China and India’s Youth Demographics and Trends Essay

As the United States continue to grow over the years, it is certain that we should also acknowledge that other countries will be expanding also. We tend to focus how each country is growing in technology but there are many other trends that we are forgetting. Youths in China and India tend to follow their own trends. We will discuss China and India by describing the products (goods and services) that interest their youth markets, comparing and contrasting the micro- and macro-environmental forces that can influence the marketing strategies for these products, and analyzing the marketing strategies of these two countries and compare them with Western-based consumption marketers. It has been projected that in the near future the youth in China is going to be the main part of consumer spending in that country alone. The current population of the People’s Republic of China is estimated to be about 1,390,510,630. China’s population makes up around 19.3% of the world’s population (World Population Statistics, 2014). According to The Hindu (2014), the population in the age-group of 15-34 increased from 353 million in 2001 to 430 million in 2011. Every third person in an Indian city today is a youth (Shivakumar, 2014). The most significant component to successful marketing is to gain the loyalty of the youth. Today’s consumers relate to brands that help define who they are and who they will like to be in the future. The youth in China are now deciding what they want for their own lives. In the past, their parents and elders were deciding and choosing what was best for them. The families did not have much money. Unlike the youths in the U.S., the youths in China are more focused on more of what they need. They want to figure themselves out and define who they are. They are finding more way to individualize themselves and be unique. Most consumers under the age of 28 are not good at saving money. This is because they figure that they will not have to worry about anything in the future. People tend to worry about things when the problem arise, instead of preventing the problem ahead of time. In a recent survey, people said they know they will be getting between a 10 to 20 percent increase in their annual salaries. Therefore, their spending is based mostly on enjoyment. Each generation is different. The goods and services that the youth in China and India are interested in are definitely not the same as before. There are so many new technological advances that have come about. Today’s generation is more about convenience, quality, and speed. Marketers these days have finally figured out that in order to have the continuous interest of the youth consumers, they have to provide the proper goods and services. These goods and services may include: music, technology, and fashion. The western-style basis of consumption is basically all about spending more money. For instance, most young people care more about having and upgraded popular phone, and a rather expensive car. To many of the youth, image is definitely everything. Since marketing strategies now are more in tuned with advertising in ways that the youths are accustomed to, it becomes easier to attract youth consumers. It is like this in both China and India. The U.S. is now doing the same things. I see so many opportunities for the U.S. companies. These companies could do so much more, especially when it comes to the youth. The youth rules everything these days. They are into fashion, music, and especially technology. Companies can play into these interests. If these companies could learn how to advertise better; there business and profits would be booming. In conclusion, the youth in China and India are dominating. Companies are seeing an increase in profit because the youths in today’s market are beginning to take over and the most significant component to successful marketing is to gain the loyalty of the youth. China and India are the top highly populated countries. And because of this, business and money is a little better for them. The most significant component to successful marketing is to gain the loyalty of the youth. References Shivakumar, G. (2014). India is set to become the youngest country by 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2014 from http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-is-set-to-become-the-youngest-country-by-2020/article4624347.ece World Population Statistics. (2014). Population of China 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2014 from

