The Cystic Fibrosis Gene Essays - Biology, Cystic Fibrosis

The Cystic Fibrosis Gene Biology - Genetics The Cystic Fibrosis Gene Introduction: Cystic fibrosis is an inherited autosomal recessive disease that exerts its main effects on the digestive system and the lungs. This disease is the most common genetic disorder amongst Caucasians. Cystic fibrosis affects about one in 2,500 people, with one in twenty five being a heterozygote. With the use of antibiotics, the life span of a person afflicted with CF can be extended up to thirty years however, most die before the age of thirteen.1 Since so many people are affected by this disease, it's no wonder that CF was the first human genetic disease to be cloned by geneticists. In this paper, I will be focusing on how the cystic fibrosis gene was discovered while at the same time, discussing the protein defect in the CF gene, the bio-chemical defect associated with CF, and possible treatments of the disease. Finding the Cystic Fibrosis Gene: The classical genetic approach to finding the gene that is responsible for causing a genetic disease has been to first characterize the bio-chemical defect within the gene, then to identify the mutated protein in the gene of interest, and finally to locate the actual gene. However, this classical approach proved to be impractical when searching for the CF gene. To find the gene responsible for CF, the principle of "reverse genetics" was applied. Scientists accomplished this by linking the disease to a specific chromosome. After this linkage, they isolated the gene of interest on the chromosome and then tested its product.2 Before the disease could be linked to a specific chromosome, a marker needed to be found that would always travel with the disease. This marker is known as a Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism or RFLP for short. RFLP's are varying base sequences of DNA in different individuals which are known to travel with genetic disorders.3 The RFLP for cystic fibrosis was discovered through the techniques of Somatic Cell Hybridization and through Southern Blot Electrophoresis (gel separation of DNA). By using these techniques, three RFLP's were discovered for CF; Doc RI, J3.11, and Met. Utilizing in situ hybridization, scientists discovered the CF gene to be located on the long arm of chromosome number seven. Soon after identifying these markers, another marker was discovered that segregated more frequently with CF than the other markers. This meant the new marker was closer to the CF gene. At this time, two scientists named Lap-Chu Tsui and Francis Collins were able to isolate probes from the CF interval. They were now able to utilize to powerful technique of chromosome jumping to speed up the time required to isolate the CF gene much faster than if they were to use conventional genetic techniques.3 In order to determine the exact location of the CF gene, probes were taken from the nucleotide sequence obtained from chromosome jumping. To get these probes, DNA from a horse, a cow, a chicken, and a mouse were separated using Southern Blot electrophoresis. Four probes were found to bind to all of the vertebrate's DNA. This meant that the base pairs within the probes discovered contained important information, possibly even the gene. Two of the four probes were ruled out as possibilities because they did not contain open reading frames which are segments of DNA that produce the mRNA responsible for genes. The Northern Blot electrophoresis technique was then used to distinguish between the two probes still remaining in order to find out which one actually contained the CF gene. This could be accomplished because Northern Blot electrophoresis utilizes RNA instead of DNA. The RNA of cell types affected with CF, along with the RNA of unaffected cell types were placed on a gel. Probe number two bound to the RNA of affected cell types in the pancreas, colon, and nose, but did not bind to the RNA from non-affected cell types like those of the brain and heart. Probe number one did not bind exclusively to cell types from CF affected areas like probe number two did. From this evidence, it was determined that probe number two contained the CF gene. While isolating the CF gene and screening the genetic library made from mRNA (cDNA library), it was

