Monday, September 30, 2019

Maldives-a paradise on earth Essay

The Republic of Maldives consists of 1,190 islands (fewer than 200 are inhabited) in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka. The Maldives has a population of 270,000, of which about 70,000 reside in Male, the capital city. Beautiful atolls, inhabited by over 1,100 species of fish and other sea life, attract thousands of visitors each year. Tourism facilities are well developed on the resort islands. The Tsunami of December 26, 2004 caused some damage to several hotels and facilities on some of the islands. Most of the tourism infrastructure remains intact. Travelers planning to visit the Maldives should consult with travel agencies or the Maldivian Tourist Board to ensure their itineraries take this event into consideration. Read the Department of State Background Notes on Maldives for additional information. ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS: A valid passport, along with an onward/return ticket and sufficient funds, is required for entry. A no-cost visitor visa valid for thirty days is issued upon arrival. The Department of Immigration and Emigration routinely approves requests for extension of stays up to ninety days for travelers who present evidence of sufficient funds and who stay in a resort or hotel or present a letter from a local sponsor. Anyone staying over sixty days without proper authorization faces heavy fines and deportation. All visitors departing the Republic of the Maldives (except diplomats and certain exempted travelers) must pay an airport departure tax. Travelers need a yellow fever immunization if they are arriving from an infected area. Arrival by private boat: Travelers arriving by private yacht or boat are granted no-cost visas, usually valid until the expected date of departure. Vessels anchoring in atolls other than Male must have prior clearance through agents in Male. Maldivian customs, police and/or representatives of Maldivian immigration will meet all vessels, regardless of where they anchor. Vessels arriving with a dog on board will be permitted anchorage, but the dog will not be allowed off the vessel. Any firearms or ammunition on board will be held for bond until the vessel’s departure. Specific inquiries should be addressed to the Maldives High Commission in  Colombo, Sri Lanka at No. 24, Melbourne Avenue, Colombo 4, telephone (94) (11) 2580076/2586762/2500943, or the Maldives Mission to the U.N. in New York, telephone (212) 599-6194. See our Foreign Entry Requirements brochure for more information on the Maldives and other countries. Visit the website of the Maldives Permanent Mission to the United Nations at http://www.un.int/maldives/ for the most current visa information. Find more information about Entry and Exit Requirements pertaining to dual nationality and the prevention of international child abduction. Please refer to our Customs Information to learn more about customs regulations. SAFETY AND SECURITY: For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov where the current Travel Warnings and Public Announcements, including the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, can be found. Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). The Department of State urges American citizens to take responsibility for their own personal security while traveling overseas. For general information about appropriate measures travelers can take to protect themselves in an overseas environment, see the Department of State’s pamphlet A Safe Trip Abroad. CRIME: The Maldives has a low crime rate, but thefts of valuables left unattended on beaches or in hotels does occur. INFORMATION FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME: The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport  should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while overseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance. The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed. See our information on Victims of Crime. MEDICAL FACILITIES AND HEALTH INFORMATION: The Maldives has limited medical facilities. There are two hospitals in Male: the government-owned Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGM) and the privately-owned Abduarahman Don Kaleyfan Hospital (ADK). ADK accepts some insurance plans, but IGM does not. The hospitals perform general, orthopedic and neurosurgery, but the Maldives has no trauma units, and spinal surgery is not available. Persons needing treatments not offered in the Maldives require evacuation to the nearest adequate medical facility, such as in Singapore. Two recompression chambers are available in the Maldives. One is on Bandos Island (fifteen minutes by speedboat from Male) and the other is in Kuramathi (one hour by speed boat and about twenty minutes by air taxi from Male.) Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747); fax 1-888-CDC-FAXX (1-888-232-3299), or via the CDC’s Internet site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization’s (WHO) website at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith. MEDICAL INSURANCE: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation. Please see our information on medical insurance overseas. TRAFFIC SAFETY AND ROAD CONDITIONS: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning the Maldives is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance. Only a few of the islands are big enough to support automobiles. Most transportation in the Maldives is by boat or seaplane (air taxi). The Maldives has good safety standards for land, sea, and air travel. Roads in Male and on the airport island are brick and generally well maintained. Dirt roads on resort islands are well kept by the resorts. Transportation on the small island on which the capital, Male, is situated is either by foot or by readily-available taxis. Transportation between the airport and Male, as well as to nearby resort islands, is by motorized water taxi and speedboat. Several local companies provide seaplane and helicopter service to outlying islands. Air taxis stop flying one hour before sunset, and several resorts do not transport passengers by boat between the airport and the resort island later than one hour before sunset. Visitors to distant resorts arriving in the country at night can expect to stay overnight at a hotel in Male or at the airport hotel and should confirm transfer arrangements in advance. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: Religious Laws: Public observance of any religion other than Islam is prohibited. Religious gatherings such as Bible study groups are prohibited; however, a family unit may practice its religion, including Bible readings, within its residence. It is against the law to invite or encourage Maldivian  citizens to attend these gatherings. Offenders may face jail sentences, expulsion and/or fines. In the past, several non-Maldivian families resident in the Maldives, including some Americans, were expelled for allegedly engaging in religious proselytizing. Although Maldivian law prohibits importing â€Å"idols for religious worship,† tourists traveling to the resort islands are generally allowed to bring in items and texts used for personal religious observances. Currency: Credit cards are increasingly accepted outside large hotels and resorts; cash payment in dollars is accepted at most retail shops and restaurants and by taxi drivers.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

The Fabiani Law Case

The Antoine Fabiani case is an international case which involved the Government of Venezuela and the government of France where the two governments agreed to get an arbitrator to put to rest on the case of M. Antonio Fabiani in the most just manner and without bias. This shows that law has no barriers and no matter how powerful in terms of government or inferior, in this case Fabiani, the law will always be just provided the best means are pursued. In this case both the Venezuelan and French governments had to sought for external help to avoid bias incase the case to be ruled in either of their judicial systems. This is a true example that law in this case international law is necessary and crucial to our society world wide and that there is no excuse to not be just since the power of law and true justice has no boundaries. Antoine Fabiani case started initially in 1891 were Fabiani who was a French national, where its decided that she cannot have a claim to pat of what he should also inherit because of her nationality. A tribunal is then set up to try and resolve the matter is set up after intervention from the French government and Mr. Fabiani after she eels justice is not done to him because all the other heirs had a claim yet she is also supposed to be one of the heirs yet he is barred due to his nationality. The two governments then result into involving a neutral party, arbitrator, so as to minimize tension s and avoid biasness who is the Swiss arbitrator who after hearing both side of the case decides that he is not competent to handle the case since he had no jurisdiction (Jan. 53). Still not satisfied, the case is taken to higher levels and the governments where another arbitrator, Dr Paul, rejects to decide on the case after knowing the case had already been decided on by a as arbitral court of Berne. He argues that the ruing was in favor of the Venezuelan government was right since it did consider the points raised by Fabiani that she was not entailed to the estate since and standard only applied to her and not the other heirs, since he was not in the agreement. The tribunal had ruled in favor of the Venezuelan government, which was the defendant, not to let Mr. Fabiani inherit who was the claimant. But also the French government had no jurisdiction on estate matters in the case sine it was the Venezuela border, but since the Mr. Fabiani was French, it had to intervene to help its national. Thus even after the President of the Swiss confederation declared that he was incompetent after another arbitrator is sought, Mr. M. de Peretti, who opposes this decision due to the fact that Claimant’s demands were not taken to consideration, n which to him they were worth considering and in effect to this award him his claims. Dr Paul acts immediately by rejecting to award the claimant his claim of, 100000 francs since there was never discussed upon by both parties prior to the case and thus declares case cannot be raised again, that is res judicata. After this ruling the case goes higher to the umpire, who holds that no party had raised any matter about the jurisdiction of the Swiss arbitrator and more over none were determined. From that fact, the umpire establishes that there Mr. Fabian’s claims were awarded in the situational protocols. This is because the claims were in fact reached upon by him. The legal technicality here is that there were various restrictions on the Swiss arbitrator in the protocol which limited his scope considerably; this had a direct effect on the un-disposed claim that would be left (Jan, 89). Moreover, the Swiss arbitrator had to effectively determine if the government of Venezuela was in any way responsible for any form of damages to Fabiani. The responsibility had to be determined in respect to the limitations of the protocol that the Swiss arbitrator’s supreme law and more notable his guidance in the case. However the limitations of the protocol were arrived at and determined in accordance to Venezuelan laws thus the bone of contention and furthermore this made arbitrator award the claim. The limitations were therefore found to be contracting to the principle law of nations due to the fact that it was more Venezuelan sided. This prompted France to intervene to help her citizen his is because it felt the odds were against him. This resulted to the matter being and international conflict due to the fact that France as a nation had intervened, thus the matter could no longer be an individual but national matter. Fabian’s claim were now having been now a national affair it were the national interests of France on the table thus resulting in this being them guarded in the global arena (Chittharanjan,373). The interests were actually France’s national welfare as well as its national honor, thus in the event that Venezuela demand any surrender of all of Antoine’s claims, France would take the responsibility to surrender all or part. Thus after that, Fabiani could now claim any other claims from hence forth from his government. However Venezuela had not entered the arbitration with the Swiss arbitrator knowing that if he was not to award any part of the intended claims to Fabiani, that everything that had been agreed upon would be left without any solution actually being affected by such a decision, and thus enable intervention by the French government. With this information and knowledge at hand there was a protocol arranged between the governments of Venezuela and France on the 24th of February of 1891 that was later on overruled by the President of the Swiss federation in 1896 putting an end to the controversial issue. After that other claims came where Mr. Fabiani had brought before the commission several demands of compensation totaling to 9,509,728. 0 bolivars, due to losses in addition to damages in the form of the items which, he claimed, had been left out by the Swiss mediator in his final award awarded in the French-Venezuelan law suit popularly referred to as the † Fabiani controversy. † Thus on December 30th 1896 the award was finally paid out, by the Government of the government of Venezuela which was made in the eyes of the law to pay Mr. Fabiani, in what is considered to be the beat form of indemnity. While referring to the protocol of the February 24th 1891 every expense, starting with the whole sum of 4,346,656. 7 bolivars, also inclusive of a constant interest rate of 5 per cent per anum from the date of the award (Bin, 167). This came by sine Mr. Fabiani argued that the respected Swiss arbitrator intentionally left it out from his final decision, for the reason that they were not included in the conditions of the modus operandi, hence confident that sums demanded by him in the claim he brought forward to the said arbitrator is seen by the preceding inclusion of the arbitrator, exercising his extensive powers of positive reception, omitted in the final consideration. Conclusion Any detail, whether a refutation of justice, proceeding the June 7th 1881, when the demand of putting to death sentence of Marseilles was brought before the high national court is in doubt those that could not put to one side with a view to prove other closing and connecting facts relating to denials of justice. That there was removal of proofs as well as allegations relating to facts entirely not at all related to the undertaking of the conciliator, which accurately consisted in deciding as to whether Venezuela was accountable for the damages that Fabiani claims he had suffered as a result of denial of justice, did not make up any explanation of law or of course of action, declaration of ineffectiveness neither of wish for jurisdiction on the side of the judge with consideration to some specifics of the claim. For once established that a number of those specifics or else the facts upon which they were brought to end were not sufficient of the necessary conditions for them to be accepted as the result of denial of impartiality. Thus consequently it’s not acceptable for them to be admitted by the arbitrator as essentials of appreciation.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Biological weapons Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biological weapons - Research Paper Example Because of the level of destruction that these weapons are capable of causing, the use of these can be a motivation for many adversaries. Also, these weapons are indiscriminately used to kill people. So they might not just affect the military, but may also cause numerous deaths in the civilian populations. Further, a wound due to other weapons can be treated. A biological weapon might be hard to detect and once detected, might not have a cure. Biological weapons also tend to have long term effects on the human and living populations as compared to nuclear missiles and arms. (Satpathy 10) History Although biological weapons have now come into notice, they have been used for centuries. The use of these weapons dates back to 1500 BC when the people suffering from a plague were often driven into the territories of the enemy. The plague would not just kill or sicken the enemy civil populations but would also render the military unsuitable for war. Apart from that, the spears and arrows we re often poisoned so that the enemy could not just be wounded, but would also have poison spread in his body. In the famous First Sacred War, the Athenians poisoned the water supply of the city of Kirrha in order to kill the military combatants. In other wars, clay pots containing snakes were often thrown on the enemy. (Chauhan 158) Slowly over the centuries, biological weapons took new forms. Before the 17th century, the most common way of inflicting disease on the enemy was to throw the infected corpses into the water supply of the cities. Since water is a basic necessity, this ensured that all the people were infected. Later, however, new ways of introducing the diseases were established. For instance in the 18th century, in Native America, two blankets and a handkerchief exposed to small pox were given to the Natives by the British in order to disease them. Diseases like influenza spread often due to the exchange of goods at ports from ships that came from different regions. Bio logical warfare went to a new extreme when in the Second Sino Japanese war, the Japanese tested all kinds of biological weapons on the prisoners held in custody so that the weapons could then be used to combat the enemy in the future. In the First World War, the most famous and extensive Biowarfare program was started by the empire of Germany. This program included the supply of teams of saboteurs to areas like Finland where they placed anthrax (a disease causing agent) in the stables of Russia in the year 1916. (Chauhan 159) German intelligence officers also created glanders that could be used to affect livestock and crops, particularly at ports. The Imperial Japanese army also was responsible for many pathogen outbreaks in the same period. From the year 1937 to 1945, the Japanese army contaminated the Horustein river in Soviet Russia with typhoid. The army also used made use of bombs having fleas that could carry the bubonic plague. Air dropping of plagued fleas was also a common thing against the Chinese. After the use of the biological weapons in the first and second world wars, nations like the US, Soviet Union and Britain started the experimentation of agents that could be used as biological weapons. The US started its US Biological Weapon testing program through which it started research on the topic. Operation whitecoat was one of the leading operations of the US that aimed to study the effects of

