URGENT 8 HOURS DEADLINE Brief Summary oF Macroeconomics chapters 5 and Essay

URGENT 8 HOURS DEADLINE Brief Summary oF Macroeconomics chapters 5 and 12 - Essay Example it is necessary to take note the total net export of goods and services which are also known as the Trade Balance given that a healthy economic activity should not have excessively large amount of total net import as compared with the net export. (p. 118) What happens when the total net import exceeds the total net export is that the country may eventually feel the negative economic consequences of not having sufficient money that flows within the domestic market. When this happen, there is a strong possibility that the normal domestic demand and supply for goods and services will be disrupted. In worst case scenario, it is possible for some domestic companies to implement massive lay-offs to ensure the business profitability and stability. Therefore, unemployment rate in the long-run is expected to increase. The same theory and economic consequences applies when a country’s net capital outflow of domestic lending abroad exceeds the total amount of foreign lending that enters the country. (pp. 118 – 119) Trade Balance uses the formula S – I and NX respectively (p. 118 – 119). In other words, a Trade Deficit and Trade Surplus occur in case the total Net Output and Trade Balance is negative and positive respectively (p. 119). Trade Balance occurs only when the total Net Capital Outflow and Trade Balance is equals to ZERO. It means that the total value of import is equal to the total value of export. A Bilateral Trade occurs when two countries agree to enter into a regular trading contract. However, it is not possible for a country to have experience a Bilateral Trade Balance. (p. 120) For instance: There is an agreement between China and U.S. to strengthen their import and export activities within one another. Even though both countries agreed to import and export goods and services, it is not possible for both countries to experience equal import and export. For this reason, it is possible to say that China has recently experienced Bilateral Trade

Patient Education And Epidural Pain Management Essay Example for Free

Patient Education And Epidural Pain Management Essay The term pain pertains to a sensation that is communicated by the sensory neurons that are located around the human body to the brain. This sensation is described as an unpleasant feeling that is generally related to a form of damage to a particular tissue in the body. Pain thus activates a specific physical and psychological reaction that tends to find a mechanism to terminate the unpleasant feeling. The ability to sense pain serves as the body’s warning system that informs us of any form of injury to our bodies. Pain is generally described in terms of its intensity and its duration. Intensity can be expressed through a range of descriptors from slight to agonizing, while the duration of pain may be depicted as constant or intermittent. Other characteristics that are commonly employed to describe pain include sharp, dull, throbbing and nauseating. The threshold of pain varies among individuals hence a numeric rating scale, with rating from 1 as the least painful situation to 10 as the most painful condition, has been employed for a more specific quantification of pain in patients. The numeric rating scale identifies level 4 as the cut-off score for pain that impedes an individual from performing his normal functions (Krebs et al. , 2007). In order to relieve an individual from pain, pain management is often provided at hospitals and clinics. In cases wherein the patient only suffers from acute pain, temporary medications are commonly administered to correct the medical problem. However, if the patient is experiencing chronic pain that is related to a condition that is currently being treated or is still undiagnosed, pain conduits are often put up to alleviate the sensation of pain in the patient. These conditions generally include cancer and neuropathy, wherein the pain is distinguished from the major medical condition of the patient. Pain management usually employs that administration of pharmacologic drugs such as analgesics and pain modifiers. In addition, other non-pharmacologic treatments may also be provided, which as normally interventional methods such as physical therapy, heat or cold compression and psychological therapy. One of the major interventional methods for pain management involves the administration of epidural analgesia, which is provided through the introduction of a catheter into the epidural space which is the space between the spinal cord and spinal canal. The effect of the injection of pain medications is to essentially remove the pain that the patient is experiencing by inhibiting further conduction of pain signals along the nerves or the spinal cord. Epidural analgesia is considered as a common technique for pain management because aside from reducing the pain felt by the patient, it also promotes vasodilation of blood vessels. Such result is actually a side-effect of epidural analgesia, yet it still benefits a patient if he has been diagnosed with a peripheral vascular medical condition. In addition, the utilization of epidural analgesia extends the effect of the pain medications for several days, instead of just a few days. In specific conditions that have associated pain such as childbirth, epidural analgesia is the favored pain management regimen because it does not cause any changes in muscle movement or power and it still retains its main role in pain conditions that may or may not require surgery. Epidural analgesia is also commonly used as an accessory to general anesthesia to decrease the patient’s need for opioid analgesics. Its use as an adjunct pain management scheme has been applied in a broad range of surgical procedures including hysterectomy, hip replacement, laparoscopy and open aortic aneurysm repair. Epidural analgesia is commonly used as the primary method for surgical anesthesia especially is Caesarean sections, which keeps the patient conscious during the entire surgical obstetric procedure (Halpern et al. , 2004). However, in such situations, the amount of anesthesia administered is generally much higher that what is usually employed for analgesia. Post-operative pain management may also involve epidural analgesia for the first few days after the procedure, which involves the introduction or retention of a catheter. There are certain situations when the patient is allowed to regulate the amount of pain medications that will be passed through the catheter. Such patient-controlled analgesia makes use of an infusion pump which the patient himself controls. Epidural analgesia is also used as remedy for back pain, as well as for palliative care. It has been established that epidural analgesia is most effective for the treatment of pain in specific regions such as the abdomen, pelvic and legs. This pain management technique is less effective in treating pain in chest, neck or arms, and is not effective for pain treatment in the head. It has been proven that epidural analgesia is more effective in relieving pain than intravenous narcotics and has been identified as the second most frequently used pain medication (Leighton and Halpern, 2002). Majority of women who give birth in hospitals are usually given only two options with regards to pain management, namely epidural analgesia or intravenous narcotics. It should be noted that alternative pharmacologic treatments for pain are also available, such as nitrous oxide and paracervical blocks. In addition, there are also doulas and continuous labor support, which typically requires less medical treatment and results in better outcomes with regards to the health of the mother and child. Also, these women are generally more satisfied with the results they observed after such alternative treatments. However, these alternative options are generally much more expensive (Simkin and OHara, 2002). It is interesting to note that even though epidural analgesia is reported to be significantly effective and common treatment for pain during child labor, there are a number of major side-effects that are associated with such use. It has been reported that epidural analgesia prolongs labor for an extended and considerable duration. In addition, its administration also influences the need for operative vaginal delivery and increases the chances for perineal laceration (Lieberman and ODonoghue, 2002). It has also been observed that the administration of epidural analgesia during obstetric procedures causes the mother to run a fever, which then results in the provision of antibiotics to the newborn child, as well as monitoring for symptoms and signs of sepsis in the infant. To date, great controversy envelopes the issue of whether epidural analgesia increases the risk of delivering a baby through Caesarean section as well as induces difficulty during labor. Research surveys show that most women have not been educated with regards to the possible side-effects of epidural analgesia (Declercq et al. , 2002). Hence the role and need for patient education has been an issue of close scrutiny in the past 5 years. Specific medical and non-medical groups have expressed their concern over the risks and benefits of epidural analgesia. More importantly, there has been concern that such type of patient education of pain management regimens should be given during pre-natal visits, and not during the actual labor stage of pregnancy. Hence, there is an urgent need to determine the amount of information that mothers know in relation to pain management and epidural analgesia because this option strongly influences the behavior of the newborn child, the breastfeeding conditions and the bonding between the mother and infant. In the United States, the dominant delivery method is composed of the induction of labor, administration of epidural analgesia, constant electronic fetal monitoring and Caesarean section. It has been analyzed that when the frequency of epidural analgesia is high, the alternative methods for childbirth are usually not available in the medical institution. These include sessions in childbirth education, doulas, non-pharmacologic pain management regimens, as well as the provision for nurses especially trained in assisting in medication-independent childbirth. Hence what is observed now in most of the hospitals are labor stages that are mainly supported by epidural analgesia and parenteral analgesics. In addition, medical healthcare professionals providing labor support are often overworked due to the huge number of delivery cases in a week. The issue of the shortage of nurses in the healthcare industry has also complicated the problem on the usage of epidural analgesia in hospitals. There are certain obstetricians who prefer to maintain a patient at labor that is supported by an intravenous line in order that they still find time to monitor their other patients in the hospital. It has been considered that the availability of healthcare professional during a patient’s labor and delivery is a luxury. More so, the inability to provide epidural analgesia to a patient during labor has often been a topic that has frequently been investigated in court malpractice cases. The importance of patient education with regards to epidural analgesia as the pain management scheme is thus very important in order to provide the patient with more than the regular two pain management choices that could be administered during her delivery. Patient education should also include the provision of information on the Caesarean delivery, wherein the patient must be able to carry enough knowledge to know that it is her right to request for a Caesarean delivery even when it is normally not recommended if there are no maternal or fetal complications for childbirth. There has been controversy with regards to the competence of smaller hospitals to could not universally provide epidural analgesia. It is unfortunate to know that not a single medical organization supports the concept of establishing a wide range of support methods during labor and pain management schemes, which is strongly associated with patient education and choice. In other countries, Caesarian delivery is the preferred delivery method by women because they are aware the other forms of labor and delivery schemes are not associated with sufficient medical care and attention (Behague et al. 2002). At the same time in the United States, women perceive that epidural analgesia is the sole and effective method for pain management. Actually, family physicians are not the main healthcare professionals that are responsible for the unbelievably high rates in the use of epidural analgesia during labor and childbirth. This medical professional observes when the patient is experiencing pain during labor and he relays this condition to the attending nurses, who in turn, will communicate the information to the anesthesiologist. Such relay of message from the patient to eventually the anesthesiologist is generally comprised by a simple nod from the family physician, which then triggers a battery of messages that eventually end with the administration of epidural analgesia to the patient. Such translation of patient pain to epidural analgesia administration is actually inappropriate and this is where patient education related to epidural analgesia comes into the picture. It is actually the family physician responsibility to educate his patient with regards to the choices in pain management. Instead of having a family physician that advocates epidural analgesia because it provides him freedom to look at his other patients while a particular patient is in labor, the family physician should be an advocate for the patient herself. Patient education entails spending time to teach and coach his patient which pain management schemes are currently available, as well as describing to the patient the effectiveness, side-effects and complications of each pain management scheme. The patient should also be educated of the limitations of each of the available pain management options. It is also ideal that the patient knows that she has the right to choose which pain management scheme she wants to receive, but this can only be done if the patient has sufficient understanding of pain management. It is also ideal that family physicians learn more of the details of the other alternative methods in managing pain. It has been observed that such patient education regarding pain management choices are important so that the patient has knowledge of what to expect during the actual medical procedure (Marmor and Krol, 2002). Patient education also involves the explanation of patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA), which is a labor and delivery pain management option that uses bupivacaine with or without opioids. The theory behind PCEA is that the patient can personally adjust the amount of epidural anesthesia that is needed to remove the pain he is experiencing. Such option for pain management often results in a high degree of patient satisfaction because it allows the patients to be free of the uncomfortable sensation of pain, as well as provide a way for the patient to feel a sense of control over the entire hospital procedure (Standl et al. 2003). It is thus important the patient education be provided to a patient, in order for him to understand the entire scenario of the procedure as well as to help him draw an image of the expected events that could unfold during his stay at the hospital. PCEA is currently in high demand because the patients often want a quick solution to the pain they are experiencing. In addition, these patients are not patient enough to wait for the next round of administration of pain killers when they are experiencing constant pain. It is also essential that patient education in relation to epidural analgesia must explain that PCEA is inefficient during the first stages of labor and thus a higher concentration of epidural analgesia is needed to relieve the patient from pain. Patient education also diminishes the expectations of patients that PCEA always results in the complete removal of the feeling of pain when they choose PCEA. Knowledge and understanding of epidural analgesia will thus result in patient satisfaction in terms of pain management. Patient education as related to epidural analgesia also includes a description of the possibility that an extensive spinal block in the positioning of the catheter may happen (Bernard et al. , 2000). This event often results in the decrease in the motor abilities of the legs and that once the patient observes this, he must inform a healthcare professional immediately for medical attention. In addition, patient education should also alert the patient that the catheter employed in epidural analgesia has a chance to migrate within the blood vessels, which is also known as intravascular migration. Such event is associated with a slower rate of infusion of analgesia which in turn generates systemic effects. The patient should also be educated with regards to the toxicity of epidural analgesia. Providing patient education in relation to epidural analgesia often results in patient satisfaction because the patient has a better understanding of the mechanisms and principles behind the pain management scheme, as well as its similarity and difference to other pain management options, such as continuous epidural infusion (CEI). Patient education also involves explanation on the receptors that are involved in controlling pain. These include the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) which acts in the central sensitization of the patient. Simple explanations regarding antagonists that decrease the sensitization for pain without reducing hemodynamic or respiration activity should also be included, and the other options that results in negative physiological effects such as opioids should also be described. The provisions for instruction is especially important to patients that suffer from pain due to general musculoskeletal tumor resections and those that have other medical conditions that are related to wakefulness and full orientation. There are also options in combining a N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist such as dextromethorphan with PCEA, which often circumvents the issue of sedation in PCEA (Weinbroum et al. , 2004). Reports have described that such combination generally results in better feelings of well-being in the patient. Dextromethorphan is relatively safe for orthopedic oncological patients who are commonly administered massive dosages of analgesics. There has also been reported the patients could not distinguish the feeling of PCEA and dextromethorphan, although there is a significant difference in a lack of inhibition of motor abilities using this combination. CONCLUSION This report suggests that patient education in relation to epidural analgesia results in patient satisfaction. Patient education generates a better understanding of the principles and mechanisms behind pain management schemes. In addition, the patient is given the right to reject or accept epidural analgesia based on his own comprehension that was earlier provided by the healthcare professional. Patient education also supports a PCEA setting that improves analgesia, as well as patient satisfaction during labor. This supports a better setting for the patient himself and decreases the need for rescue analgesia. Also, the increase in analgesia consumption can also be controlled through patient education, thus minimizing the side effects that are generated by particular pain killers. More importantly, patient education removes the discontent and disappointment that the patient may experience from insufficient knowledge and understanding of epidural analgesia.