Gender dysphoria in children Essays

Gender dysphoria in children Essays Gender dysphoria in children Paper Gender dysphoria in children Paper He even insisting to urinate in a sitting position as the manner of a girl does. His parents try to understand the condition of their son. But then, when he began schooling Rona hardly refused to go to school for the reason that he dont want to wear the appropriate uniform assigned for boys. He also wants to use the Female Comfort room which is prohibited. He feels that attending to school restrict him from everything he wants. Resulting Rona repeated tantrums in class. Causing recurrent suspended over 30 times for behaving badly at school for throwing chairs and lashing out at his teachers. Ronas mom ask him what does it take to make him change, Rona replied he wants a girl stuffs in his room and he wanted to be a girl and wear girls clothes. Some nights Rona H. Cries and screams out of distress. His mother caught him one night with a knife in his hand, planning to cut off his genitals. He says that it doesnt belong there and he doesnt want it there. Fortunately, this attempt Just leaves a scratched on his pens. Even though Ronas parents are now separated, they decided to support the Psychological needs of their son. They already allowed Rona to dress girls clothing at home. Mrs.. : H. Already oiled out Ronas room Feminine stuffs he likes and even designed his room into Princess inspired. But what Rona really wishes is to be called with a girls name, enable him to feel Just like a real girl. Right now, he uses the name Emma which he chooses, instead of his real name Rona. CASE ANALYSIS As according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder fifth edition (ADSM) all of the proposed signs of Gender Dysphasia in Children show in Rona H. Conditions. Rona exhibit strong belief that he was born with the wrong sex genitals and he fundamentally persons of the opposite sex. Individuals with gender dysphasia eke Rona H. Have a marked incongruence between the gender they have been assigned to and their experienced or expressed gender. Experienced gender may include alternative gender identities beyond binary stereotypes. As what presented in his background, Rona was distress out of this incongruence. School refusal, Development of depression, Anxiety, and Intense Crying when parents tell that he is not really a member of the other gender he desires are signs of distress in Ronas Condition. Indication of having the disorder shows strongly preferred engaging cross dressing and simulating female or woman attire. Desiring for toys, games and activities stereotypically used or engaged by the other gender. Another is Persistent preferences for cross-sex roles in play and in fantasies and also, a strong dislike of ones sexual anatomy. All of these are shown in Ronas Condition, thus, he meet the Diagnostic Criteria for Gender Dystrophy Children.. There are various disciplines offer perspectives on the understanding of Gender Dysphasia. Some are Biological theories offers many hereditary, hormonal, and anatomical cause, which merely act as precursors to the numerous environmental stresses to come. On the other hand, most of the contributing explanation are psychological theories identify parental influence, primary needs, and personal cognition as main factors. Based on Sigmund Freud psychosocial theory, he believed that childs gender role is determined during the phallic stage, wherein the focus of its libido was believed moves to the genitals and the development child diverges. Here, Boys enter the Oedipus complex in which the child realize that their father stands in the way of the satisfaction of their desire and this frustration of the ids desires results in aggressive feelings, which are directed towards the father. At the same time, the boy realizes that his father is more powerful than he is and starts to fear that if the father finds out about the boys desire for his mother he will castrate him (castration anxiety). In this phase, the child sexual desire for their mother leads them to acquire some feminine disposition on his mother. Gender Dystrophy child probably had a failure to separate himself with his mother in early boyhood, instead of identifying his father. Social learning theory regards gender identity and role as a set of behaviors that are learned from the environment. Gender identity develops as he result of imprinting and conditioning processes. The main way that gender behaviors are learned is through the process of observational learning and at the core of observational learning is modeling. Learning through modeling involves adding and subtracting from the observed behavior and generalizing from one observation to another. Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways, some of which relate to gender. They pay attention to some of these people (models) and encode their behavior. At a later time they may imitate the behavior they have observed. They may do this regardless of whether the behavior is gender appropriate or not but there are a number of processes that make it more likely that a child will reproduce the behavior that its society deems appropriate for its sex. However, Parents respond, verbally and nonverbally, to childs emerging sexuality has an impact on sexual attitudes and feelings that child develops with the father, the boy identifies with the mother. Another theory that might explain Gender Dysphasia is the theory of Cognitive Development Theory of Goldberg. His theory proposes that a child understands gender moves forward in stages. At each successive stage, the child thinks in characteristic ways about gender. As the child moves through the stages its understanding of gender becomes more complex. The first stage is gender identity, which is usually reached by the age of 2 years. At this stage the child is able to correctly label its own sex and this may serves as the core motivation for future gender-related behaviors. So, a child recognizing the fact that he is a boy leads him to seek and perform activities his society defines as boy like. The second stage is gender stability, which is usually reached by the age of 4 years. At this stage the child realizes that gender remains the same across time. However, its understanding of gender is heavily influenced by external features like hair and clothing. A boy at this stage might say that if he put a dress on he would be a girl. It is not until the third stage, gender constancy, where the child starts to understand that gender is independent of external features. This stage is usually reached by the age of 7 years. An alternative view, gender schema theory, suggests that children play a more active role in their own gender development from an earlier age. In cognitive psychology, a schema is a cognitive structure used to organize information bout a particular type of object, person or situation. People make sense of new information by matching it to the schemas they have produced from past experience. Gender schema theory suggests that a childs gender development reflects the increasing complexity of the schemas it develops around maleness and femaleness. By about the age of two the child is able to label himself and others as female or male. This reflects the development of a basic gender schema. The child then starts to seek out information from its environment in order to increase its understanding f maleness and femaleness and thereby to guide its own behavior. The child identifies activities and objects associated with its own gender and start to ignore or reject those that do not fit in with this. At this early stage their understanding of gender is simplistic and quite rigid and this is reflected in their behavior. As their gender schemas increase in complexity, however, the child becomes better at coping with ambiguity and their ideas about what is acceptable or appropriate start to relax somewhat.

A Look At How Turmoil And Tragedy Helps To Build The Plot In Thomas Bells Out Of This Furnace

A Look At How Turmoil And Tragedy Helps To Build The Plot In Thomas Bell's Out Of This Furnace Thomas Bells Out of This Furnace, presents a plot line consisting of tragedy and turmoil. The characters are put the the test and are forced to live in deplorable conditions. Their life is one of routine and there is little deviation from the norm. In these situations, is someone who deviates from the habitual life viewed as a hero or as a rebel? Kracha is not a hero. He doesnt save lives, he doesnt fulfill any unachievable goals, and he doesnt create a better life for the future generations. He came to America with the selfish goal of improving life for himself. He doesnt think of the ones he left behind and he doesnt look towards the future. He gets swept into the American lifestyle and gets cheated out of the life he could have had. Kracha boards a boat, with many other just like him, from eastern Europe to America. He then, due to his stupidity, puts himself in a position where he has to walk to his work site. Luckily he stumbles at the right doorstep. One week to the day after l eaving New York, toward mid afternoon, Kracha entered a small mountain village noisy with saw mills..Kracha should find himself in White Haven without knowing it. (Bell, p. 8-9) He stays at the mills and lives the everyday life of a railway builder. This becomes tiresome and the pay is little. His wife Elena meets up with him here and soon they travel to find better work. Along the way three baby girls are born to Kracha and Elena. They did the same work, lived in the same ramshackle shanties, wherever they went. (Bell, p.21) Kracha and Elena followed Dubik and Dorta to Braddock. Here Dubik supplied a job for Kracha in the steal mills. When accident strikes Dubiks family and their house is ruined Kracha offers the small amount of money he has, not even thinking of his family and what crisis they might have to encounter. I have a little money saved, he said. I brought it with me and its yours if you want it. ( Bell, p. 37) This is the type of man Kracha is. He is very frivolous wi th his money and always spends it in the wrong places. Kracha does not get involved with the workers who are upset with the low wages and the long hours. He sits on the out side and hears what happens, instead of being the heroic doer of the community. Here, Kracha was told, the bargeloads of Pinkertons had tried to land and take possession of the mill. They were still there, effectively kept from landing by the union men barricaded on shore, and unable to leave because their tugboat had gone back to Pittsburgh. (Bell p. 41) After Dubiks death in the mills, Kracha decides to search for a life outside of the mill. Elena seams to be the one with the realistic ideas. Elena thinks she would like to go back. Since coming to America shes had a bad time of it, what with one thing or another. She remembers what it was like when she was a girl and she thinks it would be the same again.Elena would rather I bought a farm, but I got all I wanted of farming in the old country. Theres no money in farming. The way to get rich in America is to go into business. Buy cheap, sell dear. Theres your fortune in four words. Kracha says on page 59. What Kracha doesnt realize is that hardly anyone is successful in big business. He doesnt see the inborn skill that it takes. He doesnt know how to make it big. He just knows that it has been done before. He doesnt understand business or the politics involved with it. He goes to Perovsky for financial counseling and help with managing the store. In a conversation with Perovsky Kracha states, in reference to the banks, Bastards. I would enjoy throwing the whole business back in their faces. Id lose by it but it would almost be worth it. In return Perovsky says, You think they would mind? As long as they got paid for it you could spit at them. (Bell, p. 94.) Kracha had the right idea, that was to make money. He was able to do this for a while but his main tragic flaw was ignorance. He didnt know how to hold on to his money once it was in his hands. Elenas funeral had

