Indian Economy: Adopting New Approach Essay

After independence, India chartered a path of economic development based on mixed economy, building a new industrial structure around the public sector and a closely monitored, regulated and controlled system where government played the role of licenser in the process of building industry. There were few hiccups in between. In the late 70s Mrs. Indira Gandhi brought in small doses of liberalization. In the mid 80? s Rajiv Gandhi did likewise but the real change came in 1991 when economic crises were looming large on the horizon. India’s economy could be termed as a developing economy which is characterized by the coexistence, in greater or lesser degree, of utilized or unutilized manpower on the one hand and of unexploited and exploited natural resources on the other. A developing economy bears the common features of technological backwardness at low per capita income coupled by widespread poverty, heavy population pressure, low grade productivity, high unemployment, low level utilization of country’s natural resources, rigid social structure, predominance of old beliefs, lack of opportunity for capital formation, pre-dominance of agriculture and scanty participation in international trade etc. But all this is amidst a possibility of economic development, small pockets of high rates of economic growth and affluence. It is gain saying truth what the world economy has experienced that colonization directly lead to the exploitation of the colonized country by the colonial rulers. Colonization is also a factor for the underdevelopment of a country’s economy. India was a victim of the colonial feature of economic exploitation for more than hundred years. The British colonial exploitation in India can be broadly divided in three periods. They are (i) the period of merchandised capital, (ii) the period of industrial capital which leads to the drain of Indian wealth for the interest of British industry and (iii) the period of financial capital. During British period foreign capital flowed into India. However in real terms those capitals were not according to the proper needs of Indians and directly helped the capital growth of Britishers. The overall impact of British rule in Indian economy can be summed up as stagnation of per capita income ever a long period of time, high priority to the traditional method of agricultural activities, repeated famines and acute poverty of handicrafts and traditional village industries defective land holding and erroneous implemen tation of zamindari practices etc. The basic aim of British administration in India was to transform Indian subcontinent as a consumer market for British furnished goods, Technological up gradation and development of infrastructure as well as social infrastructure were negligible. During the independence Indian economy had almost all the features of an underdeveloped economy. In the last fifty years of self-rule, a lot of policy initiative has been taken up by the government of India to upgrade the economic base of the country. Still Indian economy is gripped by poverty, population explosion, backwardness both in agriculture and industry, low grade technological development, high unemployment and wide difference between the high and low income levels. Now in India incidence of poverty is coexisting with sophisticated nuclear technology. The policy measures taken within the last five decades metamorphosed Indian economy to break the stagnant per capita income to achieve self sufficiency in food grain production. Indian economy is a unique blend of public and private sector otherwise known as a mixed economy. It is also a dualistic economy both modern industry and traditional agricultural activities exist side by side. The mandatory economic rights which the Constitution promises are (i) equality of opportunity unemployment or appointment to any office irrespective of race, caste and sex, (ii) all the citizens of India shall have property or carry on any occupation, trade or business, (iii) right to acquire private property by the state with compensation paid under the procedure established by law, iv) ban on begging, child labour and trafficking of human beings. The federal economic structure of India includes the central government and the state government within a unitary system. Demarcations of responsibilities are divided between the central and state governments. However, the residuary power is vested with the central government. Besides finance commission, other economic commissions are set up by the central government time to time to look after the parity of resources distribution among the states. Annual budgets (both general and railway) and five year plans aye the backbone of India’s economic policy initiatives. Indian Economy since Independence-After India’s independence long spell of stagnation was broken with the introduction of economic planning. Since 1950s net national product at factor cost had arisen from Rs. 40,454 crore to 11,224 crores in 1999-2000. The growth of national income was 3. 8 percent. India’s per capita income has been running since 1950-51. India’s per capita income at current price was Rs. 160, 47. Apart from the growth in quantitative terms, there have been significant changes in India’s economic structure since independence. During the second plan priority was acceded to capital intensive manufacturing units. These industries now account for more than fifty percent of the industrialproduction. The transport system in India over the past four decades has grown both in terms of capacity and modernization. Then road network is one of the largest in the world as a result of spectacular development of roads under various lanes. The total road length comprising national high ways state high ways and other road accounted for 24. 66 lakhs km in 1996-97 progress of shipping, railways and civil aviation has equally been impressive. Though the country is presently facing an energy crisis but this sector has also gained much in termsof production. Similarly irrigation facilities in the country have increased raising irrigated area. Since independence significant reformation has taken place in the banking and financial sector ofIndia. The process of nationalization was initiated after independence. First the Reserve Bank was nationalized in 1949, thereafter in 1995 the Imperial Bank of India, a leading commercial bank of that time, was nationalized and renamed the State Bank of India. In 1969 fourteen big commercial banks were nationalized. This act of government undermined thecontrol of big capitalists on the finance capital. From the above argument we can conclude that the Indian economy is no longer caught in low levelequilibrium trap.

A Book Review on Martin Jacques’ When China Rules the World

A Book Review On Martin Jacques’ When China Rules the World By Abhinav Pathak â€Å"The underlying argument of the book is that China's impact on the world will be as great as that of the United States over the last century, probably far greater†¦. China, with continuing economic growth (albeit at a reduced rate) is destined to become one of the two major global powers and ultimately the major global power†- Martin JacquesMartin Jacques' above statement is a bold one, but shouldn’t come much of a surprise as Goldman Sachs gave such conclusions credibility in 2007 when it concluded that China would surpass U. S. GDP in 2027, and double it by 2050. I believe that Jacques, in a serious and comprehensive analysis, puts modern-day China into a long historic context and explores contemporary (and possible future) relations between a resurgent China and other East Asian states, the United States, and other parts of the world. The book is split into two parts, The E nd of the Western World and the Age of China.The Age of China section is much better than the End of the Western World. It gives the reader a background of China in relatively decent depth. It describes biases and history. It describes issues like racism; the repercussions of Confucianism are described in depth. A lot of the statistics seem to be from earlier in the decade suggesting this book was written over a long period of time but only recently completed. That being said, the main forms of argument of this section and the book, are images, not real facts.Chinese proverbs are used as evidence of the perspective, which I think is very ineffective, as for each one which supports a point, one can find another proverb which offers a different perspective. The Rise of China is an incredibly important and seemingly irreversible process, this could have been a great opportunity to back up claims with case evidence, but that was really not done in any convincing fashion. The author ofte n makes hyperbolized points, which within a paragraph become qualified with a much more balanced perspective.An example is the description of China and democracy. China it is claimed has no need for democracy and there is no reason to expect it, based on their historical citizens arrangement with government, and the fact that the people are not demanding it today (there are several times when it is stated that the Chinese need 8-9% growth as not to cause civil unrest implicitly stating that it is the growth that excuses the lack of demand for political rights and that citizens are willing to forgive political rights for economic growth)†¦Most people who make convincing arguments about China and democracy make the claim that democracy in China will follow from socio-economic development. When people move to the point from having to worry about subsistence to worrying about their leisure time, their priorities of governance chance. The allusions to history are just not convincing arguments, they can be dismissed as contextual and the authors own description of growth needed to prevent civil unrest makes the same point as stated above.The author sure knows this, so after making a claim which is not backed up, qualifies it by saying, it probably will democratize, but not the way you expect. Well, I don’t know what that means. Points like this should be argued with case studies, look at the political associations and power that the well off have vs. the poor, look at how those have changed. If there has been no change in political ideals of a person/group as their socio-economic condition has changed, make a point.Unfortunately the book does not take this approach, it looks to the past when the world was little changing in a relative context to today, and makes inferences. To quote Park Chung Hee from Korea which also took a state centered followed by democracy approach – â€Å"In human life, economics precedes politics and culture. † If o ne is going to dispute this, one should be doing it with cases not words with any evidence. However, there are many illustrations that Jacques, the author, gives us to back his claim of the Chinese domination.Since the economic reforms launched by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 (just two years after the death of Mao), the Chinese economy has been growing at an average rate of 9. 5% a year which represents a doubling in size every seven years. Jacques comments: â€Å"Given its scale and speed, China's economic transformation is surely the most extraordinary in human history†¦ The country has borne witness to the greatest poverty reduction programme ever seen†.He further observes that the most important single characteristic of China is its unity. It has been relatively unified for over two millennia, attaches compelling priority to the maintenance of this unity, and is not prepared to compromise on the sovereignty – as opposed to the forms of governance – of Tibet or Xinjiang or the ‘lost territories' of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Jacques argues that â€Å"the Chinese have a pathological fear of division and instability†.China will become modern not by simply replicating the established modernity of Europe and North America, but by creating its own distinctive modernity in what will become a world of what he calls †contested modernity†. In many respects, the coming global supremacy of China is seen by the Chinese themselves as simply re-establishing the natural order of things, since they have always seen Chinese civilization as the greatest in the world and the ‘century of humiliation' (1850-1950), involving the ‘unequal treaties', colonialism and occupation, is regarded as an aberration which is now being corrected.This sense of superiority is underlined by a specifically racial view of the Chinese in which the Han Chinese, who comprise 92% of the total population, are seen as a single race and even the 100M non-Han are described as different nationalities rather than races. Indeed there is a view in some quarters than the origins of the Chinese are discrete and unconnected with that of other branches of humankind. All of these form the main themes of the book, â€Å"When China Rules the World† and it does sound that the 21st century will witness a paradigm shift in the centre of world power and influence.I do have couple of criticisms though. I feel the author is inconsistent at times and does not draw conclusions based on the evidence he presents rather than the feelings that he has about the subject. It often seems like the author is describing a zero-sum world, China moving up is the west moving down. The West has started growing again, given there are major issues still being worked through (though the author says the West is in a depression†¦ ) and there is a title called the end of the Western world. In my opinion if he US manages to grow, then that doesn’ t mark the end of the western world. As long as the quality of life per person is greater than in China or wherever, it is a model for something right? Otherwise one should just join the country with the greatest number of citizens. The end of strict western hegemony seems inevitable, but the west is a model for something as again, it has the highest living standards in the world. If china doesn’t dominate the US GDP that would be a tragedy, it has 5 times the people†¦This balance of power perspective is what drives a lot of the commentary. It is an important perspective and it would be naive to dismiss it, but as long as the model for economic growth is yielding good results, it is a valuable model for how a society should run. One cannot compare China and the US/Western Europe. They are not anywhere close on a GDP per capita. The rise of Chinese nationalism is very much a result of the great things China is achieving and the desire to be a part of it and to show the wo rld what the Chinese are capable of.It is not a we are better, any average Chinese citizen would with a high degree of confidence switch place with a US citizen of Chinese origin- as long as that is the case, we haven’t seen the end of the west. That phenomenon will be around for a long time and the end of that situation isn’t even contemplated in this book, the more defining data point to the author is, when china’s GDP will exceed the US. So as not to bore people, the book gives good history, discusses central aspects of Chinese culture that aren’t prevalent in the west, and discusses how they might manifest themselves on a global scale.That perspective is an important one, as the strategic power of China grows, so will its use of influence and it is important to understand the context of its perspectives. Another criticism that I have is that he not infrequently darts backwards and forwards in time. Perhaps this is unavoidable and I might not have been better pleased with a strict chronological account which would necessarily have hopped about between geography, military and economical viewpoints. In conclusion, I believe that China will change the world.However, the future is seen here mainly through the prism of a somewhat overstated China-centric historical determinism. The clamor of conflicting voices within China, with their potential to shape coming events, is barely considered. A more symbiotic development – that of China reaching an accommodation with the world in mutual self interest – is played down. China is locked into global systems that it will be difficult to fully extricate itself from – or replace – and which will mitigate its actions.Jacques himself convinced me that China’s rise is not a new paradigm but one of many burgeoning hybrids of existing modernity which will be eventually assimilated, albeit at great cost to Western global dominance. This book is a valuable addition t o an important debate. But at times the author stares so long and hard at China’s history that he seems to develop tunnel vision. Surely China’s past, although important, will not shape the global future in the overwhelming way that Jacques clearly believes that it will!

