Challenge of Intercultural Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Challenge of Intercultural Communication - Essay Example Intercultural perspective helps to deepen our knowledge and broaden horizons. During my studies I was involved in the common project with my Iranian friend, we provided each other with useful insights about our countries. Comparative analysis made our essays better and, as a result, we both got excellent marks. Even though now I understand how beneficial intercultural experiences might be, earlier I had some prejudice regarding meeting representatives of other cultures. I was especially suspicious about meeting Iranian men, whom I imagined as very closed-minded and even dangerous people. Probably, such prejudice was formed in my mind by popular mass media, talking a lot about Muslim terrorists and difficulties in negotiations with Iran. When I first met Ahmad, first representative of his race, ethnicity, nationality and religion, I was confused and hesitated to start conversation. However, our common task made me do so, and when we started talking, I realized that I met very interesting open-minded person with broad and yet deep knowledge in different spheres of social sciences. Ice was broken, we made a great common project and even became friends afterwards. Later on, I told him about my initial prejudice and we laughed together on it. This intercultural encounter has taught me to be mor e open to representatives of other cultures. I made more international friends which made my life more exciting. I believe that it is important to be able to overcome all stereotypes and prejudices as this is essential basis for our own well-being, the way to enrich our life and make it more interesting. Most importantly, this is the only possible way to peaceful coexistence in our world, which is so diverse and intercultural, though globalized and highly interconnected. Advertisement campaigns usually appeal to societal values, which are important for consumers. Companies try to understand the identity of the person who would buy the

Vap Bundles, What to Leave in, What to Leave Out Essay Example for Free

Vap Bundles, What to Leave in, What to Leave Out Essay Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is a chronic and costly problem in the intensive care setting. VAP increases patient morbidity, mortality, and length of stay. These negative effects add significantly to the financial and emotional burden to the patient and family. VAP is being considered for addition to the Medicare non-reimbursable infection list, therefore healthcare providers need to proactively evaluate and implement procedures to minimize VAP rates. Article Summaries The focus of this article was identifying the lack of universal diagnostic criteria for VAP and the impact of the lack of diagnostic standardization on interpretation of hospital reported VAP rates. The author’s contention is, despite an abundance of studies on VAP prevention the inconsistencies between institutions in diagnostic criteria can provide false zero and/or falsely elevated reported rates of infection. Additionally, the study that was primarily cited by the author did not include several interventions which he felt represented a major design flaw. In summary, the disparity in diagnostic criteria and variety of VAP prevention bundles make it difficult to clearly interpret currently available data regarding efficacy of specific interventions. I included this article based upon the three criteria I chose for inclusion: publication date within five years, clinical relevance, and statistically significant data produced by the study. This article specifically addresses the quandary surrounding diagnosis and prevention of VAP. The authors of this study chose to compare the effects of mechanical treatment, pharmacological treatment, and a combination of both on VAP reduction. In preparation for the study the authors reviewed previously identified causes of VAP and chose to focus their study on the effect of reducing oropharyngeal colonization by potential respiratory pathogens. The conclusion of the study indicated that their analysis was confounded, in part by the defining criteria they chose to identify VAP. There was no significant reduction in VAP from toothbrushing(mechanical), and no sustained reduction beyond day three for the chlorhexedine(pharmacological) group. As has been noted in many studies there were additional, and perhaps more efficacious interventions concurrently in use, particularly elevation of the head of bed to thirty degrees. I included this article based upon the three criteria I chose for inclusion: publication date within five years, clinical relevance, and statistically significant data produced by the study. This article addresses the outcomes of specific nursing interventions targeting the reduction and/or elimination of VAP. Article Critiques The researchers who designed this study attempted to minimize some of the confounding factors by applying certain aspects of the institution’s ventilator bundle to all of the study participants. This clearly defined standard of care improved the ability to directly attribute the effects of the research interventions. Prior to beginning the study the researchers observed the standard care of intubated patients in the facility and identified practices that were viewed as potentially contributing to oropharyngeal colonization. Based upon their observations, during the study period advanced oral care kits were exclusively used to provide oral care for the study group along with a clearly delineated schedule for performing different components of the oral care protocol. The result for the study group was a significant reduction in VAP with increased time to VAP. There was also a decrease in ventilator days and length of intensive care unit stay. The study confirmed that VAP prevention is improved with the incorporation of comprehensive oral assessment and care. I included this article based upon the three criteria I chose for inclusion: publication date within five years, clinical relevance, and statistically significant data produced by the study. This article addresses the outcomes of specific nursing interventions targeting the reduction and/or elimination of VAP This article was published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, which is a peer reviewed journal. The subject is relevant to my topic in that it is a qualitative analysis of multiple studies on the efficacy of VAP reduction bundles. The author is a physician working in the field of infection control, affiliated with two major United States academic medical centers and as such he has professional credibility. No conflict of interest was reported by the author. The format of the article was a comparison of various VAP bundles and their outcomes from studies conducted by other researchers. The comparison group was large, comprised of seventeen different studies, all of which used the before-after design (Klompas, 2010). As a qualitative study the premise was not answerable by a yes or no hypothesis, instead it relied upon review of specific, focused research. This research substantiated the author’s initial question by defining elements that remain unaddressed in the current body of research surrounding the prevention of VAP (Klompas, 2010). The study presented in this article was a well-designed 2 x 2 factorial trial (Munro, Grap, Jones, McClish, Sessler, 2009). The principal investigator reported receiving a grant from the National Institutes of Health in support of this research, no other disclosures were reported. The investigators are fully credentialed in their respective fields. The study took place at a large academic medical center with a population that allows for broad representation. Participants were recruited from three intensive care units with clearly defined inclusion and exclusionary criteria. The study personnel were all appropriately blinded to the participants VAP status (Munro et al., 2009). The performance of the assigned treatments was completed by study personnel rather than the bedside nurse to increase the consistency of treatment delivery. The authors noted a few limitations as the study progressed. The first limitation was the definition of VAP. In this case they chose to use clinical pulmonary infection score greater than six to define VAP (Munro et al., 2009). During the course of the study they noted that even though a clinical diagnosis of pneumonia was considered exclusionary, that many of the participants in fact had a CPIS greater than six upon enrollment (Munro et al., 2009). A second limitation was enrollment attrition; by day seven the number of participants was no longer large enough to be considered statistically significant (Munro et al., 2009). Despite the noted limitations the investigators were able to draw conclusions applicable to early onset VAP (Munro et al., 2009). The study presented in this article was completed by a multi-disciplinary team, none of which reported any conflict of interest or financial disclosure. As one of the end points of the study was demonstration of a sustainable reduction in VAP rates use of cohort study was intentional, incorporating an extended time frame to counter the large number of required enrollees to otherwise demonstrate statistical significance (Garcia, Jendresky, Colbert, Bailey, Zaman, Majumder, 2009). A potential confounding factor was the facility ventilator protocol, which included many interventions which are known to directly and significantly impact on reduction and prevention of VAP i.e. head of bed maintained at thirty degrees and an active weaning protocol (Garcia et al., 2009). This study was completed at a large urban academic medical center and the participants were screened for defined eligibility criteria and are representative of the adult population at large. The authors or the study are appropriately credentialed in their fields and included a biostatistician to aid in the data analysis (Garcia et al ., 2009). The primary and secondary outcomes were clearly identified. All variables were tested or analyzed using the method demanded by the results. VAP was defined using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published definition (Garcia et al., 2009 ). Conclusion There remain many unanswered questions as to the etiology and prevention of VAP. In my research I observed that many of the studies included multiple interventions for VAP prevention in the study protocols. They also continued the institutions current policies for managing ventilated patients. It would seem to cloud the interpretation when there are multiple interventions making up the protocol i.e. Chlorhexedine rinse, and subglottic suctioning, and routinely scheduled oral care. Multi-factorial studies make it more difficult to determine which factor is influencing the outcome. A well designed study needs to eliminate or incorporate a single intervention at a time to determine its effect, or lack thereof. This would enable the researcher to clearly demonstrate a cause and effect relationship More carefully crafted studies will need to be performed with a universally agreed upon definition of VAP. As is always the case when research is involving people there is a reluctance to leave off anything that might be perceived as healing. In this case I believe that multiple interventions performed simultaneously are a hindrance to clearly understanding what is truly the most efficacious VAP prevention protocol design. In light of ongoing mandates from CMS to eliminate nosocomial infections there is an added impetus to define and eliminate VAP. Ventilator associated pneumonia is a chronic and costly problem in the intensive care setting. VAP increases patient morbidity, mortality, and length of stay. These negative effects add significantly to the financial and emotional burden to the patient, family, and the institution. Therefore, healthcare providers need to proactively evaluate and implement procedures to minimize VAP rates. References Garcia, R., Jendresky, L., Colbert, L., Bailey, A., Zaman, M., Majumder, M. (2009). Reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia through advanced oral-dental care: A 48 month study. American Journal of Critical Care, 18(6), 523-532. Doi:10.4037//ajcc2009311 Klompas, M. (2010). Ventilator-associated pneumonia: Is zero possible? Clinical Infectious Diseases, 51(10), 1123-1126. Doi:10.1086/656738 Munro, C., Grap, M., Jones, D., McClish, D., Sessler, C. (2009). Chlorhexedine, toothbrushing, and preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill adults. American Journal of Critical Care, 18(5), 428-438. Doi:10.4037//ajcc2009792

Saying and Meaning :: Philosophy of Language

Saying and Meaning The burden of this essay will be to see how the words we utter bear meaning. We use speech to communicate our intentional attitudes to others. On this basis, I propose to treat meaning as that which is conveyed from a speaker to a listener. A simple model of the communication process will be used as follows. First, a speaker frames a sentence to convey an intentional attitude. Second a listener attends to the sounds and comes to a meaning. The essence of human communication is that the listener comes to understand the speaker’s meaning. Both speaker and listener accomplish their tasks by processes of which they are unaware because they are non-conscious brain processes. But these species-typical processes for encoding and decoding meanings result in the characteristic linguistic behaviours which we call speaking, listening, conversing, arguing and the rest. I shall maintain that to understand meaning we must not look at brain processes but at how we operate in the world using language. In moving to a conclusion I shall suggest that, in many cases, as Wittgenstein put it, ‘the meaning of a word is its use in the language.’ John Searle identifies two types of meaning in speech as sentence meaning or word meaning and speaker meaning. He defines sentence meaning as follows: Sentences and words have meanings as part of a language. The meaning of a sentence is determined by the meaning of the words and the syntactical arrangement of the words in the sentence. On this basis sentence meaning is the conventional meaning of the words as they are usually used in a lexical sense. Thus in the Case A below there is a clear meaning. A woman observes a couple leaving a party and comments to her partner, (Case A) Jim and his wife are leaving the (party*). The conventional or sentence meaning here is as follows; two people, a man (Jim) and his wife are leaving the social function (as opposed to a political party*). But even in this simple example, the bracketed information shows that the context of the utterance is important in enabling the listener to reach the meaning intended by the speaker. The speaker and listener are usually able to pick out the word meaning appropriate to the particular occasion. This use of language in everyday social contexts is what Wittgenstein refers to as ‘agreement in form of life.