Forensic Engineering Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Forensic Engineering - Coursework Example However, little information has been offered on the engineering side and it is thus imperative to go through several of the speculations regarding the collapse of the building looking at the structural side of the matter. Engineers have stated that the major cause of the collapse for the building was due to the failure of certain components critical to the structure of the building. The engineers state that after the initial attack, there was the beginning of huge fires in the inside of the building. These fires were so hot that they made the joists of the building weak and consequently they failed to support the weight of the building leading to the immediate collapse (Bjorkman, 2013). The engineers of the building had carried out an appropriate job by making sure that they backed up the joists with concrete slabs. These slabs were important in that they assisted to ensure in case of tragedy such as the one that happened, the joists would have received assistance from the concrete. However, in this particular case, there was failure of the concrete to assist because they had already been demolished by the high impact caused by the crash of the airplanes that hit the building when the attack began (Eagar, 2013). The System of building used by the engineers that constructed the World Trade Centre used a method of building commonly referred to as tubular framing. The perimeter frames that were used to consteruct the building were embedded internally so as to prevent forces that may be caused by issues or rather natural calamities such as earthquakes. Earthquakes unlike the attack that took place are rather subtle on the top part of the building as opposed to the force that hit the building directly. Every floor of the building was made of tubular pipes that were meant to support it in the case of forces. However, they did not succeed in the case of the September attack that saw the building losing foundation from every floor and falling drastically. It

Victorias Secret Product Strategies and Customer Loyalty Essay

Victorias Secret Product Strategies and Customer Loyalty - Essay Example This research provides coherence into all of the various marketing activities of Victoria's Secret for the past decade. The conclusion of this research shows that the main reason Victoria's Secret has thrived for so long is due to the fact that they market their products specifically for all body types, and classes of women in society, not just the more affluent clients, or one size fits all customers either. Therefore people from every walk of life have been customers of this company at one point in time or another which has given it is irrefutable status in women's lingerie, body fragrances, clothing line, and accessories for years now. The company, "Victoria's Secret" has developed into one of the largest female retailers of classy but sexy undergarments for women throughout the past thirty five years. Not only have they entered into one of the top retailer chains for women but they also provide other items that are variant from their main line of lingerie and body fragrances which has boosted their sales and increased their revenue year after year. Since the introduction of the Victoria's Secret lingerie line in 1970, they have been advertising and marketing their products in a habitual manner. Although there have been costs to the advertising it has worked well for the company in gaining customer loyalty to their products (White 2006). The many benefits of advertising that Victoria's Secret has gained are many as well. Advertising can give many ideas about a product to a consumer such as, various price information, availability of it, and the improvements that might have been made on a specific product as well. Without advertising, customer loyalty and interest would definitely be slim for Victoria's Secret or for any company for that matter. What advertisers try to do is impress the consumer and draw them in to the company. Through the years, Victoria's Secret has worked this in a way that if one product that they carry is more appealing to consumers then they have advertisers work on launching a bigger and better campaign to make that product appear to stand out and become more impressive to the consumer (White 2006). In 1982, Victoria's Secret was bought out by Limited Brands and since that time has continued to grow and lure in young, middle aged and even older customers. Once in the hands of The Limited, the company rapidly branched out to many malls throughout the United States, with 100 stores opening in record time in the late 1980's (White 2006). Also, the company's advertising campaigns during that period and even continuing on into today's time have always been strong and exemplary of what sexy really means. This shows in such ads like the one in 2003 titled, "What is Sexy" This ad earned the company a great deal of gross sales but not only that it earned them the number one spot in advertising within a 15 second time frame (Advertising Age 2003). It could be said however that the company really started to become influential in the feminine undergarment business in the early 90's as research shows that it actually redefined American's