Friday, September 27, 2019

Highlights of Human Resource Management Research Paper

Highlights of Human Resource Management - Research Paper Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that Human Resource Management department looks over that people working in the organization are in the right job, this part of HR’s job includes hiring the right people for the job and also the firing process of any organization. It also helps employees in upgrading their skills when necessary, this step involves training of employees. Human Resource departments are usually not paid much attention. Organizations fail to realize their importance and need in the running of any firm. Human Resource Department’s most important task will probably be creating a work-friendly environment in an organization. A better work environment will lead to employees to work at their best which will in turn increase the efficiency of the firm. Since this department is linked with the management o the organization’s workforce it may help bridge the gap between the employer and the employee leading to a better relationship. Absence of Human Resource Management department may lead to poor environment for employees to work in there by discouraging prospective employees to join. This department further helps the organization it is working for in public relations it helps with the image of the organization which may make it attractive for prospective employees which may lead to a better workforce to be interested in working in that particular organization. Sometimes the Human Resource Department plays in active role in making business and marketing plans. Another big highlight to this department is it takes off the responsibility of hiring new employees off the shoulders of the owners and the management. In this the management and the owners will be able to focus more on their core issue than to the process of hiring new employees which in turn will affect the productivity of the organization.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Employability Portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Employability Portfolio - Assignment Example MS Work I have used this program for general word processing. In the Office, it was very useful in producing office documents. MS Excel I have used this program in simple data analysis such as analyzing market data to find median, mode and mean. MS Project This software is very useful in project management. I have used it in the past to plan projects for efficient time and resource management. MS Access This is a database management system. I have used it in the past to create and manage databases QUESTIONS Please answer all of the following questions using examples from either university or your work experience. 1. Tell us about yourself. What are you passionate about? a.) Related to your education or studies/degree? I have a passion for making things work, especially with people. I believe that the best resources that an organisation has. In this regard, I feel that I can be able to make big and important contributions. Human resource is a field that has a lot to be learnt and to b e investigated and there are issues and these interests me. b.) In your personal life? I believe in people development and I also believe that any person can be turned into an efficient and effective person. I always look around myself and see a lot of human resource, not only in companies but in every day lives, being wasted. This makes want to do something that will change this and that will help in making sure that they are able to reach their potential. When I see organisations using too much money trying o buy talent, I feel that there are better ways of getting talent, that is, by develop the talent in house. 2. Can you give us an example of a successful team that you have been a member of? In my neighbourhood, we created a voluntary group that that was intended at helping disadvantaged children in getting education. This team was successful in making sure that all these children were given a second chance. We saw most of the children improving their grades and also having a b etter attitude towards education. Why was it successful? I can attribute the success of the team to two major issues, both of which have to do with human motivation. The first factor is that the team members were highly motivated. I founded the team on a noble cause and the only motivation was to see these children getting better lives. The fact that we saw these children having better lives made it easier for the team to have ht energy and will to go on even with the numerous challenges. The second factor was the factor that the team focused on motivating the children to learn on their own. The team did not only try to offer the children knowledge, focused on making the students to be able to look at knowledge seeking as a fun activity. This was my idea which I introduce to the team and asked them to discuss on how to motivate the children to like reading on their own. After discussion with the team, we developed a method of encouraging the students to learn in their selves. What w as your role in the team? I was the founder in the team and after the team was founded, used to be the coordinator, albeit not in an official way. The main challenge of that the team was facing was the fact that most of the students who was

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Individual 3 international trade operation Essay

Individual 3 international trade operation - Essay Example Samson. However, when investing in the international market, Mr. Samson should be prepared to deals with challenge of stiff competition from the international firms (Choudhury, 2012). Therefore, this study will provide an insight of various elements that Mr. Swanson should take into consideration when investing in the international markets. What is portfolio diversification? Explain why are foreign investments effective at diversifying a portfolio? Portfolio diversification entails hedging risk by investing in various assets/portfolios. This means that a diversified portfolio will expose an investor to less risk as compared to a single investment. For example, if one investment is performing poorly in the market the other one might be performing well hence, distributing risk unlike in a situation where one has invested in single portfolio. Therefore, investors are strongly urged to invest wisely by diversifying their portfolio (Hagin, 2004). In above connection, foreign investments h ave been reported to be effective at diversifying a portfolio due to the following reasons. There is well advanced level of information technology that enables investors to track their investments and market trends as well as promotion of idea exchange. International market tends eradicate foreign exchange controls and hence making it quit effective to diversify portfolio, higher growth and proper flow of international capital makes it effective to diversify portfolio in the international market. Development of both multinational and global companies had made it easier and effective to diversify a portfolio in the international market. Trade deregulation in the international market has made it effective for portfolio diversification within the international market (Yavas, 2007). What are the main reasons to invest in international markets? Explain. The main reasons to invest in international market include: risk reduction. For example, if one has investments in Japan and the other o ne in the U.S, economic down town in U.S may only affect an investment that is in the U.S but not the one in Japan. This means that investing in the international market prevent one from incurring greater risk. Secondly, international markets provide an investor with greater investment opportunities. For example, international market provides investors with an opportunity to trade stocks with higher value as compared to those offered in the domestic market and hence, providing an investor with higher returns (Gibley, 2012). Thirdly, an international market has higher growth potential as compared to domestic market. This provides an investor with an opportunity to take advantage of potential growth in the foreign markets. Fourthly, International Markets provides an investor with an added advantage because international companies can help to boost returns especially when there is fluctuation of domestic currencies. For example, an international investor may obtain more returns when th ere is a decline in the value of dollar while on the contrary a domestic investor may obtain losses. Therefore, the above benefits can lead an investor to venture in international market (Gibley, 2012). What are the major risks associated with investing internationally? There are three most common risks that may be experienced when investing in the

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Legal Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Legal Philosophy - Essay Example It is not possible to choose one over the other and nor is it possible to stand in between and interrupt the constant tension brought about by it cyclic relation. Whether a particular legal philosophy is merely an abstraction or of practical value is one that is constantly changing in the highway of history where old philosophies are constantly revived and injected with new vigor and applied to new contexts which stimulate to further growth of jurisprudence itself. The application of legal philosophy is found in in a different branch of law, in law practice, legislation and judicial adjudication particularly, and because of this many are of the opinion that jurisprudence does not have value in day to day life. This problem is aggravated by the human errors of lawyers, public officials and other people educated in the nuances of law. The mental stimulations and practical value of jurisprudence is best studied and determined from the tension of the dichotomies of theoretical traditions particularly between legal positivism and natural legalism, legal formalism and legal realism, public choice theories and critical legal studies, liberal and socialist-progressive ideologies, indeterminacy/mystification and determinacy of judicial decisions, and of subjectivism and structuralism. Lon L. Fuller (1981)2, on the purpose of legal philosophy, says: As I see it, the object of legal philosophy is to give an effective and meaningful direction to the work of lawyers, judges, legislatures, and law teachers. If it leaves the activities of these men untouched, it it has no implications for the question of what they do with their working days, then legal philosophy is a failure. Legal Positivism versus Natural Law Theory. For legal positivists, rights are are such and are legal if and only if they are declared to be such by the sovereign legal authority. From their viewpoint, the government exists before the right. The sovereign, in the form of legislature or executive with constitutional legislative powers or an administrative body enacting regulations with status of law, being the exclusive source of law must grant a right otherwise it does not exist. The magistrate only enforces the strictures of the law. For legal positivists, the criterion for validity of law is posited by the sovereing and is other than morality because for them, "it is in no sense a necessary truth that laws reproduce or satisfy certain demands of morality, though, in fact they have often done so. (Hart, p.181-2)3 The law as a social construct is the premise. The moral and political aspect of law is not denied, but positivism insists that the descriptive or conceptual