Diversity Within English Essay -- essays research papers

Diversity Within English   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to understand how language variation descriptors are used, we first must understand what language variation is. We can say that the U.S. is linguistically diverse because of the multitude of languages spoken here, but we can also find diversity within these languages. All languages have both dialectical variations and registral variations. These variations, or dialects, can differ in lexicon, phonology, and/or syntax from the Standard Language that we often think of as Å’correct' Language, although they are not necessarily less proper than, say, Standard English. It depends on where, by whom, and in what situation the dialect is used as to whether or not it is appropriate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most people are familiar with regional dialects, such as Boston, Brooklyn, or Southern. These types of variations usually occur because of immigration and settlement patterns. People tend to seek out others like themselves. Regional variations tend to become more pronounced as the speech community is more isolated by physical geography, i.e. mountain ranges, rivers. Linguists have done extensive studies on regional dialects, producing detailed Linguistic Atlases. Many linguists can tell where a person is from just by knowing whether a person carries groceries home from the supermarket in a paper bag or from the grocery store in a paper sack (Yule 184). And the person who comes home from the supermarket with a paper sack serves to remind us that language variation is not a discrete, but rather a continuous variable. Characteristics of the dialect are more pronounced in the center of the speech community and tend to be less discernible at the outer boundaries, where they often overlap other regional dialects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Within, and between, these regional variations we find the social dialects. The primary social factors that influence dialects are class, education, occupation, ethnicity, sex, and age (Ferguson 52, Yule 191). And social dialects can vary on any or all three descriptor levels; syntax or grammar, lexicon or vocabulary, and phonetics or pronunciation. Social dialects are also where the described differences are often defined as stigmatized or nonstigmatized (Ferguson 52). Stigmatized items include use of the double negative (grammar), substituting the d sound for t... ...frequency. Using in' for ing, as in goin' is universal across status groups, but it is found almost twice as often in the lower working class than in the lower middle class, and almost four times more than in the upper middle class (Ferguson 61).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With all these different variables that intersect and overlap with the different dialect variations is is a wonder that any sense can be made of American English at all. But there two other important point to remember. Language universals such as displacement, arbitrariness, productivity, cultural transmission, discreteness and duality are unique to human language (Yule 22) and provides a base or norm for measuring variations. Implicational relationships provide a way of measuring relative distance between the different variations and also serve as a means to predict changes in individual dialects (Ferguson 66). Works Consulted Ferguson, Charles A., and Shirley Brice Heath, eds. Language in the USA. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1981. Piatt, Bill. Only English? Law and Language Policy in the United States. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 1990. Yule, George. The Study of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1985.

Breakeven & Business

Certain elements of business show that to achieve high profitability a better and diverse product mix will result in more capacity utilization. Therefore capacity utilization has a direct relation to profitability and product mix. This is because if capacity is fully utilized will the profit be reaching to the maximum as fixed costs will remain the same.However if the profit is to be further increased it is necessary to enhance the capacity as a result more capacity would need to be used to first cover the fixed costs of the new capacity installed. Similarly in one machine, a number of products can be made; therefore not all products will be made to the fullest as one product or the other production will be scarified. What companies try to achieve is the right product mix so that optimal profitability is achieved and therefore make the business more versatile.Though it is the decision of the person in charge to decide either to fully utilize the capacity using the most profitable pro duct or make a number of products to focus on product diversity rather than on profitability. (Source: Reliance Industries Limited, High Density Polyethylene Pipes Beyond Water Supply)References 1. Ms Poorvi C. Desai – Polymers, Reliance Industries Limited, High Density Polyethylene Pipes Beyond Water Supply. Retrieved on October 5, 2008, from http://www. polymerupdate. com/poorvidesai/pdf/HDPE_Pipes. pdf

Review the education system essays

Review the education system essays Education is the essence of life. The primitive man was no better than a wild animal but that same man has now become dignified and coherent to a great extent only due to education. Education helps us throughout our life. An educated person is better equipped to face any kind of dangers or difficulties that come his way at various stages of life. He not only understands the problems better but is also able to derive more logical and enhanced solutions to the problems. An educated person knows his rights and duties and so does not sustain any wrongs done to him. Education being so important is given full attention to in India too. In India, the two most recognized patterns of secondary education are the CBSE and ICSE. Both of these are organizations that affiliate the voluntary institutions to the board. The affiliated schools are then required to follow a given syllabus that is the same countrywide. The students are then assessed by means of question papers provided which are prepared by the experts of the respective fields. This education system is somewhat good as the students are evaluated at national level and in a set pattern. But the system has more cons than pros. The worst is the presence of two boards itself. The problem is that an institute affiliated to a certain board considers any student of the other board to be below par of a student who is scoring the same in their board. This leads to the students being spellbound to a certain board and reduces the alternates available for higher education. Another problem is the syllabus. It is far too wide in scope and results in the students ending up studying all day and night long. This in turn starts to affect the health of the students. The syllabus has now, in many terms, become obsolete and the students are thus forced to study heaps of matter about topics that will by far not be of any use besides in school life. A definite solution to this is th ...

Sniffy the Virtual Rat

Sniffy the Virtual Rat Introduction Scholars dealing with human and animal behavior have come up with different theories to explain how behavior is acquired or how it becomes extinct. Such scholars include BF Skinner, who advanced operant conditioning theory and Ivan Pavlov, who advanced classical conditioning theory. In this paper, classical and operant conditioning experiments shall be designed. The significance of the experiments and how they relate to human behavior and thinking shall be explained.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Sniffy the Virtual Rat specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Classical conditioning This is a behavioral learning theory advanced by Ivan Pavlov. In classical conditioning, learning takes place as a result of pairing a natural stimulus together with an environmental stimulus (Hall, 1998). In order for learning to take place, a neutral stimulus is placed before a natural stimulus. According to Cherry (2012) , behavior is learnt through association of the two stimuli. A visit to the dentist experiment Miss Y has cavities on most of her teeth. It is not the first time for her to have such a problem. In the past, she has been to the dentist and had some of the teeth with cavities extracted. The first time, she found a female doctor who extracted the tooth but she felt no pain. The second time, she found a male dentist who extracted the decayed tooth. However, the experience was not the same as the one she had during her first extraction. The male dentist extracted the tooth in a way that caused her a lot of pain. During the second time when she felt a lot of pain, Miss Y noted some of the characteristics of the dentist who performed the operation. The male dentist was wearing a white apron, had spectacles on and was from a different racial group (race A). During her subsequent visit to the dentist to have another tooth extracted, Miss Y finds another dentist that she has never met. Howeve r, the dentist is a man, wearing a white apron, with spectacles on and from race A. Before even explaining her problem to this dentist, Miss Y starts shaking due to fear. She starts feeling a lot of pain on her tooth that has not been aching while she was coming to the dentist. Miss Y is behaving in this manner because she has learnt to associate pain during teeth extraction with male dentist of a certain race. Miss Y decides to check another dentist to extract the tooth. Her next stop lands her to a lady dentist. Miss Y is now relaxed and ready to go through the process of extraction. She associates the experience is expecting to have with the past painless procedure that she underwent when the extraction was done by a lady. For the rest of the times that she visits a dentist, Miss Y requests to have a lady dentist work on her. Consequently, she claims that the extraction is always painless.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More After Miss Y has had her dental problems dealt with, she does not feel the need to continue visiting the dentist as regularly as she did. However, whenever she goes to the hospital and finds a male doctor from race A, she is gripped by intense fear and starts feeling pain in her body. On the contrary, whenever she goes to the hospital and finds a lady doctor, she is more relaxed and less fearful. She says that she feels little or no pain at all when she is treated by a lady doctor. Miss Y is conditioned that all male doctors from race A inflict pain upon their patient during treatment. On the other hand, all female doctors treat their patients with less pain. Therefore, whenever Miss Y sees a male doctor from race A, even when she does not need his services, she is filled with fear. Baby and mother experiment Another example of classical conditioning can be illustrated through a mother’s relationship with her young child. When the child is with the mother, it is naturally quiet and at times jovial. However, when the mother carries her handbag and is about to leave for work, the baby starts to cry. Every time the baby sees the mother carry her handbag, it starts to cry because it is aware that the mother is about to leave. This happens after the mother repeatedly leaves for work whenever she carries her handbag. The baby therefore associates the handbag with being left behind by the mother. After continuously pairing the handbag with the mother’s departure, the baby starts to cry whenever she sees a handbag, even when the mother is not leaving. The mother in this case is the neutral stimulus, leaving the baby behind is the unconditioned stimulus, crying the unconditioned response, the mother the conditioned stimulus and crying the conditioned response. The baby’s association of the handbag with being left behind results to generalization. In this case, the baby cries whenever the mother carries anything else that looks like a bag, even when she is not leaving. Operant conditioning Operant conditioning was first proposed by Burrhus Frederic Skinner commonly known as BF Skinner (Mcleod, 2007). Skinner drew a lot from Thorndike’s work. The most important components of operant conditioning are reinforcement, rewards and punishment. If one reinforces a certain behavior, there is likelihood for the behavior to be exhibited again. However, if behavior is not reinforced, it will most probably be weakened and eventually become extinct. Reinforcement Positive reinforcement can be demonstrated through the use of a hungry dog placed in a special box. The box has a lever that is strategically placed at the side. The rat is able to move freely inside the box. However, during some of its movement, the rat accidentally steps on the lever at the side of the box. When this happens, the rat notices a food pellet near the lever it has stepped on. The rat learns that pres sing the lever is rewarded by provision of food.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Sniffy the Virtual Rat specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, the rat continues pressing the lever as many times as possible and the outcome is still the same. In this case, the behavior of pressing the lever is reinforced because it results to something desirable. Therefore, the rat continues to press the lever every time it needs something to eat. This is an example of positive reinforcement, which strengthens a given behavior and increases its chance of recurrence. Behavior is reinforced through rewarding one’s behavior with a desirable consequence. The behavior is likely to be repeated in future if a desirable consequence is provided. Negative reinforcement According to Mcleod (2007), another way of strengthening behavior is the use of negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is applicable to the rat in th e box experiment that we used for positive reinforcement. To introduce negative reinforcement, one would expose the rat to something that is not pleasant, for example an electric current. The lever should be set such that the electric current switches off immediately it is pressed by the rat. Therefore, the rat would learn that pressing the lever provided a way of escape from the unpleasant electric current that it is subjected to. Every time the electric current is switched on in the box, the rat will have a tendency to move to where the lever is and press it in order to escape the unpleasant conditions in the box. The action is repeated over and over again because the rat has learnt how to escape the discomfort caused by the electric current. Punishment Punishment is meant to cause a response to be weak or to make it extinct as opposed to reinforcement that is meant to increase the probability of occurrence of a behavior. There are two ways that can be used to issue out punishment . The first involves application of an unpleasant stimulus after something wrong has been done. The other one is denial of a rewarding stimulus whenever an undesired behavior is exhibited. Punishment is very similar to negative reinforcement. This type of conditioning can be used to encourage positive behavior in both animals and human beings. It can also be used to discourage negative behavior in humans and animals. Behavior learnt through operant conditioning is easily stopped when the consequences that were encouraging its occurrence are withdrawn. This is what is called extinction. These experiments enhance the classical conditioning theory advanced by Ivan Pavlov and operant conditioning advanced by Burrhus Frederic Skinner. They show that some behavior that human beings exhibit have been acquired through association of a natural stimulus with the environment as in classical conditioning.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Other behaviors are become permanent or extinct due to positive or negative reinforcement and punishment, as proposed by operant conditioning theory. The theories are applicable in day to day life in both humans and animals. Conclusion The experiments support the two theories of behavior acquisition namely: classical and operant conditioning. The animal experiments conducted by BF Skinner and Ivan Pavlov relate very closely to human thinking and behavior. Reference List Cherry, K. (2012). The Little Albert Experiment: A Closer Look at the Famous Case of Little Albert. New York: About.com. Web. Hall, R. (1998). Classical Conditioning. Web. Mcleod, S. (2007). Skinner Operant Conditioning. London: Psychology Press. Web.

