Case Analysis – The Best-Laid Incentive Plans

This paper seeks to answer two questions from the case entitled `The Best-laid Incentive Plans` by Steve Kerr. The first one is to identify relevant metrics while the second one is to discuss the potential incentive and disincentive characteristics of your metrics. 2. Questions and Answers: 2.1. Identify relevant metrics The relevant metrics being used by Harim were efficiency and cost reduction which are focused on employees and company activities rather than on the customer. This fact is based on Harim’s plan to bring down costs which had caused the placing for savings on all the factors that could influence cost (Kerr, 2003). As proof it was commented that the company has found itself paying out bonuses but still the profitability of the company did not improve (Kerr, 2003). 2.2 Discuss the potential incentive and disincentive characteristics of your metrics. The potential incentive characteristics include the fact the employees are given out bonuses for having produced savings. Producing saving could be beneficial to the company as this will enable it to have funds for growth as well as sustaining its working capital requirements. On the other hand, the potential disincentive characteristics include the fact that the program is not fully understood by the employees as to the real purpose of the cost reduction and how it would redound to their benefits.   Another disincentive characteristic is that it is more employee-focused than customer -focused which contributes to employees not understanding why they are the targets. The program also assumes that the organization was not working hard enough while the employees know that it is not the usual case in most companies. This has the effect of affecting the self esteem of people in the organization and necessary their job morale. The program lacks a clear definition of the criteria for success. By failing to explain the cost reduction program the employees may not understand the bottom line effects of the program. This could make them think that eventually it could result to their losing their jobs since their jobs also have cost to the company. The employees not seeing the big picture will be confused and this could cause them to lose their loyalties to the company and this could be more disastrous for the company. The metrics program of Hiram focuses on the intermediary steps and assumes that such enhancements will make a positive impact on the bottom line (Kerr, 2003). By falsely assuming that short term positive impacts will result, the opposite could result because the employees cannot understand the direction that they are taking. Or although it could produce positive result in the short run, the long term success is actually being sacrificed. It may be argued that although the long term objectives or goals are broken down into short terms objective, focusing on the short objective may create more problems. To illustrate, although less employees could mean less labor cost, it could also mean less customer service and customer loyalty, which is usually built over long term but could be lost in an instant by failing to address their short term needs as customers can switch anytime. Another disincentive characteristic is its failure to link with corporate strategy of marketing. Although the quality and cost of provided services need to be controlled at manageable levels the need to have more satisfied customer are equally if not more important. By measuring only the amount of cost that will be saved without relating with amount of revenues that will be lost, the company is in a losing game from which it is clearly missing the point of any incentive program or performance metrics. 3. Conclusion: Performance should first be measured in terms of revenues before using cost reduction for the essence of going into business is using up assets and resources to generate revenues that expected to be higher that could cover up the expenses. Hiram’ program failed in this aspect. Reference: Kerr, S. â€Å"The Best-Laid incentive Plans†, Motivating People, Harvard Business Review Case Study, 2003   

Comparison Between Always and Tonight I Can Write

The poems by Pablo Neruda that I chose to analyze are complete opposites. In â€Å"Always† he describes his feelings for a woman and how they are forever. In â€Å"Tonight I Can Write†, Neruda writes about the end of a relationship, the end of love. His descriptions are very vivid in both poems, vivid enough that they make the reader feel what the writer is feeling. In Pablo Neruda’s â€Å"Always† the narrator is trying to express his feelings for the woman he loves. He starts the poem starts by telling his loved one that he is â€Å"not jealous of what came before me†(line 1-2), the relationships she had before. I believe he starts with this sentiment because he wants his loved one to know and fully understand that he loves her completely and regardless of her previous relationships. He compares her previous relationships with other men to pieces of them left behind in her body and he still maintains that he loves her unconditionally. The narrator tells the woman he loves to go to the place where he is waiting for her and that they will always be just the two of them. My interpretation of the last sentences of the poem is that he will always stand by her and is anxious to start their life together. In â€Å"Tonight I Can Write†, the narrator begins by saying he can finally write the saddest lines. He uses distance to explain why he can finally write the saddest lines. He compares the distance between him and his former loved one to the distance to the stars in the shattered night sky. He begins explaining his relationship by saying â€Å"I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too†(6); I understand with this statement that their relationship has ended and although it was not a serious one, I feel that he wanted it to be. This sentence makes me think that that he was more committed to the relationship than she was. The narrator alternating between past and present makes me think that he has not completely accepted the fact that the relationship is over. The narrator references the stars in the night sky, and mentions that without his loved one, the night sky seems even bigger. The narrator flashes back to nights in which he was with his loved one and reminisces about kissing her â€Å"again and again under the endless sky† (8). He continues to say that when he remembers that does not have her anymore, when he feels that he lost her; those thoughts give him the inspiration to write the saddest lines. His feeling of loneliness is emphasized by the â€Å"immense night, still more immense without her† (13). The narrator does not analyze his relationship or why it ended, the only thing that he considers worth mentioning is that the relationship did in fact end. When he says â€Å"the night is starry and she is not with me† (16), I understand that he is accepting the fact that life continues even though his relationship was over. I find these two poems to be so different and so much alike at the same time. In both poems Neruda’s sentiments are straightforward, honest and heartfelt. Always† describes the joys of being in love and that love being corresponded; while â€Å"Tonight I Can Write† describes the heartache of ending a relationship and still longing for the other person. In both poems the author uses vivid descriptions to make the reader feel what he feels, see what he sees and imagine what he imagines. For example, in â€Å"Always†, he compares the woman he loves to a river and the men in her relationship past to â€Å"drowned men†, I can see this image clearly in my mind and feel undeniable love and acceptance. In the second poem, â€Å"Tonight I Can Write†, the imagery used by the author makes me feel his pain, his sadness and emptiness. When the author says â€Å"my sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer†, I can feel his desire to be with her; I can feel his pain. I feel his loneliness as he remembers the woman he loved and the sadness he experienced and is still experiencing due to his relationship ending. The last sentences in both poems are complete opposites of each other. For example in â€Å"Always† the last sentences convey his happiness and eagerness to start their life as a couple: Bring them all o where I am waiting for you; we shall always be alone, we shall always be you and I alone on earth to start our life! (11-16) These last sentences reiterate the fact that the author does not care about the past men in his loved one’s life; he truly loves her and wants to spend the rest of his live with her. Her past does not concern him; all he cares about is the present and the future. In â€Å"Tonight I Can Write†, the last sentences convey a sense of sadness and resignation. I even sense a bit of anger and determination to stop feeling this sadness he feels every time he remembers her: I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long. Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her. Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer and these the last verses that I write for her. † (27-32) These final sentences tell me that the author is trying to convince himself that he no longer loves her. He states it does not take long for a person to fall in love but forgetting seems to take forever. It is not easy to forget. It is easier to love someone than to forget them. He still remembers the nights when she would rest in his arms and feels unhappy with the fact that he has lost this woman. He ends the poem by stating that after he finalizes the poem, he will no longer feel pain nor miss her; after he finishes the final â€Å"verse† he will move on and find happiness with someone else. The theme in both poems is distance and love. In â€Å"Always† he is telling his loved one to come meet him; he is waiting for her. In â€Å"Tonight I Can write† he relieves moments of joy from his relationship, only to come to terms that his relationship is over and that he is waiting for her. The narrator’s sadness in â€Å"Tonight I Can Write† it’s so overwhelming that I can feel it so much to the point that I can imagine myself living what he is living. In my opinion Pablo Neruda is an exceptional writer that always writes from the heart and is fully committed to making his readers feel what he feels. I have not found a Neruda poem I do not like. His imagery is so vivid, that I can clearly see in my mind the night sky and see the river full of drowned men. I can feel his love in â€Å"Always† almost as If I were feeling it myself. In â€Å"Tonight I Can Write† I can feel his sadness to the point that I feel brokenhearted and angry. In conclusion, these two poems are both beautiful in their own special way. â€Å"Always† is beautiful in the sense that the narrator reminds us of the joys of a new relationship; while â€Å"Tonight I Can Write† is a reminder that although ending a relationship is sad and at the moment it seems like the end of the world, life continues and one should try to be happy always.

