Statistics from the War on Drugs Tell a Story

In 1971, President Richard Nixon first declared a national â€Å"war on drugs,† and greatly increased the size and authority of federal government drug control agencies. Since 1988, the U.S. war against illegal drugs has been coordinated by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The director of the ONDCP plays the real-life role of Americas Drug Czar. Created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, the ONDCP advises the President of the United States on drug-control issues, coordinates drug-control activities and related funding across the Federal government, and produces the annual National Drug Control Strategy, which outlines Administration efforts to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences. Under the coordination of the ONDCP, the following federal agencies play key enforcement and advisory roles in the War on Drugs: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services AdministrationFederal Bureau of InvestigationBureau of Justice AssistanceDrug Enforcement AgencyUnited States Customs and Border ProtectionNational Institute on Drug AbuseU.S. Coast Guard Are We Winning? Today, as drug abusers continue to flood America’s prisons and violent drug crimes devastate neighborhoods, many people criticize the effectiveness of War on Drugs. However, actual statistics suggest that without the War on Drugs, the problem may be even worse. For example, during fiscal year 2015, Customs and Border Protection alone reported seizing: 135,943 pounds of cocaine;2,015 pounds of heroin;6,135 pounds of methamphetamine; and4,330,475 (Yes, 4.3 million) pounds of marijuana. During fiscal year 2014, the Drug Enforcement Agency seized: 74,450 pounds of cocaine;2, 248 pounds of heroin;6,494 pounds of methamphetamine; and163,638 pounds of marijuana. (The discrepancy in marijuana seizures is attributable to the fact that Customs and Border Protection has the main responsibility for intercepting the drug as it flows into the U.S. from Mexico.) In addition, the ONDCP reported that during 1997, U.S. law enforcement agencies seized an estimated $512 million in illegal drug trade-related cash and property. So does the seizure of 2,360 tons of illegal drugs by two federal agencies in just two years indicate the success or utter futility of the War on Drugs? Despite the volume of drugs seized, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported an estimated 1,841,200 state and local arrests for drug abuse violations in the United States during 2007. But whether the War on Drugs has been a smashing success or a dismal failure, it has been expensive. Funding the War In fiscal year 1985, the annual federal budget allocated $1.5 billion to fighting illegal drug use, trafficking and drug-related crime. By fiscal year 2000, that figure had increased to $17.7 billion, increasing by almost $3.3 billion per year. Jump to fiscal year 2016, when President Obama’s budget included $27.6 billion to support the National Drug Control Strategy, an increase of $1.2 billion (4.7%) above fiscal year 2015 funding. In February 2015, U.S. Drug Czar and director of the Obama administration’s ONDCP Michael Botticelli attempted to justify the expenditure in his confirmation address to the Senate. â€Å"Earlier this month, President Obama in his 2016 Budget requested historic levels of funding -- including $133 million in new funds -- to address the opioid misuse epidemic in the U.S. Using a public health framework as its foundation, our strategy also acknowledges the vital role that federal state and local law enforcement play in reducing the availability of drugs -- another risk factor for drug use,† said Botticelli. â€Å"It underscores the vital importance of primary prevention in stopping drug use before it ever begins by funding prevention efforts across the country.† Botticelli added that the expenditure was intended to remove the â€Å"systemic challenges† that had historically held back progress in the War on Drugs: Over-criminalization of illegal drug use;lack of integration with mainstream medical care;lack of insurance coverage for drug abuse treatment; andlegal barriers that make it difficult for people once involved with the criminal justice system to rebuild their lives. A recovering alcoholic himself, Botticelli urged the millions of Americans in substance abuse recovery to â€Å"come out† and demand to be treated like people with non-abuse related chronic diseases. â€Å"By putting faces and voices to the disease of addiction and the promise of recovery, we can lift the curtain of conventional wisdom that continues to keep too many of us hidden and without access to lifesaving treatment,† he said.

Sociological Imagination And Social Imagination - 1431 Words

As clichà © as it sounds, Dr. Seuss was right. â€Å"There is no one alive that is youer than you.† From a sociological persepective, this is also â€Å"truer than true†. As individuals we are cultured and moleded by our society from the moment we are born. Every society, although there may be similiarities, will also have many differences due to the influence of its history and individuals. The history and individuals, are also in turn, influenced by its society. That is why it is important in the furthering of understanding a society, to observe it through the eyes of an outsider. Sociological imagination as defined by C. Wright Mills is the ability to view how a society s unique historical circumstances influence the people and†¦show more content†¦My parents are from the Philippines and are foreign contract workers in Saipan and have lived there for more than 25 years. I am an only child. We were not the richest family but I feel like I was spoiled as a ch ild. I was spoiled not in the sense of material objects but with love, attention, etc. In 2013, my father was diagnosed with cancer and underwent treatment in the Philippines. My parents did not have any health insurance as my mother was the only breadwinner of the family and her job paid just above the minimum wage, which was $5.05, and her job had no benefits. His absence was very hard for me but knowing that he was undergoing treatment made me accept it better. In August, 2015, Typhoon Soudelor (world’s strongest) hit Saipan. Houses, electric poles, buildings, and trees were damaged. There was no electricity, water, cable TV, and internet for several months. My mother and I had to line up in long lines for gas, ready to eat meals, and water. Our garage roof was damaged and our house was flooded. Then, my father was hospitalized. He passed away a month later, three days before my senior year of high school. The typhoon and the death of my father devastated me but I man aged to stay strong and continued on with my schooling and activities. I am still grieving but I try to focus on the work at hand and not let my emotions deter me from accomplishing myShow MoreRelatedSociological Imagination and Social Issues1251 Words   |  6 PagesSociological Imagination and Social Issues People are more likely to use psychological arguments to explain why things are they way they are rather than look at the sociological aspect of them. They think that problems happening in their lives are personal and overlook that they may be caused by society (Ferris amp; Stein 13). Sociological imagination challenges people to look at the â€Å"intersection between biography and history† and see the role we each play in society (Mills 1959 and Ferris amp;Read MoreSocial Interaction : A Sociological Imagination976 Words   |  4 PagesSocial interaction occurs between all individuals in society and can be studied through the use of the sociological imagination. A sociological imagination allows one to link their everyday activities and situations to society as a whole. I can study my own personal social interactions and the situations I encounter by applying concepts, theories, and perspectives that sociologists have developed for analyzing society and social situations. A lthough I encounter situations on a day-to-day basis, oneRead MoreThe Sociological Imagination And The Social Issue Of Child Abuse1492 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction The Sociological Perspective was a concept argued by C. Wright Mills was and still is a valuable tool to help people look at, understand and interpret their everyday lives and social world around them (in which they live). The argued perspective will be discussed through the use of the Sociological Imagination with the Personal Problem of Depression and the Social Issue of Child Abuse with what can be done to solve both of these ‘Dilemmas of Youth’. 2. 1. Sociological Imagination The SociologicalRead MoreSociological Imagination, Social Construction Of Reality And Socialization902 Words   |  4 Pagesof sociological imagination, social construction of reality and socialization help us learn more about ourselves and the world. Sociological imagination is the way in which individuals realize the connection between their own experience of reality and the experiences of society as a whole. This realization allows people to make sense of the world around them. When one applies sociological imagination, they are stripping their own personal experiences from their thoughts to analyze the social worldRead MoreThe Sociological Imagination and Understanding Personal Troubles as Social Issues1259 Words   |  6 PagesThe Sociological Imagination and understanding personal troubles as social issues: The Sociological Imagination allows us to question â€Å"things† or issues which are common and familiar to us and to find its deeper meaning. With the Sociological Imagination way of thinking, we find reasoning and uncover why many things in society are the way they are. The Sociological Imagination does not attempt to understand the individual and his or her problems alone, but focuses on issues and problems as itRead MoreThe Usefulness of the Sociological Imagination  in Relation to Gender, Social Inequality and Suicide1766 Words   |  8 PagesThe Usefulness of â€Å"The Sociological Imagination† in Relation to Gender, Social Inequality and Suicide Sociological imagination is the â€Å"quality of mind† (Mills, 1959: p. 4) that enables us to look outside our everyday life and see the entire society as we were an outsider with the benefit of acknowledge of human and social behaviour. It allows us to see how society shapes and influences our life experiences. Is the ability to see the general in the particular and to â€Å"defamiliarise the familiar†Read MoreEssay on The Sociological Imagination1389 Words   |  6 PagesMy personal condensed definition of â€Å"the sociological imagination† is that it is the idea one should be aware of the societal structures around themselves, and how those structures can influence a person and vice-versa. In addition, I think that having a â€Å"sociological imagination† also involves a deep appreciation for the importance of society and culture. Consequently, for a person that has completed a basic introduction to sociology college course and actually paid attention , I would hope thatRead MoreSociology Imagination833 Words   |  4 Pagesdefined sociological imagination as the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society. The sociological imagination is the capacity to shift from one perspective to another: from the political to the psychological; from examination of a single family to comparative assessment of the national budgets of the world; from the theological school to the military establishment; from considerations of an oil industry to studies of contemporary poetry.[1] Sociological Imagination:Read MoreThe Concepts Following Sociological Imagination675 Words   |  3 Pages In this essay I’ll be talking about Sociological Imagination and the concepts following it and more especially the importance of it. Sociological Imagination is one of the core concepts of Sociology whereas Sociology is all about studying people within the society and what they do. Sociological imagination is all about using one’s mind to see how people are affected by tangible and intangible things around them. Sociological imagination is affected by social forces which are forces that influenceRead MoreSociological Imagination1017 Words   |  5 PagesThe concept of â€Å"sociological imagination† is one that can be explained many different ways. A simple way to think of the sociological imagination is to see it as a way a person thinks, where they know that what they do from day to day in their private lives (like the choices they make), are sometimes i nfluenced by the larger environment in which they live (Mills 1959, 1). What C.W. Mills meant by this concept is that it is the ability to â€Å"understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning

Jaga vs. D Free Essays

In its Bath Star Judgment, the Constitutional Court referred to the interpretive approach followed in the Gaga v D ¶ones, a notorious case from the asses. In this essay, I argue that the recent comments by the Constitutional Court about the case clearly show that the Gaga judgment Is no longer relevant to the Interpretation of statutes after the democratic transformation. The facts of the Gaga case The Gaga case was a notorious case which occurred in the early sass’s. We will write a custom essay sample on Jaga vs. D or any similar topic only for you Order Now Gaga being the accused in this case, as he was caught selling inwrought gold which is illegal. It was hen decided by the jury that he would be sentenced to â€Å"three months imprisonment suspended for three years†. Section 22 of Act 22 of 1913 read as follows: â€Å"Any person who has been sentenced to imprisonment for any offence committed by the sale of inwrought precious metal and who is deemed by the minister to be an undesirable inhabitant of the union may be removed from the union under a warrant†. Therefore Gaga was declared as being an undesirable Inhabitant and a warrant for his deportation to India was Issued. Gaga challenged this because he declared that he had not been sentenced to Imprisonment. The molester had argued this point made by Gaga by stating that even though it is a â€Å"suspended sentence of imprisonment†, it is still a sentence of imprisonment. Gaga once again argued saying that he was not physically sentenced to imprisonment. The dominant interpretive approach before 1994 as followed by the majority in Gaga. The textual approach which was used in 1950 when the Gaga case had taken place, is an approach to interpretation which was used In majority of the cases before 1994 (which was when South African came a democratic country). This is an approach hereby legislation Is Interpreted simply Just by the way It Is written. It focuses on the grammar used In the text or In legislation rather than the actual content of the case-The text base approach refers to the literal meaning of the text. There are many variations of rules of interpretation which occur under the textual approach. The primary rule of the textual approach being, â€Å"that if the ordinary or plain meaning of the words in a legislative provision is clear, that meaning must be applied†. While ordinary citizens look at the everyday meaning of legislation, the courts look at the lain meaning of the text of the cases in this approach of interpretation. The golden rule of this method states that only if a specific wording of legislation is ambiguous and has more than one meaning in the dictionary. Also if the ordinary meaning leads to such absurd results, it will be Impossible to use the actual words In legislation to Interpret any case at all because by the courts applying the plain meaning of the text It would lead to them reaching a decision which would be rather Irrational. In these circumstances where the actual text cannot be used or ciphered from correctly then the court can turn to a number of secondary aids. Information other than the wording of the specific section. These aids are called internal and external aids. Internal aids include : â€Å"the same legislative text in another official language, the preamble, the long title, the definition clause, legislative purpose statements, interpretation guidelines, headings to chapters and sections, paragraphing and punctuations and schedules. â€Å". External aids such as the constitution and the bill of rights can also be used when the text isn’t clear and sufficient enough to come to a final decision or conclusion. In the case of Gaga the literal meaning of Section 22 of Act 22 of 1913 was applied because it did state that any offender would be considered as being an undesirable inhabitant and would be sentenced to imprisonment and this was exactly what happened to Gaga. No other facts of the case were taken into consideration and nothing was investigated thoroughly or further, therefore I feel this approach is rather orthodox and is not relevant to be used currently. It was Just simply the literal meaning of the act taken into consideration here. The court insisted on the plain literal meaning and applied it o the Gaga case, it was a decision that was simply to make and so Gaga was issued with a warrant for his deportation to India and sentenced to three months of imprisonment, suspended for three years. This approach is a very narrow approach and I feel it doesn’t really give an accurate indication of anything because there are very few texts that are actually clear enough whereby the court can actually reach one final interpretation of the legislature. In this approach the court also has very â€Å"little law-making capacity’. In my opinion this approach is no longer valid and should to be used as there is very little to actually work with, it isn’t open minded and will not help reach the best verdict. The alternative interpretive approach followed by the minority in Gaga This refers to the contextual (purposive) approach or also can be called text-in-context approach. This approach has been used even before 1994 in certain cases from time to time. This approach however has been overshadowed by the textual approach. In this approach â€Å"the context of legislation, including social and political policy directions Is also taken into account to establish the purpose of legislation†. Here the mischief rule is used. This rule makes use of external aids which include † the common law, whatever new remedies the legislature provides, and the true reason for the remedies. This approach provides â€Å"a balance between grammatical and the overall contextual meaning†. This approach takes into consideration the actual scope of the legislation and not Just the plain text or the grammatical meaning like the textual approach does. The court has a creative law making function when interpreting legislation. However this does not mean that the court gets to take over completely by paving all the legislative power. The interpretation process is not complete until â€Å"the object of the scope of the legislation is taken into account†. This is yet another reason as to why the new interpretive approach or rather the contextual approach is relevant to be used now rather than the textual approach. In certain cases sometimes the wider context could prove to be more vital than the actual legislative text. In this approach firstly the meaning of the text and the context needs to be determined, once this is done the second step is to apply this when interpreting. Bath star case. Section 39(2) of the constitution contains a provision dealing with ordinary statutory interpretation. The constitution being the supreme law of South Africa, it is only right that it is referred to when interpreting legislation. Section 39(2) implies that even where the ordinary meaning of the legislation is clear and unambiguous, the interpreter must still try to ascribe the meaning to those words that will best promote telecast one identifiable value enshrined in the bill of rights†. The Bath star case was a case about the allocation of quotas in the fishing industry. The number of fish that’s allowed to be caught when deep sea fishing is limited by the quota system. The quota which each fi shing trawler is allowed to catch is determined by the minister of environmental affairs and tourism in terms of the Marine living resources Act 18 of 1998. The Bath Star fishing company lodged a complaint that the quota which they had been allocated for the year was too small. Len section 2 of the marine living resources act there is a list of objectives given and it states that the minister must â€Å"have regard to† these objectives when quotas are being allocated. In this case Bath Star argued that only the textual approach was used because the ordinary meaning of the phrase â€Å"have regard to† was construed by the courts to mean â€Å"bear in mind† or â€Å"do not overlook†. In the statement made by the court they accepted that this was true. The phrase should have been looked into according to the context that it occurred in. Therefore the contextual meaning had to be looked into and not Just the textual approach because it is no longer relevant that Just the ordinary text or meaning of the words be taken into account, but in the new interpretive approach it is â€Å"the repose of legislation and the values of the constitution† that needs to be examined before any kind of decision is reached or before finalizing the verdict. The Bath Star case is a perfect example of why the textual approach is not recommended for use in this day and age where everything has now become more complicated and needs to be thoroughly interpreted so nobody feels that they have been cheated in any way. Words and phrases have a way of being misunderstood so therefore facts need to be collected when handling such cases and this can only be done when the purposive teeth is used. By this case it is also made clear that † the primary and golden rules of textual interpretation do not apply in our law anymore† Conclusion The supremacy of the constitution has overturned the interpretive approach to the contextual method of interpretation. I believe this was done so simply because it is proved that it is indeed the most appropriate and accurate approach to use when interpreting legislation. The text and context of the legislation as well as law cases must be balanced and it not Just be the text that’s taken into consideration therefore he Judgment used in Gaga case can no longer be used for the interpretation of statutes after the democratic transformation. I believe there are far too many weaknesses in the textual approach as it leads to many misunderstandings which creates further problems and disrupts normality, this is evident in both the Gaga and perspectives and therefore I do not support the textual approach used in the Gaga case as it only takes in the literal meaning of the text into consideration and ignores all other aspects. The contextual approach is thus the method which should be applied. How to cite Jaga vs. D, Papers