Monday, September 23, 2019

Survey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Survey - Essay Example This is possible since it obtains data from Google maps and tweeter and thus utilizes them as one. This paper is a summary of a thesis by Mahtab Arafat who proposes the development of a DaaSMashup Model, which will work with multiple DaaS providers to improve efficiency of data extracted from single DaaS Provider while maintaining high standards of privacy. Privacy-Preserving DaaSMashup framework should ensure that different DaaS provider have a platform where they can share data from their database with other DaaS on a secure platform. DaaSMachup systems will be very effective where DaaS provider cannot solely provide consumer’s data requirement. The result of integration of different DaaS providers can result to provision of clients with data high levels of accuracy, efficiency, and reliability. Some of the reasons that cause reluctance to the willingness of DaaS providers to share their data include data quality, privacy concerns, and the ability to match a data request. Cloud based framework for the preservation of the DaaS mashup is critical for enhancing the security of the DaaS providers. This paper is critical in providing information on greedy algorithm to the providers’ of DaaS mashup. In essence, the paper explores the measures of securely integrating the data from many DaaS providers. These providers are critical in preserving the security and privacy of the resultant mashup data. A client may be willing to pay a price for a specific nature of data however the DaaS provider may lack enough data on their database to present to the client. Even with privacy issues put to concerned care should be taken to ensure that the data quality obtained after the integration of the systems is not compromised. The privacy concerns about data involves the fact that private data on respondents being licked. Most organizations are against private data of their getting on to the wrong hands as this poses

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Inwood Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Inwood - Assignment Example The judge decided the case on a number of reasons as discussed below. One of the major reasons why the online auction house was not held liable was because the claim made by Tiffany, under Inwood, lacked sufficient evidence to suggest that eBay was aware of the infringement of the trademark made by some users on its website (Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, 1982). The eBay website is used by millions of sellers and it is not possible to identify which of the users were breaking the rule if the users did not include such words as â€Å"pirated† or â€Å"counterfeit† in their listing. Another reason was that the court did not find eBay to be ‘willful blind’ to the evidence found on its website (Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay Inc., 2010). Whenever eBay was informed via notice of claim of infringement (NOCI) of the suspected cases of counterfeit sales on its website, they took appropriate actions i.e. they deleted the suspected listings using Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program and also suspended the sellers involved. They also refunded all the money related to those particular transactions, a measure that impressed the judge. eBay also included special warnings that notifies the sellers to ensure that the products they are selling are genuine and also reminded them of the eBay counterfeiting policies. In addition, eBay provided a link to the Tiffany â€Å"About Me† page. Basing his judgment on the points heighted above, the judge of the U.S district court concluded that eBay had taken great measures to combat counterfeiting and therefore cannot be held liable for the infringement of the trademark (Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay Inc.,

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Parallels similarities between the experiences of womenmen in Gileadean and US society Essay Example for Free

Parallels similarities between the experiences of womenmen in Gileadean and US society Essay I would like to concur with Atwood that the Gilead society only exist in the land of Gilead alone, and such attributes are not witnessed in the basic American societies even though this concurrence is limited. I will begin by citing Atwood opinion. Firstly, the Gilead society transferred women wealth to their husbands or relatives. Thus, a woman was seen as a property and could not be allowed to own property since she was a property. This is not the case with contemporary US society where women can make significant macroeconomic decisions American women are leaders of large businesses, control large investments and even assume elective posts. I will, therefore, compare the identity issue to makes sure that you understand the differences between American societies and Gilead societies. Unlike in the American society, in the Gileadian society women were highly segregated from one another. For a woman to befriend a fellow woman that relationship was to be made public. As such, their husbands took women as properties. Thus, they expected women to consult them on what choices they would want to make in life. According to Atwood, Gileadian woman would wear uniforms coded to their functions. However, American women have independent decisions. They choose who and who not to relate with. Besides, Audience, Atwood believes that Gilead women were infertile, and they would help their husbands during insemination commonly known as ceremony. The women were only in charge of the household discipline, however, their freedoms since way the feel week they were left to die with no care at all. As well, the women were expected to provide subsequent child catering; as quoted; They would tell Bible stories for children and sing hymns. One of the women was called Serena Joy†¦..was expected to laugh and cry†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦in order to teach the children (16) Rather complex, the women of Gilead, who are seen handling complex administrative jobs, for instance, becoming police officers, are still considered properties of men they are working with. As such, the women become rigid, middle-aged who have internalized patriarchal values. In fact, Gilead women are dogmatized to live in a society that does not seem to care about their objectives. Similarly, women of Gilead operate re-education centers; however, they are not mandated to carry out critical decisions concerning education. However, this is not the case their American counterparts. American counterparts contribute positively towards the development of the society. Their decisions are independent. Similarly, the creation and destruction of property rights fundamentally presents legal challenges affecting the women of Gilead. Men, control the Gilead government. Gilead state captures wayward and loose women who can bear birth to the incoming generations; however, they fail to recognize the power and legitimacy of the new regime. Thus, their property is their self and freedoms and as illustrated earlier, the access to money. As a result, women become the property of their husbands if they have one or the state that has their discretion can dispatch them wherever they see them. In this case, males are in power to claim property rights in women who have been foiled. However, in America, women are not treated as fugitives in fact, they present an equal 50/50 power distribution and resources are shared evenly. Ironically, the Gilead regime pretends to respect the feminist philosophy in its treatment of women and the paints a picture of an utopian future that female society turnaround to become the sorority and prevent from being hurt. However, the patriarchy principles in Gilead embrace the paradox of protection in the imprisonment, where women face significant prejudices in the type of decisions that they make. This is not the case with the present American society. Joining Atwood, I prefer Aunt Lydia reflection on what freedom-to-freedom means. Ironically, the commander justifies the Gilead by claiming that women are relevant if they fulfill their biological duties. Literary the commander had married so many women, and had one ceremonial as Atwood is quoted saying At one, level was an almost a caricature of the banality of kitchen talk that could be a scene from a Pinter commender†¦But in the terror-filled austerity of the commander house, it is seductively comforting†¦.note the word seduction. (10) Such a doctrine is rapid, and it indicates how women are considered as a property of the Gilead men communities. American women consider giving birth as a service to the society and not necessary as a reward for a better life. Besides, American women consider giving birth as a way of giving back to the society positively. Equally, audience please be advised that the fascist Republic of Gilead, which differs the contemporary United States society assigns every woman to different classes of women: without their will to protest. The classes are as a follows: wives, belong to the married men who have a superior military rank. These women, despite their will, are treated fairly better than other counterparts are in the society. Secondly, the Gilead society assigns a second class of women, handmaid, econowives or Martha the role of reproduction and matrimony. These women, despite their will, are engaged into hard jobs serving the rich in one way, or another. The group is forcefully married to a lower rank military regime that does not have enough status to obtain a handmaid or aunts function. Even though ironically, Handmaids surrogate for the infertile heterosexuals, as well as, serving as women housekeepers and cooking nannies. To achieve that, the Gilead initiates a dogmatizing religious program, one tha t ordains the reproduction where multiple doctrines are enacted to affirm the system of social rituals. Members, such as absurd society does not exist in America. On the contrary, in America, women are empowered to make decisions concerning the sexuality. As quoted saying †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦The flesh arranges itself differently. I am a cloud congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear†¦ (Chapter 13, 43) However, the social complexity of the US, American women control their sexuality and as well, control how they would prefer bringing forth their off springs. Similarly, since Gilead is actively involved in patriarch driven conflicts, most members are either infertile or sterile, it is arguable that men through the subsequent political battles have made their property. As such, subsequent political battles have increased toxic wastes and nuclear fallout, where toxic waste colonies are increased. To hide the truth behind such rituals, the Gilead societies have invoked a biblical ritual called â€Å"The Ceremony. However, arrogantly, how they conduct their sexual activities is unbecoming. The command penetrates the handmaid exposed sex in an attempt to impregnate a woman. The commander is quoted to have said I’m not talking about sex; he says. That was part of it; the sex was too easy. . . You know what they were complaining about the most (Chapter, 32) This is unbecoming since the woman has been lured to sex. Any sound child born by the handmaid is handled over to the wife of the commander as if the child belonged to the commander’s wife. Such a social setting is very wanting and prompts the question on the role of women in the society. To answer that, American women make independent decisions on how when and where, they want to give birth. American women also make the choice to have sex, when, where and with whom. Nonetheless, despite the complex differences between the Gilead society and the American society, we still notice some similarities. While it is evident that the Gilead society obligates women roles as predominantly domestic, the US society seems to emulate that by assigning women the task of raising children while men are technically exempted from that. Additionally, members you will agree with me that the congress, which happens to be active Christian right is looking for traditional family values. Even though we acknowledge that radical pieces of the Gilead system have not found a way into the American system, it is notable that domestic institutions have secret doctrine women in the Gilead society. A common doctrine is the domestic chore, where the common American woman is made to believe that in order to make a perfect partner, one has to wash the dirt, prepare food, and even entertain a commander called the husband. Men experiences, therefore, are not radical, or in any case equal as those affecting women. It is also disheartening to note that efforts by feminine movements are currently being considered outdated or extremists and are not attracting subsequent influence as they were expected two decades. Efforts to benefit and strengthen the woman counterpart peel away the layers the practice once again set to maintain the domin ant-subordinate relationship. Reference Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaids Tale. London: Vintage Classic, 2010. Print. Source document

