A Reflective on Senior Portfolio inTowson University Assignment

A Reflective on Senior Portfolio inTowson University - Assignment Example I have produced a term paper which directs on the New Mexico Medicaid and its Modernization Plan and an in-class presentation on cultural competence. On the paper, I only scored 85% due to the fact that I fail to correctly gather the entire relevant issues imperative for a correct interpretation of the study. On the oral presentation, I scored 90.3% partly because of partial mastery of the topic and certain demonstrations lapses like the lack of eye contact. Reflecting on these selections, I realized how important it is to be thorough, complete and all-encompassing in analyzing a particular issue. Professionally, working on these projects triggered my critical thinking skills needed in order to assimilate all possible aspects of a particular issue with the aim of delivering more accurate, comprehensive and wide-ranging interpretations and inferences that will serve as a focal point in making more effective solutions and developments. Further, the selections taught me the importance o f preparedness, self-confidence, and profoundness in terms of the knowledge about the topic to facilitate the delivery of an informed, knowledgeable presentation. The opportunities that were offered to me during the entire duration of my Master’s degree work, and the chances presented to me to work on the many societal issues related to the administration of health sciences, were all expansive and thought-provoking. Nevertheless, the learning that I received from my professors, classmates and my research projects widened my understanding about health administration by allowing me to directly experience the administrative practices involved in the research projects, by working together with professors, and most importantly, by reflecting on my personal encounters. Today, there are numerous cases of sexual relationships thriving in our society; in fact, they are proliferating in acceleration. This is a problem that has been existing for so many years, and yet because of the typ e of government we are living in, prostitution cases has continued to shoot up. It is an imperative societal problem that needs to be addressed as this destroys the lives of many young individuals who were unintentionally impregnated due to certain causes. These particular grounds triggered my interest in knowing the different causative factors encompassing the issues of promiscuity in relation to the activity of parenthood. As a result, I have conducted a study on the related pieces of literature pertaining to The Jamaican Adolescent study and one literature review on Father Presence matters. These selections capture my analytic abilities as it requires thorough and inquisitive scrutiny on the possible reasons why many young children, especially adolescents are indulging in oftentimes pre-marital sexual intercourse which according to my research and many other studies, promiscuity in children is attributable to the poor â€Å"father presence† during childhood. In conducting this study, it is important for me as a researcher to develop profound knowledge and sharp analytic expertise on the different overlapping issues and parallel studies that can be related to the topic at hand.

Philosophy metaphysics Essay Example for Free

Philosophy metaphysics Essay In order to clearly answer the first question, it is important first to answer the question – â€Å"what is the soul for Aristotle† and as such give an account of how he views substance and separability. Aristotle posits in de Anima that the soul is the substance in the sense which corresponds to the definitive formula of a things essence. That means that it is â€Å"the essential whatness’ of a body of the character just assigned. (Book II, 412b). As such, the soul is the essence of being and the essence of being is its substance. By being, Aristotle refers to the thing itself while by essence he refers to the primary essence of the thing itself wherein one is treated as the subject in its own right i. e. the good itself is treated as the essence of the good. It can be deduced then, using hypothetical syllogism that if soul is the essence of a being and the essence of being is its substance, then the soul is the substance of a being. He argued further that whatever is has a being, whatever has a being has a substance – this as the grounding of his epistemology. Hence, whatever is has a substance. This implies then that being is identical to substance. If such is the case, then using the principle of excluded middle, being is also identical to soul. Now, let us elucidate the concept of separability. Aristotle first distinguished the difference between the body and the soul. The body as he stated corresponds to what exists in potentiality, it being the subject or matter of a possible actuality. Soul, on the other hand, is a substance (actuality) in the sense of the form of a natural body having life potentially within it; it is the actuality of the body. Aristotle, Book II, 421b) As he delineates the dissimilarity between the body and soul, one should not be mislead in regarding the two as separate entities. They are at some point seems to be separate for in the former we are talking about a corporeal body in its spatio-temporal existence while in the latter we are talking of an incorporeal body transcending in the spatio-temporal world. However, their separability in terms of space and time does not mean they are separate as whole – that is an entity having life. As Aristotle argues â€Å"the soul is inseparable from its body, or at any rate that certain parts of it are (if it has parts) for the actuality of some of them is nothing but the actualities of their bodily parts†. (Aristotle, Book II, 413a). He argues further that â€Å"body cannot be the actuality of the soul; it is the soul which is the actuality of a certain kind of body. Hence the soul cannot be without a body, while it cannot be a body; it is not a body but something relative to a body. That is why it is in a body and a body of a definite kind†. (Book I, 421a). It can be deduced then that soul and the body are inseparable with each other. It is because the essence of both their existence lies in the interdependency of their telos – the soul actualizing the potential life in the body while the body providing an entity for the soul to actualize itself in the material world. Since the soul is the actuality of natural body, then naturally it would have certain functions which it can actualize. Aristotle has identified these functions to be the following: (1. ) powers of self-nutrition or the nutritive function; (2. powers of sensation which includes the sensory and appetitive function; (3. ) the power of movement and rest or the locomotive function and (4. ) the power of thinking. With these functions, he posited a psychic power of hierarchy. He claimed that of the psychic powers mentioned above, some kinds of beings posses all of these, some possess less than all while others posses only one. As such, evidently, the plants possess the p ower of self-nutrition wherein they can grow up or down and increase or decrease in all direction as long they can find nutrients in the soil. It is through their own means that they continue tolive. Even though the plants possess only one function of the soul, it is a great wonder how they continuously subsist on their own. Next is the power of sensation, which is possessed by all animals. All animals possessed the power of sensation because they all have the primary form of sense, which is touch. Aristotle defended and further elaborated this notion in de Anima. To wit: if any order of living things has the sensory, it must also have the appetitive; for appetite is the genus of which desire, passion, and wish are the species; now all animals have one sense at least, viz. ouch, and whatever has a sense has the capacity for pleasure and pain and therefore has pleasant and painful objects present to it, and wherever these are present, there is desire, for desire is just appetition of what is pleasant. (BookII, 414b) From the arguments stated above, it can be evidently inferred not just how Aristotle proven that all animals possess at least one sense, the touch, but also how he sci entifically deduced that all animals by virtue of their sensory function, possess appetitive function, too. From all these animals, there are some which possessed the power of locomotion, advancing them to a higher stratum. These are animals which can execute any kind of movements together with the capacity to halt such movement. Lastly, the human beings possessed all of the above-mentioned functions placing them on the top of the hierarchy. They posses the power of thinking, which is the essential feature of the human beings and which separates them apart from all other species. Analyzing the theoretical framework Aristotle succumbed to, it can be construed then that for him every being has a soul. This is evidently manifested in his attempt to prove the groundings of his epistemology extending his claim to the psychic hierarchy wherein he posited that every kind of living thing – any entity for that matter possesses certain function/s of the soul It should be put in mind, however, that even Aristotle posited the different functions of the soul; they are in essence, inseparable. An example of this is the function of nutrition (by eating) which human beings in particular do in order to properly and clearly think. The latter being also a function of the soul. Evidently, every function of the soul is interconnected with each other especially in the case of the Homo sapiens, who possessed all the enumerated functions of the soul. Aristotle notions of intellect can be rooted in his conception of knowledge – in his epistemology. It is from his conception of knowledge arises his other assertions on how he views the world. It is common sensical then to claim that his conception of the mind or any other things transcending from their spatio-temporal existence, his metaphysics, is grounded on his epistemology. As such, it is with utmost importance to first answer how Aristotle regards the nature of knowledge and how does one able to acquire knowledge so as to provide an answer on his notion of intellect. Knowledge for him can only be found within the material world – that is things, which are intelligible by senses. It is then through our experience with this objects in their spatio-temporal existence that we come to know them. He mentioned the processes of how we can arrive to know these objects – by perception, discrimination and thinking. By perception here, I mean the process of how our senses operate to recognize things in the material word. Discrimination then comes simultaneous with perception in order to give a concrete description of the thing being perceived. In example, upon the perception of a certain plant, we can able to distinguish its structure and other ontical features as the mind started to categorized. As a corollary, we arrived at the conclusion that what we perceived is indeed a plant. From there, we judged that what we perceived is indeed a plant and hence, arriving in the state of thinking. It can be deduced then that through thinking, one can able to comprehend the ontical features of an object and by virtue one’s reason, its primary essence. By primary essence, I mean the telos or the end itself of a thing. Since reason for Aristotle is innate in human beings so is intellect. It is because for Aristotle, reason is an essential property of the mind – that is of the intellect. If that is the case, then reason for Aristotle is relatively tantamount to the intellect. Husserl, on the other hand regarded the process of intuition as the first level of cognition wherein the objects are grasp in its original thru experience. This is also the case when one is cognizing objects of mere representations which includes but not limited to pictorial intuitions and any means of symbolic indications. To wit, experiencing is consciousness that intuits something and values it to be actual; experiencing is intrinsically characterized as consciousness of the natural object in question and of it as the original: there is consciousness of the original as being there in person. The same thing can be expressed by saying that objects would be nothing at all for the cognizing subject if they did not appear to him, if he had of them no phenomenon. Here, therefore, phenomenon signifies a certain content that intrinsically inhabits the intuitive consciousness in question and is the substrate for its actuality valuation. (Husserl, p. 3) It is only but logical to infer that experience plays a vital role in the cognition of a certain object. As such, it is only upon experience, can one theorized and moved to a higher level of cognition. A thing must first be intuited before one can theorize about them. And after theorizing, comes the process of reflection. Evidently, both Aristotle and Husserl believed in the value of experience in which the former calls perception and the latter intuition. From these processes arises higher forms of cognition wherein the end result for Aristotle is thinking through the use of reason while for Husserl, it is pure reflection as a result of phenomenology. It is then with utmost importance to first clarify, what does Husserl meant by intellect and Ego. As such, in what process does a person uses his intellect. Furthermore, what is the difference of reflection from pure reflection and of the empirical Ego to the transcendental Ego? Also, one should answer the question â€Å"what is phenomenology? † and â€Å"why it is only through this process one can arrive at pure reflection? † For Husserl, intellect is identical with consciousness as Ego is identical to Self. As such, when one speaks of intellect, one is referring to consciousness and vice-versa. Such is also the case with the Ego and the Self. Reflection is the process wherein one is looking not towards the act of reflection itself but rather in the direction of the objects one is conscious of. As such, one is absorbed in reflecting how these objects exist rather than asking how they come into being or essentially, enquiring on their primordial existence. If the consciousness is moving towards this kind of reflection, then the Ego is only in his/her ontical (empirical) status. Pure reflection, on the other hand, is the process wherein the consciousness is reflecting his consciousness – that is the act of reflection per se. This is the case wherein the Ego transcends from his ontical stage by describing the events i. e. relating, referring, combining, et al in his consciousness. And this can only be done thru the process of phenomenology. What is phenomenology then? Phenomenology is defined as the science of consciousness. (Husserl, p. 5) It is the process of describing the things and events themselves in their primordial sense through the use of phenomenological reduction. Phenomenological reduction then is the process wherein one suspends his/her preconceived notion of things in order to objectively describe the objects and events as what it appears to them. It only thru this process that we can arrive at pure reflection because this is the only method wherein objects and events are describe as themselves without concurring to any established principle or assumption. Evidently, Aristotle’s notion of intellect and Husserl’s notion of Ego posited the strength of mind in general – transcending from space and time. If that is the case, then the conception of a person is not only confined within the physical realm – that is he can do things beyond the limit of his physical existence in his journey to unravel the primordial existence of objects and any discipline for that matter. However, what sets them apart from each other is their notion on how one can really grasp the ontological state of an object or in the words of Kant –their intentionality. Aristotle believed that one can only know the ontological state of a thing by referring to its primary essence, its telos as the context clue in able to grasp the object’s primary essence. For Husserl, on the other hand, it is only through the use of phenomenological method can one comprehend the ontological state of objects. In Being and Time, Heidegger attempted to know the meaning of a Being – that is the Dasein, by starting to ask and redefine the fundamental question of â€Å"What is a Being? † He further continued this method by asking the ontological question of Being – that only a being can know his Being because he is consciousness to his Being by his being. His starting point is the fact that a being is a Being-in-the-World. He is a being situated in this world. As such, it is only him who can know his being by virtue of his ontic-ontological character. If that is the case, then it is only him who can determine his possibilities by virtue of being a spatio-temporal entity. Since no other entities can determine his possibilities as a being conscious of his existence, then the Dasein solely can ascertain his existentiall. It can be deduced then that the task of Dasein is to transcend to his existentiell in order to arrive at his ontological status. He can only do this by maximizing his possibilities to know himself thru the things which are ready-at-hand – things which can help him to reveal his being to him. It should be kept in mind that this process of knowing the Dasein does not go in hermeneutic circles rather on a back and forth condition Dasein as a spatio-temporal entity is facing a hard time to know his being because there is a tendency that he might be too absorb in his world or fall. Yet what Heidegger wants to emphasize is that he as a Dasein should not conceive his being as a spatio-temporal entity an encumbrance to his Being. It is because it is only through this world he can have his possibilities. This separates him from other entities and makes him a Dasein. Evidently, Heidegger’s notion of Dasein greatly gives importance to the relationship of the Being and the world which is also apparent in Aristotle notion of intellect and Husserl’s notion of Ego. However, what separates the former from the latter is that it focused on providing an answer on how one can transcend to his facticity in order to ontologically know his Being. The latter, on the other hand, focuses in discovering the essence and the ontological existence of the objects in the material world. Transcendental phenomenology is defined in general as the study of essence. It designates two things: a new kind of descriptive method which made a breakthrough in philosophy at the turn of the century, and an a priori science derived from it; a science which is intended to supply the basic instrument for a rigorously scientific philosophy and, in its consequent application, to make possible a methodical reform of all the sciences. (Husserl, p. 15) Essentially, transcendental phenomenology then is a description of phenomena. Husserl, then, laid down the method to achieve the objective of reforming all the sciences. The first step is the use of phenomenological epoche or reduction or bracketing wherein one suspends or take away all his/her biases and prejudices in order to â€Å"objectively describe† a phenomena. By doing this, we can arrive at a universal description of a phenomena. This will be followed by the compare and contrast method which one will have to undertake in order to arrive at the pure data of things. It appears then that by suspending one’s judgment and undergoing the intersubjectivity test, we can arrive at the â€Å"pure data of things†. In relation to this, Husserl claims that this method should be followed by all sciences in order to answer their primordial condition. It is held that sciences cannot escape their dogmas because it fails to question how they come to be. What they are just doing is a mere adaptation of established principles proven in the past to be true. Since these established principles were proven in the past to be true, scientists or people who work in the sciences do not make any attempt to further verify the truthfulness of their established principles – that is how and why is it the case that such principles were held to be true. For indisputably, things cannot just come into being without any rationalization, scientific explanation for that matter. Sciences have constructed ready-made answers to all things – their nature, existence, feature, et al; grounded on the preconceived notion that sciences have already provided sufficient answers to the primitiveness of these objects. While sciences are busy in explaining these things [the ready-made answers], they failed to realized that they were not able to arrived at the Isness of these objects, on how they come into being. However, since the sciences had already deceived the people, that in the past, it already provided sufficient answers to the primordial existence of things, it appears then they are seemingly contented and satisfied by what the sciences have achieved. This is what phenomenology wants to deconstruct – it wanted to create a paradigm shift by destroying the â€Å"tradition† institutionalized by science and overcoming relativism and subjectivism by the use of phenomenological reduction. From these, one can arrive at the pure data of consciousness. It is in this sense, that phenomenology becomes transcendental. Phenomenology is different from descriptive psychology because it draws upon pure reflection exclusively, and pure reflection excludes, as such, every type of external experience and therefore precludes any co positing of objects alien to consciousness. (Husserl, p. 7) Descriptive psychology then does not depend upon pure reflection exclusively; it needs psychological experiencing which would result to the reflection of the external experience. As such, consciousness itself becomes something transcendent, becomes an event in that spatial world which appears, by virtue of consciousness, to be transcendent. (Husserl, p. 7) It can be inferred then that phenomenology focuses solely on the consciousness per se of a being making it the science of consciousness while descriptive psychology focuses on the consciousness of a being in his psychic experiences. Transcendental idealism states that everything intuited in space and time, and therefore all objects of any experience possible to us, are nothing but appearances, that is, mere representations which, in the manner in which they are represented, as extended beings or as series of alterations, have no independent existence outside our thoughts. (Kant, p. 1) As such, it posits that one cannot have the knowledge of the realm beyond the empirical – that is one cannot experience objects outside space and time. It is because the mind as Kant argues having certain constraints [in reference to space and time] – can only grasp the noesis of the object but not its noumena – the object’s intentionality. It can be inferred then that transcendental idealism’s fundamental assertions lies on two grounds: first, objects by themselves exudes intentionality; and secondly, we can never know their intentionality [or noumena] because our mind can only grasp the noesis or what is appearing to us. Phenomenology believes on Kant’s first claim that indeed objects have their own intentionality but vies the second assertion. As such, its emergence as a domain of study in philosophy is grounded on its thrust to prove that indeed the mind can know the noumena of objects. Phenomenology believes that this can be done using eidetic reductionism proving to all that the mind can transcend beyond the physical realm – beyond space and time. Essentially, all the philosophies which were tackled in this paper seek to explain and interpret the world – including the objects within it and the beings living in it; from the primordial existence of things up to the authentication of one’s Being.

