John Glover, Russel Drysdale, Lauren Berkowitz & Barbara Reid

Throughout history the unique and changeable Australian landscape has inspired a diverse array of artistic responses. Impressios of its power and beauty, expressions of individuals' responses, symbolic religious orientation, the range of landscape art works extends onwards. A great example of the vast variations of styles can be seen in the artworks of Glover, Drysdale, Berkowitz and Reid. John Glover Constitution Hill at sunset Van Dieman's Land, from near Mrs Ranson's Public House, June 29th 1840. Oil on canvas, 76. 8 ? 114. 9 cm. H31203. La Trobe Picture Collection. John Glover, artist. Birth: 18 February 1767, Houghton-on-the-Hill, Leicestershire, England Death: 9 December 1849, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), Australia. â€Å"He accepts the emptiness that dominates the Australian bush, and this was a huge change from Lorrain,† Hansen says. â€Å"He was the first great Australian painter of emptiness, a theme that obsesses painters to this day. † (www. theage. com. au/articles. ) John Glover was an early colonialist painter and was one of the pioneers of an Australian landscape painting. He was an acclaimed landscape painter in England and France, however he was never seen as an artist who ‘pushed the boundaries'. This changed when he moved to Tasmania in 1831, age 64. He saw the Australia landscape with new eyes and was keen to become the next ‘English Claude'. Thus many have dubbed him ‘The father of Australian landscape painting’. The impressionistic painting â€Å"Constitutional Hill at sunset† is perhaps one of Glover most renowned. While he was initially criticised for not paying close enough attention to the ‘local characteristics', he did find an individuality in his work through the landscape and atmosphere of Tasmania. His depiction of the Tasmanian light is bright and clear and his gum trees are very convincing, with their stalky form and sparse and scraggly foliage. However the strong influence of romantic artists Claude Lorraine and Gaspard Poussin lingers in his work. Hence Glover’s work has a very European flavour. It is also very picturesque and has an air of a peaceful Utopian land. This romantic, pictorial and esthetically pleasing style of painting has striking differences to the artistic techniques used by Russell Drysdale, Lauren Berkowitz and Barbara Reid Napangarti. Russell Drysdale Red landscape (1945) Vaucluse, Sydney, oil on composition board, 51. 9 x 67. 0 cm, inscribed in black paint: Russell Drysdale Mr and Mrs Rupert Murdoch Birth: 1912, Bognor Regis, England Dearth: 1981, S ydney, Australia Russel Drysdale moved from England to Australia when he was only eleven years old. Throughout his lifetime he travelled extensively however his artistic focus remained on outback rural Australia. Because he spent the majority of his life in Australia his paintings show minimal European influence. This in itself creates a great contrast between Glover and Drysdale. Another significant difference is that Glovers paintings are impressionistic while Drysdale's artworks are expressionistic. This expressionist style broke away from the tradition Australian landscape art practices present in his era. Unlike Glover, Drysdale preferred to work form from sketches, photographs and his memory when composing. When Drysdale worked on his paintings he worked hard, however it would quite often be a long and agonising experience. He was the first artist to investigate the desert and rural outback-Australian life for a prolonged period of time. This intensive exploration gave rise to the central themes of many of his artworks. Some of these themes included the issue of alienation of indigenous people, isolation of rural life, multiculturalism and national identity. The ‘Red landscape’ is a perfect example of these themes. It shows the landscape surrounding Mount Olga in the Northern Territory. The dead twisted tree trunks, and extremely vivid colours express a strong mood of isolation and desertion. Although the artwork is not as realistically precise as Glovers ‘Constitutional Hill at sunset’, it manages to express the true essences of the Australia desert. There is a house and washing blowing in the wind but there is no presence of human being, or anything living for that matter. This gives a bleak, depressing feeling. Lauren Berkowitz Strata, 1999, sand and gravel, 14 x 7m Mc Clelland Gallery, Victoria Photo: John Gollings Birth: 1965, Melbourne – Lauren Berkowitz is a contemporary installation artist. Installation art can be described as a three-dimensional painting, sculpture, poem, and prose work, which is usually transient and site-specific. This very modern art practise makes Berkowitz’s expression of Australian landscape is completely different to the previous two artists, Glover and Drysdale. Her work is made with an almost obsessive attention to detail after painstaking research and, ultimately, total dedication to the moment of making. Similarly both Glover and Drysdale were very focused and particular about their artworks. Unlike Glover and Drysdale, Berkowitz does not use paint at all, nor does she depict the landscape realistically. Instead she collects materials and items from the specific environment and creates a symbolic sculpture. Often they evoke complex thoughts, longings, and moods and have multiple meanings. Her works usually revolve around the themes of land degradation, environmental disasters and the human impact on the land. We can see these themes displayed in the artwork ‘Strata’, which gives a give a compelling moral message of our obligation and responsibility to the earth and its sustainability. One can also draw many parallels between this artwork and Aboriginal artwork. For example like indigenous art Strata is based around symbolism. Also the earthy colours depicted are very similar to that of indigenous desert artworks and, like traditional Australia tribal artists, Berkowitz is not interested in constructing lasting monuments but rather temporary works that can be returned to the landscape. Although it is not as extreme in Drysdale’s work, one can also draw parallels between his use symbolism and Berkowitz. WOMAN'S HEALING CEREMONY Medium: Acrylic on Belgian linen. Image Size: 120 x 75 cm- illustrated Australian Encyclopedia Aboriginal Artists, page 256, Barbara Reid Napangarti (B. 1962-) Barbara Reid Napangarti Barabara Reid Napangarhi was born in Tjukurla, in Western Australia. She belongs to the Pintupi tribe and is the daughter of the world-renowned artist Nigura Napurrula. Ried paints important cultural stories of women's dreaming associated with her region. The paintings explore the unique desert country of her homeland. Although Drysdale focused on a similar landscape they both portrayed the barren area in two very different ways. This is because Reid has a completely different art practice to Drysdale and Glover. However she does share some similarities with Berkowitz. For example they both use symbols, lines and patterns to show the Australian landscape. The painting titled â€Å"Woman's Healing ceremony† depicts the ceremonial site of the healing ceremony in her homeland Tjukurla. Like all her paintings it carries a deep spiritual meaning. This is what differentiates her work form the three earlier artists. Glover simply gives an impression of the beautiful landscape around him, Drysdale gives a more expressionistic depiction of the Australian landscape and Berkowitz gives a symbolic personal message about the Australian landscape. Reid however includes the landscape into her dreamtime stories through symbolism that is common to her people.

Hamlet Essay

Hamlet is unique in its revenge genre as it has more than one revenge plots occurring within it. The Dominating one is of Hamlet and his desire to avenge his Father by killing his uncle. Throughout the play we see Hamlet in ideal situations to carry out his revenge, but choosing not to do so. In Act III Scene II we see Hamlet using the play that has been set up to try to test the innocence of his Uncle and king by gauging his reaction to a staging of the events of how he supposedly murdered Hamlets father. In this scene we see the so called ‘Mousetrap’ being played out as Hamlet witnesses Claudius reaction to the play and witnesses his reaction, from this he draws accurately that Claudius is guilty. He has confirmed the ghosts message as true, ‘O good Horatio I’ll take the ghost’s word for a thousand pound,’ and has from that found his resolve and is now fully willing to avenge his father by killing Claudius. From Claudius sudden exit ‘The king rises’ and his poor reason for doing so ‘Give me light. Away! ’ it leaves Hamlet and the audience fairly certain of Claudius guilt. This leads us to disagree that Hamlets methods of enacting revenge are ineffective as the ‘Mousetrap’ was very successful for Hamlet in finding his resolve and evidence for him to exact his revenge. To some extent though the Mousetrap was only effective for Hamlet as it convinced him that of Claudius’ guilt but it doesn’t wholly convince the audience and possibly Horatio, as we can see from Horatio’s lack of enthusiasm and joy but instead simply agreeing with Hamlet on what he saw not what he has drawn from it; ‘Hamlet: Upon the poisoning, Horatio: I did very well note him’. He like the reader, the queen and other members of the court will more likely to assume that it was Hamlet’s incessant taunting and insults that has disturbed the King and caused him to leave it in such a manner. The intended audience of this play which was a late Tudor/early Stuart one also may be more drawn to it as the idea of killing a brother, or uncle such as Hamlet intends, as one of the greatest atrocities of which man was capable which comes, like revenge, from the Romans, and may be more hesitant to accept that someone in such a position of power and noble birth should be incapable of. Also it seems far more likely that it is Hamlets taunts that has caused the kings unrest as the Mousetrap does not provide solid evidence of Claudius’ guilt and that it is more a dramatic imperative that Claudius is guilty of killing Hamlets father as otherwise the play would not fit the criteria of its genre and lead it on to a far cry from what is intended. From this we can see that Hamlet’s methods are ineffective but they have to be correct for the play to carry on. In Act III Scene we see Hamlet finding himself in an ideal situation to carry out his revenge, he has just discovered that Claudius is guilty of murdering his father and now has Claudius alone and unaware; prime for the kill. However Hamlet for some reason stays his blade, and chooses that this type of revenge is not for him, either a clash between his Christian ideals of ‘do unto others as done to you’ and his Renaissance Roman ideals of revenge. Somehow this culminates in Hamlet seeing this revenge as not being up to scratch as he sees it as leading to Claudius forgiveness in the eyes of God, ‘To take him in the purging of his soul, when he is fit and seasoned for passage? ’ Hamlet’s choice to not kill Claudius here leads to his own death as well as the needless death of all the other characters, it also shows how his methods of enacting revenge are ineffective as he was basically given Claudius on a silver platter but refused to kill him due to his ideals contradicting his desires. One can see Hamlets actions during the final scene to show his methods of revenge as being very effective. After witnessing the death of his mother and Laertes confessing to Hamlet about what Claudius has done, ‘The King, the King’s to blame. ’ Hamlet wastes no time in avenging his mother as he forces Claudius to finish the poison, ‘Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, Drink off the potion. This also could suggest that Hamlet’s previous delays in enacting his revenge were based only on non-conclusive evidence which in such a mind as Hamlets could very easily have manifested itself into doubt about what he had to do. But finally having conclusive concrete evidence of Claudius Hamlet does not delay in slaying him. Hamlets ability to carry out revenge seems to depend greatly on the presence of his mother and whether she is involved. We can see that when Hamlet is sent to speak with his mother after the Overall we can see in this that Hamlets methods of enacting revenge seem rather dependant on his state of mind, whether he is thinking rationally with a level head which leads to him procrastinating and overthink and subsequently be ineffective, or if his he is enraged, forced to react quickly, or spurned on by the presence of his mother whose presence infatuates and aggravates him. Overall though one must admit that Hamlet did in fact manage to kill Claudius which means to some extend are effective though not greatly as in doing so it lead to the deaths of almost all of the main characters in this play. Had Hamlet been more like his Fortinbras, who can be seen as a foil character, then he would have reacted upon learning immediately of Claudius guilt and slew him whilst he prayed but instead Hamlet delayed it and led to a more ineffective method of revenge.

