Learning from Mistakes Essay

If we never learned from our mistakes then the light in this room would never have been made by Thomas Edison’s awareness of the mistakes he was making he learned what not to do and then eventually made this happen. Lights on Hi I’m and I like to learn from my mistakes, instead of bringing myself down, and I’d like to inspire you to do the same thing I’m going to tell you: why not learning from your mistakes is such a problem, show you some ways how to learn from your mistakes, and lastly what your life would be like if you start learning from your mistakes and what your life would be like if you don’t learn from your mistakes. Before you even try to learn from your mistakes you need to realize that everyone is going to make mistakes, you, your mom, dad, and friends. You need to realize we don’t live in a perfect world with perfect people. Then you need to realize your mistakes and except them, you’re strong enough to know you have messed up. I believe in you. By not lying able to do all this you won’t be able to learn from your mistakes and will look ignorant to your piers. So if you don’t want to look ignorant to your piers why don’t you try to learn how to learn from your mistakes? Come up with some ways to learn how to learn from your mistakes. They don’t have to be ground breaking solutions but one that will help you from your mistakes. One way you can do this is by making sure to think about what you did wrong the first time and changing it to a way you believe will help make you succeed and reach your full potential. You can also ask others in your life who witnessed your mistake and ask them how they believe you can change what you did the first time. If you don’t listen to me and start learning from your mistakes you might as well call yourself a frailer because you are allowing yourself to be one. Not being able to learn from your mistakes isn’t allowing you to reach your full potential in life. If you do start learning from your mistakes you will be making fewer mistakes in the future. You will figure out ways to do stuff differently and efficiently. Learning from your mistakes is the one thing that has gotten so many people where they are today. Today I’ve told you why not learning from your mistakes is such a problem, show you some ways how to learn from your mistakes, and lastly what your life would be like if you start learning from your mistakes and what your life would be like if you don’t learn from your mistakes. It’s okay if you make mistakes because you learn from them and are then able to go forward in life.

