Ethical Dimensions of Research Studies Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethical Dimensions of Studies - Research Paper Example He therefore, resolves to conduct his testing on HIV/AIDS patients in one of the poorest countries in Africa. This idea works, as this African country, unlike the U.S.A, does not have laws against the withholding of standard treatment. He justifies his action with his assumption that it is better for poor HIV/AIDS patients to receive an unfamiliar treatment, than to die without any treatment at all. This research is an ethics case as it fails to adhere to the principles of conducting a research. The main ethical issues involved in conducting research include informed consent, respect for anonymity, privacy, and confidentiality, and beneficence. Of all these ethical issues, the researcher fails to allow for informed consent of the people to whom, he was administering his new AIDS drug. By not telling the patients the truth about this new drug, and through taking advantage of the weak legal system of the African country, this researcher does not avail an opportunity for the patients to choose if they will be his guinea pigs or not. These patients therefore unknowingly are injected with the new drug, thinking it is the standard medication. In addition, when this researcher fails to give the patients information about the drug, he breaches the patients’ right to information, which is essential for them to base on while making their decisions of agreeing or disagreeing to the process (Murphy, 2004). The possible cause of this researcher’s actions could be the strict rules and standards that the American government places on such sensitive cases, which involve lives of people. In addition, the researcher could have been evading the standard procedure for testing of new drugs, which is often quite long, and costly. This kind of practice by the researcher is sub-standard and does not measure up to the requirements of medical research ethics, thus considered unethical. The researcher does not follow the required procedure for fear of

Monetary Policy Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

Monetary Policy - Coursework Example This paper examines the relationship that exists between the monetary policies and the stock market bubbles and concludes that the monetary policies can be varied to have very little control on the stock market movements, as monetary policies like change in the interest rates would be slow in acting on the bubble price movements. However such change in the policy may restrict the influence of the financial instability on the economy that immediately follows the bubble. This paper concludes that the central banks should adopt standard monetary policy or bubble policy depending on the circumstances and the extent of the macroeconomic consequences of the stock bubble price movements. In the process of the study of the impact of the monetary policies on the stock market bubbles the paper also details some of the historic bubbles and crashes. Expanded spells of rapidly appreciating equity, housing, and other assets prices in any country since the twentieth century have brought the impact of monetary policies on the asset market prices to the fore and to the attention of the economists to analyze the phenomenon. The analysis includes the response of the asset market booms as a result of the changed monetary policies. It is the argument from some of the economists that the nature of the financial markets tends to be volatile inherently and that the market prices often go tangentially to fundamentals. Hence they argue that it is possible for the policymakers can improve the welfare activities of the economy by adopting measures to deflate the asset price booms, especially under circumstances where the sudden declines in the asset market prices will have the effect of depressing the economic activity to the advantage of the country. There are other economists who believe that the financial markets are efficient in processing the information provided to them. These economists argue that it is not possible for the policymakers to determine the point of time when the assets are mispriced and hence they cannot adopt policies which will have the effect of improving the welfare of the nation by reacting to the asset price movements. However the stock market boom in the United States in the late 1990s has been found to arise during a