Have We Overcome Segregation? Essay -- Segregation, history, USA,

1950. America was in the midst of a racial battle. African Americans used separate bathrooms, went to separate schools and were treated with the least amount of respect. The world was a much different place where segregation was the norm. Today though, the majority of Americans believe we have overcome this inequality. But have we really? When looking at the educational system in today’s society, you can easily find flaws in almost every aspect of it. Although I agree that we have came a long way in overcoming a lot of these issues there is still one that remains very prominent in almost every school in America: segregation. While segregation may no longer be taught or enforced nationwide, you still see it across schools within cliques, gangs, and social settings. Even though it may be human nature to â€Å"hang out† with people you can identify with the most, it is the negative acts against everyone else of different ethnicity that causes problems. Today these problems are widespread but because we live in a country that pretends we have overcome racism, it goes unpublicized. However, within doing some research you can find some of these stories of segregation in today’s society everywhere from the news to Hollywood videos. In a 2006 NBC News story, a school in Omaha, Nebraska was debating on splitting the school up into three different districts. The first district would be white, the second black and the third Latino. In defense for this proposal the state senator is saying, â€Å"Segregation exists right now. Our children are failing and our schools are failing. The gap between the achievements of white children and black children in their respective schools is not narrowing (Tibbles).† He proposes that each school would be able to ... ... are acting out the way they are. A change is going to have to occur within the educational system and parenting, in order to see a change in society. Children learn a good majority of their social skills, including how to segregate from one another in school. When we have our children growing up with these ideas being instilled at home and at school, how can we expect any change in the future? If we are still having segregated proms and noose’s hanging from trees in the year 2009, where equality obviously doesn’t exist, when is the â€Å"real† change going to occur? Are we soon going to be going back to a time where African Americans used separate bathrooms, attend separate schools and are no longer treated with the respect they deserve? I believe if we continue allowing segregation the way we have been, that yes, we will eventually find ourselves reliving the 1950’s. Have We Overcome Segregation? Essay -- Segregation, history, USA, 1950. America was in the midst of a racial battle. African Americans used separate bathrooms, went to separate schools and were treated with the least amount of respect. The world was a much different place where segregation was the norm. Today though, the majority of Americans believe we have overcome this inequality. But have we really? When looking at the educational system in today’s society, you can easily find flaws in almost every aspect of it. Although I agree that we have came a long way in overcoming a lot of these issues there is still one that remains very prominent in almost every school in America: segregation. While segregation may no longer be taught or enforced nationwide, you still see it across schools within cliques, gangs, and social settings. Even though it may be human nature to â€Å"hang out† with people you can identify with the most, it is the negative acts against everyone else of different ethnicity that causes problems. Today these problems are widespread but because we live in a country that pretends we have overcome racism, it goes unpublicized. However, within doing some research you can find some of these stories of segregation in today’s society everywhere from the news to Hollywood videos. In a 2006 NBC News story, a school in Omaha, Nebraska was debating on splitting the school up into three different districts. The first district would be white, the second black and the third Latino. In defense for this proposal the state senator is saying, â€Å"Segregation exists right now. Our children are failing and our schools are failing. The gap between the achievements of white children and black children in their respective schools is not narrowing (Tibbles).† He proposes that each school would be able to ... ... are acting out the way they are. A change is going to have to occur within the educational system and parenting, in order to see a change in society. Children learn a good majority of their social skills, including how to segregate from one another in school. When we have our children growing up with these ideas being instilled at home and at school, how can we expect any change in the future? If we are still having segregated proms and noose’s hanging from trees in the year 2009, where equality obviously doesn’t exist, when is the â€Å"real† change going to occur? Are we soon going to be going back to a time where African Americans used separate bathrooms, attend separate schools and are no longer treated with the respect they deserve? I believe if we continue allowing segregation the way we have been, that yes, we will eventually find ourselves reliving the 1950’s.

The Three Facets of the Christian Walk :: Biblical Bible Christian Religious Essays

The Three Facets of the Christian Walk As I begin this essay, I pray that I might be able to "rightly divide the word of truth", so that I need not be ashamed (2 Tim 2:15). This being my goal, I hope that you the reader might learn something from this essay. Remember though, to be as the Christians in Thessalonica, and examine all teachings based on their faithfulness to the scriptures (Acts 17:11). As Christians, we are to go through life in a certain way. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus tells us that the proper path in life is narrow. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. What then is this path? Well, as Christians, we know that the path to Eternal Life is through Jesus. Jesus tells us in John 14:6 that, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. So we know that, as Christians, we have already turned to face the right direction. As all Christians certainly know, though, the story does not end with the Sinner's Prayer. After that day of salvation, we must go to sleep, and then rise again the next morning, again having to face a fallen world. In order to be the "Salt of the World", as we are told we are in Matthew 5:13, we must know how to walk. Certainly one that follows all of the dictates of the scriptures is doing right (all of the dictates, NOT just the rules of action). It is my belief that the Christian walk can be broken down into three inter-related Facets. The first of these facets is Worship. The word "worship" appears in the King James Version of the Bible 108 times. Under the classification of worship, one could include such things as praise, prayer, and thanksgiving. Worship, though, is more than these things. One can worship in all things, because to worship is to give glory to God (1 Peter 4:11). One can give glory to God by having a heart attitude of thanksgiving and praise when walking through a grocery store, through the woods, or down a street.

