Migration free essay sample

Migration BY dennts2405 . Reasons of Migration It would never be an easy decision for a person to leave his country of birth and look for his fortune elsewhere. There are a number of reasons why migrants leave their countries. These so-called push factors exist in the poorer or conflict-weary regions of the world and some of them are defined as: dissolution and disintegration of multicultural states, accompanied by religious and ethnic conflicts; increase in natural disasters, the progressive destruction of major ecosystems and the associated global warming as a result of the industrial economic system environmental refugees); discrimination on various grounds; political instability and wars, continuing armed conflicts (including civil wars); economic situation; uncontrollable population growth; vast differences in population and economic growth; impoverishment, as a result of failing social welfare systems (EUROPOL, 2004). In turn, there are accompanying pull factors that make some countries target for migrants: shortage of manpower; comprehensive social security; positive economic situation; democratic systems of government, political and social stability; historical links; Ђ common languages; existing communities; expectations (EUROPOL, 2004). We will write a custom essay sample on Migration or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page There are a number of reasons of migration. For instance Castles defines migration taking place due to environmental degradation and explores links between environment, conflict and displacement (Castles, 2002). However when the push factors are examined, it can be seen that they can be grouped crudely under two categories, that are, political and economic reasons of migration. Reasons of migration have come to. This distinction came to clarify various categories of migrants and responsibilities of the host states towards these migrants. When it comes to economic migrants, it can be argued that the individual host states have had a higher leverage in the face of international community in terms of deciding when and to what extend open their borders to economic migrants. The guest worker program that was adopted by some West European states in the 1960s and the 1970s are a good indication of this. When the guest worker program served its purposes, host states could terminate the program single handedly. On the other hand, in the case of migrants fleeing their countries for political reasons an international onsensus emerged that constrained state actions. Migration is a global phenomenon. It is seen in all geographies, among all societies and throughout all ages. Throughout history, people migrated from one place to another for various reasons: either for economical reasons (famine, floods, merchandising, etc. ), political reasons (wars, conquers, deportations, etc. ) and other reasons (diseases, ecological changes, earthquakes, etc. ) Thus, it can be argued that people have many motivations to migrate. However, when we talk about immigration it is much more of a complex issue. Immigration is related to borders, border ontrols, political sovereignty over peoples movements. Immigration occurs when people migrates from one country to another. This migration is not always voluntary. Sometimes, people feel the need to immigrate or cannot return to their homelands due to reasons imposed on them. Millions of people are forced to leave their home countries because of persecutions and fear of persecution which is caused by wars, armed conflicts, regime changes and etc. Those people seek asylum for a better life in other countries. The European Union, which sets a model and standards for many countries on their ay to democratic development, is also an important model for the development of asylum and immigration policies. The Union is trying to create a common asylum and immigration policy area for the whole member states to adopt and apply for the sake of security. However, the issue is related to border control and territorial sovereignty and therefore, member states are unwilling to share their area of sovereignty and powers with the other entities. Thus, it might be assumed that the Union is engaged in a difficult task. In this perspective, Turkey, being a candidate country for the EIJ membership, is seen as an important ally for the Union. Turkeys borders with the Middle Eastern countries and the Union constitute important problems for the Union. There are expectations from Turkey for cooperation in the field of asylum and immigration. It is really important for Turkey to adopt and apply the Acquis. Since Turkey does not have special regulations for the asylum seekers in its legal documents and laws, adopting and applying the Acquis is highly critical and necessary for Turkey. However, there are also certain risks Turkey faces while taking steps mentioned in the progress reports. For example, Turkeys geographical imitations for accepting refugees in accordance with the 1951 Convention is highly criticized by the Union but Turkeys concerns are also important stakes at that point. The aim of this study is to get a clear vision on the European Unions political agenda for a common asylum and immigration policy and the Europeanization of Turkey in that field. The issue of asylum and immigration is closely linked to territorial security and border controls and the neighboring countries or the member states whose borders coincide with the Unions external borders are in a position of deeper responsibility and higher risk of immigration flows. Since Turkey is a candidate country and is expected to have borders with the non-EU states of the Middle East, Turkey will also have higher responsibility and greater risk of dealing with the immigration flows, when she Joins the Union. The word immigration comes from the word migration. Migration means to move from one place to another. The term is mostly defined in terms of movement of animals, however since the thesis is dealing with human migration, the definition used here focuses on human migration. With a focus on humans, migration is defined as the movement of persons from one country or locality to another2. However, this definition does not conceptualize the term sufficiently. Migration is linked to movement and space. The change of localities the key factor. This locality change can be cross borders or within a country. Migration can be defined by the orientation of the movement; if one leaves his/her country, then it is called emigration from somewhere and if one moves to a country then it is called immigration to somewhere3 . People who immigrate are then called immigrants. Types and reasons for immigration are different from each other. People might have different reasons, different intentions to immigrate. Reasons of immigration might differ. Economic, ecological, political, social reasons can be listed as the important ones. In other words, people might immigrate for various reasons, but the important aspect is that people tend to migrate and migration is the point of human dynamism; without dynamism societies, social groups die. Thus, immigration provides a kind of dynamism that is necessary for the human societies to develop6 . Also this dynamism can be by force; deportations, relocations are also types of immigration. The necessity this time, is imposed on people through fear, difficulties, political reasons and/or violence . Reasons of immigration can be seen as push factors. If political, economic and social conditions of the country of origin lead persons to consider immigration then these conditions become the push factors. However, the political, economic and social conditions are the pull factors; these factors usually tend to differ from country to country and can be seen as reasons to choose a country over another. 1. 2. Trends in Migration to Europe and Basic Definitions Early twentieth century witnessed a number of large-scale conflicts such as the Balkan wars (1912-1913), world war I (1914-1918) and the Russian Revolution (1917), hich produced massive human movements. According to Lavenex, these movements signified that national borders could not be closed indefinitely and some sort of legal status had to be given to these persons in order to allow them to move, stay or return to their homes, legally (1999: 5). However, during the World War II borders of West European states were closed to a great numbers of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution (Gibney, 2005: 2). After the end of the War, the most formidable border of all times that is, the Iron Curtain was erected. The Iron Curtain represented two ifferent political systems that perceived each other in ethical terms as good or evil. With memories of Jewish extermination still alive, West European states felt obliged to accept people fleeing political persecution in the Soviet block. In the aftermath of World War II as the allied powers were putting in the foundations ot a new international world order wit e n te Nations ( N) at its core, differences between the two sides of the Curtain came to dominate discussions on virtually every topic. The UN recognized the international scope and nature of the refugee problem and led to the creation of an International Refugee Organization IRO) in 1946 (Lavenex, 1999: 7). During the drafting of IRO charter controversies were centered on definition of a refugee and repatriation. The Eastern block opposed the ideas that refusal of a refugee and fear of persecution at home country would be accepted as valid causes for prevention of repatriation (Lavenex, 1999: 7) . With termination of the IROs mandate, UN General Assembly decided to establish the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1949. Since its inception, the UNHCR has been the main venue for conducting international discussions and policy making on migration issue. Migration indroduction The increased movement of people all over the world and migration are inevitable results of globalization. Migration, as the human face of globalization, has immense impacts on the demography, culture, economy, and politics of the states. People are leaving their countries of origin and migrating to others for various reasons and no country can isolate itself from the challenges posed by the migration phenomenon. Today, 196 countries around the world have been affected either that way or another from migration issues, as immigration (destination), emigration or transit country.

Free Essays on Struggle With The UN

Beginning in 1952 the General Assembly of the United Nations took up the issue of South Africa’s racial policies annually. The tone of early UN resolutions and declarations was civil, even conciliatory, reflecting the hope that South Africa might be convinced to reform. The General Assembly at first simply called upon South Africa to recognize its obligations to end racial discrimination under the UN Charter. The assembly subsequently â€Å"regretted† South Africa’s refusal to end apartheid. After the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, a UN Security Council resolution blamed South Africa for the shootings, and the UN General Assembly’s first successful sanctions vote against South Africa occurred two years later. South Africa’s unwavering policy of whites-only representation on sports teams resulted in their expulsion from the Olympic Games and a dozen other international sports federations in the 1960s. After World War II the UN made several attempts to control South Africa’s administration of South-West Africa. The UN General Assembly voted in October 1966 to terminate South Africa’s mandate over South-West Africa, which was renamed Namibia, and established a council to assume responsibility for the territory. South Africa rejected all UN actions and proceeded to integrate the territory into its own economy. In June 1971 the International Court of Justice ruled that South Africa’s presence in Namibia was illegal. The situation became critical when the Angola-based South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) stepped up its campaign of guerrilla attacks on targets in Namibia. South Africa responded by building up defenses, attacking Angola, and aiding the rebels who were fighting the Cuban-supported Angolan government. The war continued for almost 20 years until peace talks, sponsored by the United States, resulted in independence for Namibia in 1990. In 1974 South Africa was suspended from the UN General Assembly, ... Free Essays on Struggle With The UN Free Essays on Struggle With The UN Beginning in 1952 the General Assembly of the United Nations took up the issue of South Africa’s racial policies annually. The tone of early UN resolutions and declarations was civil, even conciliatory, reflecting the hope that South Africa might be convinced to reform. The General Assembly at first simply called upon South Africa to recognize its obligations to end racial discrimination under the UN Charter. The assembly subsequently â€Å"regretted† South Africa’s refusal to end apartheid. After the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, a UN Security Council resolution blamed South Africa for the shootings, and the UN General Assembly’s first successful sanctions vote against South Africa occurred two years later. South Africa’s unwavering policy of whites-only representation on sports teams resulted in their expulsion from the Olympic Games and a dozen other international sports federations in the 1960s. After World War II the UN made several attempts to control South Africa’s administration of South-West Africa. The UN General Assembly voted in October 1966 to terminate South Africa’s mandate over South-West Africa, which was renamed Namibia, and established a council to assume responsibility for the territory. South Africa rejected all UN actions and proceeded to integrate the territory into its own economy. In June 1971 the International Court of Justice ruled that South Africa’s presence in Namibia was illegal. The situation became critical when the Angola-based South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) stepped up its campaign of guerrilla attacks on targets in Namibia. South Africa responded by building up defenses, attacking Angola, and aiding the rebels who were fighting the Cuban-supported Angolan government. The war continued for almost 20 years until peace talks, sponsored by the United States, resulted in independence for Namibia in 1990. In 1974 South Africa was suspended from the UN General Assembly, ...

