Critique of practice Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Critique of practice - Case Study Example Aside from taking the responsibility of looking after her health, she has to deal with the problem of looking for a place to stay where she can effectively keep herself clean and avoid possible relapses. Her background shows that she was close to her father, who died of AIDS at the age of 68. Her mother neglected and abused her. She has sisters who all live in Tallahassee. Generally looking at the environment she grew up in, it is clear that there was not enough moral and emotional support from her family. The lack of guidance from her parents and the kind of relationship she had with them may have led her to resort to drugs and alcohol. She began drinking at the age of 12 and smoking Crack at the age of 28. Although she does not like the environment, the client feels safe living with her boyfriend. However, this uneasiness with her surrounding creates possibilities and risks of her relapsing again. Although she luckily receives help from her friends and from their church, it seems that the client needs more help than what is already given her. She claims she believes in and follows the 12-step program and attends Alcohol Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. The client's major concerns include preventing relapses, dealing with her alcohol and drug dependency and staying in a decent house. Of these, her primary complaint is how to avoid further relapses from happening. This complaint was conveyed through a discussion, which was a slow transition from general information to more specific details. It started out with the client's narration of her present life circumstance, and it narrowed down to the things that bother her the most. The agency involved is St Luke's Recovery Treatment Center which offers several health-related services such as assessment and referrals, psychiatric services, and health care. The agency also conducts recreational activities, relapse prevention workshops, crisis intervention, and spiritual counseling and observances, and other religious services in collaboration with some organizations like Catholic Charities. The program most applicable and helpful to the client is the one offered for alcohol- and drug-dependent individuals. This program includes providing residence for the client, day treatment, outpatient, prevention and aftercare (St. Luke's Addiction Recovery Center, n.d.). The interventions include mental counseling, spiritual healing, health screening and monitoring, and crisis interventions. Since the agency focuses and aims at empowering individuals to cope with their problems and provides programs that assist clients in jumpstarting better lifestyles and personal growth, it helps a lot in dealing with the client. Except for minor problems with the schedule (insufficient time allotted for discussions), there were no other hindrances in working with the agency since they have a similar goal of making the client's situation better. After several sessions of speaking with the client and her concerns, several plans

Nutrition Company Business Plan Essay Example for Free

Nutrition Company Business Plan Essay Executive summary: Bharat Food Science Nutritionals is a company which is in the market for 30 years and has been providing the highest quality formulations in Nutritional Supplement Industry for both human and animal needs. Main objective is to provide Humans with required nutritional supplements and make them healthier and more productive. It is known that low socio-economics groups just eat enough to survive. Our objective is to include these people to improve their health and make them fit. Our Mission is Nutritious Nation. Our company is committed to providing nutrition to promote maximum fitness and overall better health Our Vision includes in next 10 years is to provide a Healthy India. Helping as many people as we can. â€Å"There should be no selling of a girl due to lack of food.† Our products are so reliable which has lead us to good profits. Now we are developing new strategies to include low socio-economic people. Company summary: Bharat Food Science Nutritionals, for over 30 years our company has provided the highest quality formulations in the Nutritional Supplement Industry for both human and animal needs. We do research, develop, manufacture and distribute a variety of dietary supplements, protein bars, soups, meals, fiber drinks and fortified beverages. Our company has a base of products for the Vitamin/Nutrition, and Pharmaceutical industries. The diverse product line contains many value-added granulations and custom formulations. Baby foods formulated to supplement your babys diet. Our patented, GRAS-designated ingredients are designed for the nutritional supplement, functional food and beverage, cosmetic and animal nutrition market. Our employees are dedicated to an unmatched commitment of quality and service for every product we produce. High level of supervision goes into the production process. Our products provide the most effective dietary supplements to promote maximum fitness and overall better health. WHO recognizes that poverty, social inequality and the lack of education are the root causes of malnutrition and stresses that improvements in human welfare, including nutritional well-being, must be at the center of social and economic development efforts. To help low socio economic groups, we have determined to work together to eliminate hunger and all forms of malnutrition. Main objectives include * Famine and famine-related deaths; * Starvation and nutritional deficiency diseases in communities affected by natural and man-made disasters; * Iodine and vitamin A deficiencies; * Water supply for irrigation. We also pledged to reduce substantially: * Starvation and widespread chronic hunger; * Under nutrition, especially among children, women and the aged; * Other important micronutrient deficiencies, including iron; * Diet-related communicable and non-communicable diseases; * Social and other impediments to optimal breast-feeding; * Inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene, including unsafe drinking water. We took a large portion of our profit to start these programs. Selected volunteers will educate the people about the importance of nutrition and proper food intake. Pregnant ladies are supervised and informed about their special nutrition requirements; we provide free samples of iron, iodine and vitamins for this category of females. Explaining the importance of breast feeding will encourage the children feeding on breast milk to be immune to diseases in a natural way. Saving the rain water is very much important for irrigation. Amartyasen , a well-known Economist who needs no introduction says that â€Å"There is enough food available for everyone but the ability to buy food is lacking† Hence we also want to create opportunities to raise their income. As most of the rural people are based on agriculture, we focus on development of agriculture as well. Teaching villagers the techniques to save rain water and usage of optimal ground water will help them in agricultural purposes. Our company has tie-ups with Agro-seeds Company. They provide high yielding variety of seeds. We will provide these seeds at subsidized rates to the farmers so that they can get high yielding crops and good income. â€Å"JEENA† is the name of the program in which we have included all these activities. Jeena basically focuses on improving the health and fitness of low socio-economic individuals and thereby improving their wellbeing. Customer identification is the primary setup. Since urban people are now being educated and know the importance of nutrition, our products are gaining importance. We market our products to all locations. And especially to doctors, they prescribe the drugs to the required people. But in rural areas and people with low income it is difficult to find customers. Hence by giving our products at subsidized rates will encourage the low income individuals to take nutrition supplements. Creating the awareness about the problems faced because of malnutrition will encourage everyone to consume the nutritious diet. There are many questions which are unaddressed in regard to the approach. They can be potential risks involved in the business. Risks may be categorized as Threats, this can be from political view or catastrophic (e.g. Natural disaster or critical public infrastructure failures) or climate changes. Other risk is it can be vulnerable i.e. chances of undesirable outcome. Though our products are approved by FDA, few people with other diseases may not find it suitable for them, especially animal products. Finding sufficient number of volunteers to go and create awareness is another challenge. To see the Change it takes cost and time as the variables. In places like Ramnad, water lords may restrict our activities. People may not behave as expected and it is difficult to judge their behavior. As per poor economics, low income individuals are not willing to spend more on food even if their salary increases. Such unpredictable human nature may hinder the plan. To mitigate the risk, our risk management system is aiming to address the uncertainty in the market place. They create controls and countermeasures to minimize or eliminate the disruption, loss or damage to business operations and shorten recovery time from unwanted event and thereby reducing its impact on business. Taking the help of surveys and questionnaires will help us to know the loopholes in our process. Educating people will solve most of the unwanted probability of our program being successful. Marketing our products to the remote locations will increase its demand and it will be easily accepted by low socio economic groups. To avoid the side effects, we do preliminary health diagnosis of the person and give the appropriate supplements. Making profit is not our motto but we do have profits. We have huge profits in the commercial business. A big portion of it goes to help the low socio-economic people. Apart from that we follow a scheme in which we made all our customers and people in villages who are being benefitted by us to involve in a scheme under â€Å"Jeena†, in which each person pays a small token of money. All this money is in turn used for their own benefit. People taking nutritious food indicates that they are more tall and healthy who have more production. More productivity leads to higher profits. There are few short-term and long-term plans in our plan. But our program of â€Å"Jeena† will definitely make big difference in near future.