Literature-based discovery of diabetes

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known mediators of cellular damage in multiple diseases including diabetic complications. Despite its importance, no comprehensive database is currently available for the genes associated with ROS. Methods We present ROS- and diabetes-related targets (genes/proteins) collected from the biomedical literature through a text mining technology. A web-based literature mining tool, SciMiner, was applied to 54 biomedical papers indexed with diabetes and ROS by PubMed to identify relevant targets.Over-represented targets in the ROS-diabetes literature were obtained through comparisons against randomly selected literature. The expression levels of nine genes, selected from the top ranked ROS-diabetes set, were measured in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of diabetic and non-diabetic DBA/2J mice in order to evaluate the biological relevance of literature- derived targets in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Results SciMiner identified 1,026 ROS- and diabet es-related targets from the 54 biomedical papers (http://Jdrf. eurology. med. umich. edu/ROSDiabetes/ webcite). Fifty-three targets were significantly over-represented in the ROS-diabetes literature ompared to randomly selected literature. These over-represented targets included well-known members of the oxidative stress response including catalase, the NADPH oxidase family, and the superoxide dismutase family of proteins. Eight of the nine selected genes exhibited significant differential expression between diabetic and non-diabetic mice.For six genes, the direction of expression change in diabetes paralleled enhanced oxidative stress in the DRG. Conclusions Literature mining compiled ROS-diabetes related targets from the biomedical literature and led us to evaluate the biological relevance of selected targets in the athogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body does not produce or properly respond to insulin, a hormone required to convert ca rbohydrates into energy for daily life. According to the American Diabetes Association, 23. million children and adults, approximately 7. 8% of the population in the United States, have diabetes [1]. The cost of diabetes in 2007 was estimated to be $174 billion [1]. The micro- and macro-vascular complications of diabetes are the most common causes of renal tailure, blindness and amputations leading to significant morta y, morbidity poor quality of life; however, incomplete understanding of the causes of diabetic complications hinders the development of mechanism-based therapies.In vivo and in vitro experiments implicate a number of enzymatic and non-enzymatic metabolic pathways in the initiation and progression of diabetic complications [2] including: (1) increased polyol pathway activity leading to sorbitol and fructose accumulation, NAD(P)-redox imbalances and changes in signal transduction; (2) non- enzymatic glycation of proteins yielding â€Å"advanced glycation end-productsâ €  (AGES); (3) ctivation of protein kinase C (PKC), initiating a cascade of intracellular stress responses; and (4) increased hexosamine pathway flux [2,3].Only recently has a link among these pathways been established that provides a unified mechanism of tissue damage. Each of these pathways directly and indirectly leads to overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [23]. ROS are highly reactive ions or small molecules including oxygen ions, free radicals and peroxides, formed as natural byproducts of cellular energy metabolism. ROS are implicated in multiple cellular pathways such as mitogen-activated protein kinase MAPK) signaling, c-Jun amino-terminal kinase ONK), cell proliferation and apoptosis [4-6].Due to the highly reactive properties of ROS, excessive ROS may cause significant damage to proteins, DNA, RNA and lipids. All cells express enzymes capable of neutralizing ROS. In addition to the maintenance of antioxidant systems such as glutathione and thioredoxins, pri mary sensory neurons express two main detoxifying enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD) [7] and catalase [8]. SOD converts superoxide (02-) to H202, which is reduced to H20 by glutathione and catalase [8].SODI is the main form of SOD in the cytoplasm; SOD2 is located within the itochondria. In neurons, SODI activity represents approximately 90% of total SOD activity and SOD2 approximately 10% [9]. Under diabetic conditions, this protective mechanism is overwhelmed due to the substantial increase in ROS, leading to cellular damage and dysfunction [10]. The idea that increased ROS and oxidative stress contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications has led scientists to investigate different oxidative stress pathways [7,11].Inhibition of ROS or maintenance of euglycemia restores metabolic and vascular imbalances and blocks both the initiation and progression of omplications [1 2,13]. Despite the significant implications and extensive research into the role of ROS in diabetes, n o comprehensive database regarding ROS-related genes or proteins is currently available. In the present study, a comprehensive list of ROS- and diabetes-related targets (genes/proteins) was compiled from the biomedical literature through text mining technology.SciMiner, a web-based literature mining tool [14], was used to retrieve and process documents and identify targets from the text. SciMiner provides a convenient web-based platform for target-identification within the biomedical iterature, similar to other tools including EBIMed [1 5], ALI BABA [16], and Polysearch [1 7]; however, SciMiner is unique in that it searches tull text documents, suppo free-text PubMed query style, and allows the comparison of target lists from multiple queries.The ROS-diabetes targets collected by SciMiner were further tested against randomly selected non-ROS-diabetes literature to identify targets that are significantly over- represented in the ROS-diabetes literature. Functional enrichment analyses were performed on these targets to identify significantly over-represented biological unctions in terms of Gene Ontology (GO) terms and pathways. In order to confirm the biological relevance of the over-represented ROS-diabetes targets, the gene expression levels of nine selected targets were measured in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) from mice with and without diabetes.DRG contain primary sensory neurons that relay information from the periphery to the central nervous system (CNS) Unlike the CNS, DRG are not protected by a blood-nerve barrier, and are consequently vulnerable to metabolic and toxic injury [19]. We hypothesize that differential expression of identified targets in DRG would confirm heir involvement in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Defining ROS-diabetes literature To retrieve the list of biomedical literature associated with ROS and diabetes, PubMed was queried using (â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] AND â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]).This que ry yielded 54 articles as of April 27, 2009. SciMiner, a web-based literature mining tool [14], was used to retrieve and process the abstracts and available full text documents to identify targets (full text documents were available for approximately 40% of the 1 , 1 54 articles). SciMiner-identified targets, eported in the form of HGNC [HUGO (Human Genome Organization) Gene Nomenclature Committee] genes, were confirmed by manual review of the text. Comparison with human curated data (NCBI Gene2PubMed) The NCBI Gene database provides links between Gene and PubMed.The links are the result of (1) manual curation within the NCBI via literature analysis as part of generating a Gene record, (2) integration of information from other public databases, and (3) GeneRlF (Gene Reference Into Function) in which human experts provide a brief summary of gene functions and make the connections between citation PubMed) and Gene databases. For the 54 ROS-diabetes articles, gene-paper associations we re retrieved from the NCBI Gene database. Non-human genes were mapped to homologous human genes through the NCBI HomoloGene database.The retrieved genes were compared against the SciMiner derived targets. Any genes missed by SciMiner were added to the ROS-diabetes target set. Protein-protein interactions among ROS-diabetes targets To indirectly examine the association of literature derived targets (by SciMiner and NCBI Gene2PubMed) with ROS and diabetes, protein-protein interactions (PPIs) mong the targets were surveyed This was based on an assumption that targets are more likely to have PPIs with each other if they are truly associated within the same biological functions/pathways.A PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets was generated using the Michigan Molecular Interactions (MIMI, http://mimi. ncibi. org/ webcite) database [20] and compared against 100 PPI networks of randomly drawn sets (the same number of the ROS-diabetes target set) from HUGO. A standard Z-test and one sample T-test were used to calculate the statistical significance of the ROS- diabetes PPI network with respect to the random PPI networks.Functional enrichment analysis Literature derived ROS-diabetes targets (by SciMiner and NCBI Gene2PubMed) were subject to functional enrichment analyses to identify significantly over-represented biological functions in terms of Gene Ontology [21], pathways (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG, http://www. genome. ]p/kegg/ webcite) [22] and Reactome http://www. reactome. org/ webcite[23]). Fisher's exact test [24] was used to calculate the statistical significance of these biological functions with BenJamini-Hochberg (BH) adjusted p-value ; 0. 5 [25] as the cut-off. Over-represented ROS-diabetes targets Defining background corpora To identify a subset of targets that are highly over-represented within the ROS- diabetes targets, the frequency of each target (defined as the number of documents in which the target was identified divided by the n umber of total documents in the query) was compared against the frequencies in randomly selected background corpora.Depending on how the background set is defined, over-represented targets may vary widely; therefore, to maintain the background corpora close to the ROS and diabetes context, documents were selected from the same Journal, volume, and issue f the 54 ROS-diabetes documents, but were NOT indexed with â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] nor â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]. For example, one of the ROS-diabetes articles (PMID: 18227068), was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Volume 283, Issue 16. This issue contained 85 papers, 78 of which were not indexed with either â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] or â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH] indexed.One of these 78 papers was randomly selected as a background document. Three sets of 54 documents were selected using this approach and processed using SciMiner. Identified targets were con firmed by manual review for accuracy. Identifying significantly over-represented targets ROS-diabetes targets were tested for over-representation against targets identified from the three background sets. Fisher's exact test was used to determine if the frequency of each target in the ROS-diabetes target set was significantly different from that of the background sets. Any targets with a BH adjusted p-value < 0. 5 in at least two of the three comparisons were deemed to be an over-represented ROS- diabetes target. Functional enrichment analyses were performed on these over- represented ROS-diabetes targets as described above. Selecting targets tor real-time R A subset of targets were selected for RT-PCR from the top 10 over-represented ROS- diabetes targets excluding insulin and NADPH oxidase 5 (NOX5), which does not have a mouse ortholog. Nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOSI), the main generator of nitric oxide, ranked at the 1 5th position and was additionally selected for inclusion in th e test set.Differential gene expression by real-time RT-PCR Mice DBA/2J mice were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME). Mice were housed in a pathogen-free environment and cared for following the University of Michigan Committee on the Care and Use of Animals guidelines. Mice were fed AIN76A chow (Research Diets, New Brunswick, NJ). Male mice were used for this study. Induction of diabetes Two treatment groups were defined: control (n = 4) and diabetic (n = 4). Diabetes was induced at 13 weeks of age by low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) injections, 50 mg/kg/day for five consecutive days.All diabetic mice received LinBit sustained release insulin implants (LinShin, Toronto, Canada) at 8 weeks post-STZ treatment. Insulin implants were replaced every 4 weeks, at 12 and 16 weeks post-STZ treatment. At 20 weeks post-STZ treatment, mice were euthanized by sodium pentobarbital overdose and DRG were harvested as previously described [26]. Real-time RT-PCR The gene expression o f the selected nine literature-derived ROS-diabetes targets in DRG was measured using real-time RT-PCR in duplicate.The amount of mRNA isolated from each DRG was normalized to an endogenous reference [Tbp: TATA box binding protein; A cycle threshold (CT)]. Identification of ROS-diabetes targets A total of 1,021 unique targets were identified by SciMiner from the 1,154 ROS- diabetes papers defined by the query of (â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] AND â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]) and confirmed by manual review. Table 1 contains the op 10 most frequently mentioned targets in the ROS-diabetes papers. Insulin was the most frequently mentioned target, followed by superoxide dismutase 1 and catalase. Table 1 .Top 10 most frequent ROS-diabetes targets The NCBI Gene2PubMed database, containing expert-curated associations between the NCBI Gene and PubMed databases, revealed 90 unique genes associated with the 54 ROS-diabetes papers (Additional File 1). SciMiner identified 85 out of these 90 targets, indicating a 94% recall rate. Five targets missed by SciMiner were added to the initial ROS-diabetes target set to result in 1,026 unique targets (Additional File 2). Additional tile 1. The list ot 90 genes trom the NCBI Gene2PubMed database tor the ROS-Diabetes literature (1 , 1 54 papers).Format: XLS Size: 35KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 2. The list of 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 229KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets The PPI network among the ROS-diabetes targets was evaluated using MIMI interaction data. This was based on the assumption that targets commonly related to certain topic are more likely to have frequent interactions with each other.One hundred PPI networks were generated for comparison using the same number of genes (1,026) randomly selected from the complete HUGO gene set (2 5,254). The PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets was significantly different from the randomly generated networks indicating their strong association with the topic â€Å"ROS and Diabetes†. Table 2 demonstrates that the mean number of targets with any PPI interaction in the randomly generated target sets was 528. 