J.P. Morgan’s Latin America M&A department Essay

Juan Lopez, a new associate in J.P. Morgan’s Latin America M&A department, was assigned the task of valuing the telephone directory operation subsidiary of a large Brazilian industrial conglomerate. The subsidiary is Paginas Amarelas, which operates in three Latin countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. All cash flows have been converted to U.S. dollars, and present values computed for various discount rates. In order to the present value properly, he should determine the appropriate target rate of returns for dollar flows originating in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Q1.What is the valuation problem here? In what currency are the cash flows denominated? In what currency should the discount rate denominated? Be sure you understand Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the case. Juan chose DCF model to determine fair value of those subsidiaries. To properly apply DCF model WACC is a key underlying assumption. WACC composes of cost of debt and cost of equity. For cost of equity, Juan has some obstacles to determine it using CAPM model because following factors cannot be reasonably valued; 1. Risk-free rate is difficult to be determined because government bonds of those countries are not actually free of risk. Given that those governments had defaulted on principal and interest payments in the recent past. 2. Equity-risk premium cannot be reliably estimated. Equity market of each country has inadequate historical data e.g. historical stock prices, trading volume, dividend yield etc. This is because majority of companies are privately owned. 3. Beta cannot be ap propriately calculated. There is no competitor of the subsidiary in each local market. Potential competitors are either doing many kind of businesses or too small to be compared. For cost of debt, each local operation does not significantly issue debt security independently in an international market. As a result, Juan has to use an estimate of the U.S. dollar rates as if each operation borrow from the bank. Furthermore, each country has high inflation rate which causes valuation on each local currency become less accurate and less reliable. Cash flows are denominated in each local currency i.e. Argentina pesos,  Brazil reals, and Chile pesos. However, given that there are number of drawbacks in valuation on each local currency, as discussed earlier, discount rate should also be denominated in US Dollar. Q2.In this case, why doesn’t J.P. Morgan discount local cash flows at a local required rate of return? In fact, why not use that approach in general? -Firstly, J. P. Morgan is requested to value the business in U.S. dollars by the client, a Brazilian industrial conglomerate.

Econ case study Essay

1) Why is economics central to an understanding of the problems of development? It is because that the development of a country depends on economic factors. Economics helps you to interpret how a country is developing, economic policies of a country that determine whether or not it develops and how fast it develops if it performs. In addition, economics helps you to understand how wealth and finance are distributed, and the causes and effects of borrowing and lending. Problems of development are like not having enough money, economics teaches us about problems in development and so we can better interpret these problems primarily by looking at the economic components that define the troubles. Furthermore, economics is a social science and is concerned with people and economic development problems also stemming from people so these fields are related and understanding the one helps you better understand the other because you can build up a bigger picture. 5) Why is an understanding of development crucial to policy formulation in developing nations? Do you think it is possible for a nation to agree on a rough definition of development and orient its strategies accordingly? It is important because, like I answered on question number one, development of a country rely on the economic policies of a country which decide the country is developing or not, and how fast it develops. Depends on what policy formulation the country select, it may result different ending. In my opinion, currently nations cannot agree on a rough definition of development because most of them have different approaches, measurements and standards. However, I believe in the future there might be a working definition that the nations can agree on and orient its strategies. Like the textbook  mentions there are three basic components that help understand the meaning of development which are sustenance, self-esteem and freedom. 6. Why is a strictly economic definition of development inadequate? What do you understand economic development to mean? Can you give hypothetical or real examples of situations in which a country may be developing economically but still be underdeveloped? The Strictly economic definition of development was inadequate due to not taking into account the factors other the financial or economical. I considered that economic development meant financial growth or the increment in yield of goods. An example of a country that is developed economically, but still underdeveloped would have to be India, which I selected for the group presentations, because it is producing a lot of goods and services, but many of its citizens are living in poverty and there’s still a high inequality between genders. 7. How does the concept of â€Å"capabilities to function† help us gain insight into development goals and achievements? Is money enough? Why or why not? The capacities to function help us clear insight into development goals and achievements by letting us determine how much freedom of choice a person experiences in their country which makes it a full measurement of growth. Money is not enough to gain insight of development goals and achievements because money does not help people from living long, and it does not guarantee people’s happiness. 8. What forces may be at work in giving the Millennium Development Goals such a high profile in international economic relations? In my opinion, money forces work in giving the Millennium Development Goals. If a country get high incentive of money, they can borrow money easier than the other country who does not perform well on money. 2. Brazil has special interest because its growth performance from the 1960s  through the 1980s was the best in Latin America, with at least some parallels with East Asian policy and performance (Todaro & Smith, P.28). Moreover, other indicators of development in Brazil lagged, eventually undermining growth prospects. After the civil war and gaining benefits from the other Central American countries, it seems that Brazil should have been in a much better position to fight extreme poverty trap and social equity. Rather, it has continued to insure an extremely high percentage of its population in extreme poverty in an upper middle income country, and remains one the countries with the highest degrees of inequality in the world. 3. Chapter 2 1) According to the textbook, the problems that most developing countries have in common are poverty, high levels of unemployment and underemployment, low levels of agricultural productivity and sizable imbalances between urban and rural levels of living and economic opportunities (Todaro & Smith, P. 92). The most significant problem is serious poverty because every person should at least have the most basic needs such as home, basic clothes and food. 2) According to the textbook, low levels of living is the amount of money on average a person makes in a country. (Todaro & Smith, P. 29). In my opinion, low levels of living can exist simultaneously with high levels of per capita income because there might be a few that are earning a lot with the majority of the population earning less. For instance, on 1980’s Portsmouth, Ohio and Brazil, which is an upper medium income country with nice levels of per capita with a bulk of its citizens living in poverty. 4) In my opinion, among health, labor productivity, and income levels, there are huge, and strong relationship because I think labor productivity decides the income levels, and it also affects people’s health. For instant, people can observe that people’s health is low when labor productivity is low and it comes with low productivity the income levels are lower than the normal  countries. 5) â€Å"Dominance, dependence, and vulnerability† in their relations with rich nations is that many developing countries do not have any means of their own that they come to depend on the rich nations handouts and pretty much become vulnerable and dominated. In other words, rich nations can kind of force the developing countries to do what they want, and make them poor if they refuse. For example, rich countries are forcing or suggesting Iran and North Korea to give up nuclear weapons by interrupting their economy. Moreover, a developing country is so poor that it cannot invest and that is where the rich countries come and provide financial aid to make that poor nation depend on rich countries. 6) Developed countries produce large quantities of goods, services, and in general do a lot of manufacturing. Countries such as these use science to improve technology and generally have good health care and education for their people. Compared to developed nations, developing countries practice subsistence agriculture and often suffer a miserable income, clothing, and housing. Only few people in developing countries receive proper health care or education. In addition, and life expectancy is relatively short. Most developing countries also lack the resources needed for economic growth. Also, developing countries’ primary sector of economic is the major contributor to the GDP of the country. Low GDP per capita is there. Usually exports agricultural goods or natural resources and imports value added goods from developed countries. 7) The composition of the Index reflects dissatisfaction with income as a measure of well-being: income is not the only argument in a person’s utility function. The Human Development Index is an attempt to develop a better measure of well-being. If I design the new HDI, I want to set up the standard of get information from people. Quality and trustworthiness of those data is disputable, especially when we get the information from UN non-democratic members. It is because I think it might much better if we have a standard method to get adequate data which shows their own interest for strengthening their credibility and legitimacy. 12) According to Jan Kees van Donge, he states that in Southeast Asia, the transition to sustained growth has consistently been associated with policies aimed at macroeconomic stabilization; improving life in the rural sector, increasing agricultural productivity, and ensuring an ample supply of food. In contrast, sub-Saharan Africa initiatives in these directions have in some instances been present, but the concurrent pursuit of all three policy objectives has not. Other factors that appear to be of somewhat lesser importance, but that nevertheless deserve further study are: industrialization on the basis of foreign direct investment; systems of politics and governance; and cultural patterns as manifest in policy choices. (â€Å"Tracking Development in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa: the primacy of policy†, par.3) 13) According to the textbook, colonial legacy is described as the colonies and institutions that were created and controlled by European and other foreign powers. These colonies and institutions that were created in the developing countries had a negative effect on the development of those countries that still continues today (Todaro & Smith, P. 69). The advantage of colonial legacy is that arrangement might be exists. A disadvantage would be that in many cases, these countries or institutions will not rich by its own country’s ability. 14) According to the textbook, five characteristics of the developing world are physical and human resource endowments, per capita incomes, climate, population, and historical role of migration. It says that developed countries are more natural resources when the country started to grow were as most developing countries usually did not have a lot of natural resources (Todaro & Smith, p.71). Per capita incomes are a lot higher in developing nations than in growing nations. The growth rates of populations in developing rural areas are usually higher compared to that of a developed nation. 15) The differences between the traditional HDI compare to NHDI, HDI uses arithmetic mean. In contrast, NHDI uses geometric mean. HDI uses GDP and the  NHDI replaces that with GNI. Traditional HDI added the three components and divided by three. However, NHDI takes the cube root of the product of the three component indexes. In my opinion, NHDI is better than HDI because it gives us a realistic average and the traditional HDI gives us an arithmetic average which is not realistic. 4. a. R1=-21%, R2=42%, R3=59%, R4=9, R5=0.87% = 14.42% b. R1=-40%, R2=56%, R3=-90%, R4=0 =-44.69% c. R1=-20%, R2=78.12%, R3=91.34% =39.7% 5. Chapter 3 (page 136-137): Questions for Discussion 1-6 1) The structural change model of Chenery focus on structural changes in the stages of the process of economic change, industrial and institutional structures of emerging economies. Chenery research conducted on the transformation of production structure shows that the increased role of the industrial sector in the economy in line with the increase in income per capita is happening in a country closely linked with the accumulation of capital and improving human resources (human capital). The neo-Marxist is an indirect outgrowth of Marxist thinking. The main idea is that a disproportionate relationship between the central state which consists of the developed and the periphery is composed of the developing world. The false-paradigm model is the model that advice or suggestions may mean well but often do not have enough information about the country to be assisted, especially developing countries. For the developing nations, I think the  best explanation is related to the situation in most developing countries is the neocolonial dependence model (neo-Marxist). This model explains that economic development on developing countries depend on developed countries, especially in direct investment in the mining sector and import of goods produced. 2) Dual societies means that rich nations and poor nations at world level are exist; and a few rich complemented with a majority of poor people in the developing countries. Thus, dualism is a concept which represents the existence. I think it does not portray the development picture in developing country because it seems like a concept that divide the world into only two part. Development or developing countries. 3)  According to the text book, it says that different sets of conditions, of which some are â€Å"superior† and others â€Å"inferior,† can coexist in a given space (Todaro & Smith, p.125). Also, the interrelations between the superior and inferior elements are such that the existence of the superior elements does little or nothing to pull up the inferior element, let alone â€Å"trickle down† to it. These are reason why it is a valid conceptualization. 4)  According to text book, neoclassical economic theories designed to accelerate the growth of GDP as the principal index of development (Todaro & Smith, p.125). it is valid policy because it is all connected to the False-Paradigm Model and a policy of autarky. 5) I do not think that there is a single unified theory that explain the one country. Including the economic theory, a situation should be explained by the several theories arising from various branches. Also, we can observe that there are many factors which are put into the section of output or input. 6) Even though the free-market theory and the dependence theory indicates the opposite meaning of explaining the market, in my opinion, neoclassical, free-market theory is not necessarily incompatible with dependence theory. In case of the rich countries or the country, which is developed country yet it was developing countries at past, both free-market and dependence theory is needed to explain their economic status. 6. Chapter 4 (page 195-196): Questions for Discussion 1-10 1) Actions can be taken by one agent reinforces incentives for others to take similar actions. With Multiple Equilibria graph, there are pressure which hit equilibrium point. Also, one equilibrium to other points there are demand shock, supply shock and government interruption which indicates the metaphor of economic problems. For example, on our daily life basis we can observe the invisible hand in the market which means that government makes decision for economy and affect our life. 2) According to the PowerPoint, indivisibilities in amounts of investment imply a region of increasing returns to scale, as in the fixed costs of the big push model. Once again, increasing returns plays a key role in generating multiple equilibria. This is related to how the investment works with big push model. In case of O-ring model, investment is one of the outpour sector which effects the formula. It was hard to find the limitation in o ring model, but I would like to say and would like to ask why q is only between zero and one. It can be the limitation points of O-ring model? 3) I do not think that developing countries can escape all of the traps described in this chapter. Especially developing countries cannot escape from the poverty trap because poverty fuels move the poverty. It is happening in underdevelopment countries. Therefore, if a country is in poverty trap and try to escape, they should have positive information externality from development countries. In case of development countries, it is still hard to escape the poverty trap but it is movable than the developing countries. 4) High levels of inequality lead to lower rates of growth and development because it makes rich countries more rich and poor countries poorer. If there is a high level of inequality on growth and development rate, it supports the poverty trap, which is the most difficult thing to get out of the trap, to develop. 5) In case of central planned market, such as public ownership of resource and governing board that makes decision for economy. If government interrupt the free market and give pressure to equilibrium point, it makes new prices from government. Also, it leads to a lack of private investment. Finally, the market might have a failure results. 6) In my opinion, low level of trust of people outside one’s extended family is related to information externality. It always better to accept positive information. Also, it is connected with the Haussmann-Rodrick-Velasco Growth Diagnostic Decision Tree theory. In case of low levels of private investment and entrepreneurship, it may causes low return to economic activity and high cost of finances which cause low social returns and market failure. 7) O-ring production function is complementarity between workers’ skills. Therefore, we can find O-ring production on our daily life where the place indeed high technology or the worker’s skills. For example, if the producer of IPhone 6 has more significant skills, the price may different. 8) I think the two approaches cannot be used together to inform each other. If I assume that logically cohesive model with strong assumptions is the big push model, the other theories, such as O-ring model can supports the limit of the big push. However, in my opinion, the two approaches cannot be used together to inform the same situation at the same time. Because there might be some overlap sections and limitations between two theories. 9) As a reader of chapter 4, The Big Push model described in this chapter is useful in shedding additional light on the nature of problems considered. It shows market failures lead to a need for public policy intervention. Moreover, it is more efficient for economy because it assumes that perfect  competition with traditional firms operating, limit pricing, monopolist with a modern firm operating. If there is an intertemporal, urbanization, infrastructure and training effects, a big push may necessary. 10) According to my research, Egyptian reforms launched in 2004 appear to have focused well on the most critical constraints-reducing red tape and tax rates, and improving access to foreign exchange-thereby getting a strong growth response out of a limited set of reforms. However, inefficient bureaucracy remains an important obstacle to higher growth and reforms in this area should continue to have high payoffs. Ongoing reforms are also addressing constraints that are likely to become binding soon (or have become so already), such as inefficient financial intermediation and high public debt. Improvements in education may rapidly become a critical factor for sustaining higher growth ( Enders, Klaus-Stefan, sec.1).

