The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle Chapter One

â€Å"Damon!† Icy wind whipped Elena's hair around her face, tearing at her light sweater. Oak leaves swirled among the rows of granite headstones, and the trees lashed their branches together in frenzy. Elena's hands were cold, her lips and cheeks were numb, but she stood facing the screaming wind directly, shouting into it. â€Å"Damon!† This weather was a show of his Power, meant to frighten her away. It wouldn't work. The thought of that same Power being turned against Stefan woke a hot fury inside her that burned against the wind. If Damon had done anything to Stefan, if Damon had hurt him†¦ â€Å"Damn you, answer me!† she shouted at the oak trees that bordered the graveyard. A dead oak leaf like a withered brown hand skittered up to her foot, but there was no answer. Above, She turned – and gasped. He was just behind her, so close that her clothes brushed his as she turned. At that distance, she should have sensed another human being standing there, should have felt his body warmth or heard him. But Damon, of course, wasn't human. She reeled back a couple of steps before she could stop herself. Every instinct that had lain quiet while she shouted into the violence of the wind was now begging her to run. She clenched her fists. â€Å"Where's Stefan?† A line appeared between Damon's dark eyebrows. â€Å"Stefan who?† Elena stepped forward and slapped him. She had no thought of doing it before she did it, and afterward she could scarcely believe what she had done. But it was a good hard slap, with the full force of her body behind it, and it snapped Damon's head to one side. Her hand stung. She stood, trying to calm her breath, and watched him. He was dressed as she had first seen him, in black. Soft black boots, black jeans, black sweater, and leather jacket. And he looked like Stefan. She didn't know how she could have missed that before. He had the same dark hair, the same pale skin, the same disturbing good looks. But his hair was straight, not wavy, and his eyes were black as midnight, and his mouth was cruel. He turned his head slowly back to look at her, and she saw blood rising in the cheek she'd slapped. â€Å"Don't lie to me,† she said, her voice shaking. â€Å"I know who you are. I knowwhat you are. You killed Mr. Tanner last night. And now Stefan's disappeared.† â€Å"Has he?† â€Å"You know he has!† Damon smiled and then turned it off instantly. â€Å"I'm warning you; if you've hurt him – â€Å" â€Å"Then, what?† he said. â€Å"What will you do, Elena? Whatcan you do, against me?† Elena fell silent. For the first time, she realized that the wind had died away. The day had gone deadly quiet around them, as if they stood motionless at the center of some great circle of power. It seemed as if everything, the leaden sky, the oaks and purple beeches, the ground itself, was connected to him, as if he drew Power from all of it. He stood with his head tilted back slightly, his eyes fathomless and full of strange lights. â€Å"I don't know,† she whispered, â€Å"but I'll find something. Believe me.† â€Å"I do believe you,† he said, relaxing, looking around the graveyard. Then he turned back and held out a hand to her. â€Å"You're too good for my brother,† he said casually. Elena thought of slapping the hand away, but she didn't want to touch him again. â€Å"Tell me where he is.† â€Å"Later, possibly – for a price.† He withdrew his hand, just as Elena realized that on it he wore a ring like Stefan's: silver and lapis lazuli. Remember that, she thought fiercely. It's important. â€Å"My brother,† he went on, â€Å"is a fool. He thinks that because you look like Katherine you're weak and easily led like her. But he's wrong. I could feel your anger from the other side of town. I can feel it now, a white light like the desert sun. You have strength, Elena, even as you are. But you could be so much stronger†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She stared at him, not understanding, not liking the change of subject. â€Å"I don't know what you're talking about. And what has it got to do with Stefan?† â€Å"I'm talking about Power, Elena.† Suddenly, he stepped close to her, his eyes fixed on hers, his voice soft and urgent. â€Å"You've tried everything else, and nothing has satisfied you. You're the girl who has everything, but there's always been something just out of your reach, something you need desperately and can't have. That's what I'm offering you. Power. Eternal life. And feelings you've never felt before.† Shedid understand then, and bile rose in her throat. She choked on horror and repudiation. â€Å"No.† â€Å"Why not?† he whispered. â€Å"Why not try it, Elena? Be honest. Isn't there a part of you that wants to?† His dark eyes were full of a heat and intensity that held her transfixed, unable to look away. â€Å"I can waken things inside you that have been sleeping all your life. You're strong enough to live in the dark, to glory in it. You can become a queen of the shadows. Why not take that Power, Elena? Let me help you take it.† â€Å"No,† she said, wrenching her eyes away from his. She wouldn't look at him, wouldn't let him do this to her. She wouldn't let him make her forget†¦ make her forget†¦ â€Å"It's the ultimate secret, Elena,† he said. His voice was as caressing as the fingertips that touched her throat. â€Å"You'll be happy as never before.† There was something terribly important she must remember. He was using Power to make her forget it, but she wouldn't let him make her forget†¦ â€Å"And we'll be together, you and I.† The cool fingertips stroked the side of her neck, slipping under the collar of her sweater. â€Å"Just the two of us, forever.† There was a sudden twinge of pain as his fingers brushed two tiny wounds in the flesh of her neck, and her mind cleared. Make her forget†¦Stefan. That was what he wanted to drive out of her mind. The memory of Stefan, of his green eyes and his smile that always had sadness lurking behind it. But nothing could force Stefan out of her thoughts now, â€Å"I've already found what I want,† she said brutally. â€Å"And who I want to be with forever.† Blackness welled up in his eyes, a cold rage that swept through the air between them. Looking into those eyes, Elena thought of a cobra about to strike. â€Å"Don't you be as stupid as my brother is,† he said. â€Å"Or I might have to treat you the same way.† She was frightened now. She couldn't help it, not with cold pouring into her, chilling her bones. The wind was picking up again, the branches tossing. â€Å"Tell me where he is, Damon.† â€Å"At this moment? I don't know. Can't you stop thinking about him for an instant?† â€Å"No!† She shuddered, hair lashing about her face again. â€Å"And that's your final answer, today? Be very sure you want to play this game with me, Elena. The consequences are nothing to laugh about.† â€Å"Iam sure.† She had to stop him before he got to her again. â€Å"And you can't intimidate me, Damon, or haven't you noticed? The moment Stefan told me what you were, what you'd done, you lost any power you might have had over me. Ihate you. You disgust me. And there's nothing you can do to me, not any more.† His face altered, the sensuousness twisting and freezing, becoming cruel and bitterly hard. He laughed, but this laugh went on and on. â€Å"Nothing?† he said. â€Å"I can doanything to you, and to the ones you love. You have no idea, Elena, of what I can do. But you'll learn.† He stepped back, and the wind cut through Elena like a knife. Her vision seemed to be blurring; it was as if flecks of brightness filled the air in front of her eyes. â€Å"Winter is coming, Elena,† he said, and his voice was clear and chilling even over the howl of the wind. â€Å"An unforgiving season. Before it comes, you'll have learned what I can and can't do. Before winter is here, you'll have joined me. You'll be mine.† The swirling whiteness was blinding her, and she could no longer see the dark bulk of his figure. Now even his voice was fading. She hugged herself with her arms, head bent down, her whole body shaking. She whispered, â€Å"Stefan – â€Å" â€Å"Oh, and one more thing,† Damon's voice came back. â€Å"You asked earlier about my brother. Don't bother looking for him, Elena. I killed him last night.† Her head jerked up, but there was nothing to see, only the dizzying whiteness, which burned her nose and cheeks and clogged her eyelashes. It was only then, as the fine grains settled on her skin, that she realized what they were: snowflakes. It was snowing on the first of November. Overhead, the sun was gone.