Negative Music and the Effects on Human Behavior free essay sample

I will trace the history of this type of music and discuss some studies which point out effects of listening to it. What is negative music? Negative music is music that has a negative effect. One form of negative music is music that is used to express or to stimulate negative emotions. A Viennese classical composer named Arnold Schoenberg was the first person to openly create negative music early in the twentieth century. HIS music was rejected by European concert attendees of the time and sometimes caused near riots.Based on discords, Schoenberg music caused listeners to feel uncomfortable and irritated. However, he became the pivotal composer of the early twentieth century and today he is considered one of the greatest composers of that century. The music ushered in an era of negative music in Western classical music that lasted for over fifty years. His theory was eventually accepted by composers throughout the Western world and was taught In the finest music schools. We will write a custom essay sample on Negative Music and the Effects on Human Behavior or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The result of all this was the Incorporation of negative music Into TV programs and movies.Negative music is used to create emotions of suspense, terror, anxiety, and fear. It is the music that accompanies crime programs and horror films. The same kind of music that concert audiences rejected because of the feelings that the music invoked became standard TV fare, and for the very same reasons (5). I never thought about the idea that scary and suspenseful music was a break from the norm. It Is obvious though that It changes behavior In people. Just watch a horror flick with a friend. You will both know when something horrible Is going to happen.The learned behavior from the music stimulus ranges from sliding back In your seat, o covering and closing your eyes. The music tells you something bad is coming and you know how to respond to it. Western classical music was the first style of music to incorporate negativity. The next step in the evolution of negative music was its introduction into rock music in the late asses. The first hard rock and heavy metal music was produced by the rock group called Blue Cheer somewhere around 1967. Their music was angry and had a noticeably heavy beat..At this time, the music of the Rolling stones, too, became harder and angry, with a negative accent. Many other ropes sprang up during this period. In truth, hard drugs, mixed with psychedelics were having an effect. The world was witnessing a new phenomenon: musical groups of young men opening doors to the psychic world through the use of drugs were using electrified instruments to bring in a new music that was harmful to the human psyche, destructive, and angry (2). The turning point for the new music came when the group Led Zeppelin was formed. As the book Hammer of the Cods points out, the members of this group were constantly high on every kind of drug imaginable. When they toured, they vandalized hotel rooms, throwing TV sets and furniture into the streets. Very young girls were tied up and customized, group members taking turns, and a photographer from Life magazine, assigned to photograph Led Zeppelin as they toured, was nearly raped by band members in a hotel room. Yet Led Zeppelin TTS music. Throughout the asses, the music of Led Zeppelin was the anthem of American high school kids.For many people raised during this period, demeaning the music of Led Zeppelin is a desecration of a most sacred cow (3). The last here decades of the twentieth century saw negative rock music spread and popularized throughout the entire world. Heavy metal music became an accepted culture and is now almost an ancient music when it is compared with the newer forms of negative music that have since emerged. It is unfortunate and sad to say, but the children of the asses have been spoon-fed on the most negative and insolent music imaginable. Please consider what is taking place, and who is being affected.If {o listen to the radio carefully and use your powers of discernment to gain a sense f the degree of negativity in the music that you hear on the radio and TV today, you Nil find a great deal of the music that is lacking in positive influence. Pop music has gone down hill so much since its heyday in 1954 that the difference is shocking. In 1954, the songs of the top forty were positive, reinforcing, and romantic. There are some great singers today, but there is also a lot of really inferior, mediocre singers and music that expresses little in the lyrics, and nothing emotionally except perhaps for anger and hatred. And so many people have gotten used to mediocrity and ugliness in music that it isnt even noticed anymore (2). Hard rock, heavy metal, trash metal, hardcore, death metal, gangster rap, and the like have repeatedly been proven in experiments to have a detrimental effect. David Here, a 16 year old at Nanosecond River High School, conducted an experiment that sharpened his theory that hard rock taints the brain. Using 72 male lab mice, he separated the mice into 3 groups of 24: a control, classical, and a hard rock group.After weeks of putting them through the same maze at an original average time of 10 minutes, the control group heaved 5 minutes from the beginning time, the classical group knocked 8 minutes off, but the hard rock averaged 30-minute completion time, a considerable difference. Ere fact that 72 mice were tested makes his results more valid because of the larger sample size. Most noticeably, the hard rock mice did not sniff the air to find the trails of others that came be fore them. Hearers first experiment failed because the mice Newer not put in separate containers, and the hard rock mice killed each other (4).Lyrically violent and musically negative songs increase aggression related thoughts ND emotions. In a series of five experiments involving over 500 college students, researchers from Iowa State University and the Texas Department of Human Services examined the effects of seven violent songs by seven artists and eight nonviolent songs by seven artists. The students listened to the songs and were given various psychological tasks to measure aggressive thoughts and feelings. One such task involved participants classifying words that can have both aggressive and nonaggression meanings, such as rock and stick.The study also included songs with amorous lyrics to see how humor interacted with violent song lyrics and aggressive thoughts (1). Results of the five experiments show that violent songs led to more aggressive interpretations of ambiguously aggressive words, increased the relative speed with which people read aggressive vs. . nonaggression words, and increased the proportion of word fragments (such as h_t) that were filled in to make aggressive Norms (such as hit). The violent songs increased feelings of hostility without differences in musical style, specific performing artist or arousal properties of the songs.Even the humorous violent songs increased aggressive thoughts (1). The idiolect-song increases in aggressive thoughts and feelings have implications for real Nor violence, according to lead researcher Craig A. Anderson, Ph. D. Of Iowa State University. Aggressive thoughts can influence perceptions of ongoing social interactions, coloring them with an aggressive tint. Such aggression-biased interpretations can, in turn, instigate a more aggressive response -verbal or physical than would have been emitted in a nonbiased state, thus provoking an aggressive escalators spiral of antisocial exchanges, said Dry.