Faith and Reason in the Enlightenment Essay -- The Enlightenment in Eu

In a time when faith and hard labor kept the majority of society alive, the introduction of reason by the Enlightenment was initially perceived as a threat. People had focused on their faiths and grasped the traditions and rituals of their dogmas. The Enlightenment introduced the possibility of faith and reason coinciding and cooperating to form a more civilized and equal society to replace the Old Regime, and the changes lasted far after the period of the Enlightenment. Leading up to the Enlightenment Prior to the Enlightenment, England and France instituted Old Regime societies in which three distinct classes of people embraced religion as the foundation of their lives. Each caste had a different lifestyle, with the clergy enjoying the upper class, the nobility in the position of influence, and the vast majority of the people trapped in the hardship of the Third Estate. The clergy was different in the Protestant Church than in the Catholic Church because the Catholics had only to obey the Pope while the Protestant Church was run by the monarch. None of the clergy paid many royal taxes, but still owned much of the land. Since the clergy was a high class, it was beneficial for some of the offspring of the nobility to join the clergy in order to receive higher status. The nobility as a whole controlled much money and power while maintaining constant struggle with the crown over governmental power. The Third Estate worked to live and had no freedom except for their religious beliefs. They believed that they were at the mercy of the land and of an overpowering Creator. The Old Regime was characterized in large part by conflicts between countries and within countries over religious matters. It w... ...ove their minds. European society that was once stuck in the Old Regime lifestyle grew in many facets with the introduction of reason and enlightenment. Although initially reluctant, the societies of the Old Regime embraced the thoughts of the Enlightenment, the conflict between faith and reason began to subside as people learned that they could practice both. References 1 Donald Kagan. The Western Heritage Brief Edition:Volume II Since 1648. (Upper Saddle River: Pretence Hall, 1999), 313. 2 Kagan 298 3 Perry Rogers. Aspects of Western Civilization: Problems and Sources in History 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River: Pretence Hall, 1997), 12. 4 Rogers, 15. 5 Kagan, 317. 6 Peter Gay. Age of Enlightenment. (New York: Time Life Books, 1966), 32. 7 Kagan, 402. 8 Kagan, 329. 9 Gay, 56. 10 Gay, 54. 11 Rogers, 102.

Americas Zoos: Entertainment To Conservation Essay -- essays research

America's Zoos: Entertainment to Conservation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The children run ahead, squealing with delight. Their parents lag behind holding the children's brightly colored balloons and carrying the remnants of the half-eaten cotton candy. The family stops to let the children ride the minitrain and take pictures together under the tree. They walk hand- in-hand toward the exit, stopping first at the gift shop where they each splurge on a treat to remind them of the day's adventure. Although this may sound like a typical scene from the local amusement park, it's actually the city zoo. All that forgotten was walking from cage to cage watching the anxious animals pace back and forth in their closed-in prisons (Hope, 1994). Their cages feel cold and desolate. The concrete floor provides no warmth and the atmosphere is sterile. The animals do not appear very happy in this closed-in environment. Just who are these anxious animals? They are the common everyday animals any child could name: the bears, the tigers, the elephants and the monkeys. What about the rest of the world's unique creatures? Hundreds of species are endanger of becoming extinct, and conservation is in need. Extinction is a permanent issue. The treatment of all our animals and their rights is important as well. As concern for the world's animals becomes more prominent in the news, our zoos rise up to meet the challenge. Animal's rights and their treatment, regardless of species, have been brought to attention and positive movements made. While the number of endangered species grows, zoos attempt to do their part in conservation. Both in and out of the park, zoos and their scientist do their best to help these species. Efforts out in the field within the United States as well as other countries are currently in progress. The question lies in the worthiness of these efforts. Is the conservation successful? Are these efforts being done for the right reasons? Will zoos remain as a form of family entertainment or will the enjoyment of the patrons become unimportant? While it is obvious that things are changing, the eventual goals might not be so clear. As the concern shifts from entertainment to conservation, the zoo's efforts are examined, both in the park and beyond, and their motives judged.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As cities became more and more urbanized, it was harder to st... ...zations on my own, imagine how much more knowledgeable the public will be as a whole on these matters. Both education and species conservation are gained. Honestly, many members of the human population may not realize what life is truly like out in the wild. Nature has been difficult for many animals and these scientists are trying to rebuild what Mother Nature, in combination with the human race, has almost destroyed. The role has shifted, but I believe that the motives have also changed considerably. The concern of the patrons will always be a factor, but with so many people worried about the animals, they are not forgotten. Perhaps if the general public, meaning those who do not have the privilege of visiting these zoos becomes more informed about the work, less questions will be raised about this transition. Personally, I cannot differentiate the one who suffers in this arrangement. The animals' rights are looked after, the public becomes more aware and the endangered numbers of many species are strengthened. If the children still squeal, the animals are safe and measures are being taken to help Earth's creatures, I would consider the venture successful and applaud it as well.