Friday, September 20, 2019

Transplant Rejection: Causes, Types and Prevention

Transplant Rejection: Causes, Types and Prevention Through this project I have researched transplants of organs, cells and tissues, Transplant rejection, the Human Immune System and the role of antibodies. Transplatation is the process where healthy cells, tissue or organs are moved from one site to another. There are different types of transplants and many problems that can occur with transplantation. The largest threat to a successful organ transplant is the Human Immune System, because it rejects the transplant. The role of the human immunity system is to protect the body from harmful, infecting agents. It destroys the transplant recognizing it as foreign and a potential treat to the body. This is known as Transplant Rejection. There are many different types of Transplant Rejection, each with there own diagnosis methods and symptoms. There are different ways of prevention and treatment, including tissue typing to determine the most appropriate donor-recipient match and using Immunosuppressant drugs that suppress the immune system of the recipient. There are two kinds of immunity in a human. The bodys first line of defence is the Innate Immunity and the specific response to the invaders is the Adaptive Immunity. Many white blood cells form the main components of the immune system and they identify and destroy invading agents. There are also different types of immune responses including the Humoral immune response. Antibodies, Y-shaped proteins, form part of the Humoral response. The structure of all antibodies are very similar, except for a small unique region at the ends of the two arms of the Y used for recognising agents. Antibodies can destroy the foreign material or help destroy them by tagging it for attack by other parts of the immune system. Antibodies are very important in transplant rejection, because they form part of the mechanism that rejects the organ or tissue and are one of the most important cells of the Human Immunity System. They help lead to Transplant Rejection and the destruction of the transplanted organ or tissue. INDEX (Jump to): Introduction Hypothesis Transplants Types of Transplants Problems With Transplantation Transplant Rejection Types of Transplant Rejection Diagnosis and Symptoms Prevention and Treatment Potential Further Studies The Human Immune System and Antibodies Types of Immune Responses Conclusion Bibliography Referencing INTRODUCTION: The role of the Human Immunity System is to protect the body from harmful, infecting agents. This protection is very important to keep our bodies healthy and functioning at the best it can, but this protection is also the largest problem in organ and tissue transplants. Transplantation has replaced many people damaged organs with healthy organs and is used to cure many tissue and cell diseases. The Human Immunity System is the largest threat to successful organ and tissue transplants, but why does the Human Immunity reject the transplanted organ or tissue? And is it possible that transplant rejection can be prevented? The body is constantly under attack from harmful substances that can cause damage and destruction to the human body, but we are protected. The human immunity system is bodys natural defence mechanism. What causes an immune response? And how does the immune system respond to foreign materials? Antibodies are an important part in the human immunity system. They can recognize, neutralize and destroy harmful materials, but what exact role does an antibody play in human immunity? Where and why are antibodies produced? Through this project I will explore transplants, transplant rejection, human immunity and the role of antibodies and finally prove or contradict my hypothesis. HYPOTHESIS: Antibodies do not play a role in the rejection of a transplanted organ or tissue. Transplants Transplatation is the action of healthy cells, tissue or organs that are transplanted (grafted) from one site to another. A transplanted organ can replace a recipients damaged, malfunctioning or absent organ and grafting of cells and tissue can also cure many diseases. A kidney (most common), heart, lungs, pancreas, liver, skin, cornea, blood, blood vessels, bone marrow, stem cells, cord blood, intestine, stomach, testis, thymus, bones, tendons, heart valves and veins, hand, Islets of Langerhans and ovaries can now be transplanted. The transplanted organ or tissue is commonly known as a graft. While the lack of organs for transplantation remains an obstacle, the biggest challenge for transplantation is the immune system. It destroys a transplanted graft recognizing it as foreign and a potential treat to the body. [2][7][9][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Types of Transplants Autografts: Grafts of tissue from one area of the body to another part e.g. Skin transplants, vein extractions, etc. Autografts are not foreign tissue and therefore there is no immune reaction. Allografts: Grafts between members of the same species. Most organ transplants are allografts. Because of genetic differences between the organ and the recipient, the recipients immune system will identify the organ as foreign and attempts to destroy it, causing transplant rejection. Isografts: Forms part of allografts and are grafts between genetically identical individuals. Isografts do not trigger an immune response. Xenografts/ Xenotransplantation: Grafts between members of different species. E.g. the use of organs from other animals, like chimpanzees, baboon and pigs. In Xenografts there is a large risk of rejection and diseases carried in the tissue. [2][7][9][19][20][22] Problems with Transplantation Graft/transplant rejection: The immune system, recognizing the transplanted graft as foreign, will cause a rejection of the graft. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD): T-cells, in the graft from the donor, identify the tissues of the recipient as a foreign antigen and mounts an immune attack against them. This is prevented by removing all T-cells in the graft before transplantation. In rare cases the donated organ may be infected and transmit an agent to the recipient. E.g. TB, rabies, syphilis, hepatitis B, HIV and many other diseases. To prevent this, potential donors are tested for these infections before the transplantation. [2][12][19] Transplant Rejection Transplant rejection is also know as Graft Rejection and organ or tissue rejection. Transplant Rejection occurs when a transplanted organ or tissue is not accepted by the body of the recipient, because the immune system of the recipient attacks and tries to destroy the transplanted organ or tissue. The body identifies the graft as foreign material and therefore triggers a rejection. This is expected because the Human Immunity Systems purpose is to protect the body by identifying and destroying foreign material that are potentially harmful. These harmful substances have proteins called antigens on their surfaces, when the immune system identifies these antigens as foreign, it will start to attack them. The degree and type of response varies according to the type of transplant and the organ or tissue being transplanted. Certain sites in the body are immune privileged, which means they are protected from attack, because immune cells and antibodies do not reach them. The anterior chamber of the eye, the testes and the brain are all immune privileged. Using the patients own tissue for autografts or tissue from an identical twin, isografts, when available prevents transplant rejection as the recipient sees the transplant as self, not as foreign and therefore does not mount an attack. Using a relative (sibling) as a donor is also recommended, because they may have inherited some of the same histocompatibility antigens and therefore the immune response may not be as strong. [2][3][4][7][8][11][12][23] Types of Transplant Rejection: Hyperacute Rejection Hyperacute Rejection is a rare humoral complement-mediated response in recipients with pre-existing antibodies to the donor. This reaction occurs immediately after the transplantation. No treatment is available for it and the graft must be removed quickly to prevent a severe systemic inflammatory response or death. Acute Rejection Acute rejection usually begins one week after the transplant, but it can occur months to years after transplantation. The new organ will be incapable of working at full efficiency. A single episode of acute rejection is not dangerous, if it recognized and treated it rarely leads to organ failure. Acute rejection occurs to some degree in all transplants and is caused by mismatched HLA. The Immune system will recognize the graft as foreign and will mount an attack against it. Acute rejection is a form of Cell-mediated response. Humeroral Rejection Humeroral Rejection is mediated by antibody and complement Immunity. It can occur immediately or during the first week after the transplantation. The antibodies are preformed antibodies or anti-donor antibodies that have developed after transplant. Chronic Rejection Chronic Rejection is the rejection against a graft due to chronic inflammatory and immune response. This rejection occurs over time (sometimes years after the transplant) and may occur from repeated episodes of acute rejection or for other causes not understood. Chronic Rejection is rare and is both antibody cell-mediated immune responses. Chronic rejection is irreversible and there is no successful treatment. Eventually the donor organ is lost, leading to re-transplant or death. [3][7][8][23] Diagnosis and Symptoms Diagnosis of transplant rejection relies on clinical data, including signs and symptoms, lab testing and a tissue biopsy to confirm that the graft has been rejected. The biopsy is interpreted by a pathologist who notes changes in the tissue that suggest rejection. E.g. presence of T-cells and other cell types that may be helpful in diagnosing the type of rejection and any evidence of structural injury or injury to blood vessels in the transplanted tissue. The symptoms of transplant rejection vary depending on the organ or tissue transplanted, but general symptoms include the organ not functioning properly, general discomfort, uneasiness or ill feeling, pain or swelling in the location of organ (rare) and fever (rare). [1][23] Prevention Treatment Tissue Typing Transplant rejection can be reduced through serotyping (tissue typing or crossmatching) before the transplantation to identify the antigens it contains and to determine the most appropriate donor-recipient match. ABO blood typing or HLA (Tissue antigen) typing is performed to ensure that the organ or tissue is as similar as possible to the tissues of the recipient. The antigens responsible for rejection of tissues are called histocompatibility antigens. These antigens are encoded by genes on chromosome 6, called the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). The MHC is called the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) system in humans. HLA are present on all cells of the body. Each individual has a unique combination of HLA and matching as many histocompatibility antigens will minimize the size and speed of rejection. MHC molecules present antigens to the T-cells of the immune system. When a foreign material enters a body cell, the MHC molecules inside the body cell bind to the antigen and transport it to the body cells surface. The antigen can now be recognized by a T-cell. Immunosuppressant Drugs Immunosuppressant drugs can treat and prevent transplant rejection. The drugs suppress the immune system of the recipient and are usually necessary for all transplants to prevent the graft from being rejected. The drugs should be used for the rest of the transplant recipients life. Most immunosuppressive drugs have the disadvantage of being non-specific and they result in suppression of the entire immune responses and therefore placing the recipient at a higher risk of infections. It is needed to develop more specific immunosuppressive drugs that will suppress only the responses that attack the graft, without dangerous side effects. Drugs like azathioprine (Imuran), methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, prednisone, belatacept, corticosteroids, cyclosporine A, tacrolimus, prednisolone, mycophennolate mofetil, antithymocyte globulin (ATG) and rapamycin are routinely used in different combinations for a safe level of immunosuppression. Side effects of immunosuppression drugs include infections, as the immune system is vital to protect us from infectious agents (bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc). Usually the infections can be controlled by the appropriate antibiotic, antiviral drug, etc. The chance of Cancer is also increased with the use of immunosuppression drugs. [1][2][5][6][7][8][12][16][19][23] Potential Further Studies Demi-Lee Brennan, an Australian whose body changed blood type and adopted the immune system of her donor after a liver transplant. Her body no longer rejects the transplanted liver. Her case is unique and scientists are interested in finding out how this occurred. Duplication of this would be a potential solution to transplant rejection. Some grafts survive despite the presence of anti-donor antibodies. This acquired resistance to antibody-mediated damage is known as Accommodation and is poorly understood. [6][8] The Human Immune System and Antibodies The immune system recognizes as foreign and attacks anything different from your normal body tissues. Even substances that are only slightly different, for example a transplanted organ or tissue, are considered foreign invaders. The immune system uses histocompatibility antigens to recognize material as self or foreign. Antigens occur on the surface of every cell and the immune system will attack anything that does not display the antigen of that individual. The immune system cannot tell if the foreign material is harmful or not, just that it is different. The transplanted organ or tissue is different and therefore the immune system will try to destroy it. There are two kinds of immunity in a human, Innate Immunity and Adaptive Immunity. The bodys first line of defence against invaders is the Innate Immunity. It is provided by barriers like tears, mucus, skin, saliva and the rapid inflammation of tissue. If an invader gets past the Innate Immunity, the immune system will make a customized defence, the Adaptive Immunity. It is a specific response depending on the specific invader and it has a memory, which allows it to respond better to the specific invader if it attacks again. The Adaptive Immunity does not attack normal body components, only substances it recognizes as non-self. White blood cells (leukocytes) are the main component of the immune system. Macrophages, a type of white blood cells, surround and eat invading materials. Macrophages can also attach to themselves to invading agents and transport them to another part of the immune system to be destroyed. Lymphocytes are specialized white blood cells that identify and destroy invading antigens. Each lymphocyte has a unique antigen receptor on its surface that can bind to a matching antigen on the surface of the foreign invader. They constantly travel throughout the body looking for invaders. All lymphocytes begin as stem cells in bone marrow, but they mature in two different places. Several lymphocytes mature in the bone marrow and they are called B-lymphocytes (B-cells). B-cells form Plasma cells that make antibodies. Each B-cell has a unique receptor on its membrane, called B-cell receptor (BCR) that is designed to fit a specific antigen. When the BCR binds to an antigen molecule, the B-cell surrounds it and breaks it up. The result is the histcompatibilty molecules and then the body B-cell can identify the antigen. Other lymphocytes called T-lymphocytes (T-cells) mature in the thymus. Some T-cells called cytotoic or Killer T-cells directly destroy cells that are displaying a certain antigen on their surface. Other T-cells, Helper T-cells, regulate the immune system by controlling the strength of immune responses. [1][3][5][6][7][8][10][11][23] Types of Immune Responses Humoral Immune Response The Humoral response attack invaders that act outside of cells, like bacteria and poisons. When an invader antigen enters the body, Macrophages take the antigen and attach it to MHC molecules. The MHC molecules display the antigen to the T-helper cells and they attach to the presented antigen. This stimulates the T-helper cells to divide and produce interleukins. The Interleukins activate a B-cell that has bound the antigen. The activated B-cells then divide and secrete antibodies. Antibodies, also called immunoglobulins (lg), are Y-shaped proteins and they are found in blood and other bodily fluids of vertebrates. Antibodies are produced by a kind of white blood cell, called a plasma cell. Surface immunoglobulin are attached to the membrane of the effector B-cells, while antibodies are the secreted into the bloodstream and body cavities. The membrane-bound form of an antibodies is forms part of the BCR on B-cells. The general structure of all antibodies are very similar, except for a small region at the ends of the two arms of the Y used for binding antigens. This allows many different antigen binding sites to exist between the antibodies, allowing the immune system to recognize a wide diversity of antigens. The base of the Y determines how the antibody will destroy an antigen or foreign material. Antibodies into are classified into 5 classes/isotypes: lgM, lgG, lgA, lgD and lgE. They perform different roles and form part of the immune response against foreign objects. The secreted antibodies bind can the antigen and destroy it. Antibodies may also stop the harmful effects of an antigen by attaching to it and neutralizing it. Antibodies also help destroy antigens by tagging it for attack by other parts of the immune system. Cell-mediated Immune Response The Cell-mediated Response attacks invaders, like viruses, that reproduce inside cells. It also destroys cells that cause the growth of improper structures, like cancers. After an invader antigen enters the human body, Macrophages attach the antigen to MHC molecules. The MHC molecules present the antigen to the T-helper cells and they bind the antigen, which motivates the T-helper cells to divide and secrete interleukins. The Interleukins activate killer T-cells. Killer T-cells directly destroy the cell/s that are infected with or that are producing a certain antigen. [3][7][8][10][11] CONCLUSION: My Hypothesis that antibodies do not play a role in the rejection of a transplanted organ or tissue is incorrect. Antibodies are very important in transplant rejection, because they form part of the mechanism that rejects the organ or tissue and they are one of the main components of the Human Immunity System. When the healthy organ or tissue is transplanted into the body of the recipient, it does not have the same tissue antigens of the recipients body. Each human has unique tissue antigens, therefore a perfect match is seldom found. Antibodies form part of humoral rejection response to the transplanted organ or tissue. They are the main element in recognizing a foreign agent, because they have unique antigen binding sites. Antibodies especially play a role in Hyperacute, Humeroral and Chronic Transplant Rejection, as they are all humoral-mediated rejections. Anti-Donor antibodies are secreted by plasma cells after the T-helper cells have collected the transplants antigen and identified it as foreign and non-self. Pre-existing antibodies circulate through the bodily fluids of the human body looking for foreign material to recognize. Some antibodies also form part of the membrane receptor of the B-cells used to identify and recognize antigens of the transplanted organ or tissue. After the antibodies have bond to the foreign antigen of the transplanted organ or tissue, therefore recognizing it, it will decide how to destroy the organ or tissue or if it will tag it for attack from other parts of the immune system. Leading to Transplant Rejection and the destruction of the transplanted organ or tissue. BIBLIOGRAPHY REFERENCING: Websites: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000815.htm, Transplant Rejection, Medline Plus, 23 February 2010, David A. Kaufman, MD, Section Chief, Pulmonary, Critical Care Sleep Medicine, Bridgeport Hospital-Yale New Haven Health System, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/T/Transplants.html, Organ Transplants, 1 November 2009 http://www.chfpatients.com/tx/txrejection.htm, Transplant Rejection, CHF Patients, 3 June 2002 http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/surgery/rejection/index.html, Rejection: Organ Transplantation, UI Healthcare, 7 August 2006, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics http://immunology.suite101.com/article.cfm/why_organ_transplants_fail, Why Organ Transplants Fail, Immunology, 5 June 2009, Jitendra Rathod http://discoverysedge.mayo.edu/abo_posxmatch/index.cfm, Overcoming Antibody Barriers to Kidney Transplant, Discoverys Edge, 2010, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/432209-overview, Immunology of Transplant Rejection, eMedicine, 28 July 2009, Prashant Malhotra, MBBS, Fellow, Division of Infectious Diseases, North Shore University Hospital http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transplant_rejection, Transplant Rejection, Wikipedia, 27 March 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplant, Organ Transplant, Wikipedia, 21 March 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibody, Antibody, Wikipedia, 23 March 2010 Books: Westen, Trevor. 1976. The Hamlyn Family Medical Dictionary. Hong Kong: Toppan Printing Co. p16,187-188,367-368. Danovith, Gabriel. 2001. Handbook of Kidney Transplantation Third Edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams Wilkins. p17-61,146-162. Malan, Marais.1968. Heart Transplant. Johannesburg: Voortrekkerpers. p21-36. Magazines: Meyer, Rilette. Die grootste geskenk. Vroukeur. August 2009, p22 Unknown. n Geskenk van lewe. Vroukeur. August 2009, p31 Salzwedel, Ilse. Bloed Bande. Huisgenoot. Winter 2008, p22-28 Ramsamy, Prevashni. The Ultimate Donation. February 2006, p30-32 Newspapers: Unknown. Orgaanskenkings gee die geskenk van lewe. Die Burger. 29 September 1998 Hudsen, Mari. So verloop die proses van orgaanskenking. Die Burger. 14 August 2000, p5 Gerber, Jan. Tekort aan skenkers van organe. Die Burger. 14 April 2007 Wessels, Elsa. Nalaat van organe vir oorplanting is grootste geskenk denkbaar. Die Burger. 5 August 1998, p13 Kees, Revona. Orgaanskenkers kan talle lewens red. Die Burger. 31 August 2005, p10 Medical Journals: Chan, Laurence. 2000. Transplant Rejection and its Treatment. Chapter 9 (pg. 9.1 9.13). Cover Picture and Background: Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Outline-body-aura.png