My Philosophy of Education

I believe that we are all active learners, constantly absorbing new data from our environments, using our minds to merge the creative with the actual, and the fundamental with the ideal. Active learning is defined as learning by being physically and mentally engaged in activities. As the teacher, my goal is to actively teach the children while maintaining a positive yet helpful attitude, in a low pressure and respectful atmosphere. Personally, I think of the relationship between the teacher and the student as a bow and arrow, with the teacher [bow] gently steadying and providing the stable structure to guide the student [arrow] along on its path, gracefully arcing through the air. For my classroom, I would like to create a warm and educational environment that provides intellectual as well as emotional support for the child and their family, while demonstrating the sound skills absorbed in class. Ideally I would aim to balance the â€Å"old school† and the â€Å"new school† theories of education. To achieve this atmosphere, I would incorporate aspects of the High/Scope Method, Erikson’s theory of Psychosocial Development, Maslow’s Multiple Intelligences, and sensory materials prevalent in the Montessori School. Classroom Environment Geared towards the current stages of development of the child, my program would utilize the broad and realistic educational experiences that are designed to promote a constructive process of learning. Theme-related material will serve to peak their interest and establish the link between the core aspects of the lesson and real-life applications. A â€Å"center† based classroom set up encourages children to interact with others in developmentally appropriate play and inspires creativity. Maintaining a daily schedule allows for children to get accustomed to routine and also for teachers to correctly determine the children’s individual schedules and learning processes. Focusing on the child’s key experiences will serve to foster development of important skills and abilities. Incorporating work time, recall time and cleanup time further fosters the development of routine-based practices and will help teach the importance of self accountability. Acting out the routines of adults, the children will learn how to manage their time as well as take care of their surroundings. Interactions with classmates will provide the necessary social skills and establish methods of early conflict resolution practices. In order to properly engage the child’s mind, the classroom must be appropriate, safe, interactive, organized, and embracing to the different cultures and ethnicities present in today’s society. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development According to Erik Erikson, â€Å"Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired. † Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development occurs in stages, and takes the child’s entire social interactions and life experiences into account. According to Erikson, our personality is shaped not only by our natural disposition, but more so by the society that we live in. Erikson’s theory centers around the concept of ego identity, the sense of ourselves that we develop based upon our social interactions, and the concept of ego strength or ego quality, which is the sense of mastery or inadequacy that we feel after a certain stage in our life. Each stage is like a series of mini-tests, and our ability to pass or fail these tests either strengthens our resolve and personal confidence, or forces us to withdraw and evaluate ourselves more intensely. Erikson believed each stage was tied to a certain part of our development, and conflicts encountered would serve as training to help us develop and hone our psychological quality. Preschoolers fall into Erikson’s third stage of development, â€Å"Initiative versus Guilt. † During this stage, children attempt to control their world through social play and other childhood games, asserting dominance and taking on leadership roles. It is during these early school years, children begin to feel pride and accomplishment, especially in peer-measured tasks. Parents who are involved with their child’s school activities and interested in their early academics help enforce these feelings of pride, and establish a bond based on encouragement and positive reinforcement. Conversely, children who receive little or no encouragement from parents, teachers, or peers will instead doubt their ability to be successful. Howard Gardener’s Multiple Intelligences Howard Gardener believed that people are smart in multiple ways, utilizing intelligences in eight specific areas. The eight areas are visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, math/logical, body/kinesthic, musical/rhythmic, intrapersonal, interpersonal and naturalistic. Visual/spatial skills relate to the visual realm and how things are perceived or seen. I will focus on arts and crafts that appeal to the visual aspect of learning, and how the visual perception relates to the actual reality. Verbal/linguistic skills cover the languages, including speaking, writing and listening. My activities for enforcing these skills could be creative story writing, listening to foreign languages, reading story relating to concept material, doing word searches, crosswords, or practicing handwriting. Math/logical skills cover the problem solving and logical thought processes, so my planning will include activities such as board games, matching or card games, word or number puzzles, bingo and pattern associations. Body/kinesthic skills involve movement of the body, which I will enforce through exercise, dance or sports activities, as well as recess and certain games. Musical/rhythmic skills tie in nicely with body movement, so I will incorporate singing, dancing or playing an instrument. Intrapersonal skills are associated with our feelings, values and attitudes, both intrinsic and learned, and teachers can create activities where children can discuss differences in background, family structure and culture that may influence these skills. Interpersonal skills, how we use our feelings during interaction with others, can be honed with group activities like dramatic role play and class projects. Finally, to focus on naturalistic skills, the logical process of classification and hierarchy of things, my assignments will include tasks such as putting things in order by category, pattern identification or sorting objects with their type and purpose. Montessori’s Sensory Materials Founded on the ideas and practices of Maria Montessori, I would utilize the core principles of her methods in my daily routine. Keeping my promises and staying on schedule will help to create a respectful atmosphere, and keeping the lesson plans fresh and interactive will encourage learning through nvironment. The prepared and organized centers and related lesson activities will serve to support children in their self-education (a. k. a. auto-education) phase, and allow children freedom and choice of activity. By teaching skills related to everyday life, such as walking in an orderly fashion or carrying objects to the table, the children will be able to practice self care skills. I will provide s ensory materials that are designed to promote learning through the five senses, thus creating an awareness of the body and its ability to learn from real life. By encouraging role play, the children can prepare for adult occupation and construct their own version of the world around them. Furthermore, I will address the demands of diversity and disabiltilty in the classroom by using mixed age groups, promoting individual play within a supportive classroom, repetition of skills and acknowledging sensory perceptions and abilities. The Montessori influence will also be evident in my classroom setup, as I desire child-sized furniture with bright and coordinated colors to promote aesthetic awareness of the child’s environment. Identity of a Preschooler A preschooler is a most usually a child between the ages of three to five, and has not yet entered kindergarten. During this stage, children are egocentric, preoperational, and unable to properly manage their time or self regulatory skills. Most theorists stress the emphasis of play during this stage as the most effective method of implementing solid learning practices and skill awareness. According to Piaget, play promotes cognitive schemes and enhances cognitive development. By maintaining a daily schedule, the preschooler can adjust to the naturally occurring activities and still maintain their individual learning pace. Montessori believed that play was the equivalent of a child’s work and their preschool was equal to an adult’s place of work. Play provides for unintentional yet effective learning. Free play (a. k. a. informal play) helps broaden the child’s creative aspects, and allows for development of personal interests. Symbolic (pretend) and constructive play help children build and test theories, while functional and outdoor play enforce muscular activities. Children in this age group are open to learning, and are constantly questioning the elements of their surroundings. Assessments – Formal versus Informal My major concern with assessment methods is that the spectrum for what is acceptable seems to vary from state to state or center to center. My goal is to streamline the assessment process and incorporate both informal and formal methods. Since assessment goes hand in hand with observation, I will encourage the active participation of the child in their own education, incorporating my own version of evaluating the child. My daily planning of activities and structured curriculum will allow for careful and accurate observation of the child. In my experience with teaching preschool, children learn best when given a project or activity that reinforces the concepts learned that day. I would make every attempt to keep daily notes on each child’s behavior, attitude and progress in the classroom. By noting individual interests and preferences, I can identify the methods that best suit each child’s learning curve. As for formal assessments, standardized testing is one of the most relied upon methods for assessing a child and interpreting their skill levels to determine if the child is ready to proceed or be held back. Additionally, it is important for me to consider not only the regulated standards, but also each child’s individual background. I feel that this consideration for the child’s individual situation will allow for a more accurate assessment. Although I feel that portfolio assessment can sometimes be too broad and open to interpretation, I do think that keeping artistic evidence of the child’s skill achievements can serve not only to pinpoint the progress of the child, but also as a confidence and self-esteem builder for the child. Children are proud to show off their accomplishments and by displaying projects the child will learn to trust in their own natural abilities. Standards and Goals / Ideal Environment Appropriate goals that I would like each child to successfully master or at least become relatively proficient in are self-help skills, an awareness of healthy habits, a desire to learn, evident language and literacy development, and mostly a strong sense of character. I would like them to be able to express different areas of interest, including music and the arts, methods of learning, and interactive games. Children that are not able to grasp the major content areas will be assessed more in-depth, and a conference with the parent(s) will be scheduled. Ideally, I will create a healthy, respectful, supportive and challenging environment that also maintains the developmentally appropriate practices and incorporates all children into the classroom learning environment. I would like for the parents to be involved and aware of their children’s learning practices. I will assign occasional homework, both to emphasize content covered in class and also to provide parents the opportunity to help their children learn. I believe that parents who take an active role in their child’s education have a more positive and lasting impression on their child. Because of this, I will work to include the parents whenever possible, and keep them imformed of their child’s progress, no matter the speed of progression. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I desire to implement a program that is easy for parents to replicate within their home life, thus creating a unified method of child learning that can only serve to ease the learning process for the child. My Philosophy of Education I believe that we are all active learners, constantly absorbing new data from our environments, using our minds to merge the creative with the actual, and the fundamental with the ideal. Active learning is defined as learning by being physically and mentally engaged in activities. As the teacher, my goal is to actively teach the children while maintaining a positive yet helpful attitude, in a low pressure and respectful atmosphere. Personally, I think of the relationship between the teacher and the student as a bow and arrow, with the teacher [bow] gently steadying and providing the stable structure to guide the student [arrow] along on its path, gracefully arcing through the air. For my classroom, I would like to create a warm and educational environment that provides intellectual as well as emotional support for the child and their family, while demonstrating the sound skills absorbed in class. Ideally I would aim to balance the â€Å"old school† and the â€Å"new school† theories of education. To achieve this atmosphere, I would incorporate aspects of the High/Scope Method, Erikson’s theory of Psychosocial Development, Maslow’s Multiple Intelligences, and sensory materials prevalent in the Montessori School. Classroom Environment Geared towards the current stages of development of the child, my program would utilize the broad and realistic educational experiences that are designed to promote a constructive process of learning. Theme-related material will serve to peak their interest and establish the link between the core aspects of the lesson and real-life applications. A â€Å"center† based classroom set up encourages children to interact with others in developmentally appropriate play and inspires creativity. Maintaining a daily schedule allows for children to get accustomed to routine and also for teachers to correctly determine the children’s individual schedules and learning processes. Focusing on the child’s key experiences will serve to foster development of important skills and abilities. Incorporating work time, recall time and cleanup time further fosters the development of routine-based practices and will help teach the importance of self accountability. Acting out the routines of adults, the children will learn how to manage their time as well as take care of their surroundings. Interactions with classmates will provide the necessary social skills and establish methods of early conflict resolution practices. In order to properly engage the child’s mind, the classroom must be appropriate, safe, interactive, organized, and embracing to the different cultures and ethnicities present in today’s society. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development According to Erik Erikson, â€Å"Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired. † Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development occurs in stages, and takes the child’s entire social interactions and life experiences into account. According to Erikson, our personality is shaped not only by our natural disposition, but more so by the society that we live in. Erikson’s theory centers around the concept of ego identity, the sense of ourselves that we develop based upon our social interactions, and the concept of ego strength or ego quality, which is the sense of mastery or inadequacy that we feel after a certain stage in our life. Each stage is like a series of mini-tests, and our ability to pass or fail these tests either strengthens our resolve and personal confidence, or forces us to withdraw and evaluate ourselves more intensely. Erikson believed each stage was tied to a certain part of our development, and conflicts encountered would serve as training to help us develop and hone our psychological quality. Preschoolers fall into Erikson’s third stage of development, â€Å"Initiative versus Guilt. † During this stage, children attempt to control their world through social play and other childhood games, asserting dominance and taking on leadership roles. It is during these early school years, children begin to feel pride and accomplishment, especially in peer-measured tasks. Parents who are involved with their child’s school activities and interested in their early academics help enforce these feelings of pride, and establish a bond based on encouragement and positive reinforcement. Conversely, children who receive little or no encouragement from parents, teachers, or peers will instead doubt their ability to be successful. Howard Gardener’s Multiple Intelligences Howard Gardener believed that people are smart in multiple ways, utilizing intelligences in eight specific areas. The eight areas are visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, math/logical, body/kinesthic, musical/rhythmic, intrapersonal, interpersonal and naturalistic. Visual/spatial skills relate to the visual realm and how things are perceived or seen. I will focus on arts and crafts that appeal to the visual aspect of learning, and how the visual perception relates to the actual reality. Verbal/linguistic skills cover the languages, including speaking, writing and listening. My activities for enforcing these skills could be creative story writing, listening to foreign languages, reading story relating to concept material, doing word searches, crosswords, or practicing handwriting. Math/logical skills cover the problem solving and logical thought processes, so my planning will include activities such as board games, matching or card games, word or number puzzles, bingo and pattern associations. Body/kinesthic skills involve movement of the body, which I will enforce through exercise, dance or sports activities, as well as recess and certain games. Musical/rhythmic skills tie in nicely with body movement, so I will incorporate singing, dancing or playing an instrument. Intrapersonal skills are associated with our feelings, values and attitudes, both intrinsic and learned, and teachers can create activities where children can discuss differences in background, family structure and culture that may influence these skills. Interpersonal skills, how we use our feelings during interaction with others, can be honed with group activities like dramatic role play and class projects. Finally, to focus on naturalistic skills, the logical process of classification and hierarchy of things, my assignments will include tasks such as putting things in order by category, pattern identification or sorting objects with their type and purpose. Montessori’s Sensory Materials Founded on the ideas and practices of Maria Montessori, I would utilize the core principles of her methods in my daily routine. Keeping my promises and staying on schedule will help to create a respectful atmosphere, and keeping the lesson plans fresh and interactive will encourage learning through nvironment. The prepared and organized centers and related lesson activities will serve to support children in their self-education (a. k. a. auto-education) phase, and allow children freedom and choice of activity. By teaching skills related to everyday life, such as walking in an orderly fashion or carrying objects to the table, the children will be able to practice self care skills. I will provide s ensory materials that are designed to promote learning through the five senses, thus creating an awareness of the body and its ability to learn from real life. By encouraging role play, the children can prepare for adult occupation and construct their own version of the world around them. Furthermore, I will address the demands of diversity and disabiltilty in the classroom by using mixed age groups, promoting individual play within a supportive classroom, repetition of skills and acknowledging sensory perceptions and abilities. The Montessori influence will also be evident in my classroom setup, as I desire child-sized furniture with bright and coordinated colors to promote aesthetic awareness of the child’s environment. Identity of a Preschooler A preschooler is a most usually a child between the ages of three to five, and has not yet entered kindergarten. During this stage, children are egocentric, preoperational, and unable to properly manage their time or self regulatory skills. Most theorists stress the emphasis of play during this stage as the most effective method of implementing solid learning practices and skill awareness. According to Piaget, play promotes cognitive schemes and enhances cognitive development. By maintaining a daily schedule, the preschooler can adjust to the naturally occurring activities and still maintain their individual learning pace. Montessori believed that play was the equivalent of a child’s work and their preschool was equal to an adult’s place of work. Play provides for unintentional yet effective learning. Free play (a. k. a. informal play) helps broaden the child’s creative aspects, and allows for development of personal interests. Symbolic (pretend) and constructive play help children build and test theories, while functional and outdoor play enforce muscular activities. Children in this age group are open to learning, and are constantly questioning the elements of their surroundings. Assessments – Formal versus Informal My major concern with assessment methods is that the spectrum for what is acceptable seems to vary from state to state or center to center. My goal is to streamline the assessment process and incorporate both informal and formal methods. Since assessment goes hand in hand with observation, I will encourage the active participation of the child in their own education, incorporating my own version of evaluating the child. My daily planning of activities and structured curriculum will allow for careful and accurate observation of the child. In my experience with teaching preschool, children learn best when given a project or activity that reinforces the concepts learned that day. I would make every attempt to keep daily notes on each child’s behavior, attitude and progress in the classroom. By noting individual interests and preferences, I can identify the methods that best suit each child’s learning curve. As for formal assessments, standardized testing is one of the most relied upon methods for assessing a child and interpreting their skill levels to determine if the child is ready to proceed or be held back. Additionally, it is important for me to consider not only the regulated standards, but also each child’s individual background. I feel that this consideration for the child’s individual situation will allow for a more accurate assessment. Although I feel that portfolio assessment can sometimes be too broad and open to interpretation, I do think that keeping artistic evidence of the child’s skill achievements can serve not only to pinpoint the progress of the child, but also as a confidence and self-esteem builder for the child. Children are proud to show off their accomplishments and by displaying projects the child will learn to trust in their own natural abilities. Standards and Goals / Ideal Environment Appropriate goals that I would like each child to successfully master or at least become relatively proficient in are self-help skills, an awareness of healthy habits, a desire to learn, evident language and literacy development, and mostly a strong sense of character. I would like them to be able to express different areas of interest, including music and the arts, methods of learning, and interactive games. Children that are not able to grasp the major content areas will be assessed more in-depth, and a conference with the parent(s) will be scheduled. Ideally, I will create a healthy, respectful, supportive and challenging environment that also maintains the developmentally appropriate practices and incorporates all children into the classroom learning environment. I would like for the parents to be involved and aware of their children’s learning practices. I will assign occasional homework, both to emphasize content covered in class and also to provide parents the opportunity to help their children learn. I believe that parents who take an active role in their child’s education have a more positive and lasting impression on their child. Because of this, I will work to include the parents whenever possible, and keep them imformed of their child’s progress, no matter the speed of progression. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I desire to implement a program that is easy for parents to replicate within their home life, thus creating a unified method of child learning that can only serve to ease the learning process for the child.