Properties of Cartilage Tissue

Properties of Cartilage Tissue Chapter 1 1.1 Introduction Joint cartilage is highly sophisticated and has been optimised by evolution. There have been considerable research interests related to the cartilage cells, chondrocytes. In the last decades these studies made cartilage the first and very successful tissue engineering treatment. (Brittberg et al. 1994) 1.2 Categorization of cartilage tissue Cartilage tissue are categorised in three major types by their different biochemical composition and structure of their extracellular matrix (ECM). Elastic cartilage has a few cells, a small concentration of proteoglycans (PGs), and a relatively high proportion of elastin fibres. It is found in the epiglottis, small laryngeal, the external ear, auditory tube, and the small bronchi, where it is generally required to resist bending forces. Fibrocartilage also contains a small concentration of PGs, but far less elastin. The meniscus in the knee joint is made of fibrocartilaginous tissue. The third and most widespread cartilage in the human body is hyaline. It is resistant to compression or tensile forces due to the network organisation of type II collagen fibres associated with a high concentration of PGs. Hyaline cartilage can be found in the nose, the trachea, bronchi, and synovial joints. In the latter case, it is termed as articular cartilage, representing a unique type of connectiv e tissue. Its outwards thin layer covers the articulating joint surfaces and belies a specific structure with unique mechanical properties. These two layers acting as a covering material, is fibricated by the viscous synovial fluid. The joint capsule encloses the entire joint and retains the synovial fluid. (Schulz and Bader, 2006) 1.3 Composition of articular cartilage Articular cartilage is composed of chondrocytes and an extracellular matrix that consists of proteoglycans, collagens and water. (Darling and Athanasiou 2005) Chondrocytes contribute only between 5% of the tissue volume; the remaining 95% being composed of extracellular matrix (ECM), which is synthesised by the chondrocytes. (Mollenhauer, 2008; Buckwalter et al. 1988) The ECM of articular cartilage consists of about 60-85% water and dissolved electrolytes. The solid framework is composed of collagens (10-20%), PGs (3-10%), noncollagenous proteins and glycoproteins. (Buckwalter et al. 1997; Buckwalter et al. 1990) In articular cartilage, 95% of collagen in the ECM is comprised of collagen type II fibrils. The rest other collagen types are collagen type IX and XI and a small fraction of types III, VI, XII and XIV. (Eyre 2002) Type-I collagen forms thick fibres. Type-III forms thin  ¬Ã‚ bres. Unlike these two collagens, Type-II collagen which is present in hyaline and elastic cartila ges does not form  ¬Ã‚ bres, and its very thin  ¬Ã‚ brils are disposed as a loose mesh that strongly interacts with the ground substance. (Montes, 1996) This collagen component in articular cartilage provides tensile stiffness and strength to the tissue and opposes the swelling capacity generated by highly negatively charged glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) of the proteoglycans (PGs). The majority (50-85%) of the overall PG content in this tissue type were presented by large molecule aggrecan. This consist of a protein backbone, the core protein, to which unbranched GAGs side chains of chondroitin sulphate (CS) and keratan sulfate (KS) are covalently attached. ( 1.1) (Watanabe et al. 1998; Schulz and Bader, 2006) 1.1. Illustration of the extracellular matrix (ECM) organization of articular cartilage (Left) and the schematic sketches (Right) of the most relevant polysaccharides of proteoglycans (PGs) in articular cartilage. The PGs consist of a strand of hyaluronic acid (HA), to which a core protein is non-covalently attached. On the core protein, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) such as keratan sulphate (KS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) are covalently bound in a bottle brush fashion. (Modified from Schulz and Bader, 2006 and Mow and Wang, 1999) 1.4 Low capacity of self-repair The aneural and avascular nature of articular cartilage, coupled with its low cellularity, contribute to both the limited rate and incomplete nature of the repair process following damage. (Heywood et al., 2004) In addition, the low mitotic potential of chondrocytes in vivo also contributes to its poor ability to undergo self-repair. (Kuroda et al., 2006) Indeed, in experimental studies on adult animals, full-thickness cartilage defects extending into the subchondral bone, have been reported to heal with the formation of fibrous tissue, which contains relatively low amounts of type II collagen and aggrecan. It is also composed of a relatively high content present in type I collagen, not present in normal adult articular cartilage and accordingly exhibits impaired mechanical integrity. (Hjertquist et al., 1971; Eyre et al., 1992) 1.5 Metabolism of articular cartilage Joint cartilage is supplied with nutrients and oxygen by the synovial fluid diffusion facilitated by compressive cyclic loading during joint movements as a pumping function. (Mollenhauer, 2008) Chondrocytes are imbedded in ECM. Within synovial joints, oxygen supply to articular chondrocytes is very limited. The oxygen tensions are very low varying from around 6% at the joint surface to 1% in the deep layers of healthy articular cartilage. It is supposed to be even further decreased under pathological conditions, such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. The metabolism of chondrocytes is largely glycolytic. Oxygen-dependent energy generated by oxidative phosphorylation is just a minor contributor to the overall energy in chondrocytes. Articular chondrocytes appear to show a so-called negative Pasteur effect, whereby, glycolysis falls as O2 levels drop leading to the fall in ATP and matrix synthesis. (Gibson JS et al., 2008) A negative Pasteur effect would make chondrocytes parti cularly liable to suffer a shortage of energy under anoxic conditions. (Lee and Urban, 1997) Changes in O2 tension also have profound effects on cell phenotype, gene expression, and morphology, as well as response to, and production of, cytokines. Condrocytes live in hypoxic environments implies that speci ¬Ã‚ c factors are required to control certain genes that are responsible for glucose metabolism, energy metabolism, pH regulation, and other responses. The most important component of this hypoxic response is mediated by transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), which is present in most hypoxia inducible genes. (Pfander and Gelse, 2007; Gibson JS et al., 2008) HIF-1a is necessary for anaerobic energy generation by upregulation of glycolytic enzymes and glucose transporters. (Yudoh et al. 2005) A previous study shows chondrocytes are not able to survive hypoxia in the absence of HIF-1. (Schipani et al. 2001) Moreover, the matrix turnover in articular cartilage is extremely slow. Proteoglycan turnover is up to 25 years. Collagen half-life is estimated to range from several decades up to 400 years. No immune-competent cells (macrophages, T-cells) enter the cartilage tissue. Thus chondrocytes have to defend themselves against hostile microorganisms, leading to its immunologically privileged. (Mollenhauer, 2008) 1.6 Mechanical conditions in vivo In vivo joint loading can result in high peak mechanical stresses (15-20 MPa) that occur over very short durations (1 s) causing cartilage compressive strains of only 1-3%. (Mollenhauer, 2008; Hodge et al., 1986) In contrast, sustained physiological stresses applied to knee joints for 5-30 min can cause compressive strains in certain knee cartilages as high as 40-45%. (Mollenhauer, 2008; Herberhold et al., 1999) A study of the response of articular cartilage from humans to impact load showed that articular cartilage could withstand impact loads of as much as 25 MPa at strain rates from 500 to 1000 s-1 without apparent damage. Impact loads exceeding this level caused chondrocyte death or fissure in the hip or knee. (Repo RU and Finlay JB, 1977) Chapter 2 Osteoarthritis and Treatments 2.1 Osteoarthritis, diagnosis and classification Most cartilage defects are due to direct trauma, but may also occur in avascular necrosis, osteochondritis dissecans, and a variety of cartilage disorders. The defect may be limited to the joint surface (chondral) or involve the underlying bone (osteochondral). (NHS guidance 2006) Articular cartilage defects can progress to osteoarthritis (OA) in some patients, which is a major health problem in developed countries. (Kuroda et al. 2006; Schulz and Bader, 2006; Buckwalter, 2002; Cicuttini 1996) Symptoms may include pain, catching, locking and swelling, and may lead to degenerative changes within the joint. (NHS guidance 2006) Arthroscopy has been used as the â€Å"gold standard† to confirmed cartilage defects. In a review of 31,516 knee arthroscopies of cartilage injury patients, the incidence of chondral lesions was 63%; the incidence of full-thickness articular cartilage lesions with exposed bone were 20% , with 5% of these occurring in patients under 40-years-old. (Marlovits, et al. 2008) Osteoarthritis (OA) severity is commonly graded from radiographic images in accordance with the Kellgren and Lawrence scale Bilateral. (Kellgren and Bier, 1956; Kellgren and Lawrence, 1957) Osteoporosis and erosions which included narrowing of joint space were recorded separately and graded as follows: 0 = no changes; 1 = doubtful joint space narrowing; 2 = minimal change, mostly characterized by osteophytes; 3 = moderate change, characterized by multiple osteophytes and/or definite joint space narrowing; and 4 = severe change, characterized by marked joint space narrowing with bone-on-bone contact with large osteophytes. (Kellgren and Bier, 1956; Husing et al. 2003) The radiologic grade of OA was inversely associated with the joint space width (JSW). (Agnesi et al. 2008) MRI is currently the standard method for cartilage evaluation, as it is a non-invasive, non-contact, multi-planar technique capable of producing high resolution, high contrast images in serial contiguous slices and it enables morphological assessment of the cartilage surface, thickness, volume and subchondral bone. The MRI classification of articular chondral defects are as follows: 1=Abnormal intrachondral signal with a normal chondral surface; 2=Mild surface irregularity and/or focal loss of less than 50% of the cartilage thickness; 3=Severe surface irregularity with focal loss of 50% to 100% of the cartilage thickness; 4=Complete loss of articular cartilage, with exposure of subchondral bone. (Marlovits et al. 2008) Agnesi et al. compared the radiologic grading of OA patients with the joint surface width measurements obtained from MRI images. (Agnesi et al. 2008) 2.2 Non-tissue engineering treatments Pain caused by osteoarthritis can be reduced through a number of methods. (Altman et al. 2006) These include: â€Å"Exercise programmes (strength and flexibility) and lifestyle changes Medication Dietary supplements Knee viscosupplementation Guidelines for viscosupplementation Other injections Custom foot orthotics Knee braces Other assisted devices (canes and walkers) Surgery† Total knee replacement is most commonly performed in people over 60 years of age. (NHS guidance, 2006; Altman et al., 2006; Brittberg et al., 1994) Besides that, the most frequently used treatments include the mosaicplasty, marrow stimulation, and autologous condrocyte implantation (ACI). (Steinwachs et al., 2008) Mosaicplasty is an autologous osteochondral transplantation method through which cylindrical periosteum grafts are taken from periphery of the patellofemoral area which bears less weight, and transplanted to defective areas. This transplantation can be done with various diameters of grafts. (Haklar et al., 2008; NHS guidance, 2006) Marrow stimulation methods include arthroscopic surgery to smooth the surface of the damaged cartilage area; microfracture, drilling, abrasion. All marrow stimulation methods base on the penetration of the subchondral bone plate at the bottom of the cartilage defect. The outflowing bone marrow blood contains the mesenchymal stem cells which are s tabilised by the clot formation in the defect. These pluripotent stem cells which are able to differentiate into fibrochondrocytes, result in fibrocartilage repair with varying amounts of type I, II and III collagen. (Steinwachs et al., 2008) 2.3 The tissue engineering treatment A 1984 study in rabbits reported successful treatment of focal patellar defects with the use of autologous condrocyte implantation (ACI). One year after transplantation, newly formed cartilage-like tissue typically covered about 70 percent of the defect. (Grande et al. 1989) In 1987, Mats Brittber et al. firstly performed ACI in 23 people with deep cartilage defects in the knee. (Brittberg et al., 1994) ACI is described as a three steps procedure: cartilage cells are taken from a minor load-bearing area on the upper medial femoral condyle of the damaged knee via an arthroscopic procedure, cultivated for four to six weeks in a laboratory and then, in open surgery, introduced back into the damaged area as a liquid or mesh-like transplant; at last, a periosteal flap sutured in place to secure the transplant. ( 2.1) (Husing et al., 2008) The cell density of the cultivated cell solution is required to be 30 x 106 cells/ml, or 2 x 106 cells per cm2 in a clinical setting today. (Brittberg e t al., 2003) Genzyme Biosurgery with its product Carticel ® was the first company which introduced ACT into the market and is market leader in USA. Carticel ® is a classic ACT procedure using the periosteal cover. (Husing et al., 2008) Today the periosteum is often replaced by an artificial resorbable cover such as collagen I/III and hyaluronan membrane, such as ChondroGide or Restore (De Puy, Warzaw, Indiana). (Gooding et al., 2006; Jones and Peterson, 2006) Another new method uses chondrocytes cultured on a three-dimensional, biodegradable scaffold. The scaffold, cut to the required size, is fixed into the lesion site with anchoring stitches. This method does not need the cover, thus simplifying the surgery and shorting the surgery time; opens up the possibility of arthroscopic surgery instead of open surgery which causes more tissue damage. HYALOGRAFT from Italy is one of the European market leaders. It is a cartilage substitute made of autologous chondrocytes delivered on a biocompatible tridimentsional matrix, entirely composed of a derivative of hyaluronic acid. (Marcacci et al. 2005) 2.4 Clinical follow-ups of ACI Brittberg studied the long-term durability of ACI-treated patients, 61 patients were followed for at least five years up to 11 years post-surgery (mean 7.4 years). After two years, 50 out of 61 patients were graded good-excellent. At the five to 11 years follow-up, 51 of the 61 were graded good-excellent. The total failure rate was 16% (10/61) at mean 7.4 years. (Brittberg et al., 2003) Since 1997 the year the FDA approved ACI, this method has been widely performed all over the world, in more than 20 000 patients. It has been reported to be effective in  improving clinical symptoms, such as pain and function. (Wakitani et al., 2008) 2.5 Randomised studies In 2004, Knutsen et al. studied 80 patients who needed local cartilage repair because of symptomatic lesions on the femoral condyles measuring 2-10cm2. The results showed there was no signi ¬Ã‚ cant difference in macroscopic or histological results between ACI and microfracture, and that there was no association between the histological  ¬Ã‚ ndings and the clinical outcome at the 2-year time point. (Knutsen et al., 2004) In the same series, there were no signi ¬Ã‚ cant differences in results at 5 years follow-up. (Knutsen et al., 2007) In another randomised controlled study that compared mosaicplasty with ACI, there was no significant difference in the number of patients who had an excellent or good clinical outcome at 1 year (69% [29/42] and 88% [51/58], respectively). In the subgroup of patients who had repairs to lesions of the medial femoral condyle, significantly more patients who had ACI had an excellent or good outcome (88% [21/24]) compared with those who had mosaicplasty (72% [21/29]) (p 2.6 The limitation of ACI The microfracture is a very simple and low-cost procedure whereas ACI costs almost $10 000 per patient. If ACI is not found to be more effective for improving articular cartilage repair than microfracture, the procedure will not be continued. (Wakitani et al., 2008) There are several possible reasons which should be blamed for the limitations of the traditional ACI procedure. The cell source in ACI is the cartilage tissue taken from a minor load-bearing area on the upper medial femoral condyle of the damaged knee via an arthroscopic procedure. However, Wiseman et al. found the chondrocytes isolated from the low loaded area of the knee joint respond in a distinct manner with the chondrocytes from the high loaded area, which suggests the traditional cell source of ACI may not provide enough mechanical response and may further lead to the insufficient mechanical properties of the repaired tissue. (Wiseman et al. 2003) As cultured in monolayer, chondrocytes undergo a process of dedifferentiation and adopt a more  ¬Ã‚ broblast-like morphology, which is accompanied by an increase in proliferation (Glowacki et al., 1983) and an altered phenotype. Type II collagen, the major protein produced by chondrocytes in articular cartilage, are down-regulated culture, while collagen types I and III are increased. (Stocks et al., 2002; Benya et al., 1978) The agregating proteoglycan aggrecan of articular cartilage, is down-regulated during dedifferentiation and replaced by proteoglycans not speci ¬Ã‚ c to cartilage, such as versican. (Glowacki et al., 1983; Stocks et al., 2002) Therefore, monolayer cultured chondrocytes do not express the true chondrocyte phenotype, and their ability to regenerate damaged cartilage tissue is impaired. Upon implantation, dedifferentiated cells may form a  ¬Ã‚ brous tissue expressing collagen type I that does not have the proper mechanical properties, which may lead to deg radation and failure of the repair tissue. (Brodkin et al., 2004) Chondrocytes grown in conditions that support their round shape, such as plating in high-density monolayer (Kuettner et al., 1982; Watt, 1988) and seeding in 3-D gels (Benya et al., 1982) can maintain their differentiated phenotype much longer compared to cells spread in monolayer cultures. Chapter 3 Tissue engineering strategies for articular cartilage 3.1 Introduction Although ACI can still be considered to be one of commonly form of repair of cartilage defects, it does have a number of scientific limitations. Some of those can be resolved using a more comprehensive tissue engineered strategy which incorporates cells, scaffold materials and potentially biochemical, biomechanical and/or physical stimulation in a controlled bioreactor environment. 3.2 Cell sources For a conventional ACI approach, chondrocytes are derived from the low loading area and then cultured in a monolayer. However, chondrocytes derived from the low load bearing area of the knee joint respond in a distinct manner with the chondrocytes from the high loaded area. Chondrocytes cultured in monolayer have a dedifferentiation phenomenon (Described in the previous chapter). In addition, the limitation of the transplant volume is always a major problem in autograft to be overcome (Kitaoka et al., 2001). Thus, potential cell sources are widely studied for the future improvement of ACI approach. Chondrocytes from immature animals (approximately 1-6 weeks old) have been used widely in tissue engineering studies for their ability to increase matrix synthesis and to produce better mechanical properties (Darling and Athanasiou, 2005). Kitaoka et al. examined the possibility of using hyaline cartilage of costal cartilage as a substitute to the knee joint articular cartilage. Costal cartilage cells are derived from 8-week-old male SV40 large T-antigen transgenic mice. Three mouse chondrocyte cell lines (MCC-2, MCC-5, and MCC-35) were established using cloning cylinders, which is a kind of mold. These cell lines showed chondrocytic characteristics, including formation of cartilage nodules that could be stained with alcian blue, and mRNA expression for type II collagen, type XI collagen, ALPase, osteopontin, aggrecan, and link protein (Kitaoka et al., 2001). Animal-derived bone marrow cells, in particular from rabbit origin, have shown a highly variable chondrogenic potential (Solchaga et al., 1999). The establishment of some bone marrow stromal cell lines having the ability of diffrentiation to chondrocyte has been reported, as well as some other cell lines established from rat calvaria, mouse c-fos-induced cartilage tumor and mouse embryonic carcinoma, respectively. Each of the cell lines showed chondrocytic phenotypes (Kitaoka et al., 2001). LVEC cells derived from EBs of human embryonic germ cells were reported to be homogenously differentiated into hyaline cartilage. Three dimensional tissue formation is achieved by encapsulating cells in synthetic hydrogels poly (ethylene glycol diacrylate) (PEGDA) followed by incubation in chondrocyte-conditioned medium (for the recipe, please see the paper) (Varghese et al., 2006). Periosteum consists of two layers. Fibroblasts are from the fibrous layer and progenitor cells are from the cambium layer. Progenitor cells are supposed to be able to differentiate into chondrocytes. Emans et al. compared the chondrocyte and the periosteum cell as cell source for autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) on animals. The results turned out that the condrtocytes are much better for ACI procedure (Emans et al., 2006). 3.3 Scaffolds Biomaterial scaffolds provide a critical means of controlling engineered tissue architecture and mechanical properties; allow cells attach, grow in and proliferation; allow the cell signals travelling through (Freed et al., 2006). In many in vitro or in vivo approaches, cells are grown on biomaterial scaffolds for further research or just for implantation, where new functional tissue is formed, remodelled and integrated into the body. The biomaterials which compose scaffolds are required to satisfy several properties. At first, the material as a support structure must possess enough mechanical strength to protect the cells contained in. Secondly, the material must have some bioactivity to accommodate cells for attachment, growth, proliferation and migration. The material should act as a vehicle for gene, protein and oxygen delivery. Furthermore, the material should be biodegradable for the new cartilage to form and replace the original structure. In this regard, the material should be non-toxic, non-inflammatory active, and also non-immunogenic. Finally, the material should be easy to handle for surgery procedure (Stoop, 2008). 3.3.1 Natural materials Collagen-based biomaterials are widely used in todays clinical practice (for example, haemostasis and cosmetic surgery). Collagen is also be commonly used as main components in tissue engineered skin products. Several commercial autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) products have used collagenous membraneas the replacement for the periosteum to close the defect, such as ChondroGide or Restore (De Puy, Warzaw, Indiana) (Cicuttini et al., 1996; Jones and Peterson, 2006) The .combination of collagen with glycosaminoglycan (GAG) in scaffolds had a positive effect on chondrocyte phenotype. Condrocytes were cultured in porous type I collagen matrices in the presence and absence of covalently attached chondroitin sulfate (CS) up to 14 days in a study (van Susante et al., 2001). Hyaluronic acid is a non-sulphated GAG that makes up a large proportion of cartilage extracellular matrix. In its unmodified form, it has a high biocompatibility (Schulz and Bader, 2007). Matrices composed of hyaluronan have been frequently used as a carrier for chondrocytes. Facchini et al. con ¬Ã‚ rms the hyaluronan derivative scaffold Hyaff  ®11 as a suitable scaffold both for chondrocytes and mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of articular cartilage defects in their study. HYALOGRAFT from Italy is one of the European market leaders for ACT. It is a cartilage substitute made of autologous chondrocytes delivered on a biocompatible tridimentsional matrix, entirely composed of a derivative of hyaluronic acid (Marcacci et al., 2005). Fibrin plays a major role in general wound healing and specially during healing of osteochondral defects. Fibrin glue is currently used for the fixation of other chondrocyte scaffold constructs in defects. Some investigators used fibrin glues as a matrix, but owing to the exceedingly high concentrations and protein densities involved, the glue impeded rather than facilitated cell invasion and did not support a healing response (Stoop, 2008). Susante et al. found fibrin glue does not offer enough biomechanical support as a three-dimensional scaffold (van Susante et al., 1999). Another study found fibrin and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) hybrid scaffold promotes early chondrogenesis of articular chondrocytes in vitro. They used the natural polymer fibrin to immobilize cells and to provide homogenous cells distribution in PLGA scaffolds (Shaban et al., 2008). Sugar-based natural polymers such as chitosan, alginate and agarose can be formulated as hydrogels and in some cases sponges or pads. Although these materials are extensively used in in vitro research, their role in in vivo cartilage reconstruction is still limited (Stoop, 2008). Alginate possesses a number of suitable properties as a scaffold material for cartilage tissue engineering. The mobility of alginate allows the ability of cells to be distributed throughout the scaffold before the gelling phase. Its well-characterized mechanical properties are suitable for the transmission of mechanical stimuli to cells. Furthermore, it has been proved its ability to reestablish and maintain the differentiated state of chondrocytes during long-term culture (Heywood et al., 2004). Agarose is a clear, thermoreversible hydrogel which has been applied in numerous studies in cartilage tissue engineering. This hydrogel is supportive of the chondrocyte phenotype and allows for the synthesis of a fu nctional extracellular matrix. Agarose is neutrally charged, and forms solid gels at room temperature. The initial strength of the gel is dependent on the rate of gelling, which in turn is dependent on the ambient temperature. Gel strength is also strongly dependent on the concentration of the gel in solution. Basic science studies involving agarose gel formation have demonstrated that rapid cooling leads to a decreased, more homogeneous pore size. Increasing the gel concentration additionally decreases gel pore size and permeability. A number of studies have used agarose for the investigation of chondrocyte growth and response to mechanical stimuli (Ho MMY et al., 2003). 3.3.2 Synthetic materials Potential synthetic material scaffolds for the tissue engineering of bone or cartilage include: PL (Polylactic acid) PGLA (Polyglycolicacid and copolymers) CF-PU-PLLA (Carbonfibre-Polyurethane-Poly(L-lactide)-Graft) CF-Polyester (Polyester-Carbonfibre) PU (Polyurethane) PLLA (Capralactone (Poly-L-Lactide/epsilon-Caprolactone) PLLA-PPD (Poly- L-Lactic Acid and Poly- p-Dioxanol) PVA-H (Polyvinylalcohol-Hydrogel) ß-TCP (Tricalcium phosphate) CDHA (Calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite) (Haasper et al., 2008) The major advantages of the synthetic polymers are their design flexibility and avoid of disease transmission. Synthetic polymers can be easily processed into highly porous 3-dimensional scaffolds, fibres, sheets, blocks or microspheres. However, there are also disadvantages of some synthetic polymers, such as the potential increase in local pH resulting from acidic degradation products, excessive inflammatory responses and poor clearance and chronic inflammation associated with high molecular weight polymer (Stoop, 2008). Poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) have been investigated for use as cartilage tissue engineering scaffolds (Cima et al., 1991; Vacanti et al., 1991). Both, in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated these scaffold maintained the chondrocyte phenotype and the production of cartilage-speci ¬Ã‚ c extracellular matrix (ECM) (Barnewitz et al., 2006; Kaps et al., 2006). In addition, PLGA is used as a scaffold material for matrix-based autologous chondrocyte transplantation clinically for more than 3 years (Ossendorf et al., 2007). 3.4 Biomedical stimulation Growth factors are proved to be able to promote the formation of new cartilage tissue in both explants and engineered constructs (Darling and Athanasiou, 2005). Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) can dramatically increase biosynthesis level of choncroctyes, especially in the presence of mechanical stimulation (Bonassar et al. 2001; Jin et al. 2003). Transforming growth factor-ÃŽ ²1 (TGF-ÃŽ ²1) increases biosynthesis in engineered constructs and also stimulates the cellular proliferation (Blunk et al. 2002; van der Kraan et al. 1992). Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) stimulates cell proliferation (Adolphe et al. 1984) and biosynthesis (Fujimoto et al. 1999) in chondrocytes which were cultured under a variety of conditions. 3.5 Mechanical stimulation ACI is considered a proper way for the repair of cartilage defect. However, one of the obstacles to the use of autologous chondrocytes is the limited in vitro proliferation rate of these cells. A lot of stimulations have been found to be effective in stimulating cell proliferation and ECM synthesis, including mechanical, electrical, ultrasound (Parvizi et al., 1999; Noriega et al., 2007) and even laser (Torricelli et al., 2001) stimulation. Mechanical forces due to body movement are experienced by articular cartilage every day. These forces include direct compression, tensile and shear forces, or the generation of hydrostatic pressure and electric gradients. Some level of these forces is beneficial to chondrocytes. (Schulz and Bader, 2007; Shieh and Athanasiou, 2007) There are many studies which have described the design of bioreactor systems, which can apply shear forces, perfusion, tension, hydrostatic pressure, static compression, dynamic compression on cartilage explants, monolayer cultured cells or tissue engineered constructs. (Schulz and Bader, 2007) Previous work on these bioreactor systems has demonstrated that chondrocytes are highly mechanosensitive. A summary of the key studies is provided in Table 3.1. Static compression leads to decreased levels of sulfate and proline incorporation (Sah et al., 1989; Ragan et al., 1999). Type II collagen and aggrecan gene expression increase transiently, but decrease when exposed to longer durations of static compression (Ragan et al., 1999). In contrast, dynamic compression of cartilage explants stimulates sulfate and proline incorporation, while chondrocytes em bedded in hydrogels produce more matrix and form robust constructs when cyclically compressed. (Lee and Bader, 1997; Mauck et al., 2000) Table 3.1. Influence of the different models of mechanical stimulation on the biochemical response of articular chondrocytes. References Type of m