Americas Backlog on DNA Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Americas Backlog on DNA - Research Proposal Example Consequently, there has been a backlog in the laboratories and state departments that handle criminal justice cases. The improvement in the efficiency of the technology to reduce cost and time taken for DNA analysis and the increase in the number of DNA testing and analysis facilities and resources can tremendously wipe out the backlog that is already piling up. This document seeks to present how the improvement in efficiency and proper implementation of the DNA technology can help clear to backlog of DNA cases and to recommend the possible ways of ameliorating the situation. The evidence provided by the DNA testing is the most compelling and is steadily becoming inevitable in court cases. Despite this fascinating nature of DNA technology, it has been threatened by the buildup backlog of DNA case files or experiments in the testing facilities. The problem of backlog has been a vicious challenge as a result of ever growing large number of cases which primarily require the use of DNA to provide strong evidence. The resources, the facilities and the efficiency of the technology may have been growing at a relatively lower rate, leading to delayed process of handling DNA cases especially at the testing and analysis stage. DNA is renowned for its unchallenged evidence on identity. This has sparked scramble for the DNA technology in various fields of which criminal justice is the leading consumer owing to the fact that the ultimate focus of criminal justice is the undisputed evidence. Criminal justice is a busy field, always handling numerous cases as offences that require such strong evidence keep proliferating on a daily basis. This also contributes to it being the largest consumer of the DNA technology. With its domineering quality of providing immaculate evidence which gives the court an easy task of making a decision over a case, the DNA technology has taken a center stage in criminal justice. The

An Analysis of Contingent Liabilities and Assets Essay

An Analysis of Contingent Liabilities and Assets - Essay Example It will first examine the link between uncertain transactions and mainstream accounting, will review the rules pertaining to the recognition of contingent assets and liabilities and examine the similarities and differences with US accounting standards.Purpose of IAS 37 A provision is a charge against profits for the purpose of offsetting liability or loss (Hanif, 2005). From this definition, there are three possible reasons why these provisions would be made: 1. For liabilities and changes like provision for income tax. 2. For valuation adjustments for fixed assets like the provision for income tax. 3. For valuation adjustments for current assets like the provision for bad and uncertain debts (Hanif, 2005). Contingent liabilities and their position in financial accounting have a strong connection with recognition (Robinson, 2008). Recognition is the process of incorporating items that meet the definition of elements in financial statements (asset, liabilities, equity, income and expe nses) into the balance sheet or income statement (Robinson, 2008). The fundamental requirement for recognition is probability and measured reliability (Arboleda & Bessis, 2011). In other words, for a transaction to become an element in a financial statement, it must have a high chance of being carried out. It should also be measured reliably. Porter and Norton (2010) explain that recognition occurs when an economic event is recognised by words (e.g. cash, numbers, amount), can be measured by attribute (i.e. historical cost concept) and by unit (i.e. currency). Although some items are easy to recognise, such as cash and bank balances, other provisions are not so easy to recognise and can be carried into the financial statement. These provisions are liabilities of uncertain timing or amount (Alexander et al., 2007), i.e. they do not fit the orthodox criteria for recognition. A contingent liability is a present obligation that involves a possible outflow, which has no reliable estimate (Alexander et al., 2007). A contingent asset, on the other hand, is an asset whose economic benefit depends solely on future events outside the control of the company (Investopedia, 2012). IAS 37 is meant to ensure that the proper recognition criteria and measurements are applied to provisions made for contingent assets and liabilities (Ernst & Young, 2011). It encourages significant disclosure in financial statements in relation to nature, timing and amounts (Ernst & Young, 2011). The IAS makes a distinction between provisions and contingent liabilities. In other words, not all contingent liabilities need a corresponding provision to be created for them. Contingent liabilities are not recognised as liabilities because they are only possible and confirmation of payments occurs only after action is taken by an external entity. Second, they are present obligations that either do not meet recognition standards or no reliable estimation system exists for them. As such, it would be wron g and potentially fraudulent to recognise them. In the Deloitte textbook (2012), three examples are given to clarify the different types of liabilities in relation to contingent liabilities/assets. When goods are received and invoices are issued for them, they can be recognised as trade payables or debtors because there is no degree of uncertainty. They are assets. If goods are received

Fast food Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Fast food - Research Paper Example In today’s fast-paced life, when you are living live in the fast lane and when you are up and about in the midst of a hectic day of errands, you have hardly enough time to gulp down a drink before you are off preparing for your next appointment. Sitting down to have a decent meal, then, becomes a challenge - a challenge to which fast food restaurants have risen. Fast food has now, become so ingrained in our culture that it is difficult to imagine a world without burgers and french fries. Today, fast food is not only served in restaurants and drive- throughs but also at schools, colleges, malls, gas stations, air ports and even in hospitals. Although fast food is convenient, affordable and readily available, it has brought about increased health problems, resulted in the degradation of the environment, created a food industry controlled by giant corporations and has led to the loss of the family tradition of eating together. In his book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser observes that â€Å"fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society† and that â€Å"In 1970, Americans spent about $6billion on fast food; in 2000, they spent more than $110 billion. Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos and recorded music – combined† (Schlosser, 4). In the past, Americans used to eat freshly-prepared and healthy meals at home. Meals were then prepared by people who cared about the health and well-being of their families. Today, however, Americans gravitate towards fast food such as hamburgers and pizza which are prepared by strangers who do not give a thought about our health or about food safety. Why and how did fast food become so popular among Americans? What had caused this more than 500% increase in fast food spending? Eric Schlosser explains part of