Lyndall Urwicks 10 Principles to Management Essay

Lyndall Urwick has been prolific and an enthusiastic writer on the subject of administration and management. His experience covered industry, the armed forces and business consultancy. Like other classical writers, Urwick developed his ‘principle’ on the basis of his own interpretation of the common elements and processes, which he identified in the structure, and operation of organization. In 1952 he produced a consolidated list of ten principles in administration and management. Urwick’s ideas in general were popular because of their commonsense appeal to managers in organization. In the last decade, however Urwick’s emphasis on purpose and structure has not been able to provide answers to problems arising from social changes and needed for organizational health. Nevertheless his influence on many modern businesses has been enormous. Lyndall Urwick Urwick was born in England in 1891. He attended Repton and New College, Oxford, and was awarded a B.A. degree in 1913 and a M.A.degree in 1919. He began his career in his family’s glove manufacturing business, Fownes Brothers and Company. Following service in the First World War, he became organizing secretary for Rowntree and Company, a confectioner. He subsequently moved to the position of administrator of the Management Research Groups and then became Director of the International management Institute in Geneva in 1929. When thereat Depression cut short the life of the institute, Urwick returned to England and established the management consultancy; Urwick, Orr and Patterns. 10 Principles Urwick 10 principles are: 1. The principles of objective – the overall purpose or objective is the raison d’à ªtre of every organization. 2. The principles of specialization – one group, one function. 3. The principles of coordination – the process of organizing is primarily to ensure coordination. 4. The principles of authority-every group should have a supreme authority with clear line of authority to other members of the group. 5. The principles of responsibility – the superior is absolutely responsible  for the acts of his subordinates. 6. The principles of definitions – jobs, with their duties and relationships, should be clear defined. 7. The principles of correspondence – authority should be commensurate with responsibility. 8. The span of control – no one should be responsible for more than 5 – 6 direct subordinates whose work is interlocked. 9. The principles of balance – the various units of the organization should be kept in balance. 10. The principles of continuity – the structure should provide for the continuity of activities

Saddam Husein essays

Saddam Husein essays Saddam Hussein was born on April 28, 1937 in the Tikrit District of Iraq. Soon after he was born into a poor family, his father abandoned them. Saddams mother remarried and he was frequently beaten by his stepfather. At the age of 10, Saddam left home with his uncle, Khrairallah Tulfah, who was his mothers brother and headed for the capital of Baghdad. His uncle, a schoolteacher, had a great influence on his early life. According to MTV.com, Hussein, 22, made his mark on the Iraqi political scene in 1959 when he attempted to assassinate the countries prime minister. He was unsuccessful and was shot in the leg during the endeavor. In 1963, Saddam married his cousin, Sajida. Saddam has two sons that are being groomed to replace him when he dies or steps down. At Saddams direction, his sons have assumed increasingly prominent roles, creating a widespread but unspoken belief that hell eventually designate one as his political heir. But which one? Uday, 36, who has a reputation as a womanizer with a violent temper, seemed a strong candidate before he was badly injured in 1996 by attackers who raked him and his red Porsche with automatic gunfire on a Baghdad street. Qusai, 34, who is so low-key that most Iraqis wouldnt recognize him, now holds far more important posts. He runs the Republican Guards, the countrys best-trained and equipped troops, and handles the elite Special Security Organization that protects his father. Saddam wants to keep power in the family, rather than allow it to pass to his Baath Party. Qusai, with his leading role in the security forces, has the upper hand, though Saddam hasnt explicitly revealed his choice. (msnbc.com) By all accounts, the sons inherited ambition and ruthlessness from their father, though Uday and Qusais public personalities are total opposites. Saddam had two son-in-laws, Hussein Kamel Majid ...

Free Essays on Religions In America

In the American society today there is a mix of all different religions. Today America’s religion is pluralistic meaning just that. There are a whole bunch of religions practiced in the same society. All of the combined dimensions of religious freedom contribute to the diversity of religious belief and expression in the U.S. There are a bunch of different religions, and three major religions in America today are Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. These three religions have played a major role in shaping American culture, and way of life. Throughout history Jewish people have combined ordinary and extraordinary religion in basically the same way Native Americans have blended community life, religious practice, and relationships with the natural, social and political world. This mixing of the elements of extraordinary and ordinary religion has resulted in the upholding of a unique Jewish identity. Although subject to the influence of various cultures surrounding groups of Jews, this has set them apart in many countries and cultures. There are four different types of Jews in America today they are Orthodox Jews, who follow basically everything the old ancient ways, and the Conservative Jews who practice Pantheism (which means God is present in all things). There are also the Hasidic Jews and the Reform Jews. All of these different groups practice their own different thing and when they cam to America they had their ideas passed along throughout our culture. We see this everyday even when we walk down the streets. They are families of Jews just walking to their Sunday function, with their yam micas on. They won’t really use any electricity or cars or any modern technology on this day. If we go to the supermarket we see food that is marked kosher for them. So that they know the food is alright to eat for their way of life. All of these little things add up and give them a little place they have built in our American culture.... Free Essays on Religions In America Free Essays on Religions In America In the American society today there is a mix of all different religions. Today America’s religion is pluralistic meaning just that. There are a whole bunch of religions practiced in the same society. All of the combined dimensions of religious freedom contribute to the diversity of religious belief and expression in the U.S. There are a bunch of different religions, and three major religions in America today are Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. These three religions have played a major role in shaping American culture, and way of life. Throughout history Jewish people have combined ordinary and extraordinary religion in basically the same way Native Americans have blended community life, religious practice, and relationships with the natural, social and political world. This mixing of the elements of extraordinary and ordinary religion has resulted in the upholding of a unique Jewish identity. Although subject to the influence of various cultures surrounding groups of Jews, this has set them apart in many countries and cultures. There are four different types of Jews in America today they are Orthodox Jews, who follow basically everything the old ancient ways, and the Conservative Jews who practice Pantheism (which means God is present in all things). There are also the Hasidic Jews and the Reform Jews. All of these different groups practice their own different thing and when they cam to America they had their ideas passed along throughout our culture. We see this everyday even when we walk down the streets. They are families of Jews just walking to their Sunday function, with their yam micas on. They won’t really use any electricity or cars or any modern technology on this day. If we go to the supermarket we see food that is marked kosher for them. So that they know the food is alright to eat for their way of life. All of these little things add up and give them a little place they have built in our American culture....

Analysis of the novel, A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Analysis of the novel, 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find' A Good Man Is Hard to Find, first published in 1953, is among the most famous stories by Georgia writer Flannery OConnor. OConnor was a staunch Catholic, and like most of her stories, A Good Man Is Hard to Find wrestles with questions of good and evil and the possibility of divine grace. Plot A grandmother is traveling with her family (her son Bailey, his wife, and their three children) from Atlanta to Florida for a vacation. The grandmother, who would prefer to go to East Tennessee, informs the family that a violent criminal known as The Misfit is loose in Florida, but they do not change their plans. The grandmother secretly brings her cat in the car. They stop for lunch at Red Sammys Famous Barbecue, and the grandmother and Red Sammy commiserate that the world is changing and a good man is hard to find. After lunch, the family begins driving again and the grandmother realizes they are near an old plantation she once visited. Wanting to see it again, she tells the children that the house has a secret panel and they clamor to go. Bailey reluctantly agrees. As they drive down a rough dirt road, the grandmother suddenly realizes that the house she is remembering is in Tennessee, not Georgia. Shocked and embarrassed by the realization, she accidentally kicks over her belongings, releasing the cat, which jumps onto Baileys head and causes an accident. A car slowly approaches them, and The Misfit and two young men get out. The grandmother recognizes him and says so. The two young men take Bailey and his son into the woods, and shots are heard. Then they take the mother, the daughter, and the baby into the woods. More shots are heard. Throughout, the grandmother pleads for her life, telling The Misfit she knows hes a good man and entreating him to pray. He engages her in a discussion about goodness, Jesus, and crime and punishment. She touches his shoulder, saying, Why youre one of my babies. Youre one of my own children! but The Misfit recoils and shoots her. Defining Goodness The grandmothers definition of what it means to be good is symbolized by her very proper and coordinated traveling outfit. OConnor writes: In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady. The grandmother is clearly concerned with appearances above all else. In this hypothetical accident, she worries not about her death or the deaths of her family members, but about strangers opinions of her. She also demonstrates no concern for the state of her soul at the time of her imagined death, but we think thats because shes operating under the assumption that her soul is already as pristine as her navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim. She continues to cling to superficial definitions of goodness as she pleads with The Misfit. She entreats him not to shoot a lady, as if not murdering someone is just a question of etiquette. And she reassures him that she can tell hes not a bit common, as if lineage is somehow correlated with morality. Even The Misfit himself knows enough to recognize that he aint a good man, even if he aint the worst in the world neither. After the accident, the grandmothers beliefs begin to fall apart just like her hat, still pinned to her head but the broken front brim standing up at a jaunty angle and the violet spray hanging off the side. In this scene, her superficial values are revealed as ridiculous and flimsy. OConnor tells us that as Bailey is led into the woods, the grandmother: reached up to adjust her hat brim as if she were going to the woods with him, but it came off in her hand. She stood staring at it, and after a second, she let it fall on the ground. The things she has thought were important are failing her, falling uselessly around her, and she now has to scramble to find something to replace them. A Moment of Grace? What she finds is the idea of prayer, but its almost as if shes forgotten (or never knew) how to pray. OConnor writes: Finally, she found herself saying, Jesus, Jesus, meaning, Jesus will help you, but the way she was saying it, it sounded as if she might be cursing. All her life, she has imagined that she is a good person, but like a curse, her definition of goodness crosses the line into evil because it is based on superficial, worldly values. The Misfit may openly reject Jesus, saying, Im doing all right by myself, but his frustration with his own lack of faith (It aint right I wasnt there) suggests that hes given Jesus a lot more thought than the grandmother has. When faced with death, the grandmother mostly lies, flatters, and begs. But at the very end, she reaches out to touch The Misfit and utters those rather cryptic lines, Why youre one of my babies. Youre one of my own children! Critics disagree on the meaning of those lines, but they could possibly indicate that the grandmother finally recognizes the connectedness among human beings. She may finally understand what The Misfit already knows- that there is no such thing as a good man, but that there is good in all of us and also evil in all of us, including in her. This may be the grandmothers moment of grace- her chance at divine redemption. OConnor tells us that her head cleared for an instant, suggesting that we should read this moment as the truest moment in the story. The Misfits reaction also suggests that the grandmother may have hit upon divine truth. As someone who openly rejects Jesus, he recoils from her words and her touch. Finally, even though her physical body is twisted and bloody, the grandmother dies with her face smiling up at the cloudless sky as if something good has happened or as if she has understood something important. A Gun to Her Head At the beginning of the story, The Misfit starts out as an abstraction for the grandmother. She doesnt really believe theyll encounter him; shes just using the newspaper accounts to try to get her way. She also doesnt really believe that theyll get into an accident or that shell die; she just wants to think of herself as the kind of person whom other people would instantly recognize as a lady, no matter what. It is only when the grandmother comes face to face with death that she begins to change her values. (OConnors larger point here, as it is in most of her stories, is that most people treat their inevitable deaths as an abstraction that will never really happen and, therefore,  dont give enough consideration to the afterlife.) Possibly the most famous line in all of OConnors work is The Misfits observation, She would have been a good woman [†¦] if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life. On the one hand, this is an indictment of the grandmother, who always thought of herself as a good person. But on the other hand, it serves as final confirmation that she was, for that one brief epiphany at the end, good.