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Mammy :: essays research papers

The Mammy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Irish tale depicts the life of a woman named Agnes Browne. The cards have fallen more than once for her, but with the love of her 7 children and faith, Agnes never losses her strength. The author, Brendan O’Carroll, adds elements of humor, tragedy, and love to this novel, which makes it hard to stop reading. Follow me as I talk about The Mammy and how her culture plays a part in her everyday life in the late 1960’s, in Dublin, Ireland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book begins with the death of Agnes Browne’s husband Nicholas Browne, whom gets hit by a car. Agnes is now a widow and single parent to 7 children (6 boys and 1 girl), whom all range in ages 14-3. All of her children attend strict Catholic schools. Although her oldest son wants to drop out of school to help his mother support the household, she wants him to stay and continue. Agnes does not want him to end up like his father was, an abusive drunk, who worked as a janitor for more than 15 years. Though Nicholas Browne beat Agnes, he was never to touch the children. She was very protective of her children and everyone in Dublin knew it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now Agnes has to raise the children with the money she gets from the social service office, her stall where she sales her fresh produce everyday, and her Catholic belief. Agnes has a best friend by the name of Marion Monks. The two are very close and do everything together. They go to the local pub all the time and gossip and drink alcohol. The pub they hang out in everyone knew one another and were all very friendly, the neighborhood is very tight. With her very busy life Agnes does find time to daydream about her favorite singer named Cliff Diamond. She loves to listen to his records and relax. Agnes daydreams of him all the time wishing she could have one dance with him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then tragedy hits Agnes once again when Marion dies of cancer. She is saddened by the sudden death of her best friend, but she has such strong strength, she knows Marion is looking down on her. At the end of the book Agnes’ dream comes true when she is surprised with a visit from Cliff Diamond and looks up in the sky to thank her friend Marion for watching over her.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Building and Maintaining Effective Teams :: BTEC Business Marketing GCSE Coursework