The Rewarding Career of a Veterinarian Essay -- animals, clinic, rease

Many people have lost their pets and close family members because there is no way to get the help or medical attention that the animal so desperately needed. Every day in the United States, veterinarians are working hard to save animal’s lives. People will always continue to want and to breed pets. Therefore, to help and cure all these pets, a steady stream of veterinarians will be needed for many years to come. Over the years, the requirements and processes to becoming a veterinarian have changed. To become a successful veterinarian one must complete all necessary education and on the job training, be friendly and love animals, and have a burning passion to help both the pet and the pet owner. For anyone to become a veterinarian, one must have all the necessary requirements for both education and on the job training. During high school, science courses are highly recommended. After high school, one must obtain their doctor of veterinary medicine degree. To achieve this goal, Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center says one must â€Å"attend 4 years at college of veterinary medicine, complete 45-90 hours of undergraduate study, and must pass at least one examination in the state at in which they intend to practice† (3-4 2014). During a person’s schooling, Veterinarians are expected to make decent grades and to show an interest for learning the sciences as well as technology. Besides having the education, a person must also indulge in some training both on the job and in shadowing experiences. Most if not all training will be completed in veterinarian school and will allow the veterinarian to start working right away. â€Å"According to the 2006-07 edition o f the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, in 2004 annual sala... ...ool and dedication are necessary for succeeding in a career. Works Cited Greenland, Paul R., and Anna Marie L. â€Å"Veterinarian.† Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center.Facts On File, Inc. Web. 9. Jan. 2014. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? Item ID= WE34&SID=58iPin=COCEO66&SingleRecord=True. Devantier, Alecia T., and Carol A. Turkington, Carol A. . â€Å"Holistic Veterinarian.† Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center. Facts on File. Inc. Web. 14 Jan 2014. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? Item= WE34&SID=iPin=EJAN10016&SingleRecord=Truen. â€Å"Veterinarians† Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center. Facts on File, Inc. Web. 9 Jan 2014. Lee, Mary Price, Lee, Richard S. In: McGraw Hill Professional. Edition: Rev. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2009. eBook. Todd, Benton. Personal Interview. 26 Nov 2013.