Laukemia Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Laukemia - Term Paper Example This factor does not help the normal blood cells to carry out their work. Leukemia begins in the bone marrow and later spreads throughout the body. Mostly, a bone marrow test is carried out to identify leukemia. Both adults and children can develop this disease. â€Å"Although leukemia often is thought to be a childhood disease, in fact, the disease strikes 10 times as many adults as children.† (Leukemia Facts & Figures, n.d.) Though exact reason for a person to develop leukemia is not known, many significant clinical trials have been done on the development of Leukemia. Every year, around 250,000 people are being identified to have developed leukemia and over 200,000 of them die (Vogt, 2010). The treatment methods for this disease are surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy. Though there are many tests to diagnose leukemia, the diagnosis itself may be delayed due to delayed symptoms or symptoms which resemble other conditions. The diagnosis of leukemia may vary acco rding to the kind of leukemia that has developed in a person. Statistics say that â€Å"in the United States about 2,000 children and 27,000 adults are diagnosed each year with leukemia† (Leukemia Information, 2011). Survival rates have increased considerably in the years before due to improvements in treatment. Symptoms of this disease may not be noticeable many times, particularly in chronic leukemia, but people may get symptoms like tiredness, inexplicable weight loss, and fever at times. Other symptoms of leukemia like headaches, joint pain, and pain in the belly due to enlarged spleen may also be noticed. Types of Leukemia Leukemia has been divided into various groups. Leukemia is a term covering four forms of diseases of the blood and bone marrow. These include â€Å"acute lymphocytic leukemia and acute myelogenous leukemia†. These two types of leukemia progress rapidly while the other two types, â€Å"the chronic lymphocytic leukemia and chronic myelogenous leu kemia, progress slowly† (Leukemia, n.d.). Acute leukemia exemplifies swift increase of immature blood cells. Instant and necessary treatment is required in acute leukemia due to this fast development and growth of the abnormal cells. The acute form of leukemia is most common in children. Chronic leukemia is found in those that progress relatively slow when compared to acute forms. The chronic leukemia cells are abnormal white blood cells that take many months or years to progress. The cells are produced much more in number than normal cells. Chronic leukemia is monitored for a certain amount of time before initializing treatment so as to make sure the maximum usefulness of therapy. This form of leukemia is more often found in elderly people but occurs in any age. Leukemia is further divided into various types (What is Leukemia? What causes Leukemia, 2009): 1. Acute lymphocytic leukemia: This form of leukemia is more common in young children. This disease is also found in older people who are 65 years and above. The standard treatment for this type would be chemotherapy and radiation. The rate of survival is 85% in children and 50% in adults. 2. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia: This is most frequently found in adults over 55 years of age. This type is seldom found in children. The rate of survival is five years and is found in adults. It is not curable. 3. Acute myelogenous leukemia: This form is more easily found in adults than children and in men than women.

Intext Global Expansion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words - 1

Intext Global Expansion - Research Paper Example Having carried out a proper market research, I have concluded that we need to expand the business to three nations namely, China, India, and South Africa as a means of expanding our market scope, profitability, and brand globally. Intext Computers is a fast growing company in the technology industry, and the introduction of the software products is indeed a big boost to the organization. Blending the hardware and software aspects of a computer has increased our sales significantly in the past one year through an increase in customer base. Such an observation is indeed an indication showing that with proper strategies and effective marketing, Intext Computers could make it big in the global markets. From the preliminary research on the three nations namely, China, India, and South Africa, it is evident that Intext Computers stands a better chance of success by putting up appropriate and effective measures towards the realization of the company’s goals and objectives. Despite the positive attributes of doing business in another country, there are equally obstacles that limit the success of companies in other nations. One of the determinant factors towards the success or failure of a business in another country is culture, which refers to the particular beliefs, practices, and behaviours of a particular group of individuals within a particular society that distinguishes them from other societies1. Chinas economy is fast growing, and as such, provides a better market opportunity for market success. Despite the view of culture as an obstacle to successful business in China, on the contrary, culture remains a factor that if used appropriately, could yield sufficient results. U nder social customs, China’ culture embeds on building relationships, which usually start with shaking of hands and nodding of the head and fostered by status, and such work to benefits a business as good business involves the building of strong relationships with customers2. Chinese have strong family ties and for business, once you capture a customer, it is easy to get more especially from the strong family ties.  

MULTINATIONAL CORP-EVOL & CUR ISSUE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

MULTINATIONAL CORP-EVOL & CUR ISSUE - Essay Example However, it is important that one understands the significance of this merger to the two companies, their shareholders, competitors, the industry and the consumer (Rumyantseva and Enkel, 2002). In any given industry â€Å"The Rule of Three† manifests itself in the manner in which companies move within the market. The Technology Sector is undoubtedly one of the most oligopolistic, yet monopolistic markets in the modern day. This makes it conform to the rule of three, a fact that may have influenced and possibly affected the manner in which the market is shaped. The rule of three suggests that every industry that is free of major entry barriers and regulatory constraints depicts two types of competitors; full time generalists and product/market specialists (Tu, 2014). Full line generalists are volume-driven and as their market share grows, so does their financial performance they own 10 to 40% of the market share. These full-line generalists usually depict very good financial performance as long as they maintain their control of the market (Sheth and Sisodia, 2002). Product or market specialists on the other hand control 1 to 5 % and have curved out a niche in the market in which they control considerably. Their financial performance is inversely proportional to its market share, i.e. as their market share grows, their financial performance diminishes. Any firm that owns more than 5% but less than 10% of the market is in the ditch. Such companies depict the worst financial performance and are either taken over by a full-line generalist to increase their market share or by a product/market specialist seeking to grow into a full-line generalist (Sheth and Sisodia, 2002). Every market usually has three full-line generalists. Even though at one time there would be more than three, the market usually shakes up to provide three full-line generalists. Consider the

Chinese history (east asian studies) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese history (east asian studies) - Essay Example Leaders in China remain worried about this incident, since the possibility of a popular uprising of a similar kind worries them. This could also lead to a schism in the leadership that would be disastrous for the unity of the nation. Shirk points out the parallel in history that worries the Chinese leadership, the breakup of the Soviet Union, which was the result of widespread discontent. Shirk points to the support of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In the absence of this support, the possibility of a similar breakup looms large, that worries the Chinese government, which seeks to prevent it through maintaining an authoritarian regime. 3. The evolution of the Chinese foreign policy is something that has caught the eye of various political thinkers and foreign policy analysts. The change from a passive approach to one that actively engages in the political affairs of the world in an active manner signals a change of approach that coincides with the entry of China as a supe rpower in the political arena. It is a change from the erstwhile policy of China that was aimed at attaining the status of a superpower without causing any damage to its internal situation of peace. This shall however, according to analysts around the world, cause a certain kind of conflict between the new and the old power, by which is meant the United States of America and China.

Quantitative and Academic skills in learning Economics Assignment

Quantitative and Academic skills in learning Economics - Assignment Example Economics is a comprehensive that studies various aspects of the society and is divided into a number of branches explicitly, microeconomics, macroeconomics, normative, positive economics etc. In the past two decades the erudition of economics has been revolutionized and its theories and ideas have been applied to various other sciences and areas. Importance of Studying Economics Since the end of cold war and rise of capitalism Economics has been of the areas of study apart from nuclear physics and banking that has been greatly emphasized and a lot of importance has been attached to its research and study. Globalization of markets and rising populations have intensified the economic problem i.e. resources are scarce, and have forced the policy makers into making deeper inroads into the subject and extracting various ways of looking at an economy. Thus in the past few decades this extremely vital social science has immensely affected politics, culture, ethics, religion, social institutions and society at large. Hence with the degree of impact the subject has had on the world economy lately, it has seriously attracted the interest of the youth and the number of people enrolling for business majors and specifically Economics has significantly increased. Skills that hold critical importance in studying Economics Economics is a comprehensive subject that deals with the major issues of the world economy and unlike various other subjects incorporates the economic principles into a number of other areas in order to develop policies for a greater benefit and an effective utilization of the sparse resources. In order to this a wide array of skills is considered to be necessary in order to accomplish these tasks. Some of the extremely important skills that are required for the comprehensive study of the subject are the Qualitative and Analytical Skills. Quantitative Skills Economics is one of the few subjective areas that incorporate a huge amount of quantitative methods in order to explicate its concepts. It is an analytical subject that has a strong quantitative base and utilizes a great deal of mathematical and statistical tools to demonstrate economic phenomenon. Though economists do no use mathematics deliberately but a number of tool shave become extremely vital in order to attain the goal of understanding. Graphical representation of situations is one of the most common tools that is being extensively utilized in various concepts of micro as well as macro economics. Demand and Supply one of the extremely important and core theory of Economics revolves around the graphical representation of cases and quantitative modeling. Despite the fact that economic explanation underlines these graphs and models a certain degree of mathematical acumen is tremendously vital to comprehend the trends. Moreover the use of statistical models is a common for understanding other critical concepts like inflation and unemployment. These skills are extremely important to undertake the course and will be further transferred to the job market on completing the study of the subject. Analytical Skills By virtue of being a science Economist attaches serious importance to the need of analytical skills in order to comprehend the economic theories. As explained in the previous section that economic concepts pivot on the quantitative methods for the purpose of demonstration of a concept and its practical application. Similarly economic problems and cases are

Chinese history (east asian studies) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese history (east asian studies) - Essay Example Leaders in China remain worried about this incident, since the possibility of a popular uprising of a similar kind worries them. This could also lead to a schism in the leadership that would be disastrous for the unity of the nation. Shirk points out the parallel in history that worries the Chinese leadership, the breakup of the Soviet Union, which was the result of widespread discontent. Shirk points to the support of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In the absence of this support, the possibility of a similar breakup looms large, that worries the Chinese government, which seeks to prevent it through maintaining an authoritarian regime. 3. The evolution of the Chinese foreign policy is something that has caught the eye of various political thinkers and foreign policy analysts. The change from a passive approach to one that actively engages in the political affairs of the world in an active manner signals a change of approach that coincides with the entry of China as a supe rpower in the political arena. It is a change from the erstwhile policy of China that was aimed at attaining the status of a superpower without causing any damage to its internal situation of peace. This shall however, according to analysts around the world, cause a certain kind of conflict between the new and the old power, by which is meant the United States of America and China.