Human history Essay

Human history has witnessed numerous examples of wars. Our history has taught us that wars are unique by nature. Different philosophers at different times were trying to generate solid philosophical understandings of what war and strategy were. As a result, we possess sufficient theoretical basis for discussing the philosophical foundations of war, yet we have not been able to predict our military failures. After the end of WWII the world has finally taken a deep breath, and people were confident that violence would never enter their lives again. However, we are still surrounded by constant risks of war, and continue witnessing the acts of violence, and murders. Certainly, contemporary wars are completely different from those at the beginning of the 20th century: the development of the new weaponry types and communication technologies, have turned the simplest military actions into highly sophisticated acts. The war in Iraq has critically impacted the military balance in the world, and it is interesting to see, how Iraqi war would be explained through the prism of various philosophic works. Clausewitz: On War Carl von Clausewitz has written a well grounded research on the philosophy of war. His theoretical assumptions make it possible to distinguish philosophic implications of military actions. Having evaluated what war is, Clausewitz was able to create a general structure of war, and I think that his ideas are easily applied to the issues of the war in Iraq. â€Å"War is nothing but a duel on an extreme scale. If we would conceive as a unit the countless number of duels which make up a war, we shall do so best by supposing to ourselves two wrestlers. Each strives by physical force to compel the other to submit his will to his will: each endeavours to throw his adversary, and thus render him incapable of further resistance† (Clausewitz 1989, p. 4). Although, this Clausewitz’ definition is very objective, grounded, and universally applicable (any war implies the fight of several opponents for power), there are some amendments which should be made in terms of war in Iraq. It is difficult to admit, but it is true, that the war in Iraq is nothing more than the fight for power: Clausewitz does not distinguish whether this might be economic, social, or military power, or some other different aspect of political superiority. Clausewitz risks applying limited perspectives to discussing what war is. In the fight between the two wrestlers, only one of them initially seeks superiority. As a result, at the initial stage of war, only one of the opponents fights for power and superiority. Clausewitz supports this line stating that â€Å"two motives lead men to war: instinctive hostility and hostile intention. In our definition of war, we have chosen as its characteristic the latter of these elements, because it is the most general†. Has the U. S. started the war in Iraq with hostile intentions? Probably, it has. Many of us argue the fact that the U. S. military actions in Iraq were primarily aimed at promoting democracy in the country. To be objective, hardly any democracy can survive in the whirl of blood, murders, terrorist acts and violence caused by military actions. However, in the fight between Iraq and the U. S. Clausewitz seems to have neglected one essential stage of developing military actions: the first stage is the military intervention, and it hardly looks as the fight of the two wrestlers. On the contrary, its image is similar to unexpected blow on the side of the opponent to which another wrestler cannot stand and falls. The situation described by Clausewitz is actually the next stage of war. Iraq required certain period of time to gather it strength and to enter the war as an equal. At the stage when we started to receive the reports on murders and terrorist acts against American soldiers, one could suggest that the war has turned into the discussed fight. However, in this fight one of the opponents was trying to prove his superiority, while the other tried his best to defend the integrity of his physical territory and peace in the country. We cannot but agree with Clausewitz that war is never an isolated act, and it is never a separated single military blow. â€Å"War does not spring up suddenly, it does not spread to the full in a moment; each of the two opponents can, therefore, form an opinion of the other, in a great measure, from what he is and what he does, instead of judging of him according to what he, strictly speaking, should be or should do† (Clausewitz 1989, 5) The war in Iraq had long prehistory. The United States were continuously trying to defend their position in this military conflict. It was evident that the war was inevitable. As a result it is difficult to argue the position of Clausewitz. Actually, the work of Clausewitz seems to be very close to what we currently witness in Iraq. Of course, we do not know much as none of us has fortunately participated in this campaign. All we have at our disposal are news reports and other secondary information, but this secondary information allows analyzing the events in Iraq from the viewpoints of several philosophers. Clausewitz creates a philosophic picture of war. He implies that war does not change its face, and the structure of military actions and interactions remains unchanged, no matter at what historical period of our development a war may occur. This does not really matter, whether we use nuclear weapons or fight in the open sea – the war is always the utmost use of force, which does not break out of sudden, and which is the means of proving one’s superiority. Jablonski: Roots of Strategy In his work, David Jablonski has evaluated the works of the four theorists, as applied to military actions and military strategies. It is surprising, that Jablonski was able to avoid bias in his discussion. It is even more surprising, that the works of philosophers written at the beginning of the 20th century seem to have predicted the exact course of events during the war in Iraq. This, on the one hand, continues the line found in the work of Clausewitz: the essence of military actions remains unchanged through the centuries. On the other hand, Jablonski’s selection helps us understand WHY the U. S. was involved into the war in Iraq, and has actually initiated it. â€Å"In the United States our people have been slow to realize the changed conditions. Isolated as we have been from possible enemies, the people could see little chance for aggression by others. Separated as we are from Europe by the Atlantic, and from Asia by the Pacific which form most certain and tremendously strong defensive barriers, we seemed to be protected by the design of the Almighty. [†¦] The vulnerability of the whole country to aircraft as distinguished from the old conditions that obtained when the frontiers or the coast had to be penetrated before an invasion of the country could be made, has greatly interested the people of the nation† (Jablonski 1999, 452) What facts do we have in the war against Iraq? First, the U. S. has for long been isolated from others’ aggression. Even during WWII the U. S. was not directly involved into military actions. The terrorist acts of 2001 have been a tremendous shocking therapy to the whole American nation. The continuous isolation from the direct aggression has made the U. S. senseless towards possible military and terrorist threats. The image of the almighty nation was rather exaggerated, and the events of 9/11 have proved this assumption. The terrorist attacks had to attract the attention of the U. S. to its vulnerability and to eliminate the discussed senselessness, but the country has misinterpreted these events. The senselessness has turned into aggression against the states which were suspected in promoting terrorism (Iraq is in the top list of such ‘promoters’). As far as the United States has not experienced any acts of continuous aggression, which it could not stand, it has not fully realized the continuous effects of military actions brought into Iraqi land. In the introduction to his book, David Jablonski puts emphases on the most critical elements of war. â€Å"Modern military forces normally work in an environment in which the major dilemma is that of properly matching continuity and change. [†¦] the core attribute to such thinking is to imagine the future as it may be when it becomes the past – a thing of complex continuity. † Thus, planning continuity and looking at military actions through the prism of the past is the crucial element in making this strategy reasonable and justified. What are continuous impacts that the U. S. has caused onto the Iraqi population? These are economic defeat, and the need to restore all social and political structures of the country. It is still unclear whether the U. S. was able to promote democratic ideals in Iraq, but it is evident that it has failed to apply the principles of â€Å"continuity through the past† to planning the Iraqi military strategy. Jablonski states that the significance of the theoretical works he discussed in his book is in that they are presented in a structured manner, and can be easily understood and applied in practice. It seems that both the U. S. in its war in Iraq, and the terrorists in their 9/11 attacks have applied the principles discussed by Jablonski: â€Å"sometimes implicitly, more often explicitly, they created images of how aerial destruction of ‘vital centers’, could bring a nation to its knees. After all, there were the examples of mass panic on the home fronts and mutiny in the trenches during the recent war. † Similar to Clausewitz, who creates parallels between military actions and wrestling, Jablonski also underlines the importance of the sudden effect. Consequentially, we come to understanding an interesting military controversy: military campaigns cannot be sudden, but the â€Å"sudden effect† of aerial or other destruction often determines the success of the planned military campaign. These two elements are integral to the U. S. intervention to Iraq, too. Liddell-Hart: Strategy There are the two crucial elements which make Liddell-Hart’s view applicable to the war in Iraq: first, the author extensively researches the historical implications of specific military actions, and second, he does not expand his research to broader notions, but is rather concentrated on the ‘cause-effect’ research. His book is in many instances similar to that of Clausewitz. This is why the author is initially biased. In both works the reader meets identical philosophical parallels: â€Å"To move along the line of natural expectation consolidates the opponent’s balance and thus increases his resisting power. In war, as in wrestling, the attempt to throw the opponent without loosening his foothold and upsetting the balance results in self-exhaustion, increasing in disproportionate ration to the effective strain upon him. Success by such method only becomes possible through an immense margin of superior strength in some form – and, even so, tends to lose decisiveness. † (Liddell-Hart 1991, 5) In this citation, we find many elements which have already been found in other philosophical works: loosening foothold may be paralleled to the sudden aerial attacks, while moving along the line of natural expectation is similar to complying with the principles of continuity and thorough planning. Simultaneously, it is difficult to apply this statement to the military actions in Iraq. If the U. S. used Liddell-Hart’s philosophical implications in developing its strategy in Iraq, it would never apply the means of sudden attack against the Iraqi nation. People in Iraq would not know what means being bombed. As a result, the U. S. would risk losing its powerful positions. The philosophic perspective created by Liddell-Hart is hardly applicable to the war in Iraq or to any other military campaign in contemporary world. In addition, when Liddell-Hart speaks about morale in war, he represents its too idealistic image: the violence of American soldiers against Iraqi people eliminates any possibility to link morale to the war in Iraq. Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince â€Å"A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, and it is of such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes, but it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. † This is another aspect of the war in Iraq, described in the terms of Niccolo Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Prince†. As Hitler used the war to prove his superiority and to create the nation of Aryans, the U. S. seems to be in constant need to prove its superiority to other nations. Several recent decades have turned into the years of constant fight, in which the U. S. always positioned itself as the leading and powerful nation: Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Yugoslavia, and finally, Iraq; who is going to be the next? Machiavelli makes special emphasis on the importance for the prince to understand and to possess the art of war: â€Å"a prince who does not understand the art of war, over and above other misfortunes already mentioned, cannot be respected by his soldiers, nor can he rely on them. † (Machiavelli, 2006) The best information and intelligence resources have been employed to develop a sound military strategy towards Iraq, yet the U. S. was not able to display a skilful approach towards Iraqi intervention. Numerous deaths of the American soldiers and their inability to find common language with the native population, whom they had to protect, suggest that the United States did not possess any sound military skills. Expectation of easy victory usually leads to easy failure. The war in Iraq has displayed the U. S. inability to analyze the world military history, about which Machiavelli speaks. The author refers to the importance for the prince to study the actions of illustrious men and to see how they behaved themselves during war. Being powerful does not mean being non-educated; being powerful means being skillful, reasonable, and objective. Military failures in Vietnam and Yugoslavia have not taught the U. S. any meaningful lessons. In distinction from Clausewitz, Liddell-Hart, and Jablonski, Machiavelli did not apply any historical perspectives to evaluating military strategies, but he was wise enough to emphasize the importance of historical lessons, and of the ability to properly evaluate these lessons. Peter Paret: Makers of Modern Strategy While Clausewitz applied the painting parallels to researching war, Paret has performed a profound research of several philosophic writings related to the topic of war. All authors he discussed in his book sought to answer several crucial questions: whether it was possible to evaluate war, whether it was a viable tool of foreign policy, and how ethical war was. Paret’s views are directly connected with the understanding of nuclear threats as applied to military strategies. Paret’s book is actually the selection of the major philosophic works and their evaluation. It seems that modern philosophers try to distance themselves from creating their own ideas about war, but prefer analyzing the ideas of others as applied to contemporary political and military environment. In the introduction to his book, Paret writes that â€Å"strategy is the use of armed force to achieve the military objectives and, by extension, the political purpose of the war. To those engaged in the direction and conduct of war, strategy has often appeared more simply, in Moltke’s phrase, as a system of expedients† Thus, war is initially the conjunction of political and military ideas. The war in Iraq is also the combination of political and military aims, but which of them prevails? In his book, Paret often cannot make a case. He states that Machiavelli lived during the time when warfare was unregulated and thus the relevance of his assumptions could decrease. However, who says that our warfare is regulated? Paret suggests that while Clausewitz supported the idea of war to be limited in time, goals, and strategies, there was no place to global military campaigns. Does this mean that local military conflicts similar to those in Iraq cannot expand beyond the geographical borders of the Iraqi nation? They can, and the conflict in Iraq has already stretched itself across the world. The war in Iraq has already turned into the political fight between the two opposing political camps, and the perspective of the global war has never been so close since the end of WWII. This is why it is difficult to understand the aim of Paret’s analysis. For the aims of objective military research, one should rather read the original works of philosophers, than their subjective interpretations made by contemporary authors. Sun Tzu: The Art of War â€Å"Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him. [†¦] If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way† (Sun Tzu 1971, 24) The ideas of war produced by Sun Tzu, partially seem as odd as the instruments he offers to use if one does not want to fight. On the one hand, being first to the field also implies using ‘sudden’ tactics. On the other hand, what odd instruments could Iraqi people use to openly claim their desire not to start war with the U. S.? One should not repeat its tactics which had been successful earlier, but it should be regulated according to the constantly changing military environments. Moreover, using the tactics which has already proved to be a failure is a guaranteed double failure. The U. S. has not taken into account numerous important elements of an effective military strategy: being sudden does not always mean being successful. Aerial attacks make people fall to their knees, but do not break them completely. The U. S. develops a sound strategy of removing its military from the Iraqi territory. The aim is to turn retreat into a victory, which is virtually impossible. Until the U. S. is able to re-evaluate its defeats and tactics in previous military campaigns, it will have to be prepared to new military failures. Conclusion I think that each of the analyzed philosophers has something to say about the war in Iraq. Each of them discussed interesting elements of military strategy which could be applied to Iraqi military campaigns. Although certain views are limited, some risk being biased, and some cannot make the case at all, all of them deserve attention at least for having researched the question which we will hardly ever answer: What is War? It is never stable, it is always changeable, it always has a different face, and sometimes we even fail to recognize it from the start. One thing is evident: no matter how difficult a war can be, no excuses can justify our inability to fight well. BIBLIOGRAPHY Clausewitz, C. On War. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. Jablonski, D. Roots of Strategy. Book 4. Merchanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 1999. Liddel-Hart, Basil H. Strategy: Second Revised Edition. New York: Meridian Books, 1991. Machiavelli, N. The Prince. The Project Gutenberg, 2006. Available from http://www. gutenberg. org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h. htm Paret, P. , G. A. Craig & F. Gilbert. Makers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986. Sun Tzu. The Art of War. Translated by Samueal B. Griffith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.

Lilys life style in the sociiety and roxy eager to help her child

Pudd’nhead Wilson and   The House of Mirth are both tragedies which concentrate on the miseries of women who are the victims of either their own expectations or the society’s expectations of them. In true Twain tradition, Pudd’nhead Wilson deals with the tragedy, thickly laced with his characteristic satire. It is believed that Twain wrote this during one of his dark periods in life when he was going through pessimism created by his financial debacles. The protagonist of the work, Roxy is a slave who can pass of as a white (though she is one sixteenth black). And she is brave. â€Å"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.† ( Twain, 36) In order to create a better life for her son, she exchanges him at birth with the son of her white master. But as fate would have it, her son turns out to be unworthy of the white man’s inheritance and his life goes astray. He even sells her forcibly to a white man in exchange for his gambling debts. In the House of Mirth, Edith Barton takes the readers through the life of highly desirable Lily bart, who sabotages the prospects of many suitors only to find herself decline into squalid dinginess, only to die of a sleeping draught overdose (perhaps accidentally). Most of the novel is the pursuit of money. â€Å"Society is a revolving body which is apt to be judged according to its place in each man’s heaven;† (Wharton, Chapter 4, Book I) Lily suffers because of two factors. She is incapable of following her heart and removing money as a vital point of the equation, therefore she suffers the constant heartburn of rejection. She is also not completely efficient in her manipulation of the society around her that she is not entrenched enough to counter the allegations of Bertha against her (of adultery with her husband) Paradoxically, both novels deal with freedom and slavery. While Twain deals with literal slavery and the lengths to which a mother, Roxy can go to ensure that her son escapes the clutches of slavery that she suffers, Barton talks about slavery to the pursuit of money. In the house of mirth, Lily starts feeling free when she has money and starts feeling enslaved when she does not have sufficient money. But the irony is she is always enslaved to the concept of money. Human folly led by social pressures and an inability to follow one’s heart are the causes of the tragedy of Lily, while several unfortunate incidents that start with a noble intention form the crux of Roxy’s tragedy. She is freed by her white master whom she deceives by exchanging her son with his and she is again sold off by her own son who does not know the truth. This is one of the best dramatic and tragic elements used by Twain in any of his works. Perhaps the most glaring similarity between the two novels is the way in which debts ruin a person’s judgment and lead him/her progressively towards more dreaded consequences. Lily’s unintentional debt to Gus when she starts being lavish imagining the money he gives her to be her own returns from the stock market marks the beginning of her end. Similarly â€Å"Tom† gambles heavily and this leads him into finding shadier and indirect means to repay these debts, resulting in a murder of his own uncle. In spite of the fact that neither Edith Wharton nor Mark Twain try overtly to convey any message to the readers, both these novels work as a danger signal posts which need to be looked out for to avoid any pitfalls related to monetary judgment and human judgment as a whole. Works Cited Twain, Mark. Pudd’nhead Wilson. NewYork: Courier Dover Publication, 1999 Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth. NewYork: Norton, 1990