Response Execution Essay

Creating an emergency response plan is very important in any business. There are different plans for medical, fire, police, and school. The following plans are imperative in any environment. There are many things that will happen and Incident Command System (ICS) will help to provide the responders with an effective system that works. But before we go into the structures, an understanding of an incident command system needs to be addressed. According to OSHA, n.d., â€Å"ICS is a standardized on-scene incident management concept designed specifically to allow responders to adopt an integrated organizational structure equal to the complexity and demands of any single incident or multiple incidents without being hindered by jurisdictional boundaries†. ICS is a sub-model of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), as released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2004.† An incident command system is referenced to an adaptable, scalable response association w hich provides a general agenda where people can work side by side efficiently. These people may come from many different agencies that do not normally work together, and an incident command system is intended to give regular response and operation procedures to decrease the troubles and possibility for miscommunication on such incidents. ICS has been summed up as a â€Å"first-on-scene† structure, where the first responder is in charge until the situation has been cleared up, a more experienced responder reaches your destination on scene and takes over, or the Incident Commander appoints someone else to take command of the situation. ICS includes measures to select and form provisional management chain of command to control funds, personnel, facilities, equipment, and communications. Personnel are allocated according to recognized standards and measures up to that time that were sanctioned by participating powers that be. Incident command system is designed for use or appropriate from the time an incident starts until it is finished or is not needed. The first thing that needs to be done is crate a standard operating procedure. These procedures are â€Å"essential to the effective application of the ICS† (FEMA). They also provide a standard and job descriptions to which everyone should follow. This way everyone will know what their job entails. Also, according to FEMA, 1999, the other first step is to decide who the incident commander is. In most cases of fire, mass casualties, hazardous materials, and other non law enforcement emergency, the fire department is in command. According to FEMA, 1999, if there are multiple jurisdictions that respond, the incident commander is usually the fire department whose jurisdiction the fire is in. Law enforcement is usually responsible for managing all operations related to criminal incidents. Included in this category would be terrorism, bombing, snipers, hostage situations, and other things of this nature. After that, a commander needs to be appointed. This person is usually the one with most experience. The IC’s responsibilities are to access the situati on and/or receive an update from the prior IC. Then the strategy needs to be put into place. This would mean establishing the immediate proprieties. Next a post needs to be formed. Then the IC needs to make sure the panned meetings are being kept to ensure the safety everyone and that everything is going according to plan. Then they approve the use of or elimination of resources. According to FEMA, 1999, the IC is also responsible for the planning for the functions throughout the entire process. The medical field is a very important tool to have at any incident. They are there to provide first aid and any other medical necessities. There are many levels, and levels under these, of resources that are used. According to FEMA, 1999, the first level is stabilization. In this level, the incident commander continues to manage the incident and gives progress reports from the scene. This allows hospitals to know how many beds they are going to need. Demobilization is the next level. In this level, the responders are either sent back to the area they came from, set back in service after they transport a victim, or they are cancelled all together. The last level is termination. In this level, the incident commander decides that no further action is required and everyone is sent back to their units. The next thing we need to look at are the responsibilities of the incident commander. The first one, according to FEMA, 1999, is to rescue all victims. The second is making sure the victims are taken out of the situation and moved to a medical facility. And the third is to make sure the personnel are safe. Next we will look at fire and rescue. The organization of the incident command is almost the same as the medical responders. According to Fire and Rescue, 2008, the following are the organizational areas for fire and rescue: â€Å"Organization on the incident ground, this gives the Incident Commander a recognized system from which to work when organizing and using resources at an Incident, Incident Risk Management, the principal consideration of Incident Commanders is safety of their personnel. Therefore, prior to deciding upon the tactics an assessment of risk must be performed. The Incident Commander must identify the hazards, assess the risks, and implement all reasonable control measures before committing crews into a risk area, and Command Competence, considers the skills knowledge and understanding required by an Incident Commander and the importance of maintaining such competencies.† â€Å"As the incident develops, changing circumstances may make the original course of action inappropriate, for example: fire fighting tactics may change from defensive to offensive or vice versa, new hazards and their associated risks may arise, existing hazards may present different risks, and personnel may become fatigued. Incident commanders, therefore, need to manage safety by constantly monitoring the situation and reviewing the effectiveness of the existing control measures† (Fire Service Operations p. 68). There are six steps in the initial assessment of risk: 1. evaluate the situation at the earliest opportunity, 2. Introduce and declare Tactical mode the simple expression of whether it is appropriate to proceed to work in a hazard area or not. This is a device to enable commanders of dynamic emergency incidents to demonstrate their compliance with the principles of risk assessment and be seen to have done so. 3. Select safe systems of work. The starting point for contemplation must be procedures that have been agreed in pre-planning and training and those personnel available at the incident have sufficient competence to carry out the tasks safely. 4. Assess the chosen system of work, 5. Introduce additional control measures, and 6. Re-assess systems of work and additional control measures. The police are no different. They have a system to follow just like everyone else. According to the free library.com, Incident Command System makes things easier for the administration of critical incidents by arranging the reaction into sections. Any person in the organization can put into operation the Incident Command System into its full arrangement. The person who makes the first move to coordinate the Incident Command System response more often than not takes control on the scene, at the emergency command center, or at the field command post and is converted into the incident commander. Unless officially relieved, the incident commander remains in charge is the single person who is in charge and makes the decisions. Everything goes through them. The incident commander watches over the complete operation through sectors, or branches, which provide a manageable span of control. Sectors can be deleted, added, made bigger or smaller, or anything else that is needed during an incide nt. There are some that might not be needed at all during a specific incident. For instance, sectors often are elected logistics, operations, personnel, and intelligence. Incident Command System deployment during a major vehicle crash would not have need of the services of the intelligence sector. The staff would organize the needs of the equipment. This would include the vehicles necessary to aid in the incident. Leaders of each individual sector would let the incident commander know of thing or services they might need, permitting the incident commander without difficulty to match resources to existing circumstances or predict future demands. Checklists make certain that sector leaders complete necessary tasks during the emergency. Given the demands placed on personnel at the scene, sector leaders easily could fail to notice a possible resource or legal or departmental obligation. While not crucial in all deployments, the emergency command center (ECC(1) (Error-Correcting Code) A type of memory that corrects errors on the fly. See ECC memory. (2) (Elliptic Curve Cryptography) A public key cryptography method that provides fast decryption and digital signature processing. †¦.. Click the link for more information.) generally works in conjunction with Incident Command System. It also may be a separate function under the ICS umbrella. Characteristically, the ECC is stationed in one department’s command center or another central location, but it can be located anywhere sensible. Commanding officers from every agency involved in the incident should staff the ECC. They also have different response levels. They are: â€Å"Level I incidents require that one or two officers resolve minor traffic accidents, make arrests, or conduct light crowd control, level II incidents require the assistance of three or more officers. They usually involve several agencies and may cross jurisdictional boundaries. Examples include collisions that results in road closures or evacuations, and level III incidents involve three or more officers from multiple shifts, require support from other bureaus, districts, or agencies, and demand a significant response to contain, control, and recover from the emergency. Bombings and riots represent two types of Level III incidents† (â€Å"Incident Command Systems for Law Enforcement,† 2013). The Incident Command System is a straightforward yet exceedingly efficient technique of getting ready for critical incidents. It endorses a synchronized reaction to emergencies. It is an suitable resource because it provides a middle point for communication, authority, and control. Training is important because it trains the responders on what to expect. Careful Thorough record keeping keeps investigations on the right path and makes available an easy way to assess agencies’ response. At any given time, police somewhere in the world are organizing the on-scene actions of an emergency. Labor, facilities, equipment, and communication are among the countless issues they must consider to alleviate and control such incidents. When seconds count, Incident Command Systems let agencies handle emergencies promptly and assertively. References FEMA, 1999, Incident Command System for Emergency Medical Services, Student Manual. United States Fire Administration National Fire Academy. Fire Service Operations. (2008). Fire and Rescue Manual, 2(), . https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/7643/incidentcommand.pdf. Incident Command Systems for Law Enforcement. (2013). In Free dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Incident+Command+Systems+for+Law+Enforcement.-a054061498 OSHA. (n.d.). Incident Command System. Retrieved from http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/ics/what_is_ics.html