9 (approximately 52% of 1,026 targets), while the number of targets with any PPI interaction in the ROS- iabetes target was 983 (96%).The number of targets interacting with each other was also significantly different between the random networks (mean = 155. 4) and the ROS-diabetes network (mean = 879). Figure 1 illustrates the distributions of these measurements from the 100 random networks with the ROS-diabetes set depicted as a red vertical line. It is obvious that the PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets is significantly different from the random networks. Table 2. Summary of 100 randomly generated PPI networks thumbnailFigure 1 . Histograms of randomly gene rated PPI networks.The histograms llustrate the distributions of 100 randomly generated networks, while the red line indicates the ROS-diabetes targets. The network of the ROS-diabetes targets is significantly different from the 100 randomly generated networks, indicating the overlap of ROS-diabetes targets with respect to the topic â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species and Diabetes†. Functional enrichment analyses of the ROS-diabetes targets Functional enrichment analyses of the 1,026 ROS-diabetes targets were performed to identify over-represented biological functions of the ROS-diabetes targets.After BenJamini-Hochberg correction, a total of 189 molecular functions, 450 biological rocesses, 73 cellular components and 341 pathways were significantly enriched in the ROS-diabetes targets when compared against all the HUGO genes (see Additional Files 3, 4, 5 and 6 for the full lists). Table 3 lists the top 3 most over-represented GO terms and pathways ranked by p-values of Fisher's ex act test: e. g. , apoptosis, oxidoreductase activity and insulin signaling pathway. Additional file 3. The enriched Molecular Functions Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 91 KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 4. The nriched Biological Processes Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 95KB Download file This tile can be viewed wit Microsott Excel Vieweropen Data Additional tile enriched Cellular Components Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 61 KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 6. The enriched pathways in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 104KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Table 3. Enriched functions of 1,026 ROS-diabetes targets Identification of over-represented ROS-diabetes targets To identify th e ROS-diabetes targets highly over-represented in ROS-diabetes literature, three sets of background corpora of the same size (n = 1 , 1 54 documents) were generated using the same Journal, volume and issue approach. The overlap among the three background sets in terms of documents and identified targets are illustrated in Figure 2.Approximately 90% of the selected background documents were unique to the individual set, while 50% of the identified targets were identified in at least one of the three background document sets. The frequencies of the identified targets were compared among the background sets for significant differences. None of the targets had a BH adjusted p-value ; 0. 05, indicating no significant difference among the targets from the three different background sets (See Additional File 7). thumbnailFigure 2. Venn diagrams of document compositions and identified targets of the randomly generated background sets.Approximately 90% of the selected background documents we re unique to individual set (A), while 50% of the identified targets were identified in at least one of the three background document sets (B). Additional file 7. Comparisons of target frequencies among three background sets. Format: XLS Size: 22KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Comparisons of the ROS-diabetes targets against these background sets revealed 53 highly over- represented ROS-diabetes targets as listed in Table 4.These 53 targets were significant (p-value ; 0. 05) against all three background sets and significant following BenJamini-Hochberg multiple testing correction (BH adjusted p-value ; 0. 05) against at least two of the three background sets. SODI was the most over-represented in he ROS-diabetes targets. Table 4. 53 targets over-represented in ROS-diabetes literature Functional enrichment analyses of the over-represented ROS-diabetes targets Functional enrichment analyses of the 53 ROS-diabetes targets were performed to identify over- represented biological functions.Following BenJamini-Hochberg correction, a total of 65 molecular functions, 209 biological processes, 26 cellular components and 108 pathways were significantly over-represented when compared against all the HUGO genes (see Additional Files 8, 9, 10 and 11 for the full lists). Table 5 shows the top 3 ost significantly over-represented GO terms and pathways ranked by p-values of Fisher's exact test. GO terms related to oxidative stress such as â€Å"superoxide metabolic process†, â€Å"superoxide release†, â€Å"electron carrier activity† and â€Å"mitochondrion† were highly over-represented 53 ROS-diabetes targets Additional file 8.The enriched Molecular Functions Gene Ontology Terms in the Over- represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 46KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 9. The enriched Biological Processes Gene Ontology Terms in the Over-represented 53 ROS- Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 95KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 10. The enriched Cellular Components Gene Ontology Terms in the Over-represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 66KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 1 1 . The enriched pathways in the Over-represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 75KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Table 5. Enriched functions of the 53 over-represented targets in diabetes Gene expression change in iabetes Two groups of DBA/2J mice exhibited significantly different levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (%GHb). The mean ? ± SEM were 6. 2 ? ± 0. for the non-diabetic control group and for 14. 0 ? ± 0. 8 for the diabetic group (p-value < 0. 001), indicative of prolonged hyperglycemia in the diabetic group [26]. DRG were harvested from these animals for gene expression assays. Nine genes were selected from the top ranked ROS-diabetes targets: superoxide dismutase 1 (Sodl), catalase (Cat), xanthine dehydrogenase (Xdh), protein kinase C alpha (Prkca), neutrophil cytosolic factor 1 Ncfl), nitric oxide synthase 3 (Nos3), superoxide dismutase 2 (Sod2), cytochrome b-245 alpha (Cyba), and nitric oxide synthase 1 (Nosl).Eight genes exhibited differential expression between diabetic and non-diabetic mice (p-value < 0. 05) as shown in Figure 3. Cat, Sodl, Sod2, Prkca, and NOSI expression levels were decreased, while Ncfl , Xdh, and Cyba expression levels were increased in diabetes. thumbnailFigure 3. Gene expression levels of selected ROS-diabetes targets in DRG examined by real-time RT-PCR. Expression levels are relative to Tbp, an internal control (error bar = SEM) (*, p < 0. 05; **, p < 0. 01; ***, p < 0. 01). Eight (Cat, Sodl, Ncfl , Xdh, Sod2, Cyba, Prkca, and Nosl) out of the nine selected ROS-diabetes genes were sign ificantly regulated by diabetes. Discussion Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are products of normal energy metabolism and play important roles in many other biological processes such as the immune response and signaling cascades [4-6]. As mediators of cellular damage, ROS are implicated in pathogenesis of multiple diseases including diabetic complications [27-30].With the aid of literature mining technology, we collected 1 ,026 possible ROS-related targets from a set of biomedical literature indexed with both ROS and diabetes. Fifty-three targets were significantly over-represented in the ROS-diabetes papers when compared against three background sets. Depending on how the background set is defined, the over-represented targets may vary widely. An ideal background set would be the entire PubMed set; however, this is not possible due to limited access to tull texts and intense data processing.An alternative method wou d be to use only abstracts in PubMed, but this may not fully represen t the literature. Using only the abstracts, our target identification method resulted in 21 (39%) of the 53 key ROS- iabetes targets (Additional File 12), suggesting the benefit of rich information in full text documents. In the present study, background documents were randomly selected from the same Journal, volume, and issue of the 54 ROS-diabetes documents, which were not indexed with â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] nor â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH].This approach maintained the background corpora not far from the ROS and diabetes context. Additional file 12. The Key 53 ROS-Diabetes Targets Identifiable Using Only the Abstracts. Format: XLS Size: 23KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data The gene expression evels of nine targets selected from the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets were measured in diabetic and non-diabetic DRG. Our laboratory is particularly interested in deciphering the underlying mechanisms of diab etic neuropathy, a major complication of diabetes.Data published by our laboratory both in vitro and in vivo confirm the negative impact of oxidative stress in complication-prone neuron tissues like DRG In an effort to obtain diabetic neuropathy specific targets, SciMiner was employed to further analyze a subset of the ROS-diabetes papers (data not shown). Nerve growth factor (NGF) was identified as the most over- epresented target in this subset when compared to the full ROS-diabetes set; however, NGF did not have statistical significance (BH adjusted p-value = 0. 06). The relatively small numbers of papers and associated targets may have contributed to this non-significance.Therefore, the candidate targets for gene expression validation were selected from among the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets derived from the full ROS-diabetes corpus. Among the tested genes, the expression levels of Cat, Sodl , Sod2, Prkca, and NOSI were decreased, while the expression levels of Ncfl , Xdh, and Cyba were increased nder diabetic conditions. Cat, Sodl , and Sod2 are responsible for protecting cells from oxidative stress by destroying superoxides and hydrogen peroxides [8-11]. Decreased expression of these genes may result in oxidative stress [32].Increased expression of Cyba and Ncfl , subunits of superoxide-generating nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase complex [30], also supports enhanced oxidative stress. Xdh and its inter-convertible form, Xanthine oxidase (Xod), showed increased activity in various rat tissues under oxidative stress conditions ith diabetes [33], and also showed increased expression in diabetic DRG in the current study. Unlike the above concordant genes, protein kinase C and nitric oxide synthases did not exhibit predicted expression changes in diabetes.Protein kinase C activates NADPH oxidase, further promoting oxidative stress in the cell [34,35]. Decreased expression of Prkca in our diabetic DRG is not parallel with expression levels of other enzymes expected to increase oxidative stress. Between the two nitric oxide synthases tested in the present study, NOSI (neuronal) expression was significantly decreased (p-value < 0. 01) in diabetes, while Nos3 (endothelial) expression was not significant (p-value = 0. 06). The neuronal NOSI is expected to play a major role in producing nitric oxide, another type of highly reactive free radical.Thus, with some exceptions, the majority of the differentially expressed genes in DRG show parallel results to the known activities of these targets in diabetes, suggesting enhanced oxidative stress in the diabetic DRG. Assessment of antioxidant enzyme expression in diabetes has yielded a variety of results [36-40] depending upon the duration of diabetes, the tissue studied and other factors. In diabetic mice and rats, it is commonly reported that superoxide dismutases are down-regulated [37-40], where data regarding catalase are variable [36,40].PKC is activated i n diabetes, but most papers that examined mRNA demonstrated that its expression is largely unchanged [41]. Among the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets, SODI was the most over- represented and was differentially expressed under diabetic and non-diabetic conditions. To the best of our knowledge, no published study has investigated the role of SODI in the onset and/or progression of diabetic neuropathy. Mutations of SODI have long been associated with the inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) [42] and the theory of oxidative stress-based aging [43].Early reports indicate that knockout of the SODI gene does not affect nervous system development [44], although recovery following injury is slow and incomplete [45,46]. With respect to diabetes, SODI KO accelerates the development of diabetic nephropathy [47] and cataract formation [48]. Thus, examining the SODI KO mouse as a model of diabetic neuropathy would be a reasonable follow-up study. One limitation of the cur rent approach using literature mining technology is incorrect r missed identification of the mentioned targets within the literature.Based on a performance evaluation using a standard text set BioCreAtlvE (Critical Assessment of Information Extraction systems in Biology) version 2 [49], SciMiner achieved 87. 1% recall (percentage identification of targets in the given text), 71. 3% precision (percentage accuracy of identified target) and 75. 8% F-measure (harmonious average of recall and precision = (2 x recall x precision)/(recall + precision)) before manual revision [14]. In order to improve the accuracy of SciMiner's results, each target was anually reviewed and corrected by checking the sentences in which each target was identified.Approximately, 120 targets (†10% of the initially identified targets from the ROS-diabetes papers) were removed during the manual review process. The overall accuracy is expected to improve through the review process; however, the review process did not address targets missed by SciMiner, since we did not thoroughly review individual papers. Instead, 5 missed targets, whose associations with ROS-diabetes literature were available in the NCBI Gene2PubMed database, were added to the final ROS-diabetes target list (Additional File 2).

