Stem Cells: What How and Why? Essay -- essays research papers

Stem Cells: What, How and Why? Stem cells are infinitely valuable when considering their potential applications in the medical profession. While current legislative restrictions have halted the development of new ?stem cell lines? to any agency or company that receives any form of governmental grants, there is no question that the medical profession is standing at the brink of a new era of technological advancements in healthcare and research. Stem cells are valuable due to the fact that they are ?non-designated,? (have no specifically assigned task in the body, i.e. liver cells, brain cells, skin cells, etc.) and they also have the ability to divide indefinitely. Thus, theoretically stem cells could replace any damaged or lost specifically designated cells within the body. However, this is just a brief mention of the potential applications of stem cell research, which will be discussed at a later point in this essay. Stem cells are categorized into three genres based upon their potential developmental capability, total to limited. (NIH PRIMER http://www.nih.gov/news/stemcell/primer.htm) Totipotent stem cells are stem cells whose potential is total, thus totipotent. Totipotent stem cells are derived from embryonic tissue and fertilized ovarian eggs. This type of stem cell is of particular importance to researchers due to its ability to ?specialize into extraembryonic membranes and tissues, the embryo, and all postembryonic tissues and organs? (NIH Primer). However these type of cells are extremely difficult to come by and only occur in certain places at certain developmental times. Pluripotent stem cells are stem cells in which their potential is large but not total as in Totipotent stem cells. These cells lead to the development of many cells, but cannot derive certain types of fetal cells necessary for the development of a fetus as do Totipotent stem cells. These cells undergo further assigment into cells that are designed to derive specifically assigned cells. Pluripotent stem cells are somewhat easier to come by comparatively speaking to totipotent stem cells. The final genre of stem cells is that of multipotent stem cells. These cells are more specialized than the other two categories and thus are more restricted in their capability. Multipotent stem cells are derived from pluripotent stem cells. While pluripotent stem cells are least in their po... ...if a republican president is elected following Bush. Some might say these restrictions are necessary as technology and knowledge expand. However, by allowing the government to limit was scientist can and can?t do; we?re only doing one thing. Making the most brilliant minds our country has to offer leave. It seems as though America is one of the last overly conservative strongholds left in the modern world. If we allow our government to restrict what scientist can research in the United States, the scientist will simply move somewhere where the research isn?t illegal. I regard science as a passion. I can say with absolute certainty it is not my passion, however to many who make it their career choice, it is. I offer you this example. My passion is writing, if the government made it illegal to write about what I desired, I would do whatever necessary to allow myself to follow my passion. Moving across that big pond we call the Pacific Ocean would be a small price to pay to follow my passion and practice it freely. It should be noted that by restricting research of nearly any kind (yes I do have some morals) would simply result in the loss of America?s greatest thinkers.