A Report On Porters Five Forces English Language Essay

A Report On Porters Five Forces English Language Essay Conducting a strategic industry analysis is an informative method in understanding the mission and motivations underlying the for-profit sector and can result in additional industry insight (King, M. A., n.d.). Porter’s Five Forces are the most broadly used business tool for the strategic industry analysis. Diagram 1 was design by Michael Porter in defining the industry analysis. King’s studies (as cited in Porter, 2008) mentioned the Porter’s Five Forces contain the competitive rivalry within the industry, threat of new entrants, bargaining power of customers, threat of substitutes, and bargaining power of suppliers. Competitive Rivalry within the Industry Rivalry among competing firms is the most powerful of the five competitive forces. In gain the customer’s share to increase the firm’s revenues and profits, the firms have to endlessly compete with each other in the same industry. The competition is more intense if firm pursue strategies that gi ve competitive advantage over the strategies pursued by rivals. (Porter, 2008) Malaysia has a total of 690 private colleges, 14 private universities and university colleges and 4 foreign university branch campuses (Wong, P. W., 2003). In 2001, these private institutions had 270,900 students with 90% enrolled in private colleges (Wong, P. W., 2003). Though competition is intense throughout the private higher education industry, the bulk of the student enrolment in private colleges is concentrated within a few major players. Wong’s studies (as cited in SEGi investors website) mentioned the notable ones are SEGI, INTI Universal, Stamford, PTPL, Informatics, Olympia Colleges, Sedaya College, KDU, Taylors College, Sunway, KBU, and HELP Institute – â€Å"Big 12† Besides private, SEGI also faces competition form both listed, non-listed colleges or universities and also the college or university that located around the branches area. For example SEGI College Subang Jaya , their main competitors are those colleges or university that located around the Subang Jaya area such as INTI, Monash, Taylor’s, Sunway, Optima, Metrowealth, and Metropolitan college.. XXX, (2009, December 2). Head of Marketing Department, SEGi College Subang Jaya. Interview. Other SEGI competitors in the listed companies such as INTI and Stamford offer similar courses except that SEGI more emphasis on the adult market and vocational courses that gives good growth potential (Yaw, C. S., 2004). Formerly, SEGi was well-known for its professional and technical accountancy courses expanded its course structure with the reverse takeover of Prime Group by Systematic Education Group in 2001. Therefore, SEGi expanded its field of studies from pre-university to doctorate level and increased its tie-ups with foreign university. This reverse takeover lifted SEGI profile and in 2004, it listed as a largest private education provider with 18,500 students. (http://segi.investor.net.my/pd f%20files/TA_SEGi_040119.pdf) As the dominant competitor in the private education industry, SEGI stands apart from hundreds of small private institutions. Nevertheless, the competition is still intense between the top ranked education providers that estimated command for 30% of the total enrolled students in private college in 2001. The so-called â€Å"Big-12† which include listed competitors SEGI, INTI and Stamford. SEGI strength lies in the location of its colleges. In contrast to many notable colleges which operate on big campuses, SEGI’s colleges are scattered in residential areas across the country, from large urban areas to smaller towns and villages. For example, The Systematic Group of colleges has campuses in Georgetown, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, Klang, Johore Bahru, Subang Jaya, Serian, and Kuching in Sarawak, while the Prime Group has campuses in Alor Star, and Bukit Mertajam, Meanwhile, the new flagship campus in Kota Damansara is also expected to attrac t more students. The new campus can cater up to more than 12,000 students. (http://www.segi.edu.my/campus/sckd/)

Critical Thinking Part 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical Thinking Part 3 - Assignment Example The questionnaire used in the interview was developed specifically for the study. The authors developed the interview guide from key themes found in a review of the literature on second cancer risk. The authors presented evidence of the reliability of the instrument used: â€Å"A person-centered, open-ended interviewing approach helped elicit detailed responses and focused participants’ responses onto areas previously not anticipated† (489). The interviewers were trained since they are educated in the area and also studied related research before conducting their research. The questions were appropriate for the research question. One sample question was: â€Å"compared with other people your age, how would you describe your risk of developing cancer this year?† (489). There is evidence of credibility and fittingness in the authors’ design. Great care and detail was put into the interview and analyzing of the data. An interpretative, qualitative design was used to collect the data and the constant comparative method was used to analyze the findings (483). Data coding was also used to compare emerging codes and cluster the data into new codes. The statistical analysis fitted the research question. Two important themes emerged from the data: thinking about second risk and living with risk, a family affair. The findings were not statistically important since the data was qualitative. The authors used tables and figures effectively and in a way that was easy to interpret. One table showed a sample of the questionnaire used when interviewing the test subjects. It is possible there is researcher bias in the report of the findings since the ethnic sample was all one race. Findings may have been specifically inherent in the ethnic sample interviewed, the researchers made generalizations about all cancer survivors when only one ethnicity was studied. The findings of the study will be relevant and will increase understanding of cancer survivors’ mindsets, but will

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Political Risk - Assignment Example Moreover Wal-Mart customers are based largely U.S population’s beliefs (Overholt, 1982). The strategy used by Wal-Mart to deal with political risk was first by opening up of new Wal-mart super-center in certain cities and areas. They had to make good financial decisions, those areas which were disturbing the welfare of store and not making good profits were avoided. Wal-mart knew profits were not expected in areas which has down falling economy. For example Wal-mart would initiative risk by making more than 1500 jobs in their stores. If the economy goes down the jobs would be eliminated, and they incur a financial loss because a lot of money has been used in training those employees. This brings financial burden to the company. They expanded their stores in Brazil but it has its risk itself. Looking for people to hire and training them took a lot of money and time. Although, Brazil is a wealthy nation like U.S any economic downfall if it was to happen would make the company to incur lose to people, stores and money (Overholt,

Corporate finance 501 case assigment 5 Mergers and acquisitions Essay

Corporate finance 501 case assigment 5 Mergers and acquisitions Oracle-Sun Merger - Essay Example The paper will firstly deal with the impact of this merger on the shareholders of each of the companies. The paper will also provide a brief overview of how the financial condition of both the companies has improved post the merger. The paper will further deal with how the two companies together prove to be more profitable than each of them individually and how the companies prove to be more successful. The merger of the two companies has proven to be very helpful and beneficial to the shareholders of both the companies. Issues that have been prevalent in the organizations individually are now being treated and improved. These improvements simply mean more sales and higher revenue which in turn simply means that the shareholders earn more. The businesses provide the shareholders with a high return and together the two companies are able to beat the tough competition that they faced from companies like Microsoft. Hence with the increased availability of resources and a combination of excellent products, the company will be able to generate higher revenues thereby providing the shareholders with better results and returns. In a presentation by Sun, the company has listed out a few of the benefits for the companies individually as well as in a partnership. The report stated that for the Sun customers, ‘Oracle plans to protect, extend and enhance customers’ investments after closing’ (Sun). The company also expects that there will be higher investments and innovation in the research and development and also extended value for better and more rounded off products. Also the Sun customers will be able to use the global systems and services of Oracle. In the case of the oracle customers, ‘Reduces integration costs while improving performance, reliability and security of the system’ (Sun). The customers would also gain a complete and integrated line of standards based products as

Database and Enterprise Application Security Essay - 1

Database and Enterprise Application Security - Essay Example Through the identification of problems and issues near the beginning of the projects initialization phase the operating system, environment, system architecture, and database can be designed and integrated with security included features. In addition, it also ensures that system development process followed the rules and regulations, legislation and standards application. This paper presents a detailed analysis of web-security issues which need to be considered by the developers of enterprise web-applications. This paper also outlines fundamental security features offered by database management systems and use of these features in securing the database from security breaches. Â  Websites and web applications normally interact and communicate with other back-office applications, remote services, and distributed systems those are competent to be placed with the range of local premises, locations, and facilities at some other location. In this scenario, the difficult to manage and complicated nature of web-based system presents the need for better communication among the systems and this aspect leads to a greater likelihood of experiencing security vulnerabilities or weaknesses. This condition initiates elevated chances of the security infringement.

College questionnaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

College questionnaire - Essay Example This is an indication that his hardworking and that he has a great quest for space exploration studies. The prize was not only reward to rewarding to him, but also to me and his mother. Camping in Greenland during the GNE is a good accomplishment since my son gathered more knowledge and developed some deeper understanding of aerospace exploration. This has also made the boy curious about other forms of aircraft and improvement of the jet modeling skills in him has been noted. One of the characteristics admirable about our son is the persistence he has about innovation. He has been keen in trying to always invent something new that others have not, and he is serious when going through texts and drawings about innovation.in addition, he has an insatiable desire to experiment and test every model he makes and inn all these experiences, we never cease to give him support. Are there any specific considerations you feel strongly about as your child compiles a college list (e.g. geographic location, size, setting, athletic or artistic opportunities, religious affiliation, financial aid)? I feel that it is important that the university to offer aerospace and space exploration studies so this helps him in developing a deeper level of this field. This is because I perceive that nurturing him in this area would shape his future career. Additionally, there is a high probability of increasing artistic abilities as well as the boy getting a financial scholarship. The University of North Dakota located in the United States and specifically at Grand Forks, North Dakota, and the University of Southern California located in Los Angeles, California. This is because these universities offer courses in aerospace sciences and engineering respectively. Traveling and adventure are some of our hobbies and when doing this, we get an opportunity to explore different environments and diverse cultures. Our

Culture Shock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Culture Shock - Essay Example Often, the way that we lived before, is not accepted or considered as normal, in the new place’. The cultural shock experienced by the diverse communities in the current multicultural society due to widely disparate socio-cultural values, is one of the most important factors that needs to be fully understood in the broader context. The changing values necessitate development of a new social order which would not only embrace multi cultural values but help forge a universal bond that would transcend national and religious boundaries for peaceful co-existence. Gender inequality and outlook towards casual sex are two of the most important cultural factors of the conservative cultures of the South-East Asian countries. When people from these countries travel to the West, especially America, they experience cultural shock. America is a land of opportunity and is characterized by its ever expanding diverse cultural paradigms. The democratic values are more emphatically visible here through equality between the genders and freedom of informed choices. The opportunities to exert those choices are openly practiced with societal support that an Indian immigrant, initially finds hard to accept. The language barriers, rules and regulations, food etc are other factors that make it difficult for them to overcome. It is important to understand that dapting to different environment is a gradual process that happens in phases. Before completely getting acculturized, factors like social networking and learning the language of the host country facilitates adjustment.