An overview: Chikungunya fever

An overview: Chikungunya fever Introduction The derivation of chikungunya came from Tanzania, when there were reports of a dengue-like symptom outbreak in 1952-1953, in the Newala and Masasi Districts of the Southern Province. However, dengue was later excluded on the basis that this epidemic involved patients suffering from debilitating joint pains and shorter incubation period which are not clinical features of dengue. Consequently, the illness was called chikungunya; (Robinson 1955) a word from the Makonde dialect describing patients contorted posture (Lumsden 1955). Chikungunya is an arthropod borne virus (arbovirus) of the genus: Alphavirus from Togaviridae family. It is transmitted to humans mainly by day biting mosquito species Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Townson and Nathan 2008). Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) contains a positive-sense single stranded RNA genome, enclosed in an icosahedral nucleocapsid (combination of nucleic acid and capsid) all enclosed in a phospholipid bilayer envelope. Embedded in the envelope are multiple copies of two encoded glycoproteins E1 and E2, a small glycoprotein E3, and a hydrophobic peptide 6K (Strauss and Strauss 1994). History There were no previous reported cases of chikungunya or dengue in Tanzania before the chikungunya epidemic in 1952 1953 thus, the inhabitants were highly susceptible in acquiring CHIKV infections (Robinson 1955). Prescott et al, 2002 stated that herd immunity; that is, the immunity that is acquired by a large proportion of the population either through vaccination, or from previous infections, thereby rendering the population resistant to the spread of the diseases. Furthermore, other factors could have contributed to the epidemic including records of unusually high rainfall during February to May 1952. Consequently, this condition was thought to provide suitable breeding environment for the mosquitoes to expand their population, suggesting that the main vector of transmissions were mosquitoes (Lumsden 1955). However, not only high rainfall was implicated in enhancing mosquitoes breeding environment, but also water filled clay jars dug in the inhabitants huts floor in preparation fo r the drought season. Consequently, these jars are rarely completely emptied, which further enhanced mosquitoes populations. Another contributing factor to the epidemic could be the living conditions and lifestyles of the indigenous populations. Animals such as fowl, pigeons and occasionally goats were reared in the inhabitants huts. Consequently, these vertebrates could also serve as CHIKV hosts, and thus, this has provided opportunities for transmissions between animals and humans. During early January 1953, the incidence of the epidemic has reached its peak (Lumsden 1955). However, once a person has acquired the infection, that person will become immune to further infections with the same virus (Robinson 1955). Subsequently, this means that as herd immunity increases, the number of viraemic inhabitants decreases. Aim Consequently, it has inspired this literature review on chikungunya in assessing its outbreaks incidence and prevalence, its associations with dengue and the vectors. Furthermore, from this to determine if it poses a risk that Western medicine should be planning for. Clinical Features Chikungunya has a viraemic incubation period of 3-12 days (Robinson 1955). Rezza et al. (2007) described chikungunya as a mild and self limited disease in most of the patients. with patients presenting with clinical features such as fever ranging from 39-39.8oC, fatigue, skin rash (sometimes itches), headache, joint pain (arthalgia), muscle pain (myalgia), diarrhoea, vomiting, photophobia, and conjunctivitis. Furthermore, Kannan et al. (2009) observed most of the above symptoms with inclusion of oedema, oral ulcers, nausea, and haemorrhage. Arthalgia and myalgia involves extremities such as wrists, ankles, hands, feet and phalanges. However, arthalgia, myalgia, oedema, lethargy, and weakness persisted even after fever had subsided (Kannan et al. 2009). However, the La Reunion outbreak observed vertical transmissions from mother to child, with newborns presenting with chikungunya infection without prior involvement of mosquitoes. These infants presented with fever, pain, poor feeding, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), petechiae, distal joint oedema, and thrombocytopenia. Also involved were severe neonatal infections including encephalitis and haemorrhagic fever. Furthermore, there were cases whereby transient brain haemorrhages were complicated by the presence of DIC (Gà ©rardin et al. 2008). Table 1: represents different clinical features that were associated with chikungunya infection during several outbreaks. Clinical Features associated with Chikungunya Most common Joint pain (96.6%) Fever Fever Fever Fever (96.3%) Joint pain Joint pain Arthalgia Headache (71.2%) Arthritis Fatigue Myalgia Muscle pain (62.6%) Myalgia Skin rash Headache Cutaneous eruptions (32.5%) Arthralgia Headache Anorexia Headache Muscle pain Nausea Rash Diarrhoea Itch/ Rash Sore throat Itch/ Rash Oedema Vomiting Oral ulcer Photophobia Eye pain Conjunctivitis Vomiting Eye congestion Least common Haemorrhage Reference Renault et al. 2007 Yosulf et al. 2008 Kannan et al. 2009 Distribution of Chikungunya The World Health Organisation (WHO) alerted the Global Alert and Response Network in March 2005, of an impending outbreak of chikungunya fever in the Comoro Islands. It was the first Southwestern Indian Ocean islands to be implicated in the epidemic, subsequently; other countries were later implicated in this epidemic. The emergence of the epidemic in Mayotte was imported from Grande-Comore by mid-April and by the end of April Mauritius was also implicated. Overall, the Southwestern Indian Ocean region was believed to be afflicted by the first emergence of CHIKV (Renault et al. 2007). In April 2005, a chikungunya infection which started in Grande-Comorre was imported into La Reunion (French Overseas Territory), became its first severe reported case, in March 2004 to April 2005. It resulted in the establishment of a wide operational epidemiologic surveillance system by the islands local authority with the following objectives monitor epidemic trends, characterise cases and detect new transmission clusters to provide orientations for prevention and vector control. Unfortunately, the collection of data was not conducted scientifically, as the figures of reported cases were not scientifically correlated (Renault et al. 2007). Moreover, there were also flaws in the correlation of the epidemic curve as the capacity of the surveillance system was not sufficient to evaluate the number of cases. Consequently, this resulted in an underestimated number of reported cases. (Renault et al. 2007). Approximately 3% cases did not correspond with the criteria defining suspected cas es as an abrupt onset of fever >38.5oC accompanied by debilitating joint pain. However, Renault et al. (2007) argued that these were mainly due to some atypical cases that were confirmed by laboratory testing and also due to errors in reporting cases. Moreover, there could have been misdiagnosis of chikungunya infection as not all of the atypical cases were laboratory confirmed; and also the previous year there were outbreak of dengue. By April 2006, 203 deaths