The Hunger Games Book One Review

The Hunger Games Book One Review In The Hunger Games, author Suzanne Collins has created a fascinating dystopian world. The Hunger Games is a compelling novel focusing on life in an authoritarian society in which young people must compete to the death in the annual Hunger Games. The main character, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, volunteers for the Hunger Games to keep her younger sister from being required to participate and her experiences and fight to survive are the heart of the book. Reading The Hunger Games can lead to interesting discussions about our own world and how reality shows, threats of war, authoritarian governments and obsession with fashion trends influence us daily. Due to the darkness of the story, it is best suited for teens and adults rather than tweens, although many younger kids have read the book or seen the movie or both. Panem: the World of the Hunger Games Trilogy While the creation of Panem is not fully fleshed out until the second book, we know that this authoritarian society was the result of a horrible disaster during the Dark Days, resulting in the establishment of twelve districts under the rule of the government in the Capitol. Peacekeepers and a local government are instituted in each district, but the rulers in the Capitol have strict control over everything and everyone in each district. Each district has its own specialty that benefits the Capitol, such as coal mining, agriculture, seafood, etc. Some districts provide the Capitol with energy or material goods and some provide the manpower to keep those in the Capitol in power. The people who live in the Capitol contribute little to their own sustenance and are concerned mainly with the latest fashions and amusements. The Hunger Games are an annual tradition directed by the Capitol rulers, not only to amuse the citizens  but also to preserve control over the districts by demonstrating the Capitols dominance. Each year, the twelve districts must send two representatives, a girl and a boy, to participate in the Hunger Games. These representatives are called â€Å"tributes† to make people believe that representing their district is an honor, even though each person lives in fear that someone they love will be chosen. And the entire nation must watch as these 24 tributes battle each other to the death until only one is left as the victor. Having a victor is important to a district - extra food and a few luxuries will be granted to the winners district. The government has created the ultimate reality show, complete with technological challenges and constant monitoring of the movements of the participants. Each citizen is required to watch the Games until their conclusion, which may take hours or days. Summary of the  Story Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen has been providing for her family since her father’s death in a mining accident. She has done this by illegally hunting beyond the boundaries of District 12 and using the game she kills for food or for barter. Through her skill with a bow and her ability to track and snare rabbits and squirrels, her family has been able to survive. They have also survived because Katniss signs up for the tessera, a ration of grain that is given in exchange for placing your name in the lottery for the reaping, the ceremony that determines who will be the district’s representative in the Games. Everyone’s name goes in the lottery from the time they reach the age of 12 until they turn 18. Each time Katniss exchanges her name for the tessera, her chances of being the one whose name is called increase. Only it isn’t her name that is called it is her sister’s. Prim Everdeen is the one person that Katniss loves above all others. She is only 12, quiet, loving and on her way to being a healer. She would not be able to survive the reaping and Katniss knows this. When Prim’s name is called, Katniss immediately volunteers to take her place as a tribute from District 12 to the Hunger Games. Katniss knows that it is not only her own life on the line in the games, but that others will benefit as well if she is the victor and her skills as a hunter will give her an edge in the Games. But her life as a tribute becomes more complicated by the other tribute from District 12. Peeta Mellark, the baker’s son, is a boy that Katniss owes a favor because of a kindness that he showed her when she was most desperate and her family’s survival was at stake. And Katniss knows that now her survival will mean his death. Katniss is whisked away from her family and Gale, her best friend and hunting partner, to the Capitol, where she is prepped and primped to participate in the Games. She and Peeta are to be mentored by Haymitch, the only tribute that District 12 has had who was a winner of the Games. But Haymitch is a reluctant and seemingly inadequate mentor, so Katniss realizes she must rely on her own strengths in order to survive. As the first book of the trilogy, The Hunger Games is compelling reading and makes the reader want to read the next book immediately to find out what happens to Katniss and Peeta. Katniss is a strong character who solves her own problems and takes charge of her own life. Her struggles with her divided affections between two boys are realistically portrayed but not overwrought. And her tendency to inadvertently create problems can spark many conversations about whether she was right or wrong and whether she stayed true to who she is. Katniss is a character that readers will not soon forget. About the Author, Suzanne Collins With the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins, award-winning author of the Underland Chronicles, brings her talents to a new trilogy aimed at a more mature audience than her books about Gregor, the Overlander. Collins was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2010, an honor that was based on the popularity of the first two books in the Hunger Games trilogy. In its popularity and impact, the trilogy has been compared to other popular fantasy novels for young people, such as the Twilight series and the Harry Potter series. Collins’ experience as a television writer enables her to create stories that appeal to tweens and teens. Suzanne Collins also wrote the screenplay for the movie adaptations of The Hunger Games. Review and Recommendation The Hunger Games will appeal to teens, ages 13 and up. The 384-page book contains violence and strong emotions so younger tweens may find it disturbing. The writing is excellent and the plot propels the reader through the book at a rapid rate. This book has been chosen by Kansas State University to be given to all of the incoming freshmen to read so that they will all be able to discuss it throughout the campus and in their classes. It has also become assigned reading in many high schools. The book is rich in discussion points not only about governments, personal freedom, and sacrifice but also about what it means to be yourself and not submit to society’s expectations. For information on challenges to the book, see The Hunger Games Trilogy. (Scholastic Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780439023481) Edited March 5, 2016 by Elizabeth Kennedy Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our  Ethics Policy.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Essay Example

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Essay Example The Unbearable Lightness of Being Paper The Unbearable Lightness of Being Paper The Unbearable Lightness of Being, a film set in 1968 Prague, is a story of a love triangle between three main characters: Tomas, Teresa, and Sabina. Tomas and Sabina have always had a sort of love between one another as they have been making love quite some time, while Tomas also has Teresa, whom he meets on a trip out of town, and soon marries. The couples battle this love for one another, knowing that there is something deeper within this love triangle. Tomas, a surgeon living in Prague, is a persistent womanizer, unable to resist his unending stream of meaningless sexual flings with multiple and yet anonymous women. Tomas has his way with women, and having such good looks, he doesn’t have a hard time getting their attention and convincing them to take off their clothes. Tomas doesn’t have a desire or tendency to change throughout the film. There are points that Tomas gives the suggests that he is going to put away his womanizing ways and be with Teresa, the one who he is married to, yet in the end, he still has the two women, Teresa and Sabina. Tomas is happy with his sexual flings with Sabina and his unending love with Teresa. Teresa, characterizing herself as weak, is in love with Tomas. She doesn’t condemn Tomas for his adultery once they are married, even though she knows it is going on. She looks to Tomas as stronger than her, and Teresa envies what Tomas has with these women. Teresa makes the statement that she wants to understand what Tomas feels when he is making love to other women. Teresa changes continuously through the course of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, as she is forced to recognize the impossibility of her youthful dreams. Teresa comes to admire her adversary Sabina and feels Sabinas powerful sensuality; although she knows Sabina is Tomass beloved mistress. Just as Tomas must question his lightness, Teresa must also question her heaviness. Sabina, in contrast, represents extreme lightness of being. Faced with the ugliness and kitsch early in life, from her fathers repressive masculine home to the oppressive art styles pressed at her art school, Sabina declares war on the ugly and unoriginal through her paintings and lifestyle. The love affair Tomas and Sabina share is due to their mutual lightness. Teresa draws the attention from the moment she steps on the scene. Teresa is a unique character who only loves Tomas. Tomas is completely betraying the commitment made with Teresa through marriage as he chooses to continue in sexual acts with Sabina. One can sympathize with Teresa and her desire to be the only thing Tomas wants. Teresa dreams that Tomas drags her into a room as he is making love with Sabina and forces her to watch. Though Teresa suggests that this is what she wants, it is apparent she doesn’t really. Teresa only wants Tomas to want her completely and not desire other women. Tomas, as the womanizer, battles with the desire to be with Sabina, but to still love Teresa. It is apparent that Tomas truly loves and cares for Teresa, and this can be a redeeming characteristic, but the idea that he is not willing to let go of Sabina completely for his wife is a let-down. It is interesting how these characters, though so far apart, come together in the end. Teresa and Tomas have an emotional bond while Sabina and Tomas only have a physical bond. Tomas and Sabina do not share the same bond emotionally that Teresa and Tomas share. Tomas can only have sex with a woman and then leave, but when Teresa comes to Tomas’ house, she sleeps over. Tomas obviously has let his guard from women down at this point because the feelings he feels for Teresa are more than just sexual desires. Whereas, when Tomas and Sabina participate in sexual acts, the bowler hat plays a key role. Without the hat, Tomas and Sabina don’t engage in sex. The scene when Tomas visits Sabina at her house and goes to leave, but turns around to see Sabina with the hat on which instantly makes him want to be with her, proves the connection is through the erotic toys and not true love. A connection between Teresa and Sabina begins when Teresa visits Sabina for her photo shoot. Near the end of the shoot there is a physical bond between Teresa and Sabina, when they are both naked playing around with one another. When Teresa enters Sabina’s home, she knows that there are sexual things going on between Sabina and Tomas, and when she sees the unmade bed, it is at that point very clear to her. Sabina and Teresa share a physical touch during this scene that really defines the love triangle. Though Tomas, Sabina, and Teresa never interact as a group, their interactions play on one another. Teresa knows that Tomas is sexually active with other women and Sabina is suspected. This interaction between Tomas and Sabina affects the marriage between Teresa and Tomas as they try to have a marriage based on one another, but can’t since Tomas is looking outside of the marriage for sexual desires. When Teresa and Tomas pick out the puppy together, this puppy is a representation of their marriage together. They have a living thing bonding them together, such as children. This puppy is important in the relationship between Tomas and Teresa throughout the film, and in the end we see the death of the puppy and how that simple thing brings Tomas and Teresa together. Teresa and Tomas are married, Tomas and Sabina are lovers, and a slight relationship between Teresa and Sabina is addressed. This is interesting how three people can carry on such an intense relationship and not have extreme jealousy over one another. Teresa is the most interesting character in this film. Teresa knows the true meaning of life and she understands the beauty in life. Teresa connects with her photography in a way that reveals the essence and beauty behind everyday life. When Teresa takes pictures at the invasion, the pictures are of what is going on. Each individual photo has a purpose and a deep meaning other than the invasion. Teresa knows that she loves Tomas, but she learns that she can’t depend on him completely, that is why she leaves and returns home. Teresa says that she is a burden on Tomas and just a heavy weight on him. She sees how free and light Tomas takes his life, and she knows she is not that way. Teresa cherishes the simple things in life, such as her photography. Teresa falls instantly in love with Tomas because he is reading a novel when he enters the cafe. Growing up with a vulgar mother and in a town where no one reads, Teresa sees the book as a symbol or a way that she can recognize and relate with Tomas in a way that she can’t anyone else. The book remains their point of connection, as they name their dog, their only mutual possession and responsibility, after a character in the book Teresa was reading the first day they were together. Teresa notices the small things and cherishes it all. Teresa looks at life as something much more worthy than Tomas, who cherishes women and who he is going to get to take off their clothes next. Teresa catches an eye in the film and keeps the audience interested in her the entire time. The audience can relate to her feelings in a way that is more difficult to do so with Tomas and Sabina. Teresa is the most appealing character and views life as worthy and cherished other than disposable and worthless. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, a film of a very intense love triangle between three characters in Prague, is filled with symbols of love, adultery, and emotion. The film is a discussion of lightness versus heaviness and which role each character has against the other. The sexuality in the film is never too much because without it the film would be meaningless and serve no purpose. Though sometimes the audience doesn’t understand the purpose of the sex in any given scene, there is deeper meaning behind it.