There is Need to Review Our Education System

Liting Wang Professor Feindert ENGWR 48007 April 2018 Critique of â€Å"There is Need to Review Our Education System† T he article â€Å"There is Need to Review Our Education System: Africa News Service. (Apr. 1, 2009)Africa News Service. News Provided by Comtex. Byline: Rhoda Kalema† looks at some pressing issues that the education system in Uganda is currently facing. She is a well-known woman. According to Wikipedia, â€Å"she was honored in 1996 by Uganda's Forum for Women in Democracy as a transformative leader. On March 13, 2018, she received the Sudreau Global Justice Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pepperdine University School of Law and the Ugandan Judiciary.† There have been no proper mechanisms to foresee high-quality education is offered in the country. She explains that, the experience of educational people feels afraid for what was happing to the education world. They worry about the future get lost on what will happen to the education. If people do not have good education, they will not have a bright future. As a result, the country will fall backward and weak. It will affect the country's improvement. She suggests that, the educational administrator should start to look at this situation. In addition, both learners and teachers face challenges that make it impossible for the education system to be ranked anywhere in the world. The government is aware of these challenges but offers no solution. Through critique, the key issues facing the primary, secondary, and vocational education in Uganda are examined. The opinion that is currently viable to revive this whole situation is an overall reviewing of the education system from the tradition one to a modern one that will suit the needs of the students and benefit them to fight in equal terms with the rest of the students, if not in the world but Africa. The Ugandan government should take an example of the neighbouring Kenya, which has had several amendments in their system, and currently they have embarked on a new system of 2-6-6-3. This will make sure that the current students do not undergo the kind of suffering experienced by their fore front-runners. Everyone in the country and even those that have been lucky to secure jobs outside the country never experienced a balanced education about 25-30 years ago, and it is for this reason that they are in pain over what is happening in the education system. What is bothering them is Uganda's future is doomed to be at a loose end, if drastic measures are not put into place. Many stakeholders have reflected on several aspects that they have observed which will bring doom to the Ugandan education sector unless a review is done instantaneously and aggressively. One of the most intriguing factors with the education system is one that dates back more than four decades ago when fresh graduate teachers had the aspiration of literally igniting the classrooms. Shortly when they dive into the adventure towards greatness, these graduates understand that the procedure has been pre-decided and what is required of them is to stick within classroom limits of the syllabus. The objective here is to cover the syllabus, and any idea of presenting new substance is disapproved. There is no space for learning for information's purpose, an instructor in class is to educate and how well one educates is obvious through students' execution in exams. Those who have different thoughts of possibly to energize the students, and familiarize them with new ideas and thoughts, influence them to think, and long to know more, are left to swallow their skills and watch as the students follow the old road of the low-quality education. Guardians and parents expect more from schools. They have high expectations that school will change their kids. Occasionally, they even observe the instructor as a wonderful professional of sorts, after all an educator could influence a child to learn. A typical presumption is that tutoring will shape the children and the instructor will be the one individual to guarantee this happens. In any case, things are not as basic and practical as they appear, and teachers face challenges explaining to parents that with this old education system, they should not expect much from their children. What the government has failed to understand is that Education is a public entity, which has a good aim of providing quality training with a specific end goal to reduce variations (instruction as an equalizer). Framework change should address parts of value and correspondence and additionally the more extensive quality objective. The change procedure must be incorporated, problematic, and transformative for there to be substantial outcomes for all students. An intricate procedure must be acknowledged through community-oriented associations amongst government and other key players, for example, guardians, current society, and the private area. Sometimes individuals expect too much from old system framework models to deliver present 21st-century skilled students. Uganda like the rest of Africa has a considerably young populace that forms an important part of the human resource. The youth forms the vital group that is thought to take Africa to the next African Rebellion urged by education and training. Based on the problems that the Ugandan education system is facing, the following are some of the ways that can help redeem the learners from surging into the problematic conditions just like their predecessors. Education syllabus The current education syllabus needs through amending to suite Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE). This will enable students to gain more skills based on their talents rather than based on theories. Practical's need to be more encouraged in schools as different learners have different learning abilities. Promotion of students With a review of education systems, students can be graded based on their talents rather than their class performance. Even with the recommendation of automatically promoting students to the next grade, there can be incentives, which will see students grouped based on their talents. Vocational/technical courses The revised curriculum needs to focus on the vocational and technical teaching, to provide young skills together with the academic learning. Teaching the young people skills means that they will never be lost children. This calls for the movement to come up with improved and more accessible vocational colleges, which are modern and which go hand in hand with the rest of the world to ensure students rank well outside Africa and the rest of the world when they go job seeking. In addition to that, parents should be taught to encourage their children not to follow the old model of only seeing them worth if they take white color jobs. In conclusion, anything that contributes to meeting the huge needs of the education systems in Africa is a positive thing. Such programs or projects are driven by people who want to serve the general good of the country in the area that, as a reminder, is the top priority of all priorities. The impression that one's gets is that there is a desire to be involved in proposing the beginnings of a solution, a standard foundation for teaching that will integrate specific local features and at the same time train future citizens of an interconnected and culturally very mixed world. A change of school learning system will reflect this concept, and it is an interesting one. The important thing is that there are on-going discussion and dialogue, and adjustments constantly being made to ensure the consistency at country level and then ideally, at the level of each regional African community, of an educational offering that necessarily has to be diversified. This is also one of the recommendations from the summary of the debate that we must have high-level, national education authorities, which must be separate and independent from the governments. They should also be tasked with the responsibility of managing the fundamental choices affecting education systems in the long term, to set a course that is not changed every time there is a change in government. Work Citedâ€Å"There is Need to Review Our Education System.† Africa News Service, 1 Apr. 2009. Opposing Viewpoints In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A196876335/OVIC?u=sacr73031&sid=OVIC&xid=d3a28488. Accessed 3 Apr. 2018.

Life’s Path Is A Maze Essay

As a writer, I feel I am going through a maze. In the beginning I realized there is more than one path to take, either it can lead me toward success or it can lead to a dead end. In my mind I know it can be easy at times, but other times when I come to a stopping point I overthink things. I feel like my choices need to be made right away. I think of it as temptations being called from every direction. One way will lead me to the finish line and the other path will only take me back to where I had started. When I’m given a writing assignment I feel the pressures is on. I’m ready to step up and face the biggest challenge I have in English class which is essays. As I was told, it is okay to write my first draft essay badly to make it easier, but as we get further along everything seems to be going faster. â€Å"When we are finished with the essay the pressure on my decisions are finally over.† I am relieved and confident in my first draft. Hopefully this will lead m e to the key to life in English. A Radiology Technologist performs imaging of the human body for diagnosis or treating medical problems. My dream is to become a Radiology Technologist and day after day it had transformed me into an ambition which I wanted to move towards. A Radiology Technologist requires you to gain four top skills throughout your learning experience; Communication, Physical, Clinical, and Education. First, I will keep working hard at Seward so I’m able to get the appropriate basic skills for me to get into the Radiology program in Weatherford. I will acquire a variety of classes that will challenge me to write many different papers. In order for me to become successful in my career I will focus on becoming a better writer. Writing will be a huge part of my career because I will need to interview patients to learn about their medical history, write reports for referring doctors, and also communicate Therapeutic and Diagnostic position. Although this will be a challenge, I will try my best to achieve this goal. My goals for school are ridiculously challenging. I want to be able to  understand critically and accurately, which means I have to develop my own reasoning and stand up for what I believe in. My second goal is to learn to write clearly and precisely. I am determined to be able to expand my vocabulary so that I can paint a strong mental picture in someone’s mind when I’m explaining something. My third goal is to be exposed to ideas outside of my own background. I need to be able to get out of my comfort zone, I’m a shy person when it comes to doing activities that I’m not familiar with. This goal will give me the opportunity to use personal and professional skills which I will gain as I get further along in my studies. My last goal is to learn how to interact reasonably and responsibly with others. Interacting with others provide great working relationships, and successful communication. This goal helps build strong character with others as a Radiology T echnologist. â€Å"When life hands you lemons, have someone else make you some lemonade.† This is a quote I found on the internet that I’ve followed through life which has helped me now and will also allow me to face many challenges in the future. In my eyes it means when something negative happens try to make the best of it and when something positive happens you make it sweet. When I hear someone say smart goals I think of Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. My English teacher from sophomore and senior year taught me this. It means, my specific goal would be to become a Radiology Technologist. I would then ask myself how much time will this take. How will I know when my goal is accomplished? When I look at these questions it helps me realize how important my goal. I also have to think about how my goal is realistic? In my opinion yes, because it isn’t impossible to go into the medical field. You have to be willing to put others before yourself. The last part I think about is how much time this will take. I want to be able to transfer to a four year university in order for me to get the right training for my career. Dreams are the most amazing thing people can strive for. We all love to dream, to hope, and to see ourselves get better each day. Every one of us dreams of being something big in life whether it’s becoming a lawyer, doctor, or maybe a police officer. In order to pursue my dreams I have to become a stronger writer. Which means I have to complete my studies and work hard to achieve many more goals in life. If I put my best abilities forward I can accomplish my goals in the best way possible. There’s no doubt that there will be times when I feel  like giving up, but I know I can’t give up on myself and my family. I have to learn to just stand up and try even if I have to try for a thousand times. when I finally reach my goals I’ll feel happy from deep inside my heart because then I’ll l be doing exactly what I love to do and I’ll be testing my wildest dreams . I believe nothing can be compared to this moment because when you set your dreams in front of your eyes and work for them, there will be no d oubt in my mind that I will achieve them someday. I will also be able to say I’m proud of myself because I proved that there’s nothing impossible when I actually was determined to do.