which were either directly or indirectly attributed to chikungunya infection with the mortality rate of 0.3/1000 people with a median age of 79. Consequently, the number of deaths was minimal. Moreover, the low immune status of the individual as indicated by the age could have been a contributing factor to the death, as some of these individuals were presented with other underlying conditions. However, direct association between death and infection was not confirmed due to the absence of autopsies, consequently; this made it difficult to assess the extent chikungunya virus had on death. Mayotte, an island of the Comoros archipelago was involved in the first CHIKV outbreak in April 2005 to July 2006 affecting approximately 6346 residents. The outbreak involved two waves, with peak occurring in the second wave aroIn the Maldives, an outbreak occurred during December 2006 to April 2007 with 11879 confirmed and suspected cases. Out of the 197 inhabited Maldives islands 121 islands reported CHIKV. The epidemic was thought to be associated with unusually high rainfall from October 2006 to March 2007 and post tsunami construction activities which provided breeding sites for mosquitoes. (Yoosuf et al. 2008). On the east coast of Madagascar, in Toamasina, Chikungunya virus and Dengue type 1 virus outbreak were reported during January to March 2006. The study involved interrogating 4,242 residents in 27 neighbourhoods, of which 2,863 were suspected cases and of these 44 were hospitalised cases. 55 patients serum were sampled after passing the criteria which included having less than five days of fever as well as three of these symptoms: headache, myalgia, arthralgia, retroorbital pain or rash. The results included 24 dengue patients, 4 chikungunya and 10 co-infections. As the study was only based on clinical investigations, and only a few samples were analysed, there were insufficient investigation to measure the Chikungunyas and Dengues contributions in the 2 peaks of the epidemic curve. Furthermore, 2 of the 24 Dengue patients had IgM Chikungunya virus. This could be caused by false positive or false negative results, resulting in misdiagnosis or they were in fact co-infections (Ratsitor ahina et al. 2008). The cases represented on the map are either confirmed cases or suspected cases. Reference: 1 Krastinova et al. 2006, 2 Rezza et al. 2007, 3 Pastorino et al. 2004, 4 Sissoko et al. 2008, 5 Lumsden 1955, 6 Tamburro and Depertat 2009, 7 CDC 2009, 8 WHO 2008, 9 Yoosuf et al. 2009. Transmission of CHIKV CHIKV requires an invertebrate and vertebrate host in order to complete its replication cycle (Pardigon 2009). Invertebrate hosts also known as definitive hosts are mainly the Aedes mosquito species. The Aedes mosquito becomes infected subsequent to ingesting viraemic blood meal from infected vertebrate hosts. The blood meal containing CHIKV travel to the gut, there CHIKV undergo replication within the gut wall. Subsequently, CHIKV contain mechanisms permitting its penetration into the mosquitoes tissues. From there, it passes through either the bloodstream or by other methods (not well known) to different sites of the body such as the salivary glands where it undergoes further replication. Extrinsic incubation period (EIP) is defined as the time taken for the vector to transmit CHIKV after ingesting a viraemic blood meal. Subsequently, there are factors that could influence the length of the EIP including temperature which increases when the EIP decreases. This is thought to be an i nverse proportional relationship. Moreover, the quantity of viraemic blood ingested is another factor (Cook and Zumla 2009). Furthermore, Ross (1956) research demonstrated that a mosquito could harbour viral particles for up to 30 days. Gould and Higgs (2009) suggested that vertical transmission of CHIKV from infected mosquitoes result in infected mosquitoes eggs. These eggs, due to their dessicated nature, are able to survive for long period of time in the environment where it hatches during the rainy season. Sylvatic transmission cycle involves vertebrate hosts such as primates, birds, and rodents which serve as natural hosts (Pardigon 2009). However, humans were considered accidental hosts, resulting in urban transmission cycles producing epidemics. After taking a viraemic bloodmeal from an infected human the domestic mosquitoes can also become infected thereby contributing to the outbreaks (Gould and Higgs 2009). Distributions of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti The main vectors of chikungunya are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The vector involved in the 2005/2006 Mayotte outbreak was Aedes albopictus which resided locally on the island (Sissoko et al. 2008). Aedes albopictus was involved in the 2006 Dengue fever and Chikungunya outbreak in Madagascar. The mosquito was found in drums, buckets, coconut shells, discarded cans, pots wet containers and tyres (Ratsitorahina et al. 2008). In the 2007 Italian outbreak, the only vector present was Aedes albopictus (Rezza et al. 2007). The main vector associated with recent outbreaks was Aedes albopictus. Effect of climate change Most of the cases occurred after reports of high rainfall. Association with Dengue Fever and Malaria In the 1999-2000 Democratric Republic of Congo outbreak, patients had acquired simultaneous CHIKV and Plasmodium falciparum infection. However, there were not sufficient evidence to prove co-infection between the two but it was assumed by the authors that it was probable (Pastorino et al. 2004). Compared to CHIKV, dengue virus is of the genus Flavirivirus from Flaviridae family and contains 4 serotypes (Dayal-Drager 2004 cited by Seyler et al. 2009). The 2006 Madagascar outbreak showed that the mosquito can harbour both Chikungunya and dengue virus (Ratsitorahina et al. 2008). CHIKV is often masked by dengue fever due to similar clinical features. Consequently, a study by Vazeille et al. (2008) demonstrated that Aedes aegypti has a higher susceptibility in Dengue 2 virus and a lower susceptibility to CHIKV. Moreover, studies by Vazeille et al. (2008) and Moutailler et al. (2009) demonstrated that Aedes albopictus are more effiecient at harbouring CHIKV than dengue 2 virus. Importation into Europe France Between March 2005 to August 2006, 80 visitors from Chikungunya infected countries in the Southwest Indian Ocean region (La Reunion, Mauritius, Mayotte, Comoros and India) confirmed chikungunya infection at Pitià ©-Salpà ªtrià ¨ne Hospital in Paris, France (Hochedez et al. 2007). Italy In 2007, a massive CHIKV outbreak occurred in the Emilia Romagna region in northeastern Italy. There were 205 identified cases with frebile illness reported in Castiglione di Cervia and Castiglione di Ravenna villages (171) separated by the river in Revana province, and Cervia (13) and other villages (21), between July 4 to September 27. The epidemic was believed to be imported from Kerala, India (CHIKV epidemic infested area) by a man, who after two days of his arrival in Castiglione di Cervia developed frebile illness. The majority of the cases were the elderly (median age 60) representing increased incidence with age. Aedes albopictus which causes Chikungunya was also found in the area of the epidemic which further propagated the virus. Positive CHIKV sequences were detected in 90 captured Aedes albopictus mosquitoes from Castiglione di Cervia and 125 from Castiglione di Ravenna. Most cases occurred in Castiglione di Cervia and Castiglione di Ravenna Villages with peak incidence d uring third week of August. The 13 Cervia cases were local transmission introduced from Castiglione through migration (Rezza et al. 2007). Other European Countries Due to travelling, several European countries have encountered CHIKV from viraemic travellers from epidemic countries (Panning et al. 2008). The study was conducted at the Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany involved 680 patients. References Beran, G. W. (1994) Handbook of zoonoses. Section B: Viral. 