Corporations Law

Corporations Law 1. 0 Areas of law Corporate social responsibility has long been a touchy issue for governments not Just in Australia, but around the world as well. Companies in Australia are governed by the corporation's act, which outlines the legal capacity and power of a company. The Corporations Act 2001 (Act) s AAA, defines a corporation as a separate legal entity, that includes any corporate body and unincorporated bodies that may sue, be sued or hold property in the name of an office holder appointed for that purpose.In context of corporate governance, the main issue is with the current escalation is in regards to director's duties. Under the Corporations Act 2001 (Act) asses, directors have a civil obligation to act with due care and diligence, with best interest of the corporation in mind. This civil obligation however, does not extend to certain classes of stakeholders other then shareholders. Modern day companies often have a great impact on society at large, through the various activities they conduct.Given the broad economic, environmental and social impacts they have, it is understandable that a push has been made for director's duties to extend beyond warehouses, and include stakeholders at large. The Corporations Act 2001 (Act) sass, also outlines the legal capacity and powers of a company. S 124(1) states, † a company has the legal capacity and power of an individual both in and outside this jurisdiction†. A company can also be held primarily or secondarily accountable for torts and crimes.To think of a corporation as solely an instrument of business, fails to account for social changes, which has taken place over the past century. 5 It is therefore vital that amendments be made to the Corporations Act 2001 (Act), so as to ring accountability and responsibility of corporations and directors up to date with societal change that has occurred over the past decade. 2. 0 Problems associated with the law The current law governing compani es and directors outlined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Act), only allow for calculated corporate social responsibility.According to the Corporations Act 2001 (Act) asses, directors are required to act in good faith and in the best interest of a company, and in appropriate circumstances may choose to take into consideration a range factors external to shareholders, only if they benefit the warehouses collectively. As a result, companies may be obliged to consider CARS, only when it is likely to result in positive publicity, public approval, endorsements and goodwill; investor confidence and demand; and promote a positive impact on company share prices.It is evident that the current Corporations Act 2001 (Act) limits company director's ability to adhere to CARS practices, as shareholders must receive some benefit from engaging in CARS. This can be seen through statements made by The Australian Shareholder Association pertaining to corporate donations in relation to tsunami relief eff orts, here it stated directors have no approval for philanthropy, donations should only be made in situations where they are likely to benefit the company or shareholders through greater exposure.Directors who seek to engage in CARS activities that do not directly benefit their companies or stakeholders would therefore be in breach of their director's duties outlined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Act) assess, and this is where the the Corporations Act 2001 (Act) falls short. 3. 0 Recommendations & suggestions Although there are absences of specific law regarding how companies should be socially responsible, new suggestions and recommendations may be implemented as a guideline for companies to be socially responsible.One of the suggestions is for companies to introduce triple bottom line reporting, principles of conduct and charitable contributions in their environmental record as to evaluate its responsibility performance. However, according to the s 181 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Act) directors of the company should prioritize needs of the company for proper purposes by exercising their powers and duties in good faith. Also, theAustralian government may introduce a rule that requires registered companies to participate in a policy in which each company need to design a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee that will observe every activity conducted and how will it impact those other than the shareholders, specifically the employees, suppliers, customers and also the environment. The company would then have to participate in a policy in which it is required to be publicized on its own website.Although it may be contradicting to the directors' best interest for the company, by spending an mount on volunteering programs, such as the hunger project to help extinguish famine in poor countries, it also helps the company to build a better image that in turn, could be advantageous to the directors. 4. 0 Issues of importance The push for company reporting to in clude CARS related information in annual reports is of utmost importance, given the prominence of corporate influence in today's society.The recommendation to implement triple bottom line reporting would increase the extent to which companies are taking responsibility for the consequences of their actions, in relation to corporate activities that touch on environmental or other issues of community concerned The implementation of the policy requiring companies to establish a corporate Social Responsibility Committee are also essential in the push for more CARS friendly law reforms governing Australian companies.Greater transparency in relation to social and environmental impacts of companies has been called for by community groups, given the success of corporations as vehicles for productive enterprise. The degree of accountability displayed by companies in their course of business pertaining to social and environment issues are understandably a matter of public interest, due to mode rn day companies having a large environmental and social impact on external stakeholders in the course of their activities. . 0 Foreign solutions for CARS A similar issue has been addressed in the United Kingdom in regards to the degree that the directors may take into consideration on its responsibility to other individuals besides its shareholders. As it was being evaluated by the country's Department of Trade and Industry, the issue had resulted in the establishment of the Companies Act 2006 (I-J) (companies Act') that constitutes the first codification of directors' duties.Based on the Companies Acts 172, it has been maintained that the directors are obliged to take considerations of the interests held by individuals other than the shareholders, employees, customers and also the environments 5. Nevertheless, the provision claimed that the directors are required to function in a way that the success of company can be improved, which will then prompt the directors on its duties in protecting the interest of the shareholders.Also, in India, he government has come up with the introduction to the policy of a two-percent Corporate Social Responsibility law that promotes company to be charitable by having two percent from profit earned each financial year to be spent on government-approved projects that may consist of environmental sustainability and education that are leaning towards development of the nation as a whole. Companies are liable in designing its own committee of corporate social responsibility to aid in observing, reporting and preventing any activities that may harm the society and environment.Each report is then to be disclosed in the company's website as required by the policy. 6. 0 Views on suggested reform policies In relation to the proposed reporting reforms pertaining to CARS, we are in agreement that the implementation of the suggested changes would be in the best interest of companies, their directors and wider stakeholders at large. The C orporations and Markets Advisory Committee has stated in their report that it does not support the revision of The Corporations Act 2001 (Act), in relation to the inclusion of CARS under director's duties.The proposed amendments have been seen to fail in providing directors with meaningful clarification, whilst risk obscuring the accountability of directors. It is their belief that that the most effective response to concerns arising from time to time pertaining to the environment and social impact of business behavior, is through the setting of specific legislation directed to the problem real 8. However the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee have identified a number of issues in relation to the implementation of environmental and social reporting elicits.Issues relating to discrepancies that may arise in relation to comparability, market advantage and cost have been identified. In regards to the comparability of company reports, it has been argued that additional mandator y reporting is necessary to ensure comparability of non-financial reports. Further more, it has been identified that enhanced mandatory reporting would reduce selective positive-only reporting, thereby only benefiting responsible companies by improving their standing among risk analysts.Lastly, concerns have been raised by companies in geared to costs that will have to be incurred due to additional mandatory reporting. There has been a general consensus among companies that additional mandatory reporting will be too costly, however others have argues that such additional reporting could in fact reduce costs, through the standardization of reporting requirements. Having considered these statements, we still belief that the best approach in relation to company CARS reporting, is through the introduction of separate policies which are to run concurrently with the Corporations Act 2001 (Act)

Shakespeare's The Tempest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Shakespeare's The Tempest - Essay Example However, in the story, Caliban appears to be knowledgeable but subjugated due to which, all his qualities are suppressed. The character of Caliban points towards closeness to nature, colonialism and slavery. The character of Caliban is described by Shakespeare as a ‘Savage and deformed slave’ that characterizes the upbringing of the creature (Graf 3). Caliban is nurtured by Prospero as a slave who makes use of the creature for his own benefits. He teaches Caliban his language with the help of which, Caliban can tell him about the marvels of the island. Caliban is native to the island and knows better than anyone else about the island. Prospero killed Caliban’s mother and take hold of young Caliban, about which, he says, Prospero taught Caliban how to use language and considering this as a service, he told Prospero about the island and its features that were hidden previously. After gaining knowledge of the details of the island, Prospero enslaves Caliban and considers him as an abhorred creature who knows nothing. For Prospero, Caliban is only a slave who is savage and deformed. He is far from civilization and knows nothing about it. Prospero calls Caliban with many abusive words and he regards him as a slave only created for his service such as he says, Prospero uses his power to keep control on the creature. Prospero makes Caliban to do what he likes and takes away his freedom and liberty. Caliban is allowed only to do what Prospero likes. Caliban is deprived of his right over the island and Prospero after making the island colonized regards it his property and the native of the island, Caliban becomes his slave. Prospero belongs to some other place and in reality, the island does not belong to Prospero but he takes hold of it because of his power. Caliban is the true dweller of the island and acknowledges this fact as he says, Caliban describes the fact that the island is usurped by Prsopero and he is

DETECTION OF ANTIVIRAL ANTIBODIES IN SERUM USING AN ELISA TECHNIQUE Essay

DETECTION OF ANTIVIRAL ANTIBODIES IN SERUM USING AN ELISA TECHNIQUE - Essay Example These immunoglobulins are of five types and they are different based on size, charge, amino acid composition and carbohydrate content. the class and the type of immunoglobulin molecule is determined by the heavy chain type. There are two light chains and two heavy chains. There are C and N- terminal in the heavy chains. (Crowther 1995). The N-terminals of the IgG constitute the antigen -binding site. Individuals can become resistant to many infectious diseases by active or passive immunization. The beneficial effects of the immunization are mediated by the antibodies and the effect of immunization is mediated by the immunoassays. (Crowther 2001). The measurement of the antigen and antibody by using sensitive assays are the useful indicators of the immune status. When an infectious agent enters the human body, the component is identified as the foreign particle and antibodies are produced against them. These antibodies interact with the antigens and reduce the load. (Edwards 1999). Th e immunoassay method identifies the antigens, antigen - particles present in the blood and provide the results. Each antibody is specific for an antigen. ELISA is basically of two types: competitive and non-competitive ELISA. ELISA involves two site recognition with two different antibodies (i.e.) an indirect estimation. Competitive ELISA is different from the sandwich ELISA and indirect ELISA. In the first step the unlabelled antibody is incubated on the presence of the antigen. This antigen-antibody bounded is added to the antigen- coated well. The plate is washed and the second antibody specific to the primary antibody is added and the second antibody is coupled to the enzyme. When the substrate is added, the signal is emitted by the remaining enzyme. In this ELISA, if the antigen concentration is very high, then the signal will be very weak. This method is mainly used to test the impure and crude samples. This method is very useful for the detection of HIV. For HIV diagnosis, th e patient's sample and the enzyme-labeled antibody (conjugate) is added simultaneously to the solid phase. HIV antibodies, if present in the sample will bind to the conjugate antibody and reduce the signal. Thus if the color reaction is produced, then it indicates that there are no HIV antibodies in the given sample. Applications of ELISA include screening of the donated blood for viral contaminations( HIV types, Hepatitis B and C, HTLV-1 and 2), measuring the hormone levels( pregnancy(HCG), ovulation( LH), thyroid function ( TSH, T3 and T4), anabolic steroids, hormones), detecting infections( HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, gondii), detecting allergens in foods and toxins in foods, measuring the concentration of the antibodies and detecting illicit drugs ( cocaine, opiates, marijuana, etc.), measuring auto antibodies in autoimmune diseases and measuring rheumatoid factors . (Sheehan 1997). (Wreghitt and Morgan-Capner 1990). Principle When an antibody is linked to the enzyme and allowed t o react with the immobilized antigen, antigen-antibody reaction occurs. This is identified by the production of colour by the substrate enzyme reaction. The antigen is immobilised in either a microtiter plate or on nitrocellulose membrane. An enzyme labelled antibody is added in excess to the system and these binds to the immobilised antigen. Excess antibody is removed by washing and the substrate specific for the