Machiavelli and Marx Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Machiavelli and Marx - Essay Example The realistic approach to the knowledge of past and contemporary political life and the principle of unity of theory and practice were defended by the younger contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci, a prominent historian and reformer of Science of the State Niccolo Machiavelli. He offered his own philosophy of history, or rather political history, by rejecting a theological providentialism. At the time when Italy was politically impotent, fragmented and lost its independence, Machiavelli suggested a new type of strong personality, self-confident, ideal leader. According to Machiavelli, it is a purposeful, violent man, with unbending will, possessing talent, intelligence, cunning and even treachery. All of the states (Machiavelli was the first to introduce the concept of the state. By this term he understood both the form of government and a territory) were divided into republics (the best forms of government), and the licenses (the worst type.) Machiavelli clearly revealed his republican beliefs in his last major work "The History of Florence†, which brought him fame of outstanding historian. Machiavelli's views on the historical process were inherent in the idea of cyclic recurrence, regular change of government forms. In his opinion, not abstract theoretical calculations, but the real historical experience reveals certain rules and principles of alternation of these forms. The monarchy, as he shows by many examples, is replaced by an oligarchy, oligarchy - by a republic, which, in turn, gives way to a one-man rule; â€Å"this is the series of state evolution† (Baron, 1961). The society struggle of contradictions, interests, conflicts of small and large groups is at the heart of this cyclic recurrence. Karl Marx is one of the founders of the materialist conception of history. His philosophical conception of society has much in common with that of Machiavelli. But, nonetheless, the period, separating these two ideologies, is impressive. So, The Marxist doctrine of the state includes both philosophical and sociological views. He believed that any state should eventually die off. This process is considered as absolutely unavoidable. The state is the result of division of society into antagonistic classes. â€Å"Classes are large groups of people with different interests, which differ in their relation to the means of production. With the emergence of the state a constant class struggle in society appears. The state is a product and manifestation of the intransigence of class antagonisms. The state arises where and when class antagonisms objectively can not be reconciled. In turn, the class struggle necessarily leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat† (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, 2010). Machiavelli’s realism also had class character. But it expressed the sequence of requirements of the rising class, the revolutionary aspirations of the bourgeoisie. His ideal ruler is the most uncompromising and strong new alternative of the bourgeois system to the public and political feudalism. Machiavelli never assumed the existence of classless society (1998). Machiavelli was the first philosopher, who began talking about the economy of the state as a part of its prosperity. According to Marx, economic dominates the state. A confrontation within the state is led by two classes of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie is the ruling class,

Outline and Analyze the Challenges Facing Mellon Investor Services Essay Example for Free

Outline and Analyze the Challenges Facing Mellon Investor Services Essay Assignment Task Outline and analyze the challenges facing Mellon Investor Services in their organizational redesign and assess how well the company have dealt with those challenges in how they are approaching and managing the change. Delong, T. and Vijayaraghavan, V. (2002) Mellon Investor Services (ECCH case reference 9-402-036, Harvard Business School) Introduction Mellon Investor Services (â€Å"MIS†) is an investment management and investment services company, focused to help clients manage and move their financial assets and succeed in the rapidly changing global marketplace. Between 2000 and 2001 MIS underwent a substantial organizational redesign, which will be critically considered in this essay. Wittington and Mayer (2002) suggest that organizational performance is driven by the company’s ability to redesign structures frequently, however the change requires participation of people leading the change i.e. agents, organizational structure that welcomes the change and appropriate managements styles. The Chief Financial Officer of MIS, Jim Aramanda led the company for few very successful years, during which MIS was providing new offerings for transfer agent services including issue services, employee plans and direct services, broker / dealer services. The company had five years of successful growth and MIS was meeting and exceeding its financial goals. In Autumn of 2002 Aramanda’s became concerned for the successful future of the company and he recognised few areas that required closer attention: †¢different business units were not consolidating their offerings and taking advantage of various products, which resulted in two Requests For Proposal coming from one client whereby both RFPs were replied to separately, as opposed to a combined and unified response, †¢current successful offering of core products did not guarantee that MIS would grow in future, †¢MIS staff were not building long-term relationship with the clients therefore business opportunities may not be spotted in good time, †¢requirement for new measures of performance and progress, †¢lack of focus on hiring and rewarding talented people, †¢lack of focus on product development, which was manifested in product being offered by the sales department without confirmation that the product may actually be delivered to the clients, †¢Some of the groups, such as technology, were too achievement oriented without being focused. In order to address the above concerns and mould the company to his new vision, Aramanda hired a number of experienced consultants to support his structural redesign of MIS. Aramanda realised that the change would also involve a dramatic shift of vision and attitudes to introduce new systems and subsystems, with the likely result of clash of wills. Buchanan Badham (2008) argue that such a change can be successful if it involves one person influencing the organization according to their values, and Aramanda had the clear vision and skills to gather a team of knowledgeable people to fundamentally amend and adjust MIS future capabilities. The change that MIS underwent could be classified as ‘strategic’ or ‘transformational’ (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010) and it aimed to redefine the boundaries, methods of problem-solving and doing business in the company. Aramanda acted on his vision in a very organized manner, as he instantly hired experienced, independent and talented consultants, Mary Davis and Jeanne DiFrancesco, and empowered them to accurately assess how the change should be conducted whilst keeping disruption of the day-to-day business activities to the minimum, design a four-phase project that was consistent with Aramanda’s aggressive deadlines, and work alongside all business units to manage the organizational change smoothly and efficiently. Although the organizational change instigated by Aramanda and facilitated by the consultants proved a great success, there were certain areas that should have been dealt with differently. The main challenges I have chosen as a topic of this assignment included overall communication, dealing with resistance to change and managing relationships. 1. Communication Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) note that many managers do not pay attention to communication when implementing change, which may increase employee absenteeism, turnover and low productivity. Furthermore, some of the reasons for employees’ increased expectation during the change process are availability of information through the internet as well as employees’ anticipation to contribute ideas and be kept informed. If these expectations are met, employees feel valued and therefore are more likely to be committed to the company and perform better at their work. Aramanda wanted to be supportive of a certain degree of open communication culture, which was manifested by a requirement for the employees to nominate their colleagues for newly created job posts. This approach was also constructed to represent Aramanda’s interests and to manipulate employee attitudes and behaviours. The nomination process aimed to take advantage of knowledge in the network or informal skills that perhaps could have been difficult to be evaluated by an outsider. The outcome however proved to be different than anticipated, as it created a negative feeling amongst the employees. Furthermore, one of the reasons for hiring consultants in the first place was to take advantage of their impartiality and independence from office politics. Insufficient communication was also evident in Phase One of the organizational change, during which key services, products and activities of the business were analysed. The result was anxiousness amongst the employees, who being afraid of job cuts, would feel that they were disregarded and forgotten, which in return lowered their productivity until the process was complete. As outlined by Buchanan and Huczynski (2010), many companies operate within a range of open and closed communication climate. Open and honest communication leads to employees having realistic expectations, and closed and defensive communication creates an atmosphere of distrust and secrecy. Although Aramanda’s relationship with his superiors was commendable, as he had a very open working relationship with the consultants and his direct reports, the communication with his employees was not as successful. One of the reasons for this situation was a lack of Head of Corporate Communications, whose post was vacant until June 2001, therefore all information during the process of a change was not communicated to the staff. Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) confirm that communication of ideas assists employees see the logic and need for change. The implication for MIS was that employees did not understand what was happening, therefore they were more unlikely to follow management decisions. Issues of communication also affected existing relationships with clients. One of the objectives of the organizational change was to evaluate every job function and employee in line with the new business strategy. This resulted in creation of new key groups, including new ‘business development’ team focused on growth and return on investment in new clients and ‘client management’ team whose assignment was growth and return on investment in existing clients. The new groups comprised of employees that had to move away from the relationships they took time and effort to establish with their clients. Before the change these relationships lead to more sales and generated more business through word of mouth. Furthermore, strong relationships improved the internal organization, morale, increased engagement and lead to greater satisfaction at work. By creation of new groups the above relationships were damaged or broken, which could have lead to a possible revenue loss caused by the impact that the organizational change had on the client satisfaction. 2. Resistance to change Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) confirm that change implies a positive experiment and creation of something new as well as a negative confrontation with the unknown through the deconstruction of familiar arrangements. Some of the MIS employees demonstrated unwillingness to accept the proposed changes, as they perceived them as threatening to the individual. The main causes of resistance to change were as follows: †¢Lack of facilitation and support Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) outline facilitation and support as most helpful, where fear and anxiety lie at the heart of resistance. At MIS some of the managers were not supporting their employees in new roles, as people were expected to continue to take care of their old responsibilities, therefore the new responsibilities had to take second priority. They employees were not given sufficient time to adjust to new jobs or recover after demanding period. †¢Low tolerance for change Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) stress that that people differ in their ability to cope with change and uncertainty, which may lead them to oppose even potentially beneficial changes. Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) agree that if the change is significant and the employee’s tolerance for change is low, he might begin to actively oppose the change for reasons he does not consciously understand. †¢Misunderstanding and lack of trust Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) argue that employees are more likely to resist the change if they don’t understand the reasons behind it. As outlined in the section above regarding lack of communication, it becomes transparent that MIS employees were not told what are the positive implications of change, therefore they believed the change might cost them much more than they would gain. This could be characterised by having a low level of trust between employees and managers and result in misunderstandings and increased perception of threat when change was introduced. 3. Networks and relationships Another challenge facing the organizational change of MIS was managing existing relationships and creating new networks. One of aims for the reorganization once MIS services and products and market needs were analysed, was to break down capabilities into building blocks and then to recompose the blocks to fit within the new strategy. In practice this meant changing the divisional structure of the organization from service-based to customer-based. The change from ‘squares’ to ‘squares and triangles’ caused a large power shift and a felling of unrest and injustice to many employees. In the new organization chart the ‘triangles’ comprised of market-facing professionals and were perceived as the ‘winners’. The triangles included new business development, client management, product management development and business management analytics units. A triangle holds its place as a symbol in the mathematics of ideal proportions and in the MIS reorganizational design employees chosen to become a part of new teams were deemed as ‘drivers’ having a superior status. This formal status was closely related to the leadership, generally accepted by the others with a power to influence and control other groups. On the other hand, the ‘squares’ represented all other employees in the company and were perceived as the ‘losers’ and ‘followers’ and deemed to have an inferior status. Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) note that lower status groups have less power and tend to be less influential, therefore employees actively seeking status in order to fulfil their self-esteem may experience personal dissatisfaction. Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) note that this method of implementing organizational change can cause confusion and increase employees’ level of stress. The MIS consultants hoped that by dismantling of social networks, new networks would grow very quickly. The presumption was made that the existing social networks used to compensate for the inefficiencies in the old system, so now they should accelerate the efficiencies of the new system. Some employees viewed this as a positive move, as it allowed transitioning some people to other teams to build communication and continuity based on their prior experiences in other business areas. This however had a more political aspect as many managers when switching roles from ‘triangles’ to ‘squares’ in their self-interest wanted to take the good people with them. In practice, whereby poor communication was also a contributing factor, the new social networks were not created as rapidly as anticipated and had a negative influence on employee engagement and work performance. Another reason for changing the divisional structure of the organization was MIS’ lack of integration. Child (2004) stresses that integration is a vital product of good organization, whereby different activities collectively create value. One of identified reasons for change at MIS was to consolidate their product offering to create more value for the customers. Although it is relatively easy to state the requirement for integration, it is not so straightforward to achieve it. The problem of integration presents itself most noticeably in the relations between functions that are responsible for producing services according to predetermined parameters established within the company, and functions that have to continuously adapt to the external environment. The organization cannot remained viable without this integration. Teams are one of the most commonly used means for achieving integration, however during the implementation of change at MIS these were taken apart under conditions of uncertainty and pressure. One of the signs that the integration needs were not sufficiently met by the new teams was conflict between departments, mainly between ‘triangles’ and ‘squares’. This situation would require ongoing monitoring to ensure that the conflict does not become persistent and threat overall teams’ performance. Summary As outlined above, the main challenges of the organizational change instigated by Aramanda included overall communication, dealing with resistance to change and managing relationships. The organizational change was possible due to a great contribution from the consultants, who appreciated that an organizational change is a complex process to dramatically adjust organization vision, structure and culture in a continuous effort to improve the performance. Reference list 1.Buchanan D., Badham R. (2008) ‘Power, politics and organizational change: Winning the turf game’, p. 9. 2.Buchanan D., Huczynski A.A. (2010) ‘Organizational behaviour’, pp. 329-330, 562-564, 570-573. 3.Child J. (2004) ‘Organization: Contemporary Principles and Practice; Chaper 4: Achieving Integration’, p. 81-82. 4.Kotter J. P., Schlesinger L.A. (1979) ‘Choosing strategies for change’ Harvard Business Review, March – April pp. 108-109. 5.http://www.bnymellon.com/about/index.html, accessed on 18 June 2012.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Essay Example for Free