2nd Edition. CRC Press LLC: Florida. CDC. (2009) Outbreak notice. Chikungunya in Asia and the Indian Ocean. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/outbreak-notice/chikungunya-fever.aspx. Accessed on 28th January 2010. CDC. (2008) Chikungunya Transmission http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/Chikungunya/CH_Transmission.html Downloaded on 8th December 2009. Cook, G. C., Zumla, A. I. (2009) Mansons Tropical Diseases. 22nd Edition. Saunders: China. Gà ©rardin, P., Barau, G., Michault, A., Bintner, M., Randrianaivo, H., Choker, G., Lenglet, Y., Touret, Y., Bouveret, A., Grivard, P., Le Roux, K., Blanc, S., Schuffenecker, I., Couderc, T., Arenzana-Seisdedos, F., Lecuit, M., Robillard, P-Y. (2008) Multidisciplinary Prospective Study of Mother-to-Child Chikungunya virus Infections on the Island of La Rà ©union. PLoS Medicine, 5(3), 413-423. Gould, E. A., Higgs, S. (2009) Impact of climate change and other factors on emerging arbovirus diseases. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 103(2), 109-121. Hochedez, P., Hausfater, P., Jaureguiberry, S., Gay, F., Datry, A., Danis, M., Bricaire, F., Bossi, P. (2007) Cases of Chikungunya Fever Imported from the Islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean to Paris, France. Eurosurveillance. 12(1-3). Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=679LanguageId=2. Accessed date: 12th November 2009. Kannan, M., Rajendran, R., Sunish, I. P., Balasubramaniam, R., Arunachalam, N., Paramasivan, R., Tewari, S. C., Philip, Samuel, P., Tyagi, B. K. (2009) A study on chikungunya outbreak during 2007 in Kerala, south India. Indian Journal of Medical Research. 129,(3), 311-315. Krastinova, E., Quatresous, I., Tarantola, A. (2006) Imported cases of chikungunya in metropolitan France. Eurosurveillance, 34(11). Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=3030. Accessed on: 28th January 2010. Lumsden, W. H. R. (1955) An Epidemic of Virus Disease in Southern Province, Tanganyika Territory, in 1952-53 II. General Description and Epidemiology. Transaction of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hgeine. 49(1), 33-57. Moutailler, S., Barre, H., Vazielle, M., Failloux, A-B. (2009) Recently introduced Aedes albopictus in Corsica is competent to Chikungunya virus and in a lesser extent to dengue virus. Tropical Medicine and International Health. 14(9), 1105-1109. Panning, M., Grywna, K., Van Esbroeck, M., Emmerich, P., Drosten, C. (2008) Chikungunya Fever in Travellers Returning to Europe from the Indian Ocean Region, 2006. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 14(3), 416-422. Paquet, C., Quatresous, I., Solet, J.-L., Sissoko, D., Renault, P., Pierre, V., Cordel, H., Lassalle, C., Thiria, J., Zeller, H., Schuffnecker, I. (2006) Chikungunya outbreak In Rà ©union: epidemiology and surveillance, 2005 to early January 2006. Eurosurveillance. 11(5). Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=2891. Accessed on: 12th November 2009. Pardigon, N. (2009) The biology of chikungunya: A brief review of what we still do not know. Pathologie Biologie. 57(2), 127-132. Pastorino, B., Muyembe-Tamfum, J.J., Bessaud, M., Tock, F., Tolou, H., Durand, J.P., Peyrefitte, C.N. (2004) Epidemic Resurgence of Chikungunya Virus in Democratic Republic of the Congo: Identification of the New Central African Strain. Journal of Medical Virology 74(2), 277-282. Pialoux, G., Gaà ¼zà ¨re, B.-A., Jaurà ©guiberry, S., Strobel, M. (2007) Chikungunya, an epidemic arbovirosis. Lancet Infectious Diseases 7(5), 319-327. Prescott, L.M., Harley, J.P., Klein, D.A. (2002) Microbiology. Fifth Edition. Boston; London : McGraw-Hill. Ratsitorahina, M., Harisoa, J., Ratovonjato, J., Biacabe, S., Reynes, J.-M., Zeller, H., Raoelina, Y., Talarmin, A., Richard, V., Soares, J.-L. (2008) Outbreak of Dengue and Chikungunya Fevers, Toamasina, Madagascar, 2006. Emerging Infectious Diseases 14(7), 1135-1137. Renault, P., Solet, J.-L., Sissoko, D., Balleydier, E., Larrieu, S., Filleul, L., Lassalle, C., Thiria, J., Rachou, E., De Valk, H., Ilef, D., Ledrans, M., Quatresous, I., Quenel, P., Pierre, V. (2007) A major epidemic of chikungunya virus infection on Reunion Island, France, 2005-2006. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 77(4), 727-731. Rezza, G., Nicoletti, L., Angelini, R., Romi, R., Finarelli, A.C., Panning, M., Cordioli, P., Fortuna, C., Boros, S., Magurano, F., Silvi, G., Angelini, P., Dottori, M., Ciufolini, M.G., Majori, G. C., Cassone, A. (2007) Infection with chikungunya virus in Italy: an outbreak in a temperate region. Lancet. 370(9602), 1840-1846. Robinson, M.C. (1952) An epidemic of virus disease in Southern Province, Tanganyika Territory, in 1952-1953. I Clinical features. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 49(1), 28-32. Ross, R. W. (1956). The Journal of Hygiene. 54(2): 192-200. Sissoko, D., Malvy, D., Giry, C., Delmas, G., Paquet, C., Gabrie, P., Pettinelli, F., Sanquer, M.-A., Pierre, V. (2008) Outbreak of Chikungunya fever in Mayotte, Comoros archipelago, 2005-2006. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 102(8), 780-786. Staikowsky, F., Talarmin, F., Grivard, P., Souab, A., Schuffenecker, I., Le Roux, K., Lecuit, M. Michault, A. (2009) Prospective Study of Chikungunya Virus Acute Infection in the Island of La Rà ©union during the 2005-2006 Outbreak. PLoS one. 4(10), e7603. Strauss, J. H., Strauss, E. G. (1994) The alphaviruses: gene expression, replication, and evolution. Microbiological Reviews. 58(3), 491-562. Tamburro, M., Depertat, T. (2009) Protection measures against mosquito bites in Reunion island during chikungunya epidemics in 2005- 2006 and since then. Archives de Pà ©diatrie, 16(6), 763-765. Townson, H., Nathan, M. B. (2008) Resurgence of chikungunya. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 102(4), 308-309. Vazeille, M., Moutailler, S., Pages, F., Jarjaval, F., Failloux, A.-B. (2008) Introduction of Aedes albopictus in Gabon: what consequences for dengue and chikungunya transmission? Tropical Medicine and International Health. 13(9), 1176-1179. WHO. (2006) Chikungunya in India. Available online: http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_10_17/en/print.html. Accessed on: 28th January 2010. WHO. (2008) Chikungunya in South-West Asia Update. Available online: http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section10/Section2246_13975.htm. Accessed on: 28th January 2010. WHO. (2009) Chikungunya Fever, a re-emerging Disease in Asia. Available online: . Accessed on: 20th February 2010. Yoosuf, A. A., Shiham, I., Mohamed, A. J., Ali, G., Luna, J. M., Pandav, R., Gongal, G. N., Nisaluk, A., Jarman, R. G., Gibbons, R. V. (2008) First report of chikungunya from the Maldives. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygeine. 103(2), 192-196.