The amount of energy Essay Example for Free

The amount of energy Essay In this investigation I will be burning alcohols to heat up a can of water. I will be burning four alcohols, methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol. The aim is to find out how much energy is produced when burning these alcohols. Alcohols react with oxygen in the air to form water and carbon dioxide. The reaction that is involved in burning alcohols is exothermic because heat is given out. From this reason the reactant energy is higher than that of the product. The energy is given out when forming the bonds between the new water and carbon dioxide molecules. The amount of energy produced by such exothermic reactions can be calculated by using the formula Mass of the substance x rise in temp x SHC (specific heat capacity). The specific heat capacity is the number of joules required to heat one gram of water by 1 °C. I chose to use water because it is safe, easily found, and has a reliable specific heat capacity of 4.2. I will also need to ensure that I conduct the experiments safely. As alcohols are very dangerous and highly flammable I will wear my safety goggles at all times. I will need to keep all lose items off clothing tucked in. the lids on the alcohols must be kept on at all times to prevent evaporation or any spillages. Prediction I predict that the more bonds there are holding the carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms together, more energy will be required to break them apart. For example Ethanol has the formula C H OH. In this formula you have five C-H bonds, one C-C bond, one C-O bond and one O-H bond. To separate these types of bonds you require a certain amount of energy which I will show in a table. To separate C-H bond you need to apply 410 joules of energy. There are five such bonds in ethanol so you multiply 410 by five to get 2050 joules. You do these calculations for all the other types of bonds that make up ethanol, add them all together and you get 3270 joules. All of the other alcohols can be broken up in this way. Below is a table showing the energy required to break up the bonds in each alcohol. Type of alcohol Energy required to break the bonds in the alcohol (kj) As you can see a longer molecule takes more energy to break its bonds, in this case Butanol. Compared to a smaller molecule, methanol that requires less energy to do so. I can come to predict that the longer the molecular structure in the alcohol the more energy it will take to remove the bonds. So when I come to predicting results I can safely say that Butanol will evolve more energy than methanol simply because it has more bonds to break. Analysing and drawing conclusions I think my results tables and graphs clearly show the pattern that I have found in this experiment. That is that heat combustion does increase when  the amount of carbon atoms increases. I believe that my results do show a positive correlation and do show that the more carbon atoms there are the heat of combustion goes up. Another reason for these results is that the molecular length becomes longer in the bigger molecules increasing the surface area hence allowing more energy to be released. These results do support my initial prediction. After this I can conclude that my initial prediction was actually right but I didnt allow for all of the experimental errors. I conclude that carbon atoms in alcohols do have an effect on the heat of combustion. As the amount of carbon atoms go up the heat of combustion does. This is because everytime you add another carbon atom you are also adding 15 onto the relative atomic mass that plays a big part in calculating the end results. Evaluation Sound and light energy could have been lost into the room. I could have placed heatproof mats around my experimental area, they could not have kept all of the heat in and much of this would have been taken away in the convection currents through the air. The tin that the water was being held in would have used up some of the heat energy to heat itself up. The alcohol containers had varying amounts of alcohol in them to start with along with varying sizes of wicks. This all contributed to the fact that the flame coming from the alcohol was varying in size so was sometimes not even touching the tin can. The room temperature would also have acted as a cooling agent. One of the less important factors could have been if there was a lacking of oxygen leading to incomplete combustion. Then the oxygen molecules would only form with one carbon molecule producing carbon monoxide but I doubt this actually happened. This was a very difficult experiment to conduct in a classroom because there are lots of potential ways of losing heat because everything likes to gain heat energy. I think the thing that hindered our results the most was the fact that gusts of air and convection currents were taking the heat away from the experimental area and there was no way to stop this. Perhaps if I started the experiment below room temperature, so that the amount of gained  energy, from room temperature, might equal the energy lost at temperatures higher than room temperature, then the experiment could produce better results. If there is a limited supply of oxygen then you get carbon monoxide (each carbon atom can only bond with one oxygen atom). This is when incomplete combustion has occurred. This is so because the carbon monoxide could react some more to make carbon dioxide. If the oxygen supply is very limited then you get some atoms of carbon released before they can bond with any oxygen atoms. This is what we call soot. Since heat is given out when bonds form, less energy is given out by incomplete combustion. So this is why it affects the outcome of the experiment. To overcome this problem, I would have to make sure a sufficient supply of oxygen was involved in the reaction.

That Was Then, This Is Now :: essays research papers

That Was Then, This Is Now 1.The perceive that were having a rough time financially because of their constant obsession with hustling, petty and sometimes not so petty crimes. The first clue was how the pair couldn ¡Ã‚ ¯t They were also very serious about their hustling and stealing. Judging by the way they scope out the vulnerable people and the amount of time they spend doing it, it seems they ¡Ã‚ ¯re not doing this for the fun fooling and scamming people. ( ¡Ã‚ °Mark, who was scouting out the two guys playing pool, came up and sat down to say there ain ¡Ã‚ ¯t nobody here to hustle. Pg.10). Since they spend a lot of time stealing and hustling it sends the message that they need a lot of money as soon as possible and that the little that they have is quickly running out. In fact, the very first and last paragraph in the first chapter was all about how Bryon and Mark are planning to go to the pool hall and hustle ( ¡Ã‚ °Mark and me went down to the bar/pool hall about two or three blocks away from wh ere we lived with the sole intention of making money. ¡Ã‚ ± Pg.9). When Bryon was unable to pay for a coke and the fact that he only had a dime on him suggested that he didn ¡Ã‚ ¯t have much money (page 10). Also, when Mark told bartender Charlie to charge it to his bill, it demonstrated that the boys didn ¡Ã‚ ¯t have a steady flow of money and that they were going from steal to steal just like how some people live from paycheck to paycheck. Bryon mentioned that his mother was in the hospital and had to have a very expensive operation. It was so expensive that they had to sell most of the little that they had. Including their transportation, a probably cheap and old Chevy; their television; and practically anything they can live without. Yet they are still short of money and the boys are forced to find jobs. Especially Bryon because what he made from hustling wasn ¡Ã‚ ¯t enough and he didn ¡Ã‚ ¯t like to still anything other than a pack of cigarettes. Bryon ended being unable to contribute as much as he wished when he said he had an extremely difficult time finding a job. 2. Bryon has trouble with authority because of a bad personal experience with them. Bryon was beaten by two cops who found him drunk and took him to a remote area and left him there afterwards.

Why were Witches women?