Dog’s Death Research Paper Example

Dog’s Death Research Paper Example Dog’s Death Paper Dog’s Death Paper Essay Topic: Literature The poem Dog’s Death, written by John Updike, takes you through the emotions of the love and loss of a family dog. The author uses tone and diction to make you emotionally attached to what the family is going through. â€Å"To bite my hand and died. I stroked her warm fur. † Though surrounded by love that would have upheld her, â€Å"nevertheless she sank and, stiffening, disappeared. † (Lines 13-16). The author uses rhymes at the end of each line. This, I believe, is to up the intensity of how the dog died. He also uses antithesis, opposing words, such as ‘upheld’ and ‘sank’. The love the family has for this dog is so immense that they thought the act of caring would hopefully keep their dog hanging on until they got to the vet. Little did they know that while they were rough housing with their pet, she was slowly dying on the inside. The word choice the author uses really brings out an easier way to comprehend what is going on without actually saying it. â€Å"And her heart was learning how to lie down forever. † (Line 8). By using ‘lie down’ in this form, you then know that the dog is inevitably going to die because that’s a dog command you use on dogs to get them to rest. To say the heart is going to lie down forever, you’re able to understand that she is slowly dying. A dog will never let their loyalty to their owners down, even when it comes to circumstances such as being nearly dead. Dog’s Death really touched me when I read it for the first time. His use of imagery in this poem is very touching. He makes the reader relate to the death of the dog by showing through his words the emotions of what the dog is going through as well as what his owners are feeling. This paper will show how I think the author was trying to use imagery to show the love between the dog and his owners. The reader-response approach in literary criticism is where the author â€Å"finds a personal link or imaginative entry into a story, poem, or play† (Clugston, 2010). I believe that this approach would be the best type of literary criticism for this poem. â€Å"The author uses symbolism, empathy, and imagery designed to reveal the tone I observed. His use of personification gave the dog human like qualities. He also used the personification to stress the emotional impact that losing a loved one had on the family. It touched my heart so much because over the years, we have had 8 dogs that have passed. It is a very emotional time and I think that in this poem where he states â€Å"And my wife called in a voice imperious with tears (John Updike, 1958)†, tells how much the dog was loved by his owners. It starts when you first bring the puppy home and go through the training process. The love grows unconditionally. Like the poem states, â€Å"Too young to know much, she was beginning to learn (John Updike, 1958), she didn’t know any better to stay away from the street, so there for by being kicked or brushed by a car, no one will ever know. The puppy only knows that when she’s good, she gets praised, so she tries to impress its owners. The final lines in his poem create an initial feeling of sympathy, which is likely to become empathy if the reader reflects on the dogs predicament in not being able to communicate its final struggle. † To know that, even though the dog was deathly sick, she was still able to get to the newspaper to play (Clugston, 2010).

Ecommerce. essays

Ecommerce. essays E-Commerce (E-Business) refers to All business processes that take place across electronic networks. This includes everything from the selling of goods through the World Wide Web to bar-coding in supermarkets to interactive television and a whole host of other emerging technologies. eBusiness integrates Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with traditional business processes, introducing efficiencies that cut costs and increase profits. Businesses can be promoted internationally on the internet and business transactions buying, selling and payment can be carried out on line. The continuing trends are for new services coming online at a rapid rate from all corners of the globe. Some high spending consumer groups are adopting the internet as a way of shopping. Increased opportunities for niche markets are arising, as are greater competition for those not meeting customer needs precisely. The initial presence of a business online is an electronic address and a home page on the internet, the home page is in essence an electronic brochure or catalogue. It is stored in electronic format on that businesses computer or on a service providers computer. Electronic commerce will impact on consumer markets and business to business markets. The initial consumer sectors to be affected are specialist retail, tourism, education and entertainment. Software and electronic sectors and business information sectors already use the internet for supplying data, technical assistance, upgrades and demonstrations. E-Business Survey - Preliminary Results 20 May 2002 A new survey commissioned by the Ministry indicates that there has been a huge surge in business use of the Internet over the 21 months since a previous survey in August 2000. Three of every four large firms (over 50 full-time staff) now have their own website and almost all (95%) have a domain name. Of the firms surveyed, ·...

Hell-bent and Hell-for-leather

Hell-bent and Hell-for-leather Hell-bent and Hell-for-leather Hell-bent and Hell-for-leather By Maeve Maddox A reader has asked about the expression hell-bent for leather. The expression fuses â€Å"hell-bent† with another expression, â€Å"hell-for-leather.† The bent in hell-bent is the past participle of the verb to bend, a word with at least 23 definitions in the OED. To be â€Å"bent on something† is to be determined to do a specific thing. Ex. He was bent upon becoming Prime Minister. She was bent on proving him wrong. One of the meanings of â€Å"to bend† is â€Å"to go in a certain direction.† Literally, then, to be â€Å"hell-bent† would mean â€Å"going in the direction of hell.† The way we use it, to be â€Å"hell-bent on something† means to be wholeheartedly determined to get something done. The OED gives these citations: 1731 Ab-origines in Arms..did then resort, In Haste to Susquehanna Fort, Hell bent on Thoughts of Massacree. 1835 A large encampment of savages,..‘hell-bent on carnage’. 1891The state of Texas, or at least its legislature, went hell-bent for the reform of railroads. The OED defines â€Å"hell-bent† as both adjective and adverb: hell-bent: adj.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Usually in predicative use, with on, upon, or infinitive. Determined to achieve something at all costs; passionately or recklessly intent. hell-bent: adv.  Ã‚  In a hell-bent manner; with no effort or resources spared; all out, wholeheartedly, totally; determinedly, doggedly. The expression hell-for-leather means at â€Å"breakneck speed, very fast† and was originally used with reference to riding on horseback. It may have originated with Kipling. The earliest citation in the OED is from an 1889 Kipling story, â€Å"The Valley of the Shadow.† CAPT. M. (Jealously) Then dont say it! Leave him alone. Its not bad enough to croak over. Here, Gaddy, take the chit to Bingle and ride hell-for-leather. Itll do you good. I cant go. JUNIOR CHAPLAIN. (Flicking M.s charger.) Thatll do, thanks. Turn in, Gadsby, and Ill bring Bingle backahemhell-for-leather. The fused expression hell-bent for leather (1926) is apparently an American coinage that fuses hell-bent with hell-for-leather and means â€Å"recklessly fast.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:36 Adjectives Describing Light3 Cases of Complicated Hyphenation10 Functions of the Comma

Royal Exchange Theatre, St Anns Square Assignment

Royal Exchange Theatre, St Anns Square - Assignment Example The place where the Royal Exchange is housed is one of the most visited places in Manchester and is dotted with shopping centres and malls. Therefore, it gives the people every chance of entertainment and the people are too happy to take the chance. The architectural beauty of the theatre has been revered by all sectors of the society and it holds a place of pride for the people of the society. (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, n.d.; Background information, n.d.; Welcome, n.d.) The Royal Theatre of Manchester was made in 1968. The theatre was constructed in a house, which was the place for the cotton trading of the world. The hall of the house was one of the largest places of trading in the world. The largeness of the hall raised the interests of the group of men and they conceived the idea of the theatre. The Theatre was damaged considerably in the bombing of the Manchester City Center in 1996. However, the management of the theatre was quick to reciprocate and the theatre came into being in a completely new shape and style. The new theatre had malls and eating centres attached to the theatre. This gave the people more reasons to visit the theatre. The theatre had become one of the favourite pastimes of the people in Manchester. The modern-day theatre consists of three parts - the theatre, the studio and the corporate lounge. The theatre is where the performances or the theatres take place. The studio is the place where the performances of the small groups or the visiting theatre companies take place. The companies and the organizations for their private functions take the corporate lounge. Therefore, the theatre has encompassed itself in all types of activities. The theatre has become an absolute package for entertainment purposes. The theatre caters to the different sectors of the society-the common man, art lover, and the corporates.  Ã‚  

Legal Fictions (Plato, Xenophon and Henry David Thoreau) Essay

Legal Fictions (Plato, Xenophon and Henry David Thoreau) - Essay Example describes Socrates tone as almost ‘arrogant’ and Plato also observes that the philosopher speaks from a ‘high standing’ and uses a ‘lofty manner’ in his address. Secondly both agree that Socrates used the Oracle in his defense. Socrates claimed that the Oracle had declared him the ‘wisest’ and ‘most prudent’ of all people. Furthermore both describe Socrates claim that a divine voice guides him in his mission. Ans.3. Socrates refers to his mission to find the wisest man as a ‘labor of Hercules’ in his speech of defense. He implies that he has wandered far and wide and made a Herculean effort to find a man wiser than himself. (Plato) About to die at the hands of his corrupt worldly judges, Socrates longs for true justice in the after life. He mentions three judges of Hades (the underworld) - Minos, Rhadamanthus and Aeacus.(Plato) Ans.4. According to Thoreau the only place in a slave state in which a free man can abide with honor is prison. Three groups that can find him there are the Mexican prisoner, the fugitive slave and the Indian come to plead his case. No man of honor can live without protesting the injustice done to these three groups by the government, and by law the state imprisons all dissenters. Thus the only abode of the true supporters of these oppressed groups is prison. Ans.5. "Now what are they? Men at all? Or small moveable forts and magazines, at the service of some unscrupulous man in power?† This quote is taken from the essay ‘Civil Disobedience’. Here Thoreau mocks the mentality of the soldiers who follow the law so strictly that they are ready to die and kill for it even when they know that a particular law or order is morally unjust. â€Å"As they live and rule only by their servility, and appealing to the worse, and not the better, nature of man, the people who read them are in the condition of the dog that returns to his vomit†. This quote is taken from the essay ‘Slavery in Massachusetts. Thoreau is