Arterial Blood Gas

Symptoms of Arterial Blood Gas: ABG is ordered as a means to evaluate or control the patient's respiration and metabolic acid / base balance. This test evaluates the pH of the patient's blood and is used as an indicator of specific causes of acidosis or alkalosis. ABG is also used to measure the adequacy of acid / base balance treatment. ABG can also be used to measure oxygenation saturation. Types of tests and testing procedure: ABG is usually obtained by taking arterial blood. If OHS is suspected, various tests are necessary for confirmation. The most important initial test is to prove the increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. This requires arterial blood gas measurements, including the collection of blood samples from the arteries, usually the radial arteries. Given that this test can be complicated for each patient with sleep-related breathing problems, measuring the level of bicarbonate in normal (vein) blood is a reasonable I believe it will be a screening test . When rising (more than 27 mmol / l), it is necessary to measure blood gas The arterial blood gas (ABG) test measures acidity (pH) and oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in arterial blood. This test is used to ascertain the extent to which lungs pump oxygen into the bloodstream and remove carbon dioxide from the blood. When blood passes through the lungs, oxygen enters the bloodstream and carbon dioxide flows from the blood into the lungs. The ABG test uses blood taken from arteries that can measure oxygen and carbon dioxide levels before entering body tissues. Dr. Ori can do this test or trained person (Timby, 2009). Mr. J's blood test was sent to microbiology for testing, so it was useful for diagnosis and pointed out the extent of her influence on her illness. ABG provides interdisciplinary team information on oxygenation of the patient, adequacy of ventilation, acid-base level. Skinner (2005) and Adam (2009) agree that arterial blood gas analysis is an important part of patient's ventilation therapy and its acid-base balance diagnosis and management. Skinner continues to say that the usefulness of this intervention depends on the ability of medical professionals to analyze and interpret all aspects of gas. Nettina (2005) describes a test procedure called Allen, a test for evaluating a puncture site before puncture. This evaluates the circulation in the hand and whether it is appropriate to use the radial artery for puncture. The place is cleaned with alcohol, the allergic condition reduces discomfort and allows the use of anesthetic to increase the chances of success

Managing Diversity and Equality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing Diversity and Equality - Essay Example Legislation may only put the figure in the boardroom for example but without the same accountability and power, as well as pay, the figure means nothing. Legislation has mandated equal salaries for equal positions yet there are no true definitions as to what an equal position is. Women, for example receive very little middle management training so is their salary not worth less when they are moved up to the boardroom The answer here, again, may not be the legislation. In the last 30 years, the global market place has become the way of business. To survive in that marketplace corporations must be diverse and able to use every bit of knowledge and ability that is contained within their very diverse staffs. Only those that are able to do this will be able to survive. Women are not only a major part of the workforce throughout the world but are also a major part of the purchasing force. Therefore, to not put them in an ideal position is a mistake. They know what is going to be purchased and what is not. Their ideas of how to work with other women, how to motivate them, and how to move their corporations forward will be essential. Leverage is a word often used by corporations throughout the world.

Global Warming is Media Hyped Hysteria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Global Warming is Media Hyped Hysteria - Essay Example The first article has been published by an environmental agency and therefore, it has used ethos in its writing to convince the readers. The use of scientific explanations and relevant theories are used to explain the drastic ramifications of global warming. ‘trading program would harness American ingenuity to decrease heat-trapping pollution, cost-effectively..’(EDF). The Second article, on the other hand, is a speech by a political leader and therefore, one is able to find the text full of pathos and logos to sway the public perception. Inhofe has cleverly used creative imagery and mental images to provide a relatively coherent explanation for his arguments. ‘Advocates of alarmism have grown increasingly desperate†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Inhofe). The first article lacks emotional appeal and relies heavily on scientific facts which are stark in their explanation and therefore, fail to impress the common man. Inhofe, on the other hand, has combined logos in his pathos. Citing previous press releases, Inhofe’s rhetoric of the discourse was designed to inflame the feeling of outrage against the media hype and has asked ‘if CO2 is the driving force for global climate change, why do so many in the media ignore the many skeptical scientists who cite these rather inconvenient truths?’. The structured and well laid out article has tried to explore the issue through the myths that are common among the masses but the lackluster style has failed to convince the masses because it is not tempered with modules that have a significant impact on human emotions. Inhofe has shown that facts and figures need to be used in a manner that it can impact the human psyche through clichà ©s and metaphors. â€Å"’60 Minutes’ failed to inform its viewers that a 2005 study by Ola†¦.that the interiors of Greenland are gaining ice and mass and that†¦ The Arctic was warmer in the 1930s than today†.  

The economic benefits and environmental problems of the Three Gorges Research Paper

The economic benefits and environmental problems of the Three Gorges Dam - Research Paper Example 139). The first suggestion was given by Sun Yat-Sen, who was the president of China in 1919. It was a business vision that was aiming at improving the economy status of China. The river Yangtze was the potential water source for the reservoir since it is 3937 miles with a volume discharge of water of 960 billion cubic meters in the Sea of East China. This river never dries, and it is consistent with the amount of water flowing in it because it gets its water from the ice that covers the mountain range in the South-west, Chongqing (Kammerer 5). More to the economic benefits, the project, was to be built to reduce flood that was occurring at least once in every decade, and its effects were devastating to the Chinese community. The dam was engineered and designed to have three parts: ship lift, ship locks, and the dam. The drive of the dam was to store water thatwas used for hydroelectric harnessing and the ship lift and ship dock was for water vessels navigation to enhance trade to and from Shanghai (Trouw 16). The dam has a height of 600 feet and a width of 1.3 miles. These measurements were large enough to hold large volumes of water during the season when the ice melting realized a lot of water. The bigger the size the efficient it is to reduce water spillage to the land surfaces. It was fitted with twenty-six turbines that were rotated by the flowing water to generated electricity. These stations have the capacity to produce the power equal to eighteen power plants generating the energy from nuclear elements (Spilsbury 30). Five ship locks were constructed for large and heavy ship transportation and a ship lift to lift the small marine vessels over the dam wall of Three Gorges Dam. The construction caused migration of 1.3-1.9 million of people because of the changing water levels in the dam. The resettlement of people was to allow a safe margin of water