Contradictions In The Puritan Religion :: essays research papers

Contradictions In The Puritan Religion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Life is full of many contradictions, and the basis of the Puritan religion is no exception. The Puritans believed that they were God's chosen people, as mentioned in the Bible. They saw themselves on a level above the average man, but in reality, their religion was full of inconsistencies. The Puritans believed in something known as the ‘Doctrine of Elect,' hinted at in Romans 8:28-30, 9:6-24, and later at the Synod of Dort.. The doctrine contradicted the more widely held belief of Pelagianism, the belief that man could redeem himself through acts of charity, piety, and by living an unselfish life. It came to be one of the greatest theological discrepancies of all time. Evidently, the Puritan beliefs were almost entirely contradictory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some of the Puritan beliefs were both simple and believable. Others would seem outrageous today. Puritanism was founded on the principles and beliefs of John Calvin, and one of the major ideals they focused on was the doctrine of predestination. Calvin believed that the grace of God was the ticket into Heaven and that his grace could not be earned. God's grace was bestowed upon a select few regardless of what they did to earn it. This ‘ doctrine' stated that God determines a mans' destiny, whether it be redemption or condemnation, regardless of any worth or merit on the person's part. It could be compared to the failures of Communism in that no matter how hard a person worked, how devout a person was, how often a person went to church, there was no way to get into Heaven unless they were chosen. Aside from the doctrine of elect, the Puritans had other outrageous beliefs including the degradation of one's self, the utter and total dependence on divine grace for salvation, and the wrath of an angry God.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The God worshipped by the Puritans was not a forgiving God, and definitely not a happy God. The Puritans fear him and tried zealously to make themselves worthy in his eyes. They insisted that they, as God's special elect, had the duty to conduct affairs carrying out his will according to the Bible. Though many of their beliefs seemed outrageous, the most heinous of all was the aforementioned ‘Doctrine of Elect.'   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If this ‘Doctrine of Elect' guaranteed the chosen a spot in heaven, then there was no reason for them to behave as pious, God-fearing Puritans. There was no reward after death for those who had been good and were not ‘chosen.' The standard was the same for the special few who made their way onto God's

Acceptance Is Freedom Essay

Freedom is a word that we use so often, but what does it truly mean? Everyone has a different definition of what freedom is. Some believe that freedom is saying whatever you want without consequences or doing what you want without consequences, while others believe that freedom is about equality. However, author Ambrose Flack presents a new and refreshing viewpoint. In his short story, The Strangers That Came to Town, Ambrose Flack is showing that true freedom is about being accepted. Through various situations within the short story, Flack shows how the Duvitch family, a new immigrant family who move to the town, have limits on their freedom because they are not accepted by their new community. When you are not accepted, life can be pretty miserable. You are feeling lonely, judged, and slightly offended, wondering what you did wrong. In the Strangers That Came to Town, this is the case of Mr. Duvitch. Mr. Duvitch is revealed to be a kind, humble, and generous man, but the town does not accept him for a variety of reasons. Syringa Street, the area in which the story is set, is described as a prosperous town, where most hold good jobs. However, in order to make money for his family, Mr. Duvitch works a less than desirable job, and is looked down upon by his peers for his occupation. He is â€Å"classified as an untouchable† (Flack) socially, because he is viewed as lesser and not worthy of the town’s attentions. This isolates him from the town. Additionally, he faces ridicule on the way to work, as â€Å"the Syringa Street young, meeting him on the street, sometimes stopped their noses as they passed him by† (Flack). In all these instances, Mr. Duvitch is deprived of acceptance, and because he is not accepted, he is not free. He cannot be free to have social interactions because he is socially untouchable, and he is not free to live without judgement. The effect of acceptance and freedom can be shown again in this passage of the story: â€Å"Overjoyed to have neighbors in his house, he was so full of himself that I was conscious of an invisible stature in him which made him seem quite as tall as Father.† Because Mr. Duvitch felt accepted in that situation, he was free to be himself and live without judgement. His real personality shines through, and he is truly free in the moment. Mr. Duvitch is impacted  strongly by acceptance and freedom throughout Flack’s short story, and his children and wife are impacted by this theme as well. Within The Strangers That Came to Town, the remainder of the Duvitch family experience situations in which they are not accepted or free. Because Mrs. Duvitch rarely leaves the house, the other women of the neighbourhood immediately judge her, going as far to start rumours that she has a skin disease. Mrs. Duvitch is judged before anyone has so much as said a word to her, and is not accepted. She is impacted by this lack of acceptance because she is not free to feel comfortable living in her town without people spreading false rumours about her personal life. Her children are also judged by other children in school, making them feel unaccepted and isolated. The story says that â€Å"some of their classmates scoffed at the leaf, lard and black bread sandwiches they ate for lunch, huddled in one corner of the recreation room, dressed in their boiled-out ragpickers’ clothes. After school they headed straight for home, never lingering on the playground† (Flack). It is important for children to be able to socialize and express themselves, and the Duvitch children are not free to do so without being ridiculed by the very same children who ridicule their father. They do not feel comfortable enough to play with the others, as any other child is free to feel. Because they are not accepted, they are not free to be themselves and make friends with other children, as other youth do. However, when the Duvitch children are accepted by Tom and Andy’s family, they express themselves openly. They feel free to showcase their talents, which are received greatly by their new guests. When they are accepted, they are free, and thanks to Andy’s father, the whole town now embraces this theme of acceptance and freedom. Andy’s father is a vital character to the theme of acceptance and freedom, because his character is instrumental to all the turning points in the freedom of the Duvitches. In the beginning of the story, he and his family are cordial with the Duvitches, but they do not greet the family or seek their company. At this point in the story, the Duvitches are being judged and ridiculed, and while Andy’s father does not participate in the offending activities, he does not help the Duvitches through this time, leaving them  unaccepted. At the pond, he greets Mr. Duvitch, who is happy to just be acknowledged. He shows acceptance for the Duvitches when he engages in conversation, moving the theme along. He furthers this acceptance when he harshly punishes his own children for wronging the immigrant family. In the end of the short story, Andy’s father helps the rest of the town accept the Duvitch family, and the theme of freedom and acceptance is shown when the Duvitches share their quirks and talents with the town. Because Andy’s father is a respected man, the town accepts the Duvitches because he does. By accepting the Duvitches, he has helped them become free, as shown when the story says that â€Å"People began to turn to the Duvitches in all kinds of trouble† (Flack). The Duvitches become truly free, and their journey to freedom is shown by the steps of Andy’s father’s acceptance. In conclusion, the theme of freedom and acceptance is shown through the characters of Mr. Duvitch, Mrs. Duvitch and the children and Andy’s father. They demonstrate that true freedom is about being accepted, through the scenarios that Ambrose Flack has written for them to endure. In The Strangers That Came to Town, the Duvitches become truly free at the finale of the story. In our own lives, we must ask: what can we do to help others become truly free? SOURCES: Flack, Ambrose. The Strangers That Came to Town. Web.

Listen to and Learn Spanish on the Internet

Listen to and Learn Spanish on the Internet Many people want to hear what native-speaker Spanish sounds like, but dont have access to native speakers or even Spanish-language radio or TV. Chances are that if youre reading this article, you have all the tools you need need to start listening. An abundance of Spanish-language webcasts, podcasts, and other programming is available for free on the Internet. The system requirements for listing to Internet audio vary with the site, but chances are that if your computer was built within the past three or four years, you already have the hardware you need. Most sites that provide audio content also have links to the software you need. Most audio content can be played using one of three audio players that are readily available for free: Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, and Apple QuickTime. The three are available for both recent versions of the Windows and Macintosh operating systems; the RealPlayer is also available for Linux. Some sites also have downloadable audio in MP3 or other formats that you can listen to on portable players. A high-speed Internet connection is helpful, although a good dial-up connection will sometimes be sufficient if you arent Web surfing at the same time. Listening Online in Spanish Spanish-language programming can be found for almost any interest, and a complete list would be far too long to list here. Following, however, are some of the sites that have been recommended by readers of this site: Batanga: You wont find any classical music here (unless you count classic rock), but youll find just about every other style of music.BBC Mundo: True, the BBC is well-known British news service. However, youll find quality programming in Spanish here.Deutsche Welle: This German network offers streaming programming in nearly all the European language and then some. At the time of this writing, however, its Spanish-language programming is not available to U.S. listeners.Ke Buena: Popular music from Acapulco, Mexico.La100: Rock from Argentina.Notes in Spanish: Tips about Spain, news, conversation and all the cool words they never teach you in class.M80 Radio: Classic rock from Madrid.Mitre: Variety of programming from Argentina.RAC105: International rock and pop from Spain. The home page is in Catalan, but if youre adept at reading Spanish you can probably comprehend most of it.Metro951: Self-described as the most popular radio, from Argentina.Radio Bilingà ¼e: Public radio-type progra mming from the United States. Radio Isla: Talk shows and more, from Puerto Rico.Radio Jai: Catering to Argentinas Jewish community with a mix of programming.Radio Progreso: Music, news and a bit of propaganda from Cuba.RTVE: This network from Spain provides a choice of six channels streamed over the Internet.Terra Radios: Talk, music and sports are featured on stations from Guatemala.Yahoo Music: About a dozen music stations feature Spanish music of various genres including rock, rap, reggaeton, pop, tejano, and jazz.