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Essay Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act This article review is on the article written by David S. Addington called â€Å"Congress Should Repeal or Fix Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to Help Create Jobs.† The Heritage Foundation published the article on September 30 2013. In the article, the author addresses concerns among companies staying in compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The author indicates that section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act has caused a financial burden on companies. Companies spend a large amount of money to stay in compliance with the regulations on section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Furthermore, companies could use the money spent on auditing financial records to invest in more business lines and create more jobs (Additon, 2011). Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires companies to include a statement of the responsibility of the company management for â€Å"establishing and maintaining an adequate internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting† along with their report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The annual report must include an assessment of the effectiveness of the company’s internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting, followed by having a registered public accounting firm â€Å"attest on, and report on the assessment made by the management.† This aspect of the legislation requires companies to document important financial documents along with the review from the certified public accounting firm; it requires tremendous effort and large amounts of money for companies to comply with this aspect of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Additon, 2011). The author indicates that companies can use the money spent by companies to stay in compliance on other businesses lines; creating more job opportunities and benefiting the economy. The author demands that Congress should examine whether section 404 is needed, and if so, how to cut its costly burden on businesses. Modifying or repealing section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act can free businesses to stimulate the economy (Additon, 2011). Businesses must stay in compliance with the law to operate efficiently at all times. Companies should stay in compliance to get the confidence and trust from investors. The 2012 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey listed where companies  stand on reviewing cost, time, efforts, processes to stay in compliance with the regulations. Approximately 35% of midsize organizations spend from $100,000 to $500,000 annually, and almost 80% spend $1 million or less. By year four of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, most organization are spending $100,000 to $500,000 annually (2012 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey); this is relatively a small amount of money compared the total amount the company actually makes. The Sarbanes-Oxley act protects the public from unethical behavior by companies. If the government does not hold companies accountable for their financing, it will lead to unconfident investors in the market; if the public is not investing in businesses the economy will not be better. The prize the company pays to stay in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is at the right price, achieving trust, and confidence from the public. References David S. Addington Congress Should Repeal or Fix Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to Help Create Jobs. The Heritage Foundation. September 30, 2011. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/09/congress-should-repeal-or-fix-section-404-of-the-sarbanes-oxley-act-to-help-create-jobs 2012 Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey. Retrieved from: http://www.protiviti.com/en-US/Documents/Surveys/2012-SOX-Compliance-Survey-Protiviti.pdf

Hydroxyapatite as a Substrate for Bone Reconstruction

Hydroxyapatite as a Substrate for Bone Reconstruction To combat the shortcomings of autografts and allografts associated with limited availability of tissue, morbidity of the donor site, risk of disease transmission and immunogenic rejection; clinicians have started centuries ago implanting artificial materials in the body to aid and restore functioning of organs or tissues.1-6 The high incidence of morbidity, skill required to harvest bone from donor, and so many factors have been the rationale for the increase in applications of bone substitute materials.7-9 Hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramics produced synthetically or by processing biological substrates and is used widely and successfully for bone reconstruction. There are many natural sources for HA which include human bone, bovine bone1,2 coral3,4 chitosan5,6fish bone7and egg shell8, and so. However a concern with natural HA is risk of transmission of diseases when proper preparation is not followed to remove all protein9. Synthetic HA is more commonly used, because of easily availability, and free from disease transmission risk. HA are available as granules and blocks with different pore sizes or as injectable material. HA is osteoconductive in nature and serves as a structural scaffold for the building of new bone tissues. Several authors have suggested HA is prone to intraoral degradation or dissolution10-25 but others have shown no resorption13-22 like our case. Here we report clinical cases which showed the radiological evidence of bone formation after more than 4 years of follow up. Clinical Report 1- In our study group the Male patient aged 65 yrs had recurrent OKC on lateral part of the mandible (Figure-1) which required partial hemi mandibulectomy with disarticulation. Patient was not ready for any other modalities of reconstruction except condylar stainless steel recon plate. Considering patient age and denial for distant or free flaps, our team of doctors inspired by orthopedic replacement strategies and indigenously designed hydroxyapatite block. Which has been prepared by Biograft (IFGL Ceramics Kolkota, India) on request. This has been used for reconstruction of lateral mandibular defect distal to canine. The block fixed to stainless steel condylar plate using 26 gauze wires. (Figure-2 Figure-3)After 5 years of evaluation the patient had no complications, absorption, dislocation but very little bone formation seen radiologically (Figure -4, Figure-5 Figure-6). Clinical Report 2- The Male Patient of 20 yrs, reported to our department with swelling in anterior mandible since 8 yrs which was small initially and progressively grown to the present size.( Figure-7) Under general anesthesia the lesion has been resected leading to a mid-line defect. The patient denied for any other reconstruction options including distant flaps and free flaps because of affordability. So it is decided to have reconstruction using SS recon plate with a block graft for support. (Figure-9) In this case we are expecting connective tissue and later bone formation as the graft block is in contact with the bony edges on both sides. Clinical report 3- Case of unicystic ameloblastoma in a patient aged 55 years male crossing the midline, undergone resection and reconstruction using BBHA and SS reconstruction plate. (Figure-9 Figure-10) In this case we are expecting bony bridging between interface of the bone fragment and graft end on both midline and ramus area of mandible. Surgical Considerations: The surgeon should change gloves before handling the BBHA material because oral flora and debris previously picked up on gloves during the pre-grafting stages of surgery could contaminate the BBHA, resulting in a subsequent infection. In its initial form, BBHA is brittle and must be handled and shaped carefully so it does not inadvertently fracture, although the material becomes very strong after healing. It is important to use irrigation when cutting the individual grafts from the larger blocks with a bur and when refining the contours. BBHA grafts can be used as interpositional (inlay) grafts placed between osteotomies or as facial augmentation (onlay) grafts or for mandibular reconstruction of lateral/midline defects. They can be applied to the maxilla, mandible, chin, orbit, zygoma, nose, forehead, and cranium. Onlay grafts may require stabilization by placing bone screws through the material, as in BBHA chin or cheek onlay grafts. A lag screw/wire technique should be used with m inimal tightening to prevent fracturing of the grafts. Rigid fixation is paramount to provide the necessary stability and stress protection for the BBHA grafts to heal properly. The grafts in the maxilla should be accurately contoured and wedged in position. If there is excessive mobility between the bone segments and BBHA grafts or a functional overload, the grafts may displace or fracture. Alternatively, a significant decrease in the amount of bone growth through the implants could occur, resulting in a nonunion. A soft diet is encouraged for 3 to 4 months during the initial post-surgery healing phase to minimize loading and micro movement, thus preventing displacement, fracture, or nonunion of the grafts. The use of 4 bone plates is recommended to stabilize the maxilla, with 2 bone screws above and 2 bone screws below the level of osteotomy for each bone plate.47,48 Postsurgical displacement or fragmentation of the BHA grafts can occur as a result of the following:38 1. Inadequate rigid fixation and stress protection, 2. Improper contouring or placement of the implant into the osteotomy site, 3. Parafunctional habits (i.e., clenching, bruxism), 4. Poor patient compliance, 5. Trauma. Discussion: The use of bone graft material both particulate12,14,16,18,19,21,38-40,54and block graft13,15,17, 19,20,22,23,41 studied in humans and animals. The majority of animal studies found bone formation within graft material10,11,18,42-51 and others reported connective tissue formation.43,52,53 The human studies reported formation of bone 12-17,29-32,37-40,54 and others reported connective tissue surrounding HA particles.18,19,29 Long-term retention biocompatibility of BHA has been established fact in orthognathic and craniofacial surgery.50 Histologic studies29,30,35 and a long-term clinical study demonstrate good biologic acceptance of the grafts in association with the maxillary sinus. The immobility of HA is crucial factor for initial healing20 as mobile particles induce connective tissue formation and immobile foster bone formation. Wolford et al. introduced the use of porous BHA as a bone graft substitute in orthognathic and craniofacial surgery.30 Rosen and Ackerman reported complication rate of 4.3% after a follow-up period of 6 to 20 months in orthognathic surgical BHA grafting48,49 Ayers et al17 Holmes et al31 and Nunes et al.16 demonstrated an average composition of 48.5-53% hydroxyapatite matrix, 18-27% bone, and 33.5-21% soft tissue in BBHA grafts through histomorphometry after 4.7 to 16.4, mean 19.1 months respectively with biopsies of BBHA grafts which were used in corrective jaw surgery in patients. The composition of the adjacent normal maxillary and mandibular bone averaged 66.5% bone and 33.5% soft tissue, indicating that the ratio of hydroxyapatite/bone to soft tissue/vascular space is equivalent to normal bone.17 The study also demonstrated that bone growth through the BBHA grafts was essentially complete in 4 months, with further progression of the healing process resulting in maturation of the ingrown bone. The grafts had less soft tissue than the adjacent bone (30% soft tissue) and bone contact over 60% of their surfaces which is a near-balance between the BBHA grafts and surrounding bone.16 There was no significant difference in micro hardness values between the bone in the BHA grafts and the adjacent maxillary bone.17 Bone ingrowth appeared to plateau at around 20 months, reaching an equilibrium in which the relative amount of osseous tissue remained constant. 17 Different theories proposed on the mechanism of bone formation. Early vascularization followed by connective tissue formation16,43,44 bone gradually inserted around the HA particles21,43,44 and non-inducing creeping substitution21,22 also proposed. Very recently the bone induction has been seen with nano-crystalline HA. The use of BBHA as an alloplastic grafting material has several advantages over other types of grafts: no donor site morbidity is involved, adjacent bone will not be resorbed, there is no known hypersensitivity or immune response, the substance is easily manipulated, there are no working time constraints, surgical time is decreased, blood loss is decreased, the volume is unlimited, and healing is faster resulting in a shorter recovery time. Interpositional bone grafting is indicated in orthognathic surgery to provide bony continuity, improve healing, improve stability, decrease surgical relapse in traditionally unfavorable jaw repositioning movements during orthognath ic surgical procedures. This type of reconstruction options will increase the survival rate and lesser morbidity. The incorporation of autogeneous bone, platelet rich plasma, rhBMP-2 showed good bone formation.50 The studies have shown hydroxyapatite is osteoinductive.51,52 Recently studies have shown use of Platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor ÃŽ ² (TGF-ÃŽ ²), BMP, and stem cells in bone regeneration.50 The BBHA will provide structural architecture for BMP to achieve better and earlier function. These laboratory concepts were regarded a visionary a few years ago, but now they reached clinical reality.53-59 Our report is milestone in reconstruction of continuity defects of mandible. Hydroxyapatite is a versatile biocompatible graft substitute that does not cause any chronic inflammatory, allergic, or toxic reaction. Results of both densitometric and radiographic studies suggested that the use of synthetic hydroxyapatite graft material has the potential to accelerate bone formation in an economical way.60-63 Conclusion: The primary aim of the reconstruction was to have a proper face form, aesthetics and structural balance for face which has been achieved in a very economical way. Our plan to have implant supported prosthesis in the HA blocks in near future for these patients is planned. This type of reconstruction with indigenously designed and prepared block graft can suffice the aim and objective of successful reconstruction which is a viable modality economical. No clinical signs of pathosis were identified around the graft, no infection or discomfort was elicited upon palpation.