Estimated monetary value of modifying an existing Assignment

Estimated monetary value of modifying an existing application.contingency and management reserve budget plan - Assignment Example Contingency reserves incorporate the funds that are to handle the observed risks.On the other hand,management reserves are supposed to handle the risks that have not been identified.The contingency reserve is the amount of funds or any other financial resources that is allocated to a project above the amount that was originally designated This is used to reduce the risk of overruns. This also includes the specific amount of time which is quantified in man hours that is allocated above the first and the original version of time that was catering for all activities including overtime. The contingency reserve is determined at the beginning f a project though it is allocated during progress of a project when it is decided that the original allocations might not be fit.In the case of the question at hand, the contingency reserve is the amount above the original allocation. This is the amount that was calculated in the first part of this paper: $13,375. Management reserve budget plan.Manag ement reserve is basically an amount that is set aside for purposes of control of the management. It is different from the amount set aside for the completion of a project.This amount is held for the sake of any work that may additionally sprout out unexpectedly. Such an amount may be the one that can be held due to changes in the rates in the future completion of work.This amount is not used to cater for variation in costs. Setting out of the management reserve has no preset formula and can be a percentage of the actual total budget. Considering that the project at hand includes modification of an existing project, an amount that is not far off from the total labor cost can be set as the management reserve. I would personally set this amount to the one set it at the amount required to fix the software which is $3, 500. Assumptions for the reserves Owing to the fact that implementing and determining the reserve budgets is almost iterative, the ability of specifying the correct amoun t of the management reserve budget is not very clear. Additionally, implementation of budgeting that is probabilistic requires strong assumptions on costs requires very concise assumptions on the elements in the work breakdown structure. Such elements are like correlation and distribution properties. This part of this discussion will look at the various assumptions that have been considered in the determination of the budget reserves. These assumptions will be based on various models as described by various scholars as below. According to Goldberg and Weber (1-7), â€Å"risk analysis and cost management†

Assessment of Science Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assessment of Science Knowledge - Essay Example In this type of assessment, the students have to give answers to the asked questions in their own words. They construct their own answers with their understanding. Students are able to give answers within a very less time. Also this exercise helps students in forming their own opinions about a situation. This assessment allows the students to be creative. The responses given by students can be somewhat irrelevant in some cases. In this assessment, the students are asked to present, demonstrate, practical, draw or explain whatever the teacher asks the students to do. This assessment is group-based as well as individual. The students get a chance to demonstrate their attained skills from this assessment. The students who are somewhat shy or not very confident can feel problems with this assessment. The students are asked to do projects and perform experiments that are extended tasks. The students are assessed in terms of their skills to do a task that requires sufficient knowledge and skills’ acquirement. The students get a chance to prove their talent to their teachers. Projects and experiments are also considered difficult tasks due to which, students may face problems with their completion. They require their teachers’ support at each and every step of the task. Portfolios can also be used for assessing students’ performance. In student portfolios, the tasks completed by students are attached, which help the teachers in evaluating the knowledge and skills attained by the student. Portfolios are very helpful as they inform about each and every task completed by the student and his/her improvement with the tasks. Sometimes, portfolios show an imbalance of performed tasks due to which, the teacher faces problems in evaluating the student wholly. The students can be asked to fill in a short response paper in which, they are asked to give short answers to the questions. This assessment strategy can be adopted at the end

Emotional Intelligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10250 words

Emotional Intelligence - Essay Example Author Daniel Goleman (1995) also brought EI into the forefront with his books entitled, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ and Working with Emotional Intelligence (Goleman 1995). Both resources propose that EI accounts for success at home, school, and work, enabling individuals to become more cooperative and effective team members and to build their technical skills and IQ for jobs at all levels (Vitello-Cicciu 2003). Goleman also hypothesized that EI can be learned and improves with age (Goleman 1995). In contrast, Salovey and Mayer (1990) contend that EI develops with age and that emotional knowledge can be enhanced and emotional skills can be learned (Vitello-Cicciu 2003). What's not known to date through research is whether or not EI scores, as determined by an ability measurement known as the Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), can be raised in individuals (Vitello-Cicciu 2003). (See Appendix: Assessment of EI in a Leader) Experts define emotional labor as the process of regulating both feelings and expressions to achieve organizational goals or expectations, or, as the effort, planning, and control needed to express organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions (Vitello-Cicciu 2003). ... ational goals or expectations, or, as the effort, planning, and control needed to express organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions (Vitello-Cicciu 2003). Organizationally desired emotions, also referred to as display rules are considered the standards of behavior that indicate not only which emotions are appropriate in relationship with others, but also how these emotions should be publicly displayed or expressed. The structure of this paper is as follows: Part one of paper begins with the introduction of the topic in an academic format. Then, explains the purpose of carrying out this research and what it tends to achieve is stated. After defining the objective a brief overview of the primary research questions are given. A very important chapter of literature review follows which highlights various researches which were carried out by the writers and analysts in the past. Research design highlights the approach and the methodology of how the information was acquired from the sources. The main Research results chapter has the main body of this research in which the findings have been discussed and concluded.In conclusion, the research shows that Marquise Facilities Corporation will benefit with incorporating emotional intelligence into its Management Training. In part 2 of the paper, a brief history of the company and the challenges they are faced with and how they will benefit from such train ing. Finally, a proposal of the implementation process will be presented. The main goal is to stress the importance of this training in the organization while being sensitive not to overload the busy managers with a program that will soon loose momentum. The key is to implement a process that is long lasting and adds value to the

The Kings Great Matter Essay Example for Free

The Kings Great Matter Essay The Spanish-English marriage alliance of Catherine of Aragon and Prince Arthur was arranged when the children were very young. Catherine traveled to England only to face tragedy when her young husband, Arthur died in 1502. Henry VII wanted to marry Catherine to his younger son, who would be, Henry VIII so that he did not lose the dowry money from Catherines parents and to secure some other agreements between the two countries. In the Catholic Church, it was forbidden to marry the wife of a deceased brother. A papal dispensation was required for the marriage. It was easily obtained from Pope Julius II. Henry VII died before the marriage took place but Henry VIII immediately married Catherine once he became King. Many people involved questioned the validity of this dispensation. Catherines mother, Isabella did not like the idea of her daughter being remarried and requiring a document from the Pope to have it done. But, once Henry VII died and Henry VIII proceeded with the marriage, no one mentioned the dispensation or the validity of it until Henry decided that he needed a grounds for divorce. Under the circumstances of Henry not wanting to be with his wife anymore, he proposed many doctrines that had been insignificant until then. Henry and Catherine actually had a fairly good marriage. The biggest problem in the marriage was lack of ability to produce a male heir. This was very important to Henry. They tried several times but were not successful. The couple did have one child that lived but, it was a girl named Mary. After many miscarriages and years of disappointment, Catherine began to get much older and lose much of her attractiveness. Henry not only began to lose interest in his wife, but he also began to worry about not having a son to succeed him on the throne. This was when the Kings great matter began. Throughout this time period, Cardinal Wolsey, an advisor to Henry and very powerful in the Catholic Church, moved closer and closer to Henry. As the relationship progressed Henry became more distant to Catherine. Wolsey spied on Catherine and she thought he acted against her always. She began to believe that Wolsey had always hated her and possibly that she had always hated him also. She held him responsible for the promotion of Henrys bastard son, for tempting the King of France to break the word agreed at Madrid and plunging Europe into war, for ruining the alliance between the two countries, and for seducing the pope and the Italian states. She also held Wolsey responsible for Henrys irritability. It isnt surprising that Catherine also blamed Wolsey for Henry wanting to divorce her. But, Catherine was not the only one with this idea. The ambassador, the emperor, Reginald Pole, Catholic controversialists, and Catholic writers ever since have agreed that Wolsey was probably the instigator. Catherines thought that Wolsey had put the ideas of divorce into Henrys head was very reasonable. She believed that Wolsey thought this was the best way to safeguard his pro-French policy by removing Catherine and replacing her with a French princess. Wolsey was serious about his French alliance and did hope to arrange a French marriage. He also feared Catherine. He knew that he needed to get rid of her so that he get closer to the king and help him handle his affairs. Most of the time, Cardinal Wolsey was looking out to better himself and his policies. Catherine was wrong about a few things though. She did not blame Henry for any of this. She felt he had been manipulated and took up for him every chance she had. She was wrong about Henry. He was not the innocent person she thought he was. Protestant writers have told the story according to Henry, that his conscience had separated him from Catherine. But, still many have said that it was simply out of desire for another woman. Henrys want for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon has also been attributed to his health. During the years 1527 -28, it was obvious that his health was on the decline. In 1524, he suffered from a head injury while jousting with the Duke of Suffolk. This injury is said to have caused him many severe headaches and possibly an alteration in behavior and character. His character began to change slowly after this. He went from a happy leader, fairly good husband and interested in his people to an irritable, suspicious, and selfish king. In the same year he also suffered from an ulcer in his leg which contributed to his irritability and impatience. Someone told Henry that he had been living in sin with his brothers wife. The name of who told him this was never released. Henrys arguments of his marriage to Catherine being invalid consisted of two sections. The first section argued that the union of a man and the wife of his brother was contrary to the law of God and that any papal dispensation pretending to allow it was worthless. The second section argued that the particular dispensation granted by Pope Julius II, which he had married Catherine under, was invalid. His first argument contained several parts. The first part was two texts in Leviticus. Leviticus 18:16 reads ‘Thou shall not uncover the nakedness of thy brothers wife: it is thy brothers nakedness and Leviticus 20:21 reads ‘If a man shall take his brothers wife, it is an impurity: he hath uncovered his brothers nakedness; they shall be childless. Henry and his advisors could not just use these scriptures. They advisors had to prove that they were true under all circumstances and were out of reach of all papal authority. However, the texts from Leviticus that Henry used were contradicted by a text from Deuteronomy. This text read: ‘When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another, but his brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother. In order for Henrys arguments to succeed he had to somehow get rid of this text from Deuteronomy. It was attacked in many ways. Some argued that the text from Deuteronomy was a ceremonial or respective interpretation of the law that was allowed to the Jews but, like circumcision, was dissolved by the coming of Christ. Others argued that this text was only permissible under certain rare conditions, none of which was present in Henrys case. Henry, Wolsey, and a few other advisors had been meeting privately to discuss how the proceedings of the divorce should take place. These secret meetings were how the whole process came to be known as the kings great matter. The plan was not to involve Rome at all. Cardinal Wolsey and Warham were going to hold a secret court in England. They were going to call Henry in, charging him with living in sin with his dead brothers wife. Henry would plead guilty and the private court would then sentence him and the marriage to nullity. But, they ran into a problem. Catherine found out what the plan was. Her nephew was Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. He had much power in Rome and over the papacy. She wrote letters and sent them to Charles for help. In her letters, she told him the entire story and appealed the case of the divorce to Rome. In 1527, Wolsey was in a hurry to get to France. He was trying to beat Catherines letters to Charles for help. He knew that if Charles heard the story he would threaten Pope Clement VII so that he would not dare dissolve the marriage. However, Wolsey did have an alternative plan. It is a good thing he did because he did not beat her letters to Charles. In June 1527, Charles troops attacked Rome and put the Pope up as prisoner. Wolsey went to France and signed the Treaty of Amiens. This protested that no action of the Pope would be valid while he was under duress and proposed that Wolsey, himself, preside over the cardinals in this time of trouble. Wolsey was afraid that Charles would provoke the Pope to do something while under imprisonment. Wolseys next plan was to make comments to Henrys ambassador with Charles that there was a rumor going around in England about the divorce between the king and queen and that there was some questions from the French concerning the validity of marriage and the papal dispensation for the marriage. He also said that the queen had heard of the rumors and was very upset. He did to place doubts in Charles mind about what Catherine had told him. Henry and his most trusted advisor, Cardinal Wolsey, began to fall away from each other a bit. Henry wanted to marry Anne Boleyn. She hated Wolsey and he did not want them married because he wanted Henry to marry a French princess to benefit himself. They began going separate ways in trying to achieve this divorce. While Wolsey tried to make peace in France and to organize a way to rescue the pope from Charles power, Henry went behind his back and had a document drawn up by his secretary, William Knight, that would manipulate the pope. Henry was going to take the document to the Pope himself to get him to sign it. He thought that the pope would appreciate a more personal approach. The pope did have a history of giving people divorces, so Henry really did not think he would have a problem either. He probably would not have had if it was not for Charles V. Henrys sister, the Queen of Scotland, had no problem getting a divorce from the pope after she had been having an affair with a married man. Henry IV of Castile was allowed by the pope to take another wife to bear him children because his first wife could not. In 1498, Pope Alexander VI allowed the King of France to have a divorce so that he could marry the ruler of Brittany. Both of Henrys sister Marys husbands had received divorces from the pope. The document that Henry had written by his secretary contained many ideas that the Pope would agree with but in-between-the-lines he added the dissolution of the marriage between him and Catherine. Wolsey found out about Henrys ideas but did not do anything because he knew that the papacy would not fall for it. Wolsey wanted to get a Decretal Commission signed. This document would say that if he proved certain things concerning the marital dispensation then he could declare the marriage null and void. This case contained four things. The first was, the dispensation had been obtained under false pretenses because it was said Henry asked for it, when he didnt even know what it was and was only twelve years old. The second was,it stated that it was issued to prevent war between England and Spain but at that time there had been no problems between the two countries. The third was, the dispensation had been granted by Pope Julius II out of his gratitude for two great leaders, Henry VII and Isabella of Castile but they were both dead before the marriage even took place so the validity of the document did not really exist. The fourth was, at the age of fourteen, Henry had protested against the marriage and no one paid any attention to him. Pope made changes in the document Henry sent. This angered Henry because he thought the Pope was being provoked so, he sent troops to protect the Pope and free him from the Emperor. The Pope finally issued a decretal commission that the case could be tried in England. It was sent by Cardinal Campeggio who had been given strict orders not to actually go through with it. Following orders, he caused many delays. During this time, Cardinal Campeggio, along with Cardinal Wolsey mentioned to Henry that maybe Catherine would enter a religious house to spend the rest of her days in peace. If she agreed to this then the divorce proceedings could have been cancelled. Henry liked this idea so he sent Wolsey and Campeggio to talk to her about it. Catherine listened respectively to the cardinals but told them that she would not agree to do that. The brief of the marital dispensation issued by Pope Julius II was brought up from Spain which caused some added problems and delays. On June 15, 1529 the legatine court opened at Blackfriars in London. Henry and Catherine were both called to appear. When Catherine was called into court, she kneeled at Henrys feet and begged of him to have mercy on her. She pleaded with him on how she had been a wonderful wife to him and she did not understand his reasoning to get rid of her as his wife. She meant the things she said to him but she also wanted to show the court that she did not agree with what Henry was trying to accomplish. The legatine court in London was not successful and the proceedings were also called back to Rome. However, the court in Rome was not successful either. No matter how many things that Henry tried to turn around and justify to prove his argument, they did not work. Eventually, Henry went ahead and married Anne Boelyn according to his own opinion without the consent of the pope. Of course, this did not make things any brighter with the Pope or the church heads. On August 8, 1533 Pope Clement VII issued a bull commanding Henry to restore Catherine as his ife and put away Anne in ten days or he would suffer excommunication. If he didnt comply, then the support of Charles V, all other Christian princes, and Henrys own subjects would be called upon to carry out the terms of the bull by force of arms. After this, Henry seperated from the Catholic Church, because it would not allow the divorce, and formed his own church in which he was the head of it. This way he could do whatever he wanted. Henrys great matter had turned into a matter that affected the entire country of England and probably all of Europe.