Lady Macbeth is a fiend or a tragic figure Essay

The definition of a fiend is ‘an evil spirit’ or ‘a very wicked or cruel person’. This word conjures up many images in my mind, very much like the definition of what a fiend is. Notions of a person with no conscience or mercy enter my mind. What enters your mind when this word is implemented could change your views entirely. The first time we meet Lady Macbeth is when she is reading aloud a letter received from Macbeth. As soon as she has finished reading the letter, her thoughts immediately turn to the murder of Duncan. There is no hesitation, she has decided that she will do everything she can to make sure Macbeth becomes king. â€Å"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be what thou art promis’d†. Lady Macbeth knows her husband has the ambition needed to commit treason, but is concerned he hasn’t got the evil in him to correspond with this aspiration. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s minds immediately consider the possibility of taking the king’s life when they are informed of the witches prophecies. Macbeth says â€Å"my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical†, which is implying that in his head, are visions of murder, but he does not yet know whether this will be carried out. Lady Macbeth, in contrast, believes whole-heartedly that this unlawful killing will take place. Lady Macbeth is power hungry, and she shows no deliberation over what might go amiss, or the consequences of her actions. Lady Macbeth’s considerations may well be all because she cares about Macbeth, and wants to provide him with what he lacks, ‘the illness’ that should accompany such ambition, so that he can fulfil his true potential. Lady Macbeth, immediately as she hears of Duncan’s arrival, calls on the supernatural force’s to remove all that makes her a woman, so she can perform the slaughter of the king. At this point I perceive Lady Macbeth as calling on the spirits to help her resort to evil, because she does not possess it naturally. However, some people’s views may differ to mine, and they could take the opinion that Lady Macbeth must not be a loving person to invite the spirits in, and question what kind of a woman would want her femininity eradicated, so that she could, in fact, become evil. She believes she can contend with the intrusion of unearthly spirits into her mind and soul, and the suppression of her femininity. The use of her language in this scene is dark and disturbing, ‘unsex me here’ and ‘take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers.’ At this point Shakespeare wants to make connections with hell, ‘dunnest smoke of hell’, this is all very mysterious and threatening. It is very hard to feel sympathy for her here, even though she isn’t involving herself for her own gain, and what happens to her later is all as a consequence of her devotion to Macbeth, and the fact that she did everything she could to make him exercise his full potential. The fact that she wants him to fulfil his potential is revealed throughout the play, for example, when she asks him if he is ‘afeard to be’ what in fact he would like to be. Tragic figures usually have a flaw in their character. I think Lady Macbeth’s flaw is that she didn’t have the evil in her in the first place, therefore she had to call on the spirits. Calling on the spirits was a significant error of judgement, and the outcome of this was the ending of Lady Macbeth’s life. When Lady Macbeth first greets Macbeth, she greets him with the titles the witches prophecies presented him with. This could be Shakespeare’s way of demonstrating that Lady Macbeth is in the same league as the supernatural forces that predicted the campaign for supremacy that follows. There are also other relations that Shakespeare makes between Lady Macbeth and the supernatural, these happen throughout the play, but are more subtle. He is always using the language of Lady Macbeth and distributing dark language throughout it. For example, ‘devil’, ‘hell’, ‘murdering’ and ‘blood’. Once Macbeth has informed his ‘dearest love’ of Duncan’s arrival, she swiftly launches into her plan of action, â€Å"O never shall sun that morrow see!† Lady Macbeth seizes the moment and takes control of the situation. She advises Macbeth to â€Å"bear welcome† in his eye, and â€Å"look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under ‘t.† This is something which Lady Macbeth frequently has to do, and later seems to come easily, for instance, when she speaks to Duncan. It doesn’t seem to come as easily to Macbeth, he finds it hard to stop his emotions displaying themselves through his actions and speech. Even though plotting to murder the king is very much a shared project, Lady Macbeth is the driving force behind the murder. Although, Lady Macbeth does not envisage there being any other murders. Here, I am unsure as to whether she wants to kill the king for Macbeth’s advantage, therefore being a selfless person and wanting to bring the best out of Macbeth. If not, did she do it all for her own benefit, so that she could have more control? Because, of course, she already has control over Macbeth, hence her reasons for being power hungry, once you have control, greediness sets in, and you yearn for more. She instructs Macbeth to â€Å"leave all the rest† to her, which again shows that she is dominant. The reason Lady Macbeth would be power hungry is because she has no power of her own, the only route to gaining authority for her is through her husband, Macbeth. Women in Shakespeare’s time didn’t have any individual power, they weren’t thought of as equals, and most didn’t learn how to read and write. Women had absolutely no rights. Therefore it makes sense for Lady Macbeth to want Macbeth to become king, as then she can gain supremacy too. She can make it seem to her husband, that she’s making an effort to help him develop his aspiration so that he can be better. When in fact, she is also driving him on for her own benefit. The â€Å"innocent flower† image is certainly portrayed in the way Lady Macbeth speaks to Duncan. They are very courteous towards each other, which is ironic, because of the horrendousness of what ensues. Lady Macbeth is at this point, a fiend in every way. She is planning to commit the grisly murder of the monarch of her country; yet, in greeting him she is well-mannered and gracious. If Duncan was addressing me as a â€Å"fair and noble hostess† and I was plotting his demise, this would make me feel a considerable amount of guilt. The fact that we see none of this influences me towards assuming the title â€Å"fiend† is one which is appropriate in this scene. Macbeth makes a decision, that going ahead with â€Å"th’ assassination† of the king would be a regretful deed. There are many reasons for his choice, he is afraid of going to hell and also Duncan is a wonderful king, people would miss him. Macbeth would like to be king, and wouldn’t mind murdering if there were no further consequences. Macbeth is not one to be easily deceived; he knows murder would entail many other things, for example, lies, deceit. He is not prepared to carry out his scheme. He admits he has no ‘spur’, and directly afterwards, enters Lady Macbeth, she is the spur that he is lacking, which is why Macbeth changes his mind, he now possesses the spur that he needed. Lady Macbeth makes him think he actually wants to be a murderer. She accuses him of not being a man, instead a â€Å"coward†, which to an individual which at one time was referred to as â€Å"brave†, â€Å"valiant† and â€Å"hardy†, could be deeply insulting. Macbeth could have dismissed what she said, if he had enough courage and control over himself. The fact he does not do this, shows Lady Macbeth as being in absolute control of him, and also an enormously influential part of Macbeth’s thinking, or it could show that Macbeth did want to go through with the murder after all, as he barely required much persuasion. She points out that Macbeth has already promised to undertake the elimination of Duncan, and that when he did this, neither time or place was appropriate, but he was going to find a way. Now though, time and place is appropriate, but he is afraid, therefore no longer a man. Lady Macbeth uses the brutal image of their lost baby to persuade Macbeth. This is an immensely important part of the play to me, as it may give a method to Lady Macbeth’s madness. Is the reason she has her sights set on murder to get justice for her dead child? Is she so consumed with burning rage, she believes another death will soothe her suffering? This makes me pity her greatly, she’s suffered so severely! However, my sympathy weakens as soon as she uses the image of the baby they were so obviously so passionate about as a tactic to manipulate Macbeth into performing a horrifying murder, of the worst kind. She knows this will weaken Macbeth’s resolve and paints a very graphic, violent picture of what she would have gone through with, if she had promised to do so. † I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums, and dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this.† Lady Macbeth interrupts Macbeth a lot and is dismissive towards his opinions. This demonstrates how Lady Macbeth is a fiend, she does not want to listen to his points of view or arguments, she is determined the murder will go ahead. She divulges her very detailed and well thought out plan to Macbeth. A detailed plot is more likely to have impact, as it gives the impression nothing can go wrong. Lady Macbeth disregards the consequences, shows no mercy for her king and is in relentless pursuit of power and authority. When Lady Macbeth talks about what has made her become bold, this also proves the point that she has not got the full evil in herself, as the alcohol she’s consumed has stimulated her further to commit the crime. When Lady Macbeth couldn’t kill Duncan we see a glimpse of humanity, she did it because she genuinely felt she couldn’t bring herself to murder someone who so closely resembled her father. If this was the case, it proves that Lady Macbeth isn’t as cold and hard-hearted as she is primarily portrayed. We know this is her mind, as she speaks alone. Macbeth regrets the murder immediately; he is distraught that he could not say ‘amen’. ‘I am afraid to think what I have done’. He cannot go back and face what he’s done; he’s so racked with guilt. Lady Macbeth on the other hand has to be strong, Macbeth has brought the murder weapons back, Lady Macbeth has to return them, and does it with no mercy for the king, she has not thought of the consequences yet, but this will come later. Lady Macbeth tries to downplay the murder that has so recently been committed, ‘consider it not so deeply. I think inside she is considering it, and this point is proved by her actions later on in the play, where she recounts the murder, replaying the conversations between her and her husband. ‘A little water clears us of this deed’ is crucial, and again shows that Lady Macbeth thinks her mind can be freed from what they’ve just done by washing their hands. She reiterates this so many times in her actions later on in the play, which shows that even though she was acting as though it wasn’t relevant, and didn’t affect her, in actual fact, the truth is that it did have an emotional impact. ‘These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so it will make us mad’, which is extremely ironic in view of the insanity that later follows. Lady Macbeth is the iron fist and icon of authority for Macbeth, but as he ceases to confide in Lady Macbeth, she loses control more and more. The first time we see evidence of this is when she has to be carried out, after Macbeth has murdered the guards; this is the first time we sense they are growing apart. There are many reasons she could have fainted, she could be shocked, as Macbeth has acted without her. Originally, Lady Macbeth had to use all of her influential powers, including brutal analogies of their deceased baby to persuade Macbeth to commit murder. Now however, he commits murder without even discussing it with Lady Macbeth, and it was worryingly easy for him. She thought that the murder of Duncan would be the end of killing, and she was not prepared for another instance of death, and she thought they were in it together. This is where we begin to commiserate with Lady Macbeth. A tragic character does acquire sympathy from the audience, a fiendish villain does not. Therefore Shakespeare’s intending the audience to perceive her as a tragedy. ‘Noughts had, all’s spent, where our desire is got without content: tis safer to be that which we destroy than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy’. Lady Macbeth is feeling remorseful, they have not gained anything, but lost everything, they are living in an insecure pleasure. She is doubting that what they’ve done was the right thing to do, but reveals none of this to her husband. Instead she asks him why he is keeping things from her, ‘why do you keep alone’, and why he is contemplating thoughts which she says should have died with Duncan. This is the beginning of the separation of the two characters, who were previously so united in their marriage. Macbeth doesn’t tell his wife that he plans to kill Banquo, even though she asks ‘what’s to be done?’ ‘Be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck’, gives an insight into the way that Macbeth thinks of his wife, he believes her to be untarnished, and is stil l considering her feelings. The defining scene in the separation of Macbeth and his ‘fiend-like queen’ is the banquet scene. Lady Macbeth is behaving as the gracious, well mannered hostess, giving a respectable speech to her fellow nobles. This again portrays the ‘innocent flower’ image, but I am not sure that her ‘serpent’ exists now at all. I say this because she has no intentions of killing anyone, therefore she has the right to be polite and play the role of the humble host. However, she is keeping up the pretence that Macbeth is acting normally, and that his ‘fit is momentary’. She encourages her guests to ignore Macbeth, but I imagine that she is finding it hard enough to do for herself. She again insults him, ‘quite unmann’d in folly?’ She is trying to control him in the way she did before the murder, but it’s not having the same effect. This time it is different because she can’t understand what her husband is seeing, as she isn’t going through it with him. She nonetheless covers for him when his ‘fit’ returns. This demonstrates that Lady Macbeth is devoted to her husband incessantly. It doesn’t matter for her whether he returns this devotion or not. Macbeth is the reason she stays strong, therefore when he begins to desert her, she doesn’t have a reason anymore, so this could be a cause for her ‘infected mind’ later on in the play. She is beginning to lose understanding of Macbeth, and tells him he lacks ‘the season of all natures, sleep.’ This is a very significant line, as it is again ironic because the next time we see Lady Macbeth, she’s the one that is having trouble sleeping. This is not the first time Shakespeare has made Lady Macbeth foresee the future, without realising. I think he may be continuing to do this so that it is connecting Lady Macbeth with the supernatural. Lady Macbeth has invited the supernatural in, so this could also be Shakespeare’s way of emp hasizing this fact. When Lady Macbeth begins to sleepwalk, this is a true insight into her mind. We are finally seeing her true colours, and the gradual disintegration of her mind, mentality and soul is brought to a head. Her command is that she has light by her all the time, realistically, is this the demand of a fiend? Lady Macbeth finally realises the consequences of her behaviour, and is racked with guilt. I think this scene is all about revealing the true character of Lady Macbeth, and exposing the vulnerability of this individual, who at one time showed such strength, or did she? In Polanski’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is shown naked, which reveals her defencelessness perfectly. She’s looking for a way to free herself of the guilt she’s been carrying for so long. Somehow though, I think she knows this can never be achieved, ‘will these hands ne’er be clean?’ Some people could argue that Lady Macbeth is looking for redemption, which I whole-heartedly believe, however, they would probably also make the point that her misconduct has been too much to expect salvation. I don’t think that she’s asking for too much to be able to try and redeem herself though, a truly evil person surely wouldn’t want to escape guilt, as there would be none. The thought of evil, which Lady Macbeth once sought after and accepted, is now haunting her in her troublesome sleep. It proves she expected murder to end after they had killed Duncan, ‘the Thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?’ She shows remorse, and tries to cleanse her hands of the corrupted stains of murder, but she knows that ‘all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.’ Some could maintain that Lady Macbeth deserves to be destroyed by evil, as she encouraged the spirits to enter her. Lady Macbeth’s conscience appears in private, whereas Macbeth’s emerges at a public banquet. This expresses the roles of men and women in Shakespeare’s day. Lady Macbeth returns to the times when her and Macbeth were closest, planning the murder together, and recounts conversations had. She is desperately trying to cling on to the person who she is so devoted to, but who has now abandoned her in his relentless pursuit for dominance. This factor points to her being a tragic figure, as we see her becoming increasingly isolated, and feel a heightening sense of pity for her. This scene marks the realisation of Lady Macbeth’s unavoidable descent to madness. I think death is welcomed by Lady Macbeth, as she knows she can never escape this swirl of grief and incessant guilt. In conclusion, Lady Macbeth’s character gradually degenerates through a false portrayal of unyielding strength, a shifting involvement with supernatural powers and gradual separation from her former life. Lady Macbeth invited evil into her life, which resulted in her being overpowered by the ‘spirits.’ There are two arguments as to whether Lady Macbeth is a fiend or a tragic figure. In my opinion, Lady Macbeth can sometimes appear as a fiend, but the overall view I have of her is as of a tragic figure, who in the end is so guilt-ridden that she takes her own life. She dominated the murder of Duncan, regarded her husband as someone she could manipulate, then when he isolated her, lost all sense of being and ended her life. She was selfish in the way that she wanted the murder to go ahead so that she could gain power, and calls on evil to support her, as she doesn’t contain it within herself. Some people might then argue that if she invited them in, she certainly deserves the dissolution of her mentality. I don’t think Lady Macbeth was aware of what the evil spirits would do to her. However, even if she was aware, would she still have called on them? I think not, but some could claim that she is so heartless she would have. Lady Macbeth never worries about the consequences until afterwards. Then it is too late for her to stop what she started. Lady Macbeth maintains human emotion throughout the whole play, for example, where she cannot kill the king because of his resemblance to her father. She is selfless in the way that everything she did, taking the daggers back, hatching the plan etc, was for Macbeth. She was totally devoted to him, even though he deserts her, when she needs him most. It is no coincidence that as soon as we sense the Macbeth’s growing apart, Lady Macbeth’s madness sets in. All in all, I don’t think Lady Macbeth deserves what she gets. Macbeth committed further crimes, yet he only showed initial guilt, but once he is past that, he becomes an unstoppable brute. She is a loyal, devoted character who is so isolated that she sees no way out. There is so much pressure, the murders of Banquo and Lady Macduff’s family return to haunt her conscience, even though she played no part in them. She is even feeling guilt for her husband’s murders, surely not a fiend-like quality? All of the pressure mounts up and she sees no means of regaining her life, and therefore decides to end her existence. She didn’t do it because she was weak, she did it because she was guilty and repentant.