Building and Maintaining Effective Teams In this age of rapidly changing technology, market-driven decision making, customer sophistication, and employee restlessness, leaders and managers are faced with new challenges. Organizations must build new structures and master new skills in order to compete and survive. As work settings become more complex and involve increased numbers of interpersonal interactions, individual effort has less impact. In order to increase efficiency and effectiveness, a group effort is required. The creation of teams has become a key strategy in many organizations. Team building is an essential element in supporting and improving the effectiveness of small groups and task forces and must be a key part of a total program of organizational change. Hellriegel, Slocum, & Woodman (1986) state that team building is used to improve the effectiveness of work groups by focusing on any of the following four purposes: setting goals and priorities, deciding on means an methods, examining the way in which the group works, and exploring the quality of working relationships. A cycle then develops; it begins with the awareness or perception of a problem and is followed sequentially by data collection, data sharing diagnosis, action planning, action implementation, and behavioral evaluation. This style is repeated as new problems are identified. Not all work groups are teams. Reilly and Jones (1974) list four essential elements of teams: goals, interdependence, commitment, and accountability. The members must have mutual goals or a reason to work together; there must be an interdependent working relationship; individuals must be committed to the group effort; and the group must be accountable to a higher level within the organization. A good example is an athletic team, whose members share goals and an overall purpose. Individual players have specific assignments they are responsible for, but each depends on the other team members to complete their assignments. Lack of commitment to the team effort reduces overall effectiveness. Finally, the team usually operates within the framework of a higher organization such a league. The overall objective of a work team is to exercise control over organizational change (functionally, this involves increased decision-making and problem-solving efforts), although a side effect may be to increase the productivity of individual members. A primary objective of team building is to increase awareness of group process. In essence, the group members will learn how to control change externally by experimenting internally.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Philosophy †Free Will vs. Determinism Essay

The dialogue between philosophers over the existence of free will versus the inevitability of determinism is a debate that will always exist. The discussion centers around the true freedom of humans to think and act according to their own judgment versus the concept that humans are intrinsically bound by the physical laws of the universe. Before I enter this chicken and the egg debate I need to quantify my terms: Free will is defined by the great philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas as â€Å"vis electiva† or free choice. It is the ability of man to contemplate and judge the effects of the actions he is about to take. â€Å"†¦But man acts from judgment, because by his apprehensive power he judges that something should be avoided or sought. But because this judgment, in the case of some particular act, is not from a natural instinct but from some act of comparison in the reason, therefore he acts from free judgment and retains the power of being inclined to various things. † (Aquinas. Suma Theologica) Determinism is a complex notion but is best described by David Hume as the notion that something cannot come from nothing and that all actions have causes preceding them. â€Å"I conceive that nothing taketh beginning from itself, but from the action of some other immediate agent without itself. And that therefore, when first a man hath an appetite or will to something, to which immediately before he had no appetite nor will, the cause of his will, is not the will itself, but something else not in his own disposing. So that whereas it is out of controversy, that of voluntary actions the will is the necessary cause, and by this which is said, the will is also caused by other things whereof it disposeth not, it followeth, that voluntary actions have all of them necessary causes, and therefore are necessitated. † (Hume. Liberty and Nessessity. ) Philosophy and world religion alike were born of the same origins. Each of the two ancient disciplines arose from the quest for the answers to life’s ominous questions. These human questions, archetypical to people of all geographic locations; where did we come from; why are we here; where do we go when we die; unite us as a race. It is no coincidence that each religion and theology from all four corners of the earth tackles these black holes of human logic. Each religion carves their own individual explanations of these unanswerable questions into their core belief systems, each one centrally different than others. However, they all share one common thought; each shares a belief in an afterlife determined by the choices made in life. Free will is the common denominator in all world religions, because all share the essential concept of morality. The widespread acceptance of the concept of morality implies that there is a choice to be had at each and every juncture or life. The choice comes from recognition of good and evil. For good and evil to exist, then there has to be the ability to decipher between the two and also decide to accept one over the other. The existence of morality alone proves that free will exists, because without the freedom to choose right or wrong in any given situation there would be no qualitative measure of the â€Å"rightness† or â€Å"wrongness† of ones actions. David Hume comments on the origin of morality and its place in our everyday decision making processes, â€Å"Only when you turn your reflexion into your own breast, and find a sentiment of disapprobation† (Hume.Treatise of Human Nature). In other words, there are no outside stimuli that can decipher good from evil; the line can only be drawn by internal thought. Hume was a naturalist in that his vision of the world and therefore stance of philosophy was based directly through the experiences of the senses. His stance on many issues directly originated from his ability to experience it with the five senses, and on the subject of morality he takes exception. Even he recognizes the existence of morality in everyday life, even though it cannot be explained through the lens of the senses. It would seem that morality’s acceptance must therefore prove that free will exists, but there is one essential school of thought yet to weigh on this topic; science. Science was the latest bloomer of the three major disciplines of existential explanation and in the post modern era is becoming more and more popular. As the world becomes further secularized and the reaches of scientific logic continue to exceed their grasp, many of the world’s intellectuals identify â€Å"truth† on a scientific scale. Science does not support the theory of morality, because it can’t be proven to exist. The notion of â€Å"free-will†, something which world religion and philosophies alike recognize as a fundamental part of our human anatomy, is called into question in a few simple and logical ways. Science supports the theory of determinism as the only logical explanation of the unfolding of the actions of our lives. First off, science has recently developed the discipline known to us as physics, in which the laws of the universe have been defined. In the short time in which humans have been graced by the scientific understanding of the laws of the universe, human kind has yet to fully step back and contemplate the magnitude of this discovery. In generations past, humans believed that we were made special with â€Å"free will†, but now we know that like all things in the universe we are subject to the physical laws. This is a huge step forward in rational thinking because it allows us to understand that our previously God given concept of â€Å"free will† was really a result of a lack of understanding of the deterministic laws of the universe. For instance a law as simple and commonly accepted as â€Å"gravity† challenges the idea of free will. Gravitational pull determines that no matter the size of an object, once separate from the surface of the earth will be dragged back down at the same force every time. This is a simple concept that we take for granted, but it works in the free will v. determinism argument. We are ruled by gravity, and therefore all of our lives activities answer to it. We can’t choose to jump off a building and float in the air because we’ll be pulled back to the ground to our imminent deaths. We can’t choose to stay younger and keep our skin tight to our faces because gravity’s long-term effect causes our skin to droop down towards the ground. The choices I just listed may seem farfetched to some, however, if we examine the notion that we have â€Å"free will† in the empirical sense of the word we see that not all of our decisions are controlled by us, and that we fall victim to the tyrannical rule of the physical laws of the universe. We aren’t truly â€Å"free† to create our own actions in life. Albert Einstein offers a particularly apt synopsis, â€Å"Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper. † (Albert Einstein) The rule of physical law aside, which hinders us from truly being â€Å"free† to choose our own actions in life, is a much more simple scientific argument that dispels the notion of free will. For example: Say a 20 year old man murders another man in cold blood. They have no affiliation, no prior knowledge of who each other is, or reason to dislike each other. Man A walks up to random Man B and shoots and kills him. Was this action of Man A a result of â€Å"free will†? To examine the notion fully you need to look at his action coming from two sources. Either Man A was born with the moral flaw to allow himself to find killing another human acceptable, or that Man A was influenced during the course of his life by interactions and actions of others and came to that conclusion based on his own experience. There is no other explanation for Man A to willingly choose to open fire on Man B and kill him. If we look at the first option, Man A’s natural moral compass was skewed, allowing for him to conceive the notion that killing another is okay. This speaks to the determinant nature of our chemical makeup. Its possible his DNA made a mistake coding somewhere and he developed overtime and understood that killing another is â€Å"wrong† or maybe that his entire sense of â€Å"right from wrong† was skewed inside his mind. This would lead Man A to lead a life normally on the outside, and yet without regard for consequence, open fire on another man and kill him as easily as he could have held a door for him. This is the idea that he naturally had the capacity to kill, and that he could not control it. Eventually one of his animalistic impulses would finally stick and he’d be in the right place at the right time, and that it was only a matter of time until he killed someone. If you don’t subscribe to that theory and believe that he chose to kill Man B that day, try and consider that the results will still be pre-determined. If Man A killed Man B due to his choice, then his own â€Å"free will† and judgment that he finds reprehensible to kill another man can’t be attributed to truly â€Å"free† will of choice. Not every human kills others as part of their natural lifestyle, as they might kiss or mate with another. In fact a very small percentage of people in the world murder other humans, and this begs the question of why? What makes this small percentage of people â€Å"choose† to kill another person? The answer is that if they choose to do it, and they weren’t previously miswired so as said in the prior paragraph, then they must have been influenced by their surroundings. When Man A was six years old he didn’t choose to murder Man B, the events of his life led him to make this decision about whether or not murder was okay. This is yet another reason that he wasn’t truly free to choose; outside influence hinders the ability to choose freely. Whether he was abused, molested, lost a loved one, or just plain fed up with the monotony of everyday life in society, something pushed him over the edge. Something allowed for him to justify his actions; that something is outside influence. This deterministic train of thought explains why people do what they do, but not when. What makes us actually hit the point of no return, or when will the right opportunity hit the right mood leading the right action? (In our example the murder of Man B) The paradox between â€Å"free will† and â€Å"determinism† exists because of the influence of the different schools of thought. If one aligns his personal truth based on religious fervor, then an understanding of â€Å"free will† can exist logically and on the other hand if one bases his logic around science then â€Å"determinism† seems to be the only answer. So where does that leave philosophy, the great bridge between the two polarized schools of thought? It leaves philosophy somewhere in the middle, examining the validity of both sides of the argument, and helping to shed light on the debate over whether or not we truly are free to make a choice or if we are merely floating along the currents of the universe. Personally, I’m lost somewhere in the middle, hoping that the answer to this time-old question will be revealed. Works Cited: * Aquinas, St. Thomas. Sancti Thomae Aquinatis †¦ : Suma Theologica †¦ Parisiis: Apud Sebastianum Et Gabrielem Cramoisy, 1640. Print. * Hume, David. A Treatise of Human Nature: in Two Volumes. London: Dent, 1934. Print. * Hume, David. Liberty and Necessity: an Argument against Free-will and in Favor of Moral Causation. London: Progressive Pub. 1890. Print.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Externalities in Business