Gdel's Work in Set Theory Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gdel's Work in Set Theory - Case Study Example In his Logical Journey, Wings publications indicate that GÃ ¶del’s works began in 1930 when he started studying the consistency problems of classical analysis (Wang, 1996). At the time, there had been no rigorous justifications and explanations on the rigorous mathematics (Feferman, et al., 2003, p. 339). This study got its motivation from Hilbert’s works. Hilbert had been working towards the provision of a directly consistent analysis of the finitary methods. The problems that this work had formed the driving force to his study. Through this, GÃ ¶del’s wanted to prove the constancy of number theory by a finitary numeral theory (Barbara, et al., 1990). He also wanted to prove the dependability of analysis by number theory. He represented real numbers by the predicates in number theory. In so doing, he found out that he had to use the truth concept in order to verify the axioms of the analysis. He came with an enumeration of symbols, sentences, and verifications within the specified order. In so doing, he discovered that the impression of arithmetic truth cannot be given a defined form in arithmetic. He observed that if a way to define the truth within a system existed, it would lead to a liar paradox (Rahman, et al., 2008). This would show that the system is inconsistent with what is being studied. These arguments were later formalized so that they bring meaning to the existence of undecidable propositions without quoting any individual occurrences. It is observable that GÃ ¶del tried to reduce the c onsistency problem to that of arithmetic for ease of solving. At this point, he temporarily changed the direction with the aim of intruding another element. The element would prove an illumination solution to Liar Paradox (Winterburn, 2012, p. 47). This appeared to require the truth definition for the arithmetic. This, in turn, resulted to paradoxes, like the Liar paradox to mean that the sentence is a false one. GÃ ¶del then discerned paradoxes of this form would not necessarily come in existence if the truth were to be replaced with probability.

The American Civil War Essay Example for Free

The American Civil War Essay The American Civil War has also been called the War Between the States or the War of Rebellion or the War for Southern Independence. It was a clash between the United States of America or the Union and the Confederate States of America or the Confederacy. The Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865. There were many reasons for the outbreak of this Civil War such as States’ rights and slavery. The principle cause for this War was purely economic. The Southern states had always tried to become independent because of the fact that the people and the state were becoming wealthier due to extensive use of slave labor. These states feared a drastic reduction in their wealth if slavery were to be abolished (Guisepi, 2002). Subsequent to the election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States, the South became apprehensive as they felt that slavery would be abolished, accordingly they started the civil war. On the 12th of April, 1861 the Confederate army in Charleston, S. C. , started firing on Fort Sumter, which was held by the Union forces. This marked the commencement of hostilities between the North and the South. The prima facie objective of the South was to gain independence and that of the North was to preserve the integrity of the Union. In the year 1862, Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation and this constituted a major cause for the war. If the North emerged victorious then slavery would be abolished and if the South had won the war then slavery would have been protected in all the Confederate states (Guisepi, 2002). Economic disparities had been on the increase during the early nineteenth century. More than fifty seven per cent of cotton exports from the US had originated in the South and this was mainly due to the employment of slave labor. However, the North had acquired its wealth by establishing industries and as such the inhabitants of the North were opposed to slave labor. In order to cope with the demand for labor, the North encouraged immigration. Therefore, there were a large number of European immigrants who worked as laborers in industries and in the construction of railways in the North. The South was a laggard as far as industrialization was concerned and this forced them to import manufactured goods from the North. The southern states opposed the overwhelming taxes and tariffs on imported goods, which was the main source of revenue for the Federal government. The Federal government was unwilling to reduce the taxes since it had to support various welfare measures and provide infrastructure like roads. This led to a further disagreement between the North and the South (Gallagher, 2005 ). Initially, in the republic there were sectional differences between the regions, which were overlooked, owing to the fact that the vast distances rendered communication difficult if not impossible. The Northerners favored a central government in order to enable them to construct railroads, roads, and infrastructure, protect complex trade interests and thereby control the national currency. The Southerners, on the other hand, were not in favor of forming a central government since their dependence on the Federal government was much lesser. They also believed that a central government would prevent them from practicing slavery. The US Constitution prohibits the federal government from interfering with slavery within the states. Opponents of slavery in the Northern states were limited to restricting the use of slaves and the spreading of slavery to other regions. This is borne out by the fact that in 1820, Missouri was admitted to the Union as a slave state whereas Maine was admitted as a free state to maintain the balance in the Senate (Gallagher, 2005 ). In 1857, the Supreme Court of the United States added fuel to fire of mounting tensions by its judgment in the case of Dred Scott. In that case Scott a Missouri slave sought freedom on the basis that his master had taken him to live in a free state. The Court opined that Negroes were not citizens of the United States and that accordingly Scott could not approach the Court as he had no rights to do so. Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled that the US laws prohibiting slavery were unconstitutional. Subsequently, on the 16th of October 1859, John Brown a convict of the Pottawatomie massacre raided the Harpers Ferry, VA, in order to free the slaves and to encourage them to start a guerrilla war against the whites in the South. This incident shook the Southerners as they felt that it was the beginning of organized Northern efforts to abolish slavery (Guisepi, 2002). With the election of Abraham Lincoln as the President of the Union, the Southerners seriously contemplated secession from the Union and South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union. Other Southern states quickly withdrew from the Union and these secessionists occupied many southern forts. The Artillery of the Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter and this marked the beginning of the war (Guisepi, 2002). The Civil War had the dubious distinction of resolving the issue of secession permanently as has been borne out by the fact that since 1861, there have been no attempts by the states of the Union to secede. Another major change wrought by the Civil War was the abolition of slavery, subsequent to the Emancipation Proclamation announced by Lincoln. However, the Civil War was unable to make the blacks the equals of the whites and it was also unsuccessful in emotionally reuniting the North and the South, as had been hoped by Abraham Lincoln. References Gallagher, G. (2005 ). American Civil War. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006 [DVD] . Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Guisepi, R. (2002). American Civil War. Retrieved June 23, 2007, from http://history-world. org/american_civil_war. htm

Coronary Artery Disease and Diabetes Mellitus

Coronary Artery Disease and Diabetes Mellitus Introduction The coronary artery supplies the blood to the heart muscles to enrich it with oxygen and other nutrients. It also carries deoxygenated blood away from the heart. The coronary artery consists of 2 main arteries; the right coronary artery which supplies blood to the right ventricles and right atrium and the left coronary artery which supplies blood to the left ventricles and left atrium. The two many arteries further divide into two; the left coronary artery divide into the circumflex artery which supplies blood to the back of the heart, the left anterior descending artery supplies blood to the front of the heart; the right coronary artery is divided into right posterior descending artery and large marginal arteries and supply blood to the sinoatrial nodes that control the heart  rhythmic rate. The coronary arteries have 3 layers of tissues; the tunica adventitia which covers the outside, the tunica media which is the middle layer and the tunica intima endothelium which is the inner layer. The diameters of the coronary arteries range from 0.6mm-4.4mm, any blockage to any of these arteries that stops blood flow to the affected area lead to coronary artery disease (CAD).       The normal blood glucose range is 4-6 mmol/L and 7.8mmol/L 2 hours after meal. This range is controlled by insulin which causes cells to absorb excess glucose in blood and glucagon which causes cells to release glucose from stores. Insulin is produced by the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas. When blood glucose level rises above its normal range insulin binds to the extracellular subunits of its receptors (IRS-1 and IRS-2) on the cell surface which sends signals into the cell causing the intracellular proteins to alter their activity which in turn initiates the movement of glucose transporters (GLU1-4, depending on the cell/tissues involved) to the cell membrane which then transports glucose into the cell where it may be further be converted glycogen, the storage form of glucose. Any impairment to the function of insulin, or its receptors lead to hyperglycemia and when excess of this glucose in bloodstream is passed in urine it results to diabetes mellitus. Diabe tes mellitus can be classified into two main types; Diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM 1) and diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM 2). High sugar levels in blood (hyperglycemia) maybe due to insulin resistance in cases of type 2 diabetes or destruction of beta cells of the pancreas in cases of type 1 diabetes, which downstream leads to CAD. Atherosclerosis which can occur in any part of the body result from endothelia damage which can be caused by high blood pressure, smoking, genetics, age, gender, high blood glucose, weight gain etc. when atherosclerosis occurs in any of the coronary arteries it leads to coronary artery disease. Events leading to atherosclerosis include; Endothelial damage which leads to inflammatory responses such as accumulation of white blood cells , low density lipoprotein (LDL)and high density lipoprotein (HDL), oxidation of LDL induced by free radicals (reactive oxygen species), platelet aggregation, chemotaxis of macrophages, formation of foam cells, proliferation of smooth muscle cells (atheroma occurs), fibrous tissue and calcium salts cause the atheroma to harden this results in less elasticity of the artery (atherosclerosis). All of these events narrow the coronary artery from the normal physiological range of 0.6-4.4mm (including small coronary arteries branching from the main arteries) to very smaller diameter depending on the level of narrowing and then eventual blockage preventing or limiting blood and nutrient supply to heart tissues leading to death of affected heart tissues, heart attack or even death of the patient. According to statistics, diabetes and coronary artery disease are closely related, this is because 50% of patients with diabetes are at risk of suffering CAD alongside. In the United States 77% cause of death is diabetic CAD. The prevalence of diabetes globally is increasing and its the major risk factor of other health conditions. The National Institute of Health reported that 65% of diabetic patients are more at risk of developing stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, kidney failure, and heart diseases such as cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, and atherosclerosis in the heart (CAD) which when not optimally managed could lead to death. CAD and Diabetes Mellitus The cause of DM1 is unknown but studies say it could be genetic or viral infection which leads to an autoimmune condition where the body defense mechanism destroys its cells, in this case the pancreatic beta cells where insulin is produced. When the beta cells of the pancreas are destroyed, the pancreas will no longer be able to make insulin which downstream causes the bloodstream to be glucose logged due to inability of the body cells to move glucose out of the bloodstream, leading to impaired insulin secretion, decreased signalling in the hypothalamus, increased food intake, weight gain and hyperglycemia, which downstream leads to atherosclerosis. DM 2 is due to the body cells inability to respond to insulin stimulation. Insulin resistance is due to obesity, age and sedentary life style (irregular body activities), Age and sedentary lifestyle both lead up to increase in body weight (accumulation of adipose tissue). With or without hyperglycemia, insulin resistance can cause atherosclerosis, this results from increased lipolysis of adipocytes leading to increased nonesterified fatty acid secretion (NEFA), pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumour P1521598x necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1). NEFA can be deposited in and cause dysfunction of pancreatic beta cells, liver and skeletal muscles, all of which enhance insulin resistance and reduce production of insulin. Accumulation of NEFA in skeletal muscle leads to competition with glucose for substrate oxidation thereby increasing the intracellular content of fatty acid metabolites such as diacylglycerol (DAG), fatty acyl coenzyme A and ceremide which together activate serine/threonine kinase processes leading to insulin receptor substrate 1and 2 (IRS 1 IRS 2) phosphorylation, reducing their ability to undergo tyrosine phosphorylation and carry out their normal physiological function in insulin signalling. The final target of these receptors is the blockage of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3) which is responsible for decreasing expression of adherent molecules, NF-kb activation, Ros formation and increasing eNOS production. PI3 blockade leads to hyperstimulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP-kinase) by increasing insulin production which contributes to vascular hypertrophy, hypertension, increased plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) production and arrhythmias, all of these processes lead to endothelial lining damage which causes atherosclerosis. Diabetes and Atherosclerosis Hyperglycemia can also lead this atherosclerosis because increase in blood glucose levels leads to increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) because of mitochondrial dysfunction which is the initial event observed in hyperglycemia. Glycolysis generates nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and pyruvate. Pyruvate in tricarboxylic cycle (TCA) generates molecules  of CO2, 4 NADH and 1 FADH NADH and FADH are electron carriers/donors in the electron transport chain which is made up of 4 complexes, I-IV). In mitochondria, NADH and FADH donate electron for generation of ATP. In hyperglycemia, there is increased glycolysis which leads to increased electron donation to the electron transfer chain (ETC) which increases electron flux raising voltage across the membrane and generates higher membrane potential eventually reaching a threshold where transport at complex III is blocked, increasing electron donation to O2 at complex III generating ROS, mostly superoxide (O-). Superoxide inactiva tes glycolytic enzymes glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase which induces vascular injury via 4 main pathways; protein kinase C pathway, hexosamine pathway, advanced glycation endproducts and polyol pathway. ROS enhances atherosclerosis by blocking eNOS synthase which enhances production of other ROS especially in endothelial cells and vascular muscle cells. Superoxide reacts with nitric oxide to form peroxynitrite which selectively inhibits prostacyclin (PGI2) disrupting its synthases iron-thiolate centre. PGI2 inhibition causes build-up of its precursor prostaglandin endoperoxide (PGH2) which induces vasoconstriction and endothelial dysfunction. In addition, PGH2 promotes the conversion of PGI2 to thromboxane A2 by thromboxane synthase which leads to platelet aggregation. Diabetes and Response to injury Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are responsible for response to injury and hypoxia, both are lacking in diabetes, this makes repair of injury very slow enhancing atherosclerosis. Conclusion   Ã‚   With or without hyperglycemia, DM leads to atherosclerosis which if it happened in the coronary artery lead to narrowing and eventual blockage of the coronary artery leading to CAD. In DM 1 it goes through hyperglycemia/mitochondrial dysfunction pathway whereas in DM 2 it goes through insulin resistance/lipolysis pathway even in slim individuals if there is unequal distribution of fat across the body, it interferes with insulins ability to suppress lipolysis leading to higher NEFA production. Whichever way, DM is likely to lead up to CAD (when atherosclerosis occurs in the coronary artery) and other diseases such as obesity, high blood pressure, kidney disease and heart attack. One thing that can be seen in the events leading up to CAD are positive feedback events, for example, ROS blocks eNOS synthase which enhances the production of more ROS.