Titration Lab Write Up free essay sample

Abstract The purpose of this experiment is to determine the concentration of acetic acid in vinegar by using 0.1 M HCl and NaOH solution. By performing three titrations to determine the concentration of the base, the concentration of the acid was determined to be 0.600 M. It was possible to determine its concentration by standardizing the sodium hydroxide solution used for the first three titrations and by using phenolphthalein to indicate its equivalence point. In conclusion, although there were sources of error, the hypothesis was proven correct by the efficiency of the procedures and the accuracy of the results obtained. Introduction In chemistry, titration is a common laboratory technique that is used to determine the concentration of a substance in a solution. It is performed by neutralizing the solution with the same volume of either an acid or base with a known concentration. (â€Å"Titration.† American Heritage Science Dictionary. 2010) Once the neutralization is complete, the concentration is determined by using the formula MAVA = MBVB. We will write a custom essay sample on Titration Lab Write Up or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The basis of this process is that there are three known values and one unknown value. However, how is the concentration of a substance in a solution determined when there is another unknown value? An experiment was created with the purpose of answering this question by performing three titrations to obtain the value of one unknown concentration and using this value to determine the concentration of the acid used. Hypothesis If three titrations are performed using 0.1 M HCl and NaOH solution to obtain the molarity of the base, then this information can be used because by titrating the vinegar with the now known concentrated base, the concentration of the acetic acid can be determined. Materials and Methods All materials were gathered including a buret, graduated cylinder, stopcock, phenolphthalein, an Erlenmeyer flask, sodium hydroxide solution and hydrochloric solution. The buret and graduated cylinder were rinsed with water and any excess water draining out of the buret was discarded. To start the titration process the stopcock was closed and the buret was filled with sodium hydroxide until it reached the 0 mL mark. To measure approximately 10 mL of HCl solution, a graduated cylinder was used and this acid was placed into an Erlenmeyer flask. Its exact volume was recorded as well the initial reading of the sodium hydroxide in the buret. The acid was added to the flask by slowly opening the stopcock. During this step, the solution was constantly swirled to mix the acid with the base and caution was taken care of the solution’s color by immediately closing the stopcock once it reached a permanent pink color. Once the solution reached its endpoint, the readi ng was recorded and this procedure was repeated for the next three titrations. One exception was that during the fourth titration, 5.1 mL of the vinegar or acidic solution was used instead of 10 mL After all four titrations were completed, all materials were rinsed thoroughly. Results Trial # VA VB 1 10.00 mL At start: 0 mL At finish: 4.6 mL VB: 4.6 mL 2 10.00 mL At start: 4.6 mL At finish: 8.8 mL VB: 4.2 mL 3 10.00 mL At start: 8.8 mL At finish: 13.7 mL VB: 4.9 mL Vinegar 5.100 mL At start: 13.7 mL At finish: 27.0 mL VB: 13.3 mL The results show that for the first three trials, 10.00 mL of the same acid was titrated with sodium hydroxide. 4.6 mL of the base was used to titrate the acid after the first trial, 4.2 mL after the second trial and 4.9 mL after the third trial. For the final trial, 5.100 mL of vinegar was used as the acidic solution and 13.3 mL of the base titrated it. Calculations Trial #1 = 0.217 M NaOH MaVa = MbVb (0.1)(10.00) = (x)(4.6) → 0.217 Trial #2 = 0.238 M NaOH MaVa = MbVb → (0.1)(10.00) = (x)(4.2) → 0.238 Trail #3 = 0.204 M NaOH MaVa = MbVb → (0.1)(10.00) = (x)(4.9) → 0.204 0.217 + 0.238 + 0.204 3 = 0.220 Average Mb = 0.220 M NaOH MaVa = MbVb → (x)(5.1) = (0.220)(13.3) → 5.1x = 2.926 → x=0.574 Ma = 0.600 M Determining the Legality of the Vinegar Used g 1.1 L = 1.0 g → 1.5 L = 1500 g Discussion During the experiment, certain materials and methods were used to determine the concentration of the acetic acid in vinegar such as titration, phenolphthalein to indicate the equivalence point and standardizing the sodium hydroxide solution before performing the first three titrations. Titration was used to determine the concentration of the acidic solution by neutralizing it with a basic solution with a known concentration. Then, the volume of the base, concentration of the base and the volume of the acid were plugged into the formula, MAVA = MBVB. Phenolphthalein was used by indicating when the solution reached its equivalence point by turning its color to a permanent pink. Any other indicator such as methyl orange wouldn’t have worked out as well because when it would change the solution’s color to indicate the equivalence point, it wouldn’t be clear whether the solution was acidic or basic since its color would be the same as its initial color. The equivalence point is the point at which the acid and base are equal. Every neutralization reaction reaches this point since these types of reactions require equal amounts of both the acid and base in order to neutralize each other. Finally, it was important to standardize the sodium hydroxide solution in order to titrate the solution of vinegar because it helped avoid any other additional dependent variables and served as a constant during the experiment. If different amounts of the NaOH solution were used during the titrations, then inaccurate results would have been obtained since the concentration of the acid would have been calculated incorrectly. The obtained concentration of the acetic acid in vinegar was 0.600 M. According to legal terms, for vinegar to be legal, it must contain at least 4% acetic acid. The amount of acetic acid in legal vinegar is equal to at least 1 mole. However by using the formula for determining the molarity of a substance and a simple proportion, it was found that the vinegar used during the experiment was not legal. Conclusion The significance of the results is that they proved our hypothesis correct by showing that the procedures used did achieve the purpose of the experiment by successfully helping us determine the concentration of acetic acid in vinegar. Although the obtained concentration was off by 25% compared to the expected concentration, the results were accurate in that they showed the molarity of the acid was fairly higher than the concentration of the base used because a lesser volume of the acid was used than the base. This percent error may have occurred due to a source of error found in the stopcock. A leakage of the NaOH solution through the stopcock may have resulted in inaccurate recordings of the volumes of the base used in each trial and therefore a lower concentration of the acetic acid was calculated. An improvement that can be made to the experiment is by opening the stopcock just a little so that only drops of the NaOH solution would fall into the flask. Even though it would take longer to complete the experiment this way, this would help achieve more accurate results.

In This Skin; An Analogy essays

In This Skin; An Analogy essays Mrs. Jessica Simpson Lachey pleads with her fans to, Please listen to the words of In This Skin...Sing and believe these words with me. The song In This Skin is a very personal and in depth look at truths of Jessica Simpsons deepest struggles and most firm convictions of her young life. With a study of the poetic lyrics of this song, Ms. Simpsons struggles to overcome her past and her willingness to accept herself combined to make her truly understand she is beautiful, and her desire to share that message with a very confused and mislead world. As a struggling artist in the late nineties and into the early part of the millennium, Simpson went through some of the most difficult challenges a girl can face, leaving her with a confused hatred of her body, and incredible discomfort in her own skin. Now as a top artist of 2004, and a reality TV show that brings to life the reality that she is truly comfortable with who she is and that is all explained and expressed in her title track of her latest 2004 release, In This Skin. In the first stanza we learn a little bit about how Jessica deals with fame combined with her past struggles. They see me in a magazine, Im the one they want to be still dont feel I'm good enough, still dont feel I'm thin enough. Jessica is frequently on the cover of magazines and people use her as an image of what beautiful is. But she is constantly comparing herself to someone even more beautiful or better. In line four when she says still dont feel I'm thin enough, she could perhaps be reflecting and still struggling with a shadow of her past. In a journal entry from her earlier teenage years Jessica expresses her feelings about herself, Im really stressed out... your never gonna look good why are you eating that? Even though she was never larger than a size six, Jessica was never satisfied w...

Can Agros enter the chinese market -An investigation about chinese Essay

Can Agros enter the chinese market -An investigation about chinese consumers' attitudes towards the Argos business modle - Essay Example plishment can be attributed to the increase in the purchasing power of the Chinese people due to the corresponding increase in their disposable income. The research paper will attempt to investigate the attitude of the Chinese customers towards Argos business model. Argos, owned by Home Retail Group, is a major retailer group in UK offering consumer durable and fast moving consumer goods. It has a unique recognition in UK as a multi-channel retailer and serves its customers with 700 retail stores in UK and Ireland. 26% of its total retail sales come from online and home delivery services. It has developed a unique style whereby it receives orders online and through telephone and delivers them at the customers’ home. Around 18 million of UK households are using products under Argos’ catalogue (Argos, 2010). The research will aim to find out whether Argos business model is compatible in the Chinese retail industry. A research will be conducted for this purpose. A brief literature review will be discussed in the very beginning to analyse the present situation of the Chinese retail market. This will be followed by a comprehensive analysis of the objective and requirements of this research paper. The section allotted to research design will discuss on the research methodology and will select the most suited one. The collected data will then be analysed to generate the findings of this research. The concluding section will not only deal with the inferences arrived at but also the limitations that have restricted the findings. The literature review is a very important section as it helps to develop a theoretical framework for the research topic. This part also prepares the base of the research topic by identifying supporting studies related to Chinese retail market and consumer behaviour. Political and social development of China was accompanied with economic growth. It is primarily seen as the fruit of industrialization that reduced poverty and increased the

Overcoming the Financial Challenge of Going to College Essay

Overcoming the Financial Challenge of Going to College - Essay Example This finding is due to the fact that the average cost of a college education is around $23,000 per annum and that meant a lot of money for many Americans especially that the economy is still reeling from the financial crisis (Reuters). Many opted and forced to work than pursue a college degree because they simply cannot afford it and thus drop out rate in the United States continue to rise. This case of students dropping out due to financial difficulty is not isolated. This is so pervasive that it can be said that the drop out figure in college in the US is already alarming to the point that it could already undermine the country’s competitiveness. In a study conducted by Harvard with data from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, United States has the highest dropout rate in the industrialized world. Among the 18 countries surveyed, United States lagged last with a drop out rate of 46 percent. This figure is very far from Japan which has a huge 89 percent gr aduation rate and former Soviet states such as Slovakia with 63 percent and Poland with 61 percent (Reuters). These figures are considered alarming because drop out rates are increasing in an inversely proportional manner to what is required in the workforce in the near future. Instead of increasing the graduation rate as it is projected that 59 % of jobs will already require a college degree by 2018, it is the drop out rate that is increasing with the country having the graduation rate of 38.3 percent (O’Connor). It seems that jobs in the future especially the high paying ones will not be filled by Americans especially with what the current unemployment statistics show that people without a college degree has twice the chance to be unemployed. In the state of Florida, the figure is also equally startling. O’Connor reported that the State is not producing enough college graduates who would fill up future job market demand. It is even below the already national low nati onal gradation rate of 38.3 percent, graduating only 36.5 percent of its enrollees. This same issue was highlighted was Dr. Eduardo J. Padron, President of Miami Dade where he is not pleased with the graduation rate of those who are college ready registering only a 39% graduation rate. He stressed that given this not so pleasing figures, the focus to complete college today â€Å"is very intense and urgent† – â€Å"to have a standards and practice from outside the College, or to define completion from within; to define it by our success† (Padron). This concern of Dr. Padron about â€Å"Standards and practice from outside the College, or to define completion from within; to define it by our success† was about the quality of education that students receive in schools and their appropriateness in real world setting. The problem about low graduation is further beset by this issue because it implies that the already low graduates in the United States does not s atisfy the quantity and quality of what is needed in the workforce. The current educational system of the United States has been widely critique as not grounded on the realities on the workplace as do not teaching the students how to succeed and become financially independent (Kiyosaki). So the actual problem of the educational system in the US is not only confined to low rate of graduates but also the quality of its graduates. Dr.