Google's 10th Birthday Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Google's 10th Birthday - Article Example Page initially set out to explore two main things from his choice of projects. These two things were: an exploration of the mathematical property of the worldwide web and an understanding of the worldwide web as an enormous graph. Terry Winograd, Page’s supervisor on the project encouraged him to press on with the project and since then Page has viewed this encouragement from his supervisor as the best advice ever received. At the inception of Google, page’s main concern was to find out which page linked to what page besides the numbers and natures of such linkages called backlinks. Hew, therefore, his project as â€Å"BackRub† and was soon joined by his friend and Stanford Ph.D. colleague Sergey Brin. Setting out from the Stanford homer page that Page had created, the ‘web crawler’ which was later to be called Google began to explore the worldwide web in 1996 and is aimed at gathering the backlink data as a measure of the importance of a given page. They then went on to develop a page Rank algorithm which was meant to rank backlinks ranked by importance for anyone given URL. This was a hit during this time because according to the two, listing backlinks in terms of importance would be more effective and efficient as opposed to the existing search engines that ranked the search results in terms of the number of times a search term appeared on a page. In conclusion of their project and in a test of their thesis, they realized that the pages that bore most backlinks to them from a number of associated relevant searches must be the pages which are most relevant for anyone given search.

Assignment 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assignment 4 - Essay Example The bus which I used for this experiment was filled with many passengers. Some foreigners like Indians and Pakistanis were also there inside the bus. I was seated at the middle portion of the bus. Immediately after the bus was started to move, I started to sing loudly. The person sitting next to me was an American and he asked me to stop singing. The driver also looked back and shown signs to stop singing. I did not obey and continued my singing. All the passengers inside the bus looked at me with different facial expressions, body languages and gestures. Some of the Indians and Pakistanis inside the bus enjoyed my performance along with some of the Americans and they took this incident lightly. However, some other passengers, mostly the Americans have shown signs of agony and discomfort. Some of the passengers approached the driver and asked him to stop the bus and throw me out of the bus. Some others murmured that I have some mental disorders. Surprisingly, after five minutes, ever ything started to stabilize. My fellow passengers started change their attention from me and focussed more on outside sceneries and sights. Even though, I tried to vary the volume of my sound very much in order to irritate my fellow passengers, many of the passengers did not care and I stopped singing after some time. Suddenly people again started to look at me.

What role does technology play in development Essay

What role does technology play in development - Essay Example Knowledge and technology should be considered together otherwise development is hampered. Nowadays information and communication technologies are the potential for the development. Therefore it is necessary to pay attention to distribution and application of these technologies in order to give equal rights to developed and developing countries (Wehelive, 2005, p. 39). This research paper considers technology and development with regard to information society. The works by Bell, Schumacher, Smith, Ovitt, Steinberg, Castells and others are focused on thee discussion of connection between technology and development. The majority of researchers claim that technology and development are closely connected and technology is considered to be a crucial factor in a modern society. On the other hand, inequity of technology distribution between developed and developing countries may be a drawback of development. Moreover, technological progress may be an obstacle to development. Thus it is relevant to discuss not technology, but intermediate or appropriate technology as it is suggested by Schumacher and Ovitt. Daniel Bell is focused on the study of the information society. His writings are mainly focused on three main issues: post-industrial information and workforce; the second one is about information flows; the third is focused on the discussion of connection between computers and the information revolution. Bell has always connected the society first with goods and then with services. Furthermore, Bell draws parallels between information and knowledge (Duff, 1998, p. 373). He emphasizes the significance of theoretical knowledge and its importance for a modern society. Thus Bell’s claim about the post-industrial society concerns theoretical knowledge as the only way to successful development. He suggests knowledge to be codified into symbols and be applied

Effects of Globalization in China Research Paper

Effects of Globalization in China - Research Paper Example Due to increased practice of globalization values, the interaction between the countries has significantly increased and strong. None of the country could survive and prosper today without following the trend of globalization. The countries with great realization about the importance of adopting globalization are progressing significantly and experiencing positive changes within their economic and social scenarios. Globalization allows the countries to enter the world of free market, liberalized trade and market oriented businesses marked with intensified competition and great interdependence. Changed Brought by Globalization Today each and every country is experiencing the strong impacts of globalization in some way or another. The increased and strong interaction between the countries is making the economies of the involved countries stronger because they exchange technology, goods and capital and flourish their economic developments with the help of FDI and advanced technologies a ttained from the other countries (Fung et al, p102). ... p54). In order to cope with the changes and challenges pose by globalization it has become imperative for the countries all over the world to foster coordination and cooperation so that they could survive in the highly competitive market place of today and keep them aligned with the new rules and regulations of the global economy (Nolan, p52). The countries succeed to proceed with the strategies, planning and policies of integrated economy flourish in the new situation whereas the countries fail to integrate with the word economy lag behind the other countries. The changing scenario created by globalization is full of opportunities as well as challenges for the countries across the globe (Guthrie, p54). The Chinese Experience Located in the Asian continent Chine is the highest populated country of the world. The country is experiencing the fastest pace of economic growth that is mainly backed by globalization. With no exception China has also experienced major changes within its econ omic landscape after the evolution of globalization. Cross border trade was practiced by China several centuries ago when trade took place between Han Chinese and their neighbours through the Silk Route. China opened its door for the European trade since the Portuguese established ports in Macao during th sixteenth century (Scupin, p325). The impacts of globalization upon China could be traced in accordance with different aspects of economic activities like foreign trade, finance, environment, lifestyles and quality of life (Guthrie, p54). Chine has shown great awareness towards the importance of globalization. It has learnt that the long history of isolation gave it nothing but backwardness and after this realization there are

Cross Cultural Management N Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cross Cultural Management N - Essay Example The presence of cross cultural teams in organizations provides a source of expertise and innovative techniques that will enhance competitive positioning of an organization (Smith and Thomas, 2008). To enhance this, a flexible leader is needed to promote creativity and motivation. As portrayed in the cross cultural management theories, the relations between people, orientation towards risk, attitudes to time, motivation orientation, attitudes towards the environment and definition of self and others is considered closely. The motivation and training of multicultural teams should be the focus of the organization as this will determine the implications of the project management (Bird and Fang, 2009). The significance of cultural differences defines the success and failure of multicultural international projects. Thus to be successful and competitive in today environment and even days to come, initiatives should be grounded on delivering culturally-aware leadership, mutual respect and cross cultural communication (French, 2007). To be able to understand the concept of cultural differences it relevant to understand the meaning of culture. Culture is the major quality that defines a society in respect to its norms, beliefs, symbols, heroes and rituals as reflected in their social life. It is man’s way of life as it defines the way we live on daily basis and what we bring in our workplaces especially within a certain social group. Kutscher and Schmid defines culture as â€Å"the set of basic assumptions, attitudes and convictions of a social unit that manifest themselves in a multitude of behavior and artifacts, and which developed over time as a response to the varied demands placed on this social unit (2004. p.7.).†As an international business manager, one has to be acquainted with proper knowledge concerning the cultural differences and its impact on the business at large. In a multinational company, people working together will be coming from different

Major causes of the 2008 stock market crash Essay

Major causes of the 2008 stock market crash - Essay Example Even though in numbers this was not as bad as the 22.6 percent loss that had been experienced on Black Monday in 1987, the opinion of the analysts was that this was worse since the losses were felt for the whole week and they did not come from a one-off down day. This was not the end of the experiencing of losses as in the week that started on 6 October; the Dow Jones had no other choice but to close down 5/5 trading sessions and in the process losing a further 18 percent in the same week. Later on, on 24 October the stock exchange indexes all over the globe experienced a drop of ten percent in one day. The prices of oil affected commercial activities in the United States by making things expensive and a lot of this was as a result of the speculation by the analysts in the future markets, but the demands that were legitimate resulted in the boom times and consequently the prices of oil progressively increased. The countries that have emerging markets such as China, Brazil, India as well as Russia created very huge demands for many commodities. The key factor that led to the stock markets crashing in 2008 was the subprime mortgage crisis that was being experienced in the United States since the companies were lending to people with who had bad credit ratings that would result in the people not being able to pay the loans adequately (Farmer 154). The banks in the United States were exposed to these loans, which led to their subsequent collapse since they were lending the money that they themselves had in their own banks. This greatly affected the debt to equity ratio of these banks and many of them ended up needing the help of the government to remain afloat. When many of the shareholders realized that their banks were at risk, they did not want their money invested in the shares of those banks and decided to sell the shares that they had causing a snowball effect at the stock market and this was the

Solve a contemporary social and criminal justice issue Thesis

Solve a contemporary social and criminal justice issue - Thesis Example While this system has been designed to facilitate a more peaceful and non-violent society, there are challenges with criminal justice in providing rehabilitation for criminal offenders sustaining mental illness problems. There have been dramatic increases in the prevalence of mental illness among the prison population in the United States. In 1996, 25 percent of all individuals incarcerated in jails reported that they had sought treatment for a mental illness condition at some point in their lives, representative of approximately 127,000 jail inmates throughout the nation (Whitehead, Jones and Braswell, 2003). In the 1970s, there was a push to deinstitutionalize the mentally ill within psychiatric hospitals and, instead, to provide the mentally ill with community treatment programs. It was determined during this time period in history that such treatment programs would provide a superior public safety outcome, allow jails to operate more efficiently by removing challenges of rehabilitating mentally ill criminal offenders, and provide the mentally ill with more productive treatment methods that jails are unable to provide (Whitehead, et al.). However, this approach at deinstitutionalizing the mentally ill has not been effective. In 2002, it is estimated that a substantial 64 percent of all jailed inmates in the country suffered from a mental health issue (Whitehead, et al.). Community mental health services are designed to provide encouragement and treatment for people suffering from an array of mental disorders in a domiciliary environment rather than in psychiatric clinics. Such community mental health systems provide appropriate outpatient psychiatric services in an age where social perspectives on mental illness have transformed care from intensive psychotherapy to treatment ideology where the mentally ill have a positive place to live with encouraging social environments that

Inadequacies of Accounting Ratios as Tools of Financial Analysis Essay

Inadequacies of Accounting Ratios as Tools of Financial Analysis - Essay Example On the contrary, the financial ratios are also possible due to the flow that goes on to divide the same by a level that comprises of the return on equity or the earnings itself with respect to the equity. [Osteryoung, 1992] In calculating financial ratios, one must fathom that the numerator or the denominator at any point in time might just be the ratio, remarked as the PEG ratio. This paper discusses the financial ratios and the five categories associated with it as well as the questions that are answered to decide how the weight is evaluated owing to the financial health of an entity. This is quite true that in terms of financial ratios, the ratio analysis has got its due part in telling one and all about the whole category and as such the industry. On the other hand, there are a number of important pointers that one can pick with regards to the theory of ratios for that matter. Let us start with the financial ratios. These are the flags that in essence lay the foundation for showi ng those areas that can be remarked as the ones having strengths or weaknesses. [Mills, 1998] For this point in case, even more than one ratios can eventually be misleading, but when the same are combined with different knowledge that are available in the wake of an industry, ratio analysis can go a long way in discussing and indeed detailing about this industry. Secondly, one is unable to discern or find a single correct value for a ratio that needs to be chalked up for this whole scenario and more often than not; these are not absolute terms.