Effect of Azadirachtin on Insects

Effect of Azadirachtin on Insects INTRODUCTION Humans have always been in direct competition with a myriad of insects, pests from our ancestral beginning. This competition for food with insects intensified when humans began to cultivate plants converting the natural ecosystem to an agroecosystem. Also insects serve as vectors of various diseases caused by bacterial, filarial nematode, protozoans and viruses. Therefore control of insects posed a major concern for the development of the economy. In 1939, the discovery of insecticidal properties of DDT (Dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane) by Paul H. Mueller changed the scenario of pest management. During World War 2 DDT was extensively used to prevent epidemics of several insect vectored diseases such as yellow fever, typhus elephantiasis and malaria. This drew attention to the possibilities of more synthetic insecticides and as a result the use of pesticides in various arenas soared from 1940-60, complete reliance on pesticides intensive pest management was leading agriculture on a à ¢â‚¬Å"pesticide treadmill†. The overreliance on synthetic pesticides from late 1940s to mid-1960 was referred to as â€Å"Dark Ages† of pest control. The cheapness and effectiveness of synthetic insecticides threw natural compounds into shade. But very soon other shades also began to appear. In 1962, the appearance of book â€Å"Silent Spring† (by Rachel Carison) showed that pesticide residues were building up in ecosystem with detrimental effects on wildlife and beneficial insects. Due to extensive and intensive use, misuse and abuse of insecticides the following problems were becoming prominent and intolerable (ecological backlashes): Development of insecticide resistance- many insects started developing resistance against pesticides which increased the cost of management. Due to killing of natural controlling agents, the phenomenon of pest resurgence became more evident. Also minor pest were achieving the status of major pest i. e. secondary pest outbreak due to significant decline in its natural enemy (predators and parasites). Ecological imbalance due to poisoning of all the realms of environment. Increase in the concentration of hydrochlorinated insecticide in food chain. Intolerable residues on the food made the food obtained after such treatment uneconomical as it became unfit for consumption and unfit for exports due to high toxic residues. Killing and harmful effects on Non target organisms became more prominent (like birds, fishes and other wildlife). Overviewing these effects, there was an utmost need for the development of environmentally sound management practices. This lead to the idea of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) . A panel of experts put the concept of IPM in 1968. IPM as defined by FAO is a system which in consideration with the present environment and pest population dynamics, integrates all the sustainable techniques of pest management as compatible a manner as possible and maintain the population of pest below the level which can cause economic damage (i. e. below economic injury level). The approach is to minimize the dependence on insecticides and maximize the use of ecofriendly methods so as to cause minimum damage to the environment. Botanical pesticides, thus is an very important component of IPM as They are easily degradable. Dont affect non target organisms, natural controlling agents such as predator, parasites. Dont form residues And has no harmful effect on humans as they are very specific in action. Botanical pesticides refer to the use of chemical or organic compound produced by plants, plant products, which have harmful effects on the growth, development and survival of insect pests. Plants are a rich source of such organic compounds. HISTORY The practice of utilizing the derivatives of plant i. e. botanical pesticides in agriculture dates at least two millennia back in ancient China, Egypt, Greece and India. Even in North America and Europe, the documented use of botanicals extend back more than 150 years before the discovery of major class of synthetic chemical insecticides (OP, carbamates and pyretheroids) in mid 1930s to 1950. It is very clear from the recent history that the chemical insecticides have essentially relegated the botanical pesticides from an important role in agriculture to a trivial position in the market among various crop protection strategies. The total number of 20 phylochemicals is estimated to be 500000, so far only 10000 of these have been isolated. At present four major types of botanicals are being used for the control of insects. These include: Pyrethrum Neem (Azadirachtin). Rotenons. Essential oils. Others are in limited use like Ryania, Nicotine, Sabdella. Whereas Nicotine, Rotenene, Natural Pyrethrins constitute the outstanding example of older botanicals, extracts and compounds from the Neem tree (A. indica) have emerged as the most prominent phytochemical pesticides in recent years. Among the various biologically active compounds that can be extracted from the Neem tree like- triterpenoid, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, steroids, ketones; the tetranortriterpenoid azadirachtin has been the most extensively studied pesticide as 1) it is relatively abundant in Neem kernels. 2) has biological activity on a wide range of insects. PLANT SECONDARY METABOLITES Plants produce a large, diverse array of organic compounds that appears to have no function in growth and development. These substances are known as SECONDARY METABOLITES or secondary products or natural products. Secondary metabolites differ from Primary metabolites (amino acids, nucleotides, sugars, acyl lipids) as: They have no direct roles in photosynthesis, respiration, protein synthesis etc They have restricted distribution in plant kingdom. In a seminal paper Fraenkel stressed the role of secondary metabolites as defense system against insects, pests and other natural enemies. Though they play no role in growth and metabolism they play important ecological role in plants: They protect plants against being eaten by herbivore and being infected by microbial pathogen. They serve as attractants for pollinators and seed dispersing animals and as agents of plant-plant competition. Because of their ecological role, plant secondary metabolites are classified as ALLELOCHEMICALS, a term coined by WHITTAKER. An allelochmical is defined as a non nutritional chemical produced by an individual of one species that affects growth, health, behavior, population ecology of another species. Plants produce an astonishing array of Secondary metabolites. Even a single plant species may produce an extensive pharmacopeia of recondite chemicals. Periwinkle for example contains about more than 100 monoterpenoid indole alkaloids. It has been estimated that plant kingdom synthesizes hundreds of thousands of different secondary metabolites. The no of identified compounds now exceeds 10000. Secondary metabolites as plant defense is result of co evolution between plants and herbivores Plant secondary metabolites can be divided into three chemically distinct groups: TERPENES PHENOLICS NITROGEN CONTAINING COMPOUND TERPENES The terpenes constitute the largest class of secondary products . the diverse substances of this class are generally insoluble in water. They are biosynthesized from acetyl coA. Terpenes are classified by no of five carbon units they contain as: Monoterpenes: Contain 2 five carbon skeleton Sesquiterpenes: Contain 3 five carbon skeleton Diterpenes: Contain 4 five carbon skeleton Triterpenes: 30 carbons Tetraterpenes: 40 carbons Polyterpenoids: (C5)n,where n>8 Some terpenes have role in growth and development Terpenes defend against herbivore in many plants. Terpenes are toxins and feeding deterrentsto many plant feeding insects, thus they appear to play important defensive role in plant kingdom and protection of agricultural crops. Examples of important Terpenes: PYRETHROIDS: These are monoterpenoid that occurs in leaves and flowers of Chrysanthemum species show very striking insecticidal activity. Both natural and synthetic pyrethroids are popular ingredients in commercial insecticide because of their low persistence in the environment. Pyrethrum is the predominant botanical in use accounting for 80% of global botanical insecticide. ESSENTIAL OILS: These are the mixture of monoterpene and sesquiterpene that lends a characteristics odor to the foliage . e. g Menttholin Peppermint oil and Limonenein lemon oil are monoterpenes. Essential oils have well known insect repellent properties. They are frequently found in glandular hairs and serve to advertize the toxicity of plant repelling potential. Phytophagus insects even they take a trial bite. VOLATILE TERPENES: In corn wild tobacco certain monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes are produced and emitted only after insect feeding has already begun. These substances prevent oviposition and kill plant feeding insects and so help in controlling further damage. These also attract natural enemies of plant feeding insects so promise a sound means of pest control. LIMNOIDS: These are a group of nonvolatile Triterpene. Among these the most powerful deterrent to insects feeding known is Azadirachtin. It is a complex limnoid from Neem tree which is feeding deterrent to some insects at as low as 50ppm and it exerts a variety of toxic effect. It has considerable potential as a commercial insect control because of its low toxicity to mammals. PHENOLICS Plants produce a variety of secondary products that contain a phenol group, these are called phenolic compounds. Plants phenolics are a chemically heterogeneous group of nearly 10000 compounds . many of these serve as defense compounds against herbivores. The release of phenolics into soil limits the growth of other plants. LIGNIN a highly branched polymer of phenylpropanoid group has significant protective function in plants. Its physical toughness deters feeding by insects and chemical durability makes it relatively indigestible. The flavoids are one of the largest classes of plants phenolics e. g. anthocyanins, flavones etc. Anthocyanins are colored flavonoids that attract insects to flower and fruits by providing visual and olfactory signal. Flavonoids protect against damage by UV light. Tannins deter feeding by herbivores and it also act as feeding repellents to a great diversity of insects NITROGEN CONTAINING COMPOUND A large variety of plant secondary metabolites have nitrogen in their structure. This category includes well known defense against phytophagus insects as alkaloids and cyanogenic glycosides,glucosinolates. ALKALOIDS: These are a large family of more than 15000 nitrogen containing secondary metabolites with a heterocyclic ring. Several different types including nicotine and its relative are derived from ornithine . Most alkaloids now function as defenseagainst their predators because of their toxicity and deterrence capability. Alkaloids increase in response to initial damage fortifying against further damage e. g. wild tobacco produces higher level of nicotinefollowing damage by tobacco caterpillars. CYANOGENIC GLYCOSIDES: These are not toxic themselves but are readily broken down to give off volatile poisons; well known poisonous gas Hydrogen cyanide. When the leaf is damaged due to insects feeding on it, the cell content of different tissue mix and HCN is formed. HCN is a fast acting toxin that inhibits metalloprotiens such as iron containing cytochrome oxidase; a key enzyme of mitochondrial respiration, thus affecting physiology of insects. Thus presence of cyanogenic glycosides deters feeding by insects. GLUCOSINOLATES: A Class of plant glycosides that break down to release volatile defensive substances, also called Mustard oil glycosides. Found principally in the Brassicaceae and related plant families, where glucosinolates give off compounds responsible for smell and taste of vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, mustards etc. These compounds function in DEFENCE as toxin and feeding repellent. But certain insects are adapted for feeding on glucosinolate containing plants without ill effects. For example glucosinolates serve as stimulant for Cabbage butterfly for feeding and egg laying and isothiocyanates serve as volatile attractants. PLANT PROTIENS: Certain plant protein also interfere with insect digestion, for example plants produce LECTINS,defensive proteins that bind to epithelial cell lining digestive tract and interfere with nutrient absorption. The best known anti digestive proteins in plants are protein inhibitors found in legumes, tomatoes, and other plants. After entering herbivores digestive tract they interfere with protein digestion, as a result insects suffer reduced rates of growth and development. THE NEEM TREE, PROPERTIES AND DISTRIBUTION The Neem tree also known by names like Indian Lilac, Margosa tree is an evergreen fastgrowing tree belonging to the order â€Å"Rutales† and family â€Å"Meliaceae†. The genus Azadirachta indica was described by A. juss in 1830. DISRIBUTION Neem tree is indigenous to Indian Subcontinent from where is has spread to many Asian and African countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mynamar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Iran, Yemen, Australia, New Guinea, Nigeria, Fizi, Tanzania, Madagascar, USA, Latin America, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain and UK. It is now grown in most tropical and sub-tropical parts of the worls. The origin of A. indica is not very clear. Some say that is has originated from Burma whereas others point it to south India. It is considered that it has originated from south-eastern and southern Asia. In Indonesia Neem exists in low lying Northern and Eastern parts of java. In Philippines it was introduced from India, Africa. Ketkar (1967) reported about 14 million trees in India. There are more than 20 million trees available in entire India. In Africa Neem was introduced from India and is concentrated in a belt stretching across the African continent from Somalia to Mauretania. In America Neem trees are prominent in Haiti, Surinam and propagation has started in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Nicaragua. Neem trees also grow in our neighbouring countries, Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. HABITAT Neem tree is a fast growing sclerophyllous tree. It grows well in humid to semi-humid climate. It thrives well at altitudes upto 700-800m above the sea level. Neem trees are hardy and are able to grow in severe drought condition also. They thrive well in regions with less than 500 mm annual rainfall and upto 2500 mm annual rainfall. Neem tree exist in poor, shallow, sandy and stony soil. It also grows in black cotton soil in India. Neem tree can flourish in warm to very hot climates. It grows well between 21-320c temperatures but it can tolerate upto 500c during summer. Ph value between 6. 