Analytical Response to Male Pregnancy Essay -- Science Technology Essa

Analytical Response to Male Pregnancy Male Pregnancy by Dick Teresi and Kathleen McAuliffe support that the technology and the demand for male pregnancy will be possible in the future. They specifically state that, "Someday a man will have a baby". They have written this article in an attempt to show why they believe this will one day become accepted and widely practiced. However, I disagree with Teresi and McAuliffe. I feel male pregnancy will never be freely practiced or accepted by any means. Teresi and McAuliffe start out their article by explaining what their general idea is for male pregnancy to occur. They state, "What we're talking about is implanting an embryo into a man's abdominal cavity, where the fetus would take nourishment, grow to term, and be delivered by an operation similar to a cesarean section. Already, this idea seems illogical to me. As a result of a man being pregnant, there must be a cesarean section to remove the baby. Even for women, this is a risk doctors prefer to avoid if possible. It puts the mother at a much greater risk of injury or death as well as the baby. Going to great lengths to make a man attempt to do something that has a high risk seems foolish when the same results can be achieved naturally with a much lower risk. Slightly further into the article Teresi and McAuliffe discuss how a researcher, Dr. Cecil Jacobsen, injected a fertilized egg of a female baboon into the abdominal cavity of a male baboon. He then states that "with very moderate chemical support, the male baboon was able to carry the pregnancy toward term". Again this goes back to the fact that women can go through the process of child birth natural in most cases. However, for a male to car... ...erring to why they would not want to carry a baby in the summer but any other time is okay. It is not just themselves they are affecting if the operation and procedure is a success, it is also the child who will have to grow up in a society where everyone else's mother is a female, but his mother is dad also. Overall, I felt Teresi and McAuliffe's arguments for pursuing the technology of male pregnancies is not strong enough to actually do further research in the area. I feel that females are biologically established for birth where men's bodies naturally can not give birth. It seems illogical to try to change a system that has worked so well for so many years. If there is a technology dealing with birth that should be researched it should be increasing the safety of it, not a step backwards since the abdomen is a much more dangerous and illogical way.

Philosophy †Free Will vs. Determinism Essay

The dialogue between philosophers over the existence of free will versus the inevitability of determinism is a debate that will always exist. The discussion centers around the true freedom of humans to think and act according to their own judgment versus the concept that humans are intrinsically bound by the physical laws of the universe. Before I enter this chicken and the egg debate I need to quantify my terms: Free will is defined by the great philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas as â€Å"vis electiva† or free choice. It is the ability of man to contemplate and judge the effects of the actions he is about to take. â€Å"†¦But man acts from judgment, because by his apprehensive power he judges that something should be avoided or sought. But because this judgment, in the case of some particular act, is not from a natural instinct but from some act of comparison in the reason, therefore he acts from free judgment and retains the power of being inclined to various things. † (Aquinas. Suma Theologica) Determinism is a complex notion but is best described by David Hume as the notion that something cannot come from nothing and that all actions have causes preceding them. â€Å"I conceive that nothing taketh beginning from itself, but from the action of some other immediate agent without itself. And that therefore, when first a man hath an appetite or will to something, to which immediately before he had no appetite nor will, the cause of his will, is not the will itself, but something else not in his own disposing. So that whereas it is out of controversy, that of voluntary actions the will is the necessary cause, and by this which is said, the will is also caused by other things whereof it disposeth not, it followeth, that voluntary actions have all of them necessary causes, and therefore are necessitated. † (Hume. Liberty and Nessessity. ) Philosophy and world religion alike were born of the same origins. Each of the two ancient disciplines arose from the quest for the answers to life’s ominous questions. These human questions, archetypical to people of all geographic locations; where did we come from; why are we here; where do we go when we die; unite us as a race. It is no coincidence that each religion and theology from all four corners of the earth tackles these black holes of human logic. Each religion carves their own individual explanations of these unanswerable questions into their core belief systems, each one centrally different than others. However, they all share one common thought; each shares a belief in an afterlife determined by the choices made in life. Free will is the common denominator in all world religions, because all share the essential concept of morality. The widespread acceptance of the concept of morality implies that there is a choice to be had at each and every juncture or life. The choice comes from recognition of good and evil. For good and evil to exist, then there has to be the ability to decipher between the two and also decide to accept one over the other. The existence of morality alone proves that free will exists, because without the freedom to choose right or wrong in any given situation there would be no qualitative measure of the â€Å"rightness† or â€Å"wrongness† of ones actions. David Hume comments on the origin of morality and its place in our everyday decision making processes, â€Å"Only when you turn your reflexion into your own breast, and find a sentiment of disapprobation† (Hume.Treatise of Human Nature). In other words, there are no outside stimuli that can decipher good from evil; the line can only be drawn by internal thought. Hume was a naturalist in that his vision of the world and therefore stance of philosophy was based directly through the experiences of the senses. His stance on many issues directly originated from his ability to experience it with the five senses, and on the subject of morality he takes exception. Even he recognizes the existence of morality in everyday life, even though it cannot be explained through the lens of the senses. It would seem that morality’s acceptance must therefore prove that free will exists, but there is one essential school of thought yet to weigh on this topic; science. Science was the latest bloomer of the three major disciplines of existential explanation and in the post modern era is becoming more and more popular. As the world becomes further secularized and the reaches of scientific logic continue to exceed their grasp, many of the world’s intellectuals identify â€Å"truth† on a scientific scale. Science does not support the theory of morality, because it can’t be proven to exist. The notion of â€Å"free-will†, something which world religion and philosophies alike recognize as a fundamental part of our human anatomy, is called into question in a few simple and logical ways. Science supports the theory of determinism as the only logical explanation of the unfolding of the actions of our lives. First off, science has recently developed the discipline known to us as physics, in which the laws of the universe have been defined. In the short time in which humans have been graced by the scientific understanding of the laws of the universe, human kind has yet to fully step back and contemplate the magnitude of this discovery. In generations past, humans believed that we were made special with â€Å"free will†, but now we know that like all things in the universe we are subject to the physical laws. This is a huge step forward in rational thinking because it allows us to understand that our previously God given concept of â€Å"free will† was really a result of a lack of understanding of the deterministic laws of the universe. For instance a law as simple and commonly accepted as â€Å"gravity† challenges the idea of free will. Gravitational pull determines that no matter the size of an object, once separate from the surface of the earth will be dragged back down at the same force every time. This is a simple concept that we take for granted, but it works in the free will v. determinism argument. We are ruled by gravity, and therefore all of our lives activities answer to it. We can’t choose to jump off a building and float in the air because we’ll be pulled back to the ground to our imminent deaths. We can’t choose to stay younger and keep our skin tight to our faces because gravity’s long-term effect causes our skin to droop down towards the ground. The choices I just listed may seem farfetched to some, however, if we examine the notion that we have â€Å"free will† in the empirical sense of the word we see that not all of our decisions are controlled by us, and that we fall victim to the tyrannical rule of the physical laws of the universe. We aren’t truly â€Å"free† to create our own actions in life. Albert Einstein offers a particularly apt synopsis, â€Å"Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper. † (Albert Einstein) The rule of physical law aside, which hinders us from truly being â€Å"free† to choose our own actions in life, is a much more simple scientific argument that dispels the notion of free will. For example: Say a 20 year old man murders another man in cold blood. They have no affiliation, no prior knowledge of who each other is, or reason to dislike each other. Man A walks up to random Man B and shoots and kills him. Was this action of Man A a result of â€Å"free will†? To examine the notion fully you need to look at his action coming from two sources. Either Man A was born with the moral flaw to allow himself to find killing another human acceptable, or that Man A was influenced during the course of his life by interactions and actions of others and came to that conclusion based on his own experience. There is no other explanation for Man A to willingly choose to open fire on Man B and kill him. If we look at the first option, Man A’s natural moral compass was skewed, allowing for him to conceive the notion that killing another is okay. This speaks to the determinant nature of our chemical makeup. Its possible his DNA made a mistake coding somewhere and he developed overtime and understood that killing another is â€Å"wrong† or maybe that his entire sense of â€Å"right from wrong† was skewed inside his mind. This would lead Man A to lead a life normally on the outside, and yet without regard for consequence, open fire on another man and kill him as easily as he could have held a door for him. This is the idea that he naturally had the capacity to kill, and that he could not control it. Eventually one of his animalistic impulses would finally stick and he’d be in the right place at the right time, and that it was only a matter of time until he killed someone. If you don’t subscribe to that theory and believe that he chose to kill Man B that day, try and consider that the results will still be pre-determined. If Man A killed Man B due to his choice, then his own â€Å"free will† and judgment that he finds reprehensible to kill another man can’t be attributed to truly â€Å"free† will of choice. Not every human kills others as part of their natural lifestyle, as they might kiss or mate with another. In fact a very small percentage of people in the world murder other humans, and this begs the question of why? What makes this small percentage of people â€Å"choose† to kill another person? The answer is that if they choose to do it, and they weren’t previously miswired so as said in the prior paragraph, then they must have been influenced by their surroundings. When Man A was six years old he didn’t choose to murder Man B, the events of his life led him to make this decision about whether or not murder was okay. This is yet another reason that he wasn’t truly free to choose; outside influence hinders the ability to choose freely. Whether he was abused, molested, lost a loved one, or just plain fed up with the monotony of everyday life in society, something pushed him over the edge. Something allowed for him to justify his actions; that something is outside influence. This deterministic train of thought explains why people do what they do, but not when. What makes us actually hit the point of no return, or when will the right opportunity hit the right mood leading the right action? (In our example the murder of Man B) The paradox between â€Å"free will† and â€Å"determinism† exists because of the influence of the different schools of thought. If one aligns his personal truth based on religious fervor, then an understanding of â€Å"free will† can exist logically and on the other hand if one bases his logic around science then â€Å"determinism† seems to be the only answer. So where does that leave philosophy, the great bridge between the two polarized schools of thought? It leaves philosophy somewhere in the middle, examining the validity of both sides of the argument, and helping to shed light on the debate over whether or not we truly are free to make a choice or if we are merely floating along the currents of the universe. Personally, I’m lost somewhere in the middle, hoping that the answer to this time-old question will be revealed. Works Cited: * Aquinas, St. Thomas. Sancti Thomae Aquinatis †¦ : Suma Theologica †¦ Parisiis: Apud Sebastianum Et Gabrielem Cramoisy, 1640. Print. * Hume, David. A Treatise of Human Nature: in Two Volumes. London: Dent, 1934. Print. * Hume, David. Liberty and Necessity: an Argument against Free-will and in Favor of Moral Causation. London: Progressive Pub. 1890. Print.