Cango Wk 4 Swot

SWOT Analysis: Swot stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The SWOT analysis will assist CanGo understand the opportunities that are obtainable and what threats may have an effect on its business. Before moving onward with new ventures CanGo needs to evaluate the arrangement they currently have in the market. Performing a SWOT analysis technique would be very beneficial at this point and will serve as the baseline to elaborate on a strategic plan for the organization.C&G consultants have been monitoring CanGo’s processes for quite sometime, and we have developed the following preliminary SWOT analysis: Strength: ?Purchasing an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) would help to improve the warehouse, by purchasing an automated storage and retrieval system it is a great solution for CanGo’s handling inventory in a more effective and efficient manner. ?CanGo has had tremendous growth over the past couple of years. CanGo has also been recogni zed for as one of the fastest growing small business in the Hudson Valley. CanGo is continually looking to venture out into other areas, in an effort of improving the overall organization. Weaknesses: ?One of the biggest issues is the fact that CanGo does not have a Vision and Mission Statement. Without a vision and mission the organization does not have a clear direction of the organization. ?CanGo is also missing a Strategic plan, without a strategic plan there is no roadmap for growth and prosperity. Strategic planning will help you foresee and react quickly to market changes and opportunities.CanGo should conduct these strategic plans routinely, by doing so it helps you to see opportunities earlier and set up contingency plans so threats are minimized. ?Lack of a system analysis and programmer is also a weakness for CanGo, in general a system analyst would ensure that the requirements set forth by the business are captured and documented correctly before the solution is develope d and implemented. Currently this is not happening for CanGo, so this is an area that needs to be addressed, without it CanGo would not have the knowledge of understanding how present and future business needs will impact the olutions and the implementation process. Opportunities: ?Investing in an in-house database that incorporates into an automated storage and retrieval system ASRS. Fully automated and integrated storage systems are the ultimate in warehouse management and efficiency. They allow for complete integration of the company’s ERP software with warehouse retrieval storage system. Order picking is optimized and controlled. ?CanGo would also benefit from updating their website to reinforce corporate and brand identity, this would help their existing investment in marketing go further.This would allow for CanGo to advertise services and products, build customer relations through personalized services, they could also benefit by conducting market research through thei r website. The internet is a great opportunity for your business to compete on a much more level playing field with much larger businesses. Threats ?CanGo faces losing business from their website to other websites due to their web search taking too long, where the competition’s website is optimized and produces the results quicker Recommendations Issue 1: Marketing to the right customers and consumers is vital to every business.A company needs to know how to market to a certain target to attract their customers so they can sell their goods and create a profit from their inventory. CanGo built their success onluck and they never bothered to get into the details of how their company became successful. They are lacking important and vital information to keep their company successful. Since there is no marketing department in CanGo, I would suggest for them to hire an outside company to conduct their marketing research; I believe that they would benefit from this.The upper manage ment of CanGo should research the company that would best fit the job; perhaps choosing a company that specializes in the same industry as CanGo. There are many advantages to hiring an outside research company; they would be able to determine who the target customers are, where these customers are located, how to reach the target customers and exactly what type of product or services they are looking for. Once the marketing research company determines all of these issues, CanGo would be more effective in marketing their product.Issue 2: The fact that no one is tracking where the work is and who is supposed to be working on what can lead to many problems. Some employees may be doing more work than others because they are efficient and everything seems to land on their desk while others may be receiving credit for work they are not doing. In the video we saw that Nick was tasked out with creating a process flow chart, but he passed it on to someone else, and that some one pass it down to two more people. I believe in fair and equal work between team members so they should break down the work prior to initiating any task.There is nothing wrong with helping your teammates but not do the work for them. Passing work like that can also lead to it getting misplaced. They should use a flow chart to track where the work is. A Gantt chart or a document flow chart seem like a perfect fit for this occasion. The document flow chart will trace the process flow chart document through the system to avoid it getting lost. Losing information can also lead to the loss of secret or personal information. It can be very costly and time consuming to redo all the work that was lost.No one wants to redo what he or she already did. Issue 3: CanGo has been experiencing issues where customers are browsing the website and even selection items to purchase and placing them in their check-out cart; however the customers are leaving the website without making their purchases. It appears that t he customers are experiencing issues regarding making purchases from the website. C&G consultants have a number of recommendations to enhance the shop experience on CanGo’s website. One of the reasons may be due to trust.With internet connection, people want instant gratification. If your sale process is not hassle-free, many customers will go elsewhere. In order to keep customers coming back and to making purchases, CanGo needs to make sure that it is easy to navigate throughout the website, such as making sure that when a customer click on an item it loads up in a timely fashion, time counts, when shopping on websites. Other things that could enhance the website are having a clean and professional design; your home page has a huge impact on visitors.I would also include a search box that is user friendly, this way customers can locate items that they are interested in quickly. Online customer service is another feature that would enhance business, if customers wanted to cha t about checkout problems, this could prevent cart abandonment. Not only can live support help customers figure out your site, locate products or ask questions, live chat can be reactive, where the system triggers a chat invitation based on user behavior. Last but not least there should be links to social networks, such as (Facebook, Twitter, etc. , all of these functionalities would enhance the customers visit to your website more inviting and pleasurable. Issue 4: At CanGo, there is an increase in customer complaints and returns, and before they bring in a new ASRS system and spend more money, they need to correct the customer issues beforehand. If customers are not satisfied with CanGo products or the way they are handling the ordering process, then complaining is a good way for CanGo to realize they are doing something wrong, so they can fix it.In order to keep loyal CanGo customers as well as gain more, the company needs to address where the customers complaints are coming from . This could be from the website not being user-friendly or the customer is not getting enough feedback and going through with the purchase. If the customer does go through with the purchase, then CanGo seems to be getting more returns of the merchandise bought through the website.What CanGo needs to do is to start at the beginning to to look at the company through the eyes of the customer, and they need to figure out the best way to have the customer feel great and good about their purchases from step one of the buying process to the final purchasing stage of the process. Issue 5: Website optimization is very important to online businesses, when a customer makes a search on the website they do not want to have to wait long periods for the results.To improve the issue with the long search times they need to optimize their website and use website compression, this will allow the website to run much faster and produce the quicker results that the customers are wanting. Issue 6: To sol ve is issue with where the employees that are pickers will go once the ASRS system is implemented is simple, they can look at areas that have performance and possibly quality issues and they can place these employees there as opposed to terminating them. By placing these employees in these â€Å"problem† areas, this can increase the productivity of these areas increasing more work flow.Reference Monique. (2012, January 23). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://upandrunning. bplans. com/2012/01/23/the-benefit-of-market-research/ Best practices for speeding up your web site. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://developer. yahoo. com/performance/rules. html CanGo Video Week 3&4. (2012, November 11). Retrieved from DeVry University: www. devryu. net Harris, D. (n. d. ). Types of Flow Charts. Retrieved November 20, 2012, from eHow: www. ehow. com/about_5061018_types-flowcharts. html CanGo Videos Weeks 3&4. 2012, November 19). Retrieved from DeVry University: www. devryu. net Center for simplified Strategic Planning. (2011, November). Simplified strategic planning. Retrieved November 2012, from The best ways to reward employees: www. cssp. com/http:;www. entrepreneur. com/article/753340 CanGo Videos Weeks 3&4. (2012, November 19). Retrieved from DeVry University: www. devryu. net Top 10 Things Customers Expect from Your Online Store. (2012, 11 20). GetEelastic. Retrieved from http://www. getelastic. com/customer-expectations/

Contemporary Theories of Political Economy Essay - 1

Contemporary Theories of Political Economy - Essay Example He proceeds thus in virtue of his taxonomic approach to the characterisation of an essence which he inherits from his biology: a sentence characterising an essence of an entity of a particular kind standard has the form of a noun phrase indicating a genus modified by an adjectival phrase that expresses the differentiae, the properties that are peculiar to that kind. (Fukuyama, 82-113) The chrematistic art of acquisition, because it involves acquisition of objects not for their "proper and peculiar" properties, is, for Aristotle, "unnatural" for humans, and hence to be held in check. It needs to be held in check, however, because it is the normal developmental outcome of exchange. The essential nature of market exchange is revealed for Aristotle in its developed "unnatural" form (Frank, 213-268). In this final state the dispositional properties of markets are exhibited. The most significant of these for Aristotle is the particular moral character it tends to produce: Aristotle's political theory is by and large concerned with the tendency of different social and political institutions to issue in different virtues and vices. The market, where its development is unchecked, tends to issue not in the virtues constitutive of a flourishing human life, but in the vice of pleonexia, the disposition to want more than is proper. (Marx & Fowkes, 347-574) Distinctions and influences Aristotle's essentialism is a complex of claims that are logically independent of one another. One might accept his basic distinction between the essential and accidental properties of an object without accepting the further teleological specification of essences in terms of normal patterns of development. Indeed it is worth noting that the example of essentialist descriptions of copper I used in section A does not conform to the Aristotelian teleological model. Likewise one might accept essentialism in its basic form without accepting his particular taxonomic approach to the specification of essences. Again, it is possible to adopt an essentialist position in either its basic form or its teleological elaboration for entities in the natural world, but to reject it for the social world. (Fukuyama, 82-113) One might accept essentialism about social institutions generally and markets in particular, but reject the teleological elaboration of essentialism that Aristotle offers. The options open to the "essentialist" are much more varied and complex than recent anti-essentialist caricatures of the position allow (Frank, 213-268). The picture of Aristotle's influence on subsequent essentialist thought about social institutions in general and the market in particular is similarly complex. Both Aristotle's essentialism and his discussion of the market have had a large influence on philosophical and economic thought. Aristotelian essentialism, as far as description of the natural world is concerned, has had a long-standing influence and indeed has recently undergone something of a revival. (Fukuyama, 82-113) In the social realm it is possible to find theorists, most notably Hegel and Marx, who self-consciously defend Aristotle's essentialism in its full teleological form. Aristotle's discussion of th

Week 2 #1 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 2 #1 - Coursework Example The firm needs technical skills and knowledge to operate effectively. In order to acquire these technical skills, the firm needs to recruit competent and highly qualified employees. These employees can then be used to impart the skills and knowledge to other company employees thus improving the company’s overall level of knowledge, skills and abilities (Staines 2012) Conducting widespread recruitment communications makes it easier for qualified candidates to apply for the vacancies in the firm. This is then followed by thorough interviewing process that seeks to establish the interviewee’s level of knowledge, skills and abilities. After recruiting the most qualified candidate for the task, the firm forms a team around the individual so as to encourage knowledge sharing. According to Zhang et al (2014) knowledge sharing enables the company to access the necessary skills with reduced cost implications while at the same time improving the motivation of staffs that learn new things. Zhang, R., Chen, Q., El-Den, J., Jie, Z., & Wankun, Z. (2014). Team members’ knowledge sharing satisfaction in enterprise competition simulative games: An empirical research. Paper presented at the 436-444. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1674840406?accountid=62741 Politis, J. D. (2003). The connection between trust and knowledge management: What are its implications for team performance. Journal of Knowledge Management, 7(5), 55-66. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230318989?accountid=62741 Staines, G. M., PhD. (2012). Finding the best people in a tough economy: The role of knowledge, skills, abilities, attributes, and the challenges of the talent acquisition process Library Leadership & Management (Online), Retrieved from

Why have Turkey's leaders found it hard to accomodate the aspirations Essay

Why have Turkey's leaders found it hard to accomodate the aspirations of many of the Kurdish population. Has there been Significant development on this since 1970 - Essay Example e development of a reasonable solution.1 This essay tries to determine the reason Turkey’s leaders found it hard to accommodate the aspirations of many of the Kurdish population. This essay argues that the strong nationalist tendencies within Turkey are the primary reason for the failure to resolve the Kurdish issue. The analysis looks at the development in Turkish-Kurdish relations since the 1970s. Without successfully resolving the Kurdish issue Turkey will continuously fail in its attempt to become a full member of the European Union (EU). Turkey will be forced to change its oppressive ideological foundations, and may fail to realise its full economic capability. But specifically, the country will continue to be engaged in its undying commitment to secure the nation. The capacity of Turkey’s leaders to resolve the Kurdish conflict has been impeded by too much politicisation that viewed the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a persistent hazard to the country. The Kurdish conflict aggravates the progressing inflation in Turkey and is the primary root of human rights abuses, and the greatest threat to the Turkey-EU relationship. In spite of the forceful Turkish military attempt and several substantial achievements in dealing with the PKK rebellion, the struggle continues. Turkey’s leaders realised that the European political system had been evolving. Thus, they understood the need to reform the country’s political structure to align it with the emerging European political system. In short, they know that the successful conclusion of the customs union relied on Turkey’s success in the arena of human rights, parliamentary democracy, and the Kurdish question.2 Thus, Turkey carried out definite reforms to abolish several anti-democratic policies, which had been established by the military regime. Furthermore, several reforms were instigated so as to advance the country’s human rights condition and to find a solution to the Kurdish issue. More

Work of Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Work of Art - Essay Example A southern-born artist, Louis Rmy Mignot painted this view Niagara after he had moved to London during the Civil War. Before leaving the United States in 1862, he had sketched at Niagara Falls, perhaps with the idea of exhibiting an ambitious canvas before an English audience." (Niagara) The view of this work of art has been taken from the Horseshoe Falls, it is an oil on canvas work of art. The signature of the artist can be found on the right hand side corner of the work of art. American identity has been presented in this work of art, it also represents a new look of the American society. Traditional framing devices have been used in this work of art. This work of art falls under the American Art and it predominantly represents the American Society. "At first glance, Song and Yuan landscapes seem to conform to a narrow set of compositional types, with requisite central mountains, hidden temples, and scholars strolling along a path. In fact, the landscape tradition developed slowly as painters gained technical facility and consciously chose to allude to earlier styles or bring out philosophical or political ideas in their work." (Northern Song) Central Majestic Mountain has been portrayed in this work of art; it is unlike the Niagara Falls. The foreground is conspicuous and it is presented at the eye level, it has been painted with crisp and very well defined brush strokes by the artists.