Immunology

Introduction to IMMUNOLOGY COURSE †¢ Subject Agenda* Theoretical part (Lecture): 14. 01—-18. 03—-22. 04. 2013 Practical part (Labwork) †¢ Study Materials: Textbook (David Male and Ivan Roitt-2006-DIR; Abul Abbas-2007AA), Clips and Internet search †¢ [email  protected] com. Pass: btiu12345 †¢ Evaluation – Midterm Exam, Final Exam, Labwork – Assignment (Home-work, Topic-oriented-In-class discussion, Readand-Present Practice) Contact me at: R501, IU Building; or via email: [email  protected] edu. vn NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Introduction to IMMUNOLOGY- An X soup What is Immunology? What is Immune System (IS)? †¢ History of Immunology †¢ Cells and Soluble Mediators of IS= ? †¢ Immune Response- Pathogens (Ags): Innate and Adaptive Immunity- Collaboration NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Introduction to IMMUNOLOGY What is Immunology? What is Immune System (IS)? Immunology is the study of our protection from foreign macromolecules or invad ing organisms and our responses to them. Foreign macromolecule/ Antigen –— Immunogen: e. g. virus protein, worm, parasite Everything that should not be in my bodyImmune System: Molecules, cells, tissues and organs which provide nonspecific and specific protection against Microorganisms; Microbial toxins and Tumor cells Crucial to human survival NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 History of Immunology †¢ Experiential Immunology period †¢ Experimental Immunology period †¢ Modern Immunology period Immunology act as an independent subject (1970s) NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 I. Experiential Immunology period (the 17th century- the middle of 19th century) In ancient times, many serious infection diseases, such as smallpox, plague and cholera etc, caused innumerable people dead.Plague !!! — Black Death Disease NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Story of Plague port of Weymouth. The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 an d 1350, and killing between 75 million and 200 million people Wikipedia Yersinia pestis NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Figure 1. Photomicrographs demonstrating the high bacterial burden of Y pestis in various organs. Top left, A: Tissue Gram stain of a lymph node reveals the profusion of neutrophils and large clumps of Gram-negative coccobacilli characteristic of Y pestis (Brown-Hopps, original ? 00). Large clusters of bacteria (arrows) are found in the alveolar spaces (top right, B), adrenals (bottom left, C), and kidneys (bottom right, D) [hematoxylin-eosin, original ? 400]. Chmura et al. 2003, CHEST, Painful Lymphadenopathy and Fulminant Sepsis in a Previously Healthy 16-Year-Old Girl NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 ~ 430 B. C: Peloponesian War, Thucydides describes plague – the ones who had recovered from the disease could nurse the sick without getting the disease a second time NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 In 1670, Chinese medical practitioners : variolationEdward Jennar —-An English physi cian He discovered that cowpox vaccination protected against smallpox in 1796 NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Vaccine- Vaccination Vaccine: A preparation of microbial antigen, often combined with adjuvants,that is administered to individuals to induce protective immunity against microbial infections. Vaccination: A general term for immunization against infectious diseases,orginally derived from immunization against smallpox which uses the Vaccinia virus. NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Why do they not want to play with my kids? NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 II.Experimental Immunology period (the middle of 19th century-the middle of 20th century) 1. Active immunity In the middle of 19th century R. Koch —-Isolated and cultured bacteria successfully Pasteur —-Infectious diseases were caused by pathogens In 1880, Pasteur —-Anti-cholera live-attenuated vaccine (old culture of Chicken V. cholera) —-Artificial active immunity Robert Koch Active immunity: The form of a daptive immunity that is induced by exposure to a foreign antigen and in which the immunized individual plays an active role in responding to the antigen. Louis Pasteur(1822-1895) NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 . Passive immunity In the late eighties of 19th century Roux and Yersin: Diphtheria was caused by exotoxin produced by C. diphtheriae The discovery of diphtheriae antitoxin and bactericindins Antitoxin—-Antibody (Ab); Exotoxin—-Antigen (Ag) Study on reaction of Ag and Ab in vitro —-Serology In 1890,Von Behring and Kitasato —-diphtheriae antitoxin was applied in treatment of Diphtheria —- Artificial passive immunity Passive immunity: The form of immunity to an antigen that is established in one individual by transfer of antibody or lymphocytes from another individual who is immune to that antigen.NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 3. Mechanism of protective immunity Cell mediated immunity(CMI) —–1883-1884, Metchnikoff: Microorganisms were engulfed an d destroyed by phagocytic cells Humoral immunity(HI) —-1897,Ehrlich: Ab in serum played important roles in protective immunity Both HI and CMI were very important for protective immunity, Ab in serum could promote the phagocytosis of phagocytic cells —- 1903, Wright & Douglas 4. Study on immune-pathology & immune disease In 1902, Richet and Portier—-Anaphylaxis Pirquet and Shick—-Hypersensitivity In 1903,Arthus—-Arthus phenomenon In 1906, Pirquet —- Allergy In 1907, Donath and Landsteiner —-Autoantibody cause autoimmune disease NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 5. Study on antigen In the early of 20th century, Landsteiner studied on antigenic determinant (epitope) —-ABO blood type 6. Study on immunochemistry In 1938,Tiselius and Kabat —-Ab is ? globulin In the fifties of 20th century, Porter and Edelmen, —-Molecular structure of Ab: 4 peptides 7. Study on immune tolerance: No positive response to specific Ag In 1945, Oven fou nd natural immune tolerance In 1953, Medawar set up animal model of acquired immune tolerance in newborn period. . Hypothesis for Ab formation Templates postulate (1930,Breinl and Haurowitz) Variable folding postulate (1940,Pauling) Natural selection postulate (1955,Jerne) Clonal selection theory (1959, Burnet):- Clone: a group cells that stem from identical cell NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 III. Modern Immunology period (the middle of 20th century-the 21th century) 1. Study on immune system In 1957, Glick Fabricius found out that Chicken without bursa can not produce Ab —-B cell In 1961,Good and Miller —- Cell mediated immune of new born mice whose thymus were taken away are defective —-T cell 2.Study on monoclonal antibody —-In 1975, Kohler and Milstein 3. Study on immune genetics —-In 1978, genetic control of antibody diversity —-Discovery of accurate mechanism of immune response on gene level (MHC, TCR , BCR) 4. Study on molecular mechanism of T/B lymphocyte activation and signal transduction 5. Study on effective mechanism of immune cells NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 6. Study on clinical immunology Organ transplantation; Autoimmune disease; Tumor immunology; Infectious diseases 7.Study on applied immunology Preparation of monoclonal antibody and genetic engineering antibody; Preparation of recombinant cytokines; Study on DNA vaccine; Study on treatment with immune cells 8. New techniques of modern immunology and application Separation of immune cells; Protein analysis technique; Phage display technique; Preparation of new animal model NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 The immune system Immune system Innate (non-specific) immunity Adaptive (specific) immunity Anatomic barriers (Skin,mucous membranes) †¢Physological barriers (temperature, pH) †¢Phagocytic Barriers (cells that eat invaders) †¢Inflammatory barriers (redness, swelling, heat and pain) †¢Antigen specificity †¢Di versity †¢Immunological memory †¢Self/nonself recognition NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Our immune systems generate an almost infinite variety of cells and substances Foreign Recognition Memory Upon 2 ° exposure produces enhanced response Effector Response To eliminate or neutralize particle *In some cases, the IR fails to function; at other times, the IR can turn on its hostNTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Humoral and cellular immunity (antibody mediated or cellular) NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 B cells Surface bound antibody Antibody secreting B cell Antigen B-cell Soluble antibodies, circculate in the body NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Antibody secreting B cell B-cell Virus killed NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Discussion Topics 1. Why do warm-blooded, long-lived animals require particularly complex immune defense? – p4-DIR 2. Why would removal of Ag lead to the decline in an immune response? – p14-DIR And many more to explore in the DIR textbookHome works P18-DIR NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 The real o nes Crawling Macrophage Neutrophil and DCs NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Introduction to IMMUNOLOGY- An X soup †¢ What is Immunology? What is Immune System (IS)? †¢ History of Immunology †¢ Cells and Soluble Mediators of IS= ? †¢ Immune Respone- Pathogens (Ags): Innate and Adaptive Immunity- Collaboration Read DIR-page 1-18 NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013 Once upon a time†¦ There was a WARGAMES OF THRONES- MATTER OF â€Å"LIVE OR DIE† HAS IT ALREADY ENDED? NO, IT IS JUST A BEGINNING†¦ NTTH-HCMIU-IMMUN-2013

Beer Game Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Beer Game - Essay Example The main probable causes of this phenomenon as seen in the graphs are inefficient policies in supply chain management, forecasting errors in consumer demands, and delays in processing information and orders. For example, if there is lack of communication within the supply chain, or at least between the directly interacting ladders, it causes magnification in discrepancy up to the maximum level as orders move upstream to the factories. Additionally, failure to accurately forecast demand increases causes the supply chain to run out of stock and fail to safeguard inventories. Moreover, delays in processing information and orders cause either product shortages or overabundance of stock. This results in increase in the operational costs of the teams. 2. There are several ways to correct these problems to reduce the costs of this bullwhip effect. One is the use of a supply chain management tool that allows customers to determine the inventory levels of supplying factories. This could resul t in an agreement between the vendors and consumers on the adequate amount of inventory based on buyer demands. This reduces the risk of inaccurate forecasting.

Feedback and Student Motivation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Feedback and Student Motivation - Research Paper Example This is so because when the students get the right feedback, they realize that their hard work has been acknowledged and appreciated by the teacher whereas their wrong behaviors have been discouraged or condemned. Every student knows what behaviors and attitudes are appreciable and which are considered bad in the educational setting. When the teacher’s assessment coincides with the students’ expectations, students realize that the teacher does encourage the right behaviors and discourages the wrong behaviors. So in an attempt to improve their performance, they exactly know on what lines they have to work. This in turn motivates the students to execute the right behaviors that include but are not limited to working hard, submitting assignments on time, behaving well in the class, and maintaining discipline into the class. Intrinsic motivation vs extrinsic motivation Intrinsic motivation is driven by an individual’s personal interest in an activity. The intrinsic m otivation is spurred by an individual’s personality or behavior rather than external pressure. The intrinsically motivated students are willingly involved in the activities. They have an internal locus of control and are aware that they can control their grades if they want. Intrinsic motivation fundamentally comes from confidence. ... -internalized extrinsic motivation refers to the engagement in an activity for which people have accepted the personal relevance for their own self† (Mouratidis et al., 2008, p. 241). Extrinsic motivation in an activity comes from external influences to obtain a desired outcome. Common sources of external motivation include but are not limited to money, and higher position. Extrinsic rewards cause overjustification as well as a reduction in the intrinsic motivation. Feedback methods A teacher can use different kinds of feedback methods for the students and each feedback method has a different kind of effect on the students’ motivat ion i.e. the effect can be intrinsically motivating or extrinsically motivating. The three feedback methods are as follows: Praise Teachers should tell the students what they did well. For example, the teacher should tell the students, â€Å"Your essay was the best because†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"I was impressed by your approach† etc. Praise makes the students aware of what behaviors are appreciated by the teacher and what is qualified as a praiseworthy performance. Praise has an intrinsic motivating effect on the students because all students want to be praised. â€Å"[P]raise fosters intrinsic motivation and adaptive behaviors to a greater extent when it is perceived as informational as opposed to controlling† (Corpus, Ogle, and Love-Geiger, 2006, p. 335). Criticism This is the opposite of praise but has a similar effect on students’ motivation as medals have. In criticism, the teacher gives feedback by criticizing the wrong work. For example, â€Å"I was ver y disappointed with the way the paragraph was ended† etc. This feedback motivates students to do good so that they are not criticized.