Living in new country Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Living in new country - Essay Example The second effect is learning how to incorporate the new culture into one’s daily life as well as accepting the new society. It is therefore hard to fit into a new society as new set of cultural practices may change a person’s view on various aspects of life. This notion can also create positive encounters as one tend to discover new things (HÃ ¼seyin & Hassan, 15). The adjustment helps in mental development since it promotes self internal and external discovery. A new life away from home creates a sense of independence. The new changes build a character in a person due to the challenges that the person encounters during the adjustment process. However, the notion of inevitability in change helps a person to settle quickly (Ronald & David, 33). Living away from home is an important experience as it held in the adaptation of cultural diversity. It protects breaks the home monotony by creating new experiences in an environment that is different from home (Palffy, 12). Living in a new country promotes mental nattering as it fosters maturity and self

Tatget market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Tatget market - Essay Example The segments anticipated rationale into demanding for the services is based on scientific findings that physical exercise enhances memory potentials, a factor that the segment needs in their jobs. The segment’s ability to pay for the proposed services also identifies their potential demand towards better health because of the scientific knowledge that physical activity prevents and help in managing many chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardio vascular complications (Neeser 1-4). Women are another target segment for the business because of their interest in body weight that can be met through the gym and through juices and proteins from the bar. The segment is a significant target because of its members’ sensitivity to their weight that prompts them to solutions in the proposed business’ products. Though they are likely to be financed and even be influenced into the gym by their parents, children are another segment with interest in the gym for enhanced cogni tive development (Claritas

Group Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Group Process - Essay Example The concept of self censorship has been around since long. Firstly this term mainly got related with writers and journalists but now we literally see everyone doing it around us along with me. Many individual and social ingredients convince a person to censor himself to others. Duncan (1994) writes that, "People in different societies are more collectivistic than Americans, who tend to be individualistic." (p.79) Although, I agree strongly that we are products of our societies but Americans are little bit more loath to openly express their ideas and opinions. Most of times, I know my colleagues are wrong but I don't let them find out due to many reasons. At times, I lack confidence and I end up blocking my self to others. Other times, I fear that people will oppose me and question me. I feel challenged. It takes a lot from me to convince people and satisfy them with my answers. Eventually I feel embarrassed and rejected by my group. I also censor my views to avoid arguments. From time to time, I do it to avoid conflict of ideas and interests. I have also felt that when I get along with my group very well and feel close to them then I am afraid to raise a question due to peer pressure.

Gun Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Gun Control - Essay Example nd little remaining threat from wild animals; the government is stable and elected by a democratic process and the citizens of the country have the most powerful armed force ever assembled by humankind in addition to several levels of law enforcement that protect it. Rather than being a means of protecting society, the right to own guns has become a detriment to the safety of society which is in opposition to the intentions of the Founders. As this discussion will show, ‘the right to bear arms’ is no longer a necessary protection in the modern world. Gun control generally works toward legislating and controlling the distribution of the weapon that kills the most people, handguns. Most gun control advocates are willing to compromise on the ownership of rifles and shotguns if handguns could be made illegal, thus statistically reducing the number of gun-related deaths occurring in this country per year. In this way, the right to bear arms is protected based upon the spirit of the Founding Fathers and so are the thousands of usually urban dwellers that die from handguns every year. Of course, it must be acknowledged that when reading the Second Amendment in context, only armed militias have the right to keep and bear arms. However, given the current strong emotions tied to the issue and the popularity of guns in this country, a compromise is the only solution. Individuals on both sides of the issue must learn to recognize that ideologies concerning guns and their possession are formed by a person’s innermost beliefs, cultivat ed by years of thought and shaped by life’s numerous experiences and family cultural context. An ideological debate causes a more emotive response in individuals than does any other. Political ideologies can never die and in politically turbulent times, such as these, are very much alive. The 9/11 attacks, abortion debate, the war in Iraq, the loss of civil liberties, global warming, health care, gay marriage, stem cell research

The Roles of the Colonial American Woman in the Revolutionary War Essay

The Roles of the Colonial American Woman in the Revolutionary War - Essay Example In the common days, the man was the headmaster of the household and women is assigned to take care of their children. If women have no husbands, or they became widows, or they come out to a decision to end up their relationship by which it resulted to a divorce but it was difficult to be granted at that time. However, the court finds a way to solve this kind of status of widows and spinsters and allows them to live apart. Although, this is not an easy situation to women because they must be married first before they can manage and own the property of her deceased husband. The woman's role was presumably as a single parent and also the head of the family if the woman is not sedentary married. The women must cater her family with food, made clothing, domestic essentials, cleaned house, and supervised the children. (Norton, M.B., pp. 196). The wife has some legal rights that enforced the ordinary law on the era of revolutionary. It was mentioned that "the women could not hold any proper ty of her husband until they are not separated by the law". The husband has the legitimate right to beat her wife for being disobedient. These were the times that women are treated just servants by their master or even by their husband. The woman had no privileges to marry without the prevision of her master. The punishments on their unfaithfulness may subject to fines or even the extension of their service to their master. When a child was born during in the time of service of her mother, that child will also suffer the same kind of mistreated of what her mother suffered and could possibly be publicly abused. In other half, women are separated into two kinds in the years of Revolutionary Era which includes the White Women and Black Women.   White women are always located in city. They could find some jobs such as being a maid, cook, and babysitter without any restriction on the community and even in the Government of Revolutionary War.   Unlike with the white women, black women are treated as the servant. A kind of women who serves on the house as well on the field. (Lerner, G, 1988) The Revolutionary Era has the law that involves about the Interracial Marriage by which the black slave women experienced sexual exploitation and was also abused in which there was no legal reason for them to experience this kind of abuse. These mistreated natures that only the black women who have been always the victims happened in the countries of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts but still black women survived and they underwent all the kind of jobs as possible. Being barbers, midwives, sextons, and blacksmiths are just some of the common jobs they encountered. Again, there are few women who are being mistreated. Women should not be handled in this way. They should be treated just like with the ordinary people should. (Lerner, G,1988) Meanwhile, Colonial American Women had different major groups: the Native Indian Women, the African Women, and the European Women in the Era o f Revolution. Each group has very different cultures and the roles played in their communities and to their families.  

Answer the questions of my exam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Answer the questions of my exam - Assignment Example The initial step in this process is attaining of required information, which is the work of the brain acting as hardware to input data. To input data, brain ought to recognize it, which is the â€Å"perception† stage, aimed at ascertaining the type of information. Then the brain interprets data based on its intended purpose or goal before producing encoding signal meant to store information short or long-term memory. In the â€Å"Goal† compartment, information is already stored depending on its purpose whereby before proceeding to the â€Å"Intention Formation† stage to receive clear definition of purpose. Mainly, this stage is the initial step of information refining process supposed to ensure the required information goes to the effecting of the set task, which is at â€Å"Action specification† stage. â€Å"Execution† stage is merely humanity’s body that assumes all actions, which the brain has processed and formatted as required with the i ntention of fulfilling a certain purpose. B. How does the concept of "attention" limit our performance when interacting with systems? Attention based on one’s settings varies considerably either by limiting or contributing in augmenting our performances. However, in most cases especially when interacting with systems, attention proves to be a detrimental aspect that degrades the expected performance. This is because of numerous distractions an individual experiences characterizing varied settings one inhabits. Most distractions evidenced that interrupt one’s performance encompass radio’s on going conversation that prompts an individual to have a divided attention and fail in what he or she is doing. Since, while tackling a task and interacting with the system, an individual tends to focus on what the radio programme is trying to communicate to its listeners. Consequently, this reduces one’s attention making them fail to be actively involved in their prese nt task. C. Explain why we need to understand how Human information processing (HIP) works and how psychological models help us to do this? First, is to understand how human mental processes function with the intention of utilizing them effectively in attaining our intended goals. Since, one will be in a position to augment his or her performance by focusing on one aspect at a time compared to when he or she has numerous tasks and is multitasking. It also aids in shunning errors that may lead to poor performances caused by human behaviours, which when one has not studied them is extremely difficult to understand, for instance, skill-based behaviours (over habitual slips). D. Why is this theory different from earlier models/ theories that assume linear processing (e.g MHP)? What does current research say? The current method compares mental processes with that of computer, whereby in each section there are other extremely complex activities. Mainly, these activities or processes condi tion information in such a way to achieve the final intended goal. E. What cognitive strategies do we use that may enhance our performance when interaction with system? The include; Skill-based Rules-based Knowledge-based F. Illustrate the components of HIP systems and explain how they work using the Simplex One model? Information/Words- This represents materials or data which brain attains from the world. Perception- It is an initial step, whereby brain