Other Peoples Money essays

Other People's Money essays "Other People's Money" explores the covetousness of an eccentric, yet prosperous venture capitalist, Larry Garfield (Danny DeVito) who has found a faltering New England Wire The very beginning of the movie depicts some of Larry Garfield's characteristics. Larry is the Chairman and CEO of Garfield Investments. He has an amazing overall attitude about himself. He is extremely wealthy, successful, and arrogant. His self-concept comes from an narcissistic state of mind. He is an egotist who feels he does not have to change his attitudes or behavior because he believes he is superior. Larry has a type-A personality because the flow of money through corporate acquisitions is the only thing that creates a euphoric environment for him. However, Larry the Liquidator is extremely intelligent and congenial which makes him intriguing. He may be extremely aggressive but he has a charming presence about him which may be the reason for his success. Although, another way he may have earned his place on Wall Street may be his uses of position power through two bases; coercive and legitimate powers. The extreme arrogance and aggressive behavior gives the impressio! The attorney who stands between him and New England Wire & Cable is Miss Kate Sullivan. She is a very assertive lawyer who is the daughter of Jorgy's ass...

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

Poetry Research Paper - Essay Example Many of her poems reveal the various aspects of death which is personified in different semblances. Some of her poems which deal with the theme of death are â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death†, â€Å"I heard a fly buzz when I died†, and â€Å"I died for beauty, but was scarce†. A reflective exploration of the poem â€Å"I died for beauty, but was scarce† reveals the relationship between the various themes in Dickinson poetry such as death, beauty, and truth, apart from exposing the interconnection among her different poems and the common features of her poems. â€Å"Dickinson’s writing deals with all the stuff of life: nature, love and death, time and eternity. She treated these themes in a manner all her own: often with humor and playfulness, but also with seriousness and sensitivity.† (Borus, 44) In the poem â€Å"I died for beauty, but was scarce†, Dickinson deals mainly with death in connection to other major themes of her po etry, such as beauty and truth. Both themes are closely connected and the poet personifies them as â€Å"brethren† and â€Å"kinsmen†, who are buried in â€Å"adjoining† rooms. The use of parallel language to express the experience and goals of both the characters also suggests the connection between the two themes. It is important realize that both the speakers die ‘for’ either beauty or truth and ‘for’ refers to ‘in the cause of’. These themes are connected to death, which is the ultimate reality for all human beings, as both the speakers were not able to achieve their goals, beauty and truth. A careful reader straightforwardly recognizes that the poet is concerned with â€Å"the relationship between human mortality and the ideals of Truth and Beauty. Both of these ideals occupy an exalted place in Dickinson’s universe; both are eternal and exempt from analysis.† (Leiter, 94) The use of the word ‘faile d’ is greatly suggestive as it gives the reason for their death. â€Å"He questioned softly why I failed? / â€Å"For beauty,† I replied. / â€Å"And I for truth,--the two are one; / We brethren are,† he said.† (Dickinson) Therefore, it is important to maintain that Emily Dickinson associates beauty and truth in this poem, and presents death as the ultimate reality in life. In a reflective analysis of the poem â€Å"I died for beauty, but was scarce†, the interrelation among Dickinson’s various poems becomes palpable. Mainly, this interrelation is evident in the themes she deals with in her various poems. For example, death is one her favorite themes and she deals with this theme in her various poems such â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death†, â€Å"I heard a fly buzz when I died†, and â€Å"I died for beauty, but was scarce†. Many critics consider death as the touchstone for the poetry of Dickinson and she regarded death as the ultimate reality which reveals the exact nature of God and the state of the human soul. In the poem â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death†, death is personified as a gentleman caller or suitor who takes the poet with him and they pass different places and stages of life. Death in the poem â€Å"I heard a fly buzz when I died† is presented as painless although its vision is horrifying. Therefore, it is important to recognize that the different poems of Dickinson are interconnected on the basis of common elements such as themes. A profound analysis of

Justice vs Drug Companies in the USA Research Paper

Justice vs Drug Companies in the USA - Research Paper Example   Research suggests that off-label prescribing of pharmaceutical drugs can result in exaggerated and untested claims by the drug manufacturer (Conko 2010, 2).   Although the use of drugs for purposes other than their originally intended use can provide many medical benefits, it can develop into an accepted mode of expanding the use of pharmaceuticals beyond the appropriate scope of their health benefits; moreover, this practice may result in unwanted and unforeseen health effects. The FDA has a formal ban on off-label product promotion, but this is often sidestepped as anecdotal reports of health benefits associated with off-label drug use are promoted in labeling and promotional advertising. These practices have created considerable confusion among health consumers who are the misleading product labels and inadequate instructions on the proper use of medications, their potential side effects and health risks   Some legal commentators have cited the extravagant internet adverti sing of pharmaceuticals as an important expansion of promotional strategies that often neglect to clearly state the label properties and risks associated with the use of a specific drugSection 502 of the Food and Drug Act deals specifically with issues of misbranding and false or misleading label practices by pharmaceutical companies. According to its provisions, a pharmaceutical drug label is considered at issue if any part of the label is misrepresented or misleading. This pertains to ingredients, quantity, source and packaging details.

Education of Students with disorders and disabilities Essay

Education of Students with disorders and disabilities - Essay Example The method used should be able to solve the problem for the student. The teacher should be able to comprehend the content first and then transform it to a form that is easy to grasp by the student (Alter, Brown and Pyle 2011). The method of teaching should enable the student to decode the problem and solve most of the problems. The individual performance of each student is necessary to enable the teacher to know the method that best suits each student. There are various strategies that include the draw a picture method, the guess and check method as well the making a table or chart method. For the guess and check strategy, the teacher should ask the students to make a guess from the information that he gives. The draw a picture strategy helps the students as it creates graphics in their minds that are important in comprehending what they are learning. The same aspect applies to the making a table or a chart method. These techniques can be used to teach both Math and English Language Arts. Using Phonemic games is also important especially in teaching English. It involves moving sound tokens for each sound segment. For example, reversing the word ‘cat’ to ‘tac’ and removing the first letter to read ‘at.’ Anyone can nurture the self-esteem and self-determination of students with special needs. Their self-advocacy skills can also be enhanced for them not to feel as though they are less worthy students. Below are some of the techniques that can help in boosting the self-esteem as well as enhancing the self-determination of these students. One of the ways you can nurture the self-esteem and self-determination of students with special needs is by recognizing and enhancing their talents. The reason this is important is because not all students are talented academically. Whatever a student is gifted in, the teacher or parent should focus on that. You should also help the students to look beyond the school. Yes, it is