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Case Study Example ?University (SSU) is a comprehensive teaching institution with 14,200 undergraduate and 3500 graduate students accompanied with 400 faculty and staff. SSU is situated in an attractive and relatively isolated setting in Lubbock, Texas. In the recent years, SSU has faced numerous challenges and difficulties. There has been considerable increase in the annual tuition fees but resources to meet the new initiatives have been limited. Although SSU has a few resources in order to meet capital improvement or for the commencement of new programs and initiative but these resources are not adequate. In the recent times, SSU has been able to provide only 1 percent rise across the board faculty and staff salary cost of living and standard promotion adjustment but it has witnessed no major increase in the number of staff for several years. Two programs namely a Staff  Performance  Excellence  Program  (SPEP) and a Faculty  Distinction program was initiated in the year 2000 and 2001 respe ctively which were framed to recognize and motivate outstanding  performance. However, since 2005 neither program was funded. The performance documentation and employee-supervisor discussion committee of the SPEP occupied a key role in deciding the eligibility and levels of merit based salary increase. SPEP was not tied with in any manner with the compensation rather it was totally an academic exercise. Besides, staffs within SSU have also not taken this program seriously as they believe that the program will have no significant impact on their promotion. At the same time, Faculty Distinction program has been paused for many years (Ruben & Jurow, 2012). There was no rigid plan to resolve this ongoing problem faced by the university and the faculty members in the university. As a consequence of this, faculty members in SSU felt increasing level of stress and they deemed to remain strapped for time to teach. Faculty members in SSU who are economically vulnerable remain disheartened about their

Apple Watch and its luxury gambit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apple Watch and its luxury gambit - Essay Example t it made its launching a disappointment to the many apple fans waiting for the product as they questioned what possible feature or reason would make them spend that amount of money. The watch comes with beautiful wrist bands that make them look like jewellery and a button that makes swiping of the screen easier, however, it was noted during the launch, there were confusing array of touches and buttons that were not as obvious as other apple devices. The launch of this watch was a disappointment to many because it did not meet the high standards people expected from it. Though there are many who appreciate and embrace the watch as it is, appreciating the features that come with it, the design and its uses, most people did not like the high prices associated with the new device and also how it did not have extra features from most smart phones as such. There are advantages of this commercialization. The market has had a chance to get to know the product. Apple’s creation of Healthkit in its operating system for the watch has brought a new feature where the consumer can keep track and record of health and fitness. The watch also receives data from smart phones and tablets-even though this is still restricted to the Apple ecosystem. The watch has a mobile payment services thus it can be used in transactions, just like a phone. It also has siri a personal assistant and it can control Apple TV. The risks related to commercialization of this watch outweigh the benefits. This is firstly, due to its very high prices announced when it was being launched. The prices seem to target a specific class of people. The other reason is due to its dependence to a smart phone- the watch cannot run on its own-just like the way apple phones share data with other apple phones only. (Lashinsky, 2012). However, there a few applications that can run independent of the smart phone like telling the time. Appropriate research and consideration of the target market did not seem to be put

The Four Fields of Philosophy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Four Fields of Philosophy - Term Paper Example These four branches are different from one another with regards to its concerns, but they nevertheless intersect at certain points. The reason for such is that all of philosophy, as mentioned above, aims towards one goal, i.e. truth. Therefore, regardless of what aspect of reality is focused on, philosophy remains wherever truth is sought after. The Philosophy of Mind: Identity of Minds â€Å"Of all the mysteries in the world, none is more puzzling than the mind† (Poundstone 222). This section aims to discuss a concept that has taken for granted, namely, the human mind. What is the identity of the human mind? What is the difference between our mental from non-mental phenomena? What is the difference between my mental states of believing it will rain from physical objects such as pencils and papers? Upon addressing the aforementioned problem, I shall focus on the behaviorist view of the mind, specifically, logical behaviorism. I shall argue that the claims of logical behavioris m are merely based on the assumption that the mental states cause certain corresponding bodily or behavioral states. However, if it is only based on an assumption, then its entire theory is unfounded, and thus invalid. Thus logical behaviorism will not suffice to provide an analysis of the identity of the mind. ... behavioral terms such as I will complete my assignments regularly, I am disposed to limp, and I will wear light clothes today when I leave the house. Herein, â€Å"the property of being in a certain mental state is identical with the property of being in a certain neurophysiological state† (Fodor 86). In other words, mental terms are characterized in terms of their corresponding manifested physical behaviors. Given that mental states are nothing but neurophysiological behavioral states, either the mental states that mental terms refer to do not exist or such mental states exist. For, in claiming that one’s mental states can be understood with reference to its corresponding behavioral state, then we no longer are talking about mental states per se, but behavioral states for that matter. For instance, I say â€Å"I think it’s going to rain† and before stepping out of the door, I bring with me an umbrella. Herein, the act or behavior of bringing an umbrella w ith me can be identified with my assertion that â€Å"I think it’s going to rain.† Thus, under this view, the simplest solution is sought. For, every non-objective mental state can be identified with an objective physical state, which in turn makes it verifiable. But will this tactic of reducing mental states to behavioral dispositions sufficient so as to account for the mind’s identity? I disagree. For, in order to claim that mental terms refer to behaviors is to assume that both mind and body are necessarily interconnected so as to produce a corresponding behavior for each mental term. Hence, logical behaviorism only makes sense, provided that both mind and body causally interact with each other. Moreover, it seems quite absurd to portray this view as a possible view of the mind for it leads to a kind of

Roman Colosseum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Roman Colosseum - Essay Example Concrete and stone were the main construction materials. Its construction began in 70 AD during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. It took ten years to construct and. Emporer Titus, Emporer Vespasian's successor inaugurated it after its completion. The coliseum underwent further modifications between 81 AD and 96 AD under the reign of Emperor Domitian (Connoly 31). Upon completion, the Colosseum had a capacity of between 50,000 and 80,000 people. The main uses of the Colosseum were public spectacles like animal hunts, re-enactments of famous battles, executions, mock sea battles and gladiatorial contests (Connoly 67). In the early medieval era, the Colosseum ceased to be an entertainment venue. It also provided housing, held workshops, acted as a fortress, acted as a Christian shrine and also as a quarry. Today, the Colosseum still remains partially ruined due to the damage caused to it by stone robbers and earthquakes. It is still an iconic symbol in Rome and an insight into the rich culture of Imperial Rome. The original Latin name of the Colosseum was Amphitheatrum Flavium. Emperors who belonged to the Flavian dynasty built it. Ancient belief has it that its name came about from the statue of Nero that stood nearby. The Romans later remodelled the statue to resemble Apollo, the sun god (Hopkins and Beard 11). 2. Construction Construction began around 70-72 AD during Emperor Vespasian’s rule. Proceeds from the Siege of Jerusalem a few years back funded the construction of the Colosseum. The site for its construction was a flat piece of land on a low valley between Palatine, Caelian and Esquiline Hills. By 200 BC, this area had a high population of people. However, in 64 AD it experienced the Great Fire of Rome and afterwards Emperor Nero seized it. He used this area for his personal purposes. He built many structures there including Domus Aurea, an artificial lake, pavilions, porticoes and gardens (Gardner). Construction of the Colosseum began in Emperor Vespasian’s era. The Colosseum was a sign of the great triumph Rome enjoyed in its victories, one of the major ones being the Great Jewish Revolt. Emperor Vespasian constructed the Colosseum on Nero’s lake. This was an intention to return to the people land that Emperor Nero had taken up years back for his personal use . Its central position at the city of Rome was a symbol of its position at the heart of Rome. Emperor Vespasian died in 79 AD as the Colosseum was still under construction. It had reached the third storey at the time of his death. His son, Titus, took up the responsibility of completing it. The Romans completed building and inaugurating it in 80 AD. They slaughtered many wild animals, approximately 9000 in number, slaughtered during the inaugural games held in the amphitheatre (Connoly 33). The younger son of Vespasian, Emperor Domitian made further modifications to the Colosseum. These modifications included the construction of the hypogeum; underground tunnels used to house slaves and animals. Additionally, Domitian constructed a gallery at the top to increase the capacity of the Colosseum. A major fire in 217 damaged the Colosseum, mainly the upper wooden levels. This was fully repaired the Colosseum in 240 AD. Gladiatorial hunts continued up until 435 whereas animal hunts lasted until 523 (Connoly 68). 3. Design The Colosseum, as opposed to Greek theatres constructed before it, was a free standing structure. The previous theatres stand on the sides of hills. Its interior and exterior architecture resemble two Roman theatres. It is elliptical in shape, 156 metres wide and 189 metres long. The base area is 24,000 square metres and the outer walls are 48 metres high. The outer perimeter of the Colosseum measures

Analyze report grading rubric Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analyze report grading rubric - Assignment Example Training is important because it helps equip the learners with the correct skills, attitudes and orientations towards work, helping them feel satisfied with their work (Price, 2000). The training is being performed in order to equip the supermarket personnel with the necessary skills of handling supermarket operations which include: customer service skills, inventory skills, managing skills and reporting skills. When the supermarket staff is recruited, they come from different fields which necessitate training in order for them to understand the operations of the supermarket. The problem comes as a result of deficiencies that result from their different training backgrounds. None of these people are trained in supermarket operation except for the top management that have specialized roles. The other people are sourced from around the community and thus may lack essential skills that are necessary in performing the tasks in the supermarket. The content of the training program is divided into four: customer service, inventory handling, managing and reporting. All the staff must go through the four topics exhaustively in order to be termed ready for placement within the supermarket chains. In the content, the staff learns practical and analytical skills which they are expected to use at the supermarket. The content will be delivered by way of direct instructions. In other instances depending on the nature of the topic, the content delivery mode will be experiential. This is true for customer service training as the people need to know how to handle the prospective customers. The program will take 6 months to be considered complete. Within the six months, one month will be assigned for assessment. The training will be conducted to young people between the ages of 20 to 30. This group is specifically considered by the management as appropriate to engage in the operations of the company. The group to be trained has

To what extent can ideas from gender theories enrich the understanding Essay

To what extent can ideas from gender theories enrich the understanding of inequality between women and men already developed by feminist economists - Essay Example Feminist economists do not approve methods used by neo-liberal economists in handling macroeconomic issues as they end up widening gender inequalities. Although humans are entitled to equal rights under universal declaration of human rights and states obligated to fulfil those rights, neo-liberal economic policies create a disabling environment for women’s enjoyment of human rights (Elson. 2002). On the other hand, ideas from gender theories can give a better understanding of gender inequalities as they try to give explanations or assumptions regarding the differences that exist between the two sexes. Women are given unequal treatment from men in work places. They are paid low wages even if they perform similar tasks to their male counterparts as they are considered secondary wage earners and men as the bread winners as a result of normative assumption about their roles (Razavi & Hassim, 2006). Employed women still perform their house hold chores after work and hence are overburdened and have no time to relax while men have freedom to manage their time as they don’t engage in caring roles (Epstein, 2006). This contributes to inequalities between men and women. This can be explained by Bem’s approach whereby children learn through socialization or androgyny (Adrameg, 2010). Men are considered superior than women and male experience is the normative standard. According to Bem, boys and girls are treated differently and different opportunities hence learn about gender through repetitive actions. Judith Butler’s performativity theory also present gender as kind o f doing which is repetitive ( 2004). Men hence don’t perform women’s household work as they are not used to doing. Women are rarely involved in decision making especially in state matters. They have the knowledge and skills but are perceived to be irrational and not authoritative or powerful. Feud’s psychoanalytic theory tries to explain why men are superior