Game Industry Forecast Shows Solid Growth

The global game industry will generate $60 billion in revenue for 2011, and is growing at 10% annually according to a new research report by industry analyst Colin Sebastian for RW Baird. That growth rate should see overall industry revenue hit $80 billion by 2014, but the some areas of the business will remain flat or even decline, while other areas will be growing at an annual rate of 15% to 20%. The growth areas that Sebastian sees are in online and mobile games, â€Å"driven primarily by downloadable content (DLC) and mobile games† and social games to a lesser extent.These areas will be growing annually at a rate of 15% or more for the next several years, Sebastian believes. Unfortunately, other areas of the game business won't be faring as well. He sees packaged software sales staying flat this year, with the growth in Xbox 360 and PS3 sales being offset by the decline in Wii and handheld game sales. This quarter will see strong sales with many big titles coming out, but that positive sales picture will only be enough to pull the sales out of the loss category for the year.The good news for the game business is that it's the only media business with a strong positive growth forecast for the next several years. Newspapers, magazines, music, TV and other media businesses are struggling with the transition to a digital distribution model, but the high level of innovation in the game industry has kept the overall picture positive. That's not to say there are no problems; Sebastian sees â€Å"many video game companies will continue to struggle through this transition. † Sebastian sees the mobile market as bringing in $2 billion in revenue this year, with growth continuing due to rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets.He cites studies showing that games are the leading applications on smartphones, and consumers consumers have been very willing to pay for games or for in-app purchases with â€Å"freemium† hgames, which now represent the ma jority of revenues for mobile games. Sebastian believes tablets can be the next great market for games, given that the form factor is better than a smartphone for playing games. Studies also show that gaming is the number one usage of tablets, with over 70% of tablet owners playing games on the devices.The difficult business climate for traditional game companies means there are fewer clear winners to invest in right now. Sebastian sees GameStop as a good holiday play given the large number of AAA titles coming out this quarter, and beyond that he picks Activision and Electronic Arts as the best performers for long-term investors, followed by Take Two. The nature of the game market is changing in the USA, according to studies cited by Sebastian. He points to the Entertainment Software Association study showing 72% of US households play games, with the average age of gamers being 37.Additionally, more than half of gamers play on their phones and other handheld game devices, and women now represent 42% of the gamer population. † It's a far cry from the traditional â€Å"our market is teenage boys of all ages† that used to be the only demographic for game companies to care about. Sebastian sees hope for the core games segment, in that the broad appeal of casual games may get more people interested in gaming, and eventually looking for the deeper experiences that console games and PC games can offer. He sees the PC game market doing better in 2012, mostly on the strength of hit releases like Diablo III.Handheld devices, lead by the Nintendo 3DS and the Sony PSP (and soon the PS Vita) will be flat in 2012, with the launch of the PS Vita helping to offset the shift to smartphones, at least for a while. Sebastian believes the PS Vita may be able to take the leading position from the 3DS. Finally, Sebastian sees social games continuing to grow and develop in depth and richness, eventually being able to appeal more to core gamers. Console games will add mo re social elements, too, and eventually social games outside of Facebook will become more popular.He sees growth rates surpassing 10% annually for the next 3-5 years. The current leaders are Zynga, with 262 million monthly average users (MAU), followed by Electronic Arts with 203 million MAU. Overall, it's a complex portrait of a rapidly growing and changing industry. Clearly there are dangers ahead for many companies as business models are changing, and once-profitable businesses are seeing their audiences depart for other types of gaming. Successful companies will be the ones who stay flexible as conditions continue to change rapidly. What's your opinion on the future of the game industry?