Nutritional Supplements As Effective As Full Ward Diet Nursing Essay

Nutritional Supplements As Effective As Full Ward Diet Nursing Essay Pressure ulceration has become a common health issue in hospitalized patients and elderly patients living in a long-term care facility. It can be contributed by various factors such as aging, poor nutrition, immobility, and cognitive impairment. A literature review was conducted based on five published research articles. The aim was to investigate the therapeutic relationship between nutritional support and pressure sores healing. The result indicated significant improvement in pressure ulcer healing. Background Aim of the paper The aim of this study is to critically review current literature in order to evaluate the effectiveness of oral nutritional supplement (ONS) in addition to regular food intake in the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. Purpose of the paper The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether nutritional supplement helps cure pressure sores or not. Scope of the paper The study is based on research of a variety of existing research articles, journals, surveys, and clinical trials related to pressure ulcer throughout the global. It mainly focuses on individuals aged 65 and over from different continents. Literature Search Strategy The literature review was designed to assess published studies only. The initial search terms included pressure ulcer, nutrition, elderly, protein, arginine, zinc, vitamin C. The time period of the search covered articles published from 2000 to 2011 in English. The major databases used are CINAHL, Pubmed, and Cochrane Collaboration. An assignment marking guide was used to evaluate methodological quality of selected studies and gather useful information at the same time. Research design, description of intervention, outcome measures, results and author conclusions were included in the marking guide. 2.0 Evaluation of the Literature 2.1 Introduction Pressure ulcers, also referred to as pressure sores, decubitus ulcers or bedsores, are defined as an area of localised damage to the skin and underlying tissue caused by pressure, shear force, friction, moisture, and/or a combination of these factors. (Crowe and Brockbank 2009) It commonly occurs in hospitalized patients and elderly adults living in aged care facilities due to impaired mobility, paralysis and malnutrition. This study only focused on the relationship between malnutrition and pressure ulceration. For elderly people specifically, factors contributing to malnutrition include poor appetite, impaired cognition, depression, dependence on assistance with eating, and medications that cause gastrointestinal upset. (Heyman et al. 2008) Therefore, strategies and nursing interventions for adequate nutritional intake have become essential proportion of care for the elderly not only for pressure ulcer management, but also for their overall well-being. Supplying adequate nutritional supplements have been acknowledged to be beneficial in addition to repositioning and wound dressing since they can provide extra nutrients to strengthen tissue resistance and promote tissue repair. (Posthauer 2006) This review evaluated the clinical evidence supporting the use of ONS is beneficial for the elderly with existing pressure sores as part of their management. Five related article consisted of both clinical trials and literature reviews were selected presenting various perspectives. One of these studies provided Level I evidence while other four provided evidence between Level II and level IV. 2.2 Critical Review Level 1 evidence was provided by a systematic review by Holm, Mesch, and Ove (2007) This study conducted 16 peerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœreviewed articles published between 1995 and 2005, with a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis of information. General speaking, the reviewer pointed out that pressure ulcer healing for patients aged 65 and over is strongly associated with individuals nutritional status as well as strategies and nursing interventions implemented by healthcare workers when handling pressure ulcers. First of all, it revealed the significance of nutrition for elderly patients with pressure sores in promoting wound healing and preventing deterioration. Meanwhile, it indicated that the use of pressure relieving mattresses and repositioning were the most commonly used measures for pressure area care. It also reported potential factors such as weight loss, dysphagia, catheters and connection to different kinds of monitoring equipment, which might result in prolong ed ulceration. Moreover, the financial impact on the patient and family related to costly treatment was also discussed in this review. When selecting the articles, the reviewer excluded studies that did not comply with the aim of the review or studies contained subjective opinions. It is reasonable to consider this study to be comprehensive and convincing since it provided logical arguments supported with figures and data collected from those 16 published research articles. The limitation of this study was that the articles selected were published from 1995 to 2005, so that the information gathered might not be up-to-date. Although the study demonstrated the connection between nutrition and pressure ulcer healing, it did not involve the role of protein, arginine, vitamin C and zinc in specific. The results of this study were consistent with the setting of this academic paper because they both focused on patients aged 65 and over. In addition, this article is relevant to the PICO que stion since it talked about the importance of nutrition among elderly patients and its relationship with pressure sores management. The goal of the research paper by Heyman et al. (2008), which provides level III evidence, was to examine the effects of oral nutritional supplements enriched with protein, arginine, vitamin C and zinc in dietary management of pressure ulcers and chronic wounds. This open multicentre trial was conducted among 61 institutional care facilities in Belgium and Luxembourg for a nine-week period and 245 participants, with a mean age of 80, were selected randomly with no exclusion criteria. Each patient received three servings of ONS per day accompanied with standard pressure area care. The result was a 60% reduction in pressure ulcer area after nine weeks. The primary limitation of this study was that it neither attempted to blind nor carry out randomized controlled trials. Hence, factors affecting pressure ulcer healing other than malnutrition had not been eliminated which reduced the reliability of the result. Another limitation was that the exudate levels were not measured objectively, and ruler was used to measure the size of the wound instead of planimetry. All these factors might lead to inaccurate outcomes. Nevertheless, the result of this study was supported by three other studies. These studies indicated that ONS enriched with arginine, zinc and antioxidant vitamins helps accelerate pressure ulcer healing rates. (Benati et al. 2001; Desneves et al. 2005; Soriano et al. 2004) The study by Cereda et al. (2009) aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a disease-specific nutritional treatment enriched in protein, arginine, zinc, and vitamin C compared to full ward diet for enhancing the rate of pressure ulcer healing. It was a twelve-week randomized controlled trial which provided level I evidence. It involved 28 elderly subjects with Stage II, III, and IV pressure ulcers of recent onset from four residential care facilities in Italy. Participants were divided into two groups and both groups received exactly same amount of daily nutritional support. However, one of the groups was provided with standard full ward diet while the other group was administered a 400-mL oral supplement or specific enteral formula enriched with protein, arginine, zinc, and vitamin C in addition to the standard diet. The result reflected that there was a 72% decrease in pressure ulcer area after 12 weeks of receiving ONS. This study concluded that disease-specific nutritional support is feasible and beneficial in promoting the healing of pressure ulcers. Furthermore, a secondary research article written by Crowe and Brockbank (2009) investigated the role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. The function and mechanisms of protein, arginine, and micronutrients in wound healing process had been discussed respectively in this study. It also cited a variety of existing studies to support its arguments. The study concluded that high-protein oral nutritional supplements played an essential role in minimizing the incidence of pressure ulcers in susceptible elderly patients. The role of arginine, vitamin C and zinc in pressure ulcer healing, on the other hand, was not very clear stated by Crowe and Brockbank due to limitation in sample size and heterogenous study design of current studies. Although some studies reported that arginine, Vitamin C and zinc can promote muscle and collagen synthesis which increase the strength of the wound and help the body maintain a healthy immune system (Fleishman 2005), confirmatory studies are needed to support current clinical evidence. The major down side of this study was absence of critical analysis of information gathered from clinical trials used. Nevertheless, nutritional support was considered to be beneficial and effective in enhancing pressure ulcer healing after all. In addition, the conclusion that nutritional supplement rich in protein speeded up pressure ulcer healing rate was consistent with another study by Breslow et al. (1993) Breslow et al. (1993), another level III evidence, investigated 28 malnourished elderly patients living in residential care facility with existing pressure sores for eight weeks. It aimed to evaluate the impact of dietary protein on healing of pressure ulcers in malnourished patients. The result indicated that participants who received supplemental nutritional formulas containing 24% protein displayed a faster rate of wound healing in contrast to those received formulas containing 14% protein. Therefore, it was reasonable to believe that supplemental protein aided in pressure ulcer healing process. However, because of the time of this study being conducted, the novelty and reliability of the information provided might be doubted. Based on the findings of this review, additional nutritional supplement enriched with protein, arginine, vitamin C and zinc had been proved to be effective in promoting pressure ulcer healing. The implementation of specialised nutritional support was recommended for elderly patients suffering from chronic pressure ulcers. Moreover, patients having difficulty swallowing, cognitive impairment are at risk of malnourishment so nutritional supplement should be considered despite of no existing pressure ulcer. (Cereda et al.2009) Besides, although nutritional supplementation aided the wound to heal, it was not an entire part of pressure ulcer management. In order to prevent and treat pressure sores quickly and effectively, it is essential to combine nutritional support with wound management, use of pressure-relieving devices as well as repositioning techniques. (Heyman et al. 2008) 3.0 Evaluation of the Main Research Article 3.1 The study overview The study, Benefi ts of an oral nutritional supplement on pressure ulcer healing in long-term care residents, by Heyman et al. (2008) aimed to investigate the effects of combine oral nutritional supplement high in protein, arginine, vitamin C and zinc with standard care on the healing of pressure ulcers in nursing home residents compare to standard care solely. This nine-week trial was conducted in Luxembourg and Belgium and 245 patients with grade II-IV pressure ulcers were involved. During the study, participants were provided with the ONS daily for nine weeks, in addition to their normal diet or enteral feed. Standard pressure care was provided to each patient. Pressure ulcer area (mm2) and condition were assessed after three and nine weeks. (Heyman et al. 2008) Patients received 200ml ONS per daily which contained 46g protein,6.9g arginine, 575mg vitamin C, 87mg vitamin E and 21mg zinc. The result indicated that there was a remarkable decrease in pressure ulcer area, with 53%, at the end of the trial. Complete wound closure occurred after three and nine weeks in 7% and 20% of the pressure ulcers respectively. 3.2 Type of article and level of evidence This article is a quantitative primary research article because all the data was collected by the authors themselves by performing a clinical trial. It is a case control study rather than a randomized controlled trial since it involved large number of subjects so that the randomness and suitability of participants selected diminished. Nevertheless, the study demonstrated comparison by monitoring changes of conditions and improvements of the wound. The pressure ulcer area was measured three times throughout the trial: at the beginning, after three weeks, and at the end. Therefore, this study provided level III evidence. (The Royal Melbourne Hospital 2009) 3.3 The study design This was an open multicenter case-control study, in which 245 patients with different grades of pressure ulcers participated. Three servings of oral nutritional supplements were provided for every patient and wound healing process was monitored and assessed by measuring pressure ulcer area using rulers. Patient medical history and characteristics of existing wounds were gathered to be baseline information at the beginning of the trial. All measurements were performed by a single practitioner at each center in order to minimize subjectivity of data collected. (Heyman et al. 2008) 3.4 Statistical analysis Data are expressed as mean  ± standard deviation. Data were statistically analysed using ANOVA. Pressure ulcer data were log-transformed using a mixed-effects model to compare changes in pressure ulcer area over time. SGS Life Science Services Clinical Research (Bierges-Wavre, Belgium) performed the data entry, verification and statistical analysis. (Heyman et al. 2008) 3.5 Outcomes/Results for Nurse and Patient During the study period, the average intake of the ONS recorded was 2.3  ± 0.56 servings per day. After three weeks, the mean pressure ulcer area decreased from 1580  ± 3743mm2 to 1103  ± 2999mm2 and further reduction displayed to 743  ± 1809mm2 at the end of the trial, a 53% decrease compared to baseline. Additionally, Complete wound closure occurred after three and nine weeks in 16 (7%) and 49 (20%) of the pressure ulcers respectively. There was also a remarkable decline in exudates levels. At baseline, they were reported as mild, moderate and severe in 54 (33%), 61 (25%) and 32 (13%) of the pressure ulcers respectively, while after nine weeks this had reduced to 81 (22%), 34 (14%) and 10 (4%) respectively.(Heyman et al. 2008) Also, the oral nutritional supplements were accepted by most of participants. Eight out of ten patients did not complain about being given three servings per day and roughly 80% of the patients drank more than half of the ONS at each serving. On the o ther hand, in ten health practitioners involved in this study, nine of them expressed that they would use ONS as part of their pressure ulcer management regimen. (Heyman et al. 2008) 3.6 Limitations and Gaps Although the study involved large number of participants which roughly reflect the nursing-home population of Luxembourg and Belgium, there was no excluded criteria when selecting the participants. As a consequence, various factors such as medical history of diabetes or peripheral vascular disease can prolong wound healing and influence the outcome of the study. 3.7 Recommendations for Further Research The essentiality of conducting further studies has been pointed out to evaluate whether the implementation of oral nutritional supplements is cost-effective and suitable for all patients with pressure ulcers. 4.0 Conclusion Based on the findings from studies provided above, it is reasonable to consider the use of oral nutritional supplements enriched with protein, arginine, vitamin C and zinc as an effective and beneficial intervention in pressure ulcer management. Nevertheless, it is important to administer the ONS combined with other interventions including appropriate wound management and regular repositioning to promote pressure ulcer healing.