Princess Diana- Media Victim or Media Manipulator :: essays research papers fc

Princess Diana "Lady Diana was born into a privileged family as the daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer and Lady Frances Althorp in Norfolk, England. Princess Diana was raised by nannies, separated from her parents by divorce and isolated from her sisters and brother when sent to boarding schools. Her life was filled with activities, friends and social events that 'bred' her for royal status and community involvement". At first glance we can easily assume that such a person would easily be one who knew how to handle themselves in front of a camera, being that royalty were never left alone by the media. When she first married the prince the world of the media was rather new to her, and not necessarily unappreciated or ignored in the sense that it could give her a bad name. Considering that she was raised in royalty to some degree, it was only natural that she takes advantage of the media, once she knew how. Yet, at the same time Diana seemed destined to work for others through her status as royalty, which may have been manipulation, but seemed far more sincere than that. In an interesting spiritual judgment of her personality: "Diana's first trait determined how she made choices. In balance, this trait gave her a strong desire to stabilize all aspects of her life. Because of that pull, Diana's goals focused on the equilibrium between motherhood, attention to her nation, charity work and responsibility to her husband. Without effort to achieve balance in one's life, those with this trait in excess can become lifeless--at times lacking the desire to work towards stability and only existing. Through Diana's much publicized life, depression and immobilizing mental turmoil threatened at times her very existence" (Anonymous Diana Frances Spencer George diana.html). She married into royalty and though, at times, got caught up her status and her appearance, slowly changed her focus to people in need, which caused her conflict in relationship to here station in life, which caused her turmoil and misery. Yet, she pursued these events at whatever the cost. Before her death she had become known as a powerful force for good in the world as she "embraced all those requiring care, even breaking the barriers associated with AIDS, leprosy, and those maimed from land mines. She had such a deep concern for each individual taught the world for which we will be forever blessed" (Anonymous Diana Frances Spencer George diana. Princess Diana- Media Victim or Media Manipulator :: essays research papers fc Princess Diana "Lady Diana was born into a privileged family as the daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer and Lady Frances Althorp in Norfolk, England. Princess Diana was raised by nannies, separated from her parents by divorce and isolated from her sisters and brother when sent to boarding schools. Her life was filled with activities, friends and social events that 'bred' her for royal status and community involvement". At first glance we can easily assume that such a person would easily be one who knew how to handle themselves in front of a camera, being that royalty were never left alone by the media. When she first married the prince the world of the media was rather new to her, and not necessarily unappreciated or ignored in the sense that it could give her a bad name. Considering that she was raised in royalty to some degree, it was only natural that she takes advantage of the media, once she knew how. Yet, at the same time Diana seemed destined to work for others through her status as royalty, which may have been manipulation, but seemed far more sincere than that. In an interesting spiritual judgment of her personality: "Diana's first trait determined how she made choices. In balance, this trait gave her a strong desire to stabilize all aspects of her life. Because of that pull, Diana's goals focused on the equilibrium between motherhood, attention to her nation, charity work and responsibility to her husband. Without effort to achieve balance in one's life, those with this trait in excess can become lifeless--at times lacking the desire to work towards stability and only existing. Through Diana's much publicized life, depression and immobilizing mental turmoil threatened at times her very existence" (Anonymous Diana Frances Spencer George diana.html). She married into royalty and though, at times, got caught up her status and her appearance, slowly changed her focus to people in need, which caused her conflict in relationship to here station in life, which caused her turmoil and misery. Yet, she pursued these events at whatever the cost. Before her death she had become known as a powerful force for good in the world as she "embraced all those requiring care, even breaking the barriers associated with AIDS, leprosy, and those maimed from land mines. She had such a deep concern for each individual taught the world for which we will be forever blessed" (Anonymous Diana Frances Spencer George diana.

Special Education Essay -- Health, Diseases, Autism

Gender According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV, 1994), the category of disorders under which autism falls is pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). Autism is often referred to as belonging in a â€Å"spectrum† of disorders. Autism is a severe disorder of communication and behavior. It is a lifelong disorder that usually appears during the first three years of life. It occurs in approximately 15 in 10,000 births, ten percent are classically autistic, the most severe form of autism. Autism is four times more likely to occur in males than females and there is no known cause or cure for autism (Sullivan, cited in Sewell, 1998). Educational Placement Parents and advocates began to challenge the schools to provide their children with the â€Å"most appropriate† education in the â€Å"least restrictive environment† (LRE) (Petch-Hoggan & Haggard, 1999). As defined by IDEA, the â€Å"least restrictive environment provision requires that states assure that, to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities are educated with children without disabilities.† Removal or separate schooling should only occur when the severity of the child’s disability is such that the general curriculum cannot be modified to meet their educational needs (Sawyer, McLaughlin, & Winglee, 1994, p. 204). Parents of children with autism have rarely been asked their opinions about their ideal educational placement for their child (Kasari, Freeman, Bauminger, & Alkin, 1999). Parental opinions on the proper placement for their child vary greatly and often evoke a wide range of emotions. The decision to place students into full or part-time inclusive environments is often dependent on several factors. The severity or dia... ...ose to have more than two workshops per year, depending on both student need and availability of staff. It is important to consider the latter, as this would be an after school activity, hosted by a committee of volunteer. Research supports the idea that such workshops would benefit students and their families in preparing for this difficult transition. Eckes and Ochoa (2005) also believe workshops would especially help in preparing for postsecondary education. The main idea behind the transition committee is for a variety of individuals from both the school and community to work collaboratively in their efforts to advocate for students in special education and their families may be more comfortable with this process. When they have questions or concerns, there would be a team of trusted individuals that they could feel comfortable turning to for help. Special Education Essay -- Health, Diseases, Autism Gender According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV, 1994), the category of disorders under which autism falls is pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). Autism is often referred to as belonging in a â€Å"spectrum† of disorders. Autism is a severe disorder of communication and behavior. It is a lifelong disorder that usually appears during the first three years of life. It occurs in approximately 15 in 10,000 births, ten percent are classically autistic, the most severe form of autism. Autism is four times more likely to occur in males than females and there is no known cause or cure for autism (Sullivan, cited in Sewell, 1998). Educational Placement Parents and advocates began to challenge the schools to provide their children with the â€Å"most appropriate† education in the â€Å"least restrictive environment† (LRE) (Petch-Hoggan & Haggard, 1999). As defined by IDEA, the â€Å"least restrictive environment provision requires that states assure that, to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities are educated with children without disabilities.† Removal or separate schooling should only occur when the severity of the child’s disability is such that the general curriculum cannot be modified to meet their educational needs (Sawyer, McLaughlin, & Winglee, 1994, p. 204). Parents of children with autism have rarely been asked their opinions about their ideal educational placement for their child (Kasari, Freeman, Bauminger, & Alkin, 1999). Parental opinions on the proper placement for their child vary greatly and often evoke a wide range of emotions. The decision to place students into full or part-time inclusive environments is often dependent on several factors. The severity or dia... ...ose to have more than two workshops per year, depending on both student need and availability of staff. It is important to consider the latter, as this would be an after school activity, hosted by a committee of volunteer. Research supports the idea that such workshops would benefit students and their families in preparing for this difficult transition. Eckes and Ochoa (2005) also believe workshops would especially help in preparing for postsecondary education. The main idea behind the transition committee is for a variety of individuals from both the school and community to work collaboratively in their efforts to advocate for students in special education and their families may be more comfortable with this process. When they have questions or concerns, there would be a team of trusted individuals that they could feel comfortable turning to for help.