Examine the difference between integration and inclusion in terms of Essay

Examine the difference between integration and inclusion in terms of special educational needs provision in the UK - Essay Example History of Special education needs The history of special needs dates back decades ago, but the documented cases were evident in the beginning of the 20th century where ideas about the provision of education for children with special needs were based on a medical model of ‘defects’. This model was mainly focused on difference rather than nor ­mality, on illness rather than well being, and particularly on the ‘problem’ with the child (Lewis, 1999). Deficit rather than potential was used to categorize children with various needs. Therefore, the special education needs began with the establishment of separate special schools for children with special needs and required an extra care. The educational reforms of 1944 In 1944, significant educational reforms were developed; most of them were targeted to cater the educational need of each and every child. This educational act also addressed the needs and requirements that were thought essential to fulfill the eme rging need for special education. However, this pact had some drawbacks associated with it such as it did not liberate the needs of those with special needs as it did for the normal children. It still used the medical model of disability where deficit rather than potential was used. ... The approach stressed the work with children with spe ­cial needs moved towards an approach favored by behaviorist psychologists. They criticisized the medical approach and saw the operant technique more adequate since it stressed the importance and risks associated with the problems and issues related in fulfilling the needs of special children by putting that responsibility on teachers (Lewis, 1999). The behaviorist technique turned out to be very helpful as it was directly effective in helping the children as well as in suppressing their particular difficulties with more understanding. De?nition of Special Educational Needs Children have special educational needs if they suffer during the process of learning which naturally raises the need for the development of a special educational provision for them. Children encounter learning difficulty if they: a) face a greater difficulty in learning as compare to the other children of the same age group; or b) have a disability which kee ps them away or hinders them from facilitating themselves from the use of educational services of a kind generally provided for children of the same age group in schools and other institutes within the vicinity of the local education authority; c) are under obligatory school age and come within the de?nition at a) Or b) above or in case if the special educational provision was not developed for them. Children must not be discriminated on having a learning difficulty only on the basis of language or any form of language they speak at home which maybe different from the language or medium in which they will be taught. Special educational provision means: a) for children of 2 or over,

Family work Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Family work - Assignment Example At the website, details about the company policy and measures taken to succeed are included. Workplace policies together with human right and respect in the company are available in the website. The visitors can get access to all policies and company operations. The information found at the website communicates the Coca Cola philosophy adequately (The Coca-Cola Company 1). The company has polices which govern employee’s contact in the company. The formulated policies by the company consider work, private life and employee’s welfare. The policies are designed to ensure employees safety and certification as well as company progress. Employees are entitled to a leave of one month annually and a maternity leave of three months to pregnant mothers. The policies also require the company to grant off days for individuals with personal issues. The company policies do not limit hiring of spouses and a husband and wife can be hired in different company’s departments. The company complies with the States pension and retirement policies. It contributes to pension schemes for all employees to ensure that each person will be entitled to pension after retirement. The company also allows employee to save in Sacco in order to take loans for personal development and education. The company policies do not consider same sex partners and there are no benefits attached to such relationship. All those policies aim to ensure employees safety and productivity (The Coca-Cola Company 3). After reviewing the company’s policies, I have found out that Coca Cola is the right company for me to work. I will be willing to work for the company due to the policies which respect human rights and progress. The company allows personal development and growth. It does not limit people to work with their spouses meaning that I can work with my wife in the company in future. The company encourages people to advance in life, and I will be able to get education loan and advance in

Genetic theory VS social approache of human language Essay

Genetic theory VS social approache of human language - Essay Example The main observation of the genetic theory of language is that, children everywhere in the world learn to speak very rapidly. Everywhere in the world children follow very similar steps while learning language and make very similar mistakes. All these can easily be explained by an innate ability to learn language but is very difficult to explain otherwise. This line of reasoning leads to the theory that innate propensity to language must be due to human evolution. Chomsky (1998) was the first to put forward this idea which has subsequently been modified and extended by Hauser, Chomsky and Fitch (2002) and Slobin (2004) among others. The proponents of this theory claim that human brain, during evolution, has developed specific neural circuits, which provide human children the capability to process the language information. Neuroscience has, in fact, identified specific areas in the brain that have distinct language functionality. That is the reason some stroke victims become speech impaired if these areas of the brain are affected. Second evidence in support of genetic theory is development of vocal tract which makes it possible for humans to articulate precise vocal sounds. Genetic theory explains well how creole developed as a full fledged language in Surinam. What started as an incomplete and restricted language form by escaped slaves living together and speaking many different languages, transformed into a full language by their descendants. However, this theory fails to explain why a hearing child of deaf parents, even when exposed to television, could not speak well (Bard, Sachs and Johnson, 1981) The other theory about origin of language focuses more on social interaction and suggests language to be an evidence of a child’s cognitive development process. Children begin by imitating adults, specially their care-givers. Language acquisition also is a part of social interaction. But unless and until a child

What role has air-power played in warfare after 1945 Essay

What role has air-power played in warfare after 1945 - Essay Example However, in the event that the enemy proves stronger than anticipated, it uses airpower to carry out air offensives against the enemy. Airpower in this case refers to a military strategy that involves carrying out aerial bombardments from the air, which in most cases are done using fighter jets. Some of the wars that America has involved airpower include World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Serbian War and the Afghan War, just to name but a few. However, Corum (2007) claims that the use of airpower has been marred with controversy since 1945. In this regard, there are those that believe that airpower has helped in emerging victorious while there are critics who believe that airpower has been a failure in the U.S. warfare. The aim of this paper is to analyze the successes and failures of airpower based on case studies. Opinion is divided down the middle regarding the effectiveness of airpower in warfare. On one hand is a section of the society that believes that airpower has played a huge role in enhancing the success rates of the U.S. force in the wars it has fought in the past. On the other hand, are critics who feel that air power has not achieved any meaningful success in some of the wars that the U.S. has fought. The U.S. has fought, the U.S. military has been using airpower as a tactics of maintaining superiority by suppressing the enemy’s ability to fight. This was witnessed during the World War II in which the U.S. and its allies used airpower to gain superiority over their opponents (the German forces especially) through aerial bombardments. As a result, it became very hard for the German forces to mount strong resistance against the U.S. and its allies (Keegan 1990, p. 31). This enabled the allied forces win the war more easily than earlier anticipated. The events of WWII are one of the success stories of airpower in warfare. Apart from the success of Airpower in WWII, there exists other warfare where airpower has been successful. For instance, the use of airpower played a huge role in winning the Gulf War during Operation Desert Storm. The Desert Storm was a war against Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait. The war begun on August 2, 1990 and ended on February 28, 1991 with the U.S. and its allies emerging victorious. However, the success in winning this war has been linked mainly to the use of airpower. Momyer (2003, p. 5) reveals that the U.S. and its allies used airpower during the first days of intervention in the war to destroy Iraq’s air defense system, thereby allowing the allied forces to gain control of Iraq’s air before introducing the ground forces. The U.S. forces and its allied forces carried out massive bombardments from the air to gain control over Iraq’s airspace. In so doing, the allied forces also managed to capture all the Iraq government’s infrastructures before deploying the military to takel vantage positions. Momyer (2003) notes that the main aim of air attacks w as to pave way for the U.N. backed ground forces. In fact, reports show that after taking control of the air through aerial bombardments, the ground forces found it easy fighting the Iraqi forces as their major efforts was now devoted mainly to attacks against the communication lines that the Iraqi forces used. This was followed by assaults on the defense lines of the Iraq forces. In the end, the U.S. led forces emerged victorious in the war. Supporters of airpower have argued that without the use of airpower, the war would have taken the U.S. and allied forces more time to win than it actually took. This is because the Iraqi forces would have taken advantage of the air to attack the allied forces. Even though the airpower proved effective in winning the G