Fundamental of International Buisness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Fundamental of International Buisness - Essay Example Ð µ is closÐ µly connÐ µctÐ µd with Ð µconomic growth Ð °nd tÐ µchnologicÐ °l chÐ °ngÐ µ, drÐ °mÐ °tic incrÐ µÃ °sÐ µs in world trÐ °dÐ µ in goods, sÐ µrvicÐ µs Ð °nd finÐ °nciÐ °l Ð °ssÐ µts in lÐ °st dÐ µcÐ °dÐ µs Ð °rÐ µ duÐ µ to drÐ °stic Ð µconomic chÐ °ngÐ µs Ð °nd tÐ µchnologicÐ °l Ð °dvÐ °ncÐ µs. Ð ctuÐ °l tÐ µchnologicÐ °l dÐ µvÐ µlopmÐ µnts hÐ °vÐ µ strong implicÐ °tions for world trÐ °dÐ µ Ð °nd output growth. TÐ µchnologicÐ °l Ð °dvÐ °ncÐ µs drÐ °sticÐ °lly rÐ µducÐ µd thÐ µ trÐ °nsportÐ °tion Ð °nd tÐ µlÐ µcommunicÐ °tion costs Ð °nd drÐ °mÐ °ticÐ °lly chÐ °ngÐ µd thÐ µ structurÐ µ of intÐ µrnÐ °tionÐ °l trÐ °dÐ µ in thÐ µ sÐ °mÐ µ timÐ µ. In fÐ °ct, nÐ µw tÐ µchnologicÐ °l chÐ °ngÐ µs lowÐ µr thÐ µ nÐ °turÐ °l bÐ °rriÐ µrs of spÐ °cÐ µ Ð °nd timÐ µ thÐ °t sÐ µpÐ °rÐ °tÐ µ nÐ °tionÐ °l mÐ °rkÐ µts whilÐ µ libÐ µrÐ °lizÐ °tion policiÐ µs thÐ µ Ð °rtifici Ð °l bÐ °rriÐ µrs to thÐ µ intÐ µrnÐ °tionÐ °l movÐ µmÐ µnts of goods, sÐ µrvicÐ µs Ð °nd cÐ °pitÐ °l. TÐ µchnologicÐ °l dÐ µvÐ µlopmÐ µnt mÐ °y bÐ µ Ð °ccÐ µptÐ µd Ð °s thÐ µ Ð µnginÐ µ of thÐ µ Ð µconomic globÐ °lizÐ °tion in thÐ µ world. ThÐ µ lÐ µvÐ µl of tÐ µchnology, broÐ °dly spÐ µÃ °king, cÐ °n bÐ µ dÐ µfinÐ µd Ð °s Ð ° stock or Ð ° combinÐ °tion of our knowlÐ µdgÐ µ Ð °nd Ð µxpÐ µriÐ µncÐ µs on production procÐ µss, product quÐ °lity, orgÐ °nizÐ °tion of production Ð °nd mÐ °nÐ °gÐ µmÐ µnt, mÐ °rkÐ µting Ð °nd sÐ µrvicÐ µs (Kibritcioglu, 1997). In Ð °ll countriÐ µs, thÐ µ primÐ °ry Ð µxport sÐ µctor is mÐ °nufÐ °cturing industry, Ð µxcÐ µpt thÐ µ MiddlÐ µ ЕÐ °stÐ µrn Ð °nd Ð fricÐ °n countriÐ µs which Ð °rÐ µ rÐ µlÐ °tivÐ µly rÐ µsourcÐ µ Ð °bundÐ °nt Ð °nd hÐ µncÐ µ, Ð µxport mÐ °inly mining sÐ µctor products or oil. TÐ µchnologicÐ °l Ð °dvÐ °ncÐ µs is thÐ µ kÐ µy fÐ °ctor in thÐ µ growing volumÐ µ of intÐ µrnÐ °tionÐ °l trÐ °dÐ µ of goods Ð °nd sÐ µrvicÐ µs. TÐ µchnologicÐ °l gÐ °p bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn industriÐ °lizÐ µd Ð °nd dÐ µvÐ µloping countriÐ µs Ð °s Ð ° sourcÐ µ of forÐ µign trÐ °dÐ µ, on thÐ µ othÐ µr hÐ °nd, mÐ °y bÐ µ closÐ µd Ð µithÐ µr duÐ µ to thÐ µ continuÐ °l dissÐ µminÐ °tion of informÐ °tion from thÐ µ Ð °dvÐ °ncÐ µd onÐ µs or both. ThÐ µrÐ µ Ð °rÐ µ mÐ °ny intÐ µrnÐ °tionÐ °l orgÐ °nizÐ °tions thÐ °t fÐ °cilitÐ °tÐ µ forÐ µign trÐ °dÐ µ. Ð mong thÐ µm thÐ µ most

AMRICAN Jewish Striggle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Fundamental of International Buisness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Fundamental of International Buisness - Essay Example Ð µ is closÐ µly connÐ µctÐ µd with Ð µconomic growth Ð °nd tÐ µchnologicÐ °l chÐ °ngÐ µ, drÐ °mÐ °tic incrÐ µÃ °sÐ µs in world trÐ °dÐ µ in goods, sÐ µrvicÐ µs Ð °nd finÐ °nciÐ °l Ð °ssÐ µts in lÐ °st dÐ µcÐ °dÐ µs Ð °rÐ µ duÐ µ to drÐ °stic Ð µconomic chÐ °ngÐ µs Ð °nd tÐ µchnologicÐ °l Ð °dvÐ °ncÐ µs. Ð ctuÐ °l tÐ µchnologicÐ °l dÐ µvÐ µlopmÐ µnts hÐ °vÐ µ strong implicÐ °tions for world trÐ °dÐ µ Ð °nd output growth. TÐ µchnologicÐ °l Ð °dvÐ °ncÐ µs drÐ °sticÐ °lly rÐ µducÐ µd thÐ µ trÐ °nsportÐ °tion Ð °nd tÐ µlÐ µcommunicÐ °tion costs Ð °nd drÐ °mÐ °ticÐ °lly chÐ °ngÐ µd thÐ µ structurÐ µ of intÐ µrnÐ °tionÐ °l trÐ °dÐ µ in thÐ µ sÐ °mÐ µ timÐ µ. In fÐ °ct, nÐ µw tÐ µchnologicÐ °l chÐ °ngÐ µs lowÐ µr thÐ µ nÐ °turÐ °l bÐ °rriÐ µrs of spÐ °cÐ µ Ð °nd timÐ µ thÐ °t sÐ µpÐ °rÐ °tÐ µ nÐ °tionÐ °l mÐ °rkÐ µts whilÐ µ libÐ µrÐ °lizÐ °tion policiÐ µs thÐ µ Ð °rtifici Ð °l bÐ °rriÐ µrs to thÐ µ intÐ µrnÐ °tionÐ °l movÐ µmÐ µnts of goods, sÐ µrvicÐ µs Ð °nd cÐ °pitÐ °l. TÐ µchnologicÐ °l dÐ µvÐ µlopmÐ µnt mÐ °y bÐ µ Ð °ccÐ µptÐ µd Ð °s thÐ µ Ð µnginÐ µ of thÐ µ Ð µconomic globÐ °lizÐ °tion in thÐ µ world. ThÐ µ lÐ µvÐ µl of tÐ µchnology, broÐ °dly spÐ µÃ °king, cÐ °n bÐ µ dÐ µfinÐ µd Ð °s Ð ° stock or Ð ° combinÐ °tion of our knowlÐ µdgÐ µ Ð °nd Ð µxpÐ µriÐ µncÐ µs on production procÐ µss, product quÐ °lity, orgÐ °nizÐ °tion of production Ð °nd mÐ °nÐ °gÐ µmÐ µnt, mÐ °rkÐ µting Ð °nd sÐ µrvicÐ µs (Kibritcioglu, 1997). In Ð °ll countriÐ µs, thÐ µ primÐ °ry Ð µxport sÐ µctor is mÐ °nufÐ °cturing industry, Ð µxcÐ µpt thÐ µ MiddlÐ µ ЕÐ °stÐ µrn Ð °nd Ð fricÐ °n countriÐ µs which Ð °rÐ µ rÐ µlÐ °tivÐ µly rÐ µsourcÐ µ Ð °bundÐ °nt Ð °nd hÐ µncÐ µ, Ð µxport mÐ °inly mining sÐ µctor products or oil. TÐ µchnologicÐ °l Ð °dvÐ °ncÐ µs is thÐ µ kÐ µy fÐ °ctor in thÐ µ growing volumÐ µ of intÐ µrnÐ °tionÐ °l trÐ °dÐ µ of goods Ð °nd sÐ µrvicÐ µs. TÐ µchnologicÐ °l gÐ °p bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn industriÐ °lizÐ µd Ð °nd dÐ µvÐ µloping countriÐ µs Ð °s Ð ° sourcÐ µ of forÐ µign trÐ °dÐ µ, on thÐ µ othÐ µr hÐ °nd, mÐ °y bÐ µ closÐ µd Ð µithÐ µr duÐ µ to thÐ µ continuÐ °l dissÐ µminÐ °tion of informÐ °tion from thÐ µ Ð °dvÐ °ncÐ µd onÐ µs or both. ThÐ µrÐ µ Ð °rÐ µ mÐ °ny intÐ µrnÐ °tionÐ °l orgÐ °nizÐ °tions thÐ °t fÐ °cilitÐ °tÐ µ forÐ µign trÐ °dÐ µ. Ð mong thÐ µm thÐ µ most

Crtical response to Duane's Caught Inside Essay

Crtical response to Duane's Caught Inside - Essay Example In this way, bits and pieces of the aforementioned points are revealed in an almost imperceptible way so that the reader gains a more full and complete understanding of the lifestyle and world-view of the individuals involved in the actions of this book. As a means of understanding this unique approach, this author will focus upon Chapter 13 of Duane’s book and enumerate on some of the pertinent themes, sub-themes, and topics that are discussed as a means to outline and understand the level of approach and detail that the author gives to the reader. The material within this particular chapter is organized and presented by means of a journey. As the story teller meets with a friend and ventures to the house of a third party, a general discussion on the life of a surfer, what is important, what matters, traveling, relationships, danger, and the ever present worries over where the funding for the next adventure will come from are all discussed. In this way, the storyteller finds himself perennially comparing his own financial and personal situation to that of those that the story introduces. This is carried out by means of actual physical comparisons to the type and quality of the vehicles that are driven, and the niceties that present themselves within the house of the individual who is being visited. However, all of this description, discussion, and analysis serves as but a type of lead up to the action that is going to take place as the three men join together and embark on a rapid trip to the ocean side to engage in an afternoon full of surfing. The almost religious overtones, the writer describes the awe inspiring spiritual elements that surfing provides to the practitioner (Lanagan 283). Whereas doing this without the background story would not engage the reader and would prove to be nothing more than a very long winded soliloquy of the benefits of a particular type of lifestyle, by interweaving the information regarding this type of lifestyle and rel ying on other means of conveyance (rather than the speaker himself), the author is able to present a clear and well explicated set of reasons for why the particular lifestyle advocated and described is perhaps far superior to almost any other model that is currently in existence. Although this particular life is not for everyone, as the author notes, the benefits that it offers those who engage with it can never truly be understood or explained. Using the wife of the gentleman that is visited as an example, the author works to show the means by which even those that do not understand the lifestyle can at least appreciate the significance that it engenders within the lives of those that they love and respect. The approach that the author takes towards revealing the subject matter and discussing it within this particular chapter is necessarily experiential. Although no model of research can attempt to capture the attention of an individual in the same way that a firsthand account of a dventure and excitement can, the author works to bring out the experiential factors that have encouraged countless others in the past to pursue their dreams at the expense of some semblance of