Brave new world and how it influenced my life Essay -- essays research

A Different World; A Different Person All forms of art have greatly influenced my life and have had an enormous effect on me as a person. Throughout high school, of all the great works of literature, poetry, and other types of art that have given me a feeling of joy, my senior year I discovered one piece of literature that stands out and opens my eyes to the world around me. Art, literature and music not only intrigue and inspire me, but also despite all of the thought provoking choices at hand, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, has had the greatest affect on my opinion of the world. I believe that this story is similar to what our society is becoming and has opened my outlook on the world. Aldous Huxley greatly described an innovated world in which all matters of truth and individuality are gone. The characters in this book are born into a caste system, in which they are conditioned to think and act according to which caste level they belong. Although, he did not predict that the human race would actually yield to this sad, loveless lifestyle, surprisingly they adapted rather quickly. After reading Brave New World, I was not only rudely awakened by the lifestyles of this race, but also shown what is truly important. With cloning being one of the new discoveries in today’s society, I can see how mankind could become a sea of walking machines, easily compared to those in Brave New World. From birth, the characters are told how to act, think and dress. To an extent, our soci...

Genetically Modified Organisms- a Step Ahead or a Step in the Wrong Direction?

Genetically modified organisms- a step ahead or a step in the wrong direction? Paulina Langowska Genetically modified organisms, also known as GMO, are such organisms whose genetic material has been artificially changed using genetic engineering. Genetic engineering, to put it simply, is altering the DNA technology, using DNA molecules from various organisms and using this molecules to create a brand new set of genes. Then the set of genes is added to an organism’s genome. Below is shown an exchange of genes in corn, which is supposed to protect it from various insects.Genetic engineering can also change the color of the plant, make it resistant to difficult weather conditions, insects and viruses. The beginnings of genetic engineering take us back to the year 1973, when the first recombinant bacteria- a bacteria that has been genetically modified- was created. It was Escherichia coli, which from that point on became a popular lab rat used in genetic engineering. This creation led to discussions whether genetic modifications are safe and needed. The first conference when potential health risks were discussed took place in 1975.In late 1980’s in USA and Canada began an experimental usage of genetic engineered plants in a small scale. In 1990’s, after the approval for a larger scale, genetic engineering was more widely spread across the countries. From that point on, the interest in genetically modified organisms grew year by year. However, even though genetically modified organisms have gained population, the benefits of it and its harmlessness is disputable. Researches on lab pets show many harmful consequences.Some scientists decided to try and feed rats with genetic engineered potatoes. It was supposed to make them produce their own natural insecticide. But the results weren’t exactly as they were expected. Rats’ cells developed in a proliferative way and potentially cancerous cells. Also, the development of their brain and liver was inhibited and they suffered from an immune system damage. Also, another research was done in Russian Academy of Sciences. This time, female rats were fed genetically modified soy before and during pregnancy and also hile feeding their offspring. This time, the results included: * About 55% of offspring died during 3 weeks after the birth (compared to 9% of mortality among those fed with non-genetically modified soy) * Offspring was significantly smaller compared to other as well as their organs (heart, liver, kidneys, etc. ) * Both mothers and their children were very aggressive and anxious * When male and female (both form genetically modified soy fed mother) were paired, they were unable to conceive children.Although the results of this experiments are to be taken with a grain of salt, they are still alarming and disturbing due to the wide discrepancies between the GM soy fed rats and the control ones. The health damages found in rats fed with genetically modified potato es is just as much worrying. The reason rats are used for such experiments is that their morphology and biochemical structures are very similar to the human ones. That is why those experiments, as well as similar ones, provoke an essential question- is genetically modified food harmful to people.The answer to this question is very disputable. Some scientists claim that genetically modified foods are completely safe and otherwise they wouldn’t be approved. But there are numerous articles about possible harmful effects of genetically modified foods and they can’t be ignored. The main concern is allergies. Main aim of getting a new set of gene to an organism’s genome is to create a new protein and every protein is potentially triggering to allergic reactions. The problem with GM foods is that its protein are completely new and we can’t be sure about its effect.Truth be told, people (mainly in USA, where genetic engineered food is the most common) often consu me GM products without being aware of it- if you live in the USA and ate cheddar cheese in the past few years it is more than likely that you ate a genetically manipulated food, since genetic engineering is currently the most successful in cheddar cheese. Some say that genetically modified products they unwillingly consumed are to stand accused for their new allergies. Other concerns involve immunity system damage and stunted organ growth, however they are mostly seen in lab pets and are yet to be proved to occur.Another reason why genetic engineering receives so many criticism from the ethical point of view. Because if we can change genes in cheese or potatoes, what’s stopping us from changing genes in people? Scientists and psychologists are afraid that genetic engineering will become so developed that designing unborn children will happen on a daily basis. Parents will choose gender, height, hair color etc. From this point there’s not much to go to create an artific ial world, ruled by genetic engineering, looking like taken out of Huxley’s book.Futhermore, genetically modified organisms have a huge impact on our environment. One of the problems is gene flow. Gene flow is a natural occurring phenomenon that results in getting one organism’s DNA and transporting it to another one, be it from the same species or not. Some people are afraid that the engineered genes may spread and push out other, not modificated, plants. Yet another drawback is that they can be harmful to other organisms. Genetic engineering in plants such as crop is mostly focused on creating a defensive system against insects.But often, the newly created insecticide can be harmful to other, non-target organisms. Some sources agree that the existence of genetically engineered maize most commonly found in corn had a negavite impact on population of monarch butterflies living near the field, because they fed with plants dusted by the pollen from the corn maize. Both t hese phenomena’s can led to destroying natural biodiversity. So this leads us to a question: if genetic engineering has so much disadvantages, why is it still done and money is spent for researches?The truth is that even if it has many drawbacks, it still have many advantages that for some people are worth all the effort. Negative poster about GM foods One of them is that it is said to help us create food that is much more nutritious. It can be done by inserting a specific genes that are supposed to produce vitamins etc. to various crops. A well known case is inserting the gene making the vitamin A levels in rice much higher. Rice feeds currently more than 50% of the world population, but is not high in vitamins and other nutrients.Modifying it in such a way that It contains more vitamin A could help reduce deficiency resulting in blindness. If it was to be done successfully with other food products it would probably really help with fighting the malnutrition in third world o r developing countries. Moreover, genetic engineering can decrease crop failure. Crop failure is a very big issue and it is said to increase due to climate changes. Because of them, price of food gets higher, some countries need to ban all the export of some products (for example Russia banning wheat export in 2010) and ometimes it even gets so bad country really suffers from famine, especially when we consider developing countries. That’s why GMOs are so tempting to scientist. They hold potential for making plants more resistant to various insects and plant diseases. Some corn produce very much food but don’t defend themselves again insects while other that are able to repel insects cannot produce this much food. Therefore, scientists hope that they can combine these to and create a corn and then other plants that repel insects while producing big amounts of food.This also results in using o plants much less chemicals in order to reduce insect and disease damage. Thes e chemicals seriously hurt our environment. Thanks to adoption of genetically engineered of corn, cotton and soybeans during years 1997 and 1998 farmers used 8. 2 million fewer pounds of chemicals. Furthermore, genetically modified organisms are also more resistant to getting overrun or choked up by weeds and other plants fighting for the same nutrients. This results in weeds dying out, leaving room for crop.This and making plants more resistant to insects and diseases makes GMO very profitable. According to some economists, in 2007 farmers made additional $10 billion due to introducing gnetic engineered plants. Yet another advantage of genetic engineering is the fact that it can help us produce new, far more effective vaccines and medicines. Also they can create another form of them- edible vaccines. The idea is to put medication into some plant’s genes and distribute it around the world so that people eat it and get what they need.Scientists have already developed a transge nic potato, that prevented rats from getting rotavirus and E. coli. Hopefully, this idea will get developed and adopted in life, because this could help serious health problems, for example in countries of the third world. To conclude, genetic engineering is a very controversial subject and it surely needs more research. But it holds great potential for fixing many issues, many of them considering developing countries and people dying of starvation. Probably, as more and more investigation is done, health problems are going to be solved.Bibliography Pictures (in order of appearance): 1. http://www. ces. ncsu. edu/resources/crops/ag546-1/helixes3. jpg; date: 8. 05. 2011; author unknown 2. ‘Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods’; Jeffrey M. Smith; publisher: Chelsea Green, 2007 3. http://www. news. cornell. edu/chronicle/99/5. 20. 99/caterpillars. JPEG; date: 8. 05. 2011; Kent Loeffler 4. http://www. anunews. net/blog/wp-content/upl oads/2010/08/aa-frankenfood-cartoon-good-one1. jpg; date: 8. 05. 2011; author unknown Books and webpages: 1. Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods’; Jeffrey M. Smith; publisher: Chelsea Green, 2007 2. ‘Seeds of deception: Exposing industry and government lies about the safety of the genetically engineered foods you’re eating’; Jeffrey M. Smith, publisher: Yes! Books, 2003 3. http://www. sciencedaily. com/releases/2010/10/101007092817. htm; reprinted from materials provided by Univeristy of Leeds, 7. 