For over three centuries, early modern Europe was largely dominated by witchcraft persecutions, the scale of which such atrocities had never been witnessed before. These persecutions arose from various significant instabilities of the times. Tens of thousands of executions were carried out, especially within Central Europe and the vast majority of deaths were attributed to women. This is what was most remarkable about this period; the fact that so many women were recognised as practitioners of witchcraft. I shall be closely following the reasons for such large-scale prosecutions within the early modern period. In particular, I shall be looking at the different sub-categories concerning reasons for such a rise in the nature of witch prosecutions. These categories will be broken up as follows; the Church's view on maleficia, whom the witches were, the effect society had on the arrival of witchcraft, literature's perspective, natural thought and freethinking, and the confessions of witches. The Church was integral to the whole belief system within modern day Europe and was the main, driving component for social, economic and religious conformity. However, the Catholic Church as a unit had been threatened through ‘The Reformation' and theological perceptions and ideas were changing. People's interpretations and prior beliefs were now being challenged, criticised and there was now total religious uncertainty and unbalance within society. ‘This consequently led to the powerful ‘Counter Reformation' in which the Catholic Church began an attempt to not only counter the Protestant Reformation, but also to eliminate corruption, educate clergy and inspire faith in the common people'- (B. P. Levack, 1995). The combination of these two ecclesiastical revolutions induced the inevitable religious disorder, which in turn would spur the rise and development of more numerous and more extreme witch-hunts. In addition, these two reformed religions placed a renewed importance upon individual morals. ‘This issued many with the desire to place the burden of sins upon someone else, and in effect to acquire a scapegoat'- (B. P. Levack, 1995). Throughout history, such scapegoats have generally been the rejects of society, the loners, the sick, and the poor. This age was no different and in their search for a victim, someone to hold responsible, they found the witches. This period of great religious, social and economic transformation combined with the prevalence of epidemics and natural disasters now had a target on whom to lay all the blame upon; a physical embodiment of the evil that had been endured. Furthermore, as well as Martin Luther and Jean Calvin highlighting and condoning the burning of witches as ‘whores of Satan', the Church as a whole was responsible for accepting witchcraft as part of society, essentially forming the moral backing needed for such large-scale atrocities. So then, in 1485 the Catholic inquisition authorities published ‘Malleus Maleficarum'. This was essentially a book, confirming women as those responsible for witchcraft, as those capable of evil and temptation. ‘Women are by nature instruments of Satan†¦ they are by nature carnal, a structural defect rooted in the original creation' The bible also condemned witchcraft, or so people thought. Within Exodus 22:18 it orders, â€Å"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live†. It is then this mixture of Church and theological backing that gave the people of Europe the authority to act upon the ‘witches' within society, and to destroy anyone suspected of witchcraft. ‘It is interesting to note then that this period of witch-hunting was most intense within Germany, Switzerland, Poland, and Scotland, where the countries were religiously heterogeneous'- (G. Geis, 1997), comprising a mix of numerous Protestant and Catholic believers. Moreover, the witch-hunts themselves have long been seen as part of a ‘war against women', conducted overwhelmingly by men and particularly, by those in authority. Infact, Deborah Willis notes that â€Å"more polemical† feminist accounts â€Å"are likely to portray the witch as a heroic protofeminist resisting patriarchal oppression and a wholly innocent victim of a male-authored reign of terror designed to keep women in their place. † – (D. Willis, 1995, in web page). Holistically speaking, the Church's contribution to witchcraft fears and prosecutions led to the general belief within society that demons actively interfered upon the Earth and that witches were hugely prevalent concerning the interactions with and/or the dealings with such forces upon the Earth. In general, there was a greatly intensified and invigorated belief in the supernatural. For those who did not believe in such ideas, it still remained a plausible and effective tool for shifting the blame onto the women within society. It is now important to fully recognise whom these witches were and to discern the types of women victimised for such ‘crimes against humanity'. In general, it was the women from the lower sections of society who were seen as those who had the opportunity to commit harmful acts. Those who were widows and so were therefore able to conceal things and to hide within the cloak of darkness; to practice their magic and to meet with their familiars and even with the Devil himself, were often susceptible to prosecutions. In addition, these women were seen as ‘vessels of nature' and much closer to the environment and conditions of nature than men, and so more able to dominate the elements. The number of unmarried women was also increasing and this was another cause for fear within society. These women were considered a burden on society. The other group vulnerable to witchcraft accusations were midwives. One of the ostensible practices of witches was the execution and cannibalism of infants, especially those who had not yet been baptised into the Christian faith. Therefore, it is of no surprise that this particular group was especially focused upon in terms of prosecutions. It was essentially a way for grieving families to be able to lay blame upon the midwife for the death of their child, particularly within times of increasing infant mortality and occasional infanticide. The general view however was that witches were often cited as those ‘outsiders of society', reliant upon community relief and benefits, draining the land of it's wealth. Additionally, women were often cited with sorcery because of their traditional roles as cooks, nurses, midwives and keepers of the home. Witches were often associated as those who were in league with the Devil and as those who would meet at ‘Sabbats' to create spells, curses, practice killings and take part in lewd sexual acts with one another and with Satan himself. Single women were particularly focused upon for prosecutions concerning sexual abominations, as they were seen as more easily seductable and by far more sexual by nature. Indeed, the fact that the Devil was depicted as being the very form of a man highly extenuated the belief that women did take part in such acts. Society also saw women as being weaker in every sense of the word. They did not have the political power or physical capabilities to defend themselves. Therefore, they were thought to use magic to defend themselves and additionally make pacts with the Devil to achieve various things against their enemies. However, ‘the great witch hunts of the medieval period were long depicted as a ‘war against women', conducted mainly by men, especially those in central authority' (Willis, Malevolent Nurture, p. 12). The reason for this was ostensibly that men wanted to keep women in their rightful place within society, largely pacified and subdued. This came with the great fear of feminist accounts, which started to take place within this period. The subject of women projected as witches was widely held in belief within local communities and often formed the deciding factor in disputes within local communities. So if a particular person has had a bad harvest, or their child has dies in the night, the climate of Early Modern Europe