Compound Interest and the Power of Saving Essay

Compound Interest and the Power of Saving - Essay Example Interest in a nut shell is the cost of buying and selling money. The Banks buy money from you when you deposit money in the savings accounts or Certificate of Deposits at the Banks. The Banks give you a rate of interest on those accounts. But what do banks get out of that They then sell the money through loans and credit cards. So let us suppose the Banks give you 3% interest rate on the savings account and get 8% interest rate on a loan they give out. Essentially they make a profit of 5 % on that money. Now what is compounding of interest Simply put when interest is being paid on some money, that interest is added to the money and then the interest clock starts ticking on the new amount. Though it does not particularly sound exciting it is a very powerful concept and if utilized well can financially benefit anyone who understands it. To understand this concept an old parlor trick question can help. That question is, what would you prefer $1000 everyday for a month or a penny doubled everyday for the month (i.e. 1 cent the first day 2 cents the second day 4 cents the third day etc.). The mathematically astute person knows that this is a no contest and the person taking the penny doubling offer wins by a huge margin. The compound interest can be explained like this .Simple interest as we already know is the interest that is derived from only the investment in a principal amount. Say we take $100 and put it in an investment for one year at a simple interest rate of 10%. We multiply the interest rate of 10% times the principal amount of $100 to derive an interest payment of $10. This seems fairly obvious and straightforward. But let's look at what happens in the second year if the interest is not paid out. In a "compound" investment, the interest is not paid out to the holder; it is built up within the investment. Consider our $100 above. If the interest was paid out after the first year, we would get our $10 in interest and have our original $100 still invested. If the interest is not paid out, however, we would have our original principal of $100 plus $10 in interest for a total of $110 at the end of the first year. This entire amount would bear the original interest rate of 10% for the second year. Not only would we get 10% or $10.00 in interest on the original principal of $100, we would also get $1 which is 10% on the $10.00 interest from the first year. Our total interest received would be $11. This would continue into the third year. At the end of the second year, since we have not paid out any interest, we would start with our $110 from the end of the first year plus the $11 we earned in the second year. This would give us a third year opening balance of $121 which would bear interest of 10% for the third year. Our 10% interest on $121 equals $12.10. Assuming we still don't pay out any interest, we will now have a total investment of $133.10. Well it still does not look too exciting. But let us extrapolate this further. If we leave t his $100 alone for about 30 years we will end up with a $ 1000. Now that is interesting but definitely not exciting. Well how about this using the same mathematics if you save a $100 a week in thirty years that is One Million dollars. Now that without any doubt is exciting. But this sounds too good to be true, so the skeptic in me says that most likely in 30 years Million dollars would be

Economics of war Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economics of war - Research Paper Example The causes of war have been different over the years and so have been their consequences. While come believe that wars are wrong no matter why they are caused and what is gained out of them; others believe that all’s well that ends well. But wars have never ended in good only. When it has resulted in a power fight and one nation seems to have won it, it has also lost the blood of many of its dedicated soldiers and other innocent nationals of its area. These days, almost every nation is equipped with nuclear weaponry making wars more deadly than ever. The first nuclear attack in the world was on Nagasaki and Hiroshima at the time of the end of World War 1. It marked the end of these cities and the civilizations that nurtured there. With the years going by, nuclear weaponry has only improved, thereby, indicating that now if one nation decided to blow up another using its nuclear power, it most likely to destruct a large part of the globe (Poast, 115). Indeed, the loss will be mu ch greater in emotional, financial and earthy sense than anyone can imagine. This is why it is very important for nations to carefully understand the economics of war before indulging themselves in such an activity. We are here not only to conquer places and make money but also to learn to live in harmony with each other. Every nation, color, creed and civilization is different from the other but this is no excuse for a war, we need to understand and accept these differences and in fact cherish them (Walzer, 200). Economics of war The most fundamental concept of Economics is of opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is the cost of what we forgo for what we gain or hope to gain from anything that we consume or purchase or decide about. For example, if a nation wishes to indulge in a war with another nation, it needs to first evaluate what it may gain. It may achieve success, money, land, power, slaves etc. it also needs to evaluate what it may lose in the process. And it may lose all tha t it may gain in addition to the lives of many innocent people. Also, it would waste its time and resources which may have been put to better use otherwise(Arnson, 45). Thus this evaluation of economics of war is essential for all the nations today. Any nation that decides to posing a war without thinking of its consequences will be doing more harm to itself and the world than it can imagine. Wastage of scarce resources The world is full of scarce resources. We need to use them very carefully or we will deprive ourselves and our coming generations of blessings like electricity, locomotives and other machines that make our lives much easier. Wars on the other hand require a lot of resources, a lot more than we can otherwise imagine consuming in the same time frame. Thus, when indulging in warfare, a country needs to be sure what it is at the risk of losing. Weaponry is expensive so is fuel that is used to drive large tanks and nuclear weapons and missiles are very expensive and destr uctive. A country may very well use the economic resources that it plans on warfare to improving its own nation’s industries, roads, parks and other national amenities thereby improving the living standard of its nationals (Egnal, 314). The world is a global village. We all live in a very interrelated surrounding. The ecosystem is balanced because one thing supports the other. It is all like a large heap of books, one on the other. The war may be a blow

Negligence and tort law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Negligence and tort law - Essay Example Where no duty is owed there can be no liability The Structure of Negligence The definition of negligence in ordinary parlance is carelessness. Its strict legal analysis was given by Lord Wright in Lochgelly Iron and Coal Co vs. McMullan (1934): â€Å"†¦.negligence means more than heedless or careless conduct, whether in omission or commission: it properly connotes the complex concept of duty, breach and damage thereby suffered by the person to whom the duty was owed.† Negligence as a tort is that made up of a tripartite element structure: the defendant in being careless must have breached a duty, which results in damage and such damage mustn’t be too remote from the cause, (Feinman 2010, P. 34). To have breached a duty, the defendant must have owed it to the claimant and the defendant himself must have fallen below certain legal standards. The defendant’s actions must be tied to the legal injury suffered by the claimant such injury being worthy of compensati on. A judgement will be centred on these three concepts but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are separate and distinct, they overlap to a great extent. Virtually anyone can be capable of negligence: an occupier of premises, a driver, manufacturers and retailers. The â€Å"general conception of relations† that give rise to a duty of care is as, per Lord Atkins, between neighbours. â€Å"Persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in my contemplation as being affected when I am directing my mind to acts or omissions which are called in question.†-Lord Atkins, Donoghue vs. Stevenson (1932). The duty of care generally extends only to individuals directly harmed and whose interaction with the tortfeasor is reasonably foreseeable, (University of London 2005, P.14). The conceptual structure of negligence tort has been agreed among scholarly circles to encompass five basic elements: the existence of a duty of a care, breach of this duty, factual causation, remoteness and finally legal injury. Duty of Care Until the recent case of Caparo Industries vs. Dickman (1990), duty of care was established by applying Lord Atkin’s Neighbour test from Donoghue vs. Stevenson (1932) which was at the root of the fault principle in Common Law jurisdictions. Lord MacMillan set out a new category of delict not particularly based on negligence per se but on the implied warranty of fitness of product, (Eren 2007, Para. 4). In Caparo vs. Dickman, the formula currently determining the duty of care as used by courts was founded. In the test, three things must be established: whether the consequences of the defendant’s act were reasonably foreseeable, whether there is a relationship of proximity between the parties, physical or legal and whether in all the circumstances it was just fair and reasonable that the law should impose a duty. In the case, economic loss due to negligent misstatement by a co mpany accountants was held remote as there was no proximity between accountants and those who would rely on their reports, (Smith & Burns

Texting While Driving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Texting While Driving - Essay Example The reality is that every day thousands of text messages and emails are sent and read from behind the wheel by America drivers, and indeed drivers all over the world. Driving while texting has been claimed to cause accidents for the following reasons; it reduces concentration and prevents the driver from focusing on the road and the cars ahead beside or behind him/her. This is because texting takes up a good deal of sensory, motor faculties which are required for drivers to put their full focus on the road. As a result, they are likely to veer off the road and/or cause accidents resulting in fatalities for the driver passenger’s pedestrians and other road users. Despite this, others claim that texting while driving is fine and no more dangerous than eating or talking to the passenger next to the driver in the car. In fact, by virtue of driving itself being dangerous, we have speed and age limits; therefore, it transpires then that if one is qualified to drive he/she should als o be qualified to text while driving. However, if the argument is followed to its logical conclusions it will imply actions be banned based on the rate of death. In such a situation texting and driving would not be the only thing banned, even driving itself would be outlawed given its high death toll even in the absence of distractions. Bearing in mind that texting has become almost second nature to most people, it begs the question whether people should be encouraged to avoid driving and texting or trained on how to do both. Quizzed on the effects of this, proponents of this debate assert that they did not find texting while driving to be a significant risk; some are of the opinion that texting is no more different from using GPRS to check for directions (Stephens). The American federal and state laws have tried to limit mobile phone activity while driving, and this has included banns or limitations from calling or texting while driving. However, it is notable that the matter is no t unequivocally agreed on since not every state has banns on texting or calling while driving. Thirty nine states have banned texting and driving while five have outlawed the same for novice drivers; school bus drivers in 19 states are not allowed to make phone calls, only in three states are they forbidden to text while driving; Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas (â€Å"Cellphone and texting laws†). In year 2010, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration realized that the number of Americans texting or otherwise manipulating cellphones and driving had risen to 0.9 percent (â€Å"Driver Electronic Device Use in 2010†). Majority of those who text while driving, fall in the teenage and young driver bracket, and they are likely to do more than just text since with smart phones they can access Facebook and other social networking sites which may be more involving than texting. Ultimately, despite the many opinions on the issue, the law seems bent on outlawing the pra ctice since the opinion of the majority is apparently not in favor of allowing it. This can be seen in that most states have outlawed it, and in most cases should a police officer find someone driving and texting in this states they may charge you with dangerous driving. One of the leading insurance firms in the country, nationwide insurance has also strongly supported the ban for Texting While Driving-TWD (â€Å"Nationwide Insurance†¦

Negligence and tort law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Negligence and tort law - Essay Example Where no duty is owed there can be no liability The Structure of Negligence The definition of negligence in ordinary parlance is carelessness. Its strict legal analysis was given by Lord Wright in Lochgelly Iron and Coal Co vs. McMullan (1934): â€Å"†¦.negligence means more than heedless or careless conduct, whether in omission or commission: it properly connotes the complex concept of duty, breach and damage thereby suffered by the person to whom the duty was owed.† Negligence as a tort is that made up of a tripartite element structure: the defendant in being careless must have breached a duty, which results in damage and such damage mustn’t be too remote from the cause, (Feinman 2010, P. 34). To have breached a duty, the defendant must have owed it to the claimant and the defendant himself must have fallen below certain legal standards. The defendant’s actions must be tied to the legal injury suffered by the claimant such injury being worthy of compensati on. A judgement will be centred on these three concepts but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are separate and distinct, they overlap to a great extent. Virtually anyone can be capable of negligence: an occupier of premises, a driver, manufacturers and retailers. The â€Å"general conception of relations† that give rise to a duty of care is as, per Lord Atkins, between neighbours. â€Å"Persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in my contemplation as being affected when I am directing my mind to acts or omissions which are called in question.†-Lord Atkins, Donoghue vs. Stevenson (1932). The duty of care generally extends only to individuals directly harmed and whose interaction with the tortfeasor is reasonably foreseeable, (University of London 2005, P.14). The conceptual structure of negligence tort has been agreed among scholarly circles to encompass five basic elements: the existence of a duty of a care, breach of this duty, factual causation, remoteness and finally legal injury. Duty of Care Until the recent case of Caparo Industries vs. Dickman (1990), duty of care was established by applying Lord Atkin’s Neighbour test from Donoghue vs. Stevenson (1932) which was at the root of the fault principle in Common Law jurisdictions. Lord MacMillan set out a new category of delict not particularly based on negligence per se but on the implied warranty of fitness of product, (Eren 2007, Para. 4). In Caparo vs. Dickman, the formula currently determining the duty of care as used by courts was founded. In the test, three things must be established: whether the consequences of the defendant’s act were reasonably foreseeable, whether there is a relationship of proximity between the parties, physical or legal and whether in all the circumstances it was just fair and reasonable that the law should impose a duty. In the case, economic loss due to negligent misstatement by a co mpany accountants was held remote as there was no proximity between accountants and those who would rely on their reports, (Smith & Burns