Computing project using Microsoft Access Essay

One of the administrative tasks in a hospital is to keep a record of loans to patients of equipment such as wheelchairs and crutches. The patients borrowing the equipment may still be in hospital or they may have been discharged. Records have to be kept of what equipment has been borrowed, by whom and when, and also if any equipment is not available because it is being repaired. You have been asked to create a computer application to replace the present manual one to record the necessary details to enable greater control to be kept and so cut down on loss and wastage. Design For this project, I am going to use Microsoft Access. The table below shows my design tasks list for the hospital patient and equipment database. Task Number Object Task Description 1 Patient Table Design the Patient table and the properties of its attributes 2 Equipment Table Design the Equipment table and the properties of its attributes 3 Equipment Status Table Design the Equpstat table for the Equipment Form Drop-down box 4 Patient Titles Table Design the Titles table for the Patient Form Drop-down box 6 Equipment Report. Design a Report to show current equipment status 7 Equipment Return Letter Design a report, in the style of a letter, which is sent to patients who have overdue equipment. 8 Patient Entry Form Design a form to provide a â€Å"front end† for the patient entry table 9 Equipment Booking Form Design a form to book equipment out to patients 10 Main Menu Form Design a form which can execute the other forms and records 11 Autoexec Macro Design a Macro that executes automatically on database open and opens the main menu 12 Security Implement some kind of security into the database. Design of Equipment Loaning System There are several types of equipment, ranging from wheelchairs to neck collars, and each type of equipment is available in different sizes, there are also several of each type and size of equipment. When deciding how to input and store the equipment into my database, I decided that their was two potential paths that I could follow: to place the equipment into my database with one record for each type and size of equipment, and having a â€Å"number in stock† field to represent multiples of equipment types with the same size. The second way of representing the data would be to let each individual piece of equipment have its own record. I elected to take the second route, although it would take more space, it would mean that if an item was damaged in someway, a note of the problem could be made in a â€Å"notes† field in the items record. The second problem I discovered was coming up with a way of having a code for each individual piece of equipment. Again, I found two main ways of doing this: An auto number system, or a system which would allow a user to determine what the equipment is just by looking at the code. I felt that the second way would be a better way of doing this, so I devised a system that fulfils this requirement (shown below). Item Codes Code Explanation WC Wheelchair CR Crutch EC Elbow Crutch NC Neck Collar -J Junior Size -S Small Size -M Medium Size -L Large Size -A Adult Size To get the individual items code, you simply add a number onto the end of the code. E. g. Junior Wheelchair number 1 would be WC-J1. Using this system, new pieces of equipment can be added with ease, whereas with an auto number system, it would mess up the order of the numbers. Equipment Booking Form Design Security This database holds confidential information about patients, and should therefore be kept secure from illegitimate access, both physically and electronically. As stated in the data protection act, it would be the hospitals responsibility to keep the data secure. I have employed a basic password protection system into the database, with only one user, as I feel that a multi user password system with different levels of access for each user would be inappropriate in this instance because the only users would be the desk staff, and occasionally the administrator for backup purposes. To provide security on an electronic level, I would recommend making sure there is an appropriate firewall system installed if the terminal the database is running on is connected to any network external to the hospital. I would also recommend a weekly backup to a removable media, kept in a fireproof safe, with back copies kept for as long as possible, in case the system is infected with an undetected Trojan. On a physical level, I would recommend that rooms where terminals have access to the database are kept locked. Implementation Task Number Object Screen Dumps from Access 1. Design View of Patient Form 13 Patient Form Data View of Patient Form 14 Main Menu Form Design View of Main Menu Form 15 Main Menu Form Data View of Main Menu Form 16 Main Menu Form Show Visual Basic Code used 17 Autoexec Macro Screen Dump of Autoexec Macro Patient Table Equipment Table Equipment Status Table Patient Titles Table Entity Relationship Diagram Equipment Report Customer Letter Report Equipment Form Patient Form Main Menu Form Main Menu (Vb Code) For the main menu, I decided to incorporate a clock, as it provides a purpose (to tell the time), and also looks good on the form. Equipment Form (Vb Code) For the equipment booking form, I used two visual basic sub forms; the first sets the return date and the out date when the â€Å"loan out† button is pressed, and the second sets the return date and the out date to zero when the combo box which controls the status of the item is changed. I used this last bit of code because it saves the user having to delete the date manually when the equipment is returned from loan, but it has the downside of having to set the status before pressing the â€Å"loan out† button, otherwise it undoes this action.