CinnZeo Strategic Expansion Plan Research Paper

CinnZeo Strategic Expansion Plan - Research Paper Example Accordingly a business venture may decide to pull out if its initial experience is not very positive or even negative. Alternatively it may decide to re-enter at another time, depending on the changes in the infrastructure and other conditions, such as the earning and spending capacity, receptiveness of the population for its products and services, and changes in cultural and other demographics that make for more favorable conditions. CinnZeo has entered Saudi Arabia in a modest way and in fact appears to have a planned strategy to cover most of the Middle Eastern region, seeing that it has a presence in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Dammam, Dhahran, Yanbu and a host of other locations in the Gulf. It is now concentrating on locations within Saudi Arabia and Ha’il city in particular. The remainder of this paper will be geared towards determining whether it would be advisable to expand further in Saudi Arabia, using Ha’il City as an example. II. Demographics The demographics and psychographics of a native population play a very important part in whether a company or a business product or service is welcomed and tolerated in a region or a country. For example, it would be foolhardy to open a liquor store or one that sold pork meat in S. Arabia, or indeed anywhere in the Muslim world, as these products are frowned upon by the followers of Islam. The culture of a region also plays a very important part in the receptiveness or otherwise of a product or service. For example, Saudi women are not allowed to travel unless they are chaperoned by a male, or even to drive a car for that matter. It would thus make more sense for CinnZeo to cater to family style outlets, where there are seating arrangements for the whole family and they can sit in and enjoy to their heart’s delight. An alternative suggestion would be to create roadside cafe style locations where families can sit out, but this would be feasible only in the late evenings and cool of the night- the day heat is too stifling for it to be considered in the daytime (About.com, 1992). As far as the age factor is considered, there are no barriers that cannot be broken with good and culturally sensible advertising. Showing the whole Arab family enjoying mouthwateringCinnZeo creations in the fuzzy warmth of a CinnZeo outlet would give a very positive impression. This can be shot in different backgrounds at various times of the day-in the early morning, at midday, or the late evenings when other people are shown walking or relaxing outside. The CinnZeo logo should be associated with quality and comfort, so that the public is intrigued enough to try it out not only once but more than once. A group of college males, or even females enjoying a late afternoon brunch at a CinnZeo cafe while their driver waits patiently is sure to pique interest among the Arab youth population. Modern Saudi Arabia is full of locals turned into foreign educated graduates who eventually become more used to We stern style cultures abroad than their own. They are young and want to enjoy and experiment and get away once in a while. CinnZeo outlets would provide them with a good opportunity. Added to this let us not forget the worker migrants of Saudi Arabia that come from a host of other nations, among them Mexico, Canada and the USA where CinnZeo would already be known and appreciated. This population can therefore form a staple base for CinnZeo products with the local population hopefully not far behind. As regards the locations and ease of access in Ha’il City, this would depend on the already available infrastructure. Locating the CinnZeo flagship outlet in or near

Annotated Bib Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Bib - Annotated Bibliography Example Study asserted that the impact of violence affected human resources, their employment, and their economic activities, thus, resulting to losses in the gross domestic products (GDP). Power fixes the outcome of political decisions. The theory of political movements illustrated that those who are able to wield power imposes to opponent the strategy that must be adopted. As such, the underpowered is compelled to comply terms or be punished. Dobbs argued that Cuban missile crisis is a case of presidential power and security management. He argued that the issue is better understood within the context of the limits of presidential power and of crisis management. Since this involved nations, it is personality-based politics is significant for negotiations. 8. Blight, J. (2004).The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War History. Choices for the 21st Century Education Program. Watson Institute for International Studies. Brown University. pp 1-55. The world was almost unleashing nuclear war amid Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. The United States under former president John F. Kennedy discovered the weapons by the use of U-2 spy planes which created tensions between Americans, Cubans and Soviets. The document proposed recommended readings for academic studies. Good for

Should you worry about cell phone, cellular antenna and Wi-Fi device Research Paper

Should you worry about cell phone, cellular antenna and Wi-Fi device radiation why or why not - Research Paper Example Therefore, every individual should be worried about cell phone, cellular antenna and Wi-Fi device radiation (Mercola, 2008). Studies conducted by scientists have indicated that exposure to electromagnetic waves cause significant changes on the human body. Doctor Mercola indicates that although extensive research has not been carried out to determine the clear effects that radio radiation has on individuals, it would be a grave mistake to conclude that the emissions are inconsequential (Mercola, 2008). Some scientists have used rats to conduct similar experiments and have concluded that the radiation emitted by these devices has an effect on the biological and maturation processes of the rodents. Other researchers have scientifically linked some health complications such as sleep disruptions, dementia, fatigue, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Autism, Headaches, poor concentration and failing memory to the electromagnetic waves emitted by cell phones, cellular antenna and Wi-Fi devices. However, these health implications have other causes as well, although the radiation emitted from these devices ca nnot be ruled out. Cell phone, cellular antenna and Wi-Fi device radiation seems to create potential health risks to humans. Therefore, people should be worried about being exposed to this kind of radiation, as it has adverse effects on their health (Shelly and Vermaat,

Concert Report Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Concert Report - Personal Statement Example Throughout this movement, imitative polyphony was the predominant texture as the melody created in the woodwinds was echoed by various other instruments especially the periodic feedbacks of the electric guitar played like a raw rock star by Kirk Hammet. The two songs played by the band were Nothing Else Matters and the most famous of their all, Master of Puppets. Through the experience of hearing these two very different works, I was able to comprehend the talents of the musicians. The very first performance by the one of the most famous band rouse a feeling of eagerness in the audience to listen more of their songs in the Apollo, but they left with striking sounds. (Wikipedia. /Metallica) The night could not have been made more rocking and entertaining once the heart throb of millions and my personal favorite of all female singers Madonna came to festoon the night. Smoke machines, lasers and all kinds of components which contribute collectively in producing a psychedelic show. She started her reign on stage with her all time favorite track Ray of Light followed by Hard Candy, Me against the Music and Miles Away. This portion was characterized by its dark and somber tone. The absence of the drums heard earlier left a weak beat and a suppressed meter. (Wikipedia. Madoona)

Economic Environment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Economic Environment - Research Paper Example Air transport suffered a serious crisis in 2007, the network is in bad condition and needs to restored. The shortages of energy supply may hold back Brazil in terms of its economic growth (Datamonitor 2010). The government is the main buyer in the sector, although some forms of public-private partnerships have been established from 2006 (LAM 2010). The sector is characterised with consolidation and large players, and it has seen an entry of foreign investments in past couple of years. The industry reflects a stable and health growth and opens many opportunities for external players as the business environment in Brazil is improving. At 58th position in the Global Competiveness Report (WEM 2010), Brazil is relatively stable, a result of its two decade long fight for macroeconomic stability, economical restructuring and reducing income inequality. Methodology The further analysis of the business environment is made through the use of the PESTEL forces which provide more insight into th e challenges faced by the infrastructure sector of the construction industry. ... the quality of Brazilian institutions according to the Global Competitiveness Report (WEM 2010) is poorly assessed at 93rd position reflecting limited trust into the politicians, the political stability of the regime in the past decade, in particular the stability of the Brazil’s institutions, favours the growing economic development of the country (Lynn and Tang 2010:156). Economical environment Slightly affected by the global financial downturn, Brazil's economy recovered fast with expected annual GDP growth on 4-5% annually as in the pre-crisis period (Latin American Monitor 2010:6, IMF 2010:59). Brazil managed to weather the global crisis due to its small credit markets, a diversified economy, large domestic sector and a fiscally responsible administration (Lynn and Tang 2010:156). Other contributing factors were the high real prices of the commodity exports and the large private and public investments which continue to increase. In 2010 it is expected that the GDP will re bound to the pre-crisis 5,5%, led by a strong private consumption and investment (IMF 2010:59). The infrastructure segment of the construction industry across Brazil will benefit from large-scale corporate and public investment (Datamonitor 2010, 2010a). The political stability in combination with the macro stability and the relatively low public debt (48% of GDP and 84th rank in GCR (WEM 2010)) favour an increase in the public investments in infrastructure. However, high levels of burecruacy slow down the intensity of these investments (Economic Freedom Report 2010:40). It is expected that the activities in the infrastructure development will intensify in the following period due to the scheduled 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. As a result the Brazilian government has announced that

Annie Hall Sixteen candles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Annie Hall Sixteen candles - Essay Example The mise-en-scene of a scene remains related to the theme of the movie and sets the mood of the film. An efficiently done mise-en-scene creates the â€Å"illusion of naturalness† for the viewers (Barsam and Mohanam 194). In this paper mise-en-scenes of three scenes from each of the movies Annie Hall and Sixteen Candles are analysed. Annie Hall Annie Hall directed by Woody Allen was released in 1977. The opening scene of the film has a stark element to it. In this scene Woody Allen talks directly to the audience. The background is solid and opening monologue has many lines and they have been captured by the pop culture consciousness. In less than two minutes he talks about himself and his mid-life crisis. The monologue is written by Allen himself. He talks about how he feels about life being â€Å"full of loneliness, and misery and suffering and unhappiness, and it’s all over much too quickly.† The camera was still throughout the scene with a close shot of Allen. He talks about his estranged relationship with Annie Hall and says, â€Å"I keep sifting the pieces of the relationship through my mind, and, and examining my life and trying to figure out where did the screw-up come.† He also claims himself as someone who does not worry about aging but simultaneously points out that he is balding slightly. He also tells to the audience that he is not a depressed or morose character. This scene depicts Alvy Singer as an inept, angst-ridden, pessimistic, Brooklyn-born and stand-up comedian. In one scene of the movie the characters Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) and Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) are shown to boil live lobsters for meal. They bring home a bag of lobsters but they escape and create havoc. They are in a beach house and seem to have uproarious fun while trying to catch the crawling lobsters on the floor of their kitchen. The entire sequence which lasts for almost 75 seconds is done in a single shot. The camera is made to follow the characte rs around the room and this gives the scene a sense of urgency. The way the characters run and move the chair adds to the fun sequence. The dialogues were funny and enhanced the fun element. It was clear that Alvy was scared of lobsters and Annie was having fun by picking them up and scaring him. At one time Alvy squeezes beside a refrigerator and finds a lobster behind it and he jokes, â€Å"It'll turn up in our bed at night. Talk to him. You speak shellfish.† Annie attempts to capture the experience with her camera although Alvy feels scared to hold the lobsters in his hand in order to pose for her. Allen’s mise-en-scene reflects the camera movement to follow the movements of the character rather than anticipating them. At the beginning of the scene viewers can hear the conversation between Alvy and Annie although they cannot be seen. As the camera stands still, they walk towards it and end up in the foreground of the frame. The scene is known for its unscripted dial ogues and laughter which makes the viewers to relate with the scene more easily. This movie concentrates on the nuances of the relation between Alvy and Annie. The scene in which the viewers see Alvy and Annie together for the first time is set in a movie theater. The scene is not a romantic moment; it is a thrilling chivalrous gesture. Although the characters seem to be comfortable in the presence of each other, there is the element of annoyance. Alvy is shown as irritated because she has been late and this made her miss the first couple of minutes of the

Implications of Complementary Jurisdiction in International Law Essay

Implications of Complementary Jurisdiction in International Law - Essay Example At the same time, the Trinidad and Tobago delegation’s proposal was not new because there draft criminal tribunal statutes in 1951 and 1953. The Rome Statute of the ICC is an important document establishing the International Criminal Court. The Statute was entered into force in 2002. One important principle in the Rome Statute of the ICC is the principle of complementary jurisdiction. The principle of complementary jurisdiction or â€Å"complementarity principle† means that the International Criminal Court, hereinafter simply called as the â€Å"Court†, â€Å"can only investigate and prosecute core international crimes (war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide) when national jurisdiction are unable or unwilling to do so genuinely.† Morten Bergsmo contrasted complementary jurisdiction from universal jurisdiction. According to Morten, universal jurisdiction â€Å"is a jurisdictional basis of last resort which a number of national crime justice system provide for, when core international crimes can not be prosecuted on the basis of the principle of territoriality (in the state where the crimes occurred), active nationality (in the state of the alleged perpetrator) or passive nationality (in the state of the victim).† According to Bergsmo, â€Å"in its pure form, universal jurisdiction enables the prosecution of core international crimes committed in a foreign state, by a foreign citizen, against foreign victims, when neither has a personal link to the forum state.†... the state of the alleged perpetrator) or passive nationality (in the state of the victim).†3 According to Bergsmo, â€Å"in its pure form, universal jurisdiction enables the prosecution of core international crimes committed in a foreign state, by a foreign citizen, against foreign victims, when neither has a personal link to the forum state.† 4 Nevertheless, universal jurisdiction â€Å"plays a small, but very significant, role in the new and still developing framework of international criminal law.†5 Hall said that universal jurisdiction performs at least two important roles in complementary jurisdiction: as a catalyst for investigations and prosecutions both at the national and international levels and for addressing impunities that cannot be addressed by complementary jurisdiction alone.6 II. Complementary Jurisdiction as Implied in the Rome Statute of the ICC The notion of complementary jurisdiction has been a concerned in the last 20 years.7 Based on the wor k of Oscar Solera, the notion of complementary jurisdiction emerged because punishment of international crimes is essential to world peace but it is not only the international court that has the jurisdiction and competence to try criminals but also the domestic courts.8 According to Solera, the question of complementary jurisdiction was only addressed â€Å"in depth† since the 1980s. The issue of complementary jurisdiction was one of the thorny points in the creation of the international criminal court as it was included several times in the agenda â€Å"but was not taken up by any specific working group in its agenda and was thus left to the Committee of the Whole.†9 Solera pointed out that the concept of complementary jurisdiction â€Å"was finally accepted as proposed by the Preparatory Committee and explicitly