The Chinese Massacre of 1603 Essay Example for Free

The Chinese Massacre of 1603 Essay From a historiographic point of view, the incident of 1603 acquires special significance in the long and tragic history of Chinese massacres in the Philippines. For compared to all the rest, this has been the best chronicled, not only in Spanish, but also in Chinese sources. Moreover, both coincide in the presentation of facts and are alike in the ordering of events. When these sources—especially the Chinese—begin their account of the massacre, they refer to a remote, perhaps even unrelated, incident that is, nevertheless, significant. The tension started in 1593, when 250 Chinese were forcibly recruited to row the ships which Gomez Perez Dasmarinas, then Philippine governor general, sent to conquer the Moluccas Islands. Soon after they set sail, the Chinese in the flag ship staged a mutiny, assassinated Dasmarinas, and took over the vessel. Weeks later, the son of the murdered governor, Luis Perez Dasmarinas, then based in Cebu, sought vengeance to fall on the heads of the culprits. To do this, he asked for assistance from the Chinese authorities of Fujian, who welcomed the young Dasmarinas’ ambassadors and offered them their help as well. The second episode happened 10 years later, in the spring of 1603, when â€Å"three mandarins† arrived in Manila on a strange mission: to reconnoiter a mountain of gold abundant with trees that bore gold. This visit raised the suspicion of the Spaniards in the Philippines, already so accustomed to intermittent threats of conquest, particularly from the Japanese. They concluded that this was probably an advance party for a future invasion of Manila. At that time, the Chinese in this city were almost 10 times the number of Spaniards. The third event, the Sangley uprising, happened in autumn of that same year. The reasons for this uprising remain unclear. The motives range from the desire of the Chinese to dominate Manila, to their wanting to abort the Spaniards moves that seemed to lead to their elimination. After initial uncertainty as to who would eventually win out, the rebellion was quelled by the Spaniards who, together with Filipino and Japanese troops, massacred some 20,000 Chinese. Both our sources also point to a more or less common epilogue. After the Spaniards’ first attempts at reconciliation and China’s indignant reactions, both parties reached a new compromise and the agitation easily vanished as though nothing had happened. Former trade relations were resumed, allowing the Chinese to settle again in Manila, even if both sides harbored grudges against each other for what had happened earlier. What I now propose is to try to bring together reports on the massacre, both from the known Spanish sources and from the Chinese founts. The comparison may allow us to better understand the remote and proximate causes of the tragedy of 1603. Itinerario, vol. 23, No. 1, 1998, pp. 22-39. 1 The sources The Spanish manuscript sources which document the massacre are found in their entirety in the General Archive of the Indies and were published almost completely in the â€Å"Colin Pastells,† that is to say, the new edition of the work of Colin, done by Pastells in 19001. Some of them were reproduced immediately afterwards and translated to English, in Blair Robertson,2 and again soon after by Pastells in his joint work with Navas. 3 These sources may be classified into two: those released during the event—which served as â€Å"news updates†Ã¢â‚¬â€or shortly after the incident, giving a global view of what had happened; and those that appear in the books that came out around that time, situating the incident within the general context of Philippine history, as Morga4 does in his book, or as part of the conquest of the Moluccas, as Argensola5 approached it in his. The letters and reports from the officers of the Royal Audiencia of Manila, and those of the superiors of the various religious orders belong to the first type. These documents intend to give personal viewpoints which, despite the fact that they contest each other, are not contradictory but rather complimentary. Of course, all deplore the massacre even if they deem it a justified, though exaggerated, measure. At the same time, they differ mainly in the analysis of the means that could have been taken to avoid it, or of the actions that indirectly provoked it. Argensola tries to consolidate all the information that reached the court during the years immediately after the massacre (he published his work six years after the event), and personal reports from the main players of the said event. Argensola may have had the Augustinian Diego de Guevara as his principal source, because this priest moved to Madrid to attend to some of his order’s concerns shortly after the incident. The work of Dr. Morga, eyewitness of the events, is briefer and simpler in tackling the topics and conclusions that were being formulated in Manila immediately after the uprising (Morga left Manila in 1606). The Chinese sources, on the other hand, are official and therefore anonymous. They are briefer than those of the Spaniards, and seem to be less defensive, even if they also seem to reflect partisan tendencies. 6 They usually acknowledge provocation on the part of the Chinese expatriates, and yet refuse to be judged by foreigners. These documents sometimes cite specific words or actions of an officer from Fujian, although they Francisco Colin, S. J. Labor evangelica, ministerios apostolicos de los obreros de la Compania de Jesus, fundacion y progresos de su provincia en las Islas Filipinas. Nueva edicion ilustrada con copia de notas y documentos para la critica †¦ por el P. Pablo Pastells, S. J. , Vol. II, Barcelona, Imprenta y Litografia de Henrich y Cia, 1900, pp. 418-441. 2 Blair Robertson, The Philippine Islands (vol. XII, pp. 83-97). 3 Pablo Pastells Francisco Navas, Catalogo de los documentos relativos a las Islas Filipinas (vol. 5, Barcelona, 1929, pp. LXXVI-CVIII). 4 Antonio Morga, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, Mexico, 1609. We used here the version annotated by Jose Rizal, offset reprinting by the National Commission for the Centenary of Jose Rizal, Manila, 1961. 5 Bartolome Leonardo Argensola. Conquista de las Islas Malucas, Imprenta del Hospicio Provincial, Zaragoza 1891. 6 We have used the following references: Ming Shi (â€Å"The History of the Ming Dynasty â€Å"), Ed. Ding Wen, Taipei, 1975, Vol. 11 (pp. 8370-8375); Ming Shi Lu (â€Å"The True History of the Ming Dynasty†), prepared by the Academia Sinica, Ed. Zhongwen, Volumes 12 and 13, Taipei, 1961 (pp. 12090, 123030, 12371); Dong Xi Yang Kao (â€Å"Studies on the Eastern and Western Oceans†), Ed. Taiwan Shang Wu, Taipei, 1971 (pp. 57-60); Ming Ching Shi Wen Bien (â€Å"Anthology of the Official Documents of the Ming Dynasty†), Vol. 6, Ed. Zhunghua, Beijing, 1962 (pp. 4727-4728); Huang Ming Xiang Xu Lu; Guo Que (â€Å"National tolls†), Ed. Ding Wen, Taipei, 1978, Vol. 8 (p. 4917). I wish to thank Prof. Zhang Kai for his invaluable help in pointing out these sources, and my research assistant Lin Li-pin for his help in the translation of these materials. 1 Itinerario, vol. 23, No. 1, 1998, pp. 22-39. 2 generally present themselves as part of an official investigation that was also transmitted officially. Also, since the events happened outside China, it is difficult for the imperial officers to verify them, which is why they put forward brief and detached explanations. Nevertheless, the massacre of 1603 happened during a period of stability in the Ming Dynasty; thus, their capacity to inquire into and annotate an event that happened outside their shores was much greater than, for example, the time when the massacres of 1639 or of 1662 took place. The former happened on the eve of the fall of the Ming Dynasty, while the latter was more associated with the Ming resistance—at that time, Koxinga7 was dying in his Taiwanese hideout—than with the Manchus, the new powers in China, who were still trying to establish themselves in the country. The incident of October 25, 1593 Let us now take a brief look at Argensola’s account in Chapter 6 of his book. 8 He states that Governor Gomez Perez de Dasmarinas prepared four galleys to attack the Moluccas but had difficulty finding soldiers to man them. When the flagship was the only one left to be filled, â€Å"he ordered that of the Chinese contract workers who were entering the Philippines, 250 were to be taken to man the flagship. The Royal Treasury was to pay each one two pesos a month and, in the best of cases, they were only to row in calm weather. † The Governor forced the governor of the Chinese to get these 250 men who set sail against their will. Finally, on October 17, the naval crew left for Ternate. However, as soon as the flagship moved a short distance off, and the Chinese oarsmen were put to work—unaccustomed as they were to the task and spurred on by brutal and menacing foremen—the said workers decided to stage an uprising, preferring to die in the attempt than to continue rowing for the Spaniards. The rebellion took place on the night of October 25, claiming the lives of the Governor himself and a great part of the 80member Spanish crew. The bad weather persisted, which was why the mutineers only went as far as the Ilocos region, where they were assaulted by the natives. They left behind the surviving Spaniards, among them, Juan de Cuellar, secretary of the Governor and the Franciscan Montilla, both of who managed to reach the coast. Afterwards, the Chinese decided to sail to China, but landed in Vietnam instead, where â€Å"the king of Tunquin seized their cargo and left the galley to sink in the coast. The Chinese were dispersed and they fled to the different provinces. †9 The Spanish survivors informed Manila of what happened. The rest of the navy based in Cebu under the command of the governor’s son, Luis Perez Dasmarinas, returned to Manila. There, he was appointed interim Governor of the islands. Then a strange thing happened in 1594. In retrospect, this incident seems to have served as a â€Å"rehearsal† for what was to happen next. That year, the Chinese presumed that the Spanish navy had left for the Moluccas Isles. As Argensola puts it, â€Å"There appeared in Manila a great number of ships from China, without the customary goods, but rather loaded with men and weapons. On board were seven mandarins, counted As regards this massacre and the problems of interpretation that arise from consulting and comparing Chinese and Spanish sources, see my recent paper â€Å"Consideraciones en torno a la imagen de Koxinga vertida por Victorio Ricci en Occidente. † Encuentros en Catay, n. 10, 1996. 8 There are discrepancies between Argensola and Morga, although these are more a question of details than of arguments. 9 Argensola, Conquista de las†¦, p. 210 7 Itinerario, vol. 23, No. 1, 1998, pp. 22-39. 