Racism in Philosophy of Hume and Kant Essay Example for Free

Racism in Philosophy of Hume and Kant Essay During the Age of the Enlightenment in European history there was high emphasis on the ideals of reason and individualism. Scientists and philosophers pushed reason as an ultimate guideline to reforming society and challenging its old traditions and faith. This was the philosophers’ attempts to further advancing our knowledge through scientific method. Things like skepticism and intellectual interchange were highly promoted during this period. The true way to gain rational thought was through the process of using logic to make tests and conclusions out of clear evidence rather than superstitious ideas. There are two important enlightenment thinkers, David Hume and Immanuel Kant who despite their high praise of reason and logic, share clearly racist views in their philosophies. Could these two enlightened thinkers actually be capable of contradicting their entire philosophy or could it just be pure ignorance? We are going to discuss what sort of racist views Hume and Kant share and how they possibly created the idea of racial differences. First we must discuss what the idea of reason truly is and what it has to do with human thought. Reason is ultimately what separates us human beings from animals. Animals physically cannot express reason. Reason is the mental capacity to be able to make sense of something. It is how we are able to apply logic to help create facts. Understanding of academics like math, science, and philosophy are attributes only humans possess. The ability to understand and appreciate art and beauty are examples of reason that animals have never shown. Animals may show desire for certain things, but that is not the same as appreciating the beauty of it. David Hume believes that all human beings share similar moral feelings. He does however believe that animals can feel sympathy which is one of the essential foundations of morality. Hume also believes that morality is entirely independent of religion and that morality is found deep in true human nature itself. He states that the belief in God is irrelevant to morality. This is similar to Immanuel Kant’s belief in human autonomy. He believes that human beings have their own free will and can think independently without being governed. Humans can be moral and free without the need of God’s divine support. Hume and Kant believe we have a right to faith but also in the possibility that it limits knowledge to make room for faith. They believe we can have faith in ourselves and be governed by reason rather than our animal impulses. The racism of Hume and Kant are most definitely reflected in their philosophic views. Hume believes in the idea of causation, which is the understanding between two events (one being the cause, the other being the effect) that the second event is always the consequence of the first event. Hume whole-heartedly believes that Europe is the model of all humanity and culture, that blacks are an inferior race. He considers their supposed inferiority to whites to be natural. He states that he has never witnessed any black manufacturers, artists, or scientists and that they are simply a barbaric breed of man. Hume falls into a fatal error of his own causality by saying that there is a causal relation between a person’s skin color and their intelligence. He is identifying that simply the color of one’s skin makes a constant difference between two races of men. This is horribly contradictory and morally wrong. Kant, despite all of his beliefs in that all humans can understand morality and reason, he singles out blacks as totally inferior in these very human attributes. Kant has actually dismissed a person’s statement and position as stupid without a moment of analyzing the content because the person was black. This is extremely contradictory to the sorts of logic and reason a true philosopher should have when regarding any human being whether white or black. The two philosophers show a huge lack in open-mindedness when it comes to anyone non-white. The supposed racial differences that Hume and Kant seem to believe there are have no real proof or logic behind them. This is truly ignorant of both Hume and Kant and it’s surprising that two important philosophers in history could actually believe in ideas that are so close-minded and completely illogical. There is simply no morality or rational thinking behind these false judgments. Kant stating that he has never seen black artists or scientists just sounds like he hasn’t looked beyond his backyard window. Although Kant does indeed believe that all humans are born free and that level of intelligence does not determine who deserves to be a slave to another. Despite this positive belief, he still believes blacks are inferior. As intelligent as their ideas of sharing knowledge for the advancing of mankind sound at first, it is truly sad that they are only speaking for one single race rather than ‘all’ human beings equally. Their racism does indeed cast much doubt on their Enlightenment understanding on what a person was. There should not be such a disregard for the possibility of equal opportunity among all human beings. Peoples’ idea of race is purely subjective and there really are no significant differences. The only true racial differences are geographical. Skin color has nothing to do with one’s mental capacity and ability. Works Cited Denis, Lara. Kant and Hume on Morality. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI), Stanford University, 26 Mar 2008. Web. 7 Mar 2014. http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/kant-hume-morality/. Maduka, Enyimba. Racism and Philosophy. Racism, Philosophy, and African Thought . izuchukwu, 20 Apr 2005. Web. 10 Mar 2014. http://www. frasouzu. com/Issues and Papers/Enyimba Maduka etc on Racism, Philosophy and African Thought. pdf.

An Over View Of Samsung Electronics Company Marketing Essay

An Over View Of Samsung Electronics Company Marketing Essay Samsung is the third largest South Korean company which was established in 1969 as the flagship company of the Samsung group or Samsung corporation. Samsung achieved fast growth through exports. Samsung decided to venture into the television market. It started production of black and white television sets for the local markets in 1972. However, Samsung realized that it can become a global brand. They searched and analized the global market opportunities and challanges with the help of customers and employees feedbacks. Samsung decided to change the concept of its brand .It had to change the perceptions of consumer with a new brand image. During the olympics in Seoul, South Korea in 1988, Samsung decided to become an official sponsor for the wireless technology in order to associate its image with global sports brand. Through the help of promotion and physical evidence Samsung is currently recognized as a worldwide brand. Every country especially the member of olympic games then, now knows about the brand. In this way, Samsung was successful in changing the concept of its brand image and now has a good customer base. Nowadays, Samsung has 25 production base worldwide and more than fifty sales subsidiaries in nearly about 50 countries. Their global strategy involves eight main regions Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa, and Middle East, China, North America, Europe and Latin America The brand vision of samsung is to totally different and unique from other brands like: Sony,LG and Panasonic. Leading the digital convergence revolution is the vision of the Samsung brand.This case study is totally based on the electronics side of the Samsung brand.The word Samsung is written in korean language Operation management Operation management is the management process to product and distribute process and service .Basically, in the process of operation management includes creation of products, development of production and distribution. All the operation of the organization has been managed by the operation management .As an operation manager; we have to manage the purchase quality and quantity control, storage, logistic and evaluation. Operation management depends on product and service. It is combination of product management and service management. Strategic management is the combination of managerial decision and action that determines long range of performance of employers. Operation management is the most important for every business and it determines the success of business. After the SWOT analysis any company has to make separate and unique operation strategic of company. We know that competition in all domestic and international market has appeared to be new markets challenge and new phase. Whenever performance of company, company brand and product quality are becoming more important to the customer and consumer then product price. The product development and promotion strategic is the essence of competitive advantage. After the market analysis , swot analysis , the operation management capabilities of Samsung electronics in vital of the ever stiffening competition in the electronics employers. Role of operation manager of Samsung electronics The role of operation manager of Samsung electronics are follows: 1) Responsible for managing the day by day business activities with supply chain, sales and Chanel marketing 2) They will be individual Responsible for managing plans, stack levels, and sell through inventory at different accounts. 3) There are also responsible for working direct finance and supply. Operation management strategies and Analysis Operation management is the process of management of the any company which manage the all internal factors. It is like a bridge of the employers and costumers. It manage finance, marketing, employers skills, performances of company as well employees, employees insurance etc.Its also manage the product capacity, costumer demands and satisfactions. It creates and manage the rule and regulation and the agreement between employers, employees as well costumer. Operation management is the field which direct concern and deals with the production of goods and services. Operation strategy is the functional strategy; it should help and provide the guide line and road to operation and management for any company. It is guided by the business strategic The goal of operation management of any company is to make more money, and objectives are cost, quality, delivery, flexibility and customer satisfaction. Samsung electronics have focuses on five business areas they are semiconductor, digital media, digital applications, lcd and telecommunication network, the globalisation and new trends of business operation performances of Samsung electronics in last ten years, It means (from 1993 to 2003) we found that there were totally changes within the employers that lead successfully developments. In 2007 Samsung electronics become the world second largest mobile phone manufactures. The success in strategic is direct concern to the different market players and customers. When we saw the regarding Samsung electronics ability of the management skills and marketing management ,product design .Samsung electronics development of DRM products creates impacts to their progress ,When the learning of micron to make the DRM products directly effects the sales of company .When the some Chinese electronics company also popular in the worldwide market due to the low cost as well as quality ,in this time Samsung manager are quite afraid regarding the Chinese competiterors .Samsung electronics forecasts to innovate strategic since these new Chinese company entrances and attacking the DARM market shows vital revenue performances ,compared to other Samsung electronics competitors. They extensive improved R and D to maintain cost effective production and product manage. Their success plane and operation management ability to make innovation through the DRAMS is one of the cost advantage of the employers .The quality of the products and remarkable customers desired and satisfactions and Samsung brands image on the worldwide market and original electronics goods is one of the source of their premium price. Today there are a lot approaches and system available for process innovation. Samsung electronics wants to know the test and desired of diversity customer because they need to develop products that fits diversity customer life style. In the past Samsung was focus the physical design but now a day and the coming future the user interface will be emphasized more. Samsung is one of the worlds most respected companies for its designs and quality. Recommendation Samsung Company may sell its products consumer and customer. People can buy its goods direct on internets also. Samsung groups have direct sells models and telephone network. They may also maintain the negative cash conversation cycle from this model. The company should receive the payment before when they have to pay for new raw-materials. They may also use just in time management. They should be able to provide their products (electronics goods) in the right time, right places, right cost in the right way. By the JIT approaches they may make computers and other electronics goods only after customer local area orders and the requesting materials which are direct concern to customer needs and satisfaction. Samsung electronics should maximise their stockholders value by marketing for balance their financial sides. They should emphasis their standards based technologies as well as customer services and customer desired. They should offer skims, more warranty as well as guaranty .customer insurances, electronics materials insurances. They should design and marketing strategic according to diversity and different economic, environments, their business strategic should focus on their enterprises business. They should products their electronic goods on the base on customers desired, needs and demands of times. It means they should change their design base on the required markets and new technologies as well as marketing policy. If they want to become the world largest and number one quality able electronics brands, then they should adopt TOYTA, SONEY, LG and PANASONIC groups also. It is better for them, they should manufacture theirs goods as same quality but different prices and it means they should focus their market not only high and rich people but also poor and medium as well like Chinese electronics markets. They may produce their products in different quality and different prices on the base on their capacity and design. They should management their recruitment and selection process. They must be focusing their recruitment and selection of employees on flexibility, diversity, equal opportunity, sample selection etc. They should motive their employees on the base on their performance and work efficiency. They should improve their market and marketing policy. They should increase their shareholders as well as stockholders. The standard base, skilful employees and best performances shows that, they will able to success to become the world number one electronics brand as well as mobile. The process design of Samsung electronics is good. The product has so many designs in the base on price and quality and customer desired, different diversity. The supply network design is also good. People can buy through the online also. By the help of Samsung website, we can find out a lot of information of Samsung electronics, about its goods, management system, and supply chain. The company have to own websites. We can apply for the job through the online. Conclusion Sumsung brand is famous allover the world because of its service, excellent employees, Innovative reliable product. A responsible approach to business and global citizenship and globlelisation with partners and customers. Samsung is taking the world in progressive direction for new generations. The mission of samsung is to be the best Digital electronic company.It complys with low and ethical standard care s environmental health and safety. Mentain a clean organized culture value and respect to customer share holders ,steakholders , employees and socially responsiable co oppertative citizens. So It is trying to be the best brand in the field of electronices materials in the world by improving its size , price quality, capasity or power of the devices.

The Pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis

The Pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for approximately 30 of all global deaths in 2008. A large proportion of CVDs is attributable to atherosclerosis, which is a major cause of myocardial infarction or stroke (1). The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis Over the past two decades, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherosclerosis has gained strong footing through multiple lines of supportive evidence (reviewed in (2)). Nowadays, atherosclerosis is considered a complex chronic inflammatory disease of medium- and large-sized arteries. Atherosclerosis occurs predominately at sites of disturbed laminar flow, in particular, arterial branch points and bifurcations. Human and animal studies indicate that the key initiating step is subendothelial accumulation of apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins (apoB-LPs). ApoB-LPs are secreted by the liver as very low-density lipoproteins, which are converted in the circulation to atherogenic low-density lipoproteins (LDL). In addition, apoB-LPs are secreted by the intestines as chylomicrons, which are converted by lipolysis into atherogenic particles, called remnant lipoproteins (3). Subendothelial apoB-LPs are believed to initiate an early inflammatory response, which may be enhanced by oxidative modification of LPs, through activation of overlying endothelial cells in a manner that leads to the recruitment of monocytes. Activated endothelial cells express adhesion molecules (e.g. intracellular adhesion molecule-1 and vascular adhesion molecule-1) and secrete cytokines and chemoattractants, or chemokines (e.g. monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and RANTES), that act on monocytes and promote directional migration towards and into the artery wall. Once resident in the arterial intima, monocytes acquire the morphological characteristics of macrophages and increase their expression of scavenger receptors, including scavenger receptor A and CD36. Excessive uptake and internalization of modified lipoproteins via their scavenger receptors leads to the accumulation of cholesteryl esters in cytoplasmic droplets. These lipid-laden macrophages, known as foam cells, characterize the early atherosclerotic lesion (figure 1). As the atherosclerotic lesions further develops, macrophage and foam cells predominate, and further serve to alter the plaque environment, changing extracellular matrix composition and decreasing smooth muscle cell content, predisposing to plaque rupture (2, 4). Atherosclerosis and high-density lipoprotein therapy Although the development of atherosclerosis is dependent on a complex interplay between many factors and processes, a clear association has been established between elevated levels of plasma cholesterol and increased atherosclerotic disease (6). To attenuate the risk of atherosclerotic complications, primary and secondary prevention strategies seek to correct aberrant blood cholesterol levels. Actively reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol through lipid-modifying therapies, such as statins, yield a proportional decrease in CVD risk (7). However, despite their potency, only 25-50% of cardiovascular events are prevented with highly potent statins, which highlights the importance of seeking for additional treatments for the optimal management of cardiovascular risk (8). Besides reducing LDL, improving HDL levels has gained a considerable amount of attention during the last decade. Epidemiological studies have shown that plasma levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) are inversely associated with clinical events resulting from atherosclerosis (9). Human and animal intervention studies have shown that increasing HDL results in a reduced atherosclerotic plaque size, suggesting that HDL may be an effective therapy for the regression of atherosclerosis (10). The mechanisms for plaque regression have been primarily attributed to the ability of HDL to promote cholesterol efflux from peripheral tissues, including macrophages, to the liver for excretion in the bile and feces. This process, called reverse cholesterol transport, is widely believed to account for much of the inverse relationship between plasma HDL levels and CVD revealed by population studies (11). HDL components can remove cellular cholesterol by four distinct processes. The presumed major precursor for this pathway is lipid-poor apoA-I, which is initially synthesized and secreted by the liver. Once in plasma, it rapidly acquires phospholipids and cholesterol from cell membranes in a reaction mediated by the ATP-binding cassette A1 (ABCA1) that results in the formation of pre-ÃŽÂ ² HDL particles (figure 2). A second mechanism involves ATP-binding cassette G1 (ABCG1), with pre-ÃŽÂ ² and large spherical HDL acting as the main acceptor. A third involves scavenger receptor B1 (SR-B1), which has the same acceptors as ABCG1. Lastly, cholesterol can be removed from cell membranes to HDL particles through passive diffusion. The latter three mechanisms are dependent on the presence and activity of Lecithin:Cholesterol AcylTransferase (LCAT). LCAT can esterify any unesterified cholesterol entering the outer surface of HDL, after which it will move into the intensely hydrophobic ce ntral core, leaving the outer surface of the HDL particle able to accept more unesterified cholesterol (12). Next to promoting cholesterol efflux, studies have shown that HDL is able to protect against cardiovascular diseases through a variety of additional functions, including anti-oxidant, anti-thrombotic, anti-apoptotic (reviewed in (12)). HDL has been shown to exert anti-inflammatory effects, which are mainly investigated in endothelial cells, and to a lesser extent in vascular smooth muscle cells (13, 14). Macrophages in the pathology of atherosclerosis It is generally accepted that macrophages play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. The accumulation of macrophages and their conversion into foam cells, through the uptake of excessive amounts of lipids and cholesterol from modified apoB-LP, are considered hallmarks of atherogenesis. By expressing various effector molecules, including inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and extracellular matrix degrading enzymes, macrophages have a great impact on the activation, migration and survival of other cells in the plaque and ultimately affect plaque stability. However, within atherosclerotic plaques, macrophages represent a heterogeneous cell population, which may consist of several subsets that have distinct phenotypic and functional characteristics, ranging from large quiescent lipid-laden foam cells to a small active inflammatory cell. Furthermore, macrophages demonstrate a high degree of plasticity, which depend on the environmental cues they are exposed to. In gene ral, macrophages are skewed by interferon-ÃŽÂ ³ or lipopolysaccharide towards a pro-inflammatory or M1 phenotype, which produce mediators that have a pro-atherogenic effect. On the other hand, anti-inflammatory or M2 macrophages are polarized by interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10 and IL-13, which are believed to be of an anti-atherogenic nature. A phenotypical distinction can be made between these subsets based on their differential expression of cell surface expression (15, 16). High-density lipoproteins in modulating macrophages To date, HDL is considered to be the good cholesterol, because of its protective effects in atherosclerosis, such as anti-inflammatory properties (14). However, the effects of HDL on macrophages, which are major players in atherosclerosis, have yet to be established. The majority of the research conducted on the effects of HDL on macrophages have mainly been performed on cholesterol- or lipid-loaded macrophages. Here, HDL exerts anti-inflammatory effects by decreasing NF-ÃŽÂ ºB activation and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokine, including tumor necrosis factor ÃŽÂ ± (TNFÃŽÂ ±), while increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines, like IL-10. To date, however, it is not known how HDL affects non-cholesterol or -lipid-loaded macrophages. Cholesterol is an important structural lipid that modulates Perturbations in cellular cholesterol levels has been shown to affect NF-ÃŽÂ ºB is an essential regulator of inflammatory processes in mammalian cells, including macrophages. When the NF-ÃŽÂ ºB pathway is activated, NF-ÃŽÂ ºB translocates to the nucleus and activates transcription of its target genes, including genes involved in cytokine production and secretion (17). In addition to NF-ÃŽÂ ºB, A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinases (ADAMs) are also implicated in numerous cellular processes, including inflammation. ADAMs are a group of enzymes that cleave the extracellular domains of various cell surface molecules, of which ADAM 10 and 17 are the best studied family members. ADAM 10 and 17 are closely related proteases and share many substrates, including TNF-ÃŽÂ ± and its receptor. ADAM activity can be regulated at various levels, including localization within the plasma membrane, where lipid rafts are thought to play a role in. Lipid rafts are cholesterol- and sphingolipid-enriched microdomains within the cell membrane, which are able to include or exclude proteins to variable extents. This dynamic process regulates protein interactions and influences their functions. Lipid rafts can be decreased and disrupted by cholesterol depletion, e.g. by HDL (18). Tellier et al. showed in vitro that TNFÃŽÂ ± shedding was increased in fibroblasts and ECs after incubation with HDL. This was attributed to an increased activity of ADAM 17, which was due to lipid raft disruption by cholesterol depletion (19). Study aim and design The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of HDL on macrophage phenotype and whether NF-kB signaling, lipid raft disruption and increased activity of ADAM10 and 17 are involved in this. First, we will determine the effects of HDL on M1 and M2 macrophage polarization by exposing bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) from C57BL/6 mice to HDL. Here, M1 and M2 polarization markers will be determined using quantitative PCR and ELISA. Second, we will examine whether NF-ÃŽÂ ºB signaling is involved in the pro-inflammatory effects induced by HDL in macrophages. Lastly, we will investigate whether HDL skews macrophages towards a pro-inflammatory state by increasing ADAM10 and 17 activity through lipid raft disruption. activity assay We hypothesize that HDL polarizes macrophages towards a pro-inflammatory phenotype due to activation of the NF-ÃŽÂ ºB signaling pathway and an increased ADAM10 and 17 activity, through lipid raft disruption Literature 1. Mendis S, Puska P, Norrving B, editors. Global Atlas on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2011. 2. Wong BW, Meredith A, Lin D, McManus BM. The biological role of inflammation in atherosclerosis. The Canadian journal of cardiology. 2012;28(6):631-41. Epub 2012/09/19. 3. Williams KJ, Tabas I. The response-to-retention hypothesis of early atherogenesis. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology. 1995;15(5):551-61. Epub 1995/05/01. 4. Libby P. Inflammation in atherosclerosis. Nature. 2002;420(6917):868-74. Epub 2002/12/20. 5. Moore KJ, Tabas I. Macrophages in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Cell. 2011;145(3):341-55. Epub 2011/05/03. 6. Liao JK, Laufs U. Pleiotropic effects of statins. Annual review of pharmacology and toxicology. 2005;45:89-118. Epub 2005/04/12. 7. MRC/BHF Heart Protection Study of cholesterol lowering with simvastatin in 20,536 high-risk individuals: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet. 2002;360(9326):7-22. Epub 2002/07/13. 8. Arsenault BJ, Kritikou EA, Tardif JC. Regression of atherosclerosis. Current cardiology reports. 2012;14(4):443-9. Epub 2012/06/19. 9. Rader DJ, Alexander ET, Weibel GL, Billheimer J, Rothblat GH. The role of reverse cholesterol transport in animals and humans and relationship to atherosclerosis. J Lipid Res. 2009;50 Suppl:S189-94. Epub 2008/12/10. 10. Linsel-Nitschke P, Tall AR. HDL as a target in the treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Nature reviews Drug discovery. 2005;4(3):193-205. Epub 2005/03/02. 11. Oram JF, Heinecke JW. ATP-binding cassette transporter A1: a cell cholesterol exporter that protects against cardiovascular disease. Physiological reviews. 2005;85(4):1343-72. Epub 2005/09/27. 12. Soran H, Hama S, Yadav R, Durrington PN. HDL functionality. Current opinion in lipidology. 2012;23(4):353-66. Epub 2012/06/27. 13. Bursill CA, Castro ML, Beattie DT, Nakhla S, van der Vorst E, Heather AK, et al. High-density lipoproteins suppress chemokines and chemokine receptors in vitro and in vivo. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology. 2010;30(9):1773-8. Epub 2010/08/13. 14. Barter PJ, Nicholls S, Rye KA, Anantharamaiah GM, Navab M, Fogelman AM. Antiinflammatory properties of HDL. Circulation research. 2004;95(8):764-72. Epub 2004/10/16. 15. Stoger JL, Goossens P, de Winther MP. Macrophage heterogeneity: relevance and functional implications in atherosclerosis. Curr Vasc Pharmacol. 2010;8(2):233-48. Epub 2010/02/26. 16. Martinez FO, Sica A, Mantovani A, Locati M. Macrophage activation and polarization. Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library. 2008;13:453-61. Epub 2007/11/06. 17. Gilmore TD. Introduction to NF-kappaB: players, pathways, perspectives. Oncogene. 2006;25(51):6680-4. Epub 2006/10/31. 18. van der Vorst EP, Keijbeck AA, de Winther MP, Donners MM. A disintegrin and metalloproteases: Molecular scissors in angiogenesis, inflammation and atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis. 2012;224(2):302-8. Epub 2012/06/16. 19. Tellier E, Canault M, Poggi M, Bonardo B, Nicolay A, Alessi MC, et al. HDLs activate ADAM17-dependent shedding. Journal of cellular physiology. 2008;214(3):687-93. Epub 2007/09/06.