Newly Industrialised Countries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Newly Industrialised Countries - Essay Example The Asian countries of India, China Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia are notable examples NICs and their dramatic successes in economic growth have often been referred to as the East Asian Miracle. Other Asian countries like China and India have also achieved successes in economic growth. The 'economic miracle' of these East Asian countries is however not exclusive to Asia as countries in the Americas like Chile, Brazil and Mexico have also achieved appreciably high growth rates in their economies and could thus be referred to as NICs as well. It must be said though the growth rates vary amongst all the NICs and as such some growths may be relatively higher compared to others in other NICs. Countries like China, India Singapore and Hong Kong however standout of the rest due to the rapid nature of their growth within a space of about 30 years. Also, the use of NICs is a matter of definition and as such a country like South Africa that was largely secluded f rom the international economy due to its apartheid policies may now be categorised as an NIC by some, while others may classify it as a developed country. This essay will first conduct a generalised or panoramic view of the features that underlie the development experiences of NICs before undertaking a closer look at the experiences of selected NICs. It must be said that though the development experiences may be very varied, some common cardinal features can be seen in the experiences of all NICs. Most NICs were able to achieve high growth rates by instituting market reforms that favoured exports. (Hamilton 1987) There was also a strong emphasis on value added manufacturing that changed their economies from predominantly agrarian economies into industrial and manufacturing based economies. Increased capital investments from foreign and domestic sources played a key role in the development experiences of NICs and so did the development of domestic corporations that could compete with other foreign corporations both on the domestic market and on the regional or international markets as well. (Bhagwati, 1996) Typical examples are the automotive, steel and ship building companies of Korea. Political leadership also contributed significantly to the high growths in the economies of NICs. As stated earlier, though the 'authoritarian' thesis is a disputed one, the fact that relative political stability pertained in the countries that recorded significant growths in their economies goe s to show that political leadership played a crucial role in the development experience of NICs (Combie, 2000). The next segment of this essay will undertake a closer look at selected country experiences of NICs. China has been undergoing a dramatic transformation to a market economy. As a result, it currently is the world leader in terms of economic growth, industrial expansion, and exports. It contains an array of potential consumers that far exceeds the markets in Europe or the Western Hemisphere, and it is rapidly emerging as a new epicentre for industry, commerce, and finance. In addition, the so-called "greater China" has substantial amounts of technology and manufacturing capability, outstanding entrepreneurial, marketing, and services acumen in Hong

Kashmir conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Kashmir conflict - Essay Example Muslim Pashtun tribesmen from Pakistan took to regularly raiding into Kashmir. The Maharaja was ill equipped to respond and India refused to intervene until Kashmir agreed to annexation. The Maharaja â€Å"eventually decided to accede to India, signing over key powers to the Indian government – in return for military aid and a promised referendum.†5 When Indian troops entered the Kashmir, Pakistan invaded to ‘defend’ Kashmiri autonomy. The result was the first India-Pakistan War, fought in and over the Kashmir. It ended on New Year’s Day, 1949 when the United Nations brokered a cease-fire agreement and dispatched a peacekeeping force to the region.6 Map 1: Kashmir Remarkably, this cease-fire was tenuously maintained through fifteen years of â€Å"unending artillery duels and annual clashes on the world’s highest glacier.†7 However, in 1965 war broke out again. India accused Pakistan of infiltrating local insurgents into the Indian contr olled region and fermenting rebellion. In response India crossed the cease-fire line and occupied key defensive positions. Eventually another cease-fire saw them return to their original positions. In 1971, while a devastating civil war raged in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) Indian troops entered that country. That ignited the third India-Pakistan War. Although that war was not fought in the Kashmir directly one of its results was the â€Å"Simla agreement that turned the Line of control [cease-fire line] into their unofficial temporary border.†8 Since 1972 India and Pakistan have not fought another war although the border conflicts have persisted. Also, as noted earlier, the potential for catastrophic conflict increased significantly in... The province of Kashmir is located in India, on the border between India and Pakistan. It is the only state in India with a Muslim majority (67.2 percent). Consequently, it has been a point of hostility, endemic guerrilla warfare, and occasional conventional military clashes. Additionally, for the last few years the threat of nuclear conflagration has hung ominously over the province. Then events over the last decade, the current situation, will be examined. Finally, prospects for the future, specifically prospects for the resolution of the dispute will be considered. With an autonomous Kashmir a non-starter and India and Pakistan both firmly committed to controlling Kashmir rather than its partition, it is difficult to see that the dispute is any closer to a resolution today than it was a decade ago when Fathers described it as 'stumbling toward resolution'. On the positive side this dispute has simmered and occasionally flared up throughout the decade since both India and Pakistan revealed that they had nuclear capabilities without ever becoming an out and out declared war, let alone a nuclear exchange and it seems reasonable to assert that the conflict will continue to smolder without becoming grounds for a nuclear confrontation.

In what ways does the Ara Pacis Augustae reflect Augustus' vision of a Research Paper

In what ways does the Ara Pacis Augustae reflect Augustus' vision of a Roman 'golden age' - Research Paper Example The reconstructed Ara Pacis now stands within a large, reinforced glass and concrete shelter, also the work of Mussolini’s architects, designed to protect it from the elements and pollution(1). Marble surfaces of the box—shaped Ara Pacis are covered with relief sculpture carved in white marble. The artists are unknown, but the level of craftsmanship is exceptionally high, ending archaeologists to suggest that they may have been Greeks, or at least Greek—trained artists(2). As with much ancient Greek sculpture, Reliefs were originally painted, which would have made the stand out much more clearly than they do now. 1. Rehak,P.’Aene or Numa? Rethinking the meaning of the Ara Pacis Agustae’, The Art Bulletin, Vol.83,(2001),pp.190-208. 2. Conlin, Diane Atnally. The artists of the Ara Pacis:the process of Hellenization in Roman relief sculptures(Chapel Hill, 1997). Fig: Ara Pacis Original Frontal View (13-9 B.C) Source http://www.vroma.org Fig.: Present s tatus of Ara Pacis after some modification Source http://www.vroma.org Physically weak and plagued by ill health, Agustus was only eighteen years old when Julius Caesar's assassination thrust him, as his uncle's chief heir and adopted son, into the forefront of the subsequent political and military turmoil. He outmaneuvered and outfought rivals such as Cassius, Brutus, Lepidus, Mark Anthony, and Cleopatra. Augustus embodied and represented the tremendous currents that transformed Rome from a small Italian city situated on the Tiber River to a powerful empire that bestrode the known world as no other colossus ever had. Augustus was astute and artful enough to balance republican traditions with imperial realities, skillfully maintaining the delicate facade to achieve his goals, so that, late in life, he could rightfully claim it(3). In general, the Augustan system worked fairly well, in fact, it lasted more than 200 years. It provided a material and political base of cultural achievem ent that rivaled the Greeks under Pericles(3). This is the age of the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace. But the Augustan reforms were not limited to political, economic and social issues alone. They also envisioned a fundamental change in Roman culture itself. Augustus tried to turn Rome into a world capital and taught the Romans to identify their destiny with the destiny of all mankind. They were the chosen people who would bring peace and stability to a violent and changing world. The transformation which he tried into Rome was not only administrative or political but it was fundamental change in cultural foundation of the city which he wanted to make as world capital. 3. http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture12b.html The upper panels on the short front and back walls, the location of the two doorways to the sanctuary, show four scenes from Roman history and religion. All but one are in a poor state of preservation. On the front are the fragments of two scenes from the most ancien t history of Rome: on the right Aeneas Sacrificing to Penates (4)(ancestral household gods) and on the left the god Mars with Romulus and Remus. Both scenes concern legendary founders of the Roman state. Aeneas, a hero of from Troy (celebrated in Virgil’s epic poem, the Aeneid, commissioned by Augustus), was regarded as the first settler on Italian shores. Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of Mars who were nursed by the-wolf were the founders of the city. The two ceremonial processions on the longer side

Accessible, Usable and Portable Web Design Essay

Accessible, Usable and Portable Web Design - Essay Example This makes the website extra working for all viewers for the reason that a number of users cannot see the graphical descriptions in their website browser (Gibson, 2008). The design of websites creates a profusion of usability confronts. Web sites are frequently extremely multifaceted, holding hyperlinked credentials, complex direction-finding format, and community information areas. In accumulation, web browsers take action as a structure for a massive quantity of uses varying from E-banking to online-mail to common groupware as well as offering a plan for interactive electronic credentials of a variety of kinds (e.g., assist schemes, information periodicals, and albums). Various design disputes consequently come about in annoying to design websites that will get in concert the requirements of an enormous viewers by means of conflicting reasons and aptitudes, particular untrustworthy web-browsers, monitor resolutions, pattern locations, and link pace. 1 A number of web strategies have been popularized in an effort to codify main beliefs that continuously hold up functional web practices; however a lot of strategies are supported on most excellent carry out or on laboratory learns by means of fixed background and reproduction locations. Though similar strategies have been practical in the starting phases of the web, we challenge that as the significance of web supported information augments, there will be grow in web plan strategy to be mainly resulting from exact experimental research that reviews users in their usual situations (Nielsen, 2000). â€Å"Usability is a quality feature used for user interfaces which describes how easy user interface is to use† (Nielsen, 2000). In the same way for the usability of a website we have need of techniques, and measures that necessitate vigilant deliberation when budding and designing websites. The majority significant techniques or ways are