was conducive to such accusations and provided the ammunition with which to prosecute. The times of the period were one of extreme economic turbulence and poverty. Across Western Europe in particular, the gulf between the rich and poor was consistently growing and there was a general decline also in the living standards of much of Europe. These conditions may however have persuaded people to contemplate using magic to help themselves and to achieve monetary or land gains, but on the other hand, it also maintained that accusations would be at a new high. Below is a table showing the relevance of monetary/land/food disputes within local communities and the effect being a widow within society would have concerning such disputes and jealousies in Essex, 1564-89: Kinship Relationships Husband and Wife * 4 Unspecified Quarrels (2) Sexual Jealousy (1) Broken Marriage Contract (1) Stepfather and Stepchild 1 Over Inheritance Grandmother and Grandchild 1 Obligation to collect wood Total 6 Neighbourly Relationships * (Object of dispute) * Food/Drink * 12 Animals 4 Money * 8 Implements 4 Unspecified loans 3 Boundaries/Land * 4 Children 3 Total 48 The difference shown in number between kinship quarrels and disputes within the community is substantial. It demonstrates the heightened debates and tension with local communities and supports the view that widows were particularly attacked within these times as defenceless, unimportant people of the community. Another crucial part of women being persecuted as witches, developed through another mind controlling and prevalent technique within this time period. This was the use of literature, so covering everything from the bible and Church readings to pamphlets and novels written within the time. It is not surprising that the ‘Malleus maleficarum' had such an influential effect upon the rise of women as victims of mass witch prosecutions. Shakespeare also wrote within this time period and included a wide range of texts, often shadowing events and topics within Europe at the time. One of the key texts he wrote was that of ‘Macbeth', where Macbeth and his wife gradually murder various people in line to the succession of Kingship for their own gratuitous ends. The central factor towards their warped ideals and evil dealings was that of the witches within the moors. These of course were depicted purely as women, with similar characteristics to those generally seen as witches within this same period. The very fact that Lady Macbeth had to effectively become a man and get rid of her female characteristics in order to succeed, parallels the social view of women within this time and further extenuates the likelihood of women as victims. Indeed, it is the prophecies of the witches that initiate the murder, corruption, greed and lies that manifest with Macbeth. The famous line of ‘is that a dagger I see before me' spoken by that of Macbeth represents the conjuring of illusionary magic, produced by the witches of the time. Furthermore, the witches and his wife are inextricably linked together, in that they both influence Macbeth, and so the social view of women being manipulative, a natural temptation (as referred to in the Malleus maleficarum), a necessary evil etc is evidently shown within the literature of the time. The Catholic Church concentrated specifically upon the natural sin and evil within the individual and as mentioned previously, people saw the ‘witches' as scapegoats, a group to blame for their sinful nature. The bible in particular was another greatly recognised and taught book within society and the very story of creation within Genesis demonstrates the sinful, easily tempted and generally weak nature of women. Also, within Revelation (the concluding chapter of the Bible), the sinful woman of ‘Babylon†¦ he Great Prostitute', was also another indication of the weakness of women and showed this to be the case from the very beginning of creation to the very end. In general, the people of Europe saw the massacre of the ‘witches' as a religious war of enacting justice on those directly against the will of God. One notion spread throughout literature was that of witches contacting and serving Diana, the ‘Goddess of the Moon'. Women were hence seen as the most likely persons to communicate with ‘Diana' as a league of women joined together. Some confessed to actually riding with Diana and taking part in various activities, however they were later recognised to be delusional. Overall, the introduction of the printing press and the generally increasing availability of literature to the masses, allowed for more rapid transfers of elite beliefs in witchcraft and especially women as active participants. The trials of women within this period serve to reinforce and validate the beliefs transmitted through popular literature. One of the most confusing and baffling aspects of the ‘women as witches' theme is that many actually confessed to charges against them. This of course did not help the assumption that ‘women were witches' and served to just heighten the prosecutions and fuel the killings. Many ‘witches' claimed that their experiences had been worthwhile and showed virtually no remorse whatsoever for their supposed actions. This was the case all over Europe and not just England, even though the killings were much more prevalent and torture much more extreme on the continent than in England. However, P. Levack described this fact as less surprising when various other considerations were taken into account. Such as the ‘women often being brought up to believe that they were indeed instruments of Satan and that they were the only imperfection within God's creation' (P. B. Levack, 1995). This however was simply society's effort to instil such beliefs so as to relieve the worry of female independence and to of course resume the scapegoat it had found within the period in question. It is particularly interesting to note that many women actually testified against others within the community. They made up 43 % of witnesses against other women. Briggs' notices that ‘women were active in building up reputations through gossip, deploying counter-magic and accusing suspects' (Briggs, 1995). Women were completely surrounded by each sector of society and it was virtually impossible for them to escape punishment of some sort if they had first been accused of witchcraft. Ecclesiastically, the whole Church acknowledged the position of women as witches within society; and this simply gave the general public the opportunity to lay the blame for all the famine, disease, deaths and religious intolerance within previous years. The elite simply kept maintaining this strongly held belief in witchcraft and furthermore sustained the prosecutions and provided the literature and ethics with which to support these beliefs. What is key to this topic is that most prosecution cases actually refer directly to traditionally female aspects, such as the home, the kitchen, and the nursery; and on ‘culturally defined female tasks or occupations such as feeding (poisoning), child-rearing (infanticide), healing (harming), birth (death)' (Christina Hole, date unknown). Furthermore, women within society were very much pacified throughout this time and this meant that they were easy targets for attack. These poor victims of attack simply existed within a delicate age of uncertainty, confusion and anger. Society believed in the existence of witchcraft and in the exponents of maleficia, the women of the times. On a more local scale too, communities widely looked to the accusation of witchcraft as a means to a specific end, whether it concerned land disputes or money disputes etc. These were very testing times, times of extreme economic struggles and religious disputes. In conclusion, it is interesting to note that as standards of living vastly improved and religious irregularities disappeared, prosecutions decreased dramatically and people suddenly began to notice that most prosecutions were actually highly nonsensical and irrational. Society gradually came to accept that it had indeed made many mistakes.