Explain the four sociological perspectives Functionalist, Conflict Essay

Explain the four sociological perspectives Functionalist, Conflict theory, interactionism and feminism. In addition briefly report how each of these theories wo - Essay Example Functionalism also asserts that functional requirements have to be met in society for its existence. This means that functions such as reproduction have to exist for the society to survive. Problems that randomly occur in life perform a function in this perspective. Like when death occurs, world population decreases. . The Conflict Theory holds the belief societies, groups and individuals function to benefit themselves or their groups. There are four basic beliefs for this theory; competition, structural inequality, revoloution and war. Competition is the basic function for all social activity, such as monetary, love, power and even leisure activities. All societies have structural inequality from the US income classes to Communist countries that have political classes. Competition and structural inequality lead to revoloution and war. Revoloution unites people behind a common cause, then war unifys the both winners and losers into a new society. History is an example of this theory from Nazi Germany to English colonies to Iraq today. This perspective represents the vicious cycle that has existed since the beginning of society. Interactionism is basically the perspective that people react toward things based on the meaning that the thing has for them. These meanings are influenced by social interaction, then changed by the person’s interpretation. For example, a child reacts to a loving mother positively, but interprets the mother’s actions uniquely. Feminism as a sociological perspective is focused on how male dominance has shape the world socially. All societies have the problem of how male dominance has affected it. One example is Saudi Arabia. Male dominance shapes every social aspect of a Saudi’s life, from politics to marriage. Even in America, male superiority can be found, like in sports. Wrestling is a male sport, even though some

Article Analysis Essay Example for Free

Article Analysis Essay This article gives us an insight on whether how a society in a specific country especially like of China can have a say on what their government is doing especially on projects that in return might have an effect on their lives, and also giving added revenue to their government and at the same time protecting the lives of their citizens. Even the social activist like Xue ye of the Beijing – based Friends of Nature had stated that â€Å"We are weak, but we have a chance. † He already knew that it would be hard for them to convince the villagers around the place where there is a project or a construction that has to be created by the government. There may be some factors, which may take effect if the projects will continue. That is why it must be thoroughly evaluated first by all sectors before they allow it to pursue. They must not think on the benefits alone upon the relocation but through a lifetime perspective too. It is not only their future but also for the future generation of their country. The whole article is a depiction of social construction regarding the issue of trade and industry. There are different evidences and justifications that the author has redeemed. He also stated his own opinion and ideologies regarding the issue, which somehow important to the whole article because it will state the stand of the author in representation of the society based on the evidences that were found and researched. From all of this, the whole article shows the facts and data exist within the situation will state its own ideologies and perceptions of the social realization. It means that the author has its own depiction of truth and accuracy of facts and data that he has stated whether it is for or against the authorities of the society. Reference (Author). (Date). Power to the People. (Publisher)

Capacity Planning Model Essay Example for Free

Capacity Planning Model Essay Abstract: Capacity planning decisions affect a signiï ¬ cant portion of future revenue. In equipment intensive industries, these decisions usually need to be made in the presence of both highly volatile demand and long capacity installation lead times. For a multiple product case, we present a continuous-time capacity planning model that addresses problems of realistic size and complexity found in current practice. Each product requires speciï ¬ c operations that can be performed by one or more tool groups. We consider a number of capacity allocation policies. We allow tool retirements in addition to purchases because the stochastic demand forecast for each product can be decreasing. We present a cluster-based heuristic algorithm that can incorporate both variance reduction techniques from the simulation literature and the principles of a generalized maximum ï ¬â€šow algorithm from the network optimization literature.  © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 53: 137–150, 2006 Keywords: capacity planning; stochastic demand; simulation; submodularity; semiconductor industry INTRODUCTION Because highly volatile demands and short product life cycles are commonplace in today’s business environment, capacity investments are important strategic decisions for manufacturers. In the semiconductor industry, where the proï ¬ t margins of products are steadily decreasing, manufacturers may spend up to 3.5 billion dollars for a state-of-the-art plant [3, 23]. The capacity decisions are complicated by volatile demands, rising costs, and evolving technologies, as well as long capacity procurement lead times. In this paper, we study the purchasing and retirement decisions of machines (or interchangeably, â€Å"tools†). The early purchase of tools often results in unnecessary capital spending, whereas tardy purchases lead to lost revenue, especially in the early stages of the product life cycle when proï ¬ t margins are highest. The process of determining the sequence and timing of tool purchases and possibly retirements is referred to as strategic capacity planning. Our strategic capacity planning model allows for multiple products under demand uncertainty. Demand evolves over time and is modeled by a set of scenarios with associated Correspondence to: W.T. Huh ([emailprotected])  © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. probabilities. We allow for the possibility of decreasing demand. Our model of capacity consumption is based on three layers: tools (i.e., machines), operations, and products. Each product requires a ï ¬ xed, product-speciï ¬ c set of operations. Each operation can be performed on any tool. The time required depends on both the operation and the tool. In our model time is a continuous variable, as opposed to the more traditional approach of using discrete time buckets. Our primary decision variables, one for each potential tool purchase or retirement, indicate the timing of the corresponding actions. In contrast, decision variables in typical discrete-time models are either binary or integer and are indexed by both tool groups and time periods. Our objective is to minimize the sum of the lost sales cost and the capital cost, each a function of tool purchase times and retirement times. Our continuous-time model has the advantage of having a smaller number of variables, although it may be difï ¬ cult to ï ¬ nd global optimal solutions for the resulting continuous optimization problem. Many manufacturers, primarily those in high-tech industries, prefer to maintain a negligible amount of ï ¬ nished good inventory because technology products, especially highly proï ¬ table ones, face rapidly declining prices and a high risk of obsolescence. In particular, building up inventories ahead of demand may not be economically sound for applicationspeciï ¬ c integrated circuits. Because high-tech products are in a sense â€Å"perishable,† we assume no ï ¬ nished goods inventory. In addition, we assume that no back-ordering is permitted for the following reasons. First, unsatisï ¬ ed demand frequently results in the loss of sales to a competitor. Second, delayed order fulï ¬ llment often results in either the decrease or the postponement of future demand. The end result approximates a lost sale. We remark that these assumptions of no-ï ¬ nishedgoods and no back-ordering are also applicable to certain service industries and utility industries, in which systems do not have any buffer and require the co-presence of capacity and demand. These assumptions simplify the computation of instantaneous production and lost sales since they depend only on the current demand and capacity at a given moment of time. In the case of multiple products, the aggregate capacity is divided among these products according to a particular policy. This tool-groups-to-products allocation is referred to as tactical production planning. While purchase and retirement decisions are made at the beginning of the planning horizon prior to the realization of stochastic demand, allocation decisions are recourse decisions made after demand uncertainty has been resolved. When demand exceeds supply, there are two plausible allocation policies for assigning the capacity to products: (i) the Lost Sales Cost Minimization policy minimizing instantaneous lost sales cost and (ii) the Uniform Fill-Rate Production policy equalizing the ï ¬ ll-rates of all products. Our model primarily uses the former, but can easily be extended to use the latter. Our model is directly related to two threads of strategic capacity planning models, both of which address problems of realistic size and complexity arising in the semiconductor indu stry. The ï ¬ rst thread is noted for the three-layer tool-operation-product model of capacity that we use, originating from IBM’s discrete-time formulations. Bermon and Hood [6] assume deterministic demand, which is later extended by Barahona et al. [4] to model scenario-based demand uncertainty. Barahona et al. [4] have a large number of indicator variables for discrete expansion decisions, which results in a large mixed integer programming (MIP) formulation. Standard MIP computational methods such as branch-and-bound are used to solve this challenging problem. Our model differs from this work in the following ways: (i) using continuous variables, we use a descent-based heuristic algorithm as an alternative to the standard MIP techniques, (ii) we model tool retirement in addition to acquisition, and (iii) we consider the capital cost in the objective function instead of using the budget constraint. Other notable examples of scenario-based models with binary decisions variables include Escudero et al. [15], Chen, Li, and Tirupati [11], Swaminathan [27], and Ahmed and Sahinidis [1]; however, they do not model the operations layer explicitly. The second thread of the relevant literature features continuous-time models. Çakanyildirim and Roundy [8] and Çakanyildirim, Roundy, and Wood [9] both study capacity planning for several tool groups for the stochastic demand of a single product. The former establishes the optimality of a bottleneck policy where tools from the bottleneck tool group are installed during expansions and retired during contractions in the reverse order. The latter uses this policy to jointly optimize tool expansions along with nested ï ¬â€šoor and space expansions. Huh and Roundu [18] extend these ideas to a multi-product case under the Uniform Fill-Rate Production policy and identify a set of sufï ¬ cient conditions for the capacity planning problem to be reduced to a nonlinear convex minimization program. This paper extends their model by introducing the layer of operations, the Lost Sales Cost Minimization allocation policy and tool retirement. This results in the non-convexity of the resulting formulation. Thus, our model marries the continuous-time paradigm with the complexity of real-world capacity planning. We list a selection of recent papers on capacity planning. Davis et al. [12] and Anderson [2] take an optimal control theory approach, where the control decisions are expansion rate and workforce capacity, respectively. Ryan [24] incorporates autocorrelated product demands with drift into capacity expansion. Ryan [25] minimizes capacity expansion costs using option pricing formulas to estimate shortages. Also, Birge [7] uses option theory to study capacity shortages and risk. An extensive survey of capacity planning models is found in the article by Van Mieghem [28]. Our computational results suggest that the descent algorithm, with a proper initialization method, delivers good solutions and reasonable computation times. Furthermore, preliminary computational results indicate that capacity plans are not very sensitive to the choice of allocation policy, and both policies perform comparably. With the Uniform FillRate Production policy, an instantaneous revenue calculation that is used repeatedly by the subroutines of the heuristic algorithm can be formulated as a generalized maximum ï ¬â€šow problem; the solution of this problem can be obtained by a combinatorial polynomial-time approximation scheme that results in a potentially dramatic increase in the speed of our algorithm. We assume that the stochastic demand is given as a ï ¬ nite set of scenarios. This demand model is consistent with current practice in the semiconductor industry. We also explore, in Section 5, the possibility that demand is instead given as a continuous distribution, e.g., the Semiconductor Demand Forecast Accuracy Model [10]. Borrowing results from the literature on Monte Carlo approximations of stochastic programs, we point out the existence of an inherent bias in the optimal cost of the approximation when the scenario sample size is small. We also describe applicable variance reduction techniques when samples are drawn on an ad hoc basis. This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 lays out our strategic capacity formulation under two capacity allocation policies. Section 3 describes our heuristic algorithm, and its computational results are reported in Section 4. Section 5 presents how our software can be efï ¬ ciently used when the demand is a set of continuous distributions that evolve over time. We brieï ¬â€šy conclude with Section 6. 2. 2.1. MODEL Formulation Ds,p (t) Instantaneous demand of product p in scenario s at time t. Ï€s Probability of scenario s. We eliminate subscripts to construct vectors or matrices by listing the argument with different products p, operations w, and/or tool indices m. For example, B := (bw,p ) is the production-to-operation matrix and H := (hm,w ) is the machine-hours-per-operation matrix. Note that we concatenate only p, w, or m indices. Thus, Ds (t) = (Ds,p (t)) for demand in scenario s, and c(t) = (cp (t)) for per-unit lost sales cost vectors at time t. We assume the continuity of cp P R and Ds,p and the continuous differentiability of Pm and Pm . Primary Variables Ï„m,n The time of the nth tool purchase within group m. ÃŽ ³m,n The time of the nth tool retirement within group m. Auxiliary Variables Xs,w,m (t) Number of products that pass through operation w on tool group m in scenario s at time t. Capacity of tool group m at time t. Unmet demand of product p in scenario s at time t. Satisï ¬ ed demand of product p in scenario s at time t. Thus, V s,t (t) = Ds,p (t) − Vs,p (t). Let the continuous variable t represent a time between 0 and T , the end of the planning horizon. We use p, w, and m to index product families in P, operations in W, and tool groups in M, respectively. All tools in a tool group are identical; this is how tool groups are actually deï ¬ ned. We denote by M(w) the set of tools that can perform operation w and by W (m) the set of operations that tool group m can perform. DurP R ing the planning horizon, we purchase Nm (retire Nm ) tools 1 belonging to tool group m. Purchases or retirements of tools P R in a tool group are indexed by n, 1 ≠¤ n ≠¤ Nm , or 1 ≠¤ n ≠¤ Nm . Random demand for product p is given by Dp (t) = Ds,p (t), where s indexes a ï ¬ nite number of scenarios S. Our formulation uses input data and variables presented below. We reserve the usage of the word time for the calendar time t, as opposed to the processing duration of operations or productive tool capacities available. To avoid confusion, we refer to the duration of operations or tool capacities available at a given moment of time using the phrase machine-hours. Input Data bw,p Number of operations of type w required to produce a unit of product p (typically integer, but fractional values are allowed). Amount of machine-hours required by a tool in group m to perform operation w. Total capacity (productive machine-hours per month) of tool group m at the beginning of the time horizon. Capacity of each tool in group m (productive machine-hours per month). Purchase price of a tool in group m at time t (a function of the continuous scalar t). Sale price for retiring a tool in group m at time t. May be positive or negative. Per-unit lost sales cost for product p at time t.