Amnesty and Human Rights Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Amnesty and Human Rights - Case Study Example Amnesty has published an article under the title: "Tibet at risk of torture" on march 27 2008. It shows the recent events in Tibet, a country that is occupied by China for more then 50 years now. Despite all efforts from the Dalai Lama, the Olympics 2008 in Being are the event that draws finally the attention to the problems of the occupation. The whole world is protesting right right now. And what Amnesty shows us explains why. Amnesty (2008): "According to information published by the Tibetan Center on Human Rights and Democracy, 15 Tibetan monks were detained on 10 March for staging a peaceful demonstration in Barkhor, Lhasa, the capital of Tibetan Autonomous Region in China. There is no information of their current whereabouts or of any charges brought against them. They are at high risk of torture and other ill- treatment." Besides this significant and important action there is also the important issue on the Human Rights situation in China. Amnesty (2008): " Expressing an opini on online in China can result in jail, torture and death. People are silenced and what happens in China is often clouded in secrecy. Sign up to take the pledge to stop the Chinese Government and large internet companies restricting freedom of expression on the Internet, and we'll keep you up-to-date with ways you can help create a more transparent society in China." You can directly participate in signing the form online.... and death. People are silenced and what happens in China is often clouded in secrecy. Sign up to take the pledge to stop the Chinese Government and large internet companies restricting freedom of expression on the Internet, and we'll keep you up-to-date with ways you can help create a more transparent society in China." You can directly participate in signing the form online. The chosen actions are petitions you can sign online or send in an email to the Ambassador. You reach immediate whom you want to reach, the Government of China from home. In doing so you can plaid for changes in the situation of Chines regarding the human rights and plaid for a free Tibet. How effective do you think the action has been/will be and how could it be more effective Amnesty is offering us a change to write a letter to the Chinese Ambassador to plead for Tibet. Online there is an example for an email. Amnesty asking us to personalize the letters also online to help. Amnesty (2008): " Please send an urgent letter to His Excellency Mr ZHANG Junsai, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Australia. Here are some key points you can include in your letter: urge the authorities to release the 15 monks, as well as all others detained for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, Association and assembly urge the authorities to fully account for all those detained during the demonstrations, ensuring they are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated, have access to lawyers and medical care, are brought promptly before an independent court and are able to challenge their detention ensure that those prosecuted are charged with internationally recognizable offences and tried in proceedings which meet international fair

Orthopedic and Musculoskeletal Disorders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Orthopedic and Musculoskeletal Disorders - Essay Example These children need a lot of moral support from family, and teachers should give proper counseling to students and should be sensitive towards the needs of such children with orthopedic disorders. It is very necessary that every school has a screening test for all students to detect scoliosis; teachers should especially take care of female students with scoliosis, as these children have a low body mass index and low weight. Children will also be scared of being called a scoliotic, which might have a negative effect on them, therefore it is the responsibility of the teachers to take proper care of such children and give them proper counseling to make them stronger to face such situations. Teachers of students suffering with certain limb deficiencies could try to pair such children with other students without any deficiency, so that they could help the other children during their lab classes or other practical classes which needs his involvement, in return a student with a deficiency could probably help another student who is poor in Math's might be. Whereas some children might need assistance in being mobile for example in going to the restroom or might need help while eating. Proper planning needs to be done to face such situations and certain techniques can be adopted to find out who will help such students in using the restroom or to follow a certain technique for eating. (http://books.google.com/booksid=ShVMgwSqFCgC&pg=PA598&lpg=PA598&dq=how+can+a+teacher+help+students+with+limb+deficiency&source=web&ots=G1_khw8Q5O&sig=fY20zNgN5OPM0QsvKiyFdg9ugS0#PPA598,M1). Teachers need to implement certain strategies in teaching these children, by introducing the children to phonics or, instead of such children writing, they could be asked to use the computer which would be much easier for them. The teacher should be in a position to assess such children on the basis of their response in the classroom. Teachers should also have the tact to execute certain strategies to encourage communication between her and the child. Students suffering from such orthopedic disorders might have poor motor skills, poor communication with the teacher, and inadequate practical experience in the subject, which leads to psychological problems. Teachers who have a specialization in orthopedic impairment should be appointed to teach such children, it will be helpful to the students if teachers adopt a certain strategy to teach such children, the tests or lessons can also be modified by the teachers, so that it Orthopedic and Musculoskeletal Disorders would be easier for a student with impairment to follow. Such students require assistance in their regular classes and during assignments and tests. (http://education.gsu.edu/PhysicalDis/new/article/inserv.htm) Children suffering with rheumatoid arthritis may experience severe pain in the joints, along with fever, rash and stiffness, which might make the child go through severe stress and depression.

What Ministerial Ordination Means to Me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

What Ministerial Ordination Means to Me - Essay Example Everyone can access it but not everyone chooses to focus on it, or emphasizes it in daily living or honours it first. Being ordained means that I do. Those who do not understand have challenged me with the charge that being non-denominational means practicing a hodge podge of bits and pieces that do not come down from a direct scriptural lineage. In my ministry, I practice Integrated Energy Therapy (IET), which involves releasing the energy patterns from the past, which limit one’s capacity for power and joy. The outcome of this healing modality is that the person becomes empowered and balanced. In order to do this work, I too must allow any energy patterns from the past to be released, so that I too empowered and balanced. Only from this place can I help others. I make myself available for communication with angels. I make use of the violet energy ray, with the help of healing angels, to work directly with the client’s 12 strand DNA. ... Energy flows through me and is accepted by the client, applied to wherever it is needed. My intention is only to make my body and spirit available for this energy to flow through, without obstruction. Being ordained is a marking of this understanding that it is not me, not my agenda, not my power, but is universal energy moving though me. Being ordained is a declaration of availability. Being ordained means keeping myself in a positive energetic space, as much as possible, so that I can model and invite positive influence for the benefit of my clients. It means that I consistently think about what is good and beneficial, because the Law of Attraction teaches that like attracts like. Focusing on dark thoughts will invite darkness, but focusing on positive thoughts invites the Light. I have heard the opinion expressed that a minister is called by God, that being ordained is an affirmative reply to that call. To me, being ordained is a seal on my commitment to myself, the channeling of cosmic energy and to my community. It is a formal answer to the cosmic call I have heard with my deepest being. This call is an invitation to take on responsibility to organize my life ministry, to serve others, to provide an example of living in which every act is sacred. I am human and therefore I have ignorance, jealousy, vanity, insecurity, fear, greed, and other obstructions of the Light. How can I lead? I am, at the same time, blessed with compassion, empathy, an open heart, appreciation, the sight of miracles, and other gifts that promote contact with the Light. Through grace, I reach for Light, and I help others who long for it, as I do. But what is my tradition and what are its boundaries? Ordination means being connected to a

Geology in The United Arab Emirates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Geology in The United Arab Emirates - Essay Example Over the response of the plate tectonic movement, the two have behaved as a unit. The begun of the separation of this two from African plate started aver about 25- 30 million years ago with the red sea being the initial opening. The U.A.E ancient story was in some points a rumor. A rock, as per the Precambrian history, does not outcrop in the regions of the UAE also; they are not known information drill. In Saudi Arabia and Sultanate of Oman, the exposure of the Precambrian sedimentary rocks were experienced and from this exposure, it participated in delayed Precambrian glaciations. That in many desperate parts of the today’s world were known due the evidence of geology. A shallow red sea covers not much time after the initial appearance of the abundant fossil stable lifestyles during the Middle Cambrian time, a general region that is in the reach of UAE (The Emirates). Thick accumulation of salt and the early Cambrian sediments of both the Arabian sides being included reveal that the area have been the site of first stage drifting from a larger continent that later formed an ocean basin. At the continental edge, the interpretation would account for the UAE subsequent position. The movements of the Afro-Arabian plate in the period of the Paleozoic caused the pass near the South Pole in the Ordovician period. During this period is when North Africa and UAE became glaciated. During the middle of the Paleozoic, the Afro-Arabian continent became the largest in the southern Gondwana supercontinent. The continent later broke into Permian and Triassic. UAE has remained in the tropical latitudes since the end of Paleozoic. The appearance of the UAE has remained tectonically to stable despite the travels. Rather than local tectonic and climatic fluctuations, the geological history of the country as a whole has been based on the primary legend of the advance and retreat of the sea in response to the global idea. The make that was to become of UAE was through the