Studying Abroad VS Locally Essay Example for Free

Studying Abroad VS Locally Essay Will the difference make a huge impact on career path? FOR a very long time, studying abroad was an option purely for the deep-pocketed elite. Apart from the cost factor, many families chose to send their kids overseas because of the cultural wealth and better job prospects that came with it. Fast forward to today, many still choose to send their children overseas to pursue their education. Thanks to rising affluence, more families are able to send their kids abroad. But are the benefits of studying some thousands of miles away versus just down the street so drastic that it’s really going to make a huge impact on one’s career path? Studying abroad The main issue to consider when studying abroad is that it requires more financial support and planning. Lee, a 30-year old information technology graduate from the United States admits that the biggest issue about studying overseas is the cost. â€Å"Studying overseas can be really expensive. Accommodation and food is denominated in a currency that’s probably higher than ours. Furthermore, most countries do not allow foreign students to work, so you need to have money before you arrive in the country or have someone from home supporting you. â€Å"However, having a foreign qualification helps to make your resume stand out compared with the rest,† he says. Dinesh Kanavaji, 31, is a practising lawyer in Malaysia who studied law in Britain in the late 90s. His two-year course cost him about  £15,000 a year or about RM90,000 annually given the high exchange rate at the time. â€Å"At the time, the tuition fees cost about  £10,000 annually. Accommodation and food cost about  £4,000 or so, this of course, provided that you lived at a campus hostel rather than elsewhere. â€Å"Ultimately, it was a character-building experience, having to be able to live, cook and travel on your own,† he says, adding that studying abroad also provides a unique opportunity for language and cultural immersion. Dinesh also feels that the standard of education offered overseas is higher. â€Å"The standard is higher over there. The lecturers are experienced and well trained, comprising doctors and professors that have written a few books. Many of the lecturers locally are quite young.† He also says the education in Malaysia (as far as law was concerned) was very academically-driven. â€Å"In Britain, they make you work and  figure things out for yourself, creating a heightened level of maturity.† Studying locally Dinesh’s wife Melissa Ram, 32, studied her Bachelor of Jurisprudence degree in law entirely in Malaysia and is quick to admit the cost benefits of studying locally. Compared with Dinesh, her four-year course (plus one year of A-Levels) cost just RM20,000. â€Å"It probably would have cost me three times more if I had studied overseas. â€Å"Also, you don’t have to worry about getting home-sick and can meet up with your friends any time,† she says. Melissa however admits that the level of education in Malaysia (especially in law) was not up to par with the standard offered overseas. â€Å"I participated in a legal workshop that was conducted by solicitors from London and could immediately feel that the quality of their training was far superior.† She says law degree graduates in Britain that studied for the bar exam (which qualifies a person to practice law) were subjected to hands-on training while the Malaysian equivalent of the bar, the CLP (Certificate in Legal Practice), is purely academic in nature. â€Å"Those who do get the opportunity to study overseas should go,† Melissa says. Chan, 29, a local engineering graduate, says studying locally provided him with flexibility to do whatever he wanted during semester breaks. â€Å"During your semester breaks, you can find good temporary employment at places such as McDonalds or a shopping complex for instance without the need to worry about work permits or the language. He adds that food is also cheap and abundant in Malaysia compared with many other countries. Who do the employers prefer? Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsudin Bardan says there is generally a preference for foreign graduates by employers. â€Å"It’s because foreign graduates are more proficient in English and have better thinking skills. They are more mature and independent than local graduates. â€Å"In terms of qualification or technical ability, there’s not much difference (with local graduates). However, when it comes to soft skills, foreign graduates have the advantage,† he says. A spokesman from the Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management also concurs that there is a preference for foreign graduates. â€Å"Multinationals, especially, are more keen to hire foreign graduates because they carry themselves better. They speak well and  with confidence during the interview. â€Å"Local graduates (who are more weak in terms of soft skills) don’t express themselves well enough in front of the interviewer, who would think that the interviewee is just not prepared for the job.† He also says that there is a general perception that the standard of Malaysian education is more inferior when compared to the standards in other countries. â€Å"A lot of people have criticised the standard of our education, which has clouded the minds the way that employers think. The environment has to change. People and politicians should change this perception.†

Sexuality in Mainstream Hindi Cinema

Sexuality in Mainstream Hindi Cinema Himakshi Ratti Introduction Films as medium of Mass Communication Film communication may be considered as a social process whereby a transmitted signal is received primarily through visual receptors (and, often, sound receptors) and is then treated as a message from which content or meaning is inferred. Film, as a symbolic form, is a process of communication that employs film, the medium, with its technology of optics, emulsions, and cameras, to produce a piece of celluloid with a variable-density silver nitrate surface. It is man who creates film communication. This definition suggests that a piece of film, in and of itself, is meaningless-that meaning exists only in a special social and cognitive relationship between a filmmaker and a viewer. This relationship occurs when a viewer chooses to treat a film not as mere signals triggering perceptual awareness and biological responses, but as message units that have been put together intentionally and from which meaning may be inferred. Cinema is perhaps the mainstream of all art forms, most popular and most accessible, especially in India, a country which produces most number of films in a year compared to any other country (barring Hollywood, perhaps), and a country where we have a large base of cinema-going public. Cinema, more than any other art, has the power to influence people. Therefore, it is very important to understand how the country, its people and its aspirations are represented in the cinema produced in the country. Cinema as a medium of mass communication can be seen at different levels, serving different purposes. It can be an art form, an entertainment, a social document or a social critique. Cinema can be all of these and at the same time be a means to something else – a mirror unto our lives, showing us exactly how we function as society. Mainstream Vs Alternative Cinema Mainstream films can best be defined as commercial films that are made by major entertainment studios or companies that are owned by international media conglomerates. Because of better financing, these films can afford more expensive actors, wide releases or limited releases, and are sold at popular retail stores. This has become known as the studio system. Films made by major studios or companies that are not owned by a media conglomerate but are distributed by a company owned by a media conglomerate are also considered to be mainstream and are often referred to as mainstream independent films. As a mainstream medi um (cinema needs money to be produced. Therefore, it must appeal to the mainstream audience, who will pay at the box office) cinema must, first and foremost, appeal to the mainstream audience. The definition of mainstream varies from society to society, from culture to culture. Broadly, it means representing the prevalent attitudes, values, and practices of a society or group, for example, mainstream morality. A cultural construct, when applied to art, mainstream may mean something that is available to the general public, or something that has ties to corporate or commercial entities. Sexuality in Hindi mainstream films refers to the presentation in motion pictures of sexuality or eroticism and sex acts, including love scenes. Erotic scenes have been presented in films since the silent era of cinematography. Many actors and actresses have exposed at least parts of their bodies or dressed and behaved in ways considered sexually provocative by contemporary standards at some point in their careers. Some films containing sex scenes have been criticized by religious groups or banned by Govt. or both. Sexuality in cinema has been presented in many genres of film; while in some genres sexuality is rarely depicted. Sex in films can be distinguished to a pornographic film and also from nudity in film, nudity can be presented in a sexualized context, for example nudity in naturalism would normally be regarded as non-sexual. In India, the entertainment industry is an important part of modern India and is expressive of Indian society in general. Historically Indian films have lacked the frank depiction of sex; until recently, even kissing scenes were considered taboo. On the other hand rape scenes or showing sexual assault were depicted openly. Currently some Indian states show soft core sexual scenes and nudity in films, while other areas don’t. Mainstream films are still largely catered for the masses of India, however foreign films containing sexuality are watched by Indians because of the same process of glamorization of film entertainment that occurred in Hollywood, Indian cinema, mainly Hindi-speaking Bollywood industry is also beginning to add sexual overtones. A Brief History of Bollywood Sex and Romance Bollywood classics cannot be beaten for their overt romantic tension, where intimate touching was replaced with the poetic, polite innuendo of hot rain and wet clothing. Indians are so reserved about what happens between consenting adults, considering India is the second most populous country in the world. In some ways, however, Hindi film makers have become more relaxed in their attitudes, as younger, Western-influenced generations come of age and make waves in an industry built on tradition. Previously unseen â€Å"taboos† like pre-marital sex, onscreen nudity and even wife-swapping have curiously been passed by the Central Board of Film Certification, the strict watchdog equivalent of the MPAA that has served as a censor since the early ’50s. Gathered below is a look at the landmark moments and trends that have raised eyebrows through Bollywood history. Bollywood in the 70’s and 80’s was becoming westernized. Back then the appearance of a plain white brassiere represented the forbidden nature of onscreen toplessness. An actress wearing just her over-the-shoulder boulder holder who turned out the lights, for instance, would be implying that she would soon be showing her breasts to her