Gatsby and the American Dream Essays -- The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitz

The American Dream is what we all aspire to achieve. The idea of starting off with nothing and to become something has caused millions of people from all corners of the world to immigrate to this country for over 300 years. However, what exactly is the American Dream? F Scott Fitzgerald answers this question within his novel The Great Gatsby. Through the eyes of Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald analyses the high class of the 1920s and reveals that the American Dream has been distorted from a pure ideal of security into a convoluted scheme of materialistic power. Fitzgerald incorporates the aspects of both the Ã’old dreamÓ & the Ã’new dreamÓ in his tragic story to depicts how the inflexible dream has been corrupted and lost forever.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fitzgerald illustrates in The Great Gatsby that the qualities of the original dream are perseverance and hope. The most glorified of these characteristics is that of success against all odd. The ethic of hard work can be found in the life of the young James Gatz. His focus on becoming a great man is thoroughly depicted in his Ã’Hopalong CassidyÓ journal. When Mr. Gatsby showed the tattered book to Nick, Mr. Gatsby said, Ã’Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always has some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what heÕs got about improving his mind? He was always great for thatÓ. The Ã’Hopalong CassidyÓ symbolizes the continual struggle for self-improvement, which has been the basis of America a land of opportunity. Social Classes have always been apparent in civilization and America in the 1920s is no exception. Often those who rank in the lower classes usually feel that their problems will be resolved if they gain enough wealth to reach the upper class. This then offers a false connotation that the American Dream is this passage into to high social status and upon reaching that level, you are then able to abandon all economic worries. However, the American Dream involves more than acquiring wealth and a high social status. The dream involves attaining a balance between the spiritual strength and the physical strength of an individual. In the end of this book Jay GatsbyÕs ultimate goal to have Daisy love him never comes to fruition solely because he chooses to pursue his dream by engaging in a lifestyle of high class. The product of hard work is the longing Jay Gatsby, who contains the purest chara... ...umanityÓ: Ã’So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the pastÓ. The dream is now completely gone without a possibility of being resurrected. Through unfolding events of a doomed romance, F Scott Fitzgerald also depicts the inevitable doom of the American Dream. Gatsby had no balance to the extremes of his material and spiritual sides of himself. His dream of winning over DaisyÕs love is masked by the desire to become rich. Fitzgerald created Gatsby to show the failure of the individual who believes the American Dream requires money. It is well documented America was to be a land of endless opportunity and wealth, however a nation needs more depth than itÕs promise of materialism. The true composition of a nation is the unity of its peopleÕs minds in order to achieve a universal acceptance. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby and the other characters to convey his message- The American Dream, once a pure and noble concept is now dead and buried into the ground by a dehumanized void which revolves around money. Perhaps the book is not a tribute to a man named Jay Gatsby, rather, a tribute of an a noble aspiration of realistic success which is now and forever gone.

Free Will Essay

Vilayandur S. Ramachandran came from a distinguished family in Tamil Nadu, India, and was neuroscientist, which is a field of study encompassing the various scientific disciplines dealing with the nervous system. Ramachandran’s views on the brain and how it works are discussed in his work â€Å"The New Philosophy†. In his essay he discusses the nature of consciousness, discussing the effects of certain mental states and their influence on the body and the brain. One of his main topics, however, is the Ramachandran’s view of free will. He suggest that â€Å"†¦ neuroscience intersects with philosophy because the question of free will has been a philosophical problem for hundreds of years and more† (Jacobus 569). He discusses the significance of the brain imaging that shows a â€Å"readiness potential† and what it really means to have a free will. Through his essay, though, it is interesting to point out where religion and Christianity stands on the issue of free will and whether Christians are puppets under God’s command. Ramachandran poses this question about free will: â€Å"Is your brain the real one in charge, making your free will only a post-hoc rationalization; a delusion..? † When a special experiment was underway, it was discovered that when a person was told to move their finger within the next ten minutes at their own free will, their brain would kick in almost a second before the actual willingness to move the finger. This posed the original question stated above and brought on other questions as well. If this person is now shown the screen displaying the signal from the EEG scanner hooked up to your brain, they can then see their free will. They will then have three options: 1) They will experience a sudden lack of will, feeling as though the machine is controlling them, making them feel like a puppet. 2) They will refuse to have their belief of their free will to be altered but instead believe that the machine has some â€Å"paranormal precognition by which it is able to predict your movements accurately† (Ramachandran 559-60). 3) The person will reconfigure the experience in their mind, and cling to their sense of freedom, denying what their eyes have seen as evidence and maintain that â€Å"the sensation of will precedes the machine’s signal, not vice versa† (Ramachandran 560). The point when the brain would â€Å"kick in† before the movement is called the â€Å"readiness potential†. The â€Å"readiness potential† is what happens when there is a change in the electrical activity of the brain that occurs before the subject’s conscious decision to move a muscle (medical-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com). Ramachandran believes that â€Å"†¦ there is an inevitable neural delay before the signal arising in one part of the brain makes its way through the rest of the brain to deliver the message†¦ natural selection has ensured that the subjective sensation of willing to delay deliberately to coincide not with the onset of the brain commands but with the actual execution of the command by your finger† (Ramachandran 560). Ramachandran is a firm believer in evolution, believing that the events must have some sort of evolutionary purpose. â€Å"On one hand,† he says, â€Å"this experiment shows that free will is false and cannot be causing the brain events because the events kick in a second earlier. But on the other hand, the pause must have some purpose, otherwise why would the delay have evolved† (Ramachandran 560). Though these events have a purpose, evolutionary is not the answer. In Joshua 24:15 it says â€Å"Choose for yourselves this day who you will serve, as for me and my household we will serve the LORD. † God gives mankind a choice to follow Him and so free will is a gift from God as something to be accepted. Humans have the gift of God to reject or take the free gift that He offers. If humans really are descendants of apes, then when did the gift of free will come into the evolutionary chain of today’s mankind? John 7:37 says â€Å"Anyone who is thirsty may come to me. † It is an offer. Not a demanding command. ‘Anyone who is thirsty may come to me’, shows us that God does not want us to be without his living water and without him, but it is our choice whether we choose to accept God’s free gift of salvation. When studying free will in the Bible and through works of literature like Vilayandur S. Ramachandran, there will always be people on both sides of the argument. Do we have control of our own destinies or are we merely puppets in God’s giant game of the world? My personal beliefs on the subject are as I have stated in this paper: Though God has a control over the destiny of the world and each of our lives, he gives us a chance to make a decision to follow him or to ignore the free gift of his son that he has offered to us. John 3:16 it says: â€Å"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believed in him would have eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. † Works Cited Jacobus, Lee A. A World Of Ideas. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. Print. The Free Dictionary. Medical Dictionary. Online source. http://medical-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com/readiness+potential Bible. New Living Translation.