Art Forgeries Essay Example for Free

Art Forgeries Essay When one enters into an art museum, one would expect all of the pieces of art to be that of the original. However, when an art lover does not know the difference between an original from a forgery, then they may have been fooled by both the museum and by the forger. No one can really look at a painting and distinctly know whether it is a forged piece of work or an original piece of work. Art forgeries may seem like an artist copying a well-known artists work, but it depends on how one looks at a particular piece of art. There are multiple reasons as to why art forgeries can be seen as something positive in the artistic world. Crispin Sartwell discusses about Jerrold Levinson’s definition of art from Levinson’s article, â€Å"Refining Art Historically,† in the Journal of Aesthetics Art Criticism of 1990. To Levinson, art is something that is made to be intended to be â€Å"regarded† as a work of art (Sartwell). Luise Morton and Thomas Foster discuss Nelson Goodman’s definition of art from Languages of Art in Journal of Aesthetics Art Criticism of 1991. Goodman says that it is about how one looks at an original and a forged art depends on the way we look at it (Morton and Foster). Both Levinson and Goodman make good points because they are both saying that all depends on the person’s perspective. Not everyone sees the same piece of art the same way another person does, so given a choice between an original or a forged piece of art, some may be able to tell the difference and some may not. The idea of having different perspectives on what is real art or what is not depends solely on an individual. Levinson and Goodman both see art by how the person intends it to be. According to Jonathon Keats who writes in The Daily Beast, art forgery helps take us out of our comfort zone, while the real art keeps us within our comfort zone. Keats writes that forgers credit their work to the original artist. In doing so, the artist’s work is more accessible to more people and that the artist who forged an original should be appreciated (Keats). Blake Gopnik writing in the New York Times says that the forgers can make recreate art with their hands; however, great art depends on the idea of the artist. The idea of the forger comes from the original artists, like Pollock and Rothko, setting up procedures and ideas for making art (Gopnik). The forger is able to recreate a work of art because of the way a particular artist wanted their art to be seen. On the other hand, Ross Bowden writing in the Journal of Aesthetics Art Criticism of 1999 about Alfred Lessing’s essay titled, â€Å"What Is Wrong with a Forgery? † In Lessing’s essay, he disapproves of art forgery when talking culturally. Lessing believes that forgeries do not have that artistic integrity and lacks creativity. He continues to say that one can recreate an amazing artwork, but it will lack the imagination it takes to create the original piece of work (Bowden). Forgeries in the opinion of Lessing lack imagination and creativity, however, Gopnik and Keats see that an artist has the imagination and creativity to recreate a famous piece of work. If one lacks that imagination and creativity then they would not be able to get away with forgery. These forgery artists are capable of pulling off century old paintings and able to sell them to museums as originals. That takes imagination and creativity. W. E. Kennick brings up in the Journal of Aesthetics Art Criticism of 1985 that every copy of an original piece of work is a forgery. Artists make their work in the style of others, but still make it their own. One is not actually forging a real piece of art, much less than copying or imitating that person’s style (Kennick). Gopnik also says that Andy Warhol’s works were sometimes made by him or sometimes made by his assistant. Warhol even attributed some of his work to other artists. An artist by the name of Marcel Duchamp made art out of bicycle wheels, urinals, already made sculptures, and other reusable items. Duchamp encouraged others to do the same and copy his style (Gopnik). Every artist can imitate or copy someone else’s work, although that artist who made the original work may no longer be alive, their work is still living on. Art forgeries can be looked at as some sort of crime because someone is recreating masterpieces and selling them to museums. However, if one stops to think about the fact that art forgeries are actually artists bringing masterpieces back, one would not think it was a crime. These artists are creative enough to be able to recreate an artwork and give art lovers the feeling of having a masterpiece in their home or be able to look at it in a museum. Art forgeries are a lucrative past time for those who love art and want to be able to see â€Å"their art† in a museum. It is a win-win situation for both the artist and the art lovers. Works Cited Bowden, Ross. What is wrong with an art forgery? : An anthropological perspective. Journal of Aesthetics Art Criticism (1999): 333-343. Gopnik, Blake. In Praise of Art Forgeries . The New York Times 2 Novemeber 2013. Keats, Jonathon. Why Forgeries Are Great Art. The Daily Beast Kennick, W. E. Art and Inauthenticity. Journal of Aesthetics Art Criticism (1985): 1-12. Morton, Luise H. and Thomas R. Foster. Goodman, Forgery, and the Aesthetic. Journal of Aesthetics Art Criticism (1991): 155-159. Sartwell, Crispin. A Counter-Example to Levinsons Historical Theory of Art. Journal of Aesthetics Art Criticism (1990): 157-158.

Effective Leadership And Management Styles

Effective Leadership And Management Styles According to Ward S (2010) Leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act in a specific way towards achievement of a common goal. A leader therefore is a person who has a combination of skills and personality that will make people want to follow his or her direction. The leader should have the ability to manage all the resources under his or her disposal. Successful leadership as a discipline involves communicating, supervising and inspiring people under his or her leadership. On the other hand, Management is the organization and co-ordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies and achievement of certain pre-defined objectives. As a discipline, it involves formulation of policies, organizing, planning, controlling and directing firms resources towards achievement of the policy objectives. According to Reh .J. (2010) a manager is a person who plans and directs the work of other individuals by monitoring their work and taking corrective action when necessary. Skills are the capacities and abilities obtained through deliberate and sustained efforts to carry out complex activities or job functions. It involves use of ideas (cognitive skills), interacting with people (interpersonal skills) and doing things (technical skills). Qualities are the attributes that define the degree of excellence. Something of quality is that which is free from deficiencies and ineffectiveness. Knowledge is the expertise acquired by a person through education or practice. Ability is the acquired or natural capacity, competence or talent that enables an individual to perform a particular job or task successfully any time. This paper will analyze the specific skills, knowledge, qualities and abilities that an individual will need to develop to become an effective leader and manager. MAIN BODY There is an argument that there is a difference between a leader and a manager. Indeed it is true that all leaders must be managers first but not all managers are leaders. There are several theories put forward to distinguish between leaders and followers. According to Cherry K (2010) there are several leadership theories. These include: Great man theory: It postulates that great leaders are born and not made. Leaders in this group are heroic, mythic and their destiny is to rise to leadership whenever needed. Trait theory: This theory assumes that people inherit certain traits and qualities that enable them to be best suited for leadership. The theory identifies particular personality and behavioral characteristics which are common for all leaders. Contingency theories: This theory focuses on variables related to the environment that determine the leadership style to be used in different situations. Thus leadership styles will have to be changed according to the situation. Success therefore depends on various variables like the situation in question, the qualities of followers, number of variables and leadership style. Situational theories: Leaders will choose leadership styles depending on the situation. Different leadership styles may be more appropriate for certain decision making than others. Behavioral theory: This theory is based on the belief that great leaders are made and not born. According to the theory people can learn to be leaders through observing and learning. Participative theory: In this style the output of others is taken into account in decision .Leaders will therefore encourage participation and contribution of the group members and make the members to feel more relevant and committed to the decision making process. Management theory: This theory is based on the system of reward and punishment. In this case, when employees succeed, they are rewarded and when they fail they are punished. The role of the manager is thought to be focused on supervision, organization and group performance. Relationship theory: This theory focuses on the connection between followers and leaders. Leaders motivate and inspire followers by helping the group members to see the importance of the task. Leaders in this group will have high moral standards because they are focused on performance of group members and they want everyone to fulfill his or her potential. Effective leadership An effective leader must have followers because the essence of leadership is to convince people to act the way you want. Therefore, a leader must have the ability to convince people to pull people towards his direction. This will entail good communication in order to explain goals clearly to the followers. This will bring about better results because the followers understand the goals to be achieved well. According to Walker .C.A. (2005) effective leadership must be built on a solid foundation which is in turn dependent on the qualities of integrity and humility. He goes further and defines integrity as firmness of character, honesty, uprightness, sincerity and good moral character. Integrity not only influences the goals that leaders chose but also the type of followers that they get. It means therefore that, high integrity builds trust, honor, respect and loyalty among followers. Humility on the other hand, has the effect of avoiding arrogance in the work place and also allows you to share glory and celebrate success with followers. Thus, to be successful as a leader, you should build your personal and organizational code of conduct on humility and integrity. According to White B. (2010), a good leader has several qualities that characterize him or her. These qualities can be summarized as: Availability: A leader should be available and in touch with the people he leads. This means that he should be sensitive to the needs of people and respond in time. Maintaining good relationship: Successful business leaders know the importance of good relationships. They will therefore prioritize on minimizing conflict and lack of harmony. Self motivation and development: Successful leaders will do anything acceptable to ensure that their skills and knowledge base is kept on track because they know the importance of personal and professional development. They therefore set and use goals for motivating themselves and others. Appropriate use of authority: Good leaders use their authority with wisdom and sensitivity to different circumstances. Authority should therefore not be used in gratifying or promoting oneself or even controlling or dominating others. Understanding of group dynamics: Successful leaders are good at using both the strengths and weaknesses of a group to achieve the best results. They also have the ability of bringing groups together by leading them without conflict and minimizing harmony. Having incentives and building team spirit: A result orientated leader will give his juniors incentives in order to improve their performance and maintain quality results. According to Burger (2004), there are certain abilities that a good leader should have several vital abilities. According to him, leaders are born leaders and develop according to their environment and education. Management on the other hand, can be learnt and obtained by sufficient training, education and acquiring additional skills. Leaders are necessary to drive the vision home and making sure that the drive stays alive in the hearts of the staff, members and contributors. The abilities which are very critical for leaders are: Encouraging workers to be creative and contribute: This is achieved by setting guidelines and encouraging them to participate at their level. People are individuals: Understand the strengths and weaknesses of the members of your group, listen to their fears and encourage them to achieve their aspirations. Lead by example: A leader should have the ability to build up a team to support him or her and this means that the leader should first volunteer. Therefore the example that is set by the individual is followed by the rest of the team. Effective Management According to Francis M (2007) the quality of a manager and effective management styles determine the culture of the organization, productivity of its staff and the ultimate success of the organization. As such a manager should striver to use the best Management styles. A manager should have the ability to direct supervise, encourage, inspire and co-ordinate and as a result facilitate action and guide change. In doing this the manager should develop his qualities and those of others. Managers use planning, Organizational and communication skills. There are certain other skills which must be possessed by effective managers. These skills are: Creative problem solving skills-A good manager should have the ability to describe and analyze a problem critically. During the analysis, there is need for a good manager to identify the causes of the problems in question and identify the best options and the best courses of action to take. The manager should then implement and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of his actions. Communication Skills-A good manager should be able to listen to the juniors and any other ideas from that may be of importance to the organization. He should also be able to make good presentations, give feedback on issues relating to running of the business and be able to write good reports. Conflict management skills.-The manager should have the ability to identify the sources of conflict in the organization and understand the personal style of conflict resolution. He should also develop the best strategy of dealing with the conflict and promote positive conflict in the organization. Negotiation Skills -The ideal manager should develop rational thinking in negotiation. By doing so, he will avoid various mistakes in negotiation and develop an effective skill in negotiation that assists both parties. Self-awareness and improvement-The manager should understand the importance of emotions in work and self-development. In addition, the manager should attempt to understand the importance of self-motivation and how to effectively manage self-learning and change. Successful managers must have certain qualities which should be able to define them. They should therefore be: Enthusiastic: This means that the manager should always be positive about everything because it helps to motivate those under them. Enthusiastic managers are committed to their goals because they express this through their optimism. Good communicator: The best managers who have good communication skills support individual and team achievements by creating guidelines for accomplishing tasks and career advancement for team members. Competence: Managers should have the ability to successfully lead others by having a past winning track record. A competent manager has expertise in management skills which enables him to inspire encourage, challenge and model. Ability to delegate: The way a manager checks and controls the work of others demonstrates his ability to delegate. A good manager should leave the other team members to participate in the work actively. Help employees set goals: Talking to employees assists in enabling them to understand the overall goals of the business. The manager should then help them to set individual goals which are geared towards achieving the long term business goals. Positively talking with employees and allowing them to participate in goal setting will motivate the workers to work harder. Effective management styles Managers are those people who can make the most out of their employees through their inspiration. According to the tutor2u business site (2010) Managers use different types of management styles according to the preference of the individual manager. These management styles are discussed below: Autocratic management style: There is close supervision and control of employees and all decisions are made by the manager. Workers are not trusted. They are just given orders which they are expected to follow to the latter. It means that in this style communication is one way. This style is very important when dealing with large number of semi-skilled workers who can not make certain decisions on their own. It may also be appropriate in time of crisis when fast decisions must be made. Paternalistic management style: Managers using this style give more importance to the social needs and view of workers. Decisions are therefore made in the best interests of workers. In addition, managers consult employees over issues and they listen to their feedback and opinions. Democratic Management style: Managers using this style trust their employees and will delegate to them some of the duties and encourage them to make some decisions. This requires two way communication and listening to employees advice. This means that the managers should encourage democratic discussion groups which form the basis of useful ideas. This style is only effective when decisions are made based on the major views of most workers. According to Vercillo K. (2010), there are ten traits that an effective business manager should have. These are: Self motivation: The manager should understand the goals of the business and develop individual strategies for achieving the goals. As such, he should be capable of doing the job with minimum supervision. Great customer service skills: An effective manager should be effective in dealing with customers and /or clients. He should thus be effective in handling problems which may occur with the customers. This means that the manager should be capable of making even the difficult customers happy in order to retain the customer and ensure business growth. Be a team player: The manager should be interested in making the business to grow. This means he should be ready to work with a team of people for the improvement of the overall business. Conflict resolution abilities: The manager should serve as a middleman between the lower employees and the company. He should therefore make an effort to solve any disputes that may arise between employees themselves or employees and the management. Knowledge of the industry: The manager should be able to answer all questions asked by customers, clients and even staff members. The manager should not only have advanced or specialized experience in the fields but should also have a thirst for more knowledge about the industry. CONCLUSION Although there are some people who still argue that leaders are the same as managers, there are some differences between the two concepts which can not be ignored. Managers have subordinates unless the title is honorary. This means that managers are paid to get things done and can therefore be said to be subordinates of other people. On the other hand, leaders have followers and it therefore means that when somebody is leading, he or she has to give up formal authoritative control because leading is majorly about voluntary work. There are however some attributes that must be possessed by both managers and leaders. For instance both the leader and the manager must have good communication skills to be able to clarify issues for attainment of overall best results. According to Clemmer J (1996), both management and leadership are important for a high performing organization. It is therefore important to understand the similarities and differences between the two concepts. This will help us to balance and improve the two roles. It is for instance important to understand that you can only lead people and manage people. According to Kotelnikov V (2001), leaders strive to seize opportunities and amplify strengths while managers avert threats and reduce weaknesses. As the old proverb says, leadership is doing the right thing while management is doing things right. However you should not dwell so much on the differences because both roles are required for corporate growth since the risk of leadership creates opportunities while the strictness of management turns them into tangible results. It means therefore, to be successful in business one must be both a good leader and manager because you will have to get followers who can easily listen to you and put the set goals into action .Proper management of organizational resources will minimize losses and in the long run maximize the value of the firm. Excessive use of managerial authority may deter the workers from doing their work well because they will be executing their duties with fear. The managers should thus device good communication mechanisms that will ensure that they are able to understand the fears of the workers and in turn help solve their problems in time. In conclusion, good management and leadership skills should be used effectively for the betterment of the organization because the two are inseparable and in most organizations leaders are the managers.