Teaching and Learning in a Networked Composition Classroom Essay

Teaching and Learning in a Networked Composition Classroom In her essay â€Å"Technology and Literacy: A Story about the Perils of Not Paying Attention,† Cynthia L. Selfe notes that â€Å"technology is either boring or frightening to most humanists; many teachers of English composition feel it antithetical to their primary concerns and many believe it should not be allowed to take up valuable scholarly time or the attention that could be best put to use in teaching or the study of literacy† (Self 412). Looking around campus it takes little time to verify Selfe’s caution about indifference to computers: except in its uses as â€Å"a simple tool that individual faculty members can use or ignore in their classrooms as they choose† (Self 414), computer use has been, and for the most part still is, nascent within the humanities. As computers increasingly become an irreplaceable part of daily life in modern culture, however, more and more instructors attempt to carry out the task of incorporating technology into the p edagogical techniques of their disciplines. Over the past four months I’ve had the invaluable opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at one particular attempt to integrate computers and writing instruction. In Dr. Will Hochman’s English 101-43 (SP 2003) classroom I’ve learned much about both the process and underlying philosophies involved in making computers a productive classroom tool. In particular, I’ve learned the basic truth that, despite the potential boost offered by technology, simply having computers in the room with students is not enough to produce a positive impact on the educational experience. One of the most significant reasons why this is the case, I'd argue, is that Selfe’s observation about faculty might... ...cw/database/essays/cccc94.kemp.html> 19 Aug. 2002. Negroponte, Nicholas. â€Å"Bits and Adams.† Being Digital.

Separate Peace Essay: Influence of the War on Characters

Influence of the War on Characters Historical events can play an important role in a person's life. In A Separate Peace, the whole atmosphere at the Devon School changed as World War II progressed. The boys either eagerly awaited the draft, enlisted in the area of war they wanted, or did not want to go at all. The students at the school created new activities for enjoyment since the customary past times could not be played due to a lack of materials. When a friend "returns" from the war, the boys at Devon got a real sense of what the war was like. The boys learned that going to war was not all fun and games like they had anticipated. The influence World War II had on the characters in A Separate Peace and on life at the Devon School was clearly depicted through their actions and activities. The beginning of the novel allows the reader to get a feel of what the Devon School was like during that time period. Students of "war age" were constantly leaving Devon to go to the war, either by choice or by draft. Whether kids wanted to go or not, the anticipation was always present. As winter approached the Devon school, so did the encroaching shadow of the war. The boys were called out to help shovel free a troop train trapped by snow-blocked tracks. The experience "brings the war home" for all of them, and they realized they would have to face a crucial decision very soon. Maturity leapt upon them, whether they're ready for it or not, at the tender age of seventeen. The excitement of the war had gotten to everybody at the school, including the staff, and made it a chaotic place. The boys wer... ...as different because of his experience. ****I like how you incorporate quotes from the book into your own thoughts in these sentences: When a friend "returns" from the war, the boys at Devon got a real sense of what the war was like. The boys were called out to help shovel free a troop train trapped by snow-blocked tracks. The experience "brings the war home" for all of them, and they realized they would have to face a crucial decision very soon. ****You need to be consistent with the tenses. To solve the problem you can do one of two things. You can change the tense of the verb in the quotation and enclose it in brackets to show that you changed the tense. (e.g. "return[ed]" "[brought]") Or you can just change the tense of all your discussion to present tense, which is commonly done when discussing books.

Management Economics Essay

Introduction. The business cycle or economic cycle refers to the ups and downs seen somewhat simultaneously in most parts of an economy. The cycle involves shifts over time between periods of relatively rapid growth of output (recovery and prosperity), alternating with periods of relative stagnation or decline (contraction or recession). These fluctuations are often measured using the real gross domestic product. To call those alternances â€Å"cycles† is rather misleading, as they don’t tend to repeat at fairly regular time intervals. Most observers find that their lengths (from peak to peak, or from trough to trough) vary, so that cycles are not mechanical in their regularity. Since no two cycles are alike in their details, some economists dispute the existence of cycles and use the word â€Å"fluctuations† instead. Others see enough similarities between cycles that the cycle is a valid basis of studying the state of the economy. A key question is whether or not there are similar mechanisms that generate recessions and/or booms that exist in capitalist economies so that the dynamics that appear as a cycle will be seen again and again. Just as there is no regularity in the timing of business cycles, there is no reason why cycles have to occur at all. The prevailing view among economists is that there is a level of economic activity, often referred to as full employment, at which the economy theoretically could stay forever. Full employment refers to a level of production at which all the inputs to the production process are being used, but not so intensively that they wear out, break down, or insist on higher wages and more vacations. If nothing disturbs the economy, the full-employment level of output, which naturally tends to grow as the population increases and new technologies are discovered, can be maintained forever. There is no reason why a time of full employment has to give way to either a full-fledged boom or a recession. Text. Business Cycle, term used in economics to designate changes in the economy.  Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the level of business activity in industrialized capitalist countries has veered from high to low, taking the economy with it. Characteristics of business cycle are: -A trade cycle is wave like movement. -Cyclical fluctuations are recurrent in nature. -Expansion and contraction in a trade cycle are cumulative in effect. -Trade cycles are all pervading in their impact. -It is characterized by the presence of crisis i.e. downward movement is more sudden and violent than the change from downward to 0upward. -Cycles differ in timing and amplitude they have a common pattern of phases, which are sequential in nature. Phases Of Business Cycles: The ups and downs in the economy are reflected by the fluctuations in aggregate economic activities such as production, investment, employment, prices, wages, bank credits etc. The various phases of the trade cycles are: Prosperity: Expansion And Peak. This phase begins with the rise in the national output, consumer and capital expenditure, level of employment and inventories. Debtors find it more convenient to pay off their debts. Bank rate increases so credit facilities, idle funds for investment in production since stock prices increases due to increase in profitability and dividend. Purchasing power continues to flow in and out of all kinds of economic activities. Expansion continues with the multiplier process. In earlier/ later stages additional workers can be obtained by giving higher wage than prevailing in the market. Input prices increases rapidly which leads to increase in cost of production. As a result price increases and cost of living increases which lower the consumption rate. The demand for new houses, cement, iron, labor tends to halt and same is for furniture, automobiles etc. This makes reaching the peak. To summarize we can say that: -It is a turning point in the business cycle – the end of expansion -Economy at or close to full employment -Capital and Labor Utilization at a high -Prices and cost rise at a moderate rates -Firms profit at high -Interest rates rise -Consumers and firms expectations favorable Turning Point And Recession. After reaching the peak, demand starts declining. Producer unaware of this fact continues to increase production and investment. But after sometime they realize that their inventories are pilling up and they have indulged in over-investment. Consequently further investment plans will be given up-order for new machinery, raw materials. Demand for labor ceases. Temporary and casual workers are removed. Producers of capital goods and raw materials cancel their order. This is the turning point and beginning of recession. Further the income of wage and interest earners also decreases. This causes demand recession. Producer lower down the prices to get rid of inventories  but consumer expects further decreases in price and hence postpones their purchase. Investments starts declining leading to decrease in income and consumption, bank credit shrink and prices decrease. At this stage the process of recession is complete and the economy enters the phase of depression. To summarize this: -Consumer spending falls -Investment spending falls -Inventories accumulate -Firms profit’s decline -Business Failure increase Depression And Trough. This is the phase of relativity low economic activity. It indicates fall in production, increased unemployment and a rapid fall in the general price index. Workers lose their job, debtors find it difficult to pay off their debts, and investment in stock becomes less profitable. At the depth of depression, all economic activities touch the bottom and phase of trough is reached. Weaker firms are eliminated from the industry. At this point, the process of depression is complete. Due to unemployment, labor starts working at lower wages. Consumer expects no further decline in price and start spending. Hence demand picks up. Stock prices fall during recession; the prices of raw material fall faster than the prices of the finished products. Therefore profitability tends to increase after the trough. Producers’ start replacing worth-out capital, investment picks up and employment gradually increases. Following this demand increases, bank credit becomes easily available at a lower rate. Due to increase in income and consumption, the multiplier effect increases the economic activities. The phase of depression comes to an end over time  depending on the speed of recovery. To summarize this: -The turning point in the cycle – the end of contraction -Characterized by high unemployment and low consumer demand relative to industry capacity -Greatest period of excess capacity over the cycle -Business profits are low or negative -Some prices are falling other unchanged -Consumers and firms expectations about future are bleak Recovery. It starts when prices further stop falling. Producers see no risk in undertaking production. Firms use idle capacity to increase production. This generates employment and income, which creates additional demand for consumer goods and services. Businessman when realize increase in profitability. Hence they speed up production machinery. Businessman starts increasing their inventories, consumer start buying more and more of durable goods and variety items. With this process catching up, the economy enters the phase of expansion and prosperity. The cycle is thus complete. To summarize this: -Employment, production, prices and wages begin to rise at roughly the same time -Expectations of consumers and firms optimistic or favorable -Investment spending increases -Consumer demand rises Causes of Cycles. Economists did not try to determine the causes of business cycles until the increasing severity of economic depressions became a major concern in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Two external factors that have been suggested as possible causes are sunspots and psychological trends. The sunspot theory of the British economist William Jevons was once widely accepted. According to Jevons, sunspots affect meteorological conditions. That is, during periods of sunspots, weather conditions are often more severe. Jevons felt that sunspots affected the quantity and quality of harvested crops; thus, they affected the economy. A psychological theory of business cycles, formulated by the British economist Arthur Pigou, states that the optimism or pessimism of business leaders may influence an economic trend. Some politicians have clearly subscribed to this theory. During the early years of the Great Depression, for instance, President Herbert Hoover tried to appear publicly optimistic about the inherent vigor of the American economy, thus hoping to stimulate an upsurge. Several economic theories of the causes of business cycles have been developed. According to the under consumption theory, identified particularly with the British economist John Hobson, inequality of income causes economic declines. The market becomes glutted with goods because the poor cannot afford to buy, and the rich cannot consume all they can afford. Consequently, the rich accumulate savings that are not reinvested in production, because of insufficient demand for goods. This savings accumulation disrupts economic equilibrium and begins a cycle of production cutbacks. The Austrian-American economist Joseph Schumpeter, a proponent of the innovation theory, related upswings of the business cycle to new inventions, which stimulate investment in capital-goods industries. Because new inventions are developed unevenly, business conditions must alternately be  expansive and recessive. The Austrian-born economists Friedrich von Hayek and Ludwig von Mises subscribed to the overinvestment theory. They suggested that instability is the logical consequence of expanding production to the point where less efficient resources are drawn upon. Production costs then rise, and, if these costs cannot be passed on to the consumer, the producer cuts back production and lays off workers. A monetary theory of business cycles stresses the importance of the money supply in the economic system. Since many businesses must borrow money to operate or expand production, the availability and cost of money influence their decisions. Sir Ralph George Hawtrey suggested that changes in interest rates determine whether executives decrease or increase their capital investments, thus affecting the cycle. Regulating the Cycle Since the Great Depression, devices have been built into most economies to help prevent severe business declines. For instance, unemployment insurance provides most workers with some income when they are laid off. Social security and pensions paid by many organizations furnish some income to the increasing number of retired people. Although not as powerful as they once were, trade unions remain an obstacle against the cumulative wage drop that aggravated previous depressions. Schemes to support crop prices (such as the European Common Agricultural Policy) shield farmers from disastrous loss of income. The government can also attempt direct intervention to counter a recession. There are three major techniques available: monetary policy, fiscal policy, and incomes policy. Economists differ sharply in their choice of technique Some economists prefer monetary policy, including the American Milton Friedman and other advocates of monetarism, and is followed by most conservative governments. Monetary policy involves controlling, via the  central bank, the money supply and interest rates. These determine the availability and costs of loans to businesses. Tightening the money supply theoretically helps to counteract inflation; loosening the supply helps recovery from a recession. When inflation and recession occur simultaneously–a phenomenon often called stagflation–it is difficult to know which monetary policy to apply. Considered more effective by American economist John Kenneth Galbraith are fiscal measures, such as increased taxation of the wealthy, and an incomes policy, which seeks to hold wages and prices down to a level that reflects productivity growth. This latter policy has not had much success in the post-World War II period. Conclusion. Thus we can say that the central idea of business-cycle literature, that the economy has regular and periodic waves–a cycle–lasting for several years, has few adherents today. Perhaps such cycles never existed, or perhaps they once did but no longer do because the government now plays an active role in the economy. However, the business-cycle approach remains useful because it is an easy way to introduce a number of macroeconomic topics, including the adjustment process that remains central in macroeconomics.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 15