Gulf War re-cap essays

Gulf War re-cap essays Why Did the US Army stop short of Baghdad in Operation Desert Storm and leave Iraqi Shiites and Kurds more or less alone to face the wrath of Saddam Hussein? Why did a coalition of over 30 nations find it was necessary to go to war to help Kuwait after it was invaded by Iraq? How did the Coalition defeat the Iraqis? And why did they leave thousands of Kurds and Iraqi Shiites to face Saddam Hussein? The Gulf War was sparked by Saddams violent tendencies, the dispute over borders, and finally most importantly oil. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 the world had seen enough, the NATO nations formed a coalition with other countries and declared war on Iraq. One key piece of this collation was Iraqi Shiites and Kurds who had been fighting Saddams oppressive reign for years, however when the war ended they were left to face Saddam alone without the promised US help. Together these groups fought in the Middle East until 1991 trying to liberate the nation of Kuwait and rid the region of Saddams terror. Since the invasion of Kuwait caught the world by surprise, the question in everybodys mind was What were the reasons for the invasion? The first reason was Saddam Hussein, Saddam had two distinct characteristics: one, the determination to be remembered in history, two, a certain vision of the future, Saddam wanted to have a unified Arab world with Baghdad as its center. Hussein also felt that after the fall of the Ottoman Empire there was an uneven distribution of wealth from oil reserves to the allied nations (Bin, Hill, Jones 1998). Iraqs only hope of survival was clearly oil revenues from its neighbor, Kuwait. Iraqs economy was also hurt with the consequences of the 8-year Iran-Iraq War, a war in which the Americans provided weapons and training for Iraqi troops (Grossman 1995). When Iraqs leaders claimed victory there were three-quarters of a million ...

Share your perspective on leadership in the workplace and describe how Essay

Share your perspective on leadership in the workplace and describe how it has been shaped by the increasing influence of globalization - Essay Example This paper focuses on identifying few underlying factors that affect leadership methods in the contemporary organizational setup. McShane states, â€Å"Globalization refers to economic, social and cultural connectivity with people in other parts of the world† (p.8). From this perspective, globalization has serious implications for business leaders, especially in multinational organizations. These organizations require diverse workforce as well as diverse leaders that possess awareness of influence of cultural, political and social aspects on business. Globalization has resulted in easier accessibility of technology, information, data and products/services. It has also resulted in stiffer competition among organizations and greater passion of people to achieve more in less time, contrary to the conventional steady growth rate powered by profits and bureaucracy. Leaders in contemporary workplace embody these implications in the form of aggression in their business conduct, growth and aspirations. As a result, evidences of businesses booming and going bust have surfaced in recent past. Secondly, globalization has caused organizational struggle for existence, and sustenance is extremely difficult besides opening up opportunities to expand and develop. These opportunities have in fact caused paradigm shifts of leaders in different parts of the world. For instance, the Chinese managers are becoming increasingly individualistic contrary to their collectivistic culture. The research also reveals lowered commitment of new managers to their traditional values, here Confucianism (Ralston et al, 425). Mindset of future managers is changing rapidly towards embracing global strategies and challenges, which means leaders/managers are adapting to international management styles irrespective of their cultural background (Peng & Shin, 179). Despite leaders’ adjustments to the process of globalization, many businesses continue

The Rewards For Caring for a Pet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Rewards For Caring for a Pet - Essay Example Having a dog as a pet is a big responsibility and requires that the owner give as much to the pet as they expect in return. A dog can't get to the doctor, shop for dog food, or open the door to go outside. The well cared for dog needs a human's attention on a regular basis. The rewards that are gained from a happy and healthy dog come from giving your dog the proper care and treatment that they need. The care for any new dog in the household begins when the puppy is just a few weeks old and lays a foundation for its future good health. As a puppy, the first trip outside the home will probably be to visit a veterinarian to get the preventative care that they need to stay healthy. The veterinarian will typically give the dog a series of shots that prevent the dog from acquiring such illnesses as distemper and rabies. This will usually be followed up at a later date by the second series of booster shots, including de-worming, that ensures that the dog will have a lifetime of immunity to the diseases that most commonly afflict dogs. These initial vet visits will be augmented throughout the life of the dog by ongoing treatments for other threats to a dog's health. The veterinarian gives the dog the first line of defense against the major canine ailments, but it is up to the owner to provide regular and ongoing treatment for additional problems that face the dog. The veterinarian can give the dog a pill that kills any existing worms and will need to work with the owner to maintain a regimen of ongoing treatment to eliminate the possibility of a lethal case of heartworms (Crans). In addition, a dog can be subject to fleas, mites, skin conditions, and ear infections that may require additional treatment. The owner needs to regularly observe the animal for signs of unusual scratching or behavior that might indicate a health problem. There are many products such as flea collars, pills, and drops that provide lasting prevention for fleas and ticks (Potter). In addition, the dog's ears require regular cleaning and many other conditions can be attended to with over the counter medicines or with the help of a veterinarian. A dog that is in good health will have a healthy appetite and it is essential to maintain a proper diet to make a happy dog. While many dogs enjoy people food, it can be a recipe for bad health. A steady diet of table scraps is usually not well balanced in terms of the fat and protein that fit the special needs of a dog. Improper feeding or overfeeding can cause a dog to become overweight and places undue strain on the dog's well being. The dog's diet should reflect the proper mix of protein, fat, carbohydrates, and vitamins. The dog's veterinarian, or reliable Internet information, can recommend good food or provide the nutrient requirements that are required for a healthy dog. Dog owners can usually do very well if they buy a high-quality dry dog food and add some meat broth, leftover vegetables, or lean meat scraps (Building a Balanced Diet). In addition to eating the correct food, it is important to not overfeed the dog. Some dogs may eat until the food is gone and the quantities will need to be monitored. The correct amounts are printed on all dog food packaging to make the owner's job easy. Following these simple steps will result in a dog that is fit and trim.

International accounting standards Research Paper

International accounting standards - Research Paper Example The purpose of this paper is to try and understand the implications the prevalent global financial crisis will have on the organizations that are placed in order to determine the accounting standards for firms to follow Now,in the U.S.,the applicable regulations are Generally Accepted Accounting Principles,while in Europe they are the International Financial Reporting Standards. However, we will be focusing more on the International Financial Reporting Standards in Europe which are surveyed and controlled by the International Accounting Standards Board; if nothing but merely due to a lack of space. Now, our strategy in dealing with this topic is going to be as follows: the inner workings of the global financial crisis and what it has become in the present will be critically analyzed as quite frankly, that lies outside the bounds of this topic. Rather, we will pick out some International Accounting Standards that are currently in place and actively applied throughout the world. We wil l then try to analyze whether a change needs to be made to these standards in order to make them more holistic with regards to the contemporary global financial landscape. [1]For the purpose of this paper, we have chosen International Accounting Standard 1 and 24. Now the reason for choosing these standards is very simple: the first international accounting standard is related to the proper documentation of the financial statements and their proper release to the public. This has been a major talking point during the recent global financial crisis i.e. firms have been alleged by all quarters to have misread and subsequently withheld important information from their investors which led to the escalation of a minute problem; which was the sub-prime mortgage crisis into this global financial crisis. [2] The other International Accounting Standard that we have chosen for our paper is IAS 24 which basically concerns the related party transactions. The choice of this specific standard had been geared by consistent notions running around the financial markets that organizations have used their related ventures of key partners in bailing out an firms which have been in financial distress as part of a setup which may not be wrong according to the letter of the law but is certainly ethically immoral and perhaps socially not optimal; given that such transactions of bailout have occurred. Based on our analysis of these two standards, we will try to rationalize a hypothesis for the question that has been posed to us at the start of the paper. [3] International Accounting Standard 1: The main purpose of the International Accounting Standard 1 is to formulate a sort of best practice for the manner in which financial statements of different companies are prepared for final presentation. This is largely in order to ascertain the seamless comparison vis--vis the financial statements of the organization that have been produced in the preceding years and with the financial statements of other organizations. To achieve this goal, this standard demarcates a holistic set of prerequisites with regards to the presentation of financial statements, principles governing their configuration and the least necessities that have to be present in the reports vis--vis their specific subject matter. A complete set of financials must include a Balance Sheet, an Income Statement, a Statement of changes in Owner's Equity demonstrating all the changes in the equity or changes in equity beside those transactions which have been conducted by equity holders whilst they used their position a s equity holders, a Cash Flow Statement and a Notes for Guidance [4] In addition to this, the standard is also very clear on the other issues with regards to the presentation of the financial statements in that these statements must be unmistakably demarcated and