Bland-Altman Agreement Analysis in Laboratory Research

Bland-Altman Agreement Analysis in Laboratory Research Use of Bland-Altman agreement analysis in laboratory research: A survey of current reporting standards. Introduction- Advances in technology have led to development of new instruments and measurement devices in field of medicine. The clinicians and researchers often need to compare a newer method of measurement with an established one, to check for interchangeability. While assessing for interchangeability the emphasis should be on testing how well two methods agree with each other. Earlier Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient was used as a measure of agreement[R]. However the approach was inappropriate as this coefficient merely indicated association rather than agreement [R]. Hence Bland and Altman in their series of publications[R] stressed on quantification of bias. They provided a simpler and visually attractive plot for agreement analysis of continuous variables measured on the same scale.[R] After its introduction to medical literature in 1983, the Bland-Altman’s (B-A) method [R] is one of most commonly used statistical method for agreement analysis. The method is extensively used in evaluating the agreement of laboratory analytes, physiological variables, newer instruments and other devices. B-A method[R] advocates the construction of a scatter plot, where the absolute difference between the paired measurements is plotted on y-axis against the mean of two methods on x-axis. The SD of differences between paired measurements is then used to construct 95% limits of agreement (as  ± 1.96 SD). The 95% of differences between paired measurements are expected to lie between these upper and lower LOA. The conclusions on agreement and interchangeability of two methods are then made based upon the width of these LOA in comparison to a priori defined clinical criteria[R]. The plot also enables the researcher to visually assess the bias, data scatter and the relationship between magnitude of difference and size of measurement. Often in biologic systems data scatter and the magnitude of differences increases proportionally to the size of the measurement (hetero-scedastic distribution). Bland and Altman recommended the logarithmic or percentage transformation of data in case of heter o-scedastic distribution and then constructing B-A plot with transformed data[R] instead of classical absolute difference plot. Contrary to conventional statistical hypothesis testing, the output of B-A analysis consists of bias and LOA, both of which are estimates[R]. The estimates have inherent risk of sampling error and hence the authors suggested calculation of confidence interval (CI) of bias and LOA. The method also advocated the collection of data in replicates. Replicates are defined as two or more measurements on the same individual by the same method, taken in identical conditions. Replicates enable the comparison of the agreement between the two methods with the agreement each method has to itself (repeatability) [R] B-A also advocated for sample size calculations on in method comparison studies[R]. Despite its simplicity and frequent use in clinical laboratory research, the B-A method is not properly interpreted and reported in medical literature. Studies [R]conducted a decade ago highlighted poor reporting standards of B-A method, however there is paucity of current information on the same. Furthermore, uniform statistical reporting of results not only increases the generalizability of results, but also facilitates the inclusion of studies in systemic reviews and meta-analysis. Hence the aim of study was to review the current reporting standards of B-A method in laboratory research in medical literature. Material and methods- Three researchers (VC, RB, and SK) participated in this study. All researchers were qualified health professionals. VC and SK had previous experience of publishing laboratory research [R] with use of B- A agreement analysis. Eligibility criteria- Studies which tested agreement of laboratory analytes with continuous measurements, as per B-A methodology were included. Literature search- A thorough search of PUBMED, MEDLINE and GOOGLE SCHOLAR was conducted for studies published in years 2012 and 2013. The search strings used to search potential studies were â€Å"Agreement analysis† AND/OR â€Å"Bland Altman analysis† (MeSH) and â€Å"Laboratory analytes† and â€Å"clinical biochemistry† (MeSH). Included studies were evaluated according to Bland and Altman methodology on a predesigned checklist. The studies were evaluated for following 8 items: (1.) Measures of repeatability (2.) Representation and correct definition of LOA (3.) Correct representation of x-axis on BA plot (4.) Reporting of CI of LOA (5.) Comparison of limits of agreement with a priori defined clinical criteria (6.) Evaluation of pattern of relationship between difference (y-axis) and average (x-axis) (7.) Use of logarithmic or percentage conversion of data in case of heteroscedastic relationship between the difference and average (8.) Sample size calcula tions. Each item on the checklist was rated as ‘Yes’or ‘No’. We also recorded the data on use of other statistical methods for testing of agreement. However, we did not perform detailed evaluation of included studies for other statistical methods of agreement. To ensure accurate data retrieval, each included study was evaluated twice by one author (VC) and data recorded on predesigned checklist. Opinion was taken from second author (SKK) in case of confusion arising during data extraction. We compared the results of our study with 3 similar surveys done earlier. Results- A total of 156 studies were screened for potential inclusion in the study. A total of 50 studies, were retrieved and included in the final study. The 38% of included studies were published in journals of various streams of internal medicine, while 30%, 26% and 6% were published in journals of laboratory medicine, emergency medicine, anaesthesia respectively. Results of survey and its comparison to three previous studies are as shown in Table-1.The other statistical methods used in addition to B-A plot in included studies were correlation coefficient (70%), Deming Regression(14%), Passing Bablok regression (14%), linear regression (24%), Lin’s Concordance (8%), Sensitivity specificity analysis (16%), Interclass correlation coefficient (6%), Grid error plot (10%), Critchley polar plots (2%). Discussion- Use of B-A for method comparison has increased in recent years with most of authors using it for analysing agreement. The original paper on agreement analysis by B-A[R] is among one of most cited statistical publication, with more than 34000 citations. Although claimed as a method which is simpler to perform and interpret, the method is often used and interpreted without proper understanding. Review by Berthelsen et al[R] in 2006 and earlier studies[R] demonstrated unsatisfactory reporting of B-A analyses, in anaesthesiology literature. Williamson et al[R] proposed a method of meta-analysis of method comparison studies, however authors also highlighted the problem of non-uniform reporting of studies. [R] Twomey et al [R] suggested use of method hierarchy for selection of x-axis and advocated use of gold standard method as x-axis in B-A plot. However Bland and Altman statistically proved that use of any single method instead of average of two methods as x-axis is misguided and leads to misinterpretation[R]. Results of our study suggest that 94% of studies reported x-axis correctly, which is almost similar to results of earlier studies conducted by Mantha et al (94%) [R] and Dewitt et al (87%) [R]. although most method comparison computer softwares (analyse it, Graphpad Prism, EP evaluator) automatically select x-axis as mean of two methods, errors in selection of x-axis are still noticed. The 95% LOA were correctly defined and drawn in 94 %( 47) of included studies. Further among 47 studies with correct definition of LOA, the 3 studies interpreted LOA wrongly concluding good agreement because 95 % of differences were present in-between upper and lower LOA. The 95 % LOA are in-fact drawn so as to contain 95% of differences between them. It is not LOA per se, but width of these LOA in comparison to a priori defined clinical criteria that conclusions regarding agreements can be made. The decision on acceptable differences between two methods is primarily clinical rather than statistical. Earlier studies by Dewitte et al [R]and Mantha et al[R] had shown that comparison with pre-defined clinical criteria was missing in >90% of studies. Total 74 % of authors in our study commented on agreement on basis of predefined clinical criteria which represents a significant improvement in reporting standards. The specifications for clinical acceptance criteria of laboratory analytes have been provided as by Ricos et al[R], CLSI[R], and West guard QC[R]. Alternatively a Delphi survey (expert opinion) can be done to determine acceptable limits before instituting study. The CI limits of LOA were reported in only 6% of included studies in our study. The LOA are estimates and reporting LOA without CI is equivalent to reporting a sample mean without its CI. The CI limits [Ludbrook et al] represent the range within which a single, new, observation taken from the same population would be expected to lie. Although strongly recommended by B-A[R], and subsequently proved by a simulation study conducted by Hamilton et al[R], the statistical reporting of CI of LOA has remained poor (Mantha et al-2.6%) [R]. Although recommended by B-A method, the pattern of relationship between difference and wider concentration range is rarely evaluated[R]. Drawing difference plot with parallel LOA in datasets with heteroscedastic scatter makes LOA wider in lower concentration range and narrower in higher concentration range thus affecting validity of interpretation. [R] Bland and Altman [R]proposed logarithmic transformation of data with heteroscedasticy and then constructing difference plot against average of two methods using log transformed data. For meaningful understanding of LOA, they suggested back-transformation (antilog) of the log transformed data. Alternatively[R] plot of ratios of two methods or percent difference can be plotted against average of two methods for simpler interpretation. Transformation of data usually renders the scatter of differences as uniform (Homoscedastic). Twomey et al[R] recommended the drawing up of funnel shaped or V shaped LOA instead of classical parallel LOA in data sets with heteroscedastic scatter. Another option is breaking the data into smaller subsets and then analysing these subsets with absolute difference plot to make conclusions. [Twomey et al] We observed that only 28 % of studies made an attempt at evaluation of pattern of scatter. Rest of authors did not comment on pattern thus affecting the validity of results. Another important problem noticed was lack of assessment of repeatability (38%), a practice that has not shown any substantial improvement Table-1. Conclusions drawn from studies without repeatability assessment are likely to be uncertain. Assessment of errors of the two methods (repeatability) enables the construction of the worst-case acceptable LOA. [R] With poor repeatability of one or both methods, the agreement between the two methods is bound to be unacceptable. [R] Sample size calculations were done in only 15 studies. Lack of power and sample size analysis reduces validity of results. Different researchers have proposed sample size calculation for method comparison studies using Bayesian[R], regression[R], or concordance [R] approach. However Stockl et al[R] proposed an approach incorporating CI of LOA and predefined error limits in B-A plot. The approach is simple and allows for visual interpretation of appropriate sample size, as the classical B-A plot provides for agreement. Despite a lot of research on B-A method in field of statistics, the uptake of the method in medical research has been slow. While efforts are on in statistical community for use of modifications of B-A plot in special situations like repeated measure studies[R] or using bar charts in B-A plots with limited value ranges[R], unfortunately reporting standards of classical B-A method among medical community are unacceptable. Guidelines â€Å"Reporting reliability and Agreement Studies (GRRAS)† were published as a guide to appropriate reporting of reliability and agreement studies. We found unsatisfactory reporting of B-A analysis in our study.