lover. If anyone realized the power of such clothed titillation, it was Raj Kapoor, whose films began to push the envelope late in his directorial career. His unparalleled 1973 teen romance â€Å"Bobby† made an overnight pin-up sensation of Dimple Kapadia when she appeared in a bikini, and 1978†²s â€Å"Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram† (which faced an uphill battle with the censor board, and was criticized by some as being exploitative) saw Zeenat Aman in a barely-there sari that defied physics by staying on. His final film, 1985†²s â€Å"Ram Teri Ganga Mali† caused further controversy when 16-year-old star Mandakin i appeared bathing in a waterfall, wearing only a sheer white. Today, bikini babes are far more prevalent in Bollywood culture, and 2000†²s â€Å"Hera Pheri† even depicted male sunbathers in bikinis, mistaken as girls from a distance by the film’s protagonist. Up until the ’50s, if Bollywood stars wanted to express love or even lust onscreen, clasping each other’s hands and staring longingly was about as risquà © as it got. Hugging and light face caressing became the next leap over the following three decades, but it wasn’t until the ’90s that kissing was really acknowledged, let alone done. A woman might lean in for lip service, but would shyly run away before the deal was sealed, or else the actual act would be covered by a veil in the moment before. While this, too, is changing today (superstar actor Aamir Khan even has a kissing clause put in his co-stars’ contracts; if they won’t kiss him, they can’t act opposite him), puckering up can still be contentious. Padmini Kolhapure made headlines when she merely gave Prince Charles a peck on the cheek, and after Aishwarya Rai got intimate with Hrithik Roshan in 2006†²s â€Å"Dhoom 2,† obscenity cases were filed. â€Å"Item numbers,† or highly sexualized, upbeat Bollywood songs with suggestive lyrics and choreography, began popping up in the late ’80s and especially in the ’90s. Designed to arouse, interest in the commercial films they appear in, item numbers are stand-alone showstoppers with no relevance to their movies’ plots, featuring either cameo appearances from famous stars — or more typically, â€Å"item girls.† Here, objectification should not to be confused with the sexy dancers in increasingly revealing clothing have become a little less stigmatized today, as some have used the showcase as a springboard into leading roles. Among the validated thespians, then, comes the notion of â€Å"skin show,† what India ambiguously calls any notion of actresses and even actors now, who are willing to flaunt more than what the conservative standards dictate. Dare-bare performers like Bipasha Basu in ‘Jism’ and the controversially outs poken Mallika Sherawat in ‘Murder’ have achieved notoriety for their scantily clad boundary-pushing alone. Alternative Lifestyles Bollywood plots have certainly progressed, less centered on arranged marriages and more on young urbanites dating and clubbing. But these are still baby steps compared to what has been accustomed to in Western society. India still remains closeted in changing sexual preferences. In 2003 â€Å"Kal No Naa Ho† treated homosexuality with slapstick, and the recent â€Å"Dostana† concerns two fakers in the same vein, but small strides have been made to bring sincerity and open-mindedness to the cinema. In 2005 â€Å"My Brother†¦ Nikhil† subtly brought awareness to the AIDS crisis, but it never could have existed without the hugely controversial 1996 release of Deepa Mehta’s â€Å"Fire,† the first Bollywood film to depict homosexuality. When the latter film opened, there were angry protests and widespread vandalism — movie theaters showing the film were violently stormed, with windows smashed and posters burned. While it’s hard to believ e such intolerance over so little could exist in the modern era. This too needs to be taken into consideration that â€Å"Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna† (which made waves for its dealings in adultery and divorce) and â€Å"Mixed Doubles† (about wife-swapping) were only made in 2006. REVIEW OF LITERATURE SEXUALITY IN HINDI FILMS Kaiser Family Foundation found that Bollywood films such as ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘Murder 2’ are ahead of all in portraying sexual content on screen. The biggest worry is that the ‘Bollywood’ is considered as the mainstream Indian cinema and one of the best in the world. And when these films despite of having bold content and vulgar story make massive amount of box office collection cause more and more audience to turn towards cinema hall. Today’s film critics are also somehow responsible for this as they acclaim such new way of making Indian films representing bold topics. They appreciate the filmmakers work a lot and boost their confidence for again getting involved into such kind of projects, which the filmmakers think that they are versatile in handling those sensibly. Even the name of the film ‘The Dirty Picture’ sounds very strange and suggests that the film is on adult subject. It is really disastrous when such films ar e broadcasted on television after 2-3 months from its release so that the film gets noticeable to everyone in different classes of the society. Rise of Item songs in movies performed by leading actresses is another example of public display of sexuality.   AUDIENCE PERCEPTION ON SEXUAL CONTENT IN INDIAN CINEMA A journal of the Association for Psychological Science found that, sensation seeking did not entirely explain these effects; the researchers also speculate that adolescents learn specific behaviours from the sexual messages in movies. Many adolescents turn to movies to acquire sexual scripts that offer examples of how to behave when confronted with complicated emotional situations. Mainstream hindi cinema is most widely distributed cinema in India. Representation of sex in mainstream hindi films has veered between the sarcasm, comic and the criminal. Mainstream cinema now has adopted representation of sexuality in more realistic manner and is successful in raising, expressing and suggesting possible solutions to any problems in an effective manner. Sex in stories should be infused in such a way that the society starts accepting it. The authencity and genuinity of sex in real life should be accepted the same way in the films too. The society has grown in so many ways. Indians have embraced the western culture with open arms, but a hesitation still persists among the Indian audience such western trends i.e. sexuality in mainstream cinema. The reality quotient establishes an emotional connect with the audience. Movies containing sexual content create a negative impact on the viewers and on mass media. Still in Indian society, such obscene visuals have many ill effects on people. REASONS FOR INTRODUCTION OF SEXUALITY IN HINDI FILMS OHara said, These movies appear to fundamentally influence their personality through changes in sensation-seeking, which has far-reaching implications for all of their risk-taking behaviours, Movies get publicity out of pornographic content by showing it on screen. The media executives simply use their power to increase their ratings, popularity and to promote their movies. Portrayal of sexuality is used by film makers as a tool in order to appeal or attract maximum audience. Sexual content in films invite controversies which fetch a lot of free publicity for the film. Modern day film makers want the society to be open, frank and practical in their approach. The issues such as rapes, sexual assaults, etc. need to be addressed through mass media and create awareness amongst people. In order to give solutions and address such problems, the society needs to be comfortable with openly discussing and viewing such content. INFLUENCE OF SEXUALITY IN MAINSTREAM CINEMA Rajmeet Ghai points out that, Movies are harming our society .Gone the times when parents and elders were ready to watch the movie with their children! With the more western perspective, it is becoming seamlessly difficult for our culture to accept Hindi movies. Keeping aside the action and drama, the vulgarity depicted knows no bounds. India has always been known for its culture. However it’s rare to find movies based on any culture. Thanks to the media and the hype created of the celebrities personal lives, youngsters get influenced in the wrong way. The movies that depict extreme violence, murder cause mental harm to children. Teenagers become easy fashion victim of the skimpy dresses worn. Most of the movies show extreme drama which may hurt sentiments of people. The comedy movies, most of the times over do the humor by making a mockery of reality. Even though a majority of the movies are extremely entertaining, focus should be on culture, religion, etc. without hurting the sentiments of any community. Against Hindi movies can possibly be the best medium of entertainment. If made well, they can be easily used to educate the society on several issues. India being one of the largest movie producing country and due its wide acceptance, Hindi movies can be easily used to portray India’s art and culture. Most of the country’s population watches Hindi movies; hence it generates revenues rather than harming the society. They can be an excellent source of refreshment for stress. The movies should not always be taken seriously. It is not necessary that each Hindi movie needs to pass some message to society. Violence has existed for years now. Hence blaming the Hindi movies for depicting and encouraging violence is not fair. As a matter of fact, the movies depict that good always wins over evil. METHODOLOGY This chapter describes the methodology adopted for the study of Sexuality in mainstream Hindi Films. In the present day scenario movies and sexuality are inter-related concepts. Movies with sexual content are generally rated higher than those with no sexual content. The current study will make an effort to examine the sexual content shown in hindi films and its effects on its audience and their behavior. The two methods used are: CONTENT ANALYSIS: In this research, both a quantitative and qualitative content analysis has been done to determine the frequency of sexuality being portrayed in mainstream hindi films in the year 2013. All the hit films of 2013 have been calculated quantitatively determining the frequency and nature of instances of showing sexuality in a film. Here, unit of Analysis is any sexual gestures made in the movie. Frequency of portrayal of sex has been measured. This includes the sexual content in only mainstream hit Bollywood films. The qualitative content analysis is to do with the kind of sexual portrayal i.e. is it either to address a serious issue or is it just to titillate the audience n make money. SURVEY: This study explores the use of sexual content in mainstream movies as a communicative strategy among the audience of these movies by employing the cross-sectional survey. Sample- A non-probability sample of 100 people from the city was selected for the purpose of collecting information. Tool of Data Collection- The instrument used for data-collection in survey is a questionnaire. The questionnaire comprises of 12 questions and is designed in order to analyze the respondent’s demographics, their views on present day scenario of films carrying sexual content, their perception of the prevalence of the existing trends.