Forward the Foundation Chapter 4

8 Raych looked at Hari Seldon after the two politicians had gone and fingered his mustache. It gave him satisfaction to stroke it. Here in the Streeling Sector, some men wore mustaches, but they were usually thin despicable things of uncertain color-thin despicable things, even if dark. Most men did not wear them at all and suffered with naked upper lips. Seldon didn't, for instance, and that was just as well. With his color of hair, a mustache would have been a travesty. He watched Seldon closely, waiting for him to cease being lost in thought, and then found he could wait no longer. â€Å"Dad?† he said. Seldon looked up and said, â€Å"What?† He sounded a little annoyed at having his thoughts interrupted, Raych decided. Raych said, â€Å"I don't think it was right for you to see those two guys.† â€Å"Oh? Why not?† â€Å"Well, the thin guy, whatever his name is, was the guy you made trouble for at the Field. He can't have liked it.† â€Å"But he apologized.† â€Å"He didn't mean it. But the other guy, Joranum-he can be dangerous. What if they had had weapons?† â€Å"What? Here in the University? In my office? Of course not. This isn't Billibotton. Besides, if they had tried anything, I could have handled both of them together. Easily.† â€Å"I don't know, Dad,† said Raych dubiously. â€Å"You're getting-â€Å" â€Å"Don't say it, you ungrateful monster,† said Seldon, lifting an admonishing finger. â€Å"You'll sound just like your mother and I have enough of that from her. I am not getting old-or, at least, not that old. Besides, you were with me and you're almost as skilled a Twister as I am.† Raych's nose wrinkled. â€Å"Twisting ain't much good.† (It was no use. Raych heard himself speak and knew that, even eight years out of the morass of Dahl, he still slipped into using the Dahlite accent that marked him firmly as a member of the lower class. And he was short, too, to the point where he sometimes felt stunted. But he had his mustache and no one ever patronized him twice.) He said, â€Å"What are you going to do about Joranum?† â€Å"For now, nothing.† â€Å"Well, look, Dad, I saw Joranum on TrantorVision a couple of times. I even made some holotapes of his speeches. Everyone is talking about him, so I thought I would see what he has to say. And, you know, he makes some kind of sense. I don't like him and I don't trust him, but he does make some kind of sense. He wants all sectors to have equal rights and equal opportunities-and there ain't nothing wrong with that, is there?† â€Å"Certainly not. All civilized people feel that way.† â€Å"So why don't we have that sort of stuff? Does the Emperor feel that way? Does Demerzel?† â€Å"The Emperor and the First Minister have an entire Empire to worry about. They can't concentrate all their efforts on Trantor itself. It's easy for Joranum to talk about equality. He has no responsibilities. If he were in the position to rule, he would find that his efforts would be greatly diluted by an Empire of twenty-five million planets. Not only that, but he would find himself stopped at every point by the sectors themselves. Each one wants a great deal of equality for itself-but not much equality for others. Tell me, Raych, are you of the opinion that Joranum ought to have a chance to rule, just to show what he can do?† Raych shrugged. â€Å"I don't know. I wonder. But if he had tried anything on you, I would have been at his throat before he could move two centimeters.† â€Å"Your loyalty to me, then, exceeds your concern for the Empire.† â€Å"Sure. You're my dad.† Seldon looked at Raych fondly, but behind that look he felt a trace of uncertainty. How far could Joranum's nearly hypnotic influence go? 9 Hari Seldon sat back in his chair, the vertical back giving as he did so and allowing him to assume a half-reclining position. His hands were behind his head and his eyes were unfocused. His breathing was very soft, indeed. Dors Venabili was at the other end of the room, with her viewer turned off and the microfilms back in place. She had been through a rather concentrated period of revision of her opinions on the Florina Incident in early Trantorian history and she found it rather restful to withdraw for a few moments and to speculate on what it was that Seldon was considering. It had to be psychohistory. It would probably take him the rest of his life, tracking down the byways of this semichaotic technique, and he would end with it incomplete, leaving the task to others (to Amaryl, if that young man had not also worn himself out on the matter) and breaking his heart at the need to do that. Yet it gave him a reason for living. He would live longer with the problem filling him from end to end-and that pleased her. Someday she would lose him, she knew, and she found that the thought afflicted her. It had not seemed it would at the start, when her task had been the simple one of protecting him for the sake of what he knew. When had it become a matter of personal need? How could there be so personal a need? What was there about the man that caused her to feel uneasy when he was not in her sight, even when she knew he was safe so that the deeply ingrained orders within her were not called into action? His safety was all that she had been ordered to be concerned with. How did the rest intrude itself? She had spoken of it to Demerzel long before, when the feeling had made itself unmistakable. He had regarded her gravely and said, `'You are complex, Dors, and there are no simple answers. In my life there have been several individuals whose presence made it easier for me to think, pleasanter to make my responses. I have tried to judge the ease of my responses in their presence and the unease of my responses in their final absence to see whether I was the net gainer or loser. In the process, one thing became plain. The pleasantness of their company outweighed the regret of their passing. On the whole, then, it is better to experience what you experience now than not to.† She thought: Hari will someday leave a void, and each day that someday is closer, and I must not think of it. It was to rid herself of the thought that she finally interrupted him. â€Å"What are you thinking of, Hari?† â€Å"What?† Seldon focused his eyes with an apparent effort. â€Å"Psychohistory, I assume. I imagine you've traced another blind pathway.† â€Å"Well now. That's not on my mind at all.† He laughed suddenly. â€Å"Do you want to know what I'm thinking of? Hair!† â€Å"Hair? Whose?† â€Å"Right now, yours.† He was looking at her fondly. â€Å"Is there something wrong with it? Should I dye it another color? Or perhaps, after all these years, it should go gray.† â€Å"Come! Who needs or wants gray in your hair. But it's led me to other things. Nishaya, for instance.† â€Å"Nishaya? What's that?† â€Å"It was never part of the pre-Imperial Kingdom of Trantor, so I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it. It's a world, a small one. Isolated. Unimportant. Overlooked. I only know anything at all about it because I've taken the trouble to look it up. Very few worlds out of twenty-five million can really make much of a sustained splash, but I doubt that there's another one as insignificant as Nishaya. Which is very significant, you see.† Dors shoved her reference material to one side and said, â€Å"What is this new penchant you have for paradox, which you always tell me you detest? What is this significance of insignificance?† â€Å"Oh, I don't mind paradoxes when I perpetrate them. You see, Joranum comes from Nishaya.† â€Å"Ah, it's Joranum you're concerned with.† â€Å"Yes. I've been viewing some of his speeches-at Raych's insistence. They don't make very much sense, but the total effect can be almost hypnotic. Raych is very impressed by him.† â€Å"I imagine that anyone of Dahlite origins would be, Hari. Joranum's constant call for sector equality would naturally appeal to the downtrodden heatsinkers. You remember when we were in Dahl?† â€Å"I remember it very well and of course I don't blame the lad. It just bothers me that Joranum comes from Nishaya.† Dors shrugged. â€Å"Well, Joranum has to come from somewhere and, conversely, Nishaya, like any other world, must send its people out at times, even to Trantor.† â€Å"Yes, but, as I've said, I've taken the trouble to investigate Nishaya. I've even managed to make hyperspatial contact with some minor official which cost a considerable quantity of credits that I cannot, in good conscience, charge to the department.† â€Å"And did you find anything that was worth the credits?† â€Å"I rather think so. You know, Joranum is always telling little stories to make his points, stories that are legends on his home planet of Nishaya. That serves a good purpose for him here on Trantor, since it makes him appear to be a man of the people, full of homespun philosophy. Those tales litter his speeches. They make him appear to be from a small world, to have been brought up on an isolated farm surrounded by an untamed ecology. People like it, especially Trantorians, who would rather die than be trapped somewhere in an untamed ecology but who love to dream about one just the same.† â€Å"But what of it all?† â€Å"The odd point is that not one of the stories was familiar to the person I spoke to on Nishaya.† â€Å"That's not significant, Hari. It may be a small world, but it's a world. What is current in Joranum's birth section of the world may not be current in whatever place your official came from.† â€Å"No no. Folktales, in one form or another, are usually worldwide. But aside from that, I had considerable trouble in understanding the fellow. He spoke Galactic Standard with a thick accent. I spoke to a few others on the world, just to check, and they all had the same accent.† â€Å"And what of that?† â€Å"Joranum doesn't have it. He speaks a fairly good Trantorian. It's a lot better than mine, actually. I have the Heliconian stress on the letter `r.' He doesn't. According to the records, he arrived on Trantor when he was nineteen. It is just impossible, in my opinion, to spend the first nineteen years of your life speaking that barbarous Nishayan version of Galactic Standard and then come to Trantor and lose it. However long he's been here, some trace of the accent would have remained-Look at Raych and the way he lapses into his Dahlite way of speaking on occasion.† â€Å"What do you deduce from all this?