2-7 seems to the best for the growth of Neem tree. CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES It is a fast-growing tree, reaching a height of 4-7 m during the first 3 years and 5-11m during the following 5 years. It begins to bear fruit within 3-5 years and becomes fully productive in the 10th year, when it may yield up to 50 kg fruit per tree per year. The Neem tree produces its fruits, which are the main source for its production of pesticides, on drooping panicles, usually about once a year, although two fruiting periods per year occur in certain areas (e. g. West Africa). A mature Neem tree produces annually 30-50 kg of fruit, but this may depend upon rainfall and soil conditions. More conservative estimates range around 20 kg per tree; 40 kg of fresh fruit yield about 24 kg of dry fruit. Neem has the reputation of possessing a large number of biological activities which include insecticidal, nematicidal, bactericidal, and anti-fungal. It has attracted world-wide attention due to its wide ranging capacity as a biocide. PESTICIDAL CONSTITUENT OF NEEM Neem tree is the only tree in which every part of tree produces biologically active products which has various properties such as antifeedant, deterrent, growth regulation, oviposition alteration, insecticidal properties, fungicidal properties,etc. Though bark, heartwood, leaves, fruits of it produce these substances in various concentrations but it is the fruits specifically seeds which are of major importance. Neem seed kernels contain the highest amount of the active compound. 40-50 kg of fruit can yield about 5 kg of kernels (10% of fruit). Each seed contains about 1-3 kernels. Till date more than 140 active principles have been identified in different parts of the tree. Insecticidal properties of Neem is due to the presence of a class of Limnoids which include compounds like Azadirachtin, Melantriol, Salanin, Mimbines, Salannol and various sulfur containing compounds. Among these Azadirachtin is the most active and predominant insecticidal compound concentrated mainly in the seed kernels. The Azadirachtin occurs in seeds at the concentration of about 0. 1-0. 9%. It is estimated that 20-30 kg of Neem seeds are required per hectare if 2g of Azadirachtin per kg of sed is obtained. The highest yield of Azadirachtin obtained till date was about 10g/kg of seed. AZADIRACHTINAND ITS STRUCTURE Azadirachtin is a highly oxidized limnoid chemically being a tetranortriterpenoid and is the main component responsible for both anti-feedant and toxic effects in Azadirachtin. Butterworth and Morgan were the first to isolate Azadirachtin in 1968 from Neem seed. Morgan established correct molecular formula of Azadirachitn (C55H44O16). In 1971 they developed a simplified method to isolate azadirachitn by doing solvent partitioning followed by column and preparative thin layer chromatography. However its structure was determined in 1975 by Nakanishis team through the application of new NMR methods. There were some inaccuracies in the given model. Then again renewed efforts were made by the group of Ley, Kraus, Nakanishi and they gave the correct structure by using X-ray crystallography. A. indica produces a plethora of triterpenoids, the biosynthesis of which culminates in azadirachtin. The biosynthesis of azadirachtin starts with a steroid precursor tetracyclic triterpene â€Å"tirucallol†. Opening of C-ring followed by processing via two main levels of structural complexity i. e. furan ring formation leads to Azadirachtin. VARIOUS PESTICIDAL FORMULATIONS Neem insecticides which are obtained from Neem seeds contain various arelated triterpenoids in addition to the Azadirachtin. However their efficacy is related directly to the content of Azadirachtin. These compounds do possess biological activity and they add to its effects. Pure Azadirachtin was shown to be effective in the fields (Mordue et al, 1997) but the natural mixtures of azadirachtin in Neem insecticides may usefully mitigate against the development of resistance compared to azadirachtin alone (Feng and Isman, 1995). The complex nature of azadirachtin and other sophisticated Neem constituents prevent their mass production by synthesis in the foreseeable future. The pesticidal Neem products used in practice include dried leaves, whole seed, decorticated seed, seed kernels, Neem oil, and Neem cake, remaining after extraction or extrusion of the oil from the seeds. Several Indian companies or institutions produce commercially Neem-based insecticidal formulations, such as RD-9 Repelin and Wellgro, for spraying against cutworms and other insect pests in tobacco growing areas; Nimbosol and Biosol for control of whiteflies; and the products Neemrich and Neemark, the latter also as an azadirachtin-enriched granular Neem formulation. In the U. S. A. , the EPA hasgranted registration to Margosan-O, an azadirachtin-enriched, concentrated Neem seed kernel extract formulation, for use on non food crops and ornamentals. Margosan-0 was developed by R. Larson of Vikwood Botanicals Inc. at Sheboygan, WI, in colla boration with the USDA Agricultural Research Center at Beltsville, MD. The rights to this product, which contains 0. 3% azadirachtin and 14%Neem oil (the 0 in the name of the product stands for oil), and has an oral toxicity in excess of 5,000 mg/kg in rats. Margosan-0 has been evaluated successfully against an extensive series of insects in the U. S. A. and Canada, Lyriornizu leafminers on ornamentals and tomatoes, cotton bugs, cockroaches and mosquitoes. Margosan-0 demonstrated highest activity against Ostriniu nubilalis , and against leafhoppers, against two species of local cotton pests, Enrias insulana and Spodoptera littoralis. Recently in the U. S. A. a further Neem formulation, developed. under the auspices of the Natural Products Institute, Salt Lake City, UT is †Azatin†(Agridyne Technologies, Salt Lake City, UT). Also, Safer Ltd. , a Canadian manufacturer specializing in environmentally safe pest control formulations, developed insecticides based on Neem. Safer , however, has been acquired recently by Ringer Corp. , Minneapolis, MN, which distributes Margosan-0 in the home garden market under the tradenames of â€Å"Bioneem† and â€Å"Neemesis†. Contrary to registration practices in use until now, no precise chemical descriptions of all the ingredients of Margosan-0 were required, but rather, demonstration of the biological activity and innocuousness of the whole mixture to no target organisms was used in the registration process. Hopefully such specially tailored toxicity studies will be used to judge and register Neem and similar natural products in the future. A recent report claims that the EPA has approved a Neem-based biological pesticide developed by an Indian company for use on a wide range of food crops. MODES OF ACTION Major modes of action of azadirachtin are: Powerful IGR. Feeding Deterrant. Oviposition Deterrant. These are the three modes of action of azadirachtin which make azadirachtin much sought after biopesticide in todays agriculture industry. IGR: Azadirachtin acts as a powerful growth regulator for insects and this IGR effect is the most pronounced mode of action of Azadirachtin. Normally IGR effect the hormonal system of insects, preventing the insects from developing into normal mature insects. This IGR property of Azadirachtin doesnot leads to immediate death of insects, pests. Azadirachtin as an IGR: The IGR property of Azadirachtin arise due to the fact that: Azadirachtin is structurally analogous to natural hormone Ecdysone. As Ecdysone regulates the development of insect, any disruption in its balance leads to improper development. Also Azadirachtin interferes with the production and reception of Ecdysone at the time of insects growth and moulting. Thus Azadirachtin in this manner block the moulting cycle resulting in the death of the insect, pest. The main action of Azadirachtin appears to be at the release site of PTTH. The mode of action of Azadirachtin as IGR is thus an Indirect Physiological Effect. It is exerted via the endocrine system. The copora cardiaca is supposed to be the target for the Azadirachtin as is affects the PTTH, Eclosin Hormone, Bursicin Hormone release. PTTH release is inhibited rather than Ecdysine from Prothorasic gland. Thus the Azadirachtin affects the neurosecretory cells of Brain. Various experiments show that Azadirachtin doesnt directly act on Prothorasic Glands. In the in vitro culture of Prothorasic (H. virescens) gland showed that the PTTH induced release of the Ecdysine was medium (Bidmon et al, 1987, Barnby and Klocke, 1990). Also it was not blocked in PTTH simulated cultured glands from M. sexta pupa penetrated with Azadirachtin in last larval instar (Pener et al, 1988). However receptivity of Prothorasic gland to PTTH was affected in H. virescens. Neurosecretory proteins stained with paraldehyde in L. migratolia females when was compared with similar aged azadirachtin treated females there was an accumaulation of stainable material in corpora cardiaca of brain neurosecretory system in treated insects. Thus is appears that azadirachtin blocks release of neurosecretory material from corpora cardiac. It can thus be concluded that Azadirachtin does block the release of peptide hormones from brain neurosecretory cell corpora cardiac complex. Azadirachtin also exhibit IGR effect by altering the titre of Juvenile Hormone (JH). Azadirachtin affects the release of allotropins into corpora dillata hence block the synthesis and release of the Juvenile Hormone. This block leads to a rapid decrease in whole body JH titres, which is maintained for several days. Experiments prove that in M. sexta larvae, azadirachtin infection on day 0 (1. 0-10  µg/ larva) results in induction of supernumerary moults (Sch et al, 1985; Beckage et al, 1988) presumably due to an inhibition and subsequent delay in JH titre. In adult female L. migratolia also azadirachtin treatment causes a rapid decrease in juvenile hormone titres with associated disturbances in oogenesis (Rembold, 1984; Rembold et al, 1987). Thus, on a conclusionary note, the effect of azadirachtin is both dose and time dependent. It prevents both apolysis and ecdysis and thus can cause death before the moults, during the moults or delays of moult to form permanent larvae. Feeding Deterrance: Feeding behavior is both dependent on chemical senses stimulated due to contact chemoreceptors on trasi, mouthparts and oral activity and integration of the sensory code with the CNS. Azadirachtin acts as feeding deterrant. Inhibition of the feeding behavior occurs: There are receptors present on and around mouthparts of insects which normally respond to Phagostimulants. So azadirachtin may act by blocking the input from these receptors. Also there are present specific â€Å"deterrent cells† in insects which prevent insect from feeding. Azadirachtin acts to stimulate these â€Å"deterrent cells† leading to feeding deterrence. Many experiments were done in this regard. Using different concentration of sucrose and azadirachtin, either singly or together, the neurophysiological responses from  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­medial and lateral sensillia styloconica of maxillae showed different group of receptors are receptive to sucrose (sugar cells) or azadirachtin (deterrent cell) in S. exempta and M. brassicae in most of the cases, the rate of firing of sugar sensitive cells were reduced in presence of both chemicals (Simmonds and Blaney, 1984). Such an interaction was also found in P. brassicae. This leads to a reduced or complete inhibition of feeding. Direct mode of action: Incorporation of azadirachtin results in direct toxic effect after ingestion. Azadirachtin prevents the secretion of Proteolytic enzymes and thus significantly impair ability of insects to digest and absorb nitrogenous food. When azadirachtin is ingested it can result in the disfunctioning of gut, as a result of which midgut epithelial cells become round. Swelling of cells and organells occur with some vacuolization and cell burst resulting in necrosis (as observed in S. gregarea and L. migratolia Naseruddin and Mordue (Luntz), 1993a; Cottee, 1984). There is also reduction in the regenerative cells and increase in the connective tissue layer with some invading heomocytes. This would lead to disruption of enzyme secretion and nutrient absorption. Also the antifeedant effect can be attributed to the action of azadirachtin on the peristaltic movement of gut wall. The gut of treated insects lack tone, midgut to hindgut junction becomes flaccid and co-ordinated peristalsis is lacking which leads to antifeeding behavior. EFFECT OF AZADIRACHTIN ON INSECTS Effects on Feeding Azadirachtin is a classical example of a natural plant defence chemical affecting feeding. Antifeedancy is the major insecticidal effect of Azadirachtin. Antifeedant effect in insect pest on application of Azadirachtin is divided into two main categories: Primary Antifeedancy: It refers to the deterrence of feeding in insects. Primary Antifeedancy is also called Gustatory antifeedancy. It can be defined as the inability to ingest resulting from the perception of antifeedant at a sensory level (Schmutterer 1985). Insects fail to eat treated crops and as starvation ensued results in the death of insects. Secondary Antifeedant effect: It refers to the non-feeding after the ingestion of treated plant. Secondary antifeedancy is also called Non-Gustatory antifeedancy. It can be defined as the reduction in food consumption and digestive efficiency subsequent to and as a consequence of ingestion, application or injection of antifeedant (Schmutterer, 1985). Experiments conducted in the past in this regard by various persons: The first detailed experiment was conducted in S. gregaria (desert locusts) in India. Insects from different orders show marked difference in their response to azadirachtin. (Table 1) Lepidopteras showed extreme sensitivity to azadirachtin and depending upon species, effective anti-feedance was observed from less than 1 to 50 ppm. Hemiptera (Homoptera), Coleoptera are less sensitive to azadirachtin with 100 % antifeedancy observed at 100-600 ppm. However, in Orthoptera wide range of sensitivity has been observed. Reed and Pierce in 1981 tested the repellant effect of Neem extract to striped cucumber beetle (A. vittateim), by cutting leaves and dipping them in extract solution and placing them in a dish with untreated leaf pieces. When 5 fasting beetles were placed in a dish, 0. 1 % azadirachtin gave protection for atleast three days. The intake of food by various homopteran insects Nilaparvata lugens, Nephotettix virescens was significantly reduced on rice plants sprayed with 1-50% emulsion of Neem oil. ( ). In green rice leafhopper, N. virescens feeding on the phloem of neem oil treated plants (1. 25-10%) was significantly less than of solvent treated control plants, whereas xylem feeding increased. Hemipteran insects feeding on tobacco seedlings which had been systemically treated with 500 ppm azadirachtin, were shown initially to feed normally but, after termination of the initial feed, the interval prior to the next subsequent feed was significantly increased and feeding activity thereafter was suppressed (Nisbetet al. 1993). When azadirachtun was impregnated on discs at a concentration of 0. 1-10 ppm, S. littoralis(African cotton leafworm),Spodoptera frugiperda(J. E. Smith) (fall armyworm),Heliothis virescens(F. ) (Tobacco budworm) andHelicoverpa armigera(Hà ¼b. ) (Old world bollworm) showed significant beh avior response and are prevented from feeding on the discs dependent on species (Blaney et al. 1990, Simmonds et al. 1990, Mordue (Luntz) et al. 1998) Insects from different Orders differ markedly in their behavior responses to azadirachtin (Table 1). Lepidoptera are extremely sensitive to azadirachtin and show effective antifeedancies from