Ancient Egyptian Art & Architecture Essay Example for Free

Ancient Egyptian Art Architecture Essay Due to the scarcity of wood the two predominant building materials used in ancient Egypt were sun-baked mud bricks and stone, mainly limestone but also sandstone and granite in considerable quantities. From the Old Kingdom onward, stone was generally reserved for tombs and temples, while bricks were used even for royal palaces, fortresses, the walls of temple precincts and towns, and for subsidiary buildings in temple complexes. The core of the pyramids came from stone quarried in the area already while the limestone, now eroded away, that was used to face the pyramids came from the other side of the Nile River and had to be quarried, ferried across, and cut during the dry season before they could be pulled into place on the pyramid. Ancient Egyptian houses were made out of mud collected from the Nile river. It was placed in molds and left to dry in the hot sun to harden for use in construction. Many Egyptian towns have disappeared because they were situated near the cultivated area of the Nile Valley and were flooded as the river bed slowly rose during the millennia, or the mud bricks of which they were built were used by peasants as fertilizer. Others are inaccessible (unapproachable), new buildings having been erected on ancient ones. Fortunately, the dry, hot climate of Egypt preserved some mud brick structures. Examples include the village Deir al-Madinah, the Middle Kingdom town at Kahun, and the fortresses at Buhen and Mirgissa. Also, many temples and tombs have survived because they were built on high ground unaffected by the Nile flood and were constructed of stone. Thus, our understanding of ancient Egyptian architecture is based mainly on religious monuments, massive structures characterized by thick, sloping walls with few openings, possibly echoing a method of construction used to obtain stability in mud walls. In a similar manner, the incised and flatly modeled surface adornment (decoration) of the stone buildings may have derived from mud wall ornamentation. Although the use of the arch was developed during the fourth dynasty, all monumental buildings are post and lintel constructions, with flat roofs constructed of huge stone blocks supported by the external walls and the closely spaced columns. Exterior and interior walls, as well as the columns and piers (landing place) were covered with hieroglyphic and pictorial (symbolic) frescoes and carvings painted in brilliant colors. Many motifs (design) of Egyptian ornamentation are symbolic, such as the scarab or sacred beetle, the solar disk and the vulture. Other common motifs include palm leaves, the papyrus plant, and the buds and flowers of the lotus. Hieroglyphs were inscribed for decorative purposes as well as to record historic events or spells. In addition, these pictorial frescoes and carvings allow us to understand how the Ancient Egyptians lived, statuses, wars that were fought and their beliefs. This was especially true when exploring the tombs of Ancient Egyptian officials in recent years. Ancient Egyptian temples were aligned with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes, requiring precise (accurate) measurements at the moment of the particular event. Measurements at the most significant temples may have been ceremonially undertaken by the Pharaoh himself. Art Forms: Ancient Egyptian art forms are characterized by regularity and detailed depiction of gods, human beings, heroic battles, and nature, and were intended to provide solace to the deceased in the afterlife. Egyptian art in all forms obeyed one law: the mode of representing Pharaohs, gods, man, nature and the environment. Ancient Egyptian art displays an extraordinarily vivid representation of the Ancient Egyptians socioeconomic status and belief systems. Architecture: Ancient Egyptian architects used sun-dried and kiln-baked bricks, fine sandstone, limestone and granite. Hieroglyphic and pictorial carvings in brilliant colors were abundantly used to decorate Egyptian structures. Papyrus: Papyrus is a plant. Papyrus was used by ancient Egyptians for writing and painting. Papyrus texts illustrate all dimensions of ancient Egyptian life and include literary, religious, historical and administrative documents. Pottery: Ancient Egyptians used steatite (some varieties were called soapstone). Different types of pottery items were deposited in tombs of the dead. Some such pottery items represented interior parts of the body, like the lungs, the liver and smaller intestines, which were removed before embalming (the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains). Sculpture: The ancient art of Egyptian sculpture evolved to represent the ancient Egyptian gods, Pharaohs, and the kings and queens, in physical form. Very strict conventions were followed while crafting statues: male statues were darker than the female ones; in seated statues, hands were required to be placed on knees and specific rules governed appearance of every Egyptian god. Egyptian Art Ancient Egyptian art is the painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts produced by the civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 5000 BC to 300 AD. Ancient Egyptian art reached a high level in painting and sculpture, and was both highly stylized and symbolic. Much of the surviving art comes from tombs and monuments and thus there is an emphasis on life after death and the preservation of knowledge of the past. The quality of observation and execution started at a high level and remained near that level throughout the 2nd and 3rd dynasty. Paintings: Egyptian painting is said to be one of the most unique and mysterious attributes of Egypt. Egyptian painting is not oil-based or fresco-based, it is tempura-based. All Egyptian reliefs were painted on a flat surface. Pigments were mostly mineral, chosen to withstand strong sunlight without fading. The binding medium used in painting remains unclear. After painting, a varnish or resin was usually applied as a protective coating. The paintings were often made with the intent of making a pleasant afterlife for the deceased. Some tomb paintings show activities that the deceased were involved in when they were alive and wished to carry on doing for eternity. Egyptian paintings are painted in such a way to show a profile view and a side view of the animal or person. Periods in Art: The Ancient Egyptian art style is known as Amarna art. It was characterized by a sense of movement and activity in images. Also, the human body is portrayed differently in Amarna style artwork than Egyptian art on the whole. Faces are still shown exclusively in profile.

Metamorphosis A Novella By Franz Kafka English Literature Essay

Metamorphosis A Novella By Franz Kafka English Literature Essay Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka and deals with the travelling salesman Gregor Samsa, who is the familys sole earner, waking up one morning finding himself transformed into a bug. In the following Kafka describes how Gregors position within the family as well as the family itself change. The story is divided into three parts. Each of them ends with Gregor attempting to break out off his room but being refused and hurt by his family. The first part begins with Gregor awaking and finding himself transformed into a bug. Curiously he is rather worried about being late for work than about being not human anymore. Even on the first page evidence for Todorovs theme of The Self can be found. This Theme deals with his interest in the self and the world around this self in relation to the fantastic and the supernatural. The reader does not know if Gregor really transformed into a bug. This ambiguity, according to Todorov, is the reason for the reader hesitating between different possible explanations of events, the realistic and the supernatural. When the reader decides whether an event was real or imaginary, the story is either uncanny or marvelous.  [1]  Metamorphosis therefore is rather a marvelous narrative considering that the reader is not explicitly told why Gregor has transformed into a bug. To Todorov every word in the novella is a description of the fantastic universe and that there is no reality or truth outside this language used.  [2]  When Kafka writes that It was no dream  [3]  and that his family cannot understand him anymore because his voice altered,  [4]  this is evidence enough for Todorov to accept that Gregor really transformed into a bug. Furthermore he argues that Metamorphoses constitute a transgression of the separation between matter and mind  [5]  and that transition from mind to matter [] become possible.  [6]  Gregor is very unhappy with his life working very hard to gain acceptance and having no time for having a relationship. Feeling like a bug eventually transformed him into a bug. Todorov also wrote about the theme of The Other dealing with the relation of man and his desire and repressed desires. This is a very interesting theme which can be found in Metamorphosis as well. Right on the first page we learn about Gregor having a picture of a lady in a fur hat and stole [] bolding in the direction of the onlooker a heavy fur muff into which she had thrust the whole of her forearm.  [7]  Freud argues that fur is used as a fetich on account of its association with the hairness of the mons veneris.  [8]  Gregor has to work very hard to earn enough money for the whole family. Therefore he has no time to have a relationship. According to Freud, sexual desire is an impulse that is made analougous to the impulse of taking nourishment, and to hunger.  [9]  Gregor repressed this desire for a long time and it has to be satisfied. When Gregor does not come to work the chief clerk comes to his house to see him. Gregor manages to open the door but his family and the chief clerk are frightened. His father tries to force him to go back and eventually kicks and he is thrown back into his room. The second part shows explicitly Gregors relationship to his family and how this changes. His sister is looking after him twice a day and cleans his room regularly.  [10]  Gregor loves his sister and even planned to send her to expensive school.  [11]  He is always pleased about when she enters the room and feels sad about not being able to thank her for what she does for him.  [12]  He knows that she sickens at him but still does not hesitate to feed him.  [13]  She even brings him a range of food to choose from when she recognizes that he has not drunk the milk.  [14]  In this scene Grete enters the room, how Gregor describes, almost completely dressed  [15]  to him this must be a detail, important enough to mention. Due to his sexual repressed desire he even seems to see his sister as possible sexual object. Freud argues that an excessive need for affection a boy may [cling] for the infantile attraction for [] sisters which has been repressed in puberty.  [16]   At the end of part two it is the sister who argues that Gregors furniture should be removed which hits him very hard knowing them to be the only things that made him not feel like he was not human anymore. Nevertheless he is certain that his sister only wants to create space in his room to give him the chance to crawl.  [17]  Still he wants to save the picture of the lady as very last relation to his personhood and so he crawled hurriedly up to it and pressed himself against the glass, which stuck to him and impartet a pleasant coolness to his hot belly.  [18]  This underlines that his sexual desire is strong and that this is the most important thing to him. According to Todorov, there is no longer any frontier between the object [] and the observer.  [19]  It makes no difference to Gregor that this is no real woman but only a picture. When his sister enters the room her eyes encountered those of Gregor, up on the wall.  [20]  Here again, Gregor relates his sexual desire to his sister in a very obvious way. Gregor desperately protects this picture and, by that, frightens his family again. His father shies apples at him until one of them pierced his back and Gregor collapses with pain. In the third part Kafka describes how Gregor is now able to listen to his family through the open door to the living room. All family members have a job now but they still have money problems which force them to let room to tenants. When his sister plays the violin one night, Gregor, drawn by the music, decides to crawl closer to her.  [21]  He recognizes that, apart from him, no one really appreciates her play.  [22]  He crawls even closer meet her gaze.  [23]  Todorov argues that sexual desire gains an exceptional mastery over hero.  [24]  Although Gregor knows that there are people around who are not supposed to see him, he cannot resist getting closer to her. In the following Gregor describes explicitly how he desires his sister, he sensed a way to the unknown sustenance he longed for. He was determined to go right up to his sister, to pluck at her skirt and so let her know she was to come into his room.  [25]  He wants her to sit next to him and to be with him until he dies.  [26]  Furthermore he wants to kiss her on the throat.  [27]  He obviously desires his own sister and has sexual phantasies of her. According to Todorov, the literature of the fantastic illustrates several transformations of desire.  [28]  Most of them belonged to a social form of the uncanny.  [29]  So does incest. Gregors sexual desire takes over and he cannot think of anything else but to be close to his sister. When the tenants spot him when he crawls closer to Grete they immediately move out. Now Grete is really angry, locks him into his room and claims that they have to get rid of Gregor  [30]  who dies the next day. His family is rather relieved than in mourning about his death. They plan to move into a cheaper flat and to marry Grete. Now I am going to compare Kafkas novella to Brother and Sister, a fairytale by the Brothers Grimm. The story deals with the lives of two siblings, running away from home because they are mistreated by an old witch who is their stepmother. The action can be divided into three parts, as well. In the first part the children depart from home. Meanwhile their stepmother has cast[ed] her spells over all the streams in the forest.  [31]  Eventually brother gets thirsty and wants to drink from a stream but sister can hold him off doing so because she can hear it murmuring: Who drinks of me will be a tiger!.  [32]  Although the brother is very thirsty he does not drink. When they come to the next stream, brother is eager to drink but sister can hold him off again, hearing it murmuring: Who drinks me will be a wolf!.  [33]  At the next stream she can hear that brother is going to be a roe, if he drinks the water but she cannot stop him who is already drinking and immediately falls on the grass transformed into a little Roebuck.  [34]   The transformation in this fairytale is, unlike Gregors transformation, introduced by two streams until brother eventually cannot resist any longer. Gregors transformation, in contrast, is not introduced at all. The whole novella starts with this transformation that, due to that point, lacks of surprise in comparison to the fairytale. Furthermore the fairytale is definitely a marvelous one. The reader accepts the fantastic, the fact that the witch can curse all streams, which makes her, as Todorov calls it, a supernatural being,  [35]  having power over human destiny,  [36]  and the fact that brother transforms into a deer, as part of the world. Hence both of Todorovs supernatural elements can be found in this story. Brother and sister are very sad about the situation but sister promises: Never mind, dear little fawn, I will never forsake you, and she [takes] off her golden garter and tie[s] it round the Roes neck.  [37]  Then she fastens a rope to the collar. This shows the symbolic connection between the two siblings. She promises never to leave him and even connects himself to him. They have a very close relationship which is expressed even in the first sentence, Brother took sister by the hand.  [38]  This indicates that brother desires his sister in a way Gregor desires Grete. He wants so be near her and he needs her to look after him and to be with him. Gregor and brother both depend on their sisters. They now live in a small house in the forest and if brother had but kept his natural form, really it would have been a most delightful kind of life.  [39]  This explicitly tells the reader that they would have lived together like couples do. Here the second part begins. The king has a hunt through the wood. When the deer hears about that it wants to join and after begging his sister she lets him go. The hunt lasts three days and the hunters are eager to shoot the beautiful deer which can always run away though it gets hurt once. On the last day the king follows the deer to the house and finds sister. He asks her who has grown to a lovely maiden  [40]  to marry her. She answers: Oh yes! [] But you must let my Roe come, too. I could not possibly forsake it.  [41]  Sister even takes brother into her marriage with the king and keeps her promise. Here the last part begins. The stepmother watches all this with envy and when sister gives birth to a baby, the witch traps her by leading her into the bathroom and locking the door. She and her hideous daughter make a blazing hot fire under the bath, so that the lovely young Queen might be suffocated.  [42]  Then she lays her daughter in the queens bed and makes her look alike her. The king never notices. Every night the real queens ghost comes to see after her baby and the deer. When she decides to come only for three more nights, the nurse, who watches her every night, tells the king. In the last night of her visit the king cries out that she has to be his wife. She answers: Yes, I am your dear wife! and in the same moment she was restored to life, and was as fresh and well and rosy as ever.  [43]  The witch and her daughter are put to death and the spell was taken off the little Roe, and he was restored to his natural shape.  [44]   These are two transformations. The queen in restored to life by the kings love and the brother is retransformed into a human being by the witchs death. The fairytales last sentence is again evidence for the assumption that brother desires his sister, and so brother and sister lived happily ever after.  [45]  Sister obviously does not share her live with her husband, the king whose love restored her, but with her brother. This seems to be the only way for them to be happy. To sum it all up, Metamorphosis and Brother and Sister doubtlessly deal with transformations and are fantastic narratives in Todorovs sense. Especially the fairytale applies to that having the witch as a fantastic character who controls human destiny. Dealing with the theme of sexual desire, Metamorphosis conforms to that more explicitly although there are several textual evidences in Brother and Sister that indicate an incestuous relationship between the siblings, too. (2207 words)