† â€Å"What I deduce-what I've been sitting here all evening, deducing like a deduction machine-is that Joranum didn't come from Nishaya at all. In fact, I think he picked Nishaya as the place to pretend to come from, simply because it is so backwoodsy, so out-of-the-way, that no one would think of checking it. He must have made a thorough computer search to find the one world least likely to allow him to be caught in a lie.† â€Å"But that's ridiculous, Hari. Why should he want to pretend to be from a world he did not come from? It would mean a great deal of falsification of records.† â€Å"And that's precisely what he has probably done. He probably has enough followers in the civil service to make that possible. Probably no one person has done as much in the way of revision and all of his followers are too fanatical to talk about it.† â€Å"But still-Why?† â€Å"Because I suspect Joranum doesn't want people to know where he really comes from.† â€Å"Why not? All worlds in the Empire are equal, both by laws and by custom.† â€Å"I don't know about that. These high-ideal theories are somehow never borne out in real life.† â€Å"Then where does he come from? Do you have any idea at all?† â€Å"Yes. Which brings us back to this matter of hair.† â€Å"What about hair?† â€Å"I sat there with Joranum, staring at him and feeling uneasy, without knowing why I was feeling uneasy. Then finally I realized that it was his hair that made me uneasy. There was something about it, a life, a gloss†¦ a perfection to it that I've never seen before. And then I knew. His hair is artificial and carefully grown on a scalp that ought to be innocent of such things.† â€Å"Ought to be?† Dors's eyes narrowed. It was clear that she suddenly understood. â€Å"Do you mean-â€Å" â€Å"Yes, I do mean. He's from the past-centered, mythology-ridden Mycogen Sector of Trantor. That's what he's been laboring to hide.† 10 Dors Venabili thought coolly about the matter. It was her only mode of thought-cool. Not for her the hot flashes of emotion. She closed her eyes to concentrate. It had been eight years since she and Hari had visited Mycogen and they hadn't been there long. There had been little to admire there except the food. The pictures arose. The harsh, puritanical, male-centered society; the emphasis on the past; the removal of all body hair, a painful process deliberately self-imposed to make themselves different so that they would â€Å"know who they were†; their legends; their memories (or fancies) of a time when they ruled the Galaxy, when their lives were prolonged, when robots existed. Dors opened her eyes and said, â€Å"Why, Hari?† â€Å"Why what, dear?† â€Å"Why should he pretend not to be from Mycogen?† She didn't think he would remember Mycogen in greater detail than she; in fact, she knew he wouldn't, but his mind was better than hers-different, certainly. Hers was a mind that only remembered and drew the obvious inferences in the fashion of a mathematic line of deduction. He had a mind that leaped unexpectedly. Seldon liked to pretend that intuition was solely the province of his assistant, Yugo Amaryl, but Dors was not fooled by that. Seldon liked to pose as the unworldly mathematician who stared at the world out of perpetually wondering eyes, but she was not fooled by that, either. â€Å"Why should he pretend not to be from Mycogen?† she repeated as he sat there, his eyes lost in an inward look that Dors always associated with his attempt to squeeze one more tiny drop of usefulness and validity out of the concepts of psycho-history. Seldon said finally, â€Å"It's a harsh society, a limiting society. There are always those who chafe over its manner of dictating every action and every thought. There are always those who find they cannot entirely be broken to the harness, who want the greater liberties available in the more secular world outside. It's understandable.† â€Å"So they force the growth of artificial hair?† â€Å"No, not generally. The average Breakaway-that's what the Mycogenians call the deserters and they despise them, of course-wears a wig. It's much simpler but much less effective. Really serious Breakaways grow false hair, I'm told. The process is difficult and expensive but is almost unnoticeable. I've never come across it before, though I've heard of it. I've spent years studying all eight hundred sectors of Trantor, trying to work out the basic rules and mathematics of psychohistory. I have little enough to show for it, unfortunately, but I have learned a few things.† â€Å"But why, then, do the Breakaways have to hide the fact that they're from Mycogen? They're not persecuted that I know of.† â€Å"No, they're not. In fact, there's no general impression that Mycogenians are inferior. It's worse than that. The Mycogenians aren't taken seriously. They're intelligen -everyone admits that-highly educated, dignified, cultured, wizards with food, almost frightening in their capacity to keep their sector prosperous-but no one takes them seriously. Their beliefs strike people outside Mycogen as ridiculous, humorous, unbelievably foolish. And that view clings even to Mycogenians who are Breakaways. A Mycogenian attempt to seize power in the government would be crushed by laughter. Being feared is nothing. Being despised, even, can be lived with. But being laughed at-that's fatal. Joranum wants to be First Minister, so he must have hair, and, to be comfortable, he must represent himself as having been brought up on some obscure world as far from Mycogen as he can possibly manage.† â€Å"Surely there are some people who are naturally bald.† â€Å"Never as completely depilated as Mycogenians force themselves to be. On the Outer Worlds, it wouldn't matter much. But Mycogen is a distant whisper to the Outer Worlds. The Mycogenians keep themselves so much to themselves that it is a rare one, indeed, who has ever left Trantor. Here on Trantor, though, it's different. People might be bald, but they usually have a fringe of hair that advertises them as nonMycogenian-or they grow facial hair. Those very few who are completely hairless-usually a pathological condition-are out of luck. I imagine they have to go around with a doctor's certificate to prove they are not Mycogenians.† Dors, frowning slightly, said, â€Å"Does this help us any?† â€Å"I'm not sure.† â€Å"Couldn't you let it be known that he is a Mycegonian?† â€Å"I'm not sure that could be done easily. He must have covered his tracks well and even if it could be done-â€Å" â€Å"Yes?† Seldon shrugged. â€Å"I don't want to invite an appeal to bigotry. The social situation on Trantor is bad enough without running the risk of loosing passions that neither I nor anyone else could then control. If I do have to resort to the matter of Mycogen, it will only be as a last resort.† â€Å"Then you want minimalism, too.† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"Then what will you do?† â€Å"I made an appointment with Demerzel. He may know what to do.† Dors looked at him sharply. â€Å"Hari, are you falling into the trap of expecting Demerzel to solve every problem for you?† â€Å"No, but perhaps he'll solve this one.† â€Å"And if he doesn't?† â€Å"Then I'll have to think of something else, won't I?† â€Å"Like what?† A look of pain crossed Seldon's face. â€Å"Dors, I don't know. Don't expect me to solve every problem, either.† 11 Eto Demerzel was not frequently seen, except by the Emperor Cleon. It was his policy to remain in the background for a variety of reasons, one of which was that his appearance changed so little with time. Hari Seldon had not seen him over a period of some years and had not spoken to him truly in private since the days of his early time on Trantor. In light of Seldon's recent unsettling meeting with Laskin Joranum, both Seldon and Demerzel felt it would be best not to advertise their relationship. A visit by Hari Seldon to the First Minister's office at the Imperial Palace would not go unnoticed, and so for reasons of security they had decided to meet in a small yet luxuriously appointed suite at the Dome's Edge Hotel, just outside the Palace grounds. Seeing Demerzel now brought back the old days achingly. The mere fact that Demerzel still looked exactly as he always had made the ache sharper. His face still had its strong regular features. He was still tall and sturdy-looking, with the same dark hair with the hint of blond. He was not handsome, but was gravely distinguished. He looked like someone's ideal picture of what an Imperial First Minister ought to look like, not at all like any such official in history before his time ever had. It was his appearance, Seldon thought, that gave him half his power over the Emperor, and therefore over the Imperial Court, and therefore over the Empire. Demerzel advanced toward him, a gentle smile curving his lips without altering in any way the gravity of his countenance. â€Å"Hari,† he said. â€Å"It is pleasant to see you. I was half-afraid you would change your mind and cancel.† â€Å"I was more than half-afraid you would, First Minister.† â€Å"Eto-if you fear using my real name.† â€Å"I couldn't. It won't come out of me. You know that.† â€Å"It will to me. Say it. I would rather like to hear it.† Seldon hesitated, as though he couldn't believe his lips could frame the words or his vocal cords sound them. â€Å"Daneel,† he said at length. â€Å"R. Daneel Olivaw,† said Demerzel. â€Å"Yes. You will dine with me, Hari. If I dine with you, I won't have to eat, which will be a relief.† â€Å"Gladly, though one-way eating is not my idea of a convivial time. Surely a bite or two-â€Å" â€Å"To please you-â€Å" â€Å"Just the same,† said Seldon, â€Å"I can't help but wonder if it is wise to spend too much time together.† â€Å"It is. Imperial orders. His Imperial Majesty wants me to.† â€Å"Why, Daneel?† â€Å"In two more years the Decennial Convention will be meeting again. You look surprised. Have you forgotten?† â€Å"Not really. I just haven't thought about it.† â€Å"Were you not going to attend? You were a hit at the last one.† â€Å"Yes. With my psychohistory. Some hit.† â€Å"You attracted the attention of the Emperor. No other mathematician did.† â€Å"It was you who were initially attracted, not the Emperor. Then I had to flee and stay out of the Imperial notice until such time as I could assure you that I had made a start on my psychohistorical research, after which you allowed me to remain in safe obscurity.† â€Å"Being the head of a prestigious Mathematics Department is scarcely obscurity.† â€Å"Yes, it is, since it hides my psychohistory.† â€Å"Ah, the food is arriving. For a while, let's talk about other things as befits friends. How is Dors?† â€Å"Wonderful. A true wife. Hounds me to death with her worries over my safety.† â€Å"That is her job.