1,2,4-Oxadiazole Moiety Molecules Synthesis for Cancer

1,2,4-Oxadiazole Moiety Molecules Synthesis for Cancer 2.4. Synthesis of 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-substituted-1,2,4-oxadiazole derivatives for their MTT assay using MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and degradation of DNA in EAT cells 2.4.1. INTRODUCTION In the biological and pharmacological importance, heterocycles plays a significance role. Oxadiazole molecules show biologically activity includes angiogenesis inhibitor [246] and also HIV inhibitor [247], tyrosine kinase inhibition [45], histamine H3 antagonism [48], muscarinic agonism [49], potent histamine H2 receptor antagonists [50, 51], muscarinic receptor antagonists [53, 54], interleukin-8 (IL-8) receptor antagonists [65], cytotoxic activities [68], monoamine oxidase inhibition [66], potent therapeutic agents for prostate cancer [72], anticonvulsant activity [67], tumor-selective and apoptosis-inducing agents [70, 71], antitumor [4f] and apoptosis-inducing anticancer agents [73, 74]. Breast cancer is a most terrifying disease in which cells in breast tissue grow and divide without normal control. This type of growth of cells without control forms a lump called tumor. In breast cancer, tumors are called benign or malignant. Malignant tumors will grow by eating food. They get the food by forming new blood vessels in a process called angiogenesis. These blood vessels are the main reason to promote the growth of the tumors. After this tumor growing it will spread to nearby tissue, which is called as invasion. The breakage of main tumor cells will spread into other parts of the body and it will lead to metastatic breast cancer. This happens through blood stream or lymphatic system and this process is called metastasis. The main disadvantage of the malignant breast cancer is dividing and grows out of control which leads to form number of new tumors. If those new tumors are in other parts of the body, then also we call those as breast cancer. Especially in women, breast cancer leading to the cause of cancer related death. In developing and developed countries, breast cancer is the second most common malignancy type diagnosed disease in women. In India breast cancer is the most discussing problem in the current health problem (248). By the survey conceded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the percentage of breast cancer patients has been nearly doubled. In the past few years nearly one lakh new patients are being detected from 1985 to 2001 (249, 250). It has been estimated that the breast cancer in 2004 is nearly 90,273 and they predicted that in 2015 the patient’s number may be nearly 1, 12,680 (251). Due to the damage in DNA, normal cells will become cancer cells. DNA is present in every cell and it directs to all its actions. When DNA gets damaged in normal cells, the cell either repairs the damage or it dies. But in the cancer cells, damaged DNA is not repaired. The damaged cell undergoes splitting. As a result cell goes on making new cells that the body doesn’t need and those cells have same damaged DNA as the first cells does. This conjecture the design and synthesis of new anticancer drugs, and drug combination and treatment modalities is still the need for effective treatment of breast cancer patients [252]. 1,2,4-Oxadiazole moiety molecules show signs of vide variety of biological activities [40, 253-255]. In connection to the above studies, our molecules are subjected to the angiogenesis using MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines and degradation of DNA studies using in EAT cells. 2.4.2. MATERIALS Melting points were recorded (uncorrected) on a Buchi Melting Point B-545 instrument. Infrared (IR) spectra were recorded using a Jasco FTIR-4100 series. All reagents and solvents used were commercially procured and used as received. 1H-NMR spectra’s were recorded on Shimadzu AMX-400-Bruker with 400 MHz with TMS as internal standard. The 13C NMR spectra were examined on a Bruker DPX-400 at 100.6 MHz. The mass spectra were recorded on a JEOL JMS-AX505HA mass spectrometer. 2.4.3. EXPERIMENTAL 2.4.3.1. Chemistry General procedure for synthesis of (Z)-4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluoro-N-hydroxybenzimidamide (2). A solution of hydroxylamine hydrochloride (1.529 g, 22.004 mmol) (2.5eq) and sodium carbonate (1.492 g, 14.082 mmol) (1.6eq) was taken in a round bottom flask. Stir for 10min to dissolve completely, then to this mixture 4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorobenzonitrile (1) (2.0 g, 8.801 mmol) (1.0 eq) is dissolved with ethanol was added. Then the mixture is heated to 60 0C about 5-6 hr. After that the steps forward of the reaction fusion was examined by the thin layer chromatography (TLC). After reaction completion, the solvent and the product was separated in vacuum pump under reduced pressure. Then the product was poured to water and extracted with ethyl ethanoate. The organic layer was washed 2-3 times with distilled water. The organic layer was washed 2-3 times with distilled water. The extracted ethyl ethanoate layer was dried over sodium sulphate (anhydrous) and the solvent was evaporated to get (Z)-4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluoro-N-hyd roxybenzimidamide (2). 2.4.3.2. Synthesis of 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-substituted-1,2,4-oxadiazole 4(a-f) derivatives. (Z)-4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluoro-N-hydroxybenzimidamide (2) (1.0 eq) is dissolved in dry dichloromethane and cooled to 0-5 0C in ice bath. Then N,N-diisopropylethylamine (1.1 eq) was added to cold reaction mixture and stirred for 10 minutes, then different aromatic acid chlorides (3a-e) (1 eq) were added. The reaction mixture was allowed to room temperature under stirring for 5-6 hr. After that the steps forward of the reaction fusion was examined by the thin layer chromatography (TLC). After reaction completion, the solvent and the product was separated in vacuum pump under reduced pressure. Then the product was poured to water and extracted with ethyl ethanoate. The organic layer was washed 2-3 times with distilled water. The organic layer was washed 2-3 times with distilled water. The extracted ethyl ethanoate layer was dried over sodium sulphate (anhydrous) and the product was purified with the help of column chromatography over silica gel (60-120 mesh) using hexane and ethyl acetate (1:1). Scheme 1. Reagents and conditions: (i) Sodium carbonate, water, ethanol, 60 0C, 6 h; (ii) dichloromethane, N,N-diisopropylethylamine, 0-5 0C, 6 h; 3(a-e) Where 3a = 4-chloro benzoyl chloride; 3b = 4-Fluoro benzoyl chloride; 3c = 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoyl chloride; 3d = 4-Fluoro-3-Nitrobenzoyl chloride; 3e = 4-EthylPhenylbenzoyl chloride. 2.4.3.2.1. Synthesis of 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole (4a) Pale yellow color from (Z)-4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluoro-N-hydroxybenzimidamide (2) (0.1 g, 0.384 mmol), 4-chlorobenzoylchloride (3a) (0.067 g, 0.384 mmol) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (0.049 g, 0.461 mmol). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 8.32 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.75 (dd, 2H, Ar-H), 7.70, (d, 1H, imid-H), 7.55 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.50 (dd, 2H, Ar-H), 7.35 (d, 1H, imid-H), 7.30 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 5.05 (d, 1H, pyrrole-H), 2.56-2.30 (d, 4H, pyrrole-H); MS (ESI) m/z: 381.081 (100.0%), Anal. calcd. for C20H14ClFN4O (in %): C- 63.08, H- 3.71, N- 14.71. 2.4.3.2.2. Synthesis of 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-(4-fluorophenyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole (4b) Orange color from (Z)-4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluoro-N-hydroxybenzimidamide (2) (0.1 g, 0.384 mmol), 4-Fluoro benzoyl chloride (3b) (0.060 g, 0.384 mmol)and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (0.049 g, 0.461 mmol). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 8.31 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.30 (dd, 2H, Ar-H), 7.72, (d, 1H, imid-H), 7.56 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.34 (d, 1H, imid-H), 7.31 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.29 (dd, 2H, Ar-H), 5.02 (d, 1H, pyrrole-H), 2.58-2.31 (d, 4H, pyrrole-H); MS (ESI) m/z: 365.114 (100.0%), Anal. calcd. for C20H14F2N4O (in %): C- 65.93, H- 3.87, N- 15.38. 2.4.3.2.3. Synthesis of 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole (4c) Dark brown color from (Z)-4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluoro-N-hydroxybenzimidamide (2) (0.1 g, 0.384 mmol), 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoyl chloride (3c) (0.080 g, 0.384 mmol) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (0.049 g, 0.461 mmol). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 8.33 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 8.10 (dd, 2H, Ar-H), 7.74 (d, 1H, imid-H), 7.70 (dd, 2H, Ar-H), 7.58 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.37 (d, 1H, imid-H), 7.33 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 5.06 (d, 1H, pyrrole-H), 2.59-2.29 (d, 4H, pyrrole-H); MS (ESI) m/z: 415.110 (100.0%), Anal. calcd. for C21H14F4N4O (in %): C- 60.87, H- 3.41, N- 13.52. 2.4.3.2.4. Synthesis of 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-(4-fluoro-3-nitrophenyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole (4d) Pale yellow color from (Z)-4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluoro-N-hydroxybenzimidamide (2) (0.1 g, 0.384 mmol), 4-Fluoro-3-Nitrobenzoyl chloride (3d) (0.078 g, 0.384 mmol)and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (0.049 g, 0.461 mmol). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 8.71 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 8.65 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 8.34 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.74 (d, 1H, imid-H), 7.61 (dd, 1H, Ar-H), 7.58 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.37 (d, 1H, imid-H), 7.33 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 5.06 (d, 1H, pyrrole-H), 2.59-2.29 (d, 4H, pyrrole-H); MS (ESI) m/z: 410.099 (100.0%), Anal. calcd. for C20H13F2N5O3 (in %): C- 58.68, H- 3.20, N- 13.52. 2.4.3.2.5. Synthesis of 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-(5-ethyl-[1,1-biphenyl]-2-yl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole (4e). White color from (Z)-4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluoro-N-hydroxybenzimidamide (2) (0.1 g, 0.384 mmol), 4-EthylPhenylbenzoyl chloride (3e) (0.094 g, 0.384 mmol) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (0.049 g, 0.461 mmol). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): 8.31 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.95 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.80 (dd, 2H, Ar-H), 7.75 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.72, (d, 1H, imid-H), 7.53 (dd, 2H, Ar-H), 7.56 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.45 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.34 (d, 1H, imid-H), 7.30 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 7.31 (d, 1H, Ar-H), 5.03 (d, 1H, pyrrole-H), 2.65 (q, 2H, -CH2), 2.58-2.31 (d, 4H, pyrrole-H), 1.27 (t, 3H, -CH3),; MS (ESI) m/z: 451.186 (100.0%), Anal. calcd. for C28H23FN4O (in %): C- 74.65, H- 5.15, N- 12.44. 2.4.4. Biology 2.4.4.1. Culture of MCF-7 cells: MCF-7 cells were cultured with minor modification in Minimal Essential medium (Invitrogen) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 100units/ml penicillin-G, 100  µg/ml streptomycin and 1% sodium bicarbonate (Invitrogen). MCF-7 cells were obtained from Cell repository unit of National Center for Cell Sciences (NCCS), Pune, India. All cell lines were maintained at 37 °C in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2 [256]. 2.4.4.2. Culture of EAT cells: Animals, in vivo tumor generation and imidazole derivatives treatment Six to eight weeks old female mice were acclimated for one week while caged in-group of five. Mice were housed and fed a diet of animal chow and water ad libitum throughout the experiment. All the experiments were approved by the institutional animal care and use committee of the University of Mysore, Mysore, India. Ehrlich Ascites Tumor (EAT) cells (5Ãâ€"106 cells/mouse) were injected intraperitoneally. These cells grow in mouse peritoneum forming an ascites tumor with massive abdominal swelling. The animals showed a dramatic increase in body weight over the growth period and the animals succumbed to the tumor burden 14–16 days after implantation. 2.4.4.2.1. Isolation of EAT cells from mice peritoneal cavity and compound treatment: From the peritoneal cavity of tumor-bearing mice the EAT cells were isolated (control and treated). 2-3 mm of sterile PBS was injected in to the peritoneal cavity of the mice and the peritoneal fluid containing tumor cells withdrawn, collect in sterile petri dishes and incubated at 370C for 2 h. The cells of macrophage linage adhered to the bottom of Petri dishes. The non-adherent population was aspirated out gently and washed repeatedly with PBS. Moreover, viability of these cells was assessed and was found to be >95% by trypan blue dye exclusion. The viable EAT cells were processed for further experiments. The EAT cells (5 x 106) were treated with or without compounds of 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-substituted-1,2,4-oxadiazole series 4(a-e) and incubated at 370 C for different time interval or for known period of time. After the incubation period the cells w ere used for the further analysis [258]. 2.4.4.2.2. Cell count by Trypan blue dye exclusion assay. EAT cells were treated with different concentrations of 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-substituted-1,2,4-oxadiazole compounds 4(a-e) at various time periods (0–4 h). Cell viability was assessed by mixing aliquots of cell suspension with 0.4% trypan blue and counted using heamocytometer. Cells that picked up the dye were considered to be dead [259(a)]. 2.4.5. Result and Discussion 2.4.5.1. Chemistry Synthesis of the key intermediate (Z)-4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluoro-N-hydroxybenzimidamide (2) is outlined in Scheme 1. Briefly, hydroxylamine hydrochloride and sodium carbonate was taken in water and stirred. 4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorobenzonitrile (1) was dissolved in ethanol and added to the reaction mixture. The presence of –NH2 and =N-OH proton peaks NMR spectra indicates the formation of (Z)-4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluoro-N-hydroxybenzimidamide (2). The key intermediate compound (2) was taken in dry dichloromethane and cooled to 0-5 0C, and N,N-diisopropylethylamine was added. Stirred for 10 min, then different aromatic acid chlorides 3(a-e) was added drop by drop. The reaction mixture was allowed to room temperature under stirring for 5-6 h and after that the steps forward of the reaction fusion was examined by the thin layer chromatography (TLC). After reaction completion, the solvent and th e product was separated in vacuum pump under reduced pressure. Then the product was poured to water and extracted with ethyl ethanoate. The organic layer was washed 2-3 times with distilled water to get target 3-(4-(3-(1H-imidazol-5-yl)propyl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-substituted-1,2,4-oxadiazole 4(a-e). Upon completion crude products 4(a-e) were obtained with a good yield of 81–93% and which the product was purified with the help of column chromatography over silica gel (60-120 mesh) using hexane and ethyl acetate (1:1). The absence of –CO proton peak in synthesized derivatives in 1H spectra confirmed the identity of the products. The details of chemical structures, physical data and purity of compounds are given in Table 1. Compound R1 Yield MP (oC) Purity 4a 90 277 90 4b 85 100 93 4c 81 110 89 4d 82 142 92 4e 79 95 81 Table 1. Chemical structures, physical data and purity of compounds 4(a–e) 2.4.5.2. Biology 2.4.5.2.1. MTT assay: The MTT assay was performed according to the protocol previously reported [257]. MCF-7 cells were plated at a density of 1 X 105 cells in 96-well plates. (Subsequently, the 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-substituted-1,2,4-oxadiazole series 4(a-e) were assayed using concentrations from 0.05 to 0.5 mM). After 24 h of incubation, 10  µL of 5% 3-(4,5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) (Sigma Aldrich) (0.05 mg/mL) were added to the culture medium. After 4 h at 370C the culture medium was removed and 200  µL of DMSO were added to dissolve the salts of formazan. The absorbance was measured with a 96-wells plate spectrophotometer at 570 nm. The experiments were independently performed three times and each experiment contained triple replicates. Control samples containing a complete culture medium devoid of cells or control cells with 0.1% DMSO were also included in each experiment. Figure 1. The MTT assay of compounds 4(a-e) in MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. Sl.No. Name of the compound IC50 Value 1 Cisplatin 10ÃŽ ¼g 2 4a 100ug 3 4b 200ug 4 4c 100ug 5 4d 800ug 6 4e 200ug Table 2. Compounds 4(a-e) and their IC50 value ( µg/ml) on MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. 2.4.5.3. DNA fragmentation assay: EAT cells were collected from mice treated with or without 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-substituted-1,2,4-oxadiazole series 4(a-e). Thein vivo and DNA was isolated using the phenol–chloroform method. In brief, cells were lysed in a buffer containing 50mM Tris–HCl, pH 8.0, and 0.5% SDS, and incubated for 30min at 37 °C. The cell lysate was subjected to 8M potassium acetate precipitation and left for 1h at 4 °C. The supernatant was subjected to phenol/chloroform/isoamyl alcohol (25:24:1) extraction and once to chloroform extraction. DNA was precipitated by adding 1:2 volumes of ice-cold ethanol. The precipitated DNA was dissolved in 50ÃŽ ¼L TE buffer (pH 8.0). The DNA was digested with 20ÃŽ ¼g/mL RNase at 37 °C for 1h. The DNA was quantitated and equal concentration of DNA (25ÃŽ ¼g) was resolved on 1.5% agarose gel, viewed under UV light, and documented using BIORAD gel documentation system Figure 2 [259(b)]. Figure 2. The DNA degradation of compounds 4(a-e) in Ehrlich Ascites Tumor (EAT) cells. Conclusion: A series of 3-(4-(6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-5-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-5-substituted-1,2,4-oxadiazoles 4(a-e) has been synthesized by using simple synthetic procedures and were screened for their MTT assay using MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and degradation of DNA in Ehrlich Ascites Tumor (EAT) cells activity. All the final compounds exhibited good in all the in-vitro activity.