Value Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Value Chain Management - Essay Example This can go a long way in providing sustainability and giving them economic independence. All this has basically been accomplished by outsourcing. Developed economies with their high quality of life and wage rates, are facing problems of producing profitably locally. This is also because many tax laws and limited raw materials make it impossible to remain competitive locally. With advent of faster communication system it becomes easy to control organizations from thousands of miles away. This also helps in establishing close links with the managers working in remote ventures. Another development which has made this trend towards globalization possible is WTO. The World Trade Organization encourages free trade among countries. Previously it was not possible to import unlimited amount of good from foreign countries. With the advent of WTO it has become possible to actually outsource because WTO has abolished the quota system. Therefore corporations try to outsource as much as possible from countries where there are high levels of human resources, raw materials and energy. This automatically helps developing nations to prosper because when corporations outsource they become part of a ‘value chain’. The addition made by them to this value chain gives them their share of the profit thus bringing them income prosperity. This phenomenon has given birth to a new form of economic entities called emerging markets. The current emerging markets include Brazil, India, China, Russia, Mexico etc. This globalization also has a dark side. It is also widely believed that globalization has increased income disparities at the global level. The smaller economic corporations operating from underdeveloped countries which lacked resources to go global have found it almost impossible to survive. Their small local markets have been attacked by global corporations. The corporations achieve significant cost advantages due to

SNPs of ABCG2 in Chinese Advanced NSCLC Patients

SNPs of ABCG2 in Chinese Advanced NSCLC Patients Introduction Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent and fatal malignant neoplasm all over the world and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80%–85% of all lung cancers(1). The majority of NSCLC patients, approximately 80%, presents in locally advanced (phase IIIA/B) or metastatic (phase IV) stages, which results in quite low 5-year survival rates, 8-14.1% for phase IIIA and 1-5% for phase IIIAB/IV (2). The standard treatment of advanced NSCLC, two-drug chemotherapy based on platinum, has reached a bottleneck with limited effect. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), a targeted drug of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), have been recently introduced for the treatment of NSCLC. Clinical trials indicated that Gefitinib and Erlotinib treating advanced NSCLC patients with EGFR mutation could result a remission rate of 62.1%~84.6% and progression-free survival (PFS) of 8.4~13.1 months, which are significantly higher than that in chemotherapy group (32.2%~47.3% and 4.6~6.7 months , respectively), but not over survival(3-6). In order to implement accurate treatment of both chemotherapy and targeted therapy, it’s urgent to find other predictive targets of NSCLC patients to stratify for treatment. ATP binding cassette superfamily G member 2 (ABCG2), also known as breast cancer resistance protein, was demonstrated to be associated with the effect and prognosis of chemotherapy/targeted therapy in NSCLC (7-9). Because the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ABCG2 are supposed to affect the expression of ABCG2 protein and SNPs of ABCG2 in Asian population are different from other ethnicities (10), we conducted this study to evaluate the SNPs of ABCG2 in Chinese advanced NSCLC patients and its association with their prognosis of TKI therapy. Materials and methods Patients and treatment A total of 100 patients with pathology and cytology confirmed advanced or metastatic NSCLC were enrolled into this study between April 2012 and January 2014 in Hangzhou, China. The mutation of EGFR gene was assessable in 32 patients. Other patients were not assessed EGFR mutation. TKI targeted therapy was implemented in 70 NSCLC patients and other therapy was implemented in the other 30 patients. Patients with TKI targeted therapy were treated with Gefitnid (Astrazeneca pharmaceutical co., LTD) at a dose of 250 mg/day or Erlotinib (Roche pharmaceuticals co., LTD) at a dose of 150 mg/day or Icotinib (Zhejiang beida pharmaceutical co., LTD) at a dose of 375 mg/day. The patients’ characteristics were detailed in Table 1. All patients received chest CT every two months after 1 month of therapy. The efficacy of TKI therapy was clarified as complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) and progression disease (PD) according to RECIST 1.1 [1]. Patients with CR or PR at more than 6 months were considered as responders. Patients with SD and PD at less than 6 months were considered as nonresponders.[A1] Progression-free survival (PFS) was defined as the duration from TKI therapy to disease progression. Overall survival (OS) was defined as the duration from diagnosis to death from any cause. All patients agreed to participate in this study and signed written informed consent. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Nanjing Medical University and performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Clinical Practice guidelines[A2]. DNA extraction Blood samples were collected before chemotherapy and kept in a microcentrifuge tubes containing ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA). Genomic DNA was extracted using a DNA purification kit (Flexi Gene DNA Kit, Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). The concentration of genomic DNA was determined with NanoDrop 1000 (Thermo Scientific, Wilmington, USA) and then it was diluted to a standard of 25 ng/ÃŽ ¼l. Analysis of ABCG2 polymorphisms The ABCG2 34 G/A (dbSNP ID: rs2231137), 421 C/A (dbSNP ID: rs 2231142), 1143 C/T (dbSNP ID: rs2622604) and -15622 C/T (dbSNP ID: rs7699188) polymorphisms were amplified by PCR with the appropriate primers. The primers for PCR and single base extension (Table 2) were designed by the Sequenom Assay Designer 3.1 Software (San Diego, CA). The PCR reactions[A3] were performed at 95 °C for 2 min, followed by 40 cycles at 95 °C for 30 s, Tm for 30 s, and 72 °C for 60 s. After PCR amplification, single base extension reaction was performed following the method of Wiltshire et al [2]. Finally, polymorphisms of ABCG2 gene were tested and analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization timeof-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and Sequenom MassARRAY system (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA). Statistical analysis Allele frequencies of SNPs were calculated and their genotype distributions were assessed using Fisher’s exact test or chi-square test. PFS and OS were evaluated with censored survival time methods and 95% confidence intervals (CI) was obtained from multivariable logistic regression. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted for OS and analyzed with log-rank test. All tests were performed 2-sided and a p-value were carried out using SPSS 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) software. Results ABCG2 gene polymorphisms The genotyping of ABCG2 34 G/A, 421 C/A, 1143 C/T and -15622 C/T were performed in all these 100 patients. For the ABCG2 34 G/A polymorphism, the frequencies of GG, GA and AA genotypes were 36%, 50% and 14%, respectively. The allele frequencies of G and A were 61% and 39%, respectively. The wide-type ABCG2 421 C/A genotype (CC) had a frequency of 53%, while the CA and AA genotypes were found in 43% and 4% of the patients, respectively. The allele frequencies of G and A were 74.5% and 25.5%, respectively. The frequencies of CC, CT and TT genotypes for ABCG2 1143 C/T were 66%, 29% and 5%, respectively. The allele frequencies of G and A were 80.5% and 19.5%, respectively. Regarding the ABCG2 -15622 C/T polymorphism, the TT genotype was observed in all patients. Therefore, polymorphism of ABCG2 -15622 C/T was not investigated in the following steps. Polymorphisms of ABCG2 and clinical characteristics Patients clinical characteristics were shown in Table 1, and the relationship between polymorphisms of ABCG2 and clinical characteristics were presented in Table 3. No significant correlations were found between ABCG2 polymorphisms (34 G/A, 421 C/A and 1143 C/T) and patients’ characteristics, including gender, age, smoking history, histology and EGFR mutation (p > 0.05). Although there was no significant relationship between ABCG2 421 C/A polymorphism and EGFR mutation, a trend that CA genotype was observed frequently in EGFR mutation positive patients (47.6% in positive patients vs. 18.2% in negative patients, p = 0.119). Then we calculated the allele frequency of A in these patients and a high frequency of allele A in positive patients (33.3% vs. 9.1%, p = 0.038) was observed. Polymorphisms of ABCG2 and clinical outcome of TKI The sensitivity of 70 patients to TKI treatment was shown in Table 4. NO significant correlation was found between ABCG2 polymorphisms (34 G/A, 421 C/A and 1143 C/T) and sensitivity (p > 0.05). As shown in Table 4, median PFS for carriers of the A-allele and GG genotype at position 34 of the ABCG2 gene who were treated with TKI therapy was 8.0 months (95% CI: 5.9-10.1, n = 45) and 6.5 months (95% CI: 4.1-8.9, n = 25), respectively. There was no significant difference in median PFS of NSCLC patients receiving TKI therapy between CC genotype and CA + AA genotype at position 421 of ABCG2 gene (p > 0.05). Median PFS of patients with CC genotype at position 1143 of ABCG2 gene was higher than those with CT and TT genotypes, but no significant difference was found (p > 0.05). The median OS of patients with ABCG2 34 G/A, 421 C/A, 1143 C/T polymorphisms was shown in Table 4. The median OS of patients with GG genotype at position 34 of the ABCG2 gene was 18 months (95% CI: 14.9-21.1, n = 25) and for those with other genotypes (GA and AA) was 31 months (95% CI: 22.9-39.1, n = 45). Figure 1 showed the Kaplan-Meier curve for OS for NSCLC patients receiving TKI therapy in relation to ABCG2 genotypes at 34 G/A (Figure 1A), 421 C/A (Figure 1B) and 1143 C/T (Figure 1C). There was significant difference between patients with GG genotype and those with GA + AA genotypes at position 34 of the ABCG2 gene (p difference between patients that were CC genotype regarding the position 421 of ABCG2 gene and carriers with other genotypes (CA + AA, p > 0.05). No significant difference was found in 1143 C/T polymorphism (p > 0.05). Discussion Our present study observed that three polymorphisms of ABCG2, 34G>A, 421C>A and 1143C>T occured more frequently compared with -15622C>T in Chinese advanced NSCLC patients. As for -15622C>T, all patients presented a TT genotype. Although no relationships were observed between different genotypes of ABCG2 polymorphisms and EGFR status, a higher frequency of allele A (421C>A) in EGFR mutation positive patients was observed. The other polymorphisms were not related to clinical characteristics. The sensitivity and PFS to TKI of 70 patients was not related to polymorphisms. However, the OS of patients with 34G>A mutant type (GA+AA) was significantly longer than those with wild type (GG). The ABCG2 protein is an important member of the ABC transporter superfamily, which has been suggested to be involved in multi-drug resistance (MDR) in cancer. Screening for SNPs in ethnically diverse subjects has identified more than 80 synonymous and nonsynonymous SNPs in the ABCG2 gene to date (12). The two most frequent polymorphisms identified were 34G>A (resulting in V12M) and 421C>A (resulting in a Q141K substitution) transitions (13). A novel diplotype of two polymorphic loci in the ABCG2 promoter involving -15622C>T and 1143C>T were identified recently (14). Introduction of other ABCG2 SNPs can be found in a recent review (15). Despite the similar allele frequency of 421C>A variant among East Asian populations including Chinese (34.2–35.0%) and Japanese (26.6–35.0%), the allele frequency is higher than that of Southeast Asians (15.0%), Middle Easterns (13.0%), Caucasians (8.7–12.0%) and African-Americans (2.3%) (10). Similarly, the allele frequency of the 34G>A variant in Chinese (20.0%), Koreans (19.8%) and Japanese (15.0-19.0%) is comparable. However, it is much lower than that in Southeast Asians (45%) and higher than other ethnic groups including Caucasian (1.7–10.3%), African-American (6.3%) and Middle Eastern (5.0%) populations (10). The allele frequency of 421C>A variant in our studied population was 25.5%, which was comparable to other Asian populations. However, the allele frequency of 34G>A variant was 39.0%, which was higher than other reports from Asian populations. We found that the allele frequency of 1143C>T variant and -15622C>T variant in our study was 19.5% and 100%, respectively. In Caucasians, it was reported to be 22% and 28%, respectively (16). We unexpectedly observed that all the included patients presented TT genotype of -15622C>T. As far as we known, this gene has not been investigated in other Asian populations. Future studies could be conducted to determine the polymorphism of -15622C>T in Asian po pulation and its potential impact. Physiologically, ABCG2 protein is highly expressed in the blood-brain barrier and gastrointestinal tract, where it is thought to play a role in protection against xenobiotic exposure. High ABCG2 expression has also been found in a variety of tumors and correlated with multidrug resistance and poorer clinical outcomes, as this transporter has the ability to extrude its drug substrates out of the cells, thereby decreasing their intracellular accumulation (17, 18)[16]. Primary structural variations of ABCG2 are associated with its drug-transporter function (15). Therefore, SNPs in the ABCG2 gene would influence the pharmacological effects differently in different patients. It has been demonstrated that 421C>A polymorphisms may express low amounts of ABCG2 (19-22) while the influence of 34G>A polymorphisms on ABCG2 expression remains controversial (22, 23). And regarding to 1143C>T and -15622C>T, some researchers found a decreased protein expression related to these two polymorphisms (21 ) and others found no relation between them (24). Moreover, 421C>A polymorphism has been demonstrated to be associated with ATPase activity and drug transport (18). Thus, several clinical studies have investigated the relation between ABCG2 polymorphism and clinical outcome of NSCLC. Mà ¼ller and colleagues (25) found that carriers of the ABCG2 421 A-allele treated with platinum-based drugs showed a significantly worse OS in all lung cancer patients. However, this effect was not statistically significant in the smaller subgroups of SCLC patients or NSCLC patients with platinum-based treatment. They did not found an association between 34G>A polymorphism and prognosis. Another study of 129 unresectable NSCLC cases treated with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy suggested that ABCG2 SNPs rs2725264 and rs4148149 were associated with OS (26). On the other side, there was also evidence showing that ABCG2 polymorphisms were not related to response or prognosis of NSCLC patients treated with gefitinib (24), erlotinib (27) and gemcitabine and/or platinum-based drugs and/or other drugs (28). In our present study, we found the OS of patients with 34G >A mutant type (GA+AA) was significantly longer than those with wild type (GG). However, we did not observe significant differences concerning other polymorphisms including 421C>A, which was found to be associated with prognosis of other cancer by other study (29). Interestingly, it was reported that ABCG2 34 GA/AA genotypes were associated with poor prognosis of Chinese patients with acute leukaemia (30). Polymorphisms of 34G>A seems to have an opposite impact in different types of cancer. The mechanisms are worthy to be investigated in future large studies. Moreover, ABCG2 SNPs was demonstrated not only related to TKI resistance, but also to TKI induced side effects. Cusatis and colleaguesinvestigated associations between allelic variants ofABCG2 with diarrhea and skin toxicity ingefitinib-treated patients. They found that 16 patients heterozygous forABCG2 421C>A developed diarrhea, versus only 13 (12%) of 108 patients homozygous for the wild-type sequence. However, this SNP was not associated with skin toxicity (28). A recent study found that patientscarrying anABCG2 -15622 TT genotype or harboring at least one TT copy in theABCG2 (1143CT, -15622CT) haplotype developed significantly more grade 2/3 diarrhea (23). In our present study, we did not perform the analysis on side effects. However, this is a serious concern which should be taken into consideration in future studies. In Conclusion, Our findings demonstrate a strong association between the ABCG2 34G>A polymorphism and the overall survival of NSCLC patients treated with TKIs, including Gefitnib, Erlotinib and Icotinib. Since these polymorphisms can be assessed with a simple blood test, it might potentially improve the stratification of patients for TKI treatment by identifying genetically high-response subgroups. Therefore, larger prospective trials are warranted to validate these findings. [A3]The PCR reactions were performed in 20 ÃŽ ¼l volumes on 384-well plates (cat. No. TF-0384/W, ABgene, USA) with 20 ng DNA, 10 pmol for each primer and 1 Ãâ€" PCR-Buffer (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA). à §Ã‚ ¼Ã‚ ºÃƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã…“à ¨Ã‚ ¥Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡

How Men View Women in History - Through Voltaire, John Locke, Joesph Co

America has made great advances in women’s rights over the last few decades. Women are prominent in the work place, living independently, and even running for office. However, this has not always been the case, during the course of history, women have been subjected to slavery, denied the right to vote, and have been viewed as property. Throughout all of human history women have been mistreated by men. 70 years after the American Revolution, white males enjoyed freedoms they viewed as their god given rights, but woman were somehow left out, they even seemed to be excluded from the constitution (â€Å"All men are created equal.†) â€Å"After so much had been done to ensure America’s freedom, it was hypocritical that woman were not allowed to vote, married woman had no property rights, and husbands possessed so much legal power they could beat or imprison their wives on a whim. Even most professions were closed to women, it would be unheard of to see a woman practicing medicine or law. The jobs that were available to women only paid a fraction of what the men were making.† [Eisenberg] This made women completely dependant on men. Women’s oppression is not just unique to our history alone. Different civilizations around the world have portrayed women despicably. In Japan during world war two, teenage girls were rounded up into sex camps. â€Å"An estimated one hundred thousand to four hundred thousand girls were forced to do sexual favors for Japanese soldiers, some of the girls were as young as 11 years old. They serviced up to 50 Japanese soldiers a day, while enduring beatings, starvation, sterilization and abortions. Even today, over half the 27 million people enslaved are woman in underground sex brothels.† [Robinson] In J... ...ic will help some woman see hope too, then so be it). â€Å"I would not even have mentioned my own misfortunes, if you had not irked me a bit, and if it weren’t the custom, on shipboard, to pass the time with stories.† [Candide, ] For her, tales of woe are neither enriching nor moving, only a way of making a point (and passing some time). Though her suffering does not move her to self-pity, it does shape the simplicity and frankness that define her character. In conclusion, even though our society would like to believe that women have always had equal liberties (with men) in everything they do, we can see this is not the case. Throughout human history, woman has believed she is inferior to man, however, now with our civilization progressing in the women’s right movement everyday, women can finally come to terms with the fact that they are indeed equal to men.