† â€Å"So she reminds me-frequently. Seriously, Daneel, I can never be sufficiently grateful to you for bringing us together.† â€Å"Thank you, Hari, but, to be truthful, I did not foresee married happiness for either of you, especially not Dors-â€Å" â€Å"Thank you for the gift just the same, however short of the actual consequences your expectations were.† â€Å"I'm delighted, but it is a gift, you will find, that may be of dubious further consequence-as is my friendship.† To this, Seldon could make no reply and so, at a gesture from Demerzel, he turned to his meal. After a while, he nodded at the morsel of fish on his fork and said, â€Å"I don't actually recognize the organism, but this is Mycogenian cooking.† â€Å"Yes, it is. I know you are fond of it.† â€Å"It's the Mycogenians' excuse for existence. Their only excuse. But they have special meaning to you. I mustn't forget that.† â€Å"The special meaning has come to an end. Their ancestors, long, long ago, inhabited the planet of Aurora. They lived three hundred years and more and were the lords of the Fifty Worlds of the Galaxy. It was an Auroran who first designed and produced me. I don't forget that; I remember it far more accurately-and with less distortion-than their Mycogenian descendants do. But then, long, long ago, I left them. I made my choice as to what the good of humanity must be and I have followed it, as best I could, all this time.† Seldon said with sudden alarm, â€Å"Can we be overheard?† Demerzel seemed amused. â€Å"If you have only thought of that now, it is far too late. But fear not, I have taken the necessary precautions. Nor have you been seen by too many eyes when you came. Nor will you be seen by too many when you leave. And those who do see you will not be surprised. I am well known to be an amateur mathematician of great pretensions but of little ability. That is a source of amusement to those at the court who are not entirely my friends and it would not surprise anyone here that I should be concerned about laying the groundwork for the forthcoming Decennial Convention. It is about the convention that I wish to consult you.† â€Å"I don't know that I can help. There is only one thing I could possibly talk about at the convention-and I can't talk about it. If I attend at all, it will only be as part of the audience. I do not intend to present any papers.† â€Å"I understand. Still, if you would like to hear something curious, His Imperial Majesty remembers you.† â€Å"Because you have kept me in his mind, I suppose.† â€Å"No. I have not labored to do so. However, His Imperial Majesty occasionally surprises me. He is aware of the forthcoming convention and he apparently remembers your talk at the earlier one. He remains interested in the matter of psychohistory and more may come of it, I must warn you. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that he may ask to see you. The court will surely consider it a great honor-to receive the Imperial call twice in a single lifetime.† â€Å"You're joking. What could be served by my seeing him?† â€Å"In any case, if you are called to an audience, you can scarcely refuse. How are your young protegs, Yugo and Raych?† â€Å"Surely you know. I imagine you keep a close eye on me.† â€Å"Yes, I do. On your safety but not on every aspect of your life. I am afraid my duties fill much of my time and I am not all-seeing.† â€Å"Doesn't Dors report?† â€Å"She would in a crisis. Not otherwise. She is reluctant to play the role of spy in nonessentials.† Again the small smile. Seldon grunted. â€Å"My boys are doing well. Yugo is increasingly difficult to handle. He's more of a psychohistorian than I am and I think he feels I hold him back. As for Raych, he's a lovable rascal-always was. He won me over when he was a dreadful street urchin and what's more surprising is that he won over Dors. I honestly believe, Daneel, that if Dors grew sick of me and wanted to leave me, she would stay on anyway for her love of Raych.† Demerzel nodded and Seldon continued somberly. â€Å"If Rashelle of Wye hadn't found him lovable, I would not be here today. I would have been shot down-† He stirred uneasily. â€Å"I hate to think of that, Daneel. It was such an entirely accidental and unpredictable event. How could psychohistory have helped in any way?† â€Å"Have you not told me that, at best, psychohistory can deal only in probabilities and with vast numbers, not with individuals?† â€Å"But if the individual happens to be crucial-â€Å" â€Å"I suspect you will find that no individual is ever truly crucial. Not even I-or you.† â€Å"Perhaps you're right. I find that, no matter how I work away under these assumptions, I nevertheless think of myself as crucial, in a kind of supernormal egotism that transcends all sense. And you are crucial, too, which is something I have come here to discuss with you-as frankly as possible. I must know.† â€Å"Know what?† The remains of the meal had been cleared away by a porter and the room's lighting dimmed somewhat so that the walls seemed to close in and give a feeling of great privacy. Seldon said, â€Å"Joranum.† He bit off the word, as though feeling the mention of the name alone should be sufficient. â€Å"Ah. Yes.†** â€Å"You know about him?† â€Å"Of course. How could I not know?† â€Å"Well, I want to know about him, too.† â€Å"What do you want to know?† â€Å"Come, Daneel, don't play with me. Is he dangerous?† â€Å"Of course he is dangerous. Do you have any doubt of that?† â€Å"I mean, to you? To your position as First Minister?† â€Å"That is exactly what I mean. That is how he is dangerous.† â€Å"And you allow it?† Demerzel leaned forward, placing his left elbow on the table between them. â€Å"There are things that don't wait for my permission, Hari. Let us be philosophical about it. His Imperial Majesty, Cleon, First of that Name, has now been on the throne for eighteen years and for all that time I have been his Chief of Staff and then his First Minister, having served in scarcely lesser capacities during the last years of the reign of his father. It is a long time and First Ministers rarely remain that long in power.† â€Å"You are not the ordinary First Minister, Daneel, and you know it. You must remain in power while psychohistory is being developed. Don't smile at me. It's true. When we first met, eight years ago, you told me the Empire was in a state of decay and decline. Have you changed your mind about that?† â€Å"No, of course not.† â€Å"In fact, the decline is more marked now, isn't it?† â€Å"Yes, it is, though I labor to prevent that.† â€Å"And without you, what would happen? Joranum is raising the Empire against you.† â€Å"Trantor, Hari. Trantor. The Outer Worlds are solid and reasonably contented with my deeds so far, even in the midst of a declining economy and lessening trade.† â€Å"But Trantor is where it counts. Trantor-the Imperial world we're living on, the capital of the Empire, the core, the administrative center- is what can overthrow you. You cannot keep your post if Trantor says no. â€Å"I agree.† â€Å"And if you go, who will then take care of the Outer Worlds and what will keep the decline from being precipitate and the Empire from degenerating rapidly into anarchy?† â€Å"That is a possibility, certainly.† â€Å"So you must be doing something about it. Yugo is convinced that you are in deadly danger and can't maintain your position. His intuition tells him so. Dors says the same thing and explains it in terms of the Three Laws or Four of-of-â€Å" â€Å"Robotics,† put in Demerzel. â€Å"Young Raych seems attracted to Joranum's doctrines-being of Dahlite origin, you see. And I-I am uncertain, so I come to you for comfort, I suppose. Tell me that you have the situation well in hand.† â€Å"I would do so if I could. However, I have no comfort to offer. I am in danger.† â€Å"Are you doing nothing?† â€Å"No. I'm doing a great deal to contain discontent and blunt Joranum's message. If I had not done so, then perhaps I would be out of office already. But what I'm doing is not enough.† Seldon hesitated. Finally he said, â€Å"I believe that Joranum is actually a Mycogenian.† â€Å"Is that so?† â€Å"It is my opinion. I had thought we might use that against him, but I hesitate to unleash the forces of bigotry.† â€Å"You are wise to hesitate. There are many things that might be done that have side effects we do not want. You see, Hari, I don't fear leaving my post-if some successor could be found who would continue those principles that I have been using to keep the decline as slow as possible. On the other hand, if Joranum himself were to succeed me, then that, in my opinion, would be fatal.† â€Å"Then anything we can do to stop him would be suitable.† â€Å"Not entirely. The Empire can grow anarchic, even if Joranum is destroyed and I stay. I must not, then, do something that will destroy Joranum and allow me to stay-if that very deed promotes the Fall of the Empire. I have not yet been able to think of anything I might do that would surely destroy Joranum and just as surely avoid anarchy.† â€Å"Minimalism,† whispered Seldon. â€Å"Pardon me?† â€Å"Dors explained that you would be bound by minimalism.† â€Å"And so I am.† â€Å"Then my visit with you is a failure, Daneel.† â€Å"You mean that you came for comfort and didn't get it.† â€Å"I'm afraid so.† â€Å"But I saw you because I sought comfort as well.† â€Å"From me?† â€Å"From psychohistory, which should envision the route to safety that I cannot.† Seldon sighed heavily. â€Å"Daneel, psychohistory has not yet been developed to that point.† The First Minister looked at him gravely. â€Å"You've had eight years, Hari.† â€Å"It might be eight or eight hundred and it might not be developed to that point. It is an intractable problem.† Demerzel said, â€Å"I do not expect the technique to have been perfected, but you may have some sketch, some skeleton, some principle that you can use as guidance. Imperfectly, perhaps, but better than mere guesswork.† â€Å"No more than I had eight years ago,† said Seldon mournfully. â€Å"Here's what it amounts to, then. You must remain in power and Joranum must be destroyed in such a way that Imperial stability is maintained as long as possible so that I may have a reasonable chance to work out psychohistory. This cannot be done, however, unless I work out psychohistory first. Is that it?† â€Å"It would seem so, Hari.† â€Å"Then we argue in a useless circle and the Empire is destroyed.† â€Å"Unless something unforeseen happens. Unless you make something unforeseen happen.† â€Å"I? Daneel, how can I do it without psychohistory?† â€Å"I don't know, Hari.† And Seldon rose to go-in despair.