International Business Finance Report Research Paper

International Business Finance Report - Research Paper Example Most of the green building material firms in China and high-end architecture designs are widely influenced by foreign players, who account for approximately 30% of the whole market share within the republic (EU SME Centre, 2013). Among the 200 leading international companies dealing with green building materials, over 140 have already invested in the Chinese market. For instance, in the 2008 Olympic competition, nearly 121 organizations participated in designing of all the athletic stadiums, 74 of which were either overseas or foreign-owned (EU SME Centre, 2013). Moreover, key global engineering consultancies have their branches in China, participating in numerous large-scale projects nationally. Besides foreign organizations, Chinese firms, particularly the ones with government support, are powerful players in the market, towards realizing large-scale government projects. Relating to building materials, the organization is likely to face stiff competition from foreign firms. Nevertheless, there are more local Chinese producers utilizing the price benefits in the market, even though the standard is relatively low. OzGreen should brace itself for a stiff competition in the Chinese market. As a consolation, the market is still big enough to get a share of the cake (EU SME Centre, 2013). Some of the most establish green building material firms in China include Hunter Douglas, an international firm which boasts of building and furnishing the red skin for the Chinese Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 international Expo. Philips is also one of the key players in the market, having developed a sustainable lighting design and supply for Guangzhou Tower. Another likely competitor is OMA, which came up with the CCTV building in the heart of Beijing. Finally, we have Soeters and Grontmij, which recently won the contest of Wuhan New Energy Centre. The centre will be the most energy efficient tower in the planet (EU SME Centre, 2013). The building of

The Long-Term Significance of the Vietnam War Essay

The Long-Term Significance of the Vietnam War - Essay Example The North Vietnamese Army, Vietnam people's army adopted a more traditional war at times using bigger units than the Viet Cong (Bedford/St Martin's 2009, 15). The United States and South Vietnamese armies depended on air control and overwhelming weapons to carry out search and destroy actions, involving artillery, ground forces, and airstrikes. This paper will discuss why the Vietnam War was significant and why America lost this battle. â€Å"Americans considered the Vietnam War as one of the most critical time of the United States history† (Hub Pages 2010, 1). It was an injury to the U.S spirit, which, regardless of the devastating Korean War, might still have brought a straightforward feeling of triumph in having met, as well as dominated, the opponent in the Second World War. The intransigency of general after general, president after president, and the hopeless extremes to which the United States army went to win in Vietnam can be illustrated in the harsh Operation Ranch H and. This was whereby thousands of gallons of herbicides, jointly known as Agent Orange, were applied in defoliating large binds of forest terrain that hid the rival’s armies. ... â€Å"The Vietnam War took the globe in an exceptional course† (Chambers 2011, 10). Those ten years, 1962 to 1972, which the United States battled in Vietnam acted like a pressure liberation valve. â€Å"The war allowed streams to bleed off making the world’s pressures ease, as well as preventing a much superior war from happening† (Chambers 2011, 10). The United States’ original tactic of fighting the enemy was at the border. The tactic worked most of the times. The War, however, bought the world time. The United States’ existence gave time required for a majority of severe leaders behind the warfare, such as USSR's Nikita Khrushchev, China's Mao, and some of U.S's old guard to lose their power. Time developed into the factor that tipped the stability of power all across the globe in favor of essential reformers like Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev, who supported democratic power. â€Å"Time also helped in moving the Soviet citizens from the o ld and severe rule of the socialist state† (Chambers 2011, 10). After six months, nearly half million East Germans brought down the Berlin Wall. This was followed by the end of every Eastern European communist government, one after the other. â€Å"The United States lost the Vietnam War due to its foreign policy† (Shrinkermd 2008, 1). Their foreign policy was to stop, instead of getting rid of Communism. America would have been capable of destroying Communism many different times such as during the Korean War. â€Å"However, the American leaders did not want to eradicate Communism since it would make the Americans look like an Empire again such as the Philippines of the Spanish American warfare† (Shrinkermd 2008, 1). America lost the battle due to forfeit.

International Business Finance Report Research Paper

International Business Finance Report - Research Paper Example Most of the green building material firms in China and high-end architecture designs are widely influenced by foreign players, who account for approximately 30% of the whole market share within the republic (EU SME Centre, 2013). Among the 200 leading international companies dealing with green building materials, over 140 have already invested in the Chinese market. For instance, in the 2008 Olympic competition, nearly 121 organizations participated in designing of all the athletic stadiums, 74 of which were either overseas or foreign-owned (EU SME Centre, 2013). Moreover, key global engineering consultancies have their branches in China, participating in numerous large-scale projects nationally. Besides foreign organizations, Chinese firms, particularly the ones with government support, are powerful players in the market, towards realizing large-scale government projects. Relating to building materials, the organization is likely to face stiff competition from foreign firms. Nevertheless, there are more local Chinese producers utilizing the price benefits in the market, even though the standard is relatively low. OzGreen should brace itself for a stiff competition in the Chinese market. As a consolation, the market is still big enough to get a share of the cake (EU SME Centre, 2013). Some of the most establish green building material firms in China include Hunter Douglas, an international firm which boasts of building and furnishing the red skin for the Chinese Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 international Expo. Philips is also one of the key players in the market, having developed a sustainable lighting design and supply for Guangzhou Tower. Another likely competitor is OMA, which came up with the CCTV building in the heart of Beijing. Finally, we have Soeters and Grontmij, which recently won the contest of Wuhan New Energy Centre. The centre will be the most energy efficient tower in the planet (EU SME Centre, 2013). The building of

Authority Judicial Review Jurisdiction Case Study

Authority Judicial Review Jurisdiction - Case Study Example The Panel took the form of an entirely non-statutory, self-regulating association, setup by persons having a common interest, which had devised and operated a code of conduct to be observed in the take-overs and mergers of public companies. The court held that, bearing in mind that the panel did have governmental backing and was exercising its duties in the public interest, it should be subject to the control of public law. As Sir John Donaldson put it: "We have reached the position where the ambit of certiorari can be said to cover every case in which a body of persons of a public as opposed to a purely private of domestic character has to determine matters affecting subjects. Looked at in this way, the board in my judgment comes fairly and squarely within the jurisdiction of this court It is clearly performing public duties." This introduces the functions test of affects doctrine, that is if the body has the public functions or its decisions produce public law consequences then, in principle, the courts might intervene. In the case of the IRA, neither it has public functions nor do the decisions of the IRA produce public law consequences hence, the courts may not intervene in the given situation. Specifically, the IRA has no statutory or prerogative basis. One of its main functions

Mergers and Acquisition Essay Example for Free

Mergers and Acquisition Essay Why are there mergers and acquisitions? Mergers and acquisitions take place for a number of reasons, such as refinancing for a better price, amplifying expansion, and submerging risk through diversification. New entities may drag behind after a merger takes place due to the higher cost of matching different and unconnected economic activities. Diversification by business groups may also reduce technical effectiveness. When a merger takes place, a bigger business groups emerges from the two which usually will have more economic and political influence In this paper, we will assess the impact of mergers and acquisitions on firms, including sensible and dubious reasons for, and benefits and costs of, cash and stock transactions. We will also be sure to examine the financial risks of merging with or acquiring an organization in another country and how those risks could be mitigated. First we will we will assess the impact of mergers and acquisitions on firms while also touching on the benefits and costs of, cash and stock transactions. Who gains from mergers? Typically, the selling firm tends to be impacted favorably by the merge and/or acquisition rather than the firm acquiring the selling firm. Studies demonstrate that most of the benefits from mergers and acquisitions were earned by the selling firm, not the acquiring company. For example, recent research found that holders in the acquiring firm earned an estimated 4% return on their investment with the completed acquisition in contrast to the holders of the target firm whom typically received a 30% return on their investment. So, to imply that mergers and acquisitions do not create benefits would not be correct because the acquiring firms are paying too much money for their acquisitions. There are many sensible and dubious reasons for mergers and acquisitions. Many times the reason for acquisitions is for expansion. Expansion that is not limited by internal resources means there is no reduction of working capital which crates many benefits such as; stocks can be exchanged faster, assets can be purchased more quickly rather than building, better technology can be gained as well as resources and skills, and the tax benefits can sometimes give the new company better operating leverage in their particular market. Smaller firms will usually always gain from merging with larger firms because larger firms have better equipment, resources, and technology. The aforementioned reasons make the merged firms more effective in daily operations, which in turn, make the merged firms more alluring to their current and potential clients. Mergers and acquisitions also help reduce the merged firms risk by diffusing their debt and risk among the various companies with the firm. Oftentimes firms will merge in order to gain a larger market share within their perspective fields. For example, ATT recently merged with Cingular Wireless to become the nations largest telephone network and gain the highest market share of customers in telecommunications, thus trying to eliminate competition. Now, we will discuss the financial risks of merging with or acquiring companies in another country. There are many financial risks of merging or acquiring companies in another country. One, oftentimes there are culture clashes between the foreign firm and the home firm. These cultural clashes sometimes lead to losing valuable managers and workers to other firms because they do not desire to live in another country. Two, there may be a conflict of intentions in two different countries which could spell disaster for all firms involved. Other financial risks can include; foreign exchange rates, lawyer, banker, and brokers fees. Firms must know foreign banking and business laws such as the proper filings they must report with the SEC and foreign officials. Many consideration must be taken when considering merging /and or acquiring a foreign firm. In this paper, we assessed the impact of mergers and acquisitions on firms which we found to be more beneficial to the smaller of the merging firms due to their gaining of better equipment and resources. We found that there are indeed many sensible and dubious reasons for, and benefits and costs of, cash and stock transactions which include risk diversification among the merged firms. We examined the financial risks of merging with or acquiring an organization in another country and conclude that mitigation can be done by ensuring that the proper laws and culture differences are overcome before merging. References Brealey, R., Myers, S., Marcus, A. (2004). Fundamentals of Corporate Finance. Chapter 22: Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate Control. Retrieved from the internet on April 22, 2007 from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/content/eBookLibrary/content/eReader.h#Investopedia.com.(2007). Retrieved from the internet on April 22, 2007 from www.investopedia.com/university/mergers/mergers4.asp 36k