Definition of externalities: Externalities recently became an important and a popular term in the business world, especially with the risen of debates and arguments about the externalities’ costs and benefits, and the ethical issues related to it. Almost everybody deals with an externality everyday but without being aware of it (kaydee, 2008). The simple definition of says that Externality is the effect of an economic transaction which impacts somebody who was not involved in that transaction. The more complicated definition sates that Externalities can be defined as the different types of effects which impact some parties (individual or entities) as a consequence of other parties’ activities. These effects occur without any choice of the affected party and without taking their interest into account by the affecting party (kaydee, 2008). When any economic trade occurs between two parties, they both benefit from the trade. Sometimes, a third party is being affected as well by this trade, the effect can be a negative effect or a positive one; and these effects are what we call externalities (Anon. nd). For example, if we take any business organization as one party and the customer is the other party, they both have the trade of the organization sells or provide goods or services, and the customer pays to obtain this good or service. However, the society as a whole could be considered as a third party, any external costs the society pays or any external benefits it gai ns from this trade (costs and benefits not included in the market price of the goods or services) are then considered to be an externality. By breaking down this example, the business organization or the customer can be considered to be the affecting party, the society, the third party, is thus will be the affected party, the external costs and benefits are the externalities (Anon. , nd). Types of externalities: There are two types of externalities, the positive type and negative type. The external benefits are always considered to be positive externalities, these benefits affect the outsiders in a positive way, give some advantages and without any payment required. The external costs are considered as negative externalities, these costs affect the outsider negatively, impact them in disadvantageous way, and the outsiders are forced pay these costs without any choice (Jonson, n. d. ). There are lots of examples to clarify each of the two types. The negative externality which is some analysts call it as external costs and some other call it as external diseconomies can be seen in the global warming which is considered to be number one negative externality; the change in the climate came as a result from the emissions of burning the oil, coal and gas. The water pollution as a result of adding poisons to the water or the several contaminated chemicals which are dumped by industrial plants in lands or lakes participates in harming the people, plants and animals. The over fishing which comes as a consequence from the over harvesting of a fishing company harms other fishing companies harvesting in the same ocean. The company trucks using a road may create congestion or traffic jam which impacts negatively other road users. In the animal production, the industrial farms which generate huge outputs of animal products generates a negative externalities in the form of increasing the antibiotic resistant bacteria, contamination of rivers and waters by the disposal of the animal waste. These farms as well result in another externality of the animal welfare reduction due to the close quarters where the animals are kept. The problems which may be caused by the nuclear plants when storing the nuclear waste in impropriate way, and the radioactive waste which is generated thorough the energy production of the nuclear power plants may affect the current and new generations. The external cost of health decline which is a consequence of smoking, the external cost in the form of car accidents due the consumption of alcohol by drinkers which may lead to pedestrians killing or injure, are all considered as negative externality. All the previous negative externalities examples harm the environment and the inhabitants. The environment, the people, plants and animals are the parties which are affected negatively without any choice from their side and without taking their interests into consideration by the externality generator (Shaprio, Khemani, 2003; Anon. , nd). There are many examples also to be mentioned to describe the positive externality. When someone buys a certain product, it would increase the product value to other people who already have this product, the increase of the value is considered to be an external benefit for these people, this type of positive externality sometimes called the network externality or the network effect. When an invention is discovered or information is made more accessible, then other people will externally benefit from using this invention or the information. The education also gives a positive externality to the whole society, the more are the educated people in the society the more the whole society better off even people who are not educated as the rate of crime will decline which means more safety. Another example of positive externalities is when a foreign company opens a new branch in another country, although the deal is between the foreign organization and the country, and although they both benefit financially from this deal, but as well people will benefit by having opportunities for jobs, salaries and kind of secure life, this extra benefit for the people is considered to be positive externality. Also, when people buy a specific type of a commodity, the demand on these commodity increases, which as well increase the work chances for distributors, or when people buy a car model, then the demand for mechanics of this certain car model increases. Construction as well may give positive externality, when roads and bridges are built and opened; it may give a chance of opening new areas for housing and establishing business entities (Shaprio, Khemani, 2003; Anon. , nd; Anon. , 2007). Externalities and the ethical theories: Generally, externalities are always a term which creates a situation of social injustice, its existence generates socially unbalanced outcomes, regarding the fact that a party may gain external benefits without paying any type of costs, or a party who may suffer from and forced to pay external costs without any choice (Anon. , nd). The question about ethics in all cases of the externalities moves around the universal ethics. The universal ethics are defined as a system of ethics that can apply to every human being. The externality then, with its both types, the positive one and the negative, may lead to a violation of the ethics. If we analyze the negative externality example we mentioned of the radioactive pollution, as such an externality will contain external costs, people who will be affected by the negative outcomes, will consider the harm they will be exposed to as explicit costs which they did not put into account before. The harm could be in the shape of lung and body diseases, and the extra payment for medical checks and medicines. As the radioactive company serves the people by providing utilities, people will see the harm generated by the same company – the negative externality- as a reduction of the utility. The negative externality here then raises an ethical problem as it is simply considered as a violation of ethics as harming others (Anon. , nd). Regarding the positive externalities, it again raises an ethical issue by violating the universal ethics as the positive externalities type is always connected to the term which is called â€Å"free riding†. To explain how positive externality violates the ethics, let us refer to our example of education, when the society as a whole and as a third party, benefits from the education process in the form of being an educated, productive and well being society. Everyone then in the society will benefit, even people who were not educated will benefit without paying any cost. For such people, who will benefit from the educated, productive and well being society they are living in, it is considered external benefits as they did not pay for education, but on the contrary, they are free riding on the cost of others who had to go through and pay for the education process. Another example is the society health care, when people go and obtain the vaccination, the society will be protected from the transmitted diseases by its vaccinated members, but the people who did not receive the vaccination will still be protected from the diseases and will benefit from the healthy and protected society, actually they are free riding on the costs of the other members of the society. The free riding problem- the positive externality- is considered to be against the ethics and raise an ethical issue of benefiting from the borne of others (Anon. , nd). Also externalities raise an ethical issue due to the problem that the value or equivalent of any externality is difficult to be determined, most of the externalities are hidden, negative externalities are hidden by the traders, and positive externalities are hidden by the third parties benefit from it, which considered cheating, and breach the simple ethical rule â€Å"do not cheat† (kaydee, 2008). With the nowadays absence of ethics, the behavior changed negatively in a dramatic way, People do not think anymore about the externality which they going to create once any product they buy reach the expiry date. Companies do not think about the consequences of their waste disposal of the manufacturing operations. Injustice is considered to be a violation of ethics, when a third party is negatively affected by a transaction which is out of his or her control, there is then a case of injustice. Similar, when someone is affected positively by a transaction which is out of his or her control and he or she does not pay for this benefit, again the injustice takes place (kaydee, 2008). Some analysts have different opinion; some will argue that there is no ethical issue about externalities, meaning that there is nothing to do with wrongdoing. The supporters of this opinion say that most of the businesses are trying to achieve the purpose of their existence; they try to achieve their target whatever it is, making profit, providing goods and services, and keeping the employees employed. The conflict of interests between the businesses’ activities and the different parties around does not mean that businesses are doing anything wrong (MacDonald, 2007). Corporations actually should work under some certain core concepts which most of the time create kind of ethical dilemmas, these concepts are the business ethics rules which each business should respect and follow. But it is clear that these concepts are not strictly followed by business leaders, most of corporations do not pay much attention to business ethics and lots of businesses do not pay attention to the ethical implications of the externalities and its damage of the environment. As it is said: In business, it’s easy to talk about ethics, but it’s damn hard to be ethical. If we look back in time, historically two important ethical philosophies were created, the Western Ethical Philosophy and the Eastern Ethical Philosophy. Generally, philosophers came up with a number of ethical principles that control and guide business activities, these principles can be considered as ethical standards which always get codified into laws. One of the most important and well known ethical systems in the western ethical philosophies was the Hippocratic Oath, these principles was created by the Greek physician Hippocrates, and they are still used today, these principles in total generally direct people to the concept of â€Å"Do no harm. † The eastern example is the karma which adopts the concept of cause and effect, what are the negative and positive results of any conduct. This ethical system simply says that if you harm others, then the harm will eventually return to you; according to that, if the business creates good consequences then this good will return back to the business, and if the business does harm others, then the harm will also return and harm the business (Johannsen, n. d. ). So, both philosophies and some other philosophies not mentioned in this paper, raise the ethical issue of harming others, which is related to the externalities consequences, as one of the five core business concepts from the perspective of the harm and the negative effects that businesses generate. Worth to mention that the five core business concepts from the view of causing harm are: Shareholder Wealth, Profit Maximization, Fiduciary Responsibility, Return on Investment (ROI), and Externalities (Johannsen, n. d. ). In any business, all the accounting figures including profits and costs are always shown on the financial statements, but in the case of the externalities (which some financial analysts call it financial liabilities) the financial statements do not show the external cost or the external benefits of the corporation. Some will argue that this is considered to be a manipulation and a breach of ethics, and that the businesses should, clarify, confess, be responsible and pay for the externalities they cause. But some others will argue that the externalities are so hard to be described as a number or figure, and thus cannot be shown in the financial statement as liabilities, and so it can not be described as a manipulation or a breach of ethics. One of the important and well known ethical theories that may describe the externalities in a better way could be the utilitarian ethical theory. The utilitarianism refers to the idea that the moral worth of any action, whatever this action is done by an individual or by an entity, the moral worth will be determined only by how the action’s consequences participates to the overall utility. Thus, the utilitarianism indicates a type of consequentialism, as the moral worth of the action then will be judged according to its results and its effects on people. The utility here is considered to be the overall pleasure and the absence of pain. The utilitarian ethical theory describes the different types of actions, any action is considered to be an ethical action- in other words to be morally right – if its moral worth is positive, meaning, the action’s outcomes contribute in developing the overall utility or the overall happiness or pleasure among people. However the action will be considered as an unethical action- or morally wrong- if its moral worth is negative and its consequences are decreasing the overall utility of people and cause them suffering or pain (Anon. , nd). If we put externalities in practice according to the utilitarian ethical theory, then both types of externalities, the positive and the