Social Networking Addiction

The last decade witnessed an explosion of social networks such as Myspace and Facebook, which added a new social dimension to the web. While such networks have made people, communities and groups with shared interests stay more â€Å"connected,† Internet addiction and social network addiction in particular also started being recognized as psychological disorders all over the world. While several 90? studies focused on Internet addiction, the next decade saw the growth of a new addiction related to all manner of social networking sites, especially the current king of the jungle: Facebook. In a recent study from the University of Athens, Greek psychiatrists argued that a woman who had gone as far as losing her job on account of her compulsion to check and update her Facebook, could be identified as a â€Å"social network addict. † Of course, there are different levels of social network addiction. Another recent study carried out at a Czech University analyzed Facebook-related academic procrastination. Though based on a sample too small to draw any general conclusions, one interesting finding of the research was that people tended to be unaware of just how much time they really spent on Facebook, and the effect this might have on their academic performance. On the other hand, it has been noted that there may be a correlation between low self-esteem and a sense of social inadequacy and social network addiction. It seems that many types of social interaction which would present great challenges in the real world for certain types of individuals have been rendered much easier for them in the virtual world, thus putting them at a higher risk of becoming addicted to Facebook and the like. A Mexican study found that Facebook addicts (a category defined by reportedly spending over four hours everyday on Facebook) had a higher incidence of depression and lower physical and general self-esteem levels than less frequent Facebook users. There are many factors that determine the characteristics of Internet and social network addictions in different parts of the world. The nature and scope of these problems are not only affected by technological advancement and the number of computers connected to the Internet per capita and other such quantitative data, but cultural factors are also key in determining the local incidence of these addictions. While social network addiction is not included in the DSM IV, many researchers advocated its inclusion in DSM V, which is currently under way. For example, in a 2008 editorial for the American Journal of Psychiatry, IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder) inclusion advocate Dr. Jerald Block cited the case of South Korea, stating that: After a series of 10 cardiopulmonary-related deaths in Internet cafes  and a game-related murder, South Korea considers Internet addiction one of its most serious public health issues. Using data from 2006, the South Korean government estimates that approximately 210,000 South Korean children (2. %; ages 6–19) are afflicted and require treatment. About 80% of those needing treatment may need psychotropic medications, and perhaps 20% to 24% require hospitalization. Since the average South Korean high school student spends about 23 hours each week gaming, another 1. 2 million are believed to be at risk for addiction and to require basic counseling. In particular, therapists worry about the increasing number of individuals dropping out from school or work to spend time on computers. As of June 2007, South Korea has trained 1,043 counselors in the treatment of Internet addiction and enlistedover 190 hospitals and treatment centers. Nevertheless, the DSMV V draft released earlier this year revealed â€Å"work group members decided there was insufficient research data† to include Internet addiction in the newly created â€Å"behavioral addictions† category. It has been over 13 years since pioneer Kimberley S. Young adapted the DSM IV criteria for gambling addictions to define Internet addiction. While her proposed diagnosis criteria have virally spread (to use a familiar term related to social networking) all over the world, it seems that the scientific community is not yet ready to reach a consensus as to what this type of addiction entails. Social networks have changed the ways we interact with each other enormously. One thing that has changed dramatically is the concept of meeting people. This was brought to my attention a couple of weeks ago, when I met a musician for the first time, whom I had casually crossed online a couple of times. Oddly enough, none of us acted as if this were a â€Å"first meeting. † Another thing that called my attention was when another musician said from the stage â€Å"thank you for coming; because a lot of people say they are attending on Facebook but they never show up. † This also made me think about how much time we are devoting to talking about Facebook, even when we are offline, and how many times we log on to Facebook to show our friends something, even during actual person-to-person meetings or social gatherings. Every drug has a gratification component, and, if social networks are causing an addiction, they must have one too. A very interesting study from the University of Bath tried to identify these gratifications, concluding that: Users derive a variety of uses and gratifications from social networking sites, including traditional content gratification alongside building social capital, communication, surveillance and social networking surfing. The different uses and gratifications relate differentially to patterns of usage, with social connection gratifications tending to lead to increased frequency of use, and content gratifications to increased time spent on the site. While the incidence of social network addictions in other parts of the world may not be as dramatic as Internet gaming addictions, for example, seem to be in some Asian countries, the rapid growth of social networks both in reach and in the number of interaction possibilities, poses new problems everyday for the elaboration of solid diagnostic criteria. From academic procrastination to social impairment as far as real physical interactions are concerned, diminished productivity at work and physical problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle; there seem to be enough problems related to Internet and social network addictions to give researchers enough to work on for many years to come. References Karaiskos, D. , Tzavellas, E. , Balta, G. , & Paparrigopoulos, T. (2010). P02-232 – Social network addiction : a new clinical disorder? European Psychiatry, 25, 855-855 DOI:10. 1016/S0924-9338(10)70846-4 Holbova, P. Academic procrastination on Facebook. Masaryk University, Czech Republic. Herrera, M. , Pacheco, M. , Palomar, J. , Zavala, D. Facebook Addiction Related to Low Self-Esteem, Depression and Lack of  Social Skills. Psicologia Iberoamericana,  Vol. 18 No. 1 (2010). Block, J. (2008). Issues for DSM-V: Internet Addiction  American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(3), 306-307 DOI:  10. 1176/appi. ajp. 2007. 07101556 Report on the American Psychiatric Association’s revisions for DSM V. YOUNG, K. (1998). Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical DisorderCyberPsychology & Behavior, 1  (3), 237-244 DOI:  10. 1089/cpb. 1998. 1. 237