3 among the senior Viceroys or Governors of their provinces and they went to visit Don Luis with great pomp and an escort of men saying that they were on the lookout for Chinese who were going about those lands without license. †10 Dasmarinas welcomed them and gave each one a gold chain. In the end, he concluded that they had come either to conquer or to sack Manila, but changed their minds when they saw the presence of the Spanish armada. Argensola adds that since the Chinese who killed Dasmarinas’ father were from Quan Chou, he sent Fernando de Castro, a cousin of his, to that province to give an account of the mutiny. However, the trip was forestalled due to the bad weather. It is noteworthy that neither Argensola nor Morga says that the Dasmarinas took advantage of the situation to take up the matter with the mandarins (although it seems that he did, as deduced from the Chinese sources that we shall now see). For example, the Dong Xi Yang Gao is more exhaustive in this respect. It states that Luis Dasmarinas (called Maulin here), immediately after replacing his father, sent some priests to inform the Chinese authorities in Macao about the uprising. These priests bore a letter, the translation of which is conserved in the Chinese sources. It also adds that the magistrates of Fujian continued to send merchant vessels to bring back the Chinese who had been living in Luzon for too long. According to Argensola, this detail coincides with what the mandarins explained to Dasmarinas. The Chinese chronicle continues: â€Å"The governor of Luzon provided these ships with food and also gave them a letter (addressed to the Chinese government). He verbally aired his complaints about the way the Chinese treated the murdered governor, his father. And he gave them an edict, sealed in a gold box which, together with the abovementioned letter, was wrapped in red silk and sent to China on a merchant vessel. †11 The â€Å"three mandarins† arrive in Manila (May 1603) We have said that the abovementioned incident does not seem to have anything to do with the one that took place nine years later. However, the parallelism is great, as we shall now see. The events arising from the arrival of another group of mandarins are well documented in the Spanish sources. There are three types of information that are all complimentary. Those from the royal officials, that is, those from the Governor, Don Pedro de Acuna, as well as the listeners of the Audiencia, Jeronimo de Salazar and Tellez de Almazan, who show themselves to be hostile to and suspicious of the governor. The sources of the ecclesiastics, and in the third place, the information that the Chinese themselves give, and which they offer in consideration of the Spanish authorities. In particular, a letter written four days before in the sea by Chanchian, the head of the Chinese expedition, and which is submitted to the governor who sends it immediately for translation. Likewise, two more documents corresponding to some â€Å"petitions of Chinese to the Chinese emperor†, which ended up in the hands of Archbishop Benavides who translated them. He sent the king his own letter where—â€Å"enriched† after his own 10 11 Idem, p. 212. The Dong Xi Yang Kao contains the Chinese translation of Dasmarinas’ letter which he gave to the mandarins. Here, the same facts are given, except that the apparent motive of the uprising was more of greed (the ship was loaded with much gold and silver) than of the cruelty received in the hands of the foremen of the ship, as Argensola would have put it. Itinerario, vol. 23, No. 1, 1998, pp. 22-39. 4 inquiries—he makes a very complete analysis of the situation12. Though actually we do not know if Benavides made them Public or not, and therefore if they have to be considered as part of the information that the Spaniards had then. Gathering together all the reports (Argensola’s and those of the two judges of the Audiencia, Jeronimo de Salazar and Tellez de Almazan, both hostile toward the governor, Pedro de Acuna), this series of events might have had taken place as follows: Friday, May 23. Three mandarins landed in Manila, displaying their insignias as judges. With great pomp and an entourage of 50, they sought an audience with the Governor and gave him a letter written four days earlier in the high seas. In the said letter, signed by Chanchian, military chief of Fujian, the mandarins expounded the reason for this trip. They wished to verify the existence of a fabulous mountain in Cavite, believed to yield 100,000 taeles of gold and 300,000 taeles of silver a year. They claimed that everyone could go and dig there and that the Chinese have already taken a great quantity of these metals back to China. Chanchian also indicated that he had with him a fellow named Tio Heng, the man who reported to the emperor of the existence of the said mountain, as well as a eunuch called Cochay, who received specific orders from the emperor to investigate the matter. Another mandarin was present, besides Cochay and the immediate chief of Chanchian. 13 He added that he did not believe in the existence of such a mountain, and presumed it to be a lie. Nevertheless, the Governor had nothing to fear, since it was his duty to look into the matter. Afterwards, the Governor had them housed in special lodgings inside the city. The fact that they flaunted their insignias as judges and that the Governor allowed them to do so, incurred the ire of the members of the Audiencia. From May 24 to May 26 (Saturday to Monday), the mandarins begin to mete justice on their countrymen. Meanwhile, Salazar, the fiscal of the Audiencia, carries out his own investigation. Within this period, the governor allows the mandarins to bring their entourage to Tondo, where the Christian sangleys live. May 27 (Tuesday). Salazar presents a report in a public session of the Audiencia. The report is approved and the governor requested to stop the operations of the mandarins so that the investigations may continue. The friction between the Audiencia 12 It does not remain clear how Benavides obtained the two documents, and if he made them known to the governor or not. The first (document) is similar in structure to the letter which the governor received from the mandarins, the translation of which he sent to the King, but much more extensive and detailed. Therefore the said document perhaps may be a different version from the letter, made by memory (since he possibly helped in the verbal translation of that thing) and completed a posteriori with his own investigations, since at the end of that letter he said: â€Å"I am a man who knows the language of these Chinese and I know a lot about their things and customs of China by having lived with them for many months and I made it also because I take up this business with suspicion and care as these can be advisors who advise badly on it because of not understanding it† (Colin Pastells, II, p. 415). The second document, different from the letter, is a remonstrance of the emperor by one of his officials. The mandarins presented it to the governor with the intention of giving more credibility to his own letter. Given that the Spaniards did not seem to take it into account, we will not deal with it now, but we will go back to it at the end of our study for its clarificatory value. 13 Note that the spelling of the names correspond to the free style of transcribing that the Spanish translator had of the Fujianese pronunciation of the names ( the translation of the document that appears on Blair Robertson, vol. XII, pp. 83-97, points out in the heading which was made by a Dominican). As will be seen later , the correspondence in mandarin is as follows: Chunchian seems to correspond to Gan Yi-chen, Tio Heng to Zhang Yi and Cochay to Gao Tsai. Itinerario, vol. 23, No. 1, 1998, pp. 22-39. 5 and the Governor worsens. Moreover, the judges of the Audiencia complain of being relegated to the sidelines. In the following days, the Audiencia desisted its moves because the Governor finally published an edict prohibiting the mandarins from administering their justice and from flaunting their insignias. On the eve of their departure, they go to Cavite to see the said mountain. With them are Second Lieutenant Cervantes, as well as by the governor of the sangleys, Juan Bautista de Vera,14 who seems to have been around all the while. There, Tio Heng, unable to satisfactorily clear himself of the deception, had the Spaniards bearing down on him with threats of death. However, the mandarins intercede for his pardon. The Spaniards grow even more suspicious. On the day of their departure, the Governor receives the mandarins and honors them with some gifts. As he sends them off, they apologize for the mix-up they have caused and thus sailed back to China. We can better know the identities of these mandarins and further clarify the case by examining complimentary data from the Chinese sources. In this attempt to consolidate diverse information, we can conclude that the speaker of the group was the mandarin Gan Yi-chen (Chanchian in the letter), a centurion and was probably the military chief of Fujian. The second mandarin (not mentioned in the letter) was Wang Shi-ho, the magistrate of the Hai Cheng district, where many of the Chinese immigrants came from. The third mandarin must have been the eunuch Gao Tsai (who appears in the letter as Cochai). Accompanying these three dignitaries were Zhang Yi (Tio Heng) and Yang Ying-long, who were the ones who informed the emperor in Beijing of the said mountain of gold. Yang Ying-long was another centurion whom the Chinese sources accuse of collaborating with Zhang Yi (who probably used the former’s clout to get an audience with the emperor and consequently win his favor). The emperor actually allowed the said expedition despite opposition from various people in his court who not only thought it a ridiculous project, but which could also be a source of trouble. According to these sources, one might think that the two magistrates Gan Yichen and Wang Shi-ho were also of the same opinion. In fact, the latter was so vexed that he died soon after they arrived in Fujian. The other magistrates reported Zhang Yi’s behavior to the emperor, demanding that he be punished for trying to deceive the imperial government and for bringing about its humiliation in a foreign land. The role of Gao Tsai, on the other hand, is more difficult to interpret. Some sources picture him as the superintendent of the said Beijing expedition, while others show him as Fujian’s quartermaster general for taxes, who makes a living off the Chinese maritime trade. The Ming Shi Lu gives its version of the conduct of these three: â€Å"The diabolical Fujianese Zhang Yi, came up with an evil plan to propose the excavation of a gold mine in Luzon. But his real intention was to conspire with the eunuchs and provoke the barbarians. Yang Ying-long was his partner†¦Zhang Yi was beheaded and [his head] shown to the coastal provinces as a warning to people of his kind. † 15 Lastly, it is worth pointing out that the Chinese sources coincide with those Spanish ones in indicating that this entire trip had been the proximate cause of the Spanish suspicions and the subsequent massacre which took place four months afterwards. 