Tonys essay

Social Medal Marketing In this day and age, social media can be an extremely helpful tool for free advertising and building a customer base. It is tremendously important for companies, especially smaller companies that do not have the biggest budget for big time marketing. With the way society works today, social media is one of the most powerful and influential tools companies have available.Without the use of social media, companies would eve a disadvantage in gaining clientele on the internet. Even if people have never heard of the company, if their â€Å"friends† on social media sites comment or â€Å"like† their page, then they can then be exposed to the company as well. A company that I know has benefited greatly from the use of social media Is Barras Tickets. It Is the company that I work for and It Is a full service ticket agency that sells tickets for all concerts, sports, and theatre nationwide.Being a large ticket broker, we are more well-known than the avera ge ticket agency, however, that does to mean we have the budget available to have commercials playing all the time. Social media advertising has been one of our greatest assets. We have a department that dedicates their time to making posts and offering specials to all social media followers. We use Instating, Twitter, Faceable, and Google Plus. These sites are used to let people know when big shows have gone on sale, when big games or shows are coming up, or to offer discounts to our loyal followers.Contests are run often where ere tickets are given away in order to attract more people to our social media sites. They spend hours figuring out algorithms to understand how a like or a comment will or a share will help sales In the company. They have figured out that comments on Faceable, tags and washrags on Instating, and washrags on Instating give us the greatest opportunities to find potential customers. For the Faceable giveaways, people have to â€Å"like† and comment on t he posts. These likes and comments allow the friends of the people who have liked the posts to see this.This gives our page more visits because everyone loves free stuff. They are intrigued and have to see what the offer is and that gets traffic to our website. With Instating, most of the contests involve â€Å"liking† and tagging five friends. On Instating, they have the page that allows you to see what the people you are following have liked and what your friends have been tagged in. When people do this, it brings more and more people to our Instating, causing more people to follow, and in the long run, also bringing traffic to the website.Even though social media obviously does not get 100% percent of potential customers to buy your product, It can help In so many ways. It allows for hundreds, thousands, and potentially even hundreds of thousands of extra eyes on your products, which In turn, could bring Incredible amounts of people to your site. The power that social medi a holds is immense. It takes the old word of mouth type people that you verbally talk to, now you can share your thoughts about companies with people you haven't actually spoken to in years.

Harriet Beecher Stowe Quotes

Harriet Beecher Stowe Quotes Quotations from Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Toms Cabin and other novels and books. Learn more: Harriet Beecher Stowe Biography   Selected Harriet Beecher Stowe Quotations The past, the present and the future are really one: they are today. If women want any rights they had better take them, and say nothing about it Women are the real architects of society. So long as the law considers all these human beings, with beating hearts and living affections, only as so many things belonging to the master so long as the failure, or misfortune, or imprudence, or death of the kindest owner, may cause them any day to exchange a life of kind protection and indulgence for one of hopeless misery and toil so long it is impossible to make anything beautiful or desirable in the best regulated administration of slavery. I no more thought of style or literary excellence than the mother who rushes into the street and cries for help to save her children from a burning house thinks of the teachings of the rhetorician or the elocutionist I did not write it. God wrote it. I merely did his dictation. When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you till it seems you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why doesnt somebody wake up to the beauty of old women? Common sense is seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be. The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end. Friendships are discovered rather than made. Most mothers are instinctive philosophers. Although mothers bodily presence disappeared from our circle, I think that her memory and example had more influence in molding her family, in deterring from evil and exciting to good, than the living presence of many mothers. It was a memory that met us everywhere; for every person in the town seemed to have been so impressed by her character and life that they constantly reflected some portion of it back upon us. Human nature is above all things lazy. The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. Perhaps it is impossible for a person who does no good to do no harm. Whipping and abuse are like laudanum: you have to double the dose as the sensibilities decline. Any mind that is capable of real sorrow is capable of good. Its a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done. To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization. What makes saintliness in my view, as distinguished from ordinary goodness, is a certain quality of magnanimity and greatness of soul that brings life within the circle of the heroic. One would like to be grand and heroic if one could; but if not, why try at all? One wants to be very something, very great, very heroic; or if not that, then at least very stylish and very fashionable. It is this everlasting mediocrity that bores me. I am speaking now of the highest duty we owe our friends, the noblest, the most sacredthat of keeping their own nobleness, goodness, pure and incorrupt. . . . If we let our friend become cold and selfish and exacting without a remonstrance, we are no true lover, no true friend. A little reflection will enable any person to detect in himself that setness in trifles which is the result of the unwatched instinct of self-will and to establish over himself a jealous guardianship. In all ranks of life, the human heart yearns for the beautiful; and the beautiful things that God makes are his gift to all alike. Everyone confesses in the abstract that exertion which brings out all the powers of body and mind is the best thing for us all, but practically most people do all they can to get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than circumstances drive them to do. A day of grace is yet held out to us. Both North and South have been guilty before God, and the Christian Church has a heavy account to answer. Not by combining together, to protest injustice and cruelty, and making a common capital of sin, is this Union to be saved but by repentance, justice and mercy; for, not surer is the eternal law by which the millstone sinks in the ocean than that stronger law, by which injustice and cruelty shall bring on nations the wrath of Almighty God. Nobody had ever instructed him that a slave-ship, with a procession of expectant sharks in its wake, is a missionary institution, by which closely-packed heathen are brought over to enjoy the light of the Gospel. When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. If it were admitted that the great object is to read and enjoy a language, and the stress of the teaching were placed on the few things absolutely essential to this result, all might in their own way arrive there and rejoice in its flowers. Home is a place not only of strong affections but of entire unreserve; it is lifes undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room, from which we go forth to more careful and guarded intercourse, leaving behind us much debris of cast-off and everyday clothing. A man builds a house in England with the expectation of living in it and leaving it to his children; we shed our houses in America as easily as a snail does his shell. One of the greatest reforms that could be, in these reforming days ... would be to have women architects. The mischief with the houses built to rent is that they are all male contrivances. I would not attack the faith of a heathen without being sure I had a better one to put in its place. No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man. Where painting is weakest, namely, in the expression of the highest moral and spiritual ideas, their music is sublimely strong. The longest day must have its close the gloomiest night will wear on to a morning. An eternal, inexorable lapse of moments is ever hurrying the day of the evil to an eternal night, and the night of the just to an eternal day. From Dorothy Parker:The pure and worthy Mrs. StoweIs one we all are proud to knowAs mother, wife, and authoress Thank God, I am content with less! from the end of Uncle Toms Cabin: On the shores of our free states are emerging the poor, shattered, broken remnants of families,men and women, escaped, by miraculous providences, from the surges of slavery,feeble in knowledge, and, in many cases, infirm in moral constitution, from a system which confounds and confuses every principle of Christianity and morality. They come to seek a refuge among you; they come to seek education, knowledge, Christianity.What do you owe to these poor, unfortunates, O Christians? Does not every American Christian owe to the African race some effort at reparation for the wrongs that the American nation has brought upon them? Shall the doors of churches and school-houses be shut down upon them? Shall states arise and shake them out? Shall the Church of Christ hear in silence the taunt that is thrown at them, and shrink away from the helpless hand that they stretch out, and shrink away from the courage the cruelty that would chase them from our borders? If it must be so, it will be a mour nful spectacle. If it must be so, the country will have reason to tremble, when it remembers that fate of nations is in the hand of the One who is very pitiful, and of tender compassion. More About Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Beecher Stowe ProfileHarriet Beecher Stowe BiographyHarriet Beecher Stowe Links More Womens Quotes: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Explore Womens Voices and Womens History Womens Voices - About Womens QuotesPrimary SourcesBiographiesToday in Womens HistoryWomens History Home About These Quotes Quote collection assembled by Jone Johnson Lewis. Each quotation page in this collection and the entire collection  © Jone Johnson Lewis. This is an informal collection assembled over many years. I regret that I am not able to provide the original source if it is not listed with the quote. Citation information:Jone Johnson Lewis. Harriet Beecher Stowe Quotes. About Womens History. Date accessed: (today). (More on how to cite online sources including this page)

Free Essays on The Joining Of Two Worlds In Angela Carters “the Company Of Wolves“