Pivotal Talent Pools and Role Challenges Essay Essay Example

Pivotal Talent Pools and Role Challenges Essay Essay Example Pivotal Talent Pools and Role Challenges Essay Paper Pivotal Talent Pools and Role Challenges Essay Paper Pivotal Talent Pools and Role Challenges Davis Young provides a wide array of litigation support products and services. Its core business is tied to the insurance defense industry. The primary customer base includes regional and national insurance companies. The key strategic elements that the Firm uses for differentiation are superior customer service, high product quality, and a solid reputation (brand). I can only assume you have revamped your Deliverable 1 to support this part. I am a bit concerned that you have yet to get a handle on strategy ececution. They are owned by 13 practicing Senior Attorneys, all responsible for maintaining a full trial docket. Various subsets of this group provide strategic leadership, handle or lead large accounts, and act as management for the Firm. A large percentage of the daily work load falls to the eight Associate Attorneys. These Junior Attorneys cost less than the Senior Attorneys and are relied upon to provide a wide range of deliverables such as legal research, brief writing, and daily interaction with the clients (customers) with minimal supervision. Other administrative duties are handled by the support teams. This talent pool consists primarily of Legal Assistants, Paralegals, Office Administration and Accounting. From a value chain perspective, Let’s break this down to the components of the value chain primary and support activities. It is likely that with the size of the firm that each position will serve multiple roles. The Value Chain helps us to find the pivotal Talent pools. the Owners, Associate Attorneys, Office Manager, Paralegals, and Legal Assistants would primarily be classified as Operations. They are running the operation and creating the â€Å"product† on a daily basis. However, in small organizations such as this, parts of the team will multitask into other value chain components. For instance, the Owners will manage sales and marketing by continuous client maintenance, as well as searching out new clients and landing new accounts. The Office Administrator and Office Manager do an excellent job of handling the HR function. Technology is a support function that is wholly outsourced. Three talent pools are readily identified as critical to the strategy (service, quality, reputation); the Owners, the Associate Attorneys, and Support Staff. The question to be answered in identifying which of these three is most pivotal is as follows: â€Å"for a given investment in either training of or recruiting in the talent pool could be any component of the HCA but you are getting ahead of yourself. , which would yield the largest improvements in the strategic elements? † Figure 1 illustrates the findings. Figure [ 1 ] The Owners are all senior, experienced Attorneys. They have demonstrated the ability to be effective at building relationships with the clients, delivering quality product, and protecting the brand. As such, the performance versus strategic value curve is fairly flat (once you get to the acceptable threshold). The Associate Attorneys vary in experience. There are junior Attorneys here that can show significant improvement through hands-on training programs (internal), continuing legal education (outside training programs), and active mentoring. Also, consider that these Associate Attorneys are responsible for a significant percentage of the work and client interactions. This is where the product quality and service elements are visibly manifested. Consequently, an investment in this pool has a significant payback. This can be illustrated by the higher slope on the yield curve. The support function includes a wide range of specific positions but most of them have a much higher level of supervision, less interaction with the customer, and their final work is screened by one of the attorney groups. As such their yield curve is dampened. There is still significant potential, but it is much less than that of the Associate Attorneys. This analysis identifies the Associate Attorneys as the Pivotal Talent Pool. The positions within this pool are fairly standard so the pivotal position is that of â€Å"Associate Attorney. Would the performance of the firm as defined in the strategy execution and support of competitive advantage improve if a 20% increase in quant or qual? The Associate Attorneys are pivotal due to their significant amount of customer contact and their room for growth. To identify the pivotal role challenges, we must identify the strategic deliverables for the position. For superior ser vice, we have identified a number of elements including: responsiveness to client demands; developing personal relationships; positive attitude; and dependability (delivering on commitments). Are these critical outcomes to support strategy execution? Do you have these from Del #1? The Associate Attorneys work with the clients on a daily basis. This is a pivotal role challenge. How does this interaction go? Are the associates attentive and positive? Do they connect with the client on a personal basis such that they build durable relationships? Are they participating in social events designed to strengthen and build these relationships? Demonstrating these behaviors will be critical. The associate Attorneys can be developed and trained and certain metrics can be used for elements like responsiveness. Others such as relationship building and positive attitude will require work in recruiting the right people and assimilating the existing culture. Customer feedback mechanisms should also be developed and maintained. Some customers already provide individual and firm-wide â€Å"report cards. † In addition to the pivotal role challenge as it relates to customer interaction, another pivotal challenge exists with respect to Associate Attorney interaction within the legal community at large. It is the development of these relationships that ultimately serve as the underpinnings of the relationship between the Firm and its primary customers. This is also critical in maintaining the reputation of the Firm. Within this component, relationships with judges, court personnel, opposing attorneys, and competitors are critical. Metrics can be developed to monitor the Associate Attorneys’ development with respect to these other peer groups (by speaking with the judge, opposing counsel, other attorneys involved in a particular case during the course of or at the conclusion of a particular case. Most of these other peer groups are willing to share specific information concerning attorney development and this information can be analyzed to determine whether it conforms with existing reputation standards and Firm specific cultural norms. Table 1 provides a list of skills identified as critical to delivering product quality. Table 1: Attorney Skills critical to product quality| Reporting skills| | Interaction skills| | Specific skills| Writing| | Negotiating| | Mediation| Research| | Advocacy| | Trial| Analytical| | Persuasiveness| | Interrogation| | | Speaking| | | These really belong in Del #3 – performance drivers. All of these skills can be improved through targeted training. Many are best filled by good recruiting and hiring systems. The pivot role challenges occur when the product is delivered. Does it meet the Firm’s standards? These pivot role challenges can occur as the Associate Attorney is attending a pre-trial or in mediating, arbitrating or trying a case. It can happen when they are in front of a judge advocating a position on behalf of their customer. They can occur when a brief or report is being delivered to the customer. Product quality deliverables have some tangible elements that can be measured. Standards can be developed for brief writing and other report deliverables. Mediation, arbitration and trial protocols can be developed to set a standard. In summary, the Associate Attorney is identified as the pivotal position. Pivot Role Challenges center around; customer interactions in support of the Service and Reputation strategic elements, the interaction within the general legal community in support of the Reputation, and the state of the final product in support of the Product Quality strategic element.