Aerobic Bacteria Associated with Septic Abortion

Aerobic Bacteria Associated with Septic Abortion Aerobic bacteria associated with septic abortion among Sudanese women Yagoub Hamadt Allah Elhaj Abd Elseed1*, Mohamed, A E.M. Ibrahim2 Waled Amen Mohammed Ahmed3 Abstract Background: Septic abortion is a common health problem with short- and long-term complications that affect the quality of life of those fortunate enough to avoid mortality. Both spontaneous and induced abortion may result in septic complications. Objective: This study aimed to isolate and identify aerobic bacterial causative agents of septic abortion in Sudan. Method: A descriptive study was conducted in the period from March 2013 till June 2013 in Gynecological Unit in Khartoum Teaching Hospital, Sudan. Thirty women with vaginal bleeding in the unit were included in the study. Thirty high vaginal swabs and cervical swabs were collected from the selected ladies admitted to the hospital with bleeding. Results: The prevalence of abortion was as fallows, in age group(20-25) abortion cases were (13.3%), in group(26-30) abortion cases were (33.3%), in group(31-35) cases were (20%), in group(36-40) cases were (33.3%) (P > 0.05). Isolated bacteria from those cases were; Staphylococcus epidermidis (86.2%), Klebsiella ozaenae (6.9%), Proteus mirabilis (3.4%), Escherichia coli (3.4%) and Staphylococcus aureus (3.4%). The present study showed that induced abortion (73.3%) was insignificantly more than habitual abortion (26.3%), (P=0.07). Conclusion: The major isolated organism was Staphylococcus epidermidis (86.2%), which was isolated from both complete and initial cases. But aerobic pathogenic bacteria isolated were Klebseilla ozaenae, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Keywords: Septic abortion, vaginal swab, pregnant women, Stahpylococcus epidermidis. Introduction: Septic abortions contribute significantly to maternal morbidity and mortality. Improving literacy rate in the female population and effective family planning should reduce its incidence [1]. In 1900, the rationale of therapy of the incomplete septic abortion was divided into a medical or surgical approach. Medical therapy comprising oxytocic, bed rest and supportive measures theoretically decreased the incidence of sepsis, while increasing the problem of blood loss and prolonged hospitalization. The surgical approach classified by some as controlled blood loss but theoretically increased the incidence of sepsis [1]. In 1973, a report described an adolescent admitted to a large Boston Teaching Hospital with what proved to be incomplete septic abortion [2]. Deaths from illegal abortion are mainly due to infection[2,3].Additional to that At 1990 a review of deaths due to abortion in the united states noted that 62 percent of the deaths from illegal abortion and 51 percent of deaths from spontaneous abortion were due to infection, as compared which only 21 percent of death from legal abortion [4] . Mccormick (I944) estimated that 3,500 women died annually in America from this complication of pregnancy and a recent estimate in Turkey suggested that 10,000 women a year died from this cause in that country[5]. A recent publication by Sedgh et al. (2007) estimated that a total of 42 million abortions were performed in 2003, down from 46 million estimated for 1995 using the same methods. The same study showed that 20% of all pregnancies, including miscarriages and stillbirths, terminate in abortion each year. This means that one out of every five pregnancies worldwide is voluntarily terminated annually, a statistic that illustrates its enormous dimensions. Expressed another way, the worldwide rate of induced abortion was approximately 29 per 1000 women between ages 15 and 44 years in 2003, down from 35 per 1000 in 1995. This means that globally one out of every 34 women within that age range has an abortion each year [6]. On the basis of verbal autopsy data and hospital records it is estimated that approximately 25% of maternal deaths are caused by hemorrhage, 15% by infection,12% by pregnancy-induced hypertension, and 8% by obstructed labor[7]. At the last years it has been observed that there is an increase in the prevalence of septic abortion among pregnant women, and its complication upon community. Septic abortion is considered nowadays one of the most important issues concerning Maternal health .There are not much studies traced in Sudan investigating the septic abortion prevalence and its causative agent. Therefore, this study aimed to isolate and identify aerobic bacterial causative agents of septic abortion in Khartoum, Sudan. Material and Method This is a descriptive study. It had been conducted among pregnant women in age of (20 – 40 ) years, who are being admitted to the Gynecology bleeding emergency room of Khartoum Teaching Hospital, Sudan, in the period from March 2013 till June 2013. High vaginal swabs: After the introduction of the speculum, the swab should be rolled firmly over the surface of the vaginal vault. The swab should then be placed in Amies transport medium with charcoal or/and Stuarts transport medium. Cervical swabs: After introduction of the speculum to the vagina, the swab should be rotated inside the endocervix. The swab should then be placed in Amies transport medium with charcoal or Stuarts transport medium. Then all collected specimens were inoculated on Blood agar (aerobic 370c), chocolate agar (aerobic 370c and 5-10% co2) and Macconkey agar (aerobic 370c). Incubated for overnight based on report done by Fawad A. et al 2008[8], when puerperal sepsis or septic abortion is suspected inoculate the specimen on two plates of blood agar and incubate aerobically at 35–370C overnight. Inoculate the specimen on Macconkey agar and incubate the plate aerobically at 35–370c overnight [8]. Examine the colonies for Gram stained smear: It is done to examine the smear for pus cells and bacteria (8). Identification tests: done to identify the pathogenic bacteria include Catalase test, Coagulase test, Deoxyriboneuclease test, Kligler iron agar, Citrate utilization test, Simmons citrate agar, Urease test, Indole test, Sugar fermentation test and Methyl Red test. Results: The total number of 30 samples were collected from pregnant women suffering from bleeding, out of these 11 specimens (36.67%) were collected after complete abortion, whilst 19 (63.33%) samples were collected at initial time of bleeding, as indicated in Table (1) . Table (1): The collected specimens time from women with bleeding in Khartoum Teaching Hospital. Parameter Number Percentage Specimens collected after complete abortion 11 36.67% Specimens collected at initial time of bleeding 19 63.33% Total cases 30 100% According to demographic characters, septic abortion appearing more frequently at the age of 26-30 and 36-40 and most cases were induced abortion (73.3%) as shown in Table (2). Table (2): Demographic characteristics of women attending with bleeding Khartoum Teaching Hospital: Demographic character Frequency Percentage Age categories 20-25 4 13.34% 26-30 10 33.33% 31-35 6 20% 36 40 10 33.33% Total 30 100% Type of abortion Habitual 8 26.67% Induced 22 73.33% Total 30 100% Types of aerobic bacteria isolated from specimens collected at complete stage of abortion were Staphylococcus epidermidis, Klebseilla ozaenae, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis. Staphylococcus epidermidis was isolated from both initial stage and complete stage of abortion. It was isolated from 14 specimens out of 19 specimens, Table (3). Table (3): Number of different bacteria isolate from septic abortion cases from women attending to Khartoum Teaching Hospital. Parameter Organism isolated Frequency Percentage Organism isolated from complete stage of abortion Staphylococcus epidermidis 6 54.5% Klebsiella ozaenae 2 18.2% Staph. aureus 1 9.1% Escherichia coli 1 9.1% Proteus mirabilis 1 9.1% Total 11 100% Organism isolated from initial stage of abortion Staphylococcus epidermidis 14 73.68% No growth 5 26.32% Total 19 100% Table(4): Relationship between the age of women, and type of abortion and the time of specimens in Khartoum Teaching Hospital Demographic character Complete abortion n(%) Initial abortion n(%) p-value Age categories 20-25 1 (9.1%) 3 (15.8%) 0.08 26-30 4 (36.3%) 6 (31.6%) 31-35 2 (18.2%) 4 (21.1%) 36 40 5 (45.4%) 5 (26.3%) Type of abortion Habitual 3 (27.27%) 5 (26.32%) 0.07 Induced 8 (72.73) 14(73.68%) Discussion: Out of 30 cases involved in this study 11 (36.67%) cases were caused by aerobic bacteria which may indicate that abortion may be caused by other causative agents than aerobic bacteria. The Percentage of septic abortion have been notably decreased , this is mostly because health care provider contribute significantly to reduce the expose of woman to septic complication by providing surfaces in a safe environment, this is un consistent with other published reviews[9]. The highest incidence were in age group 26-30 also in group36-40 (P > 0.05) the incidence were high , which is in inconsistent with other published reviews in other countries [9] ,but its consistent with the research of (Fawad, et al 2008) who found that the majority of patient were of middle age[8]. Also habitual abortion occupied about (27.3%) (P > 0.05) and induced abortion about (72.7%) (P > 0.05). Earlier published review showed that most isolated organism was Escherichia coli (20%) ,either alone or in combination with other bacteria ,which is inconsistent with our study (9.1%). Also the reviewer isolate Proteus mirabilis in combination with Escherichia coli (6%), in our study we found Proteus mirabilis (9.1%) [5]. The percentage of Klebsiella ozaenae isolate was (18.2%) which is higher than pervious study (Isibor, et.al 2011) with percentage of (4.4%) among pregnant woman [10] Staphylococcus aureus isolate percentage was (9.1%) in disagree with study done by (Isibor, et al 2011), which found that Staphylococcus aureus occupies about (26.7%). this may be attributed to immune status of the individual, personal hygiene and the proximity of the vagina to urethra [11]. References Atrash H.K., Lawson H.W., Smith J.C., Legal abortion in the US : trends and mortality . Contemp Ob/Gyn, 1990;p35(2);58-69. jewett J.F., septic induce abortion . N Engl J Med,1973,p289:9-748. Cates W .Jr. , Rochat R.W. , Smith J.C. , Taylor C.W. Jr., Trends and national abortion mortality ,United State,1940-1974:implification for prevention of future abortion deaths .Adv Plann Parent 1976,11:106-13. Cates W.Jr. , rochat R.W., Ilegal abortion in the united states:1972-1974.Fam Plann perspect1976;8:86-92. Botes M., The Parameters of Septic Abortion, S.A. Journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 11 September 1971, p4 ;37-41. Sedgh G., Henshaw S., Singh S., Ahman E., and Shah I.H.,Induced abortion: estimated rates and trends worldwide. Lancet ,2007 ,p370: 1338–1345. Sedgh G., Henshaw S., Singh S., Ahman E., and Shah I.H.,Induced abortion: estimated rates and trends worldwide. Lancet ,2007 ,p370: 1338–1345. Fawad A., Nazk H., K. Anisa , Septic induced abortion , J. Ayub Med. Coll. Abbottabad ,2008,20. Osazuwa H., Aziken M., Septic abortion: a review of social and demographic characteristics , Arch. Gynecol. Obstet. ,2007,p 275:117–119. Isibor J. O., Samuel S. O., Nwaham C. I., Amanre I. N., Igbinovia O., and Akhile A. O., Prevalence of bacterial and Candida albicans infection amongst women attending Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Nigeria, African Journal of Microbiology Research, Vol.30 ,September, 2011, p 5(20),. 3126-3130 Rosenow E. C., Studies in Elective Localization, Jour. Dent. Research, vol. 1, No. 3, September, 1919,52.

