium of our offspring. This is a highly dubious claim. Any analysis, however shallow, will reveal its weaknesses. Our genetic material gets diluted beyond reconstruction with time. It constitutes 50% of the first generation, 25% of the second and so on. If this were the paramount concern – incest should have been the norm, being a behaviour better able to preserve a specific set of genes (especially today, when genetic screening can effectively guard against the birth of defective babies). Moreover, progeny is a dubious way of perpetuating one's self. No one remembers one's great great grandfathers. One's memory is better preserved by intellectual feats or architectural monuments. The latter are much better conduits than children and grandchildren. Still, this indoctrinated misconception is so strong that a baby boom characterizes post war periods. Having been existentially threatened, people multiply in the vain belief that they thus best protect their genetic heritage and fixate their memory. In the better-educated, higher income, low infant mort... ...en, he develops a circle of admirers, cronies and friends which he "nurtures and cultivates" in order to obtain Narcissistic Supply from them. He overvalues them (they are the brightest, the most loyal, with the biggest chances to climb the corporate ladder and other superlatives). But following some anti-narcissistic behaviours on their part (a critical remark, a disagreement, a refusal, however polite, all constitute such behaviours) – the narcissist devalues all these previously over-valued individuals. Now they are stupid, lack ambition, skills and talents, common (the worst expletive in the narcissist's vocabulary), with an unspectacular career ahead of them. The narcissist feels that he is misallocating his resources (for instance, his time). He feels besieged and suffocated. He rebels and erupts in a serious of self-defeating and self-destructive behaviours, which lead to the disintegration of his life. Doomed to build and ruin, attach and detach, appreciate and depreciate, the narcissist is predictable in his Death Wish. What sets him apart from other suicidal types is that his wish is granted to him in small, tormenting doses throughout his anguished life.