Cats Cradle essays

Cat's Cradle essays The novel Cat's Cradle was published in 1963, the year of the Bay of Pigs invasion. It was the height of the Cold War, and most Americans lived in fear of a fiery nuclear apocalypse. However, the author presents an alternative apocalypse, one of the "great door of heaven being closed softly" (261). In this novel, Vonnegut presents a different but equally terrifying end - a world encased in frozen ice. One of the novel's themes is how human irresponsibility can contribute to this icy end. Though Vonnegut himself warned that much of the novel consists of strange plot twists and coincidences, the strength Cat's Cradle lies in its richly drawn characters. Throughout the novel, Vonnegut presented characters whose irresponsibility helped bring much of life on This novel examines how Vonnegut uses the main and minor characters in Cat's Cradle to reflect on the consequences of human irresponsibility. John, who calls himself "Jonah," acts as the novel's narrator. The reader is told of John's cynicism through other characters. His ex-wife, for example, paints him as "too pessimistic" (77). John is also content to believe in the concept of vin-dit. Because this Bokononist concept places God at the guiding helm of one's life, belief in vin-dit can also be read as a refusal to take responsibility for one's actions. Even when he recognizes the emptiness of Bokononism, John still decides to continue the religion's charade. By doing so, he indirectly contributes to the death of thousands of Bokononist followers towards the end of the novel, when many San Lorenzans commit suicide out of faith and despair. However, John is also effectively used as a foil to highlight the irresponsibility of the novel's other characters. For example, when Angela complains about her father being unfairly compensated for his work, John points out the selfishness of this statement in l...