Hurrying behind Damon, Elena tried not to look either to the left or the right. She could see too much of what to Meredith and Bonnie must have appeared to be featureless darkness. There were depots on either side, places where slaves were obviously brought to be bought or sold or transported later. Elena could hear the whimpers of children in the darkness and if she hadn't been so frightened herself, she would have rushed off looking for the crying kids. But I can't do that, because I'm a slave now, she thought, with a sense of shock that ran up from her fingertips. I'm not a real human being anymore. I'm a piece of property. She found herself once again staring at the back of Damon's head and wondering how on earth she had talked herself into this. She understood what being a slave meant – in fact she seemed to have an intuitive understanding of it that surprised her – and it was Not a Good Thing to Be. It meant that she could be†¦well, that anything could be done to her and it was no one's business but that of her owner. And her owner (how had he talked her into this again?) was Damon, of all people. He could sell all three girls – Elena, Meredith, and Bonnie – and be out of here in an hour with the profits. They hurried through this area of the docks, the girls with their eyes on their feet to prevent themselves from stumbling. And then they crested a hill. Below them, in a sort of crater-shaped formation, was a city. The slums were on the edges, and crowded almost up to where they were standing. But there was a chicken-wire fence in front of them, which kept them isolated even while allowing them a bird's-eye view of the city. If they had still been in the cave they had entered, this would have been the greatest underground cavern imaginable – but they weren't underground anymore. â€Å"It happened sometime during the ferry ride,† Damon said. â€Å"We made – well – a twist in space, say.† He tried to explain and Elena tried to understand. â€Å"You went in through the Demon Gate, and when you came out you were no longer in Earth's Dimension, but in another one entirely.† Elena only had to look up at the sky to believe him. The constellations were different; there was no Little or Big Dipper, no North Star. Then there was the sun. It was much larger, but much dimmer than Earth's, and it never left the horizon. At any moment about half of it showed, day and night – terms which, as Meredith pointed out, had lost their rational meaning here. As they approached a gate made of chicken wire that would finally let them out of the slave-holding area, they were stopped by what Elena would later learn was a Guardian. She would learn that in a way, the Guardians were the rulers of the Dark Dimension, although they themselves came from another place far away and it was almost as if they had permanently occupied this little slice of Hell, trying to impose order on the slum king and feudal lords who divided the city among themselves. This Guardian was a tall woman with hair the color of Elena's own – true gold – cut square at shoulder length, and she paid no attention at all to Damon but immediately asked Elena, who was first in line behind him, â€Å"Why are you here?† Elena was glad, very glad, that Damon had taught her to control her aura. She concentrated on that while her brain hummed at supersonic speed, wondering what the right response to this question was. The response that would leave them free and not get them sent home. Damon didn't train us for this, was her first thought. And her second was, no, because he's never been here before. He doesn't know how everything works here, only some things. And if it looked as if this woman was going to try to interfere with him, he might just go crazy and attack her, a helpful little voice added from somewhere in Elena's subconscious. Elena doubled the speed of her scheming. Creative lying had once been a sort of specialty of hers, and now she said the first thing that popped into her head and got a thumbs-up: â€Å"I gambled with him and lost.† Well, it sounded good. People lost all sorts of things when they gambled: plantations, talismans, horses, castles, bottles of genii. And if it turned out not to be enough of a reason, she could always say that that was just the start of her sad story. Best of all, it was in a way, true. Long ago she'd given her life for Damon as well as for Stefan, and Damon had not exactly turned over a new leaf as she'd requested. Half a leaf, maybe. A leaflet. The Guardian was staring at her with a puzzled look in her true blue eyes. People had stared at Elena all her life – being young and very beautiful meant that you fretted only when people didn't stare. But the puzzlement was a bit of a worry. Was the tall woman reading her mind? Elena tried to add another layer of white noise at the top. What came out was a few lines of a Britney Spears song. She turned the psychic volume up. The tall woman put two fingers to her head like someone with a sudden headache. Then she looked at Meredith. â€Å"Why†¦are you here?† Usually Meredith didn't lie at all, but when she did she treated it as an intellectual art. Fortunately, she also never tried to fix something that wasn't broken. â€Å"The same for me,† she said sadly. â€Å"And you?† The woman was looking at Bonnie, who was looking as if she were going to be sick again. Meredith gave Bonnie a little nudge. Then she stared at her hard. Elena stared at her harder, knowing that all Bonnie had to do was mumble â€Å"Me, too.† And Bonnie was a good â€Å"me, too-er† after Meredith had staked out a position. The problem was that Bonnie was also either in trance, or so close to it that it didn't matter. â€Å"Shadow Souls,† Bonnie said. The woman blinked, but not the way you blink when someone says something totally unresponsive. She blinked in astonishment. Oh, God, Elena thought. Bonnie's got their password or something. She's making predictions or prophesying or whatever. â€Å"Shadow†¦souls?† the Guardian said, watching Bonnie closely. â€Å"The city is full of them,† Bonnie said miserably. The Guardian's fingers danced over what looked like a palmtop computer. â€Å"We know that. This is the place they come.† â€Å"Then you should stop it.† â€Å"We have only limited jurisdiction. The Dark Dimension is ruled by a dozen factions of overlords, who have slumlords to carry out their orders.† Bonnie, Elena thought, trying to cut through Bonnie's mental haze even at the cost of the Guardian hearing her. These are the police. At the same moment, Damon took over. â€Å"She's the same as the others,† he said. â€Å"Except that she's psychic.† â€Å"No one asked your opinion,† the Guardian snapped at him, without even glancing in Damon's direction. â€Å"I don't care what kind of bigwig you are down there† – she jerked her head contemptuously at the city of lights – â€Å"you're on my turf behind this fence. And I'm asking the little red-haired girl: is what he is saying the truth?† Elena had a moment of panic. After all they'd been through, if Bonnie blew it now†¦ This time Bonnie blinked. Whatever else she was trying to communicate, it was true that she was the same as Meredith and Elena. And it was true that she was psychic. Bonnie was a terrible liar when she had too much time to think about things, but to this she could say without hesitation, â€Å"Yes, that's true.† The Guardian stared at Damon. Damon stared back as if he could do it all night. He was a champion out-starer. And the Guardian waved them away. â€Å"I suppose even a psychic can have a bad day,† she said, then added to Damon, â€Å"Take care of them. You realize that all psychics have to be licensed?† Damon, with his best grand seigneur manner, said, â€Å"Madam, these are not professional psychics. They are my private assistants.† â€Å"And I'm not a ‘Madam' I'm addressed as ‘Your Judgment.' By the way, people addicted to gambling usually come to horrible ends here.† Ha, ha, Elena thought. If she only knew what kind of gamble we all are taking†¦well, we'd probably be worse off than Stefan is right now. Outside the fence was a courtyard. There were litters here, as well as rickshaws and small goatcarts. No carriages, no horses. Damon got two litters, one for himself and Elena and one for Meredith and Bonnie. Bonnie, still looking confused, was staring at the sun. â€Å"You mean it never finishes rising?† â€Å"No,† Damon said patiently. â€Å"And it's setting here, not rising. Perpetual twilight in the City of Darkness itself. You'll see more as we move along. Don't touch that,† he added, as Meredith moved to untie the rope around Bonnie's wrists before either of them got on the litter. â€Å"You two can take the ropes off in the litter if you draw the curtains, but don't lose them. You're still slaves, and you have to wear something symbolic around your arms to show it – even if it's just matching bracelets. Otherwise I get in trouble. Oh, and you'll have to go veiled in the city.† â€Å"We – what?† Elena flashed a look of disbelief at him. Damon just flashed back a 250-kilowatt smile and before Elena could say another word, he was drawing gauzy sheer fabrics from his black bag and handing them out. The veils were of a size to cover an entire body. â€Å"But you only have to put it on your head or tie it on your hair or something,† Damon said dismissively. â€Å"What's it made of?† Meredith asked, feeling the light silky material, which was transparent and so thin that the wind threatened to whip it from her fingers. â€Å"How should I know?† â€Å"It's different colors on the other side!† Bonnie discovered, letting the wind transform her pale green veil into a shimmering silver. Meredith was shaking out a dramatic deep violet silk into a mysterious dark blue dotted with a myriad of stars. Elena, who had been expecting her own veil to be blue, found herself looking up at Damon. He was holding a tiny square of cloth in a clenched fist. â€Å"Let's see how good you've gotten,† he murmured, nodding her closer to him. â€Å"Guess what color.† Another girl might only have noticed the sloe black eyes and the pure, carven lines of Damon's face, or maybe the wild, wicked smile – somehow wilder and sweeter than ever here, like a rainbow in the middle of a hurricane. But Elena also made note of the stiffness in his neck and shoulders – places where tension built up. The Dark Dimension was already taking its toll on him, psychically, even as he mocked it. She wondered how many soundings of Power by the merely curious he was having to block each second. She was about to offer to help by opening herself up to the eldritch world, when he snapped, â€Å"Guess!† in a tone that didn't make it a suggestion. â€Å"Gold,† Elena said instantly, surprising herself. When she reached to take the golden square from his hand a powerful, pleasurable feeling of electric current shot from her palm up her arm and seemed to skewer her straight through the heart. Damon clung to her fingers briefly as she took the square and Elena found she could still feel electricity pulsing from his fingertips. The underside of her veil blew out white and sparkling as if set with diamonds. God, maybe they were diamonds, she thought. How could you tell with Damon? â€Å"Your wedding veil, perhaps?† Damon murmured, lips close to her ear. The rope around Elena's wrists had come very loose and she stroked the diaphanous fabric helplessly, feeling the tiny jewels on the white side cool to the touch of her fingers. â€Å"How did you know you'd need all this stuff?† Elena asked, with bruising practicality. â€Å"You didn't know everything, but you seemed to know enough.† â€Å"Oh, I did research in bars and other places. I found a few people who'd been here and had managed to get out again – or who had gotten kicked out.† Damon's wild grin grew even wilder. â€Å"At night while you were asleep. At a little hidden store, I got those.