Status Quo :: essays papers

Status Quo 1776, The American colonies rebelled against their oppressive, imperialistic mother country Great Britain. They challenged the traditions of an ancient mother country to become an independent nation that would eventually lead the free world. Critical review of established laws, attitudes and beliefs are what this country was forged from. The United States exemplifies the idea that it is necessary to challenge practiced policies when they have become obsolete and ineffective. When governments are out of touch with the bodies they govern then they have become ineffective. This holds true for any situation where one group has control over another from the United States Congress, to state and local governments, and even school boards and administrators. Student life is fully regulated by those who are in noway subject to their own rules. Many examples of this are present in the hallways of schools across America. Most of the hypocrisies are not major travesties of justice, but they do lead to a feeling of second class citizenship among the student body. Little things like not being able to drink a cup of coffee in the hallway degrades students by questioning their ability to perform a simple task without causing problems or difficulties. Unbalanced legislation such as this, where there is a double standard, should be replaced to insure that regulations are to protect the welfare of a population. Not merely to oppress it. Another oppression in schools is the use of a permit pass system for movement from room to room. This practice of total documentation of a students movement throughout the school day is not only unnecessary, but also impractical. And can again lead to the feeling in students that they cannot be trusted because they are inferior to their older counterparts. An idea which is not cohesive to a learning environment by installing an attitude of failure before an attempt is even made. This unfair policy should be replaced with an honor system based on the students verbally informing those who are liable where they are going to be. Changes like this are often needed to transform a non-working system of regulation into a constructive guide for coexistence. Administration’s control needs to be changed as well because in most cases it is comprised of professionals with the highest degree in their fields. This in turn means that a great deal of time and with it change has occurred between their actual experience of their first twelve years of education and their present state in life.

Assisted Suicide Essay -- Euthanasia Essays

The right to assisted suicide is an intricate topic posed upon those in the United States and several other countries throughout the world. Assisted suicide proposes a controversy of whether or not a person has a right to solicit death through the help of a licensed physician. This issue has sparked an intense moral controversy. Assisted suicide has become apparent in various places around the world such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Oregon and Washington (Humphry). The increasing legalization of assisted suicide creates an even bigger controversy because it disrespects the beliefs of many who are pro-life. But, the act of legalizing assisted suicide in countries and states shows that people are starting to be think more compassionately instead of binding strictly to the laws. When people think of the words â€Å"assisted suicide† many believe it is the action of helping a person commit suicide without the aid of a licensed doctor, making it seem unlawful and inhumane. The importance of assisted suicide is that is directed by a physician that serves to make dying as painless and dignified as possible. Even with this understanding, people still oppose this action because it goes against their religious and moral beliefs. Others support the legislation because of their compassion and respect for those who suffer. Supporters main argument for assisted suicide is that everyone has their own freedom and self determination to decide what they want to do with their lives; others should not be able to control a persons fate. An advocate believes that assisted suicide should be allowed as long as their is no harm inflicted on others. Contrastingly, people who argue against assisted suicide have the opi... ... should be up to them of how they want to live it. The United States allows for freedom of religion and freedom of speech, so how can assisted suicide not be allowed when we have the right to speak for ourselves. Our life is not our own if we cannot choose when to end it. Works Cited "Assisted Suicide: A Right or a Wrong?." Santa Clara University - Welcome. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. http://ww.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v1n1/suicide.html †¨Humphry, Derek. "Liberty and Death: A manifesto concerning an individual's right to choose to die." Assisted Suicide - Information on right-to-die and euthanasia laws and history. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. http://www.assistedsuicide.org/liberty_and_death_manifesto_right_to_die.html Kuhse, Helga, Peter Singer, and John Lachs. Bioethics: an anthology. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2006. Print.