Lord Byron Essays

Lord Byron Essays Lord Byron Paper Lord Byron Paper Kelsey May Mrs. Donaldson English 12, Period 1 10 November 2011 Comparisons of Lord Byron’s Poetry Lord Byron wrote poetry during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when Romanticism flourished worldwide. Influences were far and wide for Byron’s poetry; from religious-biblical events to his beautiful female cousin’s marriage, he wrote about any subject matter he found interesting at that time. â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† and â€Å"The Destruction of the Sennacherib† are two of Byron’s poems that are well known in literature. She Walks in Beauty† caught the attention of many people as one of Byron’s best poems; it is considered to be a Hebrew melody written from a third person narrative point of view. â€Å"The Destruction of Sennacherib† is also a Hebrew melody in which Byron replicated the measures taken by the Assyrian king Sennacherib to capture Jerusalem. Although these two poems are similar in their use of literary devices, they are vastly different in theme, tone, and context. Literary devices are used by Byron all throughout these two poems. He uses literary devices such as prepositional phrases, similes, and symbolism along with consonance and assonance to paint the vivid pictures he tries to portray. â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† begins with a simile comparing the women who is the subject of the poem to a cloudless night with bright stars. Together the lack of clouds and bright stars combine to symbolize the beauty of the woman’s talent to â€Å"contain opposite forces within her† (Hacht 269). â€Å"The Destruction of the Sennacherib† opens in a similar way, referencing to a Biblical battle in terms of good and evil. During the battle, the Assyrian king Sennacherib and his army act as the evil trying to defeat Israel which portrays good. Byron uses a simile to compare Sennacherib to a wolf invading Israel which Byron also uses simile to compare to a flock of sheep. Byron uses his â€Å"word pictures† to create an incredibly amazing scene so that the destruction of Israel is more evident later in the poem (Napierkowski and Ruby 39). Symbolism is also one of Byron’s chosen literary devices in these two poems. The symbolism seen in these two poems heavily connects with is perspective of life as it is what he leans on to write his poetry (Kelsall 171). In â€Å"The Destruction of Sennacherib† color plays a huge role in symbolism; green symbolizes the energy, life, and maybe even confidence of Assyrian troops. The color green, Brent Goodman says, â€Å"usually reminds us of vitality, freshness, and life. † A few lines later the color quickly fades from green color of spring to colors of the fall symbolizing the death brought upon Sennacherib along with the death of his horse and troops. The color sets a dull and lifeless scene for the rest of Byron’s poem. In â€Å"She Walks in Beauty,† Byron uses physical features of the woman to symbolize the beauty of her inner self. Eyes are often thought of as simply an attractive feature of a person, but in this sense Byron is saying eyes but meaning soul. As Anne Marie Hacht points out, â€Å"in literature . . . the eyes reveal the heart† (269). Although â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† and â€Å"The Destruction of Sennacherib† are both works of Lord Byron, they are different in all sorts of ways; one being theme. The major theme of â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† is quite obviously beauty. In this poem he expresses this woman’s beauty so in depth it almost seems unfathomable. Byron compliments the lightness with darkness in order to compare the woman’s physical beauty and inner beauty (Hacht 270). Howard Needler says in his critique that â€Å"’Beauty† seems problematical from the poem’s opening line, where it literarily denotes an ambience that enfolds the motion of both night and the lady† (19+). This statement takes note that the atmosphere of the poem is split between the beauty of the darkness and the beauty of the women. This issue leads to Kant’s statement in the Critique of Judgment: Two kinds of beauty, free beauty . . . r merely dependent beauty . . . . The first presupposes no concept of what the object ought to be; the second does presuppose such a concept and the perfection of the object in accordance therewith. The first is called the self-subsistent beauty of this or that thing; the second, as dependent upon a concept (conditioned beauty), is ascribed to objects which come under the concept of a part icular purpose. (Qtd. Needler 19+) Looking at the poem with this incite, the light and dark meeting is more of a self-subsistent beauty where the beauty of the woman is more conditioned beauty. Byron makes use of the dark/light comparison in order to try and articulate the beauty of the woman, making the beauty of the woman dependent upon the free beauty of the stars. The theme of death in â€Å"The Destruction of the Sennacherib† is quite different than the eloquent theme of beauty in â€Å"She Walks in Beauty. † Death is the major theme in this poem for two reason; one being the fall of the Assyrian king and his troops and the second being the fall of pagan worship. The soldiers, the horse, and the king all die in respective order throughout the poem. The soldiers, listed first, seem to have the least affect on the poem with their deaths. Next the horse, stronger than any man, has a bit more of an affect as the poem zooms in as his desperate attempts to breathe as he dies. The death of the king had the most affect on his people because the death of him meant the death of paganism. The death of Sennacherib proves that the Christian God is far more powerful than any earthy king ever could be. Sennacherib dying did not only signify the death of the Assyrian king, it also signified the death of the Assyrian culture. A culture, as Mary K. Ruby and Marie Rose Napierkowski would say, â€Å"that worshiped Baal, the beleaguered pagan god of the Old Testament† (40). Yet this poem stands to be fiction because the Assyrian king Sennacherib was murdered by his own flesh and blood (Napierkowski and Ruby 40). â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† and â€Å"The Destruction of Sennacherib† differ in theme but they also differ in tone. The tone of â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† is one of serious nature; Byron is very passionate about this woman and all of her beauty. For this reason, â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† does not have a tone that is extremely flamboyant. Byron focuses on the complexity of this woman as though she is multi-faceted; he is as infatuated with her inner beauty as he is with her physical beauty. Byron notes that â€Å"One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace,† meaning if this woman had one more or one less inquisitive characteristic her whole demeanor would not be that of this perfect being. This idea of â€Å"nameless grace† is brought onto this woman from heaven, which goes along with the expression â€Å"she is graced by beauty. † (Hacht 270). The seriousness of this poem can be seen through Byron’s attempt to overstate the characteristics of this woman both physically and internally in order to create the image of a woman so amazing is the epitome of perfection (Hacht 272).

Intercultural communication( this is the course I'm studying, not the Term Paper

Intercultural communication( this is the course I'm studying, not the topic) - Term Paper Example The country attained independence from the British in 1963 but still holds some of the customs that they were assimilated by the British during colonization. This is the reason that despite it being an African country with the usual stereotypes surrounding African nations; it is a modernized country in terms of its culture as it represents a blend of the Western and African culture (Sobania 129). Traveling to Kenya requires a passport but there are no other major restrictions other than the usual security restrictions against terrorism and drug trafficking (Martin & Chaney 26). Immunizations and especially against malaria and flu which are prevalent in the nation as it lies along the equator hence temperate weather conditions are necessary. Due to the warm weather and especially between January and April, packing should be restricted to light clothes that are comfortable and decent. Medication should be carried as long as the necessary paperwork and stamps are indicated for the medication to avoid them being confused as hard drugs. Health cards should also be carried in case of any accidents or illnesses. There are a lot of taxis on the airport which can take the passenger to the best hotels in the city. Tokens of appreciation are encouraged as a way to appreciate but not bribe individuals for their services. Conformity to the local customs is easy as it needs just observation and interaction with the local people. The country houses a lot of international headquarters and hence foreigners are many making one cope easily and quickly and get over any cultural shock one might meet as well as adjust properly to the laws of the land which are similar to the UK laws. The national languages are English and Kiswahili and making communication easier. The Swahili language is easy to learn the basic greeting phrases to show effort to the hosts. Business greetings should be formal and so should addressing the titles of the

Portfolio project Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Portfolio project - Term Paper Example In 2012, the deficit in global budget narrowed down to approximately $2.7 trillion (a representation of 3.80% of the global GDP-Gross Domestic Product). However, the global economic growth shifted (dropped) to 3.10% in 2012 from 3.70% in 2011 and 5.10% in 2010 fiscal years. The global unemployment rate increased to 9.20% in 2012. Countries that used expansionary monetary and fiscal policies attained significantly increased growth rates, lower rates of unemployment, increased growth in tax revenues, and success in cutting down public debts. Countries that employment contractionary policies failed to achieve what the former countries realized. In 2012, over 85 countries with pro-growth strategy realized median Gross Domestic Product growth rates of 4.90%, compared to 0.80% realized 37 nations with restrictive monetary and fiscal policies. This represented a difference of 4%. Among the listed 85 countries with pro-growth strategy, Canada grew by 1.90%, 2.20% for the United States, 3.0% for Turkey, 3.40% for Russia, 4.0% for Mexico,, 6.0% for the Indonesia, and 7.80% for China. Among 37 countries that restricted their monetary and fiscal policies, Italy grew by -2.30%, -1.40% for Spain, -0.5% Netherlands, -0.20% Belgium, 0.10% France, 0.70% Germany, and 2.30% Brazil. These 37 countries reported unemployment rate s of 11.50%. The global financial crunch of 2008-2009 caused the first recession in international output similar to what was experienced in 1946. Thus, the globe was faced with a new challenge mainly defined by finding out what combination (mix) of monetary and fiscal policies to apply in restoring jobs and growth, while keeping debt and inflation under control. Monetary stimulus and stabilization programs initiated in 2009-2011 to lower revenues in taxes in 2009-2010; required a number of countries to employ large budget debits. New public debts were issued by treasuries – amounting to $7.6 trillion.