The Adventure of the Speckled Band Essay Example for Free

The Adventure of the Speckled Band   Essay This passage is very strange since it is a comedy scene in a very serious situation. It is in contrast to the rest of the story and may have been used to give light relief to the reader following the tense episodes before.  Towards the end of the story, the writer takes us inside the mind of anarchist. Showing us how he feels triumphant and more powerful than any anarchist before, how he has now become infamous.  How brilliantly he had planned it, forged the letter of introduction, and got into the laboratory, and how brilliantly he had seized his opportunity! The world should hear of him at last. All those people who had sneered at him, neglected him, preferred other people to him, found his company undesirable, should consider him at last. This is ironic because, as he is getting more and more confident about being famous, the tube containing Cholera breaks on him. The anarchist knows that he will now be the first to die and that he now cannot kill anyone else as he had hoped. The mood changes as the anarchist is no longer feeling triumphant but depressed until he realises that if he drinks the tiny drops left that he will be the first to die but will also be a martyr to his cause. He jumps out of his cab and begins to brush himself against on as many people as he can, hoping to spread the disease. The end of the story is very ironic and has a twist which we also saw in Napoleon and the Spectre. The germ that the Anarchist stole was not a germ at all, he had stole the bacteriologists formula to turn monkey, kittens and puppies blue. He only told the anarchist it was Cholera to impress him. The bacteriologist yelled blue ruin when the anarchist had taken it because that was the name of the formula, and he chased after him because it would have been too much trouble to make another batch.  In conclusion, I thought this story was good; it had sudden mood changes which made it interesting and a twist at the end of the story, which kept the intrigue going to the end. The Adventure of the Speckled Band  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in 1859 and died in 1930. He created the world famous character Sherlock Holmes in a story called A Study in Scarlet published in 1887. He based the character on Joseph Bell, who was a surgeon he had trained with and was particularly struck by his powers of observation and logic. The Adventure of the Speckled Band was widely admired as one of the best written, most exciting Sherlock Holmes stories, it was written in 1892. The story begins with Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes assistant, explaining about Holmes and how he solves cases I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis, with which he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him From this we not only learn Holmes method of work but also that his companion Watson, holds him in high regard. The character Watson is a little dim, which emphasises Sherlocks cleverness and intuitiveness. This shows that there is contrast between the characters. Holmes is approached by Miss Helen Stoner who is desperate for his help concerning her sisters mysterious death. On meeting Holmes he comments on her shivering it is not cold which makes me shiver. It is fear Mr Holmes. It is terror This captures the readers interest and they are eager to find out what this young lady is so afraid of.  The reader sees Sherlock Holmes deductive techniques almost at once, when he makes and observation about the sleeves of his client, Miss Helen Stoner. There is no mystery, my dear madam, said he, smiling. The left arm of your jacket is splattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left hand side of the driver. This gives the reader a clear idea of how Sherlock approaches a case and his acute sense of observation. Miss Stoner is extremely anxious about her sisters mysterious death. Helens sister, Julia, died in a locked room, just before she was due to get married and her death could not be explained But I have heard Mr Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid the dangers which encompass me This not only gets the full attention of Holmes but of the audience too. Helen is about to become married and is due to stay in the same room as her sister and is therefore very worried. When reading her account of what happened, we are introduced to her Step- father Dr Roylott, we learn that he has killed his butler. This gives a dark impression of him from the start. We then learn that he is to give each of his step daughters an annual sum in the event of their marriage. Doyle continues to build a negative image of Dr Roylott, referring to his temper approaching mania and him becoming the terror of the village and folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger The reader now has a very clear image that this is a character to fear and tension is beginning to build in them as to what this man is capable of. They are also given a clue as what is coming when Doyle refers to Royletts passion for Indian animals. In contrast to Dr Royletts frightening demeanour, Doyle shows Helen Stoner and her sister to be frail, long suffering victims of this man You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives The reader is made to feel pity for these girls.  Miss Stoner goes on to relate her sisters untimely and mysterious death. We learn that Dr Roylett, Julia and Helens bedrooms were all together on the ground floor of the manor house. There is no connection between these rooms and they all open onto the same corridor. We also learn that the sisters lock themselves into their room at night as they dont feel safe with Dr Royletts exotic animals roaming around. Julia has mentioned to her a strange whistling that she has heard during the previous nights have you ever heard anyone whistle in the dead of night? This is an extremely eerie comment and intrigues the reader as to what may be responsible for this sound. We see the same technique used in Napoleon and the Spectre. It is at this point that the reader is first made aware of the speckled band As Helen recounts the events of her sisters death, she refers to a low whistle preceded a wild scream of a terrified woman. She goes on to tell how she found her sister her face blanched with terror collapsing in terrible pain and shrieking about It was a band! The speckled band. Doyle has used a lot of descriptive language to create this scene, to give the reader a clear picture of the horrendous death of this young woman. This builds the tension that is already building in the audience in terms of Dr Roylett. The next part of the story relays how Helen herself is due to be married and has to stay in the room her sister died in. On the first night there, Helen while laying awake and thinking of her sisters death, hears a low whistle. It is following this episode that Helen runs from the manor house and goes to Sherlock Holmes for help. The reader is now full of tension and is desperate to see Sherlock protect Helen from this unseen danger. This shows that Doyle has achieved a high level of climatic tension. He increases the tension further by bringing Holmes and Dr Roylett together. The description of Roylett in detailed and uses metaphors like seared with a thousand wrinkles and marked with every evil passion he ends his description by comparing Roylett to a fierce bird of prey Once again the reader is given a clear and negative picture of Roylett and empasises that Helen may be his object of prey. Holmes however is not in the slightest bit intimidated by Roylett which reassures the reader that Holmes may yet be able to protect Helen from her step father. When Roylett bends the poker with his bare hands and throws the twisted poker into the fireplace Holmes laughs at this which reinforces to the reader that Holmes is not intimidated by Roylett and is therefore the hero in the story. The story then moves to Holmes examining the three bedrooms at the manor house. He discovers that in Helens room, which was previously Julias room, that there is a dummy bell rope This is very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little opening for the ventilator is he also spots that the ventilators do not ventilate. This allows the reader to attempt to solve the puzzles alongside Holmes which keeps them intrigued. Another clue is revealed upon the discovery of a saucer of milk on Dr Royletts desk. Doyle has given the reader enough clues to solve the mystery themselves, however he has also littered the case with red herrings. This adds to the intrigue and tension within the story. Towards the end of the story Doyle uses a conversation between Watson and Holmes to highlight the significant clues. This keeps the clues fresh in the readers mind and again gives them the opportunity to solve the case themselves. This is a clever literary device as it keeps the reader who wants to solve the crime themselves interested but for those who are not keen to do the work they still want to read on as they are aware they are near to the solution becoming evident.  The story concludes with Holmes pulling all the pieces of evidence together and giving a blow by blow description of the events. This was my favourite of the three stories. I particularly liked the way Doyle gave the reader the opportunity to solve the crime themselves. This keeps the reader actively involved with the story and makes them eager to read on to gather more and more evidence. I enjoyed the manner in which Doyle makes you care for the victim and therefore get behind Holmes in his attempts to solve the crime, even though all along you know he will. This style of writing would encourage readers to want to read more Doyle stories as you would develop an affection for Watson and Holmes. Almost as though they were personal friends.

What is quality management?