Transient Global Amnesia :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Transient Global Amnesia A little while ago, my father and grandfather were driving in our car together. All of a sudden, my grandfather said that he was feeling dizzy and thought the beginnings of a migraine were coming on. My grandfather is extremely healthy and has an amazing memory, so my father was shocked when not long after, when grandfather asked where Ruthy, his recently deceased wife, was. When my father reminded him that she had died of cancer last year, my grandfather broke into tears, as if he was being told for the first time. In addition, he couldn't even remember what he had just eaten for dinner or any other events of the day. My father drove him straight to the emergency room, worried that he had perhaps just suffered a minor stoke. By the time that he got to the hospital, he was already beginning to regain some of the memories that had been lost. The doctors reassured him that it was not a stroke, but rather a memory disorder called transient global amnesia. Transient global amnesia (TGA) is a type of amnesia involving the sudden, temporary disturbance in an otherwise healthy person's memory. The other main kinds of amnesia are called anterograde and retrograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is a type of memory loss associated with a trauma, disease, or emotional events. It is characterized by the inability to remember new information. (1) Retrograde amnesia is associated with the loss of distant memories usually preceding a given trauma. (2) In transient global amnesia, generally both distant memories and immediate recall are retained, as are language function, attention, visual-spatial and social skills. However, during the period of amnesia, people suffering from the disorder cannot remember recent occurrences nor can they retain any new visual or verbal information for more than a couple minutes. (3) Though patients generally remember their own identities, they are often very confused by their surroundings and the people around them. T hey continuously ask questions about events that are transpiring, for example where they are, who is with them, what is happening. However, once they are told, they immediate forget the answer, and repeat the question again. (4) The period of amnesia can last anywhere from one to twenty-four hours. Some people suffer from a headache, dizziness, and nausea while others have only memory loss. TGA generally affects fifty to eighty-year-old men, about 3.4 to 5.