Brand Audit Essay

The sole objective of this brand report is to know about the brand potency of Mobilink in the Pakistani market in comparison to other competing service providers. The other objective is to put a spotlight on the different cellular companies operating in Pakistan and the perception of the users about them. TARGET AUDIENCE: As far as the Mobilink is concerned, it has no specific target audience because it is catering the requirement of all the users through its different packages. Cell phone is a requirement of every one so it also  of several segments whether it is youth, ladies or corporate sector. Brand Positioning  makes sense to launch multiple products to cater to the requirements RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: INTRODUCTION: The purpose of the research methodology is to carry out different methods of research to accomplish the set research objectives pertinent to the brand tracking. For that purpose, a set of questions have been made to inquire and analyze the responses of the  respondents. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: The research methodology used in this brand tracking is qualitative as well as quantitative in which we have not only used a questionnaire to know the responses of the respondents of the sample group but also open ended questions asked from a set of respondents at mobilink franchises to get a more flexible response from the respondents. Secondary research methods are also used to get the information regarding the competitors and Mobilink to get to know the market structure and the standing of the cellular companies in it. Triangulation  and secondary research to find the parity in results. SAMPLING DESIGN: The target population belongs to every segment and class of life because cell phone users belong to every class of population and we method is used to cross check the results from qualitative, quantitative  cannot discriminate the target market based on SECs. Subsequently, the sample selection is random and random sampling method is used for sample selection to get the feedback of the users from all the classes. The sample size used for the questioning consists of 250 respondents. RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS: The instrument used for the research in this brand tracking activity is primarily a multipurpose questionnaire which comprises of open and close ended questions not only to help in the quantitative research but also in the qualitative research as well. It consist questions pertaining to the brand associations, brand recall, brand image, projective responses and brand values. The reliability of the instrument is measured through the triangulation method by comparing the results of all three research methods. PROCEDURES: The data collection is through the questionnaire from a sample group of 250 respondents. The screening of the information acquired from  entry. All the information from the responses is entered as per the frequency of respondents against the questions. These respondents is done manually using MS Excel as a tool for data. The objective of this brand audit report is to measure the brand potency of Mobilink in line with the competing brands. The specific issues faced by the brand in terms of market conditions, saturation in the cellular market and the overall recession in the economy will also be taken into account while studying the brand. Also, what subproducts fall in the generalized master brand i.e. Mobilink and to which segments these sub-brands are catering to.  When speaking of the target audience for Mobilink, we should keep in mind that in the world of today, cell phone is no longer a luxury as was the case in 90s but now, it has become a necessity for everyone. So when we speak of cell phone target market, we speak of all the socioeconomic classes from A to E. The brand audit is limited to Karachi only because of limited time and resources. But, in order to get a  are covered with a dynamic sample population to get diverse views about the brands so as to get a better and augmented underst anding of the market perceptions about the brands. The approach used for brand audit is mainly the survey through set questionnaire and secondary research methods regarding their inputs on brand imagery & usage, brand recall, brand perception, brand loyalty and brand awareness. BRAND BRAND (SELF ANALYSIS): Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited, better known as Mobilink GSM, is a telecommunication service provider in Pakistan. The company is Pakistan’s leading cellular operator with a subscriber base of 31.5m and market share of 31% in October 2010. Mobilink’s Head office is located at Mobilink House, 1-A Kohistan Road, F-8 Markaz Islamabad. Mobilink’s corporate postpaid package is sold under the brand name â€Å"Indigo† and prepaid by the name of â€Å"Jazz†. Mobilink started operations in 1994 as the first GSM cellular Mobile service in Pakistan by MOTOROLA Inc., later it was sold to Orascom, an Egypt-based group is diversifying its service portfolio by setting up new businesses and also expanding through acquisitions. Recently, they started offering DSL broadband through a wholly owned subsidiary, Link.Net. Additionally, the company has also launched its wireless broadband  service through WiMax based technology under the label of ‘Mobilink Infinity’. Technology is backed by Alcatel, and company is using a ZYXEL Customer Premises equipment. BCG GROWTH-SHARE MATRIX Companies that are large enough to be organized into strategic business units face the challenge of allocating resources among those units. In the early 1970’s the Boston Consulting Group developed a model for managing a portfolio of different business units. The BCG growth-share matrix displays the various business units on a graph of the market growth rate vs. market share relative to competitors. OF  SBUSCLASSIFICATION These packages are low growth, high share products. These established and successful SBUs need less investment to hold their market share. They produce a lot of cash to support the other SBUs that need investment. These packages are low share in high growth markets. They require a lot of cash to hold  their share. Management needs to think hard about question marks it should  try to build into stars or should be phased out.  It is low growth, low share product. It may generate enough cash to maintain itself but do not promise to be large source of cash. PRICING STRATEGY OF MOBILINK: Mobilink was offering Jazz connection for about 3000 rupees 5 years passage of time now Mobilink is offering Jazz connections for about 100 rupees. In 2002 Ufone which is one of the leading competitor of Jazz introduced its prepay connection for about 2500 rupees. In 2005 Telenor came into existence in Pakistani market and offered its connections for about 500 rupees. Then in 2005 Warid also entered the market offering its connections for 250 rupees. In this way price war   ago. Its market oriented statement is â€Å"Aur Sunao† But through the started between these telecom brands in the market. Previously it was Jazz’s oligopoly as they offered their prices. In 2005 Jazz offered a Cellphone plus connection and prepaid card implementing a productbundle pricing strategy for creating more attention and attraction. The major shift in the pricing strategy came in when they started 30.second operations using the promotional pricing strategy. In the early days Jazz was offering its sim-cards for a high-price using captiveproduct pricing strategy as its SIM-card is a main product that must be used along with the cell phone. Initially Jazz’s call rates and SMS charges were also reduced using discount and allowance strategy and initially directing towards promotional strategy as the competition between cellular brands in the market grew faster. Recently Jazz introduced its offerings of 0.99 per minute call rates in their â€Å"happy hour package† which represents their operations with the  promotional as well as psychological pricing of their services. Through its happy hour package they are also operating with promotional strategy as they are engaged in continuous promotion through their offerings. INDUSTRY REVIEWS In the era of globalization and information society, the fundamental role of telecommunication technologies cannot be underestimated. Although tremendous growth has taken place in the Pakistan telecom sector but most of it can be attributed to the cellular growth. Fixed line is still awaiting a takeoff. Similarly Value Added Services have grown introduced in the telecom sector some very positive impact have been observed on the growth of the sector in a short span of time which is expected to continue to grow for at least next five years if the daring investors influx continue as in the last 3 years. Our Industry already has LL (Local Loop), WLL (Wireless Local Loop), LDI (Long distance and but are still a drop in the bucket. Now that the competition has been  International), and ISP (Internet Service Provider) players and WiMax; 3G cellular systems are expected be a part of this Industry soon. The Pakistan market has reached 100 million subscribers landmark with cellular mobile tele density of over 60% (PTA press release Sep 2010).The growth slowed down in 2009 but has picked up again gradually. At 2006 year end the total subscribers were 48.2 million. In June 2007 the total mobile users reached over 63 million. Based on numbers published at PTA website for 2007, the total number of million, a teledensity of nearly 49%. In 2007 the average growth rate was about 2.5 million new subscribers each month! After second half of 2007 it seemed as if the growth had slowed down but overall it was fine. One remarkable achievement was by Zong (formerly Paketl) which  launched  very  successful. Telecommunication Co. Ltd (PTCL), is now under the control of Etisalat group of UAE. It has 20% of subscriber share and added the most lines (2.4 million) from 2006-07. Warid, owned by the Abu Dhabi group of the United Arab Emirates and sister of Wateen group is number 4 with 17.0% market of subscribers. Recently it sold 30% share to SingTel. Norway’s Telenor, a recent entrant with about a billion US dollar investment in Pakistan has been doing well, based on its recent earning report. It has about 24% of the market share. Telenor stock is listed in the Oslo stock market (TEL) and in US (TELNY.PK). CMPak (Zong brand), formerly Paktel, was the latest target of foreign acquisition. After it got acquired by China Mobile it was rebranded as Zong and launched one of the most successful and aggressive  campaigns. Within a matter of few months, Zong has achieved a 8 %  market share. CONSUMER ANALYSIS The Pakistani mobile users are more price-conscious but in cellular sector they also don’t compromise on the quality of voice. So, By taking the advantage of this consciousness of the users mobile operators re enhancing product offering in the form of low rate packages  and  network  expansion  by  installing  boaster. Mobile sector comes under verity seeking buying behavior by the buyer because it occurs under the conditions of low consumer involvement and significant brand difference. In this market, consumer has low involvement they perceive the brand benefits on the basis ultimate objective is to communicate to other at for off place. Buying is initiated by â€Å"communication purpose†. Everybody can enter in to buying process by need of communication. In the regard of this communication media vehicles play an important role in getting their service preferred by the users. These days there is a rush of packages   price, voice quality and coverage. The reason for this is that their  out in the market from the mobile service providers, targeting different market segments and offering all kinds of discounts depending on who you call or when you call. Off-peak timings have always been used by service providers to create interest and to lure customers. So, customer seeks indifference among services provided by these cellular operators and switch according to their desire. Factors that influencing on customer switch age to other operator of mobile network are, Price: Users use services of the operator to communication so on of the factor influencing the customer switch age is price. A person in this segment seeks the prices most important factor and operator of service are also offering verity of packages to make the customer attract. Where the price of any product is low people change their taste and divert towards that low price product. Quality: After the price people prefer quality of voice second because they are paying for the voice if the voice is not clear to them which they are paying for they defiantly they switch to other operators. Coverage: After the quality of voice second available factor for  customer switch age is coverage. Users perceive that the operator’s services are available to them where they visit. If they find signal problem they may switch to more coverage operator in the sectors Promotion: With promoting services that has factor too for consumer switch age. Fierce promotion leads an image in the mind of the consumers that company offers many servers and â€Å"a customer focus company†. MARKET Pakistan currently has one of the largest allies of young people in its history, with approximately 25 million people between the ages of 15 and 24. Target market group of cellular sector ranges from 15 to 64 percent which according to demographic profile of Pakistan consist of 56.9% (male 48,214,298; female 46,062,933) of total population. As in the Buying behavior we have studied that Female and male both contribute into making decision for the purchasing of the brand. So the both genders would be in target market. In spite of this professionals are also Mobilink target audience. The Employment Status categorizes majority (45%) as employees followed by own account workers (42%).  About one in ten workers (11%) are reported as unpaid family workers and one & a half percent as employers. As far changes in the comparative periods, unpaid family workers fall by some fractions, employees indicate some increase while own account workers and employers remain on the same level. In the buying and sales of  rise of urban consumerism, global corporate such as Unilever, P & G, GlaxoSmithline and many small & medium enterprise and local  national companies emerges both manufacture and sell their products Mobilink brand also depends on these customers too. Along with the  in Pakistan. In manufacturing and natural resources, Shell and BP are present in addition to the Pakistani state oil company. Honda, Nissan and  Suzuki are among international automotive manufacturers with plants in Pakistan. Mobilink fulfill needs of these local MNC’s local national and SME’s firms by providing them special service package Brand Inventory COMPETITOR’S ANALYSIS COMPETITIVE COMPARISON MATRIX Bring innovation and VAS and data services to increase revenue Market Growth and industry expansion Threats †¢ Recession in economy. †¢ Rapid change in consumer demand. †¢ Inconsistent and adhoc decisions from regulatory authorities. †¢ Political Instability, Security issues. †¢ Adverse shifts in trade policies of government. †¢ High taxation rate of activation tax is causing a slowdown in consumer growth especially all in rural areas. †¢ Price competition †¢ Larger competitors network coverage †¢ Strong advertisement and media presence of competitors †¢ Entrance of new competitors like Zong. †¢ Presence and the acceptability of competitor brand like Telenor and Ufone Strengths: †¢ Leveraging brand equity from international corporate â€Å"Abu Dhabi Group† †¢ Having modern network capabilities in respect of infrastructure. †¢ Financial strength of share holder and their telecom expertise ‘Warid international† †¢ Large Post paid based generating high ARPU †¢ State of the art IP based contact center and leading data center †¢ It has technical partnering involving â€Å"SingTel†, â€Å"Nokia† and â€Å"Wateen†. Weaknesses: †¢ Need to expand network coverage. †¢ Need to increase brand awareness and improved market positioning †¢ Lack of proactive churn management and stimulate programs to address inactive subscriber Page 20 of 28 Brand Positioning COMPETITORS SWOT MATRIX Low promotional packages activities The product line is too narrow. Strengths: †¢ Subsidiary of PTCL. †¢ Stream line benefit. †¢ Knowledge about country culture. †¢ Experience Variety of †¢ Value Added Service †¢ Broad market coverage. Weaknesses: †¢ Stagnant Profitability †¢ Low market share as compare to competitor (Mobilink). †¢ Overly Dependent on PTCL Strengths: Superior infrastructure & technology in PAKISTAN Have a very strong financial. They have the ability and resources to hire skilled engineers. Large number of Subscriber Weaknesses: Low market share as compare to competitor (mobilink) Limited coverage due to newly introduce in the market Signal problem due to limited network Strengths: World biggest network A product of China Mobile Company. Page 21 of 28 Brand Positioning Leverage financial resource from CMC Experienced administration Weaknesses: †¢ Low market share as compare to competitor †¢ They are unable to improve the network means that they are not using their resources. †¢ There is the diversion of customers towards other brands due to connectivity issue BRAND INVENTORY BRAND ELEMENTS: Brand elements consist of brand name, color, Urls, symbols slogans, sound and jingles through which one brand is differentiated from other brands. Brand Name: Mobilink Urls : http://www.mobilinkgsm.com Logos and Symbols: Slogans: Apna Hai Purple and Whitish Purple CORE BRAND VALUE Page 22 of 28 Brand Positioning Colors: Quality: Mobilink Telecom has an uncompromising commitment to quality in this regard. that is why they spare no efforts in pursuing the best in network‚ services‚ product offerings. Innovation: For years‚ people complained of the same things on mobiles. At coverage‚ they are constantly look to make the communication experience different by doing things in a better way. They already introduced 3G supportable system for being see the need of this in the near future. For seeing the growing trend of SMS usage Mobilink has introduces SMSC-less messaging infrastructure that controls the traffic of SMS and makes sure the delivery of messages without involving pending issues. Customer-Friendliness: They enjoy working and succeeding together by building close relationships. While they have a sense of purpose in their operations‚ they also have a strong culture that demonstrates to customers that â€Å"Reshaping communciation†. Mobilink considers the needs of customers first. Coverage: Mobilink has widest network coverage all over Pakistan. One can find the network if they go to northern areas or remote city of Pakistan Mobilink message are communicated through using all channels of media including building an identity for the corporation and brand, advertising campaigns, sponsorships, media relations (newspaper coverage, press releases, press conference before launching etc), point of sale material preparation (brochures, tariffs, flyers etc), website. Message delivered on electronic media through jingle and using celebrity endorsement. First ever add that comes in the electronic media is symbolize with rain season that bring hope and refreshment and new joy. Now a day it bran message come man through ball to boys who are playing Cricket symbolize that Mobilink is customer oriented and helping the customer in even small mattes. MARKETING PROGRAM Media: Mobilink has always tried to deliver truthful and interesting advertising to its viewers. Through these ads they are trying to convey the message that Mobilink is solely meant for the people’s benefit and convenience. They advertise through Channels like Geo Super Geo, hum TV and through News channels, PTV, ARY and, News 1 TV, Dunya News etc. Print media: Mobilink has designed attractive brochures for their customers. These brochures contain all the necessary information about their package deals and tariffs. Hence, making it easier for the people to know about the general prices and services offered. Sponsorship: Mobilink advertise through sponsorship in Golf matches, Mobilink agreement with PCB and Mobilink and Citi card launch. Also it got sponsorship with Pizza Hut. BRAND ASSOCIATIONS: These are the desired associations which Mobilink wants to create in the mind of customers. Brand Positioning Mobilink Voice Quality Premium Brand Network Coverage