Investment Decision Selection Hyundai Motors & Brazil Essay

Investment Decision Selection Hyundai Motors & Brazil - Essay Example In contrast, China, one of the fastest emerging economies in the world, tries to save its domestic industries from foreign competition by imposing operational restrictions to foreign businesses. However, today China is removing such operational regulations so as to attract more potential global investors. Balance of payments (BoP) is an accounting record that keeps all trade or monetary transactions between a nation and the rest of the world. Some economists opine that the concept of balance of payments would help to analyze the difference between a country’s total exports and total imports. It is considered that a country has positive balance if it maintains a surplus of exports over imports. According to the Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign trade, the country kept a positive balance in 2011 by maintaining exports of US$ 256 billion over its US$226 billion imports. Reports also indicate that this approximately 30 billion surplus achieved by the country is the highest since 2007 (EcoHouse). This positive balance of payments can be directly linked to international flow of goods, services, and capital. While analyzing the Brazilian offshoring sector, it seems that the country has a range of competitive advantages in the IT and software industries. He nce many foreign companies outsource their IT and software related projects to Brazil. In addition, the country has better human capital strengths. The Brazilian government provides industrialists with extensive subsidies for R&D activities because the government greatly enhances innovations. In short, it can be stated that the country’s domestic economic behavior is favorable for international trade, which in turn facilitates cross border flow of goods, services, and capital. As it is claimed, â€Å"international flow of goods and services and the international flow of capital constitute the sum total

The understanding financial data, and developing and making judgements Essay

The understanding financial data, and developing and making judgements on proposals against strategic objectives - Essay Example In this study the researcher observed the role played by the finance and accounting function in the operation of a business. The author of the study recognized the following main functions: †¢ The raise of funds or financial management †¢ The role of financial reporting and †¢ The budgeting and organisational objectives. Financial management is a division of the finance and accounting purpose i.e. concerned with the financing of an industry’s activities. Finance is usually raised through loan capital, share capital and state finance or through inside generated funds. This report is prepared for Roberta Kelly and providing good budgeting plan to her business. It is designed to give the learners a chance to investigate the principles that support the financial decision making procedure and how they are applied into business. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is a group of accounting standards build up by a sovereign, not-for-profit business called the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). â€Å"The goal of IFRS is to provide a global framework for how public companies prepare and disclose their financial statements. IFRS provides general guidance for the preparation of financial statements, rather than setting rules for industry-specific reporting†. Financial r eporting is the arrangement of financial data in a form that is helpful to interested parties. It includes the collection and presentation of data for utilize in management accounting and financial management. ... It includes the collection and presentation of data for utilize in management accounting and financial management. 3. Interpretation of Accounting Information – Public Limited Companies: For the comparison study and understanding of the Transportation sector we have chosen the two companies i.e. 1. MET Plc 2. KGL PTS. Both of the companies are well established in the transportation sector and they are diversifying their business worldwide. Marwyn European Transport Plc is newly established company in the transportation sector; it is formed by the leading Transport industry executives to exploit the opportunities in the European transport industry. They are now focusing on the German bus and coach industry and presently operating 250 buses in Germany. The MET is established as a wholly owned subsidiary company of the MMP (Marwyn Management Partner Plc.). The board of directors of the company has a belief on the attractive investment opportunities in the public transportation of the European countries and so they are willing to operate the business by keeping the favors of the stakeholders. Initially they are targeting the largest bus markets in the country. KGL Passenger Transport Services (KGL PTS) in Kuwait, a supplementary of KGL Holding, was recognized in 2005. Being the showpiece of KGL Holding’s Passenger Transport Management Company, the KGL PTS has developed themselves as one of the most important passenger travel service companies within Kuwait and Middle East. As they are offering different means of carrying to suit the necessities of customer both publicly and commercially, they are still leading the sector. The head quarter of KGL PTS is in Kuwait and they are operating in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and in the United Arab