Dear Parents

Dear parents, I know raising a child can be stressful all on its own. But you have a bigger issue than most parents, raising a deaf child. I bet you're wondering what should you do? Should you both learn how to sign, should the child grow up talking instead of signing. There are many big decisions for the two of you, but I am going to give you the pros and cons of the child growing of signing or talking. The pros of your child growing up talking are that you will be able to communicate clearly, as well as not learn another language. The cons of your child talking are that it will be harder for your child to communicate with you, a lot of time will be on the child's ability to lip read and pronounce vowels and letters the child can't hear. The pros of your child growing up signing are that they will communicate easily with people, they can still do just about everything a hearing person can do, and they will most likely be happier. The cons are that you will have to adjust your whole life to signing, and going out of your way to make sure your child is welcome, as well as try to be an interpreter, or hire one. I know this is a very difficult decision, but I think your child should be number one in your life, and that maybe your child being deaf isn't as bad as it seems, and maybe it's a blessing. I hope your life goes smoothly as possible and just want to point out that signing at a younger age will better help them sign later in life and can communicate to you as a toddler, if you choose to sign with your child. Good luck in life

group dynamics can help you when working in groups as part of your master programme and in your career. Essays

critically discuss how an understanding of group processes/ group dynamics can help you when working in groups as part of your master programme and in your career. Essays critically discuss how an understanding of group processes/ group dynamics can help you when working in groups as part of your master programme and in your career. Essay critically discuss how an understanding of group processes/ group dynamics can help you when working in groups as part of your master programme and in your career. Essay critically discuss how an understanding of group processes/ group dynamics can help you when working in groups as part of your master programme and in your career. By katfount It is generally acceptable that successful teams arising long-term, after hard work. But what do they mean by team? According to Pattison (2013), there is a differentiation between the terms group and team, because groups need time and effort in order to be transformed into teams, having common sense of purpose as a starting point for their progress. This essay will address three main theories, oncerning the development and the format of successful teams. Students, especially postgraduate ones, are requested to deal with various group assignments, having the opportunity to learn how to cooperate with their peers. The groups are usually multicultural with different educational and social background. Therefore, it is essential to find ways in order to communicate and collaborate, respecting the cast of mind of each culture. A similar situation exists also in working environments, where employers, consider teamwork skills as essential requirement for hiring new mployees (Levin, 2005). According to Levin (2005), team-mates tend to adopt a specific role that reflects better their personality. This statement is based on Belbins Team Roles Model, consisting of nine different roles. The Co-ordinator has leadership skills and identifies the advantages and disadvantages of the others but lacks of creativity. The Shaper is also a passionate leader but he possibly can hurt peoples feelings with his criticism. On the other hand, the Plant is very intelligent, trying to find new and innovative ideas, sometimes unorthodox ones, but he is less ociable, and The Resource Investigator is also clever and he tries to find ways to make useful external contacts for the future. It is common for this type of leader to miss his passion soon. : A real Monitor evaluator Judges each aspect of teams work, forming an overall view of the situation. In other words, this role Judges everything and everyone with an unpleasant way. As regards the Implementer, this role acts like a soldier in a battle, but lacks of decision making abilities. Similarly, the Team Worker supports his colleagues, finding ways to maintain a close connection etween them but dislikes being the leader. Furthermore, the Complete- finisher pays much attention to the details in order to avoid mistakes, finding ways to organise every single detail. Finally, the Specialist is characterised by his valuable working experience, which gives a professional dimension to teams work. A common mistake for him is to stick to the technical details and to neglect other serious aspects (Levin, 2005). The above mentioned theory can work extremely well in every group but could you imagine what happens if one of these roles is missing? To make atters worse, Belbins Team Role Theory can be successful only in case that none of the nine roles is missed of the same team, because if there are, for instance, two or more Implementers, it could be impossible for this team to work properly. Another regarding to the lifecycle of teams. Each team should pass through four different stages: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. According to Levin (2005), Forming is the first stage, where new people are meeting and set a leader, who tries to from the teams strategic plan, while during Storming is quite difficult for the roup to make decisions because each member has its own point of you and the leader should make efforts to avoid the conflicts and generate ideas. During the next stage, Norming, there is cohesion between the members, who can easily make decision and identify the strengths and weaknesses of groups work. It is common for this stage the members to socialise outside the working environment, strengthening their bond. Finally, during Performing the group works ideally, as the team roles are distinguished, each member expresses ideas and then make a Joint decision. As regards the leader, his role is more to oversees rather than decide. Tuckman added a fifth stage, called Adjourning, which describes what is happening when teams come to an end. To be more specific, during this stage the teamwork is finished successfully and members tend to go your separate way, feeling insecure for this change. In spite of that, Tuckmans Team Development team theory is considered as an overgeneralization because it is not easy to clarify when one step ends and another begins. It is possible one step to overlap the other, depending on the works volume. Moreover, this theory does not take into consideration the special haracteristics of each member like the educational background, the working experience or the personality, which affect peoples ability to work successfully. An equally significant aspect of teams development is the cultural background as it is quite difficult for people from different cultures to collaborate effectively. This is the reason why Geert Hofstede has tried to examine the features of cross cultural team work. According to Hofstede (2010), there are five different dimensions of culture. The first index is called Power distance (PDI) and it is referred to the inequality of power mong the members of a team, as they accept a different degree of power, forming, consequently, a hierarchy. As far as Individualism (IDV) is concerned, this dimension measures whether the bond between the members of a team is strong or not. In general terms, it describes the fght between individualism and collectivism. The third dimension is called Masculinity (MAS), being related to the characteristics of each gender, as it is believed that women and men build different working skills as members of a team. Uncertainty avoidance index (IJAI) has to do with the peoples feeling of insecurity and anxiety about future ventures. Finally, there is a new index, the Long term orientation (L TO), suggesting that people from cultures with long term orientation tend to believe that everything is a matter of good timing and planning, as opposed to short term orientated cultures, which pay respect to tradition and values. Like any other theory, also this has a grey area as Hofstede did not include some important stimuli, which affect peoples behaviour and contribute to the formation of a culture, such as the political, educational or professional background of a person that affects his behaviour in the community. Moreover, people of the same nations could have different cultures, depending on individual believes. To sum up, through my short experience as a member of a multicultural team, I members to realize the transaction from one step to the other. In my opinion the daily contact with the group strengthens members relationship and through the problems that they should face, they build a strong bond. Although, the key to success is firstly to listening to others opinion and then to have clear team objectives, being comfortable with conflicts, having trust, respect and common sense of purpose. Following this technique the success is guaranteed and this is a valuable treasure for the future ventures in the world of work. REFERENCES Hofstede, G. H. et al. 2010. Cultures and organizations: software of the mind: intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival. 3rd ed. New York; London: McGraw-Hill. Levin, P. 2005. Successful teamwork! : For undergraduates and taught postgraduates working on group projects. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Pattison, L. 2013. Professional Skills and Employability. United Kingdom: Pearson, Higher Education.