Secretors And Non Secretors In Human Population Antigens Biology Essay

Secretors And Non Secretors In Human Population Antigens Biology Essay Human population can be categorized into secretors and non-secretors based on A, B and H antigen on basis of presence or absence of these blood group antigens in the body fluids and secretions, such as saliva, sweat, tears, semen, serum, mucus present in the digestive tract or respiratory cavities etc. Secretors are individuals that secrete blood group antigens in their body fluids while non-secretors are the individuals that do not secrete them in their body fluids and secretions. It is a known fact that ABO blood type is controlled by blood type coding genes present on the chromosome 9q34 but the secretor status of an individual is decided by interaction of a separate gene (called secreting gene) with these blood type genes. The presence of the secreting gene in a persons genome makes him a secretor and absence makes him a non secretor. The gene is designated as (Se) for Secretors and (se) for Non-secretors and it is entirely independent of the blood type A, B, AB or O. The individuals secreting antigens in the body fluid are designated as ABH secretors in blood banks. Individuals having O blood group secrete antigen H, A blood group secrete A and H antigens, B blood group secrete B and H antigens in the fluids. A secretor gene helps a person to gain a degree of protection against different environmental conditions especially the micro flora of a particular environment and also the lectins present in them. It helps them in promoting the growth of friendly, stable blood type intestinal bacterial ecosystem which depends on the blood type antigens present in the mucus of an individual. Secretor status does modify carbohydrates in the fluids present in the body and their secretions and it also affects and influences the attachment and persistence of the micro flora present in the body. Secretors are at a higher advantage than non-secretors. Non-secretors have a potential health disadvantage. They possess many metabolic traits such as carbohydrate intolerance, immune susceptibilities. Different tests are available for determining an individuals secretor status. Most common test uses saliva or other body fluids of an individual for testing the secretor status. These tests are based on the principl e of Agglutination Inhibition where the antigens are neutralized by the corresponding antibodies so that these antibodies will not be further be available to neutralize or agglutinate the same antigens residing on the red blood cells. ELISA could also be used for determining the presence of the secreted Lewis antigens in the saliva or other body fluids. Statistics 1 Place Population Tested % Secretor Frequency % Non-Secretor Frequency New York Negroes 178 61.2 0.38 38.8 0.62 Copenhagen Danes 263 74.0 0.49 26.0 0.51 Japan Japanese 424 75.7 0.51 24.3 0.49 Berlin Germans 363 78.0 0.53 22.0 0.47 Poland Poles 88 79.4 0.54 21.6 0.46 New York Whites 74 82.4 0.58 17.6 0.42 Helsinki Finns 196 86.3 0.63 13.7 0.37 New Mexico American Indians 69 98.5 0.88 1.5 0.12 Utah American Indians 79 100.0 1.00 0 0 The alleles Se and se differ in the frequency and have an anthropological value. They occur in different frequency in different populations. They have a high frequency in the American Indiana and a low frequency in the southern Indians. In US 20% of the population is secretors whereas 80% of the population consist of non-secretors. The fusion allele of the FUT2 (secretor type alpha(1,2)-fucosyltransferase) gene at a high frequency and a new se385 allele in a Korean population SECRETOR AND NON-SECRETOR A person secreting blood group antigens into the body fluids and other secretions like saliva, semen, tear, mucous in the digestive tract and respiratory cavities are named as secretors. In similar terms they put their blood type antigens in the body fluids. They secrete antigens according to their blood type, A secrete antigen A and H, B secret antigen B and H, O secrete antigen O and AB secrete A, B and H antigen. Secretors expresses Lewis b (Leb) antigens on the RBC where as non-secretor expresses Lewis a (Le a) on their RBC.These antigens in the body fluids give additional protection to the individual against the various microorganisms and the lectins present all around us. 15- 20% of the population consists of non-secretor. These individual fail to secrete the blood group antigens in their body fluids hence they become susceptible to bacterial and superficial yeast infections. A large no of them sometimes also suffer from the autoimmune disorder. This could also be correlated with the secretor and non-secretor phenotype. The body secretions of secretors and non-secretors differ quantitatively and also qualitatively. The type and quantity of the antigens present in it differ among different individuals. In some cases the non-secretors may contain the A and B antigens in the saliva but the quantity is less and even quality is very low hence they have similar functional problem. There are certain properties which are specific for secretors and differ in non-secretors. Some are listed below: Intestinal alkaline phosphatase activity ABH secretor correlates the activity of alkaline phosphatase and serum alkaline phosphatase present in the intestine. Non-secretors have low activity of alkaline phosphatase and serum alkaline phosphatase which is responsible for the breakdown of fat and assimilate calcium.2-5 Low molecular weight alkaline is present in both secretors and non-secretors and high molecular weight alkaline phosphatase is present only is secretors.6 Bacterial flora The ABH blood types influence the population of bacteria residing in the local vicinity of the gut mucin glycoproteins. Bacteria produce enzymes that have the capability to degrade the end sugar of A, B, and H blood antigens and which are consumed as food by them. The B antigen degrading bacteria produce enzyme to remove the end alpha-D-galactose and A antigen degrading bacteria produce enzyme to detach N-acetylgalactosamine which are used as a source of food by them.7,8 Blood clotting The secretor and the ABO genetics influence each other and effect upto 60% of the vWf concentration variation in plasma. Raised levels of factor VIII and vWf may cause thrombotic and heart disease in future. Secretors have the slowest clotting time, thinnest blood, least tendency of platelet aggregation, low amount of factor VIII and von Willebrand factor (vWf).9,10 The non-secretors have highest clotting time, thick blood, high amount of factor VIII and von Willebrand factor (vWf) and low bleeding time. The blood viscosity is also influenced by the secretor status of that individual. Phenotype Lewis Characteristics of Clotting Le (a- b-)  Ã‚  maximum action of factor VIII and vWf Very Low bleeding times (seen in A, B and AB) Le (a+ b-) intermediary action Low bleeding times (seen in O) Le (a- b+) minimum action of factor VIII and vWf Very Long bleeding times (seen in O) Blood Type Lewis and Factors effect Blood Clotting Immunoglobulin Variations ABH non-secretors express low concentration of IgG immunoglobulin.11,12 The secretion of varying concentration of diverse constituents of the blood group is controlled by the secretor gene and it also affects the phagocytic activity of the leucocytes which provides an added advantage to the non-secretors. The leucocytes of the non-secretors possess a greater ingestion power when compared to the secretors. The O and B blood group non-secretors have the highest phagocytic activity.13 The presence of different concentration of anti-I in the an individuals serum is affected by the ABO group, secretor status and sex of the individual. The secretors females have a high level of anti-I in the serum as compared to the males.14 The non-secretor have low levels of IgA and IgG antibodies and hence have frequent problems with the heart valve. Genetics and Biochemical pathways The secretion of the blood group antigens in the body fluids and other secretions are genetically influenced by certain allelomorphic genes. Secretor gene contains two alleles (Se) and (se). The dominant gene (Se) is present in the homozygous or heterozygous condition in the secretors which lead to the secretion of antigens into the body fluids. (se) is recessive allele and is present in non-secretors in the homozygous condition. SeSe and seSe produces a dominant secretor phenotype and sese produces a recessive non-secretor phenotype. Basically three genes are responsible for the formation of the A and B antigens. They are namely ABO, Hh, and Sese genes encoding glycosyltransferases which produces the A and B antigens. H antigen present in the individual with O blood group is the precursor for the formation of A and B antigens. H antigen acts as a backbone for A and B antigens. The O gene is considered as amorphic. The allele Hh and Sese reside on each locus and are closely linked together. It is also suggested that one of the allele has arisen by the gene duplication of the other. The second allele on the same locus is really rare. The product related to this allele hasnt been discovered yet and hence it is considered as amorph. The oligosaccharide responsible for the formation of the A and B antigen can exist in a simple linear fashion or a complex branched fashion. Infants A, B and H antigens contain high amount of linear chained oligosaccharide whereas oligosaccharides present in an adult contain high amount of branched chained oligosaccharides.15 The A and B antigen is synthesized from a common intermediate known as substance H. The conversion is carried out by the addition of a sugar molecule to the non reducing end of the H oligosaccharide chains. This addition affects the reactivity of H antigen.16,17 The ABH substances are secreted in the Urinary respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract by mucous glands residing there. The secretor gene regulates the synthesis of blood group antigens in the glands of small intestinal mucosa. The secretors and non-secretors produce A and B substances which are basically glycoproteins in pylorus and Brunners glands and produce A and B substances those are soluble in alcohol and glycosphingolipids in nature.18,19,20 The secretors also produce ABH substances in the prostate and lactating mammary glands.20 The secretion of breast is rich in H substance but poor in substance A and virtually absent in substance B. The synthesis of these constituents in the pancreas and secretory cells of sweat gland is not controlled by the secretor gene.21 The blood groups substances were also found in the calyxes and collecting tubules of the secretors (Se) but it could not be concluded that whether they are produced by the kidneys or are generally excreted. These secretions were noticed in the eight to nine weeks old salivary glands and stomach and later it appears throughout the gastrointestinal tract.19,22 Glycosphingolipids carrying the A or B oligosaccharides are present on the membranes of RBCs, epithelial and endothelial cells and are also present in the plasma in the soluble form. The glycoproteins carrying the similar A and B oligosaccharides are responsible for their activity in the body fluids. In the body fluids they are present in the secreted form. The A and B oligosaccharides which do not contain the carrier proteins are present in the milk and urine. The chromosome 19 contains FUT 1 and FUT 2 genes which code for fucosyltransferase.23 FUT genes numbered from 1-7 and form clusters which are responsible for the production of enzymes called as fucosyltranferases. The cluster is located on chromosome 19q13.3. Fucosyltranferase helps in the formation of fucose moiety which is added to the H antigen and further gylcosylate the A or/and B antigens.24,25 H antigen is a basic blood group antigen present in each and every human being but the content varies in different individuals of the same ABO group. A general pattern indicates that its strength varies as O>A2>A2B>B>A1>A1B. Water soluble H antigen has been demonstrated in the saliva and the body fluids of the individuals. H antigens are fucose containing glycan units which are present on the glycolipids or glycoproteins residing on the erythrocytes membrane or in the secretions. The fucosylatedglycans are the substrate for the enzyme glycosytransferases that are responsible for the formation of the Lewis and A, B blood group antigen epitopes. Secretors contain both the alleles whereas non secretor contains the null allele for FUT2 gene. The FUT 2 gene codes for fucosyltranferaseenzyme in the exocrine tissues which lead to formation of antigens in the body secretions and body fluids. The A and B genes produce glycosyltranferase that add sugar to oligosaccharide chains that is converted to H antigen. The H antigen are constructed on the oligosaccharide chain. The oligosaccharide chains could be of two type: Type 1 and type 2.15 The glycosphingolipids present in the plasma and on the membranes of glandular and parenchymal cells and glycoproteins present on the cell surfaces or body fluids carry either the type 1 or type 2 chains. The glycolipids antigens present on the RBC contain type 2 chains. A gene encodes N-acetyl-galactosaminyl-transferase and B gene-encodes galactosaminyl-transferase and add   GalNAc   and  Gal   in alpha (1-3) linkages which is acts on the H gene transferase. The H gene produces fucosyltransferase that add fucose to the terminal Galactose molecule of type 2 chain. It forms an alpha (1-2) linkage. A and B antigens are constructed when the A and B transferases attach respective sugars to the type 1 or type 2 