What is quality management? Question 1 (a)Benchmarking Benchmarking measures performance or quality aspects against a competitor or industry standard. For example we could benchmark the profits made on internal projects. The importance of benchmarking is that it continuously assess the companys performance results against that of its competitors and helps implement good practices to achieve set targets, improve efficiency and to maintain competitiveness. It is also important in decreasing the risks linked with change by observing what factors contributed to the success of other companies. (b) 7-Run Rule The Seven Run Rule, is a technique used for quality control and its importance lies in the fact that it can be used to identify non-random problems when using control charts. It is normally an automatic process whereby alerts are generated when there is a significant variation in output. It helps by determining the non-random problems by evaluating progression of specific characters for the development of products characteristics (for e.g. the no. of defects in software) which could occur in a minimum seven time period. It allows the project manager to see the processes that are out of control, thus he is able to identify the causes of these non-random events and make adjustments to the process to correct or eliminate them (c) International standards There are many tools for quality management, including quality standards and models. Some of them are: ISO 9000:2008 Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) ISO/IEC 9126 Software engineering ISO 15504 also known as SPICE Quality can be defined as exceeding customer needs and expectations throughout the life of a product. When we build a system, developers are looking for performance and comply with the users requirements and how well it meets the users needs fitness for use. But it happens that the system developed which is in conformity to the requirements may at the end not please the customer who is becoming more conscious about the quality of the product he is paying for. Customers are more comfortable if they see that quality is being addressed during the project. Nowadays customers requirements/needs are very high, their quality aspects have got much better, they are more demanding now compared to some time back and thats why we have customers issue management. The International Standards are important because they provide rooms for performance improvement in potentially all the activities undertaken by the organization by adopting a systematic and scientific approach to managing the organisation processes/deliverables so that they consistently deliver a product/service as per customers expectations. These processes can be quite easily managed and monitored. In return they improve and ensure that appropriate quality of service is provided to customers and as such the level of customer satisfaction automatically gets increased. Additionally International Standards are also important in helping organisations to provide a kitemark seal of approval for customers and suppliers so they know that the work of the company is of a high standard. (d) Delphi Technique We know that the higher the number of participants in a meeting, the decision making process takes longer in terms of time due to devils advocate. The meeting can get monopolised by the devils advocate whose eccentric views can reach unjustified significance and prevent the group to find consensus. We also know that in a face-to-face discussion, situations of groupthink can occur. This can lead to poor decision making which in turn leads to decrease in quality. So, to avoid such negativities, the Delphi technique is used instead. The importance of Delphi technique is that it decreases such disadvantages towards decision making in groups and creates conducive working environment whereby the probability of groupthink is zero. Anonymity allows the participants to express their opinions freely, promote frankness and avoids approving errors by reviewing earlier forecasts. Its aim is to ensure that everyone gets a fair and equitable chance to express their viewpoint, identify areas where there is agreement or disagreement and try to find consensus. It significantly improves processes of meetings to ensure the quality of deliverables and rapid decisions being taken. Question 2 (a) Net Present Value NPV recognises the value of a dollar received today to the value of that same dollar received in the future, taking into account all cash flows occurring over the duration of the project. Hence, it is said to be a measure of the true profitability of projects. The importance of NPV is to help project managers in the selection of projects by evaluating and prioritising potential projects. If the NPV of a potential project is positive, it should be accepted. However, if NPV is negative, the project should probably be rejected because cash flows will also be negative. According to the value additively principle, if we know the NPV of individual projects they can be added together and hence the value of the firm will increase by the sum of their net present values (NPVs). (b)Return on Investment ROI is the basic tool used to assess both profitability and performance and also to prioritise IT projects. It is calculated by dividing the net benefits of a project by the initial cost of the project. It is possible to identify the percentage return for each cost unit invested by multiplying this value by 100. For projects lasting more than a year we need to use discounted values to take account of the effect of inflation. The importance of ROI is evaluating the financial impact of a project before a project can be started. Negative ROI is bad and means that costs are larger than benefits. High positive values are good and the higher the better. ROI is also used in the project selection process, with investment made on those projects with the highest ROI. (c) Break†even point The break-even point is defined as the point where sales or revenues equal expenses. There is no loss incurred or profit made at the break-even point. Break-even point is important for managers for taking the right decisions. For example it helps the management in knowing the lowest number of units that could be produced to at least earn so much to cover the cost of production without profit or loss.. It helps the management to estimate up to which level sales can be reduced but even though achieve some kind of profit from production and sales or how much costs can increase to even then company at profit point and can survive loss position. (d) Parametric modeling Software cost estimation is difficult, we have several methods and one of the methods is Parametric modeling which is a mathematical model using project characteristics to extrapolate from previous project data, for example in the COCOMO model the number of Lines of Code is one parameter to use when estimating the cost of a new system. It is done at the beginning of the project and is helpful to project managers who are inexperienced in software cost estimation. Parametric modeling is only as good as the model and historic data allows and requires skilled staff to apply the formulae and interpret the results. Parametric modeling also considers several aspects related to the resources required: staffing and costs related to hardware and software required. Question 3 (a) McClellands Acquired Needs Theory As per McClelland our needs are categorized into three aspects: Achievement Affiliation Power Considering my case, currently   I am working as an ICT System Support Officer at the SSR International Airport where I am required to work on shifts and have many deadlines to respect. I can categorise my needs as follows: Achievement My aim is to become the companys next System Administrator who is the next post on the hierarchy and have my salary raised which is symbolise progress and achievement. Power I know that if I attain this post I will need to know how to deal with my co-workers and the user community. I also need to know how to use the institutional powers given to me by the management to organise the efforts, motivate, influence and manage my subordinates. This is essential for me so as to keep control of all the works and do ensure that the goals and objectives of my company are achieved. Affiliation Also, at this position it is going to be important for me to meet and learn from other System Administrators know-how and experience which are indeed important through network interactions. I also know that at this position interaction with other people in the same position is important for sharing of knowledge, skills and tips. (b) The Meyers†Briggs Type Indicator As per Meyers†Briggs Type Indicator we use a four-scale structure for identifying the personality and categorising a persons behavioural preferences: Extrovert/Introvert Sensation/Intuition Thinking/Feeling Judgment/Perception Considering my case, I categories myself as an Extrovert/Introvert I am an Extrovert person, I always discuss new ideas and tentative solutions to problems with my fellow colleagues before they are finalised. Another example is when I am participating in meetings with the top management, I do not hesitate to voice out my opinion or solution to a problem even if I am not sure if the solution is viable or not. But before that I will warn them that we are just suggesting and trying to come up with a fully working solution. Sensation/Intuition I am Intuitive, for example, where I work we have some 600 CCTV cameras which are constantly under surveillance by the Control Room Operators. Lastly we have been experiencing several slowdowns of the system and frequent problems with the workstations used by the operators. Being an intuitive person I have felt that the number of complaints has increased too much which is unacceptable. Instead of carrying a survey on the data storage capacity of our Video recorders, CPU usage, RAM usage or network bandwidth which can be done later I will try to convince the management that we urgently need to buy spare servers for our Digital Video Manager database, Access control servers, video recorders and spare workstations due to the fact theses equipments are nearing their end-of-life since they were purchased in 2006. Thinking/Feeling I have a preference for Thinking but sometimes I can be of the Feeling type too. It happened once where we were busy completing a project whereby we had to configure Microsoft Outlook with the new settings for some 600 users. We have stopped using Microsoft Exchange and using Google Apps instead. We had to complete this job in 10 working days with a workforce of 5 technicians. We were on track and 3 more days left to finish the work, then 1 technician requested 2 days off since he was aggrieved over the sudden death a close family. My Thinking preference made me weigh the effect of the two days off on the schedule and the increased workload of the other 4 technicians who now has to complete the work of their colleague. I was tempted to say NO but my feeling preference made me consider the factors from other side whereby the technicians output will be affected due to his low morale; I accorded him his two days off. Judgment/Perception I categorise myself as a Perceiver, for example when carrying out preventive maintenance on servers I prepare a rough estimate of the time taken to accomplish this task, but I will never give to anyone the estimate. This is because you never know what incidents might happen during the maintenance; some parts might get damage during cleaning/blowing for example or I may notice the beginning of hard disk failure. Therefore the original estimate will be extended due to repair or installation of a new hard disk. I would never operate as a Judger who might see the task of replacing the hard disk as a discrete task and try to complete the maintenance according to the schedule. (c) The Social Styles Profile As per the Social style profile personality of people can be perceived into four zones based on three principal dimensions of Social Style—assertiveness, responsiveness, and Versatility The four Social Styles are: Analytical, Driver, Amiable and Expressive Considering my case, I can say that I show both the Driver Style and the Expressive Style Driver I can say that I am a Driver, due to the fact that I am proactive and like to take initiative, get things done and make things happen. I constantly accept challenges and am always first into solving problems. I prefer to work within time frames and like to focus on actions that will get things done and realize concrete outcomes. Expressive I like to work fast and I like feeling the people who work with me, I am always complimenting, applause when the team has done a good job and aacknowledge the efforts put in to complete projects on schedules. Also my priorities are the user community and the stakeholders. (d) DISC Profiles As per the DISC profiles, all people share these four styles in varying degrees of intensity; D (Drive) I (Influence) S (Steadiness) C (Compliance) I am Direct and Decisive and a like to overcome obstacles and is a good problem solver. I like projects that produce tangible results. I like to discuss solutions with my team first and not afraid to speak out and is generally optimistic. I do not fear new challenges without fear. I am capable of handling several projects at the same time. Question 4 (a) Milestones Milestones are the diamond shapes we like to put in our Gantt charts. It is a kind of measurement that serves as tools to keep track of the progression and any deviation that may happen. Milestones is like the point of start of the next journey to the next milestone, and the time required and money needed will be estimated on the basis of how far we have progressed on the project and it is the number milestones that have been reached by the team. Milestones are simply short-term goals or the targets for the project team. Milestones help to boost the morale and confidence of the team who will enthusiast to go for the next Milestone. (b) Critical Chain Scheduling It is a method of scheduling that take into account the scarce resources available and which are being shared among projects when creating a project schedule. Its importance is to protect projects from the unavoidable slippages that occur in every project. It removes buffers from individual tasks by pushing them to completion in the shortest time possible and instead adds project buffer before the project scheduled completion date and feeding buffers before tasks which are on the critical path. It is a method applied to meet the tight schedule requirements that every project manager faces while, at the same time, helps companies to preserve quality and productivity. (c) Tracking Gantt Charts The importance of Tracking Gantt Chart is that it helps project managers to keep projects on schedule, make sure that tasks start and finish on schedule. The Tracking Gantt chart pairs the current schedule with the original schedule for each task and helps find trouble spots, tasks that vary from the baseline plan. Managers can then adjust task dependencies, reassign resources, or delete some tasks to meet your deadlines. (d) Reality checks Reality checks involve controlling and managing changes to the project schedule. Sometimes a task can be crushed in order to complete the project on time. Hence the importance of reality checks, it allows the project managers to know the how much buffers needs to be removed from certain tasks and redistribute it to other tasks which are lagging behind The importance of Reality Checks are that Project Managers can review the draft schedule or estimated completion date in the project charter and prepare a more detailed schedule with the project team. Also, it helps project managers to make sure the schedule is realistic and followed. if there are schedule problems, Project managers is able to alert top management well in advance. Question 5 (a) a critical path in a complex project Once I worked on a project where I had to configure a Network-attached Storage (NAS) server for the backup of CCTV Recorders and the setting up of the Tape recoders. We have already received the NAS, Dell Recorders etc, but the Cabinet for housing the equipments was not delivered on schedule due to the fact that the ship transporting the Cabinets has been attacked by the Somalian pirates. This caused the project to be completed with 40 days overdue. The configuration of the NAS which became the critical path could not be split as it has to be carried out by only one guy. (b) an effective team meeting My manager carries weekly meetings with his staff and for me his meetings are effective in the sense that there is an agenda, there is a time limit for the meeting and the meetings starts and adjourns on time. The manager ensures that talks do not stray away from original topics. There is always someone form the team assigned to take minutes of the meeting and these are sent to all members to remind them of their tasks and responsibilities. The manager always encourages the team members to speak up their thoughts. At the end of every meeting decisions are taken and everyone knows his tasks and responsibilities. The timeline of the tasks are also known to them. (c) risk mitigation that was found to be necessary I was working on a project where we had lay Fiber optic cables for the CCTV system, but during the task the team identified potential risks regarding the vulnerability of the fiber cables which could be eaten by rats. They were able to work out various mitigating strategies and came up with new type fiber cable which was more resisted to rodents and installed rodents traps and covered man holes and service ducts correctly. Indeed these risk mitigating tasks involve additional costs but was worth it and necessary. (d) crashing a task to reduce its duration Once we had to assemble 200 computers in one week with a workforce of 5 technicians working 5 days a week. Taking into account that the technicians were working on other projects too, it was quite impossible to complete the computer assembly on schedule. The only solution was to increase the workforce with more technicians from other projects in order to meet the deadline.