14 A Chinese who arrived in Manila during the times of the pirate Limahon, whom he had served. At that time, he was appointed governor of the sangleys and was â€Å"respected by the Spaniards and loved by the sangleys† (Argensola, p.230. He was also known as â€Å"Eng Kang† (Rizal), â€Å"Encan† (Argensola) and â€Å"Encang† (Tellez de Almazan). 15 MSL, Chapter 404 (Vol. XII. P. 12090). Itinerario, vol. 23, No. 1, 1998, pp. 22-39. 6 But, the question is if the dispatch had been an advance party or not, and if it came to study the possibility of invasion of Manila—whether it was piratical or in an organized form. At the moment, the Spaniards could not know it, although an excess of suspicions could turn itself into an untenable situation that might end up out of control. It was precisely what happened. The massacre of 1603 a) The preparation On December 18, 1603, once the incident that we are about to see had ended, Governor Pedro de Acuna wrote the king an account wherein he explained in retrospect his behavior during the whole event. He begins by saying that the arrival of the mandarins had made him suspect a possible invasion from China. This was why his eventual moves, preventive and defensive in nature, were limited to the following: 1. To create space, he ordered the demolition of the houses in the Parian that was adjacent to the walls of the city. This, at the same time, corrected some of the wall’s defects. 2. He asked the mayors of the district and the magistrates of the Parian to submit to him a list of immigrants under their jurisdiction and of the weapons in their possession. They were also asked to indicate whether these people were to be trusted or not. The order was fulfilled. 3. He carried out regular inspections of the artisans (blacksmiths, etc. ) in particular, and commissioned the manufacture of bows, arrows, pikes, etc. for the royal storehouse. At the same time, he ordered that all these weapons be collected and transported. 4. Just in case, he had provisions stored. 5. He hired sangleys to build a canal with the end of creating a moat for the city, if ever the need arises. Acuna also points out a distinction that is also mentioned in other Spanish sources: that between the Chinese merchants, who have settled for years in the Parian, and the recent arrivals who were vagabonds and troublemakers who had nothing to lose and who could not return to China due to the crimes they had committed. 16 Acuna hangs the blame of the succeeding events on these Chinese, since they were the ones who paved the way for everything, â€Å"in order to bring the merchants and the peaceful people to their side, convincing them that the measures that were being taken were meant to kill the Chinese. † 17 The Chinese sources, on the other hand, also echo some of Acuna’s positions, but presenting these under an offensive point of view, coloring the thing differently and relating these to what directly affected them. For example, the Huang Ming Xiang Hsu Lu shows that the Spaniards prepared for the massacre way ahead of time, since â€Å"they began to buy from the Chinese all the metal objects that they had. The Chinese, on the other hand, sold all the iron they found because they saw that they could profit from it. † (point 3 from Acuna). 18 This same idea is found in the Ming Shi, which also adds that â€Å"the Chinese were obliged to register their names and to be divided into groups of 300†19 (point 2 from Acuna). 16 To better differentiate the Chinese groups, see Edgar Wickberg, The Chinese in Philippine Life, 18501898 (Yale University Press, 1965), pp. 6-11. 17 Blair Robertson, vol. XII, p. 154 18 HMXHL, Chapter 5, Luzon. 19 MS, Chapter 323 (p. 8372). Itinerario, vol. 23, No. 1, 1998, pp. 22-39. 7 b) The beginning: Sangley uprising or Chinese pogrom? Another interesting issue to consider is that of who started it first. The Spanish sources (Morga, Argensola, Acuna, etc. ) emphatically state: the Chinese staged an uprising. Benavides, the bishop of Manila, noted in a letter to the king that â€Å"the multitude of Chinese was so great, among them, base and vicious men who spread the rumor (which is absolutely false, but not for them) that the Spaniards were going to kill every one of them, which was why they provoked a rebellion on the night of the eve of St. Francis. They armed themselves and on that day killed several Spaniards who pursued them, among them, Luis Perez de Dasmarinas. †20 On December 18, when everything was over, Governor Pedro de Acuna told the king that â€Å"according to the investigations and what some of those involved had declared, it goes without saying that the uprising was instigated from China, and the stage set by all, if not some, of the mandarins who had been here. † 21 According to the Spanish sources (since the Chinese are silent about it), the Chinese had also been girding themselves for it. The Chinese Juan Bautista de Vera had been constructing a more or less fortified zone half-a-league from Tondo (which Argensola calls a â€Å"sugar refinery†), where some provisions and arms were stored. c) The unfolding of events The actual struggle is already well known because it is what was most interesting to relate to the Spaniards. To summarize, we basically follow Morga’s account: The evening of October 3 (Friday). The uprising was scheduled to take place on the last day of November, but realizing that they were going to be discovered, the sangleys move it to the third of October. On this day, at 11 pm, about 2000 men (or â€Å"according to the sangley who was under torture, 40 captains to 150 men†), begin to gather in the â€Å"fort† of Tondo. That night, Juan Bautista de Vera visits the governor to inform him of what was happening. Thinking that de Vera was in cahoots with them, the governor throws him into prison. The Chinese, noting de Vera’s absence, appoint another Christian sangley, Juan Untae, de Vera’s godson, to replace him. 22 That same night, Luis Dasmarinas secures himself in the monastery of Binondo with a small group of soldiers. The Chinese fly into action, burning some houses and then returning to their â€Å"fort. † The morning of October 4 (Saturday). The sangleys of the Parian (that is, the peaceful old-timers identified with the Spaniards, some of whom are Christian) are asked to enter the city, but they refuse to do so due to doubts as to who would be the victor in this conflict. They decide to remain in the Parian. Dasmarinas leaves Binondo for Tondo to fortify himself in the church with 140 harquebusiers. A thousand and five hundred Chinese rebels show up. There is a fight to take over the church. Five hundred Chinese die, while the rest retreat to the â€Å"fort†. Dasmarinas pursues them and dies in the attempt. The Spaniards are thrown into confusion. October 5 (Sunday). Realizing that de Vera was not going to come, the rebels kill Untae and coerce the Parian residents into joining forces with them. As they make for Manila, they ravage everything that comes their way. The city puts up a tough resistance and many men die. In the evening, they retreat to the Parian and to Dilao. The 20 21 Blair Robertson. Vol. XII, p. 143. Idem, vol. XII, p. 155. 22 Sangley general Hontay (Argensola), or Juan Ontal (Tellez de Almazan). Itinerario, vol. 23, No. 1, 1998, pp. 22-39. 8 Spaniards likewise press the Parian residents to side with them. Overcome by this psychological stress, some Chinese—among them, a relative of de Vera—hang themselves. Both sides brace themselves for a second attack. October 6 (Monday). Another assault and renewed resistance. A Spaniard, with the help of a Japanese corps, launches an unsuccessful offensive. An armada of Pintados suddenly makes its way through the river and blasts the Chinese lines with canons. They divide themselves into three and penetrate the inland. One group makes for the Tingues of Pasig, another for Ayonbon [Bayombong] and the third, the most numerous, for Laguna de Bay, the mountains of San Pablo and the province of Batangas. October 8 (Wednesday) and the succeeding days: The Chinese abandon the city. The Spaniards are hot in their pursuit. It seems that the first two groups are easily annihilated, since nothing more is said of them. The third group, starving and unarmed, leave a path of devastation. Luis de Velasco with 70 of his men is at their heels, killing many each day. Finally, Velasco perishes at the hands of the Chinese who set up fort in San Pablo. Argensola adds that the native Filipinos, instead of siding with the Chinese, lent a hand in the massacre. October 20. A new detachment of Spaniards, Japanese and 1500 natives of Pampanga and the Tagalog provinces is formed in Manila. They soon finish off all the Chinese who secured themselves in San Pablo and Batangas. The rebellion is quelled. October 22 (Argensola’s date). Juan de Vera faces trial. In the succeeding days, other Chinese meet the same fate. Only 300 are pardoned, but the rest are sent to the galleys. The Chinese sources are less detailed in describing the operations, perhaps due to the handful of sangleys who survived. It is thus more difficult to establish a clear parallelism between the two accounts, since they cite actions that are not mentioned in the Spanish sources. Consequently, there is much discrepancy. The Ming Shi relates that when the Chinese discovered the Spaniards’ plot to massacre them, they â€Å"retreated to Tsai Yuen (which may be translated as â€Å"the plantation† and which may refer to Juan Bautista de Vera’s strategic â€Å"fort† and to Argensola’s â€Å"sugar refinery†). 23 Then, the Spanish â€Å"chief† sent soldiers to go after them (this may well refer to Luis Dasmarinas’ move or to the arrival of the army of Pintados). The Chinese were unarmed. Many were killed and the survivors fled to the Talun Mountain. 24 The Spaniards attacked the mountain once more, while the Chinese put up a desperate defense. The Spaniards suffered momentary defeat, which their â€Å"chief† (probably the captain of the expedition or the Governor himself) regretted, moving him to negotiate a truce. The Chinese, thinking that this was some trick, killed the messengers, thus driving the Spanish â€Å"chief† to exasperation. He abandoned their mountain camp and retreated to the neighboring town, simultaneously setting up ambush parties in the surrounding areas. The Chinese rebels were starving and so decided to go down the mountain and plunder the town,25 only to be ambushed by the Spanish troops. Twenty five thousand Chinese perished in the mas23 CHEN, Mattew.