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 9

Assignment - Essay Example alued and measured and as such how organizations will effectively communicate the contents of their business plan to key stakeholders such as the relevant investors and employees. Lastly this paper will provide my opinion on which of the three businesses is the most likely to succeed and which of the three businesses is most likely to fail. The format that this paper will take is to first present the business case, present a little background information on the company and follow up with the relevant analysis by conducting a marketing plan, operational plan, financial plan, an a human resources plan for each business. The first sample business plan that this paper will address will be Singapore Airlines proposed all business class service. According to the Company Website (2010) Singapore Airlines has introduced a daily air service to New York (Newark) and to Los Angeles on their new A340-500 which would be fitted with 100 seats configured in a 1-2-1 floor pattern. According to BTN Online (2008) it was the case that the airline had first proposed the idea a few years ago and had proposed a price at approximately $8,200 per person for the Newark flight. While this seems like a dramatic change for the airline it was the case that the company had been moving this direction for quite some time, as many of the same planes in operation have a two class system and feature only a total of 181 seats. Singapore airlines have long been known as the flagship carrier of Singapore, and operate a fleet known to be one of the larges air carriers in Asia. It is the case that the company according to their website has been in operation since 1947 when the company was founded as Malaysian airways. The company has long tried to differentiate itself from a number of its competitors as offering one of the more premium flying experiences in the world and as of 2010 it ranks among the top air carriers globally in terms of revenue earned from passenger kilometers. As the company is

Ways of Praying Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ways of Praying - Essay Example Prayers of corporate confession focus on the wrong that is committed jointly, rather than the sins of each person. Paul Bradshaw, in his book Two Ways of Praying, describes these prayers as cathedral prayer and monastic prayer. Cathedral prayer is mainly led by ordained, formally appointed ministers, while in monastic prayer each person in the community takes obligation to take turn at the reading, speaking or singing that is part of the prayer (Bradshaw, 1995). Cathedral prayer is the obligation of the whole congregation while monastic prayer is more of individual activity. In addition, cathedral prayer is mainly outward, involving occasional gatherings for prayer that is reinforced by praise and intercession. Monastic prayer is mainly inward-looking, that is communicated through a person’s mind and heart, and thus it assists in forming the person who prays. Moreover, cathedral prayer is supported by externals of worship actions and materials such as candles and vestments, wh ile monastic prayer does not necessary require material support, since it mainly involves silent meditation. Generally, prayer enable us to communicate with God by allowing us to be aware of the encounters with God we experience at various times of our lives. Prayers therefore help us to learn to arrive with fullness of our heart, mind, body, feelings, and experience into the living presence of God and to receive the revealed fullness of God’s own heart, word, body, love, and reality for us in ever-deepening mutual intimacy (Dahill, 2005, p.10). The next part of this paper will be based mainly on corporate prayers of confession in the church. One’s spiritual wellbeing is much related to the spiritual wellbeing of others, thus, goodness of the community is very essential for the goodness of individuals. God uses confession as a means for helping people to move past their sins to better and deeper self lived existence within the communal interdependence. Through corporat e prayers of confession, community is able to turn away from sin and begin the process of healing from the suffering. This type of confession enables community to receive God’s will towards wellbeing, as the sins are washed away because they normally block the community from receiving the goodness. Sins therefore lead to isolation and fragmentation of our society, as we concentrate on seeing the problems as originating outside ourselves, rather than concentrating on ways of resolving these problems as a community. Fragmentation in turn leads to powerlessness, as fragmentation makes us focus on perpetuating the problem rather than participating in forms of it resolution (Suchocki, 1996, p.80). The powerlessness makes people to refuse responsibility for problems that are caused by evils in our society; hence, they distance themselves from efforts to seek forgiveness and addressing the problems. The powerlessness makes people to be more individualistic, thus, the church does not confess its corporate sins. By church shunning confessions of its corporate sins, the God’s merciful power of social renewal is left uninitiated, as church member are more concerned about addressing their individual problems while hiding from the social aspects of all personal sins. Christians therefore become more involved in privately confessing their personal sins, while forgetting that personal confession only is not sufficient to attract God’s forgiveness for social sins of our society. As individuals, we participate in various corporate evils that warrant corporate confession. When the church