Prison Writings Essay

Prison Writings Essay Prison Writings Essay Charlie Fabian Prof. Hubble Eng B50/10:30 September 6, 2013 Learning Can Be Frightening Learning something new can be a scary experience. One of the toughest things I have ever accomplished was learning how to surf. Because of sharks, I had a fear to get in the water, but I believed this new skill would help me get over the fear of the ocean. It would also help me impress my friends and not make them believe i'm a coward. It was eight thirty in a hot summer morning and I called Alfonso, a tall, clumsy, and skinny friend of mine. I told him if we were still headed to the beach and replied, â€Å"yeah man, just let me get ready and ill head to your house.† The day before, my friends and I were talking about going to the beach and hanging out. They also mentioned surfing, which in my mind I was not going to try. My friend came, I could hear his old rusty car from my room. I walked ungainly to his car, I was still somewhat tired. I glanced at the back seat and saw my two other friends (Alexandra and Enrique). I also saw the surf boards tied on the rooftop of his car, my heart start beating rapidly, at that moment I knew we were actually going to surf. We greeted each other and we were off. As we arrived to Huntington beach, I could smell the the saltness and freshness of the ocean. It was a bright sunny day as we expected. My friend Alfonso was untangling the surfboards from his roof, and my other friends were taking a view of the beach from a far. I walked towards Alfonso and asked him if he really wanted to surf, he said, â€Å"Heck yeah man! I haven't surfed in the longest!† I helped him get the boards off and in my mind I was thinking that maybe I should have stayed home. We got the jammed seats out of the trunk and headed calmly to the shore. It was still early in the morning and we were all hungry, so we headed toward a small food shack, it looked like it was an abandoned house, but it was near our spot. The food smelled amazing (don't judge a book by it's cover I thought) but it didn 't get the thought of surfing out of my mind. As I was playing with my shrimp and poking them with my fork, my friend Enrique, also a skinny and clumsy friend, blurted out, â€Å"Do you think the waves will be at our favor today?† I didn't even know what he meant by that. My friend Alfonso replied, â€Å"I think so, every time I come the waves are pretty high.† My tummy gave me a strange feeling, I didn't know why this was so hard for me. Sharks were my first concern, however, I also heard of rip currents, currents that pull people away from shore. We finished eating and walked leisurely to the beach. We finally arrived to the beach and my two friends didn't bother to waste time and went to grab their boards, however my friend Alexandra (a beautiful, funny, and athletic girl) stayed with me. I told her I did not want to surf and told her my problem. She told me, â€Å"don't be afraid, you got to face your fear some day.† She grabbed her board and ran off. I sat their thinking, digging my feet in the sand, â€Å"Damn shes hot.† I laughed a little bit because first of all I didn't even know how to surf, moreoverI told my friends I did so I wouldn't be the only one who didn't know how to surf and ruin it for them. I sat there, observing my friends cruising, jaunting the waves. I saw them stumble and get wiped out by the waves, looked as if they

Free Essays on Inquesition

INQUISITION In 1320 the inquisition added witchcraft to its list of heresies. Many styles of torture had been invented so as to inflict the most horrific pain on the poor victim without killing them. The worst of these were turned upon those accused of witchcraft. With pope innocent v111 issuance of his papal bull against witches in 1484, the torture of people accused of being a witch reached fanatical proportions. The worst tortures occured in Germany and France. Millions of innocent people were tortured and murdered during the inquisition. The inquisitors followed procedures set forth by the dominican monks of pope innocent v111. At first the poor accused were told to confess. They were then stripped naked, shaved, pricked with needles for insensitive spots and then examined for marks of the devil. Before the torture started, the victim was told what was about to happen and in many cases this forced the accused to commit to whatever the inquisitors wanted. It was noted that a person who refused to talk even under torture was being aided by the devil. While the poor victim was being tortured a clerk recorded what was said. In many cases the clerk recorded things that were not even said. Each subsequent round of torture was much worse than the one before. The torturer was paid out of seized funds belonging to the victim. If the victim had no money then the relatives were made to pay. While the poor victims screamed with pain the childish tortures carried on like idiots. They sprayed there instruments with so called holy water, wore amulets, herbs and crossed themselves. The exact method of torture varied from place to place. The rack was well used in France. Some victims were horsewhipped. A sharp iron fork was used to mangle breasts. Red hot pincers were used to tear off flesh. Red hot irons were inserted up vaginas and rectums. A device named the turcas was used to tear out fingernails. After the nails were ripped out ... Free Essays on Inquesition Free Essays on Inquesition INQUISITION In 1320 the inquisition added witchcraft to its list of heresies. Many styles of torture had been invented so as to inflict the most horrific pain on the poor victim without killing them. The worst of these were turned upon those accused of witchcraft. With pope innocent v111 issuance of his papal bull against witches in 1484, the torture of people accused of being a witch reached fanatical proportions. The worst tortures occured in Germany and France. Millions of innocent people were tortured and murdered during the inquisition. The inquisitors followed procedures set forth by the dominican monks of pope innocent v111. At first the poor accused were told to confess. They were then stripped naked, shaved, pricked with needles for insensitive spots and then examined for marks of the devil. Before the torture started, the victim was told what was about to happen and in many cases this forced the accused to commit to whatever the inquisitors wanted. It was noted that a person who refused to talk even under torture was being aided by the devil. While the poor victim was being tortured a clerk recorded what was said. In many cases the clerk recorded things that were not even said. Each subsequent round of torture was much worse than the one before. The torturer was paid out of seized funds belonging to the victim. If the victim had no money then the relatives were made to pay. While the poor victims screamed with pain the childish tortures carried on like idiots. They sprayed there instruments with so called holy water, wore amulets, herbs and crossed themselves. The exact method of torture varied from place to place. The rack was well used in France. Some victims were horsewhipped. A sharp iron fork was used to mangle breasts. Red hot pincers were used to tear off flesh. Red hot irons were inserted up vaginas and rectums. A device named the turcas was used to tear out fingernails. After the nails were ripped out ...