negative, are to be considered as unethical actions. The negative externality affects the third parties by reducing their utility, in all our previous examples of negative externalities, environment and people end in suffering and pain. Talking about the positive externalities, they are as well considered unethical as the third parties are affected positively but without paying any cost for these benefits which in a way increase their utilities but on the account of others. Although this ethical theory was successful for a period of time, it was faced with lots of criticism which came up later. One of the important criticisms was that the utilitarian ethical theory described the positive and negative externalities as symmetric in nature, and those externalities will lead to non optimal outcomes which call for the necessity of government intervention. Mr. Murray Rothbard wrote in his book, Man, Economy, and State, a good criticism of the utilitarianism approach of externalities. He stated that the positive and the negative externalities are not symmetric from the ethical perspective of property rights. He says that the two externalities types are completely different in nature; he argued that the injustice in the case of the negative externalities is due to the failure of the authorities in protecting the property rights of every party involved. Opposite, in the case of the positive externalities, there is no violation of the property rights of the party who gives the external benefits but only when the authority tries to extend this benefits (Cleveland, 2002). Another ethical theory which can explain the externalities is the social responsibility theory. The corporate social responsibility term- which is divided into four parts, the legal, the discretionary, the economic responsibility, and finally what we are interested in, the ethical responsibility- refers to the obligations of the business to work and conduct the operations in ways which achieve its own interests and the interests of all its stakeholders. Thus, the business is to be considered as a socially responsible if it pays attention and make sure that its activities do not harm or affect negatively its stakeholders (Sandy Millar, Christopher Theunissen, 2008, P69) (Anon. 2008). When we look at externalities from this theory’s point of view, especially the negative type of externalities, any business which causes harm to the environment, people and society in total, should not be then considered as socially responsible business. This business often works on achieving its own interests and purpose of existence (making profit and satisfying the shareholders), but it fa ils in keeping its social responsibilities and obligations towards the rest of the stakeholders and thus lead to externalities. As mentioned, the most important interest and the main target for most corporations are to satisfy their shareholders needs, and that comes by making profit. This aim is the most argued that it is the reason for corporation to act unethically and not paying attention to the social responsibility and lead to unethical practices which cause the externalities. At the end the corporation is just a legal structure and its moral responsibilities comes from the moral responsibilities of the corporation’s shareholders, employees, and managers. If the managers are being unethical conducting unethical activities, and if the shareholders are being unethical by approving and giving the green light to the managers to go ahead in such unethical practices, then it at the end reflects on the overall corporation of being ethical or unethical, of being socially responsible or not (Anon. , 2008). This leads to another approach, which is the general ethics theory. Ethics is what examines and judge the human behavior; regarding what is right and what is wrong, regarding what is just and what is unjust, and regarding what is fair and what is unfair. To behave ethically is to behave in a manner which is right or moral. The behavior then is considered to be ethical if it is right and the vise versa. But what does determine if the behavior is right or wrong? What does determine if the behavior ethical or unethical? Generally, the society comes on the top of the list of what determines what is right or wrong, even if societies are sometimes different from one another in some of specific rules and determinations of the morally correct behavior, but at the end they all agree some general standards and principles which should be followed. When combining the two theories together, the social responsibility and the general ethics, we find that externalities happen due to many reasons. There is no one agreed moral code, and people, including top executives, have weak sense of good moral especially that nowadays people are mostly far from religion and their morals come often from their experience. This conflict of good behavior and gaining high profit is a good example, when choosing between being socially responsible or profit in the existence of weak sense of morals, the business represented in its official will chooses the profit. In multinational companies, externalities are more likely to happen as these companies operate in different countries; each has its own people and its own culture and moral codes which may conflict with each other. Individuals in such companies, when working with different groups with different values and moral codes, tend easily to break their own values, ethics, and behavior which they believe to be the right way, in order to fit, adapt to and be accepted by their group instead of standing up against the wrong behavior, their own interest to be recognized do beat their social responsibility which they are obliged towards the society. Suggested solutions for externalities: There are some solutions which came up to deal with the issue of externalities. Most of these solutions are faced by criticism due to various reasons. Social Conventions, Regulatory Limits, Mergers, and corrective taxes are considered to be the most important answers to deal with the externalities. The social conventions approach aims to deal with externalities through the social conventions and traditions. But it faced with a criticism that it forces people to take into account the externalities they cause, and that it may work with individuals but its effectiveness will not be useful with high cost externalities generated by multinational companies as instance. Merger, another solution for externalities, gathers all the parties involved in the externality to merge, but again it failed to solve all situations, it could solve the negative externalities between some firms by merging them together, but in a situation like a polluter company and the people around this company who are affected negatively by the pollution, how can the company and the people merge together? (Gibson, 1996). The regulatory limits approach is supposed to be the most common approach for dealing with externalities, simply it does not only suggest to impose regulatory limits for the externality amount generated by any party, but as well imposes a fine for any party generates externality which exceeds the regulatory limits. The corrective taxes approach aims to impose corrective taxes in order to push all parties to be socially responsible and limit the amount of externalities produced. If we take pollution as an example, then corrective taxes will be imposed on each unit of pollution equal to the same amount of damage affected the society. The two approaches, which in a way close in concept to each other, aim to force the externalities generators- including businesses- to absorb the cost incurred by them. Still, both approaches are faced with problems which weaken them. The regulatory limits approach has some difficulties especially when it comes to the determination and detection of the firms breaching the limits and by how much is the violation of the limits (Gibson, 1996). The corrective tax approach has lots of supporters who completely agree that externalities generators should pay the full cost for their faults, and by punishing some business, this will work as a red alert to the rest to pay more attention to business ethics and to behave in a better ethical and moral way. But still the ideas is facing lots of criticism, the opponents claim that when implementing such a tax system, the first result will be the price increase as the businesses will try to keep their profit margin stable, especially after the increase of their costs due to paying the corrective tax, this will eventually lead to a decrease in demand and thus economical problems. Also, the opponents argue that in some externality cases, such as pollution, it is difficult to determine the polluter and the amount of harm was caused (same like the regulatory limits). And even if the damage amount can be determined, it appears the biggest problem of externality which is the estimation of the externality effects. Positive or negative externality should be measured and translated into a value which will determine the corrective tax amount (Gibson, 1996). Some businesses, when faced with the problem of externality, and when they are accused by affecting negatively third parties, whatever it was environment, people or other businesses, they sometimes follow what is called the obstructive response, which indicates the lowest degree of social responsibility. According to this type of response, accused businesses tend to deny all the responsibility, and argue that any evidence that they generated an externality is misleading; they also do their best to delay investigations and the conformation of externality evidences, they did not only breach the ethical rule of â€Å"do not harm† by they as well breach the rule of â€Å"do not cheat†. Conclusion and recommendations: Externality with its two types, the positive and the negative, happens all the time in our normal daily life; it has several effects on all parties involved. Environmental harm is the most important and recognized consequence of the negative externality. Several ethical theories can be used to explain the ethical nature of externalities, the utilitarianism, the social responsibility, and the general ethics theories. Generally, externalities are considered to be a violation of ethics. Many reasons cause the externalities, but most importantly is the absence of ethics, and the good moral of people, which lead to absence of business ethics and morals as business at the end consists of groups of people. There are businesses which pay attention to the social responsibility and the good moral, these businesses try to meet their obligations towards their business environment, sometimes through setting up special committees or professional experts in order to discuss and solve their ethical problems. But most businesses are clearly tend to ignore their social responsibility and act mostly in the way which serves their own interests and deny any claim or evidences about the externalities and harm they may cause to their business environment. There are several possible approaches to deal with the problem of externalities, but each approach has its weaknesses. There is a strong support for persuading businesses to fully take the responsibility and pay for the externality’s cost incurred by them. The opponents of this opinion argue that this cannot be done as it is difficult to determine the amount of harm produced and as well difficult to translate it into a value. Some other opponents claim that businesses do offer to the society and the business environment more benefits than harm in the shape of better economy, employment, utilities and welfare. Top executives and managers and generally business officials should work and ethically apply the core concepts in ways which prevent the externalities and the harm which could be generated by their decisions. They also have to solve the problem of interests’ conflict and act in a way that balance and achieve both interest as much as possible. Business officials have to establish moral principles to determine an organizational core value to control and guide the organization’s practices and to set a moral climate within the organization. Any business that violates the ethics should then be suspended from continuing its operation for a period of time; at least till correction step is taken. People should return and relive the ethics and values, and they have to act and behave rationally. Governments must play stronger role to deal with the externality problem. Many approaches can be followed like a well define for property rights, Criminalization, Civil Tort law, and Government provision. References: Anonymous. , nd. Definition of Externality. (Online). Available at: About. om: Economics. http://economics. about. com/cs/economicsglossary/g/externality. htm. (Accessed 20 July 2009) Anonymous. , nd. Externality. (Online). Available at: Wikipedia, Answer. com. http://www. answers. com/topic/externality-1. (Accessed 22 July 2009) Anonymous. , 2007. Externality. (Online). Available at: Guardian. co. uk. http://www. guardian. co. uk/business/2007/apr/11/businessglossary9. (Accessed 25 July 2009) Anonymous. , nd. Utilitarian ism. (Online). Available at: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/Utilitarianism. (Accessed 28 July 2009) Anonymous. , 2008. Social Responsibility. (Online). Available at: OPPapers. http://www. oppapers. com/essays/Social-Responsibility/159386. (Accessed 1 august 2009) Cleveland. , A. , 2002. The Failure of Utilitarian Ethics in Political Economy. (Online). Available at: The Independent Institute. http://www. independent. org/publications/article. asp? id=1602. (Accessed 28 July 2009) Gibson. , H. , 1996. Externalities: Implications for allocative efficiency and suggested solutions. (Online). Available at: Hunterlink. http://www2. hunterlink. net. au/~ddhrg/econ/ext1. html. (Accessed 28 July 2009) Johannsen. , M. , nd. Five Core Business Concepts Causing Ethical Problems for Organizations. (Online). Available at: A Glossary of Political Economy. http://www. legacee. com/Info/Mindset/BusinessEthics. html. (Accessed 27 July 2009) Jonson. , P. , nd. Externality. (Online). Available at: A Glossary of Political Economy. http://www. auburn. edu/~johnspm/gloss/externality. (Accessed 20 July 2009) Kay Dee. , 2008. The Ethics of Externalities. Online). Available at: Engineering Ethics Blog. http://engineeringethicsblog. blogspot. com/2008/11/ethics-of-externalities. html. (Accessed 20 July 2009) MacDonald. , C. , 2007. Externalities and the Ethics of Small Matters. (Online). Available at: The Business Ethics Blog. http://www. businessethics. ca/blog/2007/03/samosa-ethics-externalities-and-ethics. html. (Accessed 20 July 2009) Shapiro. , D & Khemani. , R. , 2003. Externality. (Onli ne). Available at: Glossary of Statistical Term. http://stats. oecd. org/glossary/detail. asp? ID=3215.