CanadasTwo-Tier Healthcare System Essay -- Healthcare

CANADA HAS TWO-TIER HEALTH CARE SYSTEM The issue of a universal approach to Canadian Health Care has been contended for several years. Canada's national health insurance program, or Medicare, was designed to ensure that all people can have medical, hospital and physician services. The cost is to be paid for by Ontario medical insurance program (OHIP). The Canada Health Act was intended to represent certain principles of our health care system. It was intended to be a symbol of the Canadian values. Those values are fairness equity and togetherness. This oneness of a universal approach is what we call the one tier system. Many Canadians still believe the official government stand on this: Canada’s medical insurance covers all needs and services for every insured citizen. Officially then, there is a one level health care system. This paper shall argument that Canada has a two tier health care system. Those who would claim that Canada’s health care is a universal one tier system could refer to the legal terms of the Canada Health Care Act. In particular, the point that states, â€Å"Universality: All insured residents are entitled to the same level of health care.† (â€Å"Canada Health Care Act†, 2007). In fact, many Canadians feel they have a right to be covered financially for any and all medical costs. According to the Globe & Mail, â€Å"Canadians have developed an incredible sense of Medicare entitlement: They want all care for all people, instantly and free of charge.† (Andre, 2009). It is true that the original intention was to make health care services available for Canadians, but the guidelines offer the same service to Canadians covered by the health plan. However, certain problems arose and modifications were needed because not al... ... Works Cited Andre, P. (2009, October 16). Our two-tiered health system: a rural-urban split. The Globe & Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com Canada Health Care Act. (2007). Canada Health Care. Retrieved from http://www.canadianhealthcare.org National Bureau of Economic Research. (2007). Health status, health care and inequality: Canada versus U.S. June, E.O. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/authors_papers/david_oneill Ottawa, provinces to begin talks for health deal. (2011, November 22). The Canadian press. Retrieved from http://www.ctv.ca Prime minister finally admits two-tier health care exists: McDonough. (2000, November 13). The Canadian Press. Retrieved from http:// search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca Shouldice Clinic. Retrieved from http://www.shouldice.com/what_to_expect.htm

A Remarkable Woman Of The Early West :: Free Essay Writer

Margaret Ann Martin was born in Greenfield, Nelson County, Virginia on January 20th, 1834. Her parents were Hudson Martin and Nancy Thorpe. Hudson Marton was born in Virginia in 1765. At the close of the Revolutionary War, Giddeon Martin, his after moved to Kentucky. Giddeon Martin had fought for seven years in the Revolution under General George Washington. Hudsont Martin and Nancy Thorpe were married March 22nd, 1824. The following children were born to this union John, their only son, and daughters Jane, Mahalley, Margaret Ann, Nancy and Jennie. They were raised in Virginia. Margaret Ann's mother died in 1859 and her father in 1861. Margaret Ann was married to Andrew Jackson on December 16th, 1858. They loved in Broxton County, West Virginia. Andrew Jackson, joined with the Confederate Army and was made Captain of Company B-19th Virginia Cavalry. Mrs. Jackson was ordered north in the fall of 1863. All of her possessions and property were confiscated and she was allowed to take only her two saddle bags of clothing, approximately sixty pounds of baggage. She was carried on horseback, under a flag of truce through the Confederate lines to her house in Virginia. During his four years of service in the army, Captain Jackson came home to visit his wife three times. On one visit, he only had time for dinner with her and had been gone about fifteen minutes when the house was surrounded by soldiers. Once he came for a visit overnight and at another time for nine days. At the close of war, Captain and Mrs. Jackson moved to South Carolina two years in the fall of 1865hey started West by ox teams, stopping in Bandera Couny, Texas, where they remained until 1873. Mr. Jackson was running a sawmill there. They left Texas, May 1873 with three wagons and ox teams, driving five yoke of oxen to one wagon and four yoke each to the other two wagons. They avaraved from twenty to twenty five miles per day. At night, when camped, two oxen were necked together and belled. They spent that winter in Trinadad, Colorado, where they could have good range for there cattle, remaining there until May 1874 when they started north on the third leg of their journey, going out by Larma City, Pueblo, Denver and down to the great Salt Lake, hence to Corrine into Idaho, down the Snake River to Munds Ferry, then out over the Powder Range into backer City, Oregon. From here they traveled into Grand Round Valley, crossed the Blued mountains into Walla-Walla and continued up the Columbia

Einstein in love :: essays research papers

Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When I first heard saw the title of this book, I was immediately intrigued. How could Romance be scientific? It’s one thing to have science involved in romance, or to be a romantic scientist, but as much as I played with the semantics of the title I found myself being curiously sucked into its storyline. The basic premise of this book, as one might expect from the obvious title, is young Albert Einstein’s perspective of love and romance. I suppose that is entirely plausible for even a physicist to fall in love, but, rather than detail all of the gritty mathematics of physics it portrays how even the brightest, most ingenious of us all merely seeks to be normal and loved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book opens with an Eighteen year old Einstein in Zurich pondering love and many other questions. Now at first glance I thought that it might go one of two ways: It’s going to focus on Einstein’s life, or it’s going to focus on his theories. It turns out that Dennis Overbye incorporates all of Einstein’s life, or at least the early part of it, and uses the environment around Einstein as an explanation for why he might have theorized exactly the way that he did.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is true that when viewing one’s surroundings one can usually gain a better understanding of a lot of things, particularly if one understands what is going around them. This is true for Einstein, and it was one of the major points that I took with me when I finished reading this book. Though Overbye does make a slight allusion that his love, Mileva Meric, was responsible for most of his theories, the dialogue between the two is somewhat lost, as the portion that would be her accounts on Special Relativity are all in letter form.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I feel that this novel is relative the seminar on Special Relativity because it portrays the Einstein we know as a young man who seeks out love, and who also desires answers to all of his questions. I feel that it is relevant not just because it is a book about Einstein, rather, because it is a book about a few great ideas: normalcy, love and of course the theory of Special Relativity. Occasionally I did find my mind wondering in the course of reading this book, but that was mainly due to the fact that I had other things running through my mind.