chain substituted with Fucose.26 The secretor gene FUT2 located at 19q13.3 and codes for the activity of the glycosyltransferasesin concert with the FUT1 gene coding for H antigen, needed to assemble both the ABO and Lewis blood group and are active in mucous gland and goblet cells which interact with each other and lead to secretions of antigens in the fluids. The expression patterns of both the genes are different. The FUT1 (H) gene is dominantly expressed in the erythroid tissues which lead to the formation of the H enzyme whereas the FUT2 (secretor) gene is expressed in the secretory tissues and lead to the formation of secretor enzyme. The product of the H enzyme or H gene resides on the erythrocytes and product of secretor gene resides on mucins in secretions. If an individual lack these alleles, he/she will not be able to express the above active enzymes therefore they would be deficient of the substrates which are required by the A or B glycosyltransferases. Therefore they would not express the A and B epitopes. Correlation between Lewis Phenotype and ABH Secretor status The Lewis typing also helps in finding the ABH secretor status. The production of Lewis antigens is genetically controlled. Individuals possessing the Lewis (Le) gene would produce the Lewis antigens which are carried in the plasma by different substances and are absorbed onto the Red blood Cells present in ones blood. The ABO determinants and H/h blood groups factors seem to show structurally corelation to Lewis blood determinants. FUT1 provide the glycans for glycosyltransferases which convert Lewis antigen to ABH antigens. FUT2 allele is expressed in the secretor and is responsible for the expression of type1 H determinant. The secretors convert their Lewis a antigen to Lewis b therefore they are (a-b+) and the non-secretor are (a+b-) as they lack the FUT2 responsible for glycosyltransferase which could convert Lewis a antigen to Lewis b antigen. Lewis (Le) gene and Secreting (Se) gene interact with each other. Initially Lewisais formed and if Se gene is absent in an individual the Lewisa substance is absorbed on the RBC and the individual is typed as Lewisa but in secretors the Se gene controls the activation of the H gene which causes addition of an additional sugar to Lewisa which convert it to Lewisb. Secretors contain both Lewisa and Lewisb in their plasma but absorb Lewisb preferentially on the red blood cells and the individual is typed as Lewisb. Hence we could interpret that presence of Lewis gene would type an individual as Lewisa positive or Lewisb negative or vice versa. An individual could not be positive for both. A person containing both Lewis gene and Secreting gene are typed as Lewisa negative and Lewisb positive whereas a person having the Lewis gene but not the secretor gene is typed as Lewisa positive and Lewisb negative. Individual who does not have Lewis gene regardless of secretor gene is typed as Lewisa negative and Lewisb negative.27,28 Note: Lewis Double Negative (LDN) is a sub type of non secretors but Lewis typing cannot be used for them to determine the ABH secretor status. Detection methods29-31 The presence and absence of the antigens in the body fluids could be detected by Agglutination Inhibition and Lewis typing. Agglutination Inhibition test could be divided into two parts:- Part I Antibody Neutralization: To determining ones secretor status, the saliva of the individual is mixed by the antiserum (Anti-A, Anti-B or Anti-H) available commercially. In secretors the soluble substances i.e. blood group antigens will react with the antibodies present in the antiserum and will get neutralized. Part II Agglutination Inhibition: The bed blood cells obtained commercially are added to the test mixture. In secretors agglutination of the RBC do not take place as no free antibodies are available to agglutinate them. All the antibodies have reacted with the soluble antigens present in the saliva whereas in non-secretors agglutination would occur upon addition of the RBC as no blood group antigens are present in the saliva so antibodies present in the antiserum are not neutralized and hence would be free to react with the test RBC cells which are added to the test mixture. Hence agglutination is a negative test for secretor status and positive test for the non-secretor status. Note: Anti-H lectin containing phytohaemagglutinin virtually specific for human RBC. Thirteen Cucurbitaceaespecies have been investigated for the anti-H activity present in their seed lectins. Lectins has been extracted and purified from Ulexeuropaeus seeds. It could be used to demonstrate the H secretor status of blood group O individual and also for subgrouping the blood group A individuals. Lewis typing: Individuals carrying the Lewis gene produce Lewis antigens that are carried by the plasma and are also adsorbed on the red blood cells. Lewis antigens do not reside only on the red blood cells. Initially the gene gives rise to Lewisa. If Se gene is present it activates H gene which interact with the Lewisa and add a sugar to Lewisa and hence get converted it to Lewisb. Both Lewisa and Lewisb in present in the plasma of the secretors. If the Se gene is not present then the Lewisa substance is adsorbed on the red cells and individuals are typed as Lewisa. The secretor status of an individual could be determined with help of Lewisa and Lewisb antibodies mixed with an individuals saliva and observing the agglutination macroscopically. Disease Susceptibility among Secretors and Non-secretors Digestive system Non-secretors are more prone to the diseases caused by the oral bacteria in the digestive system of an individual. It includes ulcers, celiac diseases gastric carcinoma pernicious anemia etc. It could lead to dysplasia or increase in the number of cavities present in the digestive tract. Non-secretors are less resistant to the infection caused by Helicobacter pylori which could lead to the formation of peptic and duodenal ulcers.32,33 It could easily colonize and cause inflammation in the non-secretors.34 The non-secretors lack the blood group antigens in the mucus secretions therefore H.pylori attach to the walls of the digestive tract and cause infection. The secretors have a tendency to secrete free ABH antigens in their intestinal secretions which effect the bacterial and lectins adherence to the microvilli present in the gut. The secretors produce these antigens and prevent H.pylori attachment. These antigens act as a decoy in the secretors which prevent them from attaching with the host tissues. The non-secretors also show a lower IgG immune response to the H.pylori. They have extreme rate of bleeding and stomach ulcers but correlation between these complications and the secretor status have not been documented yet. The non-secretors are not able to turn off the digestive enzymes and hence they produce large amount of enzyme pepsin and hence are more prone to duodenal ulcers. 50% of the duodenal ulcers are present in non-secretors. 30-40% of group O individuals are affected by the duodenal ulcers and 15- 20 % are affected by the gastric ulcers. They show a high risk factor along with the gene coding for hyperpepsinogenemia I which impact in the risk of duodenal ulcers.35,36 Group A individuals have a higher tendency of having gastric cancer and pernicious anemia. Statistics shows that 20% of the group A individuals are affected by gastric cancers and 25% are affected by the pernicious anemia. Oral pathology The non-secretors are more prone to oral diseases like mouth and esophagus cancer, epithelial dysplasia etc. They have more cavities than secretors.37 Diabetes The ABH non-secretors and Lewis negative (Le a-b-) individuals have a high risk of developing insulin dependent diabetes or complications arising from diabetes.38,39 Secretors with juvenile diabetes have a low chance of developing retinopathy.40 The ABH non secretors which are affected by insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, they show mean levels of C3c and C4 is lower as compared to ABH secretors. Metabolic Syndrome X The Lewis negative men are predisposing to syndrome X and prothrombic metabolism. They have high levels of BMI, SBP, triglycerides and low levels of insulin in serum and plasma glucose while fasting. This relationship is not true for women and is only applicable for the men.41-43 Respiratory System   Secretors have an added protection against the harmful environmental assaults directed towards our lungs and as usual non-secretors have a health disadvantage. They are over represented among the people suffering from influenza viruses A and B, rhinoviruses, respiratory synsytial virus and echinoviruses.44 Secretors who are miners or smokers do receive a protection against the disastrous effects of the cigarette smoking. Asthma is very common among the individuals working in the coal mines. Upon research it was concluded that asthma among them is also related to the non-secretor phenotype present in them. The non-secretor has a tendency to snore and are more prone to COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).45 Heart disease The ABH non-secretor phenotype have a high risk of developing myocardial infarction and Lewis negative individuals have a high risk of developing chronic heart disease (CHD) and also ischemic heart disease (IHD).46 They contain high levels of triglycerides.47 Alcoholism has a positive interaction with the Lewis negative individuals. Alcohol consumption is protective in these individuals.48,49 Autoimmune Disease   Autoimmune disorders such as Sjogrens syndrome, spondylitis, sclerosis, arthropathy, arthritis, and Graves disease are more prone in non-secretors.50-52 The ABH non-secretors affected with graves disease produces high levels of antitubulin antibodies as compared to secretors and are unable to produce the water soluble glycoproteins in the saliva.53 Fetal Loss and Infertility ABO antigens are also found on the sperm of the secretors.54 These are obtained from the seminal secretions present in them. ABO incompatibility could exist between the wife and husband if could affect the fertility of an individual.55,56 This issue has not been properly studied and is therefore under research. Rheumatic Fever The secretors and group O individuals are resistant to Rheumatic fever and more number of cases have been recorded in the non-secretors.57,58 Secretor status could also determine whether the rheumatic fever would be followed by streptococcal pharyngitis or not.59-61 Neisseria species The non-secretors who do not produce water soluble antigens in the saliva are at the risk of getting infected by Neisseria meningcococcal disease.62 The immune capabilities of the secretor provide a relative protection in the secretors. The ABH non-secretors produce low level of anti-meningococcal salivary IgM antibodies which provide protection to the secretors against the microorganism.63 Candida species Non-secretors are barriers of candida species and therefore are frequently affected by the candida infections. The glycocompounds secreted by secretors in the body fluids inhibit adhesins present on the yeast which are responsible for their adhesion with the body tissues.64-66 This leads to the development of the chronic hyperplastic Candidiasis. Statistics shows that 68% on the non-secretors are affected by chronic hyperplastic candidiasis.67 Non-secretor women are affected by recurrent idiopathic vulvovaginal Candidiasis. An individual with a combination of non-secretors and absence of Lewis gene are at relative risk of developing recurrent idiopathic vulvovaginal Candidiasis.68 Tumor Markers The individuals with homozygous active Le alleles (Le/Le) and inactive (se/se) alleles shows a highest mean value of CA19-9 tumor marker.69 The Lewis negative individuals irrespective of Se genotype have negative values for CA19-9. The Lewis negative individuals have higher mean value for DU PAN-2 as compared to Le-positive individuals.70 We can conclude that CA 19-9 marker is not an appropriate tumor marker for Le-negative individuals but DU-PAN-9 is an appropriate tumor marker.71 UTI Non-secretors show a higher risk of getting recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI) and renal scars as compared to secretors. This susceptibility is higher among negative Lewis subset. Statistics of a study done on women affected with recurrent urinary tract infection stated that 29% of the non-secretor women were affected by UTI and 26% of Lewis (a-b-) women were affected by the UTI.72-74 The non-secretor phenotype and blood group B and AB phenotype work together to increase the risk of UTI among women. Women and children suffering from renal scarring with and without the antibiotic treatment for UTI are prone to UTI and pyelonephritis.75-77 55-60% of non-secretors develop renal scars and 16% on secretors develop renal scars.78 C-reactive protein levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and body temperature are higher in the non-secretors that in secretors with recurrent UTI.79 Conclusion It concludes that there exist a statistical association between the individuals blood-group secretor phenotype and the diseases they are susceptible to. So knowing your secretor status is advantageous as we can use the nutritional supplements more intelligently and effectively. It also makes us aware of the diseases, illness and metabolic dysfunction we are prone to, difference in the levels of intestinal alkaline phosphatase activity, propensities towards blood clotting, tumor markers and different ingredients of breast milk so that we can manage them before hand and would be prepared for them in the near future.