The Joining of Two Worlds in Angela Carter’s â€Å"The Company of Wolves† Animals and humans are two very different creatures, and yet in this story they share similar qualities. This is demonstrated in â€Å"The Company of Wolves† by Angela Carter where â€Å"carnivore incarnate† defines the assimilation of animal and human characteristics. The word â€Å"carnivore,† meaning a flesh-eating mammal, and â€Å"incarnate† meaning endowed with a human body, illustrates the joining of the animal/natural world and the human world. The role of nature in this story demonstrates the link between the animal/natural world and the human/civilized world. In Carter’s story, both the girl and the wolf share human qualities as well as animal ones. The wolf, initially thought of as a handsome hunter by the girl, turns out to be â€Å"carnivore incarnate† (227), a flesh-eating mammal endowed with a human body. At first, when the girl realizes this truth, and notices her grandmother’s disappearance, she is extremely frightened. â€Å"No trace at all of the old woman except for a tuft of white hair that had caught in the bark of an unburned log. When the girl saw that, she knew she was in danger of death† (226). However, she soon realizes that she has no reason to be afraid of the â€Å"hunter† if she makes herself unwilling to be the â€Å"hunted.† Instead of being eaten by the wolf like one would initially think, the girl uses her animal sexuality to surprise and outwit the wolf. â€Å"She ripped off his shirt for him and flung it into the fire† (227). This reveals the way humans c an display animal tendencies. In reverse, the story ends with the girl sleeping in bed with the wolf. â€Å"See! Sweet and sound she sleeps in granny’s bed, between the paws of the tender wolf† (227). The last impression that the wolf leaves is that he is tender. Tenderness is not a quality that is normally attributed to a carnivorous animal that has just eaten... Free Essays on The Joining Of Two Worlds In Angela Carter's â€Å"the Company Of Wolvesâ€Å" Free Essays on The Joining Of Two Worlds In Angela Carter's â€Å"the Company Of Wolvesâ€Å" The Joining of Two Worlds in Angela Carter’s â€Å"The Company of Wolves† Animals and humans are two very different creatures, and yet in this story they share similar qualities. This is demonstrated in â€Å"The Company of Wolves† by Angela Carter where â€Å"carnivore incarnate† defines the assimilation of animal and human characteristics. The word â€Å"carnivore,† meaning a flesh-eating mammal, and â€Å"incarnate† meaning endowed with a human body, illustrates the joining of the animal/natural world and the human world. The role of nature in this story demonstrates the link between the animal/natural world and the human/civilized world. In Carter’s story, both the girl and the wolf share human qualities as well as animal ones. The wolf, initially thought of as a handsome hunter by the girl, turns out to be â€Å"carnivore incarnate† (227), a flesh-eating mammal endowed with a human body. At first, when the girl realizes this truth, and notices her grandmother’s disappearance, she is extremely frightened. â€Å"No trace at all of the old woman except for a tuft of white hair that had caught in the bark of an unburned log. When the girl saw that, she knew she was in danger of death† (226). However, she soon realizes that she has no reason to be afraid of the â€Å"hunter† if she makes herself unwilling to be the â€Å"hunted.† Instead of being eaten by the wolf like one would initially think, the girl uses her animal sexuality to surprise and outwit the wolf. â€Å"She ripped off his shirt for him and flung it into the fire† (227). This reveals the way humans c an display animal tendencies. In reverse, the story ends with the girl sleeping in bed with the wolf. â€Å"See! Sweet and sound she sleeps in granny’s bed, between the paws of the tender wolf† (227). The last impression that the wolf leaves is that he is tender. Tenderness is not a quality that is normally attributed to a carnivorous animal that has just eaten...

Nordstrom Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nordstrom - Assignment Example Nordstrom, like other departmental stores has a central management in Downtown  Seattle,  Washington with stores spread in many other states. Another defining characteristic of Nordstrom as a departmental store is its high level of customer service, though this comes at a price, making Nordstrom products and services more expensive than in other retail outlets. Customer Service Nordstrom has cultivated a culture of full customer service whereby all the firm’s employees know the true meaning of putting customers first. First, important customers are identified, served well, and measures put in place to ensure they return over and over again to give Nordstrom business. The first measure is sparing no efforts to ensure that the customer leaves the premises with maximum satisfaction. In addition to acquiring goods, the customer gets high quality service utility. Secondly, business cards are exchanged between the customer and the sales person that they interact with. This ensur es that the sales person has complete control of this relationship that is free from interference by the management. This sales representative acts as the link between Nordstrom and its customers, with only a rule stating that the former uses their best judgement to ensure customer satisfaction. Another strategy for ensuring a long-term relationship in Nordstrom includes follow up calls on customers informing them of new products. In summary, Nordstrom identifies its customers and gives them undivided attention to ensure a thriving long-term business relationship. On the other hand, there is Target. Target is a business enterprise that does not provide much choice of products for customers. In addition, Target has been widely accused of poor customer service and its lack of concern for customer needs. In contrast to the expensive Nordstrom, Target sells designer merchandise at discount prices but there are stringent rules for their sales. For instance, Nordstrom exchanges goods for customers even if they did not sell the said goods but in Target, after three days, sales are not reversible. Nordstrom encourages its customers to do business with them while in Target a willing customer may get a hard time in an attempt to be served. Factors Contributing To Company Success Six managerial and positional components of service in Nordstrom ensure the survival in a highly competitive environment including the six P’s i.e. product, place, promotion, price, presentation, and personnel. First, on product, the firm only sells according to its customer requirements as Eric Nordstrom said that business has to go on even if only one shoe was in sale. Second is the place consideration whereby the management puts all possible factors including, gut feeling, into consideration before setting up a new business. Promotion is the third factor and Nordstrom uses the customers’ word-of-mouth as their main promotional vehicle, giving customers the best service and count ing on them to spread a good word about Nordstrom. The other factor is price and Nordstrom exploits the common belief that a higher price translates to higher quality of goods and services. Prices at Nordstrom are above normal. However, customers flood into the stores expecting premium quality service and Nordstrom does not disappoint. Presentation is the fifth strategy whereby products are presented just the way

Principles of Risk Transfer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Principles of Risk Transfer - Essay Example In assessing the captive insurance industry in Bermuda, there is a need to understand the nature and merits of considering Bermuda’s domicile. Bermuda’s Captive Domicile Bermuda is a leading offshore captive domicile globally. This is a result of onshore administrative burdens and the costs related to conducting business in a US-based or Lloyd’s-based captive in the mid 20th century. This forced Reiss to look out for authority that would permit the flourishing of the captive insurance. Bermuda was selected due to its unique geographical site, good image and status as a British sovereign boundary that disliked uncertainties and perils normally encountered by multinational corporations conducting their business in politically volatile and irresponsible nations. Besides, captives in Bermuda are majorly owned by huge US firms. It can be noted that the second biggest licensing authority in relation to the number of captives is the Cayman Islands (Duffy, 2004, p. 97). Vermont ranks second in connection to the assets owned by insurance firms and third in relation to licensing of the captives. Regulation of Bermudan is done by the Registrar of Companies and the Minister of Finance under the Insurance Act of 1978, the companies Act of 1981 and the Insurance Amendment Act of 1996 (Sierk, 2008, p. 51). Through the regulation a better flexibility is offered compared to other authorities, with the industry carrying the burden of self-regulation, which accounts for the great success of insurance in the state. Moreover, the insurance industry has frequent annual audits jointly with a certificate of solvency, which ensures transparency in the manner risks are managed. Furthermore, most of the captives are registered in two classes under the Insurance Act. Class 1 insurers are unit parent captives, which are not allowed to write any form of unconnected business, while class 2 are relational captives or multi-parent, which are allowed to write up to 20% unco nnected business (Sierk, 2008, p. 59). Class 1 insurers have a minimum solvency requirement of $ 120,000 during the time of writing while class 2 has a minimum solvency requirement of $ 250,000. However, there are other classes which insurers can register; one of them is class 3, which does not include insurers and reinsurers. This class has a minimum requirement of $ 1 million. Class 4 has a minimum requirement of $ 100 million, which includes insurers and reinsurers writing instant additional liability or asset catastrophe risks. In addition, Bermuda is the best domicile since it has no income, corporate or through withholding taxes for operation of the captive insurance. Besides, the initial cost of putting up an insurance company is approximately $ 10,000. The legislation also provisions for rent-a-captives and secured cell firms (DFA, 2007, p. 13). The insurance industry’s rent-a-captive projects permit unconnected participants to be involved in the process of profits un derwriting from the insured risks in the captive. It also allows them to place irrelevant perils via the captive. Securitization of debt is eventually enabled in the risk securitization. Protected cell firms permit a firm to have distinct departments or cells independent of the other cells in circumstances of liquidation. Apparently, the joint combination of secured cell regulation and the rent-a-captives gives