Mesothelial-Mesenchymal Transition (MMT) Mechanism

Mesothelial-Mesenchymal Transition (MMT) Mechanism Mesothelial cells play a vital role in maintaining the structure of peritoneal membrane and peritoneal homeostasis. During long term peritoneal dialysis, prolonged exposure of peritoneum membrane to peritoneal dialysis solution causes peritoneal fibrosis. Bioincompatible dialysis fluid causes mesothelial cells to undergo uncontrolled mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition triggered by Transforming growth factor-ÃŽÂ ²1, which leads morphological and functional disruption of membrane. This literature review is about mechanism of mesothelial -mesenchymal transition (MMT), myofibroblasts and its origin hypothesis, clock genes and their cross relation with organ fibrosis. 1.1 Peritoneum anatomy Peritoneum is defined as gliding membrane, composed of mesothelial cells maintained by basement membrane and thin layer of connective tissue. It consists of two distinct layers of mesothelium, known as parietal peritoneum and visceral peritoneum. Parietal peritoneum lines the peritoneal cavity and comes from somatic mesoderm of the embryo. Visceral covers the external surface of most abdominal organs and derived from splanchnic mesoderm of the embryo. Peritoneal cavity is potential space between both layers and is comprised of small amount of lubricating fluid, also known as serosal fluid which prevents friction between closely packed organs and allows free movement of them. [1,2] The primary function of peritoneal membrane is to provide support to abdominal organs. It also acts as passage to their blood vessels, lymph vessels and nerves. Peritoneal cavity is rich in number of cells like mesothelial cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, adipocytes and immune cells like macrophages, T cells, B cells, mast cells. Along with cells, they contain cytokines and growth factors, like interleukin-1 (IL-1), Transforming growth factor-ÃŽÂ ²1 (TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1), Fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). All through the development process of peritoneal fibrosis, peritoneal cells will experience changes and some of the pro inflammatory factors which act as inducers to induce fibrosis and inflammatory processes. In this designed project, we are going to focus on mesothelial cells along with Transforming growth factor-ÃŽÂ ² (TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1), which is considered as main mediator of organ fibrosis development. 1.2 Peritoneal Fibrosis caused by peritoneal dialysis Peritoneal Dialysis, an alternative to haemodialysis is being used about more than three decades ago to treat end stage renal disease. During this treatment, PD solution is introduced into the abdomen with the help of tube also known as catheter. This dialysis therapy uses peritoneum membrane as semi-permeable membrane and principle of diffusion, to diffuse waste from underlying blood vessel into the solution. PD solution is major drawback of this treatment which contributes to development of peritoneal fibrosis in patients due to its bioincompatible nature. Long-time exposure to hypertonic environment of PD solution with high glucose concentration, acidic pH, presence of Glucose Degradation Products (GDPs) and Advanced Glycation end-products(AGEs) causing functional and structural alterations in peritoneum membrane. [43] Other factor which triggers fibrosis process in peritoneum membrane during dialysis is peritonitis. Peritonitis is inflammation of peritoneum which is caused by infection that can occur either by using unsterile catheter tube, handling which lead to introduction of micro-organism into abdominal cavity. Interesting research was done by Troidle and team, where they reported that inflammation caused by Gram-positive bacteria in patient peritoneum are better managed than the one caused by gram-negative. [81] Numerous clinical studies carried out to study changes that occur in peritoneum of patients undergoes peritoneal dialysis. Till date, largest peritoneal biopsies study was carried out by William and colleague on total of 212 subjects, out of which 9 were normal individuals, 48 undergoing hemodialysis, 25 uremic and 130 subject undergoing PD. [44] There submesothelial thickness was measured, also were checked for vasculopathy and general morphological features. For normal individuals, submesothelial thickness was 50 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­m, patients undergoing hemodialysis and uremic patients was 140 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­m and 150 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­m respectively and for PD patients, thickness was 270à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­m. Similar thickness of uremic and haemodialysis patients indicates that uremia can cause change in the peritoneal membrane. Value of submesothelial thickness increased to 700 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­m in long term PD patients, which directs towards fibrotic response of peritoneal to PD. They were also able to id entify vascular changes including increasing hyalinization leading to vasculopathy. These findings were confirmed by Plum et al and were able to identify link between increasing thickness of submesothelial layer and increasing transport rate of solutes. [45] 1.3 Mesothelial Cells Structural and Functional Properties Even though being mesoderm origin, mesothelial cells possess various characteristics of epithelial cells. Normally, mesothelial cells are squamous, and flattened in morphology. They are rich in cell organelles, microvilli and cilia are present on the surface. While cilia aim to regulate surfactant secretion, microvilli functions to entrap water and serous exudates in order to guard cell surface from frictional injuries. [5] Glycocalyx created by glycosaminoglycan, proteoglycans, and phospholipids surround mesothelial cells and have dual function. They form non-sticky slippery surface which supports intracoelomic movement and also provide protection against scratch. Mesothelial cells are specialized cells which plays key role in peritoneal homeostasis and maintains the integrity of the peritoneal membrane. The critical roles of mesothelial cells in peritoneum are to secrete and synthesize growth factors, cytokines and chemokines in peritoneal cavity by transport of fluid and solute across the membrane. [6] Mesothelial cells are considered as cells that are first in line in bodys defense system and they are able to sense and responds to signals within their microenvironment. They actively participate in deposition and clearance of local fibrin in the serosa membrane cavities. After mechanical injuries and infections, their fibrinolytic activity is important to prevent and remove any fibrin deposits that may forms. [7] Peritoneal membrane does act as selective permeability barrier to the channel of plasma proteins due to existence of anionic sites on mesothelial cells which in result provide net negative charge to the peritoneum membrane. In normal conditions, mesothelial cells are identified on its ability to express cell markers like occludin, claudin-1, ZO-1, Wilms Tumor-1, and E-cadherin. When mesothelial cells undergo Mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition which we will be explained in detail later; they either unable to express them or their level expression decreases. Therefore, its important to know about all mesothelial cell markers for easy identification within pool of cells. 1.3.1 Cell markers Cell markers are defined as molecules with distinctive genetic and biochemical characteristic. These cell markers are present in cells and can be either proteins, peptides or carbohydrates and mainly present in the cells. They are used to distinguish between different cell types. Some of cell markers are specific to cell types and some are disease specific. For instance, Cancer antigen 125, calretinin and vimentin are tumor markers that are expressed by tumor cells. Some of mesothelial cells markers are positive while some are negative. Markers like hyalurnon, phospholipids, protein phosphate inhibitors-1 are formed by mesothelial cells itself. Table below shows previously studied markers for mesothelial cells and their function. TABLE:- Cell Markers for mesothelial cells MARKER FUNCTION SOURCE REFERENCE AUA1 Immunocytochemical marker of epithelial cells Human [22] Calretinin Diagnostic tool for Hirschsprung Positive marker of mesothelioma Human [23][72] Cancer Antigen(CA) 125 Tumor marker Specific marker for mesothelial cell mass Human [24][73] CD44 Cancer stem cell marker Human [25] CD44H Receptor for hyaluronic acid Positive mesothelial marker Human [26][74] Cytokeratins Epithelial specific marker Expressed by mesothelial cells Human Rat [27][75] Cytokeratin 5/6 Mesothelioma marker Human [28] D2-40 Potential diagnostic marker of mesothelioma Human [29] Desmin Promising differentiating marker of reactive mesothelium from malignant epithelial Human [30] E-Cadherin Cell- cell adhesion marker Used for differentiating benign reactive mesothelial cells Human [31] HBME-1 Negative mesothelial marker in pleura Sensitive mesothelial marker in pleura Human Human [32][33] Hyalurnon Formed by Mesothelial cells Positive mesothelial peritoneal marker Human [34] Keratin Present in extreme amount in mesothelial cells Low amount or negative in mesothelioma Human Human [35] [36] Keratin 7 (K7) Highly expressed by mesothelial cells Human [37] Mcp130 Diagnostic tool for mesothelioma Also used for ovarian carcinomas Human Rat [38] ME1/ME2 Used for identifying both mesothelioma and normal mesothelial cells Human [22] Mesothelin Expressed by both reactive mesothelial cells and epithelioid mesothelioma Human [39] N-Cadherin Human mesenchymal stem cell marker Able to differentiate cardiomyocyte Human Human [30] [76] Phospholipids Formed by mesothelial cells Also known as positive marker for mesothelial cells in peritoneal fluid Human Human [34] [24] ProteinPhosphate Inhibitor-1 Consider as novel positive marker of mesothelium Mouse [40] Thrombomodulin Positive, specific and sensitive marker for mesothelial cells. Human [28] Vimentin Help in identifying mesothelial origin cells Human [41] Wilms Tumour 1 (Wt1) Marker used for differentiate between benign and epithelioid mesothelium Regulates transition of mesothelial into myofibroblasts Human Human [42] [77] 2.0 Fibroblasts in peritoneum To amend injuries in organ and tissues, cell response it in form of fibrosis. Resident fibroblast produces extracellular matrix and collagen. Myofibroblasts are the cells that are produced for carrying out the process of wound healing. In general, myofibroblast are gone through the process of apoptosis after completing healing process. It has been suggested that they become persistence after its mechanism fails and leading to more production and contraction of Extracellular matrix (ECM) and collagen causing fibrotic diseases. 2.1  Myofibroblasts in fibrosis Myofibroblasts are defined as specialized subset of cells, which are considered as the key cells in tissue fibrosis. [9] Electron microscopy showed that myofibroblast have disorganized membrane (changes that occur in actin cytoskeleton), showed presence of stress fibers, microfilament bundles and also showed adhesions in the fibroblastic cells of granulation tissue. [10] Further electron microscopy showed the presence of gap junctions which connects myofibroblasts, thus strengthening the idea of resemblance between myofibroblasts and smooth muscle cell. Myofibroblast main functions are wound healing and connective tissue remodeling. 2.2 Fibroblast differentiation into Myofibroblast To study and analyze functions of myofibroblast, a series of both in-vivo and in-vitro experiments were carried out by Hinz and Gabbiani. [15] They defined the origin of myofibroblasts as a result of 2 step differentiation of fibroblast process. [78] In initial step, fibroblasts differentiate into proto-myofibroblasts during mechanical stress and results in production of stress fibers which contains cytoplasmic actin. They also function to express and establish cellular fibronectin and are also enable to produce contractile force. Term proto-myofibroblast was given to these activated fibroblasts to differentiate them from inactive fibroblasts which are unable to produce contractile force. TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1 along with ED-A fibronectin, under mechanical stress boosts further differentiation of proto-myofibroblast into myofibroblast. They are categorized by extensive ÃŽÂ ±-smooth muscle actin level of expression and produces stronger contractile force than proto-myofibroblasts. This is a lso contributing into connective tissue remodeling. Gabbiani and Hinz also stated that unlike dermal wound healing, in pathological wound healing myofibroblasts do not vanish through apoptosis instead they lead to tissue deformation. In fact, contractures triggered by them are recognized characteristic of organ fibrosis. [79] 2.3 Hypothesis surrounding Myofibroblasts origin The origin of Myofibroblasts in fibrotic tissue has been much debated, with disparate findings likely to stem from the range of different fibrotic diseases investigated and the array of technical approaches taken. [11] Most of the proposed theories have different cellular sources and mechanisms which lead to their origin (Figure 3). Previous studies on dermal fibrosis proposed that mesenchymal-like cells known as pericytes are resident source of myofibroblasts. Immunohistochemistry and double immunofluorescence of patients biopsies showed phenotype link between pericytes and myofibroblasts. [80] It has been described that pericytes can differentiate into osteoblast, adipocytes, and smooth muscle cells. Research carried out by Lin et al., on Col1a1-GFP