Interpersonal Communication Essay

I joined Eclairs Molders in 2003 immediately after I finished my studies. I had been attached to the organization for more than 3 months during my field attachment. Therefore I had a prior knowledge of the organization and had interacted with several people. When they considered my application for a job, I was happy to join an organization which I had the values oriented towards outcome achievement and had a high degree of people orientation. I was now part and parcel of the organization. When I joined the organization, I was lucky since I was put under the same department that I had served before. I was under the same supervisor who had supervised me during my field attachment. I did not have to be oriented much in the organization culture and other aspects of its operation since I had gone through the same socialization process before. But there was one person who had oriented me in the organization and who remained relevant to me even after I joined the organization for work. That was the secretary in the Production department where I was assigned as an assistant manager. She was still relevant to me as she showed me how I had to start my work and settled in my job. With time we became very close to one another. This was to end up in romantic relationship. In the development of our relationship, we had undergone the full Knapp’s relationship escalation model. I still remember the initiation stage of our relationship when I was directed to her office where she would orient me to the organization. The first 10 to 15 seconds were spent knowing about each other. There was a mutual attraction that developed between us that time as we observed each other’s appearance and manners. Our experimental phase was marked by the continuous interaction that we has as I worked with her guidance. I had a lot of uncertainties about her although I felt more attracted to her. I had to use several strategies in order to reduce this level of uncertainties. Under the uncertainty reduction theory it took on actives and interactive strategies in order to learn more about her. This helped me to gain knowledge and understanding about her. In active strategies, I enquired about her from her friends and also set up several situations under which I would observe her closely like enquiring a lot about work from her. In the interactive strategies, I talked with her most of the time often brining in other topics not related to work so that I would understand her more. Though our relationship remained at this phase when I was in my field attachment it dramatically changed its course when I started working in the company. Although I was assigned another secretary I would still rely on her most of the time and she was also supportive to orient my secretary to her work. We developed a liking for each other and she would spend some of her time in my office sometimes with no official attachment but just chatting with one another. We sure that our relationship had to go beyond business relationship but there was a sense of romance in the air. Our relationship grew and reached the intensification period. At this time we were closer with one another and we disclosed that were wanted to from a lasting romantic relationship. We knew that it would be hard for us to operate in the work place as lovers but we had to our best in order to keep our relationship rolling. Self disclosure was an important aspect that helped to cement our relationship. We developed from the hidden pane to the open pane of Johari window as we opened ourselves to one another. We came to understand our characters and helped each other to understand their characters as well. By undergoing several windows we were able to know each other. Mutual disclosure helped us to know each other well and the trust in our relationship deepened. Following the social penetration theory, we undertook several practices in order to gain closeness in our relationship. This helped our relationship to progress from superficial to intimate. Self disclosure was an important factor in this theory that helped our relationship to grow. We gave rewards from time to time. We all strived to achieve each others satisfaction to help gain stability in our relationship. At first I was not willing to disclosure myself to her. But with time she started disclosing herself and our trust grew. According other norm of reciprocity, I had to disclose myself to her since she had already disclosed herself to me. I found out that she felt better when I disclosed myself to her since she was able to know me well. In the intensifying phase we were able to disclose our love to one another. Our relationship grew and we found ourselves with each other most of the time. At tea break, she would be at my desk while I found myself entering the manager’s office more than office just to pays by her and greet her. Most of the workers around especially the manager and my secretary started noting that there was a growing relationship between us. We would go for lunch together. Slowly we started integrating with tone another. No one wanted to go for lunch or go home alone. After work, we would go to her house and we would have supper together. We started caring for one another. We were like one person. Mine was hers and hers was mine. With were simply inseparable. Most of the time we had to make personal sacrifice in order to accommodate each other. We involved several pro-social strategies in order to gain compromise with one another behavior. Like in any other relationship, we had to make sacrifices to accommodate the other. We made a lot of promises to one another in order to gain compliance. We expressed our positive and negative feelings in order to gain compliance with one another. This helped to build our relationship more and trust each other more. According to the Relationship Dialectics theory as far as connectedness-separateness is concerned with had to make a lot of personal sacrifice in our autonomy for the sake of our relationship. It is not that we did not experience conflict in our relationship but most of time we had to accommodation strategy in order to overcome our conflicts. Many times we accommodate each other but sometimes we had to compromise on a situation when it became too difficult for us to find a solution to the problem. Other time we had to collaborate with one another in order to find a mutually and completely satisfactory solution of our conflict in a win-win situation. At this stage of our relationship, we were sure that we needed each others in our life. Our parent started pressurizing us to get married and stay together. We though that we had the most romantic relationship on earth. We also felt the same need to get married and stay together. But there were other factors that we had to take into consideration before setting down for our marriage. We considered the fact that we had to take time to build ourselves and our relationship before deciding to get married. It was hectic at work to keep our relationship rolling. It was still more difficult to stay in the same department yet in different offices. I found myself delegating most of my secretary duties to my girlfriend and it was evident that she was not auguring well with it. The manager also felt that her secretary was being overburdened to handle his order and my orders as well. In most cases, it was my girlfriend who delegated her work to my secretary. It was like I had assumed her existence and her roles (West and Turner 2000, p. 32). However we did our best to manage our relationship. We had to set time to be together and time to stay at work and carry out our duties. Most of the time the manager complained we were not getting serious with our work and we seemed to value our relationship more than our work. These were some of the difficulties that we had expected from the begging when we decided to be together. Therefore we had to make a lot of sacrifices and commitment most of our time to our work rather than our relationship. But our relationship was not to stay for long. The more it became evident to coworkers that we were in love, the more it became difficult for us to handle our relationship. There were a lot of conflicts that we were able to go through but others became sticky with time. It was just one of such conflicts between maintaining our relationship and carrying out our duties as required that made our relationship difficult to continue with. The conflict As an assistant production manager, I handled most of the incoming production orders from the sales team. I had to vet those order and decide the one which had to be produced first before the others. The work of the manager was just of authorize the production of the orders. Therefore I acted as the main link between the sale department and the production department. On the other hand my secretary and my girlfriend who was the secretary to the production manager linked me with the manager. When I received the orders, I vetted them and gave them to my secretary who would then give them to the Managers secretary for them to be passed to the manager. After the manager signed them, they would follow the same route and come back to me where I would forward them to the production supervisor. This was a complicate change but there was nothing that I could do to make it simpler since that was the culture of the organization. One day, I received a call from the sales department and I was informed of orders that had to be produced within 24 hours. Although we used to handle such orders they were rare and most of our orders were produced within a period of one week. Therefore at this was an urgent order that had to be completed fast. In a normal condition, I was authorized to vet such an order and pass it direct the manager without involving the secretary so that it would be produced within the stipulated time. When I received the orders I decided to take them direct to the manager to be signed. I went to the manager office but I found that he was engaged with another client. For the past tow days, we had not been in good terms with my girlfriend but this was just a normal conflict in a relationship. Therefore when I found that the manager was engaged, we decided to talk with my girlfriend as we waited for the client to finish so that I would see the manager. But our conversation became deep and emotional and I forgot that I had urgent order to be attended to. I became very emotion as my girlfriend seemed to annoy me through the conversation. I just left the order on her table and hurried back to my office apparently very upset from the conversation we had. I did not remember about the orders again. I spent the day in my office attending to other work and I felt very low. The next day in the morning, I go a call from the sales department calling for the packaging of the products as the cline had come to collect them. This was the beginning of the conflict. I called the sales department and informed them that the manager had not signed the orders and therefore they had not been processed. According to the deception theory, I had to manipulate what had happened in order to shift the blame from my office to the manager office although I knew very well that there was a high level of apprehension about the deception in what I was saying. The sales department tried to assimilate the validity of my explanation and immediately it was clear that this as not true. There was some element of deceit in my message. Therefore the sales manager called the production managers office and enquired about the orders. The manager sought to be explained why production manager had not approved the production and yet the office did not communicate to the sales office in order to cancel the orders. The production manager was not aware of any such order and therefore he immediately called me in order to get to the bottom of what had happened. As per my explanation, I told the manager that I had taken a step of handing over the order sot here secretary so that they could be processed easily and I thought that he had not approved those orders. But the secretary had not handed in the order. Amid the conversation and conflict that we had with her, she had forgotten to hand in the order as a matter of urgency and therefore they had not bee approved. Therefore the conflict degraded to be a dyad conflict between me, my girlfriend and the production manager. I shifted the blame to my girlfriend that as the secretary of the manager she had the duty to hand in the orders. The manager on the other and blamed me since I did not treat order with the needed urgency. My girlfriend also blamed me since I did not inform her that the order was urgent and therefore she concentrated on finishing the work that was on her desk first. It ended up as a blame game but between me and her, it was more emotional and entwined to the other conflicts that we had before. Therefore it was a dyad conflict another it was far reaching as it involved deferent department. To me the conflict was more complicated by the emotional bond that I had with the person to who all the blame was falling. I blamed myself since I didn’t do what was right. I just found myself defending my position and forgot all the sacrifices that we had made in the past in our relationship in order to accommodate the other. There was power of love that was entwined in the conflict that made it difficult for me to come over it. At the same time there were office protocols that had to be followed in carrying out the needed activities. The cause of the conflict was vested in the misunderstanding in our relationship and lack of responsibility to my duties. The conflict was difficult to solve coupled with the emotional bond that was between us. In this case the more we tried to come up with solution on how the production could be achieved within hours in order to deliver the products the conflict went back to the start. With the full understanding of the relationship that was between me and his secretary, the production manager became harsher and his usual criticisms of neglecting our duties for the sake of our live escalated once again. There was just one condition that he put for us. It was either we took our relationship out of the work place or one or both of us resign from work and be left at home. His stance made it more difficult to resolve the conflict. But one again there was also the factor of my secretary who argued that she had been neglected in performance of her duties and she was considered to be under the manager’s secretary. With the full understating that both my office and the office of the manager had their own identify and freedom of operation, the manager could not understand how our relationship had fused the operation of both offices such that come of her office tasks were performed by my secretary and my work was performed by his secretary. We had to find a way out of the conflict. We were able to solve the immediate effect of the conflict and we ordered production of the order in a matter of hours. But there was still the problem our work and our relationship that could not be ignored. The manager wanted us to solve it once and for all. At the end the conflict had a destructive effect on our relationship. Coupled with the conflict that we had earlier with my girlfriend, it became difficult to go over the current conflict that we were facing. She accused me of deception and using her as a scape-goat in order to evade the responsibility of what had happened. The trust she had build on me had been deconstructed by one event and our relationship could not take off against or be the same as it had been before. We had entered into a conflict that we could hardly go over. Earlier we had revealed our conflict through accommodating each other and compromise on one situation. But this time she seemed to have taken an avoidance strategy in our conflict. She did not pay attention to what had happened and the ramification it had on our relationship but all she did was to avoid me altogether. She did not appear to pay close attention in order to match the strategies that we could use to solve the problem to the situation that was at our hand. I thought that with time we could recover from the time pressure that was affecting how we resolved our conflict. To me our relationship was more valued and thereof I was ready to compromise and sacrifice myself in order to overcome the conflict to match the situation. But I had used by relative power strategy in order to put the blame on her and I knew she would not forgive me for this. I realized that I was working and therefore I was ready to accommodate her for the sake of our relationship. But she had already reached interpscyhic phase where although she said noting she was more focused on my faults and show used may faults to withdraw from active participation in our relationship. She felt justified in withdrawing from the relationship. But it was over and our relationship entered the terminal stage. First we had differed as I had a ‘me’ stand instead of ‘we’ in the conflict. We were both responsible for the conflict but I had exempted myself from it and accused her. This had acted as the first warning sign that our relationship was just be ending. It had started to dissolve with our earlier conflict and this conflict as the last final strike that drove the nail in. Since that conflict happened we had less instance of communication. We had less interaction as we took to the workplace procedure. Suddenly we had developed different interests and what had our fun been before was not making sense to the other. Although we continued to be with one another from time to time and many thought that our relationships was normal, I knew inside myself that it was not working and non of us was working to save the situation. We reached as stagnation stage and none of us talked about our relationship again. Sometime we would be together and spend a lot of time without talking. In the office our interaction were reduced and even when we interacted, we talked about office matters most of the time. With time we started to avoid each other. There were efforts to reduce face to face conversation with the other and in case I needed something from the manager I would either send the secretary or if she was busy, I would use the office phone. I also noted that she had the same attitude and she reduced the number of trips she had been making to my office and the phone line became active as the main communication channel. At the end, the termination of our relationship was natural. We stopped seeing each. I used my secretary a lot when I wanted anything from the manager’s office. We simple ended our relationship like that and though with difficult, we tried our best to remain coworkers until the date she left the company for another. Up to date I feel that we didn’t hand our conflict the way it was supposed to have been handled. We didn’t pay attention to the fine details of our relationship and we were too emotional in trying to find a solution to it. But it was compounded by the fact that it had emanated from another conflict and this had the effect of an outsider who had more power than us. The nature of the conflict was also difficult as there were protocols or work procedures that had been overtaken by our emotional involvement.