† He nodded at her veil, and added, â€Å"You don't have to wear that over your face or anything. Press it to your hair and it will cling to it.† Elena did so, wearing the gold side out. It fell to her heels. She fingered her veil, already able to see the flirtatious possibilities in it, as well as the dismissive ones. If only she could get this damned rope off her wrists†¦ After a moment, Damon retreated back into the persona of the imperturbable master and said, â€Å"For all our sakes, we ought to be strict about these things. The slum lords and nobility who run this abominable mess they call the Dark Dimension know that it's only two days away from revolution at any time, and if we add anything to the balance they're going to Make a Public Example of Us.† â€Å"All right,† Elena said. â€Å"Here, hold my string and I'll get on the litter.† But there wasn't much point in the rope, not once they were both sitting in the same litter. It was carried by four men – not big men, but wiry ones, and all of the same height, which made for a smooth ride. If Elena had been a free citizen, she would never have allowed herself to be carried by four people whom (she assumed) were slaves. In fact, she would have made a big noisy fuss over it. But that talk she'd had with herself at the docks had sunk in. She was a slave, even if Damon hadn't paid anyone to buy her. She didn't have the right to make a big noisy fuss about anything. In this crimson, evil-smelling place she could imagine that her fuss might even make problems for the litter bearers themselves – make their owner or whoever ran the litter-bearing business punish them, as if it were their fault. Best Plan A for now: Keep Mouth Shut. There was plenty to see anyway, now that they had passed on a bridge over bad-smelling slums and alleys full of tumbledown houses. Shops began to appear, at first heavily barred and made of unpainted stone, then more respectable buildings, and then suddenly they were winding their way through a bazaar. But even here the stamp of poverty and weariness appeared on too many faces. Elena had expected, if anything, a cold, black, antiseptic city with emotionless vampires and fire-eyed demons walking the streets. Instead, everyone she saw looked human, and they were selling things – from medicines to food and drink – that vampires didn't need. Well, maybe the kitsune and the demons need them, Elena reasoned, shuddering at the idea of what a demon might want to eat. On the street corners were hard-faced, scantily clad girls and boys, and tattered, haggard people holding pathetic signs: A MEMORY FOR A MEAL. â€Å"What do they mean?† Elena asked Damon, but he didn't answer her immediately. â€Å"This is how the free humans of the city spend most of their time,† he said. â€Å"So remember that, before you start going on one of your crusades – â€Å" Elena wasn't listening. She was staring at one of the holders of such a sign. The man was horribly thin, with a straggly beard and bad teeth, but worse was his look of vacant despair. Every so often he would hold out a trembling hand on which there was a small, clear ball, which he balanced on his palm, muttering, â€Å"A summer's day when I was young. A summer's day for a ten-geld piece.† As often as not there was no one near when he said this. Elena slipped off a lapis ring Stefan had given her and held it toward him. She didn't want to annoy Damon by getting out of the litter, and she had to say, â€Å"Come here, please,† while holding the ring toward the bearded man. He heard, and came to the litter quickly enough. Elena saw something move in his beard – lice, perhaps – and she forced herself to stare at the ring as she said, â€Å"Take it. Quickly, please.† The old man stared at the ring as if it were a banquet. â€Å"I don't have change,† he moaned, bringing up his hand and wiping his mouth with his sleeve. He seemed about to drop to the ground unconscious. â€Å"I don't have change!† â€Å"I don't want change!† Elena said through the huge swelling that had formed in her throat. â€Å"Take the ring. Hurry or I'll drop it.† He snatched it from her fingers as the litter bearers started forward again. â€Å"May the Guardians bless you, lady,† he said, trying to keep up with the litter bearer's trot. â€Å"Hear me who may! May They bless you!† â€Å"You really shouldn't,† Damon said to Elena when the voice had died away behind them. â€Å"He's not going to get a meal with that, you know.† â€Å"He was hungry,† Elena said softly. She couldn't explain that he reminded her of Stefan, not just now. â€Å"It was my ring,† she added defensively. â€Å"I suppose you're going to say he'll spend it on alcohol or drugs.† â€Å"No, but he won't get a meal with it, either. He'll get a banquet.† â€Å"Well, so much the – â€Å" â€Å"In his imagination. He'll get a dusty orb with some old vampire's memory of a Roman feast, or someone from the city's memory of a modern one. Then he'll play it over and over as he slowly starves to death.† Elena was appalled. â€Å"Damon! Quick! I have to go back and find him – â€Å" â€Å"You can't, I'm afraid.† Lazily, Damon held up a hand. He had a firm grip on her rope. â€Å"Besides, he's long gone.† â€Å"How can he do that? How could anyone do that?† â€Å"How can a lung cancer patient refuse to quit smoking? But I agree that those orbs can be the most addictive substances of all. Blame the kitsune for bringing their star balls here and making them the most popular form of obsession.† â€Å"Star balls? Hoshi no tama?† Elena gasped. Damon stared at her, looking equally surprised. â€Å"You know about them?† â€Å"All I know is what Meredith researched. She said that kitsune were often portrayed with either keys† – she raised her eyebrows at him – â€Å"or with star balls. And that myths say they can put some or all of their power in the ball, so that if you find it, you can control the kitsune. She and Bonnie want to find Misao's or Shinichi's star balls and have control over them.† â€Å"Be still, my unbeating heart,† Damon said dramatically, but the next second he was all business. â€Å"Remember what that old guy said? A summer's day for a meal? He was talking about this.† Damon picked up the little marble that the old man had dropped on the litter and held it to Elena's temple. The world disappeared. Damon was gone. The sights and sounds – yes, and the smells – of the bazaar were gone. She was sitting on green grass which rippled in a slight breeze and she was looking at a weeping willow that bent down to a stream that was copper and deep, deep green at once. There was some sweet scent in the air – honeysuckle, freesia? Something delicious that stirred Elena as she leaned back to gaze at picture-perfect white clouds rolling in a cerulean sky. She felt – she didn't know how to say it. She felt young, but somewhere in her mind she knew that she was actually younger than this alien personality that had taken hold of her. Still, she felt excited that it was springtime and every golden-green leaf, every springy little reed, every weightless white cloud seemed to be rejoicing with her. Then suddenly her heart was pounding. She had just caught the sound of a footfall behind her. In one, springing joyous moment she was on her feet, arms held out in the extremity of her love, the wild devotion she felt for this†¦ †¦this young girl? Something inside the sphere user's brain seemed to fall back in bewilderment. Most of it, though, was taken up with cataloguing the perfections of the girl who had crept up so lightly in the waving grass: the clustering dark curls at her neck, the flashing green eyes below arching brows, the smooth glowing skin of her cheeks as she laughed with her lover, pretending to run away on feet as light as any elf's†¦! Pursued and pursuer both fell down together on the soft carpet of long grass†¦and then things quickly got so steamy that Elena, the distant mind in the background, began wondering how on earth you made one of these things stop. Every time she put her hand to her temple, groping, she was caught and kissed breathless by†¦Allegra†¦that was the girl, Allegra. And Allegra was certainly beautiful, especially through this particular viewer's eyes. The creamy soft skin of her†¦ And then, with a shock just as great as she'd felt when the bazaar disappeared, it appeared again. She was Elena; she was riding on the litter with Damon; there was a cacophony of sounds around her – and a thousand different smells, too. But she was breathing hard and part of her was still resounding with John – that had been his name – with John's love for Allegra. â€Å"But I still don't understand,† she almost keened. â€Å"It's simple,† Damon said. â€Å"You put a blank star ball of the size you like to your temple and you think back to the time you want to record. The star ball does the rest.† He waved off her attempted interruption and leaned forward with mischief in those fathomless black eyes of his. â€Å"Perhaps you got an especially warm summer day?† he said, adding suggestively, â€Å"These litters do have curtains you can draw closed.† â€Å"Don't be silly, Damon,† Elena said, but John's feelings had sparked her own, like flint and tinder. She didn't want to kiss Damon, she told herself sternly. She wanted to kiss Stefan. But since a moment ago she had been kissing Allegra, it didn't seem as strong an argument as it could be. â€Å"I don't think,† she began, still breathless, as Damon reached for her, â€Å"that this is a very good†¦Ã¢â‚¬  With a smooth flick of the rope, Damon untied her hands completely. He would have pulled it off both wrists, but Elena immediately half-turned, supporting herself with that hand. She needed the support. In the circumstances, though, there was nothing more meaningful – or more†¦exciting†¦than what Damon had done. He hadn't drawn the curtains, but Bonnie and Meredith were behind them on their own litter, out of sight. Certainly out of Elena's mind. She felt warm arms around her, and instinctively nestled into them. She felt a surge of pure love and appreciation for Damon, for his understanding that she could never do this as a slave with a master. We're both of us unmastered, she heard in her head, and she remembered that when cooling down most of her psychic abilities she had forgotten to set the volume on low for this one. Oh, well, it might just come in handy†¦. But we both enjoy worship, she replied telepathically, and felt his laughter on her lips as he admitted the truth of it. There was nothing sweeter in her life these days than Damon's kisses. She could drift like this forever, forgetting the outside world. And that was a good thing, because she had the feeling that there was much depression in the outside and not too much happiness. But if she could always come back to this, this welcome, this sweetness, this ecstasy†¦ Elena jerked in the litter, throwing her weight back so fast that the men carrying it almost fell in a heap. â€Å"You bastard,† she whispered venomously. They were still psychically entangled, and she was glad to see that through Damon's eyes she was like a vengeful Aphrodite: her golden hair lifting and whipping behind her like a thunderstorm, her eyes shining violet in her elemental fury. And now, worst of all, this goddess turned her face away from him. â€Å"Not one day,† she said. â€Å"You couldn't even keep your promise for a single day!† â€Å"I didn't! I didn't Influence you, Elena!† â€Å"Don't call me that. We have a professional relationship now. I call you ‘Master.' You can call me ‘Slave' or ‘Dog' or whatever you want.† â€Å"If we have the professional relationship of master and slave,† Damon said, his eyes dangerous, â€Å"then I can just order you to – â€Å" â€Å"Try it!† Elena lifted her lips in what really wasn't a smile. â€Å"Why don't you do that, and see just what happens?†