Benefits of Tourism in Singapore

Benefits of Tourism in Singapore 1.0Â  Introduction 1.1Definition of Tourism industry Tourism refers to the movement of people from different social and cultural background travelling out of their usual environment staying in a different place for business, personal, or professional reasons. These people are commonly referred to as tourist. Their actions in the country they visit affects the local economic market as they carry out their activities, as most of which may require them to spend money thus increasing the expenditure in the local markets which in turns boosts the GDP of the respective country (Media.unwto.org, 2014b). Therefore the tourism industry is formed to cater to the needs and demands of locals and tourists in terms of products and services and is defined as such in this report. 1.2 What does the tourism industry mean to Singapore? As Singapore lacks natural resources, the tourism industry serves as an integral factor that acts as a crucial pillar for the economy of Singapore. It contributes an estimated 4% to the gross domestic product of Singapore and also provides jobs to about 160,000 people. The tourism industry serves to reaffirm Singapore’s position as a global cosmopolitan city that is dynamic, able to cater to the locals’ and tourists’ demands for leisure, entertainment, giving consumers enhanced quality and diversity in terms of leisure creating a wider range of options creating a vibrant living environment that Singaporeans can proudly call home (Stb.gov.sg, 2014). 2.0Â  Economic Impact Analysis Four types of Economic Impacts that Tourism have on the economy 1-Direct contributions Tourism’s direct contributions are results of revenue earned from tourists’ expenditure by businesses like hotels, restaurants, retail outlets, transportation services, cultural / sports and recreational services. 2-Indirect contributions Some of the indirect contributions derive from investment spending from the businesses of the travel and tourism, Government expenditure in the form of investment to improve or enhance the industries. 3-Induced contributions The direct and indirect employees involved in this sector then in turn contributes to the consumption by spending their wages on food and beverages, recreational activities, clothes, housing and household goods. 4-Total contributions Therefore the total contributions from the direct, indirect and induced contributions will in turn affect the GDP and the employment rate as they affect various factors of the GDP equation which also affects the production rate thus increasing the GDP and employment rate in a situation when there is an increase in revenue and demand from tourist and with certis paribus assumed. 2.1 Contributions to Singapore’s GDP The latest press release by UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, shows that expenditure receipts international visitors spent on food and beverages, services, entertainment, accommodations and much more totaled up to an estimated SGD$ 1,455 billion during 2013. And that the growth rate of receipts experienced a 5% increase from 1035 million during 2012 to 1087 million during 2013(Media.unwto.org, 2014a). According to an economic report by Singapore’s Travel and Tourism Economic Impact report 2014, in 2013 travel and tourism’s direct contribution to Singapore’s GDP was SGD$ 19.1 billion (5.3% of total GDP) Singapore’s GDP. Its GDP contributions in 2014 is expected to experience a 5.8% increase, and also to experience a 3.4% increase per annum, as of 2014-2024, to SGDS$ 28.3 billion as of totaling a 5.3% of the total GDP in 2024 (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2014). The abovementioned news and report serves as macroeconomic examples that shows how tourism is able to increase consumption of goods through expenditure internationally and in a country. It also shows that tourism’s contributions to a nation’s GDP shows positive signs of growth thereby explaining why Singapore’s government is showing increased interest in the economic impacts that tourism presents on national and local levels. 2.2 Supports Job and Induces Investments The tourism industry serves to support employment indirectly by providing 295,620 job positions which makes up 8.7% of the total employment in Singapore. Currently, there is a SGD$ 16.2 billion worth of investment in the tourism industry which contributes to 19.7% of total investment which also expects to experience a 5.5% increase this 2014 (Singapore Business Review, 2014b). Therefore if the tourism industry booms and experiences an increase in demand for goods and services, relevant services and manufacturing companies that indirectly contributes to the tourism industry may experience shortage of manpower as a result also creating increased job opportunities for the people in Singapore. Purchases from suppliers may also experience an increase as more products are needed to cater to the demands of the people. Also due to increased numbers and demands from tourists, the government of Singapore would therefore have increased reasons to further invest in the travel and tourism industry which will eventually contribute to the GDP equation. 2.3 Increase in Tax revenues The Singapore government imposes a ‘sin’ tax on alcohol and tobacco goods on all business. These taxes are paid by firms when importing such goods. Tourists that consume such products while in Singapore increases the demand for such goods which makes businesses increase their imports to meet the demand, allowing the government to collect more ‘sin’ taxes increasing tax revenues of the government. Given the recent news of a 25% increase in liquor taxes, the potential revenue that can be earned when tourist or locals consume such products provides substantial reasons for the Singapore government to be interested in investing in tourism sectors in an attempt to attract more tourists, increasing the demand and consumption for liquor to generate more tax revenues (Straitstimes.com, 2014d). 2.4 Attractions and events Major events like the Singapore F1 Grand Prix serves to turbo charge economies by attracting tourists from all over the world to Singapore. A 12.6% increase in advance bookings of flights show how such events contribute directly to the tourism industry, not to mention the increase consumption of other services and products like restaurants, hotel accommodations and other necessities (AsiaOne, 2014). Tourist attractions like gardens by the bay, marine life park, river safari and national art gallery also serve to provide a wider range of activities for tourists to engage in thus increasing the population of tourists affecting the demand of goods and services and further generating revenues for local businesses(Singapore Business Review, 2014a). Coupled with the Casinos in Marina Bay Sands and resort world makes Singapore attractive to tourists. 3.0 Demand Analysis 3.1 Changi Airport plans for Terminal 4 Changi Airport is planning to build a fourth terminal that costs $985 million that is expected to be completed in 2017. The new terminal is expected to allow Changi Airport to cater to 16 million travelers annually (Straitstimes.com, 2014a). A new multi-story car park will also allow it to provide about 1500 parking lots. Coupled with the fact that Changi airport won Skytrax’s title for being the best airport, the planned terminal 4 would be able to increase the overall service quality making it a preferred airport resulting in increased demand as preferences is one of the main factors that result in a change of demand (Straitstimes.com, 2014b). The increased population of tourists also causes the demand for goods and services to experience an increase as it corresponds to the population factor regarding change in demand. 3.2 Gastronomic Tourism Gastronomic tourism is an emerging type of tourism that is being developed and packaged into a new tourism trend. This is due to the fact that 1/3 of a tourists’ expenditure is spent on food and beverages which is a necessity. Gastronomic tourists make experiential trips to countries to visit producers of food, food fairs and gastronomic festivals some of which may even try to learn how to cook the local dishes (World Tourism Organisation 2014, 2014). When Singapore organizes food fairs or events like the Food Hotel Asia 2014 and Wine Spirits Asia at Singapore Expo which ended on 11th April 2014, the demand of such gastronomic tourists to travel to Singapore would experience a significant increase. The events was host to a record of 64,826 international trade attendees from more than a hundred countries and regions which was also a 5.8% increase from 2012 (Foodnhotelasia.com, 2014). Thus showing how events like these are able to affect the numbers and type of tourists increasing the demand of goods and services. 3.3 Medical Tourism Latest reports from RNCOS, predicts Singapore’s medical tourism to experience a compound annual growth of 30% within the forecasted period of 2013 to 2017. Singapore is emerging to become a leader in the medical tourism market as it prides itself on its highly skilled healthcare professionals and world class medical infrastructure. The expected growth of medical tourism is also attributed to the fact that Singapore has state of art medical facilities and costs that are affordable in relation to quality(Digitaljournal.com, 2014). Being a preferred location for medical procedures increases the numbers of such tourists. Singapore is increasingly able to attract growing numbers of patients from lesser developed countries like Mongolia and Cambodia along with the current majority of medical tourists from developed or developing countries like Indonesia and Malaysia and the occasional patients from China and India (Mfa.gov.sg, 2014). Patients of such medical tourism also serves to i ncrease the consumption of other services and goods as depending on the respective medical procedures, their stay may take days, weeks or even months. 4.0 Environmental Analysis 4.1 Safety and security Singapore recently ranked 2nd out of 99 in a law study. It also ranks top ten in terms of its civil justice systems (WJP Rule of Law Index, 2014). The republic has praised by the World Justice Project for having low crime rates, political violence and high confidence in its law enforcers. This gives tourists a sense of safety and security when they are in Singapore which will further increase the popularity and preference of Singapore as a tourist location giving rise in the numbers of tourist who will contribute to increase consumption of goods and services in the country. 4.2 Clean and Green City Singapore is globally renowned to be a clean and green metropolitan city that is known to be of low pollution levels. Also attractions like Gardens by the Bay strives to attract more people to choose Singapore as a tourist location by attempting to create a city surrounded by gardens capturing the essence of a tropical garden city Singapore in an attempts to attract and increase the numbers of eco-tourists(Gardens by the Bay, 2014). 5.0 Conclusion The positive contributions and economic impacts of tourism supports and maintain many jobs and is also expected to create more jobs and further contribute to the country’s GDP in future, therefore Singapore’s government should implement policies and take a more proactive approach to boost the tourism industry. Actions should be taken to spruce up bridges like the Cavanagh Bridge which is part of Singapore River’s historical structures (Zaccheus, 2014). They should also continue their efforts to organize events like the F1 Grand Prix, constantly improving the facilities of the Changi airport while making plans to capture and become a first class cruise tourism market by ensuring swift completion of the Marina Bay Cruise Centre as that market is expected to see a growth of up to 3.8 million passenger by the year 2020 (Kaur, 2014). Lastly further efforts and investments to improve medical facilities in Health City Novena should also be taken in order to attract more medical tourists and also benefit the locals (Straitstimes.com, 2014c). Once these recommendations are implemented, Singapore should be able to attract more tourist and experience the positive economic impacts that the tourism industry can offer.