A Man of Innovation: Sam Walton

When Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store in 1962, it was the beginning of an American success story that no one could have predicted. A small-town merchant who had operated variety stores in Arkansas and Missouri, Walton was convinced that consumers would flock to a discount store with a wide array of merchandise and friendly service. Hence, Wal-Mart's mission is to deliver big-city discounting to small-town America. From humble, hard-working roots, Sam Walton built Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. into the largest, fastest-growing, and most profitable retailer in the world. A child of the Depression, Sam always worked hard. He would milk the cows, and by the age of eight, he started selling magazine subscriptions. When he turned 12, Sam took on a paper route that he continued well into his college days to support himself. Walton began his retail career at J.C. Penney in Des Moines, Iowa in 1940 making just $75 per month. In 1945, Sam borrowed $5,000 from his wife and $20,000 from his wife's family to open a Ben Franklin five and dime franchise in Newport, Arkansas. In 1950, he relocated to Bentonville, Arkansas and opened a Walton 5&10. Over the next 12 years they built up and grew to 15 Ben Franklin Stores under the name of Walton 5&10. Sam had plenty of new ideas. He liked to deal with the suppliers directly so he could pass the savings on to the customers. He later brought a new idea to Ben Franklin management that they should open discount stores in small towns. They rejected his idea. Sam and his brother James (Bud) opened their first Wal-Mart Discount City store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. Walton and his wife Helen had to put up everything they had, including their house and property to finance the first 18,000 square-foot store. With gradual growth over the next eight years, they went public in 1970 with only 18 stores and sales of $44 million. While other large chains lagged behind, Wal-Mart soon grew rapidly in the 1970's, due to their highly automated distribution centers and computerization. By 1980, they were up to 276 stores with revenues of over $1.2 billion. Sam Walton's guiding philosophy for his stores from the beginning was to offer consumers a wide selection of goods at a discounted price. The company saved money by keeping low advertising costs and located stores in small towns where residents had few options for retail shopping. On one level, Sam Walton was â€Å"just folks†, the guy with the red dented pickup with the bird dogs in back. On another, he was the flinty entrepreneur, there to peer as deep into the salesmen's souls as into their sample kits and persuade them to give a deeper discount for Wal-Mart's bulk and massive purchases. Wal-Mart's success in small towns led to criticism that the stores took business away from small, hometown merchants. Nevertheless, the company managed to successfully market the stores as friendly, local businesses. In the Wal-Mart spirit, employees often greet shoppers at the store's entrances. Since their early days, Wal-Mart stores have paid careful attention to specific community needs and wants, often selling local merchandise along with items sold throughout the chain. In addition, the company honors selected graduating high school seniors with college scholarships, and the stores hold charity fund-raisers and sponsor various community events. Wal-Mart's corporate community spirit began to exert an influence on public policy in the 1990s. After the record industry established a parental advisory system of â€Å"stickering† music albums containing potentially offensive material, Wal-Mart decided to ban the stickered albums altogether from their stores. The company subsequently has succeeded in influencing many record companies to release clean versions of stickered albums. Wal-Mart has considerable impact in the music industry, largely because about one-tenth of all compact disks sold in the United States are sold at Wal-Marts. Today, Wal-Mart has over 728,000 Associates worldwide with 3,500 stores, sales of over $104 billion, is in operation in all 50 states and it's still growing. In an average week, approximately 60,000,000 customers will shop at Wal-Mart throughout the world. In his autobiography â€Å"Sam Walton: Made in America: My Story,† Sam shares with us, â€Å"If you believe in your dreams, there's no limit to what you can do.† In 1992, American legend, Sam Walton left us with these words, â€Å"I would like to be remembered as a good friend to most everyone whose life I've touched; as someone who has maybe meant something to them and helped them some way.† While Walton's management techniques over the years were hardly the stuff of an MBA program, it represents the kind of grassroots common sense that many entrepreneurs readily acknowledge-but too seldom heed. (People have a knack for making business more complicated than it needs to be.) What Walton showed the world, but especially the retailing world, was that success was rooted in a mindfulness of a few basic principles. These principles consisted of constantly being mindful of; customer service and satisfaction, always take advantage of the competitions ideas, diversify, employee satisfaction, and give back to the community. Couple this with a relentless drive to put these principles into practice. Sam Walton understood better, it seems, than anyone else that no business can exist without customers. He lived by the creed of, make the customer the centerpiece of all your efforts. In addition, in the process of serving Wal-Mart's customers he served Wal-Mart associates, shareholders, and communities. He accomplished this almost without parallel in American business. Walton knew what the customer wanted. The customer wanted everything: a large assortment of quality merchandise; low prices; satisfaction guaranteed; friendly service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience. His motto was, â€Å"always exceed the customers expectations†. In the 1950's and 1960's the great migration from the inner cities and from the rural areas to the suburbs had begun. The big retail giants stayed put, around the large populated suburban and urban areas. Small town and rural America either had to travel to the big city to buy cheaper or buy from the local merchant at a higher price. These merchants seemed to think that since they had a captive audience they could stick with their 35 to 45 percent mark-ups. There seemed to be an ever widening or let me say, vacuum occurring. Walton has been accused of single handily driving the small town merchants out of business. Reality shows though that the small town merchants brought about their own demise, by being greedy and only trying to monopolize their small piece of the market. They also viewed that raising the mark-up on their goods could only solve their loss of revenue, declining because of people moving out and people driving to the urban areas to shop. Sam saw just the reverse of this. Buy in tremendous volume, mark the goods up less than 30% and carry a large variety of goods. â€Å"Every day low prices† is a hall mark of Wal-Mart and Sam credits a manufacturer's agent from New York, Harry Weiner, with his first real lesson about pricing: â€Å"Harry was selling ladies' panties for $2 a dozen. We'd been buying similar panties from Ben Franklin for $2.50 a dozen and selling them at three pair for $1. Well, at Harry's price of $2, we could put them out at four for $1 and make a great promotion for our store. â€Å"Here's the simple lesson we learned †¦ say I bought an item for 80 cents. I found that by pricing it at $1.00, I could sell three times more of it than by pricing it at $1.20. I might make only half the profit per item, but because I was selling three times as many, the overall profit was much greater. Simple enough, but this is really the essence of discounting. By cutting your price, you can boost your sales to a point where you earn far more at the cheaper retail. Sam's adherence to this pricing philosophy was unshakable, as one of Wal-Mart's first store managers recalls: â€Å"Sam wouldn't let us hedge on a price at all. Say the list price was $1.98, but we had paid only 50 cents. Initially, I would say, ‘Well, it's originally $1.98, so why don't we sell it for $1.25?' He'd say, No. We paid 50 cents for it so mark it up 30 percent, and that's it. No matter what you pay for it, if we get a great deal, pass it on to the customer.' And of course that's what we did.† Moreover, that's what we continue to do – work diligently to find great deals to pass on to our customers. Some will argue that Walton†s plan was, and Wal-Mart's plan even today, is to drive all competition out and raise prices for even larger profits. In essence, become a monopoly similar to the previous small-town merchants. The argument is mute because a true free market will not allow this to occur. Someone will come in to fill the new vacuum that will be in existence. Just like Sam Walton did with Wal-Mart. Walton also saw a large segment of the country, although widely dispersed in small towns, being totally inconvenienced by the big retailers. Yet the treatment by the people who owned the small-town stores who were neighbors, and sat in the same pew on Sundays was even worse in Sam's eyes, it was unconscionable. He could not understand how neighbors could treat one another in such a way over profitability. It was not right and he would make sure people were treated like friends and family when they came into a Wal-Mart. Sam Walton from the very beginning would scope out his competitors. When he would go to a competitor's store, it was always tempting to see how dumpy it was, how small it was, or any other negative aspect that would make his stores seem better. He would never tolerate those types of thoughts. When he and whomever came back from visiting the competition, he would force them to focus on what the competition did better than their stores did. Once he went into a store in Tennessee and the place was awful. The produce smelled, and it was just a disaster. In addition, his associates were kidding each other wondering what Sam was going to say about this situation. Sam looked at the back of the store and saw a cigarette rack and said, â€Å"You know, that's the finest cigarette merchandising I've seen in a year.† Sam's view of his visits to the competition was that you have to see what they do better than you and learn from them. You must never have the arrogance to take your competition for granted, because that can come back and hurt you. Sam Walton felt that a business should always diversify, spread their risk. While Walton may have had his fortune tied up in one business, he still sold everything and anything he could get a good price on. Sam Walton felt that if you want anything bad enough, you could find a way to do it. Sam Walton said, â€Å"There's a steep price you pay for success, and successful people in business know that.† Sam's philosophy on leverage was that you couldn't spend more than you're taking in, that leverage will always come around and bite you. Conversely, Walton also felt that tough times magnify opportunity for those who avoid debt. He always said that there will come a time when big opportunities will be presented to you, and you have to be in a position to take advantage of them. Sam Walton told a story about how back in the late 1970s, when Wal-Mart had about 250 stores, when he received a call from the chairman of Kmart offering to buy Wal-Mart. Walton replied, â€Å"Gee, that's funny. I thought we'd buy you.† The Kmart people were amused. After all, at the time Kmart had five times as many stores as Wal-Mart. However, Walton knew that internal and external problems were plaguing Kmart. The company was over leveraged and lacked focus. Kmart was a retailer in distress. Walton could see that, and he knew it was time to seize the moment and go for the jugular. In the sluggish, high-interest-rate economy of the early '80s, Kmart faltered and Wal-Mart ate its proverbial lunch. Sam is notorious for calling his employees, â€Å"as did J. C. Penney, ‘associates'† instead of clerks or workers. This may not seem like a large difference, however, it instills a feeling in each employee that he/she is responsible for the operations of the firm. Sam had never thought of using it at Wal-Mart until during a visit to England when he saw a storefront window. â€Å"It was the Lewis Company, J. M. Lewis Partnership. They had a partnership with all of their associates listed up on the sign. For some reason, that whole idea really excited me: a partnership with all our associates.† His openness to talk and listen to anyone of his employees made them feel that they were an integral part of the company. He would later on use his company's satellite system to communicate live to all of the stores at once to relay messages, which he thought, were vitally important. Although this practice is not copied from any company, the very concept of being close to all associates is being copied from his early mentor, J. C. Penney. Sam believes in opening the lines of communication, so they do not only flow from top to bottom, but from bottom to top. Mr. Penney also displayed this idea by spending as much time as possible in his stores. One author said, â€Å"Walton does a remarkable job of instilling near religious fervor in his people.† Sam borrowed this idea from Mr. Penney, the president of J. C. Penney, while Sam worked for him. â€Å"Then, of course, the icing on the cake was when James Cash Penney himself visited the store one day. He didn't get around to the stores as often as I would later on, but he did get around.† Sam made a point to be in the store as much as he could, unlike many managers of today. The reason for this was to allow his associates to really feel important with the president of the company coming to visit them. Few could argue with Adam Smith's statement that â€Å"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.† Those businesses that refuse to look after their own self-interests will not be businesses long enough to have any impact. At the same time, however, there can certainly be regard for a larger purpose. For some businesses, commitment to a larger purpose would be simply learning the difference between right and wrong, while others take a more responsible view of the role they play in the lives of their employees, their customers, and ultimately how they affect the world. Sam Walton's philosophies were and are fundamentally based on giving back some of the wealth that he and his family receive. Sam Walton, was not just one of the most successful and rich men in America, but prided himself and his family on giving something back. His family's gifts reflect a wide variety of interests, spread across numerous organizations, with a heavy emphasis on education. His programs continue after his death. Walton funded a special scholarship program that sends kids from Central America to college in Arkansas. Presently, there are about 180 of these children enrolled at three different Arkansas schools, and Sam paid about $13,000 a year per student. He also sponsored seventy scholarships of $6,000 each year for children of Wal-Mart associates. In addition to many educational institutions, recipients of Walton family gifts include church groups and community projects like zoos, libraries, and recreational facilities. He supported hospitals and medical research programs. He funded art groups and theater groups and symphonies. He gave to conservation and environmental causes and veterans' groups, as well as to economic development groups and free enterprise groups. Sam and his family also supported both private and public schools. Sam supported such groups as the Citizens Against Government Waste, Students in Free Enterprise, and the Arkansas Business Council. He conducted an aggressive United Way campaign. He was the largest single contributor to the Children's Miracle Network Telethon, donating $7.5 million. Sam donated his share of the proceeds from his book, Made in America, to the New American School Corporation, a private initiative started by business leaders who have pledged to raise $200 million for the development of â€Å"break-the-mold schools.† Most of the giving that Sam Walton has done has either been anonymously, or linked to strict requests for no publicity.