A Town Like Alice: Discussion :: essays research papers

A Town Like Alice: Discussion †Even though cultures differ, people are basically the same.† This is a statement that depends a lot on what you mean with basically. I think people are pretty much the same all around the world but and they definitely could end up being almost the same if they was raised in exactly the same way and had the exact same possibilities in life. If the basic characteristics are those you have when you're new-borned then I think it's obvious that they are almost the same, some things are of course genetic but I believe that the main part depends on your way of living. It's not only the culture that matters but also the religion and the type of country you live in. These two naturally affects culture a lot and the culture affects them so there are no sharp limit between them. An example from the book is the Australians, whose culture is rather close to the English, but there are few Englishmen who would have liked the loneliness in the big country Australia, and even fewer Australians, (I think), would feel comfortable in the crowded England. Another example in the book that is more about religion and culture is the Japanese soldier who walked with the girls in Malaya when they got the stolen poultry from Joe. The soldier is abused by his captain and he finds it so humiliating that he looses his will to live. When he's infected by the fever he doesn't fight it and he dies. This is a mentality that is or maybe was very common in Japan. A person from the west would never feel so bad about loosing his face as a man from Japan. The differences between cultures can be something that maybe some of the persons would like to change if they got the possibilities but it has never occurred to them to do so because they are used to the way it is. In the book this is found amongst the Malayan women that has to work on the fields, look after the kids and sleep on the floor. I don't think that they would want to be repressed by the men , but they are too used to it change it. What I'm trying to say with this essay is that you can't tell if people are the A Town Like Alice: Discussion :: essays research papers A Town Like Alice: Discussion †Even though cultures differ, people are basically the same.† This is a statement that depends a lot on what you mean with basically. I think people are pretty much the same all around the world but and they definitely could end up being almost the same if they was raised in exactly the same way and had the exact same possibilities in life. If the basic characteristics are those you have when you're new-borned then I think it's obvious that they are almost the same, some things are of course genetic but I believe that the main part depends on your way of living. It's not only the culture that matters but also the religion and the type of country you live in. These two naturally affects culture a lot and the culture affects them so there are no sharp limit between them. An example from the book is the Australians, whose culture is rather close to the English, but there are few Englishmen who would have liked the loneliness in the big country Australia, and even fewer Australians, (I think), would feel comfortable in the crowded England. Another example in the book that is more about religion and culture is the Japanese soldier who walked with the girls in Malaya when they got the stolen poultry from Joe. The soldier is abused by his captain and he finds it so humiliating that he looses his will to live. When he's infected by the fever he doesn't fight it and he dies. This is a mentality that is or maybe was very common in Japan. A person from the west would never feel so bad about loosing his face as a man from Japan. The differences between cultures can be something that maybe some of the persons would like to change if they got the possibilities but it has never occurred to them to do so because they are used to the way it is. In the book this is found amongst the Malayan women that has to work on the fields, look after the kids and sleep on the floor. I don't think that they would want to be repressed by the men , but they are too used to it change it. What I'm trying to say with this essay is that you can't tell if people are the

Euthanasia Essay -- Mercy Killing Papers

Euthanasia The term 'Euthanasia' comes from the Greek word for 'easy death'. It is the one of the most public policy issues being debated about today. Formally called 'mercy killing', euthanasia is the act of purposely making or helping someone die, instead of allowing nature to take it's course. Basically euthanasia means killing in the name of compassion. Euthanasia, can be either 'voluntary', 'passive', or 'positive', Voluntary involves a request by the dying patient or their legal representative. Passive involves, doing nothing to prevent death - allowing someone to die. Positive involves taking deliberate action to cause a death. Euthanasia, at the moment is illegal throughout the world apart from in the State of Oregon, where there is a law specifically allowing doctors to prescribe lethal drugs for the purpose of euthanasia. In the Netherlands it is practised widely, although, in fact, it remains illegal. I believe that everyone has the right to choose how they live and die. Everyone deserves respect, freedom and the power to control their own destiny. Not everybody will have an easy death. Some terminal pain cannot be controlled, even with the best of care and the strongest of drugs. Other distressing symptoms, which come with diseases, such as sickness, no mobility, incontinence, breathlessness and fever cannot always be relieved. Pain is not always the issue - quality of life is too. Most people want to die with dignity, but some people may spend the last moments of their life, in a way which to them, is undignified. Having the right to control over their own life and death helps people keep human dignity in the face ... ...nimal is put to sleep. The owner is upset over the loss but they feel that they have done the right thing, by putting the pet out it's misery. I do not think we can look at human life in the same way however, as humans' are treated better than animals and have more respect. But what is better, letting someone suffer a prolonged and very painful life, or allowing him or her to die with dignity, in peace and without pain? This issue needs a lot of thought. Many people agree with voluntary euthanasia, many disagree but there is also a large amount of people undecided on the matter. The time will come when the Government and medical services will have to open their eyes to euthanasia, and there will be a lot of debate on the subject. Until then the euthanasia debate will continue to linger, like a terminal disease.

Topshop SWOT Analysis

Topshop is a fashion store that has around 300 stores in the UK, and over 100 in international places. It was launched in 1964, and Topshop has become one of fashion’s largest success stories. They have captured the most fashionable styles every seasons, its bold and saucy approach to style has attracted fashion-conscious shoppers and industry insiders alike. Topshop’s triumph has been impressive, despite its humble start. Topshop started in the basement of Peter Robinson department store in 1964 and a few years later became an independent retailer. In 1994, the brand took over the entire 90,000 sq ft space at London Oxford Circus, when the iconic Topshop flagship was launched. It is still there today, and is said to be the world’s biggest fashion store on the high street, captivating over 200,000 shoppers each week. As an early pioneer of high street and designer collaborations, Topshop’s partnerships with brands such as Cella Birtwell and Kate Moss, who is the history’s most iconic fashion names, and they have further secured the brand’s reputation as a fashion leader. Topshop’s strength. Topshop’s strength is to access to target market with over 300 stores nationwide, and they are doing online shopping and shipping to over 100 countries now. Topshop also have a wide variety of merchandise, with thousands of looks per season, their looks per season comes along with creative design concepts and fresh ideas every year, these strongly says that the trend awareness of Topshop is very high. Topshop is also said to be the largest fashion store in UK, offering free personal style consultants, competing with the high-end department stores. They are in collaborations with designers and celebrities like Kate Moss and Cella Birtwell. Lastly, Topshop is part of arcadia, which is a group managing several successful brands. (177) Topshop’s weakness The weakness of Topshop is that few of the garments quality is not matching with the price, and that they have too many products and the staffs are not well educated enough about the merchandise, for example the material of the apparels. Most of the merchandise are made suited for only the younger demographic and few of the ad campaigns are not eye catching enough. The company is said to be global, however it has a presence only in few countries worldwide. Topshop’s opportunities Topshop’s opportunities are that they have the potential for further globalization of the brand and more than 60 cities with a potential for a Topshop has been identified. Topshop also have th potential to franchise brand and develop new products and services like more trained staff. Topshop also have the opportunities to become the largest fashion store in other cities than London. Topshop’s threats Topshop’s biggest threat is the constant new entries and competitors in their home market. There might be possible recession and people are less likely to spend money on trendy items Topshop have in store, given the current weaknesses of currency, Topshop is not the bargain it used to be. With constant new entrant, there will be price wars with their competitors. Topshop being a global retailer means that they are exposed to political problems in the countries that they operate in. With Topshop’s success, there is a potential for a brand that will copy the style that Topshop has for the past few years of trends. (377)

What Considerations Are Relevant?

Business Ethics: Midterm Essays 10/23/2012 What considerations are relevant when we assign blame for injurious acts? What is the distinction between excusing conditions and mitigating circumstances? Some say that moral responsibility is directed towards doing what is right and what is wrong. Well that is not necessarily the case; moral responsibility can also be aimed at at determining whether a person is morally responsible for doing something morally wrong. This is known as blame. Blame and moral responsibility can be used interchangeably.If someone is to be blamed for a wrong doing than that person is also held morally responsible for that wrong doing. Not all people are responsible for their wrongful or injurious acts. Injurious acts are harmful acts that one freely and knowingly intends to do. People have to consider the circumstances under which the person was morally right or morally wrong for their actions. Excusing conditions are conditions under which a person causes an inj ury on accident and is â€Å"excused† from blame and should not be held morally responsible. There are 3 considerations under which a person is not held morally responsible for an injury or a wrong.One is not held responsible if: â€Å"one did not cause or could not prevent the injury, one did not know he was inflicting injury, and if one did not inflict the injury out of his own free will. † When a person is morally responsible for an act of injury or wrong doing there are also 3 things to consider. A person is held responsible if: â€Å"one caused or helped cause it, or failed to prevent it, one did so knowing what he or she was doing and if one did so out of his out free will. † Excusing is when a person’s moral responsibility is excused by the absence of causality, knowledge and freedom.Mitigating factors can diminish a person’s moral responsibly but it depends on how severe the injury or wrong is. In addition to the excusing conditions, there are also 3 mitigating factions that can lessen moral responsibility. One circumstance leaves a person uncertain about what he or shit is doing. Another makes it difficult, but not impossible for the person to avoid doing it. The third circumstance minimizes a person’s involvement in an act. In general, the more serious the injury is, the less the mitigating circumstances will diminish responsibility.