Answers to Cases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Answers to Cases - Essay Example The toxic plume caused massive kill of birds and fish. Moreover, it contaminated the drinking water of almost 2.5 million people. Acid mine drainage is another negative consequence of gold extraction. This can affect the environment for a long term period if the governments and communities do not take any kind of initiative. Stakeholder Theory Approach This case study is focused on negative impact of gold mining on the environment. A business firm can address to several opinion of different stakeholders linked with a particular issue through a stakeholder approach. There are two stakeholder categories namely market and non-market stakeholders. This part of the report will discuss about the contribution of these two types of stakeholders. Market Shareholders In this particular case; shareholders, employees and customers can be considered as the market stakeholders. Employees and the customers are considered as the key stakeholders of an organization. The workers of gold mining company know that using huge earth moving machines and dangerous explosive materials can crate risk to their health. This environmental conflict can force the employees to raise their voice against the gold mining process. On the other hand, shareholders always try to buy the share of these companies as gold is considered as one of the expensive metals. Customers also try to consume gold as the demand of this metal will continuously increase in future. Non-Market Shareholders Government, communities and several non-governmental organizations are considered as the non market stakeholders. It is important for the government to develop several environmental policies and laws for the gold mining organizations to reduce the level of environment pollution. Huge explosive materials and Cyanide heap-leaching is causing death of mankind and animals (Lottermoser, 2010, p.27). Ultimately, the ecological balance and safety of community is getting affected due to these gold mining activities. Community is another important stakeholder. Several villages and communities near the gold mines are getting affected. The villagers do not understand danger of the several collected hazardous liquid metals. More than 1000 individuals became ill due to the deadly effect of these metals. The nongovernmental organizations are also considered as the non market stakeholders. The gold mining organizations are trying to utilize several deadly mining materials to extract more number of gold metals. Several business support group are helping these organizations to secure the profit margin and financial stability. These activities are ultimately affecting the environment and health of several human beings and non-human animals. However, government is trying to initiate several awareness campaigns in order to the environmental conflict with the help of several NGOs. Stakeholder Map Several gold mining organizations are using Cyanide heap-leaching and heavy earth mover to maximize their gold mining. Cy anide is a deadly poison. The waste water and materials are generally spilled into the river. It causes death of several birds and fish. On the other hand, process of metal extraction seriously pollutes the air. It can cause several human diseases. The following stakeholder map will help to determine the position of all the stakeholders, such as employees,

Chapter questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Chapter questions - Essay Example Future challenges that demand continued and strengthened collaboration include the dynamic nature of health condition that identifies emergence of new complications, need for unity among players in the global health issues, and the factors â€Å"that have encouraged the development of public-private partnerships for health† (Skolnik 359, 360). The public-private partnership refers to a framework in which parties from both public and private sectors collaborate in efforts to ensure more effective health care. The partnership might be valuable because of its pooled interest and resources that can meet different needs that could not be met by the parties if they were to work independently within their sectors’ interest and resources. The private sector, for example, has resources but are not willing to venture into care initiatives with low returns an interest that exist in the public sector. The partnership pools the sector’s interests and resources (Skolnik 350). Addressing the problems requires cooperative action because the problems affect wider regions and across international borders and only collaborative efforts across all the affected regions can tackle the problem comprehensively (Skolnik

Marc Chagalls Blue House Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marc Chagalls Blue House - Essay Example The essay "Marc Chagall’s Blue House" explores Marc Chagall’s "Blue House". One of the modernists describes the process of painting as an attempt â€Å"to make visible that there is something which can be conceived and which can neither be seen nor made visible†. This â€Å"something that can be conceived but not seen nor made visible† is often referred to as the sublime, a quality of transcendent greatness â€Å"with which nothing else can be compared and which is beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation†. The presence of this sublime element, then, inspires the imagination in a specific direction based on which elements remain visible or understandable. Its significance is in the way in which it brings attention to the uncertainty of meaning inherent in the work, such that no resolution makes itself apparent. To understand how this untouchable element can be communicated through visual art, Marc Chagall’s oil painting â€Å"Blue House†, currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Liege, Belgium, will be analyzed as an example. This â€Å"something that can be conceived but not seen nor made visible† is often referred to as the sublime, a quality of transcendent greatness â€Å"with which nothing else can be compared and which is beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation†. The presence of this sublime element, then, inspires the imagination in a specific direction based on which elements remain visible or understandable. It brings attention to the uncertainty.... e is also in a state of dilapidation that would make it completely unsuitable to live in as the roof does not seem structurally sound with large gaping holes in places, the boards are falling off the doorframes and windows and the very walls themselves seem be about to come disconnected. Despite its apparent abandonment, a small path remains leading down into the valley which is divided nearly down the middle by a small, concrete-grey river. This river marks the division point in the content of the painting as it helps to distinguish between the two sides of the valley floor. On the side nearest the house, the valley seems to be relatively desolate, with large dry areas and wild, new, light green grassy areas. On the other side of the river, though, there are dark green cultivated fields standing before a great city standing on the hill at the other side of the valley. The city is full of large white and red-tinged buildings, some of them long and blocky and others tall with spires. Some have red roofs and others have blue roofs, but all seem crammed together and, as a group, they block out the horizon. This city appears to have a wall around its base, separating it from the fields before it and protecting it from the unassuming opposition. All of this is depicted under a grey and somewhat threatening sky, which contributes to the dead grey of the river and gives an impression that there is smoke emerging from the top of the blue house's back chimney. With its emphasis on the long view, the painting immediately seems to be a landscape. This is mostly thanks to the concentration of the house and faraway city and view of the valley between (His, 1936: 30). There is a sense of overpowering nature involved in that the city must be protected even from its own

Asylum in the Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Asylum in the Media - Essay Example Humanity has to be regarded to guarantee the wellbeing of individuals who have been influenced either by natural disasters back in their home countries or political instability making them to seek refuge. However, the kind of reception that asylum seekers have been receiving is much more worrying, considering factual reasons that have made them to flee their nation .This therefore means that such misconceptions by the media and the public at large have been baseless. In reality, asylum seekers are justified to seek refuge in any nation that they feel it’s secure for them as far as they do not contravene the laws governing that nation. In Britain, there has been media and public perceptions to try and lay bare issues of asylum seekers regarding their origin, race and their impacts on the economy of Britain. Growing misunderstanding on the level with which people and the media have been overestimating the number of asylum seekers who have been awarded the status of refugees in B ritain is evident. Speculations among the people on the number of asylum seekers who have been allowed refugee status left a lot to be desired when a survey conducted in 2009, which revealed that more than 100,000 of asylum seekers had been accepted as refugees with clear and credible sources reporting that only 4,175 people had been received as refugees. This point to the status accorded to asylum seekers with marginalization and skewed numbers evident in speculations. (Castillo, 2010). Compared with other destinations that asylum seekers target, UK is far much below in the acceptance rate for the haven seekers. During the period of 2001-2006 the acceptance rate for UK stood at 7.77 per cent compared to Canada which had an acceptance rate of 47 per cent during the same period. France, United States, Germany, Sweden and Canada are ranked as main countries that asylum seekers target with UK being sidelined on the verge of it low rate of giving room for asylum seekers. There has been conflicting views about asylum seekers in Britain, with a section of citizens expressing their views that it’s an identity of their country to accept asylum seekers. Others felt that the country had accepted too many of them back in 2008 with a bigger percentage believing that providing refuge to those people who have misfortunes had been a tradition among Britain. Trust in the process of accepting asylum seekers was faulted with many people speculating their uncertainness regarding the length through which the entire process was open to abuse by the authorities and the issue of UK being so accepting (Gant, 2007). This discussion will entail clear-cut assessment of the various issues that affect asylum seekers in UK and around the world, a justification of the claims and misconceptions that the media point to the asylum seekers and how international organizations and various groups of people have advised nations to reform their laws to ensure that asylum seekers are treated w ith all manners of humanity and respect as the international law and Conventions provide in their guidelines and deliberations which these countries are party to (Gilbert, 2006). Refugee Action and Asylum in the Media Journalists and media personnel have been keen to give reports that are conflicting and to some extent tainting the whole issue of asylum seekers. Many journalists give irresponsible reports about asylum and asylum seekers, attracting a lot of