Advantages Of Semisynthetic Penicillins Biology Essay

Advantages Of Semisynthetic Penicillins Biology Essay Introduction Amoxycillin is a semisynthetic ÃŽ ²-lactam antibiotic derived from a common chemical nucleus of naturally occurring Penicillin G, 6-aminopenicillanic acid. Vital to Amoxycillins biological effects is the ÃŽ ²-lactam ring contained within this nucleus. Amoxicillin is bacteriolytic and bacteriocidal to susceptible gram positive and gram negative microbacteria. Today, amoxicillin is the 9th most prescribed drug in the world. Penicillin discovery Up until the early 1900s, the only treatment for bacterial infection was antiseptic which was only useful for surface wounds. In 1928, Alexander Fleming made a momentous albeit accidental discovery in St Marys Hospital in London. He noticed that a Staphylococci plate being grown in culture had been contaminated with mould of the species Penicillium notatum and that this had resulted in the inhibition of bacterial growth in the vicinity of the mould. Fleming subsequently isolated the mould and formulated an antibacterial mould broth. In 1938 at Oxford, Howard Florey and his biochemist Ernst Chain extracted penicillin from the mould and established that it was nontoxic and had chemotherapeutic effects. In 1941 an injectable form of penicillin became available for therapeutic use Advantageous of Semisynthetic Penicillins Penicillin G (naturally occurring) is poorly stable in gastric acid and broken down rapidly as it passes through the stomach. Therefore, Penicillin G must be given intramuscularly which limits its usefulness. Semisynthetic penicillins such as Amoxycillin with increased oral bioavailability were a major advancement in therapeutic antibiotics. Furthermore, while aminopenicillins and natural penicillins have similar efficacy against gram positive bacteria, semisynthetic aminopenicillins (such as Amoxycillin) are more active against certain strains of gram negative rods. Amoxycillin Discovery In Beecham Laboratories in 1957, 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) was isolate from penicillin. Through chemical modification of the ÃŽ ²-lactam thiazolidine ring side chains semisynthetic penicillins were developed. In 1961, Ampicillin was created which was quickly followed in 1964 by the introduction of a Ï -hydroxyl group in Ampicillins side chain creating amoxycillin. Amoxycillin was found to have improved absorption following oral administration and 2-2.5 times greater plasma concentrations compared to an equivalent dose of Ampicillin. In 1967 Beecham laboratories discovered that the susceptibility of Amoxycillin to ÃŽ ²-lactamase could be overcome with co-administration of clavulanic acid (a ÃŽ ²-lactamase inhibitor isolated from Streptomyces olivaceus). Chemistry Amoxycillin is a white crystalline powder that is somewhat soluble in alcohol and water. Amoxycillins chemical name is (2S,5R,6R)-6-[(R)-2amino-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)acetamido]-3,3-dimethy;-7-oxo-4-thia-1-azabicyclo[3.2.0]heptanes-2-carboxylic acid. It has a molecular weight of 419.4. Figure 1: Chemical Structure of Amoxycillin Pharmacodynamics Amoxycillin functions by inhibiting the biosynthesis of cell wall mucopeptides of susceptible gram positive and negative microorganisms actively synthesizing peptidoglycan and undergoing multiplication. The molecular target of Amoxycillin and other ÃŽ ²-lactam antibiotics are the Penicillin Binding Proteins. Upon drug-target interaction transpeptidation is blocked and thus inhibiting the synthesis of peptidoglycan, a vital cell wall component. Subsequently, the inhibitor of autolytic enzymes in the cell wall, is removed resulting in active autolytic enzymes and bacteriolysis. Pharmacokinetics Amoxycillin complies with the two compartment model with elimination occurring from the central compartment. Figure 2 demonstrates Amoxycillins biexponential decline of serum concentration with time. Table 1 and 2 document the pharmacokinetic parameters of Amoxycillin. Figure 2: Average serum concentration versus time after 500mg IV dose of Amoxycillin. Table 1: Pharmacokinetic parameter and absolute bioavailability of a 500mg oral dose of Amoxycillin. Table 2: Pharmacokinetic parameter of a 500mg IV dose of Amoxycillin. Administration Amoxycillin is usually administered orally. The relationship between dose and extent of absorption is not linear with a plateau at higher oral concentrations. Dose adjustments need to be made in patients with renal dysfunction. Bioavailability Drug bioavailability is the proportion of drug that passes into systemic circulation after oral administration. It is dependent upon absorption across the gastrointestinal tract and first pass clearance by the liver. After oral administration of a dose of 250mg and 500mg of Amoxycillin the average peak serum concentrations (observed between 1-2 hours after administration) were 5.0mg/mL and 6.0 10.8 mg/mL respectively. The variation of plasma concentration with time is demonstrated in Figure 3. The oral bioavailability of Amoxycillin is 77.4% Amoxycillin is stable in gastric acid and is rapidly absorbed after oral administration regardless of absence or presence of food products and thus a high proportion of administered dose reaches the systemic circulation.. Figure 3: Mean serum levels following oral administration of 125mg and 250mg of Amoxycillin to 11 normal volunteers. (95% confidence). Volume of Distribution Volume of distribution is defined as the volume of fluid in which the amount of drug in the body would need to be uniformly distributed to produce observed plasma concentrations. Amoxycillin distributes widely and rapidly into most body tissues and fluid. Despite this, Amoxycillin remains extracellular due to lipid insolubility and thus does not cross the blood brain barrier unless the meninges are inflamed. Volume of distribution of Amoxycillin is 20.2L (0.3 L/kg). Clearance Clearance is defined as the volume of blood cleared of drug per unit time. It is dependent on renal excretion hepatic elimination. The clearance of Amoxycillin is 221mL/min. Renal Excretion Amoxycillin is excreted predominantly via the urine in biologically active form or as penicilloic acid. 75% of a 1 gram dose is excreted in the urine within 6 hrs (60% biologically active form, 15% is in the form of penicilloic acid). Biological Half life Elimination half life is defined by the time taken for the plasma concentration of drug to reach half the steady state concentration. The biological half life is 61.3 minutes with normal renal function. Half life increases with renal dysfunction. Clinical Uses Amoxycillin is a broad spectrum ÃŽ ²-lactam antibiotic with effectiveness against many pathogenic microorganisms. It is commonly used to treat bacterial infections such as otitis media, tonsillitis, throat infections, laryngitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, gonorrhoea and skin infections. Indications for use Location of infection Microorganism Skin and skin structure E coli, Staphylococcus, nonpenicillinase producing streptococcis Respiratory (Acute and chronic) nonpenicillinase producing E coli, Streptococcus, Strep. Pneumonia, H.influenzae, staphylococcus Genitourinary tract (Complicate and uncomplicated, acute and chronic) E.Coli, P.mirabilis and Strep. Faecalis Gonorrhoea N. Gonorrhoea (nonpenicillinase producing) Prophylaxis of endocarditis Used in people at particular risk (e.g. individuals who have previously had endocarditis or with a prosthetic heart valve) Table 3: Indications for use of Amoxycillin Precautions Drug interactions Amoxycillin is rarely associated with adverse drug interactions however the following reactions have been demonstrated in some cases. Drug Interaction Oral anticoagulants (e.g. Warfarin and Acenocoumarol) Results in abnormal prolongation of prothrombin time (or international normalised ratio.) Allopurinol Results in increased rate of rash reactions. It is unknown whether this is due to Amoxycillin reacting with the allopurinol itself or the hyperuricaemia that it is treating. Combined Oral Contraceptives Like all penicillin, Amoxycillin can affect the commensal gut flora which results in decreased oestrogen absorption. This has been associated with decreased efficacy of combined oral contraceptives. Tetracyclines or other bacteriostatic drugs Bacteriostatic drugs have been known to interference with the bactericidal effects of Amoxycillin Clavulanic acid Amoxycillin therapeutic effects are inactivated by penicillinase (ÃŽ ²-lactam) producing organisms. It is possible to co-administer Amoxycillin with clavulanic acid (ÃŽ ²-lactamase inhibitor) to broaden the spectrum of susceptible bacteria (e.g.. co-amoxiclav). Probenecid Renal excretion can be delayed by administration of Probenecid as demonstrated by Figure 4. When used in conjunction there is an increased plasma concentration of Amoxycillin reached and longer duration of effect. This is a beneficial interaction. Table 4: Some common drug interactions when co-administered with Amoxycillin Figure 4: Mean serum levels following oral administration of 1 gram of Amoxycillin with and without probenicid. Pregnancy and Lactation While penicillin can cross the placenta, no teratogenic effects have been uncovered through animal studies. Similarly, Amoxycillin can be excreted in breast milk resulting in potential side effects for the nursing infant including diarrhoea or allergic response. However, Amoxycillin is generally considered safe for use in pregnant women and nursing mothers. Adverse reactions Side effects are uncommon however potentially include insomnia, diarrhoea, dizziness, confusion, heartburn, easy bruising, itching, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bleeding, rash and allergic reactions. The most common adverse reaction is hypersensitivity reactions in patients with allergies to ÃŽ ² lactam antibiotics, penicillin or cephalosporins. Anaphylaxis can be fatal and occurs more frequently following parenteral administration. All penicillins have been associated with seizures when administered in excessive doses or administered intrathecally. Conclusion The discovery of penicillin by Alexander Flemming lead to the subsequent generation of the semisynthetic aminopenicillin, Amoxycillin. This ÃŽ ²-lactam antibiotic has a broad spectrum of therapeutic use, high oral bioavailability and lack of toxic effects.

The Media: Does It Shape Societies View on Femininity? :: essays research papers

The Media: Does It Shape Society's View of Femininity? The question answers itself. Yes, the media definitely influences today's society via messages through the television, radio, magazines, and billboards. It seems that in today's day and age to even be â€Å"noticed† as a woman one must be tall, skinny, blonde, and countless other things that the â€Å"average woman† could only hope for. Today, if one is not comfortable with who or what they are, they may encounter many dilemmas. I found three convincing reasons to support my claim: the rise of eating disorders throughout history, percentages and statistics, and my own personal experience. The Rise of Eating Disorders Throughout History As far back as the 18th century, women began dieting. They submitted themselves to food deprivation, enemas, and purging. In order to achieve that â€Å"hourglass† figure, some women went as far as having their lower ribs surgically removed.(Collins 199) In the 1940s and '50s, full figure females were popularized by movie stars like Ava Gardner, Jane Russell, and Marlyn Monroe, but they were, however, short lived. With the introduction of Playboy ®, Vogue ®, and Cosmopolitan ®, eating disorders have quickly taken over our society. The great majority of American women are culturally conditioned to strive for a slender figure. Advertising, television, films, and the fashion industry relentlessly drive home the message, and women who don't â€Å" naturally† fit the mold often respond by dieting or even surgery. Percentages and Statistics According to the National Eating Disorders Association, â€Å" Media images that help to create a cultural definition of beauty and attractiveness are often acknowledged as being among those factors contributing to the rise of eating disorders†(165). Media messages screaming â€Å"thin is in† may not cause eating disorders but help to create a context in which people learn to put a value on their body. The media's power over our development of self-esteem and body image can be incredibly strong. According to a recent survey of adolescent girls, the media is their main source on women's health issues ( Common Wealth Fund 348) , and researchers estimate that 60% of middle school girls read at least one fashion magazine regularly (Levine 1997). Another study of mass media magazines discovered that Women's magazines had 10.5 times more advertisements and articles promoting weight loss than men's magazines did (ctd. in Guillen & Barr 465). There was a study of 4,294 network television commercials which revealed that one out of every 3.8 commercials send some sort of â€Å"attractiveness† message, telling

The Role of Naturalism and Rationalism in American and British Gun Poli

Although they may not be aware of it, complex philosophic principles influence the simple actions of the mass’s everyday lives. In fact, long lasting and well defined contentions of basic philosophy concerning the actions of human beings has not only affected individuals, but also entire countries. Some of the greatest nations on Earth have been formed around key thoughts and opinions of several great philosophers. Primarily amongst these, however, or John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, both of whom wrote on â€Å"The State of Nature†, or the state of absolute freedom. While Locke and Hobbes had vastly different opinions on the natural state of a human being, no matter who you are your life is somehow affected by their philosophic writings. As previously stated, nations often base themselves and thusly their common laws off the chosen philosophy of the country. For instance, in the United States of America, police officers carry guns. In Great Britain, however, officers are banned from carrying extremely harmful weapons such as firearms and instead carry the classic truncheon. To the average citizen of each of these countries, the policy that their law enforcement adheres to makes perfect and logical sense, while the opposite country’s policy seems to be either dangerous and overly violent or as overly merciful. However, the reason as to why these two sibling nations differ so greatly comes down to one simple thing: the gun policy imposed on American officers are different from those used in Britain because of conflicting common philosophic beliefs found in both of the countries, where America takes on a naturalistic, believing that humans are inherently evil, viewpoint and Britain sports a rather rationali stic, where in which hum... ...ere is no need to use such extreme non-reversible and almost brutal violence on individuals which they believe can return to society. These two differing philosophic principles are the primary reason as to why the two countries differ. Whether the creators of these two countries intended for the principles of the 15th century philosophers to shape their respective nations or not, it is an undeniable fact that they obviously did and that Locke and Hobbes became two of the most influential philosophers in this way. Despite the contrasting opinions, however, it is clear to see that the philosophies on the State of Nature play an important role in forming the opinions of a country’s citizens by directly affecting their law. Be it gun laws or general culture and way of life, the theories of Naturalism and Rationalism are undeniably the basis of any nation.