Abnormal Psychology- Schizophrenia

Abnormal Psychology – Schizophrenia Introduction There are a number of problems with defining psychological abnormality. They include problems with cultural relativity and social norms, what is normal within one culture or society may be considered abnormal within another. There are also problems with statistics as some abnormalities have too few or too many statistics to compare and the statistics may not always be reliable. Under the medical model all psychological disorders are considered illnesses. There are two classification systems to diagnose different disorders.These are the International Classification of Diseases & Health Related Problems (ICD) and Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The most up to date editions currently in use are ICD-10 and DSM-IV although DSM-V is due to be released in May 2013. (Jabr, F (2013)) Schizophrenia According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) schizophrenia is a severe form of mental illness. It is a treatabl e psychological condition that affects 24 million people worldwide. It mainly affects 15-35 year olds and is more likely to occur in males but anyone of any age or gender, can develop the condition.It affects thinking, perceptions and language and causes the patient to hear voices and to have hallucinations and delusions. Symptoms ICD-10 diagnostic criteria †¢ At least one of: o Thought echo, thought insertion/withdrawal/broadcast o Passivity, delusional perception o   Third person auditory hallucination, running commentary o Persistent bizarre delusions †¢ or two or more of: o Persistent hallucinations o Thought disorder o Catatonic behaviour o Negative symptoms o Significant behaviour change †¢ Duration o    More than 1 month †¢ Exclusion criteria o Mood disorders, schizoaffective disorder Overt brain disease o Drug intoxication or withdrawal (Wing, J. K. & Agrawal, N. (2009)) Behavioural Explanations and Therapies The behavioural approach suggests that sch izophrenia is simply learned behaviour learned through operant conditioning. Sammons (2008) suggests that the reason schizophrenia tends to run in families is due to children learning the behaviour from their parents. Social learning theory also suggests that although there may be some symptoms present once a patient is around others with schizophrenia they learn symptoms by seeing others demonstrate them.It is difficult to explain how the hallucinations and delusions suffered by a schizophrenic can be explained as learned behaviour; true behaviourists think this is irrelevant as they are only concerned with the physical behaviours not what is happening in the mind. Paul and Lentz (1977) carried out a study into operant conditioning as a treatment for schizophrenia. They set up a token economy on a hospital ward where they rewarded patients for appropriate behaviour by giving them tokens that they could exchange for luxury items.It was found that only 11% of the patients in the test group continued to require drugs for their symptoms compared to 100% of the control group. (AQA, (2010)) This demonstrates that operant conditioning as a treatment is very effective; however behaviourists do not care whether the patient is still hearing voices as long as they behave like they are not. In the Paul and Lentz study the patients may still hear voices but have simply learned that if they behave as though they are not they will be rewarded. This means that the schizophrenia has not actually been cured. Biological Explanations and TherapiesThere have been a number of studies conducted that suggest there is a biological cause for schizophrenia. Through family resemblance studies it has been discovered that a normal person with no family history of schizophrenia has around a 0. 2-2% chance of developing the condition, whereas a person with one schizophrenic parent has a 13% chance of developing it. The chances increase to 46% if both parents have the condition. (Head, P (20 12)) This information may not be reliable as it was based on information from records and memories and memories can easily be distorted or misinterpreted.The Copenhagen High –risk study looked at children aged 10-18 and classified them into low risk, of developing schizophrenia, and high risk groups. They removed the risk of environmental factors that could distort the results by grouping the children by age, gender, residence and economic status. This made the study highly reliable as it meant the only factor that should affect results was genetics. The study found that only 1. 9% of children in the low risk group developed schizophrenia whereas 16. 2% of the high risk children did.This shows support for the genetic explanation for schizophrenia. Iverson (1979) carried out post-mortem studies. He found that there are high levels of dopamine in brains of schizophrenics. It is suggested that schizophrenia is caused by high levels of dopamine in the brain or more dopamine recep tors in their brains. This is supported by the success of chlorpromazine drugs as a treatment for the condition. There are however problems with this explanation. One problem is that there is no evidence that excess dopamine causes schizophrenia.It could be that schizophrenia causes excess dopamine. (AQA, 2010) Biological treatments for schizophrenia are anti psychotic drugs and chlorpromazine which blocks dopamine receptors in the brain. These drugs have been proven to work as they reduce the number of patients spending a long time in hospital; however drugs are not a cure. They only control the symptoms if a patient stops taking these drugs the symptoms will soon return. This is known as the ‘revolving door syndrome. ’ There can be a number of reasons for this to happen; firstly a patient may ave a fear of getting well. The patient may find it difficult to imagine life without schizophrenia or enjoy some part of it. Another reason is that the patient may stop taking t he drugs they are prescribed due to side effects. (Fritscher, L (2012)) The side effects of these drugs can include drowsiness, dizziness, disturbed vision, weight gain, blood clots and tremors. (Net doctor (2012)) Patients may feel that the side effects are worse than the original illness and stop taking the prescribed medication which then starts the cycle again. Psychodynamic Explanations and TherapiesThe psychodynamic explanation for schizophrenia is that the Ego is being over taken by either the Id or Superego. Freudians would suggest that there has been a problem in childhood, most likely a problem with the mother, the ego doesn’t develop as well as it should which means the id can easily take control. (Sammons (2008)) The Ego looses control and the patient will enter a child like state, known as ‘primary narcissism’, which causes fantasy to be confused with reality and delusions of self importance which cause the patient to be highly demanding similar to a baby.Hallucinations and delusions are caused by the Ego trying to regain control and reality. There are problems with the psychodynamic approach; firstly there is no scientific evidence to support the explanations. Secondly it has generally been regarded that since anti psychotic drugs work to treat the symptoms that the biological explanation is more reliable. (Sammons (2008)) Freud did not see any point in treating schizophrenics as he believed that it had been caused by the broken ego which is the part of the psyche that he would engage with, as this was so badly damaged he believed there was no way to cure schizophrenia.More recently the main psychodynamic treatment for schizophrenia has been psychotherapy. Rosen (1946) brought patients into a child like state to be able to then nurture them to redevelop a strong ego and ultimately rebalance the psyche. There have been problems with this form of treatment as it is out of date and the results that were found by Rosen are less li kely to be effective today as the definition of schizophrenia has changed and the cases Rosen treated would not be considered to be schizophrenic today. Also Drake & Sederer (1986) actually found that his form of therapy could worsen symptoms and prolong the patients stay in hospital. Cognitive Explanations and Therapies The cognitive approach agrees with the biological evidence that there is a high genetic contribution to schizophrenia but realises that there must also be other causes and it is important to take these into account. The cognitive model suggests that although genes can create a disposition to develop schizophrenia it only actually develops as a response to stresses such as trauma or infections.Cognitive psychologists fail to take environmental factors such as family and lifestyle into account. Cognitive psychologists believe that the faulty thought patterns are what cause schizophrenia and not a result of the condition. It is suggested that there is a fault with the way in which schizophrenics process information and that it is difficult for them to filter out irrelevant information. Hemsley (1993) suggested that schizophrenics have problems processing information in their memories and new information coming in. It is also suggested that there is a problem with the functioning of the in built schemas.Hemsley explains that the reason schizophrenics hear voices is because they do not realise that their thoughts come from memories and therefore believe them to be voices. There is however very little evidence to support Hemsley’s ideas except for some research on animals which cannot be directly compared with human behaviour. Frith (1992) suggested that people with schizophrenia find it difficult to distinguish whether the information is coming from an internal or external source. He believed that most of the symptoms of schizophrenia can be explained by problems in three different cognitive processes.The first is the inability to generate w illed action. The second is the inability to monitor willed action, and the third is the inability to monitor the beliefs and intentions of others. Frith suggests that these problems come from faulty wiring in the brain. There is evidence to support this from his study where he gave specific tasks to schizophrenics and monitored the cerebral blood flow. He found that this was different to what he would expect to see in a person without schizophrenia. The cognitive explanation of schizophrenia is very popular in terms of helping ordinary eople understand the condition. It is also made more reliable by the fact that they take into account other factors such as genetics as well as psychological factors. The cognitive approach also has limitations as although it does well to explain the symptoms of schizophrenia it cannot explain the causes alone without looking at the biological model. PAGE 13-14 Conclusions In conclusion there are a wide range of explanations for schizophrenia includi ng genetics, environment and traumatic experiences. There are also a wide range of treatments including drugs, psycho therapy and behavioural therapy.All of these explanations and therapies have credit on their own but also have limitations. The best way to treat schizophrenia is through a combination of treatments such as drugs used with cognitive-behavioural therapy. Most people with schizophrenia are managed through treatments however many people will relapse. This would then trigger a new round of treatments. Continued support even after recovery helps to reduce the chances of relapse. (NHS choices (2012)) References o AQA, (2010) schizophrenia: Explanations and treatments [online] available from: www. aqabpsychology. co. k/2010/07/schizophrenia-explanations-and-treatments [accessed 5. 2. 2013] o Fritscher, L (2012) Revolving Door Syndrome [online] available from http://phobias. about. com/od/glossary/g/Revolving-Door-Syndrome. htm [accessed 11. 2. 2013] o Head, P (2012) Biologi cal Explanations of Schizophrenia [online] available from: http://www. springwood. norfolk. sch. uk/Downloads/Psychology/BIOLOGICAL%20EXPLANATIONS%20OF%20SCHIZOPHRENIA. pdf [Accessed 6. 2. 2013] o Jabr, F (2013) The Newest Edition of Psychiatry’s â€Å"Bible,† the DSM-5, Is Complete [Online] available from: http://www. scientificamerican. om/article. cfm? id=dsm-5-update [Accessed on 11. 2. 2013] o Net Doctor (2012) Chlorpromazine – Side Effects [online] available from: http://www. netdoctor. co. uk/brain-and-nervous-system/medicines/chlorpromazine. html. [Accessed 11. 2. 2013] o NHS Choices (2012) Schizophrenia – Living with [online] available from: http://www. nhs. uk/Conditions/Schizophrenia/Pages/living-with. aspx [accessed 6. 2. 2013] o Sammons (2008) Schizophrenia [online] available from: http://www. psychlotron. org. uk/resources/abnormal/A2_AQB_abnormal_schizophreniaPsyBehActivity. pdf [accessed 5. 2. 2013] Wing, J. K & Agrawal, N. (2009) Concepts of Schizophrenia [online] Available from: (http://www. health. am/psy/more/icd-10-and-dsm-iv-concepts-of-schizophrenia/ [accessed: 2. 2. 2013] Bibliography o Mcleod, S. (2008) Abnormal Psychology [online] available from; www. simplypsychology. org/abnormal-psychology. html [accessed 5. 2. 2013] o WHO (2012) Mental Health – Schizophrenia [online] available from: www. who. int/mental_health/management/schizophrenia/en/ [accessed 5. 2. 2013] http://alevelpsychologynotes. blogspot. co. uk/2007/10/schizophrenia. html by TAZMANIAN_DEVIL a 2007