10. 2010 (date of publishing) 4. http://www. suite101. com/content/the-benefits-of-genetically-modified-food-crops-a218670; Andy Luttrel; 28. 3. 2010 (date of publishing) 5. http://www. ehow. com/list_6019041_advantages-benefits-gmo. html; Gregory Hamel; 8. 05. 2011 (date of using) 6. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism; Yobot; 6. 05. 2011 ———————⠀”——————– [ 1 ]. http://www. ces. ncsu. edu/resources/crops/ag546-1/ [ 2 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism#History [ 3 ]. http://www. seedsofdeception. com/documentFiles/120. pdf [ 4 ]. http://www. suite101. com/content/the-benefits-of-genetically-modified-food-crops-a218670 Genetically Modified Organisms- a Step Ahead or a Step in the Wrong Direction? Genetically modified organisms- a step ahead or a step in the wrong direction? Paulina Langowska Genetically modified organisms, also known as GMO, are such organisms whose genetic material has been artificially changed using genetic engineering. Genetic engineering, to put it simply, is altering the DNA technology, using DNA molecules from various organisms and using this molecules to create a brand new set of genes. Then the set of genes is added to an organism’s genome. Below is shown an exchange of genes in corn, which is supposed to protect it from various insects.Genetic engineering can also change the color of the plant, make it resistant to difficult weather conditions, insects and viruses. The beginnings of genetic engineering take us back to the year 1973, when the first recombinant bacteria- a bacteria that has been genetically modified- was created. It was Escherichia coli, which from that point on became a popular lab rat used in genetic engineering. This creation led to discussions whether genetic modifications are safe and needed. The first conference when potential health risks were discussed took place in 1975.In late 1980’s in USA and Canada began an experimental usage of genetic engineered plants in a small scale. In 1990’s, after the approval for a larger scale, genetic engineering was more widely spread across the countries. From that point on, the interest in genetically modified organisms grew year by year. However, even though genetically modified organisms have gained population, the benefits of it and its harmlessness is disputable. Researches on lab pets show many harmful consequences.Some scientists decided to try and feed rats with genetic engineered potatoes. It was supposed to make them produce their own natural insecticide. But the results weren’t exactly as they were expected. Rats’ cells developed in a proliferative way and potentially cancerous cells. Also, the development of their brain and liver was inhibited and they suffered from an immune system damage. Also, another research was done in Russian Academy of Sciences. This time, female rats were fed genetically modified soy before and during pregnancy and also hile feeding their offspring. This time, the results included: * About 55% of offspring died during 3 weeks after the birth (compared to 9% of mortality among those fed with non-genetically modified soy) * Offspring was significantly smaller compared to other as well as their organs (heart, liver, kidneys, etc. ) * Both mothers and their children were very aggressive and anxious * When male and female (both form genetically modified soy fed mother) were paired, they were unable to conceive children.Although the results of this experiments are to be taken with a grain of salt, they are still alarming and disturbing due to the wide discrepancies between the GM soy fed rats and the control ones. The health damages found in rats fed with genetically modified potato es is just as much worrying. The reason rats are used for such experiments is that their morphology and biochemical structures are very similar to the human ones. That is why those experiments, as well as similar ones, provoke an essential question- is genetically modified food harmful to people.The answer to this question is very disputable. Some scientists claim that genetically modified foods are completely safe and otherwise they wouldn’t be approved. But there are numerous articles about possible harmful effects of genetically modified foods and they can’t be ignored. The main concern is allergies. Main aim of getting a new set of gene to an organism’s genome is to create a new protein and every protein is potentially triggering to allergic reactions. The problem with GM foods is that its protein are completely new and we can’t be sure about its effect.Truth be told, people (mainly in USA, where genetic engineered food is the most common) often consu me GM products without being aware of it- if you live in the USA and ate cheddar cheese in the past few years it is more than likely that you ate a genetically manipulated food, since genetic engineering is currently the most successful in cheddar cheese. Some say that genetically modified products they unwillingly consumed are to stand accused for their new allergies. Other concerns involve immunity system damage and stunted organ growth, however they are mostly seen in lab pets and are yet to be proved to occur.Another reason why genetic engineering receives so many criticism from the ethical point of view. Because if we can change genes in cheese or potatoes, what’s stopping us from changing genes in people? Scientists and psychologists are afraid that genetic engineering will become so developed that designing unborn children will happen on a daily basis. Parents will choose gender, height, hair color etc. From this point there’s not much to go to create an artific ial world, ruled by genetic engineering, looking like taken out of Huxley’s book.Futhermore, genetically modified organisms have a huge impact on our environment. One of the problems is gene flow. Gene flow is a natural occurring phenomenon that results in getting one organism’s DNA and transporting it to another one, be it from the same species or not. Some people are afraid that the engineered genes may spread and push out other, not modificated, plants. Yet another drawback is that they can be harmful to other organisms. Genetic engineering in plants such as crop is mostly focused on creating a defensive system against insects.But often, the newly created insecticide can be harmful to other, non-target organisms. Some sources agree that the existence of genetically engineered maize most commonly found in corn had a negavite impact on population of monarch butterflies living near the field, because they fed with plants dusted by the pollen from the corn maize. Both t hese phenomena’s can led to destroying natural biodiversity. So this leads us to a question: if genetic engineering has so much disadvantages, why is it still done and money is spent for researches?The truth is that even if it has many drawbacks, it still have many advantages that for some people are worth all the effort. Negative poster about GM foods One of them is that it is said to help us create food that is much more nutritious. It can be done by inserting a specific genes that are supposed to produce vitamins etc. to various crops. A well known case is inserting the gene making the vitamin A levels in rice much higher. Rice feeds currently more than 50% of the world population, but is not high in vitamins and other nutrients.Modifying it in such a way that It contains more vitamin A could help reduce deficiency resulting in blindness. If it was to be done successfully with other food products it would probably really help with fighting the malnutrition in third world o r developing countries. Moreover, genetic engineering can decrease crop failure. Crop failure is a very big issue and it is said to increase due to climate changes. Because of them, price of food gets higher, some countries need to ban all the export of some products (for example Russia banning wheat export in 2010) and ometimes it even gets so bad country really suffers from famine, especially when we consider developing countries. That’s why GMOs are so tempting to scientist. They hold potential for making plants more resistant to various insects and plant diseases. Some corn produce very much food but don’t defend themselves again insects while other that are able to repel insects cannot produce this much food. Therefore, scientists hope that they can combine these to and create a corn and then other plants that repel insects while producing big amounts of food.This also results in using o plants much less chemicals in order to reduce insect and disease damage. Thes e chemicals seriously hurt our environment. Thanks to adoption of genetically engineered of corn, cotton and soybeans during years 1997 and 1998 farmers used 8. 2 million fewer pounds of chemicals. Furthermore, genetically modified organisms are also more resistant to getting overrun or choked up by weeds and other plants fighting for the same nutrients. This results in weeds dying out, leaving room for crop.This and making plants more resistant to insects and diseases makes GMO very profitable. According to some economists, in 2007 farmers made additional $10 billion due to introducing gnetic engineered plants. Yet another advantage of genetic engineering is the fact that it can help us produce new, far more effective vaccines and medicines. Also they can create another form of them- edible vaccines. The idea is to put medication into some plant’s genes and distribute it around the world so that people eat it and get what they need.Scientists have already developed a transge nic potato, that prevented rats from getting rotavirus and E. coli. Hopefully, this idea will get developed and adopted in life, because this could help serious health problems, for example in countries of the third world. To conclude, genetic engineering is a very controversial subject and it surely needs more research. But it holds great potential for fixing many issues, many of them considering developing countries and people dying of starvation. Probably, as more and more investigation is done, health problems are going to be solved.Bibliography Pictures (in order of appearance): 1. http://www. ces. ncsu. edu/resources/crops/ag546-1/helixes3. jpg; date: 8. 05. 2011; author unknown 2. ‘Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods’; Jeffrey M. Smith; publisher: Chelsea Green, 2007 3. http://www. news. cornell. edu/chronicle/99/5. 20. 99/caterpillars. JPEG; date: 8. 05. 2011; Kent Loeffler 4. http://www. anunews. net/blog/wp-content/upl oads/2010/08/aa-frankenfood-cartoon-good-one1. jpg; date: 8. 05. 2011; author unknown Books and webpages: 1. Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods’; Jeffrey M. Smith; publisher: Chelsea Green, 2007 2. ‘Seeds of deception: Exposing industry and government lies about the safety of the genetically engineered foods you’re eating’; Jeffrey M. Smith, publisher: Yes! Books, 2003 3. http://www. sciencedaily. com/releases/2010/10/101007092817. htm; reprinted from materials provided by Univeristy of Leeds, 7. 10. 2010 (date of publishing) 4. http://www. suite101. com/content/the-benefits-of-genetically-modified-food-crops-a218670; Andy Luttrel; 28. 3. 2010 (date of publishing) 5. http://www. ehow. com/list_6019041_advantages-benefits-gmo. html; Gregory Hamel; 8. 05. 2011 (date of using) 6. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism; Yobot; 6. 05. 2011 ———————⠀”——————– [ 1 ]. http://www. ces. ncsu. edu/resources/crops/ag546-1/ [ 2 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism#History [ 3 ]. http://www. seedsofdeception. com/documentFiles/120. pdf [ 4 ]. http://www. suite101. com/content/the-benefits-of-genetically-modified-food-crops-a218670