William Faulkner’s short novel, The Bear Essay -- Bear

William Faulkner’s short novel, The Bear "The Bear" is a short novel in an anthology that begins in Yoknapatwpha County sometime after the Civil War. The story deals with loyalty, honor, truth, bravery, courage, fear, nature, history and choices. Cleanth Brooks best described this story by saying, "Faulkner's villains do not respect nature and their fear of it has nothing in common with the fear of the Lord or with awe in the presence of the divine." (Brooks 149) In the story, we find a bear that has learned to outwit and survive hunters for years. It wasn't until they took a beast of the wild and tamed it before they could even come close to the bear. They took a beast of nature to kill a beast of nature for their own personal pleasure, for sport...a conversation piece. When looking into the history aspect of the story, think of human actions and how People make radical decisions that may affect the rest of their lives, or even the lives of others, not even giving a second thought to the consequences. This book deals with a radical decision made by one man that changed the lives of many. The author of this story, William Faulkner, was a white southern male born "September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi. He died July 6, 1962." (Compton's CD) Faulkner had a way with Christianity, but more with the nature of man. He believed that man was nature. We can see how this affects the story with the statement "It was of the men, not white nor black nor red but men, hunters, with the will and hardihood to endure and the humility and skill to survive..."(Faulkner 327) The story begins with Ike and C who are going on a hunting trip to try to catch Old Ben, t... ...ficient utilization of it, or when he ceases to love it and to carry on his contention with it in terms of some sort of code, then he not only risks destroying nature but risks bestializing his own nature. (270) This novel is a wonderful book to read for those who like nature and the wilderness. It is through nature that one can achieve their highest level of love for the world. Although it may be hard to get through a few of the chapters, once you truly understand the meaning of the book, it will stick in your heart forever. Work Cited Brooks, Cleanth. "On the prejudices, predilections, and firm beliefs of William Faulkner." [Baton Rouge] LSU Press, 1987. "Six great modern short novels." New York Dell, 1982. 328 Brooks, Cleanth. William Faulkner The Yoknapatawpha County. London Yale University Press, 1974