mice and Humphreys et al., using FoxD1-Cre knock-in mice, both transgenic mice with aim to identify pericytes in genetically labelled renal stroma to suggest that major source of myofibroblasts is pericytes, a contractile cell. [12, 13] A limitation of the aforementioned studies is the lack of lineage tracing strategies and the use of non-specific markers to identify pericytes. Markers such as CD73, PDGFR- ÃŽÂ ² (Platelet-derived growth factor receptor- ÃŽÂ ²) and neural/glial antigen 2 (NG2) used in these studies are also expressed by resident fibroblasts. Endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndoMT), similar process to EMT can be another potential source myofibroblasts. Study done by Zeisberg on three independent mouse models with chronic kidney diseases to study renal fibrosis found that EndoMT may contribute in fibrosis as about 30-50% myofibroblasts were able to express ÃŽÂ ±-SMA and fibroblast-specific protein-1(FSP-1) and also endothelial cell markers CD31. [16] This indicates myofibroblasts may originate from endothelial cells. Myofibroblasts may also be derived from bone marrow. An elaborate series of studies carried out by Direkze et al., used molecular staining techniques for the detection of Y chromosome markers in irradiated female mice which were transplanted with male bone marrow. [18] They used skin wounding and paracetamol administration to create selection pressure to encourage engraftment of bone marrow derived myofibroblasts. They were able to identify myofibroblasts in the gut through their ability to express o f alpha- smooth muscle actin and their morphologies. These findings are controversial however, as other groups have failed to identify BM derived myofibroblasts. A recent study carried out by Yi Ting Chen et al., did genetic fate mapping of Wilms Tumor-1 positive cells on peritoneal fibrosis models. Fibrosis was induced either by dialysis solution, overexpression of TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1, or sodium hypochlorite. [19] Results of this study postures as a challenge to the significance of mesothelial cells as probable source of myofibroblasts. It showed rather than mesothelial cells, underlying submesothelial resident fibroblast give rise to collagen producing myofibroblast. Results of genetic fate mapping of WT1+ mesothelial cells showed that after peritoneal injury, remaining mesothelial cells repair the disrupted peritoneal membrane by contributing to remesothelialization, but do not undergo MMT. While previous studies used Wt-1 as a biomarker and Cre recombinase to trace the fate of mesothelial cells. This makes it obvious that Chen finding still needs to be confirmed. This study also The last proposed theory for origin of myofibroblast is epithelial -mesenchymal transition. Epithelial-Mesenchymal transition (EMT) is commonly defined as process during which transition to mesenchymal cells, epithelial cells lose their cell-cell adhesion and their polarity. Followed by obtaining mesenchymal markers like FSP 1, HSP47, ÃŽÂ ±-SMA and vimentin but loses epithelial markers. [20] Myofibroblasts derived from epithelial cells through EMT proposed theory got strong piece of evidence from immunohistochemical study of peritoneal fibroblasts of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients carried out by J-Heffernan et al. [14] Biopsies samples were taken from CAPD patients and divided into four groups: normal (I), non CAPD uremic (II), CAPD uremic (III) and non- renal patients with inguinal hernia (IV). Markers like desmin, E-cadherin, cytokeratins, ÃŽÂ ±-SMA and also CD34 were analysed for expression by mesothelial cells and resident fibroblasts. Group I and II did expressed CD34 but no other markers. The reverse pattern was observed in other two g roups. Degree of peritoneal fibrosis is connected with loss of CD34 expression. Myofibroblasts appear to originate from both by activations of resident fibroblasts and by mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition of mesothelial cells. 3.0 Mesothelial-Mesenchymal Transition (MMT) Under regular conditions, Mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition of mesothelial cells is an autoregulated biological process which functions to repair tissues but under uncontrolled situations (Long term Peritoneal dialysis) they can cause Peritoneal fibrosis. 3.1 Stages of MMT Mesothelial -Mesenchymal Transition (MMT) is similar process to Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). Defined as a step-wise and complex process where mesothelial cells undergo modifications in their architecture and molecular functions. [21] [48] Simple steps in which process of MMT occurs starts with the downregulation of intracellular adhesion molecules causing loss of microvilli, apical-basal polarity and disrupting intracellular tight junction. These transition undergoing cells adopt front to back polarity, have increased in their migration capacity, morphological changes and are able to express ÃŽÂ ±-SMA. The main objective of this process is to repair wounded tissues and also play role in process like migration of cells, inducing neoangiogenesis and production of extracellular matrix. Molecules and signaling pathways that play role of either inducers or blocker during the process of MMT are TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1 induced signaling pathways and BMP-7 signaling pathway. They are member of superfamily of growth factors, along with activins/inhibin and growth and differentiation factors (GDFs). Main attention is on growth factors because equilibrium between these factors maintains the epithelial like-phenotypic characteristics of Mesothelial cells and also in acquiring mesenchymal cells characteristics. Studies not only showed that high levels of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, CTGF and VEGF are expressed by mesothelial cells that undergo MMT. But also that there is connection between expression of these molecules and rate of transport of solute across peritoneal membrane. These molecules are also caught up into fibrotic, angiogenic and also in inflammatory responses. [49][50][51] 3.2 Cell Signaling Pathways Activation of TGF- ÃŽÂ ², master molecule in peritoneal fibrosis during Peritoneal Dialysis, starts MMT signalling cascade with activating receptors that triggers smads- dependent (GSK-3, ÃŽÂ ²-catenin, Lef-1/Tcf, integrin-linked kinase) and smads-independent signalling (H-Ras/Raf/ERK) pathway. [48][52][53][54] Smad are intracellular proteins that functions to transfer signals from TGF-ÃŽÂ ² to nucleus for gene transcription. Smad dependent signalling pathways activates when TGF-ÃŽÂ ² and BMP-7 binds with their respective receptor type II (TGF R-II and BMP R-II respectively). The binding leads to activation of receptors type I of TGF and BMP-7. These receptors type I functions to carry out phosphorylation process. TGF R-I phosphorylates Smad2 and Smad3 in TGF-ÃŽÂ ² pathway and Smad1, Smad5 and Smad8 by BMP R-I. These activated Smads forms heterodimers with Smad4. Followed by translocation of these complexes into the nucleus where they function to activate genes involved in either process of MMT and rMMT (Fig. 5) Presence of few other BMP-7 modulators may affect the signalling of BMP-7. Smad dependent signalling pathway of TGF-ÃŽÂ ² and BMP-7 are controlled by Smad7 and Smad6 respectively. In case of Smad independent pathway of TGF-ÃŽÂ ² and BMP-7 involves a protein kinase TAK1, which functions to regulate processes like transcription and apoptosis. In TGF-ÃŽÂ ² signalling pathway, TRAF6 initiates activation of TAK1 which further leads to activation of p38 and MAPK-JNK signalling pathway. Receptor type I of TGF-ÃŽÂ ² phosphorylates Shc, which helps in activating MAP kinase ERK1/2 signalling pathway. p38 pathway act as blocker of mesothelial cells conversion to mesenchymal. Maybe its due to the fact that XIAB, a protein belonging to the family of inhibitor of apoptosis protein helps BMP-7 to activate p38 signalling pathway. TGF-ÃŽÂ ² also encourages PI3-K/Akt pathway by inactivating GSK-3ÃŽÂ ², to stabilize ÃŽÂ ²-catenin and snail and to activate mTOR. This results in localisation of ÃŽÂ ²-catenin into the nucleus, where they interact with LEF1/TCF, in order to feed into Wnt signalling pathway. They also contribute in the transcription of mesenchyma l-related genes. Furthermore, localisation of snail into the nuclear encourages transcriptional repression of E-cadherin and several other adhesion molecules. Smad dependent or independent pathway, both depicts the fact that TGF-ÃŽÂ ² plays a key role in developing fibrosis by promoting mesothelial to mesenchymal transition. Another fact is BMP-7 plays role of antagonist to TGF-ÃŽÂ ². Utmost studies has used TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1 as their target goal to design therapeutic treatment for peritoneal fibrosis. Most of them intend to control TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1 activity either via drug or synthetic proteins design specifically for this purpose. 3.3 Evidences of Mesothelial-mesenchymal transition (MMT) There are more than enough studies results which clearly supports the process of MMT occurring fibrosis but in 2003, Yanez-Mo et al., published breakthrough in-vitro and in-vivo study where they were able to demonstrated MCs undergoes mesenchymal conversion. [46]. Primarily in vitro studies were carried on by isolating mesothelial cells from patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis. These isolated cells were characterized using immunostaining, western blotting, flow cytometry and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Mesothelial cells from omentum from healthy persons were used as control and all results were compared. Morphological analysis sample showed varies morphologies ranging from cobblestone like appearing cells to fibroblast like cells. Mixed morphology and non-epithelioid were also observed in few samples. Level of E-cadherin, cytokeratin and vimentin were analyzed for the mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition in mesothelial cell cultures. Results demonstrated not iceably low level of E-cadherin and cytokeratin expression in both cobblestones like cells and non-epithelioid cell as compared to omentum cell cultures. In non-epithelioid cells, vimentin has high expression level. Expression of snail and E-cadherin in mesothelial cells isolated from effluent and omentum were analyzed by the process of RT-PCR. While in omentum mesothelial cells, showed no presence of snail mRNA but increase in expression of these messenger RNA in effluent derived mesothelial cells. These results were established after carrying out in vivo studies of peritoneal biopsy samples. With dual aim of studying anatomical changes in peritoneal membrane and correlating them with functional parameter, Del Peso and team carried out a clinical study. [47] They used peritoneum biopsies taken from thirty-five steady patients which were still taking peritoneum dialysis treatment form last 2 years. They observe loss of mesothelial layer in about 74% patients, fibrosis in 46%, 17% showed presence vasculopathy. With submesothelial cytokeratin staining, 17% showed evidence of EMT. Interestingly, they found that myofibroblasts were present in all patients with EMT but only in 36% without EMT. 3.4 Potential therapeutic approaches to reverse MMT (rMMT) Several studies describe therapeutic strategies which are targeting anti-EMT of Mesothelial cells are emerging as promising treatment against fibrosis development. Tamoxifen is a drug used for treating breast cancer. The tamoxifen is oestrogen receptor and their activity affects action of TGF- ÃŽÂ ²1 has been reported. In year 1991, Clark and team showed noticeable decrease in level of peritoneal fibrosis, when given orally to peritoneal fibrosis patients. Loureiro and team also used this drug to study its effect in early stage of PD induced peritoneal fibrosis. [61] Theyused PD model of mice for in-vivo study and along with that they also did in-vitro study. In vitro studies were carried out with mesothelial cells (MCs) derived from omentum and effluent. Mesothelial cell sample cultures were checked for any change in morphology and also level of E-cadherin expression after treating them with Tamoxifen. For effluent derived MCs, MMT was not reversed by Tamoxifen but some mesenchymal molecules expression was reduced. In mice PD model, they confirmed that MMT and thickness of peritoneal membrane increases parallel. They also observed that Tamoxifen does reduce thickness of peritoneal membrane and improves its function. They also administrated P17 and P144, synthetic peptides that were designed to bind with TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1 directly. [62] It has been reported that in organs like liver, heart, skin these peptides have shown strong antifibrotic effect by blocking biological function of TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1. Bone morphogenic protein-7 (BMP-7) and Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), are two molecules that were successfully demonstrated their ability to inhibit and reverse process of Mesothelial to mesenchymal transition and renal fibrosis in animal models by X Y D et al., and Yang et al. [64] [65] In vitro study carried by Yang and team, where they used histone acetyltransferase inhibitor (HAT) C646 in EMT model of HPMCs. [66] EMT was induced by treating with high glucose. C646 treatment of EMT model, found TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1/Smad3 signalling was blocked. This might provide with a novel therapeutic treatment for peritoneal fibrosis. Even though most of the therapeutic studies focused on mesothelial mesenchymal transition process and TGF-ÃŽÂ ²1, there are other factors that contributes to loss of functional properties of peritoneum. Thus promotin