The Gattaca and Brave New World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Gattaca and Brave New World - Essay Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that both the movie Gattaca and book â€Å"The Brave New World† have a character who share similarity and at some points expressing different opinions. The main characters in these artworks are similar in the sense that they are portrayed as strong characters that readily rebel against their own societies. After the encounter with DNA in a black market, Vincent decides to change his identity to a famous astronaut making everyone view him as an â€Å"invalid†. This character accomplished this transformation only after realizing that he has more strength than his brother is, particularly after defeating him in their swimming game. John and Bernand also rebel against their society form reading and thinking people. The writing by John Stuart Mill that â€Å"it is better being a human being who is dissatisfied than a pig who is satisfied† may be qualitatively analyzed to satisfy the status of humanity to t hat of a pig or better describe the dissatisfying nature of humans. The book The Brave New World and movie Gattaca artistically create fictional places that satisfy the needs and the desire of humanity; nonetheless, with prices to pay. These stories reveal the achievement in the field of science, especially in biology and genetics. However, the social progress within their storylines presents the sense of individualism, discrimination, and the loss of personal freedom, particularly among those who are not biological elites. Both stories are dealing with the potential imperfections of utopia; therefore, they are entirely referred to dystopias. Moreover, they as well real the optimistic visions by which societies are striving to achieve, but they never tend to achieve the same desires or goals.

Domain Name Dispute Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Domain Name Dispute - Assignment Example Before dealing with the three elements necessary for substantiating the complainant’s case, it is necessary to deal with the trademark issue raised by the respondent.   What distinguishes the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UNDRP) from the au. The policy is that under the au. Policy, it is not necessary for the complainant to have a registered trademark.   All that the complainant is required to prove under the au. The policy is that he or she have acquired a common law trademark through ‘sufficient evidence of use or reputation in the trademark to justify reliance on a common law trademark’.1 The Complainant has provided sufficient evidence of its common law trademark through evidence indicating that Quickileaks has been operating as a well-recognized and accessed online media outlet prior to the respondent’s registration of its domain name.   It is therefore concluded that the complainant does have a common law trademark in Quickileaks.Before dea ling with the three elements necessary for substantiating the complainant’s case, it is necessary to deal with the trademark issue raised by the respondent.   What distinguishes the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UNDRP) from the au. The policy is that under the au. Policy, it is not necessary for the complainant to have a registered trademark.   All that the complainant is required to prove under the au. The policy is that he or she have acquired a common law trademark through ‘sufficient evidence of use or reputation in the trademark to justify reliance on a common law trademark’.1 The Complainant has provided sufficient evidence of its common law trademark through evidence indicating that Quickileaks has been operating as a well-recognized and accessed online media outlet prior to the respondent’s registration of its domain name.   It is therefore concluded that the complainant does have a common law trademark in Quickileaks.Identical or Confus ingly Similar When a domain name is identical to the tradename in question, this element of cybersquatting is easier to prove. The difficulty arises with respect to proving confusingly similar. While some cases the use of a qualifying word can do nothing to distinguish the domain name from the trade name. For example, in L’Oreal/L’Oreal Australia Pty v Namewise Pty Ltd /Nicholas Bolton, a domain name L’Oreal Store could not distinguish the domain name from the trade name since adding the word Store to L’Oreal does not account for the fact that L’Oreal products are sold in stores.

Asylum in the Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Asylum in the Media - Essay Example Humanity has to be regarded to guarantee the wellbeing of individuals who have been influenced either by natural disasters back in their home countries or political instability making them to seek refuge. However, the kind of reception that asylum seekers have been receiving is much more worrying, considering factual reasons that have made them to flee their nation .This therefore means that such misconceptions by the media and the public at large have been baseless. In reality, asylum seekers are justified to seek refuge in any nation that they feel it’s secure for them as far as they do not contravene the laws governing that nation. In Britain, there has been media and public perceptions to try and lay bare issues of asylum seekers regarding their origin, race and their impacts on the economy of Britain. Growing misunderstanding on the level with which people and the media have been overestimating the number of asylum seekers who have been awarded the status of refugees in B ritain is evident. Speculations among the people on the number of asylum seekers who have been allowed refugee status left a lot to be desired when a survey conducted in 2009, which revealed that more than 100,000 of asylum seekers had been accepted as refugees with clear and credible sources reporting that only 4,175 people had been received as refugees. This point to the status accorded to asylum seekers with marginalization and skewed numbers evident in speculations. (Castillo, 2010). Compared with other destinations that asylum seekers target, UK is far much below in the acceptance rate for the haven seekers. During the period of 2001-2006 the acceptance rate for UK stood at 7.77 per cent compared to Canada which had an acceptance rate of 47 per cent during the same period. France, United States, Germany, Sweden and Canada are ranked as main countries that asylum seekers target with UK being sidelined on the verge of it low rate of giving room for asylum seekers. There has been conflicting views about asylum seekers in Britain, with a section of citizens expressing their views that it’s an identity of their country to accept asylum seekers. Others felt that the country had accepted too many of them back in 2008 with a bigger percentage believing that providing refuge to those people who have misfortunes had been a tradition among Britain. Trust in the process of accepting asylum seekers was faulted with many people speculating their uncertainness regarding the length through which the entire process was open to abuse by the authorities and the issue of UK being so accepting (Gant, 2007). This discussion will entail clear-cut assessment of the various issues that affect asylum seekers in UK and around the world, a justification of the claims and misconceptions that the media point to the asylum seekers and how international organizations and various groups of people have advised nations to reform their laws to ensure that asylum seekers are treated w ith all manners of humanity and respect as the international law and Conventions provide in their guidelines and deliberations which these countries are party to (Gilbert, 2006). Refugee Action and Asylum in the Media Journalists and media personnel have been keen to give reports that are conflicting and to some extent tainting the whole issue of asylum seekers. Many journalists give irresponsible reports about asylum and asylum seekers, attracting a lot of

Domain Name Dispute Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Domain Name Dispute - Assignment Example Before dealing with the three elements necessary for substantiating the complainant’s case, it is necessary to deal with the trademark issue raised by the respondent.   What distinguishes the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UNDRP) from the au. The policy is that under the au. Policy, it is not necessary for the complainant to have a registered trademark.   All that the complainant is required to prove under the au. The policy is that he or she have acquired a common law trademark through ‘sufficient evidence of use or reputation in the trademark to justify reliance on a common law trademark’.1 The Complainant has provided sufficient evidence of its common law trademark through evidence indicating that Quickileaks has been operating as a well-recognized and accessed online media outlet prior to the respondent’s registration of its domain name.   It is therefore concluded that the complainant does have a common law trademark in Quickileaks.Before dea ling with the three elements necessary for substantiating the complainant’s case, it is necessary to deal with the trademark issue raised by the respondent.   What distinguishes the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UNDRP) from the au. The policy is that under the au. Policy, it is not necessary for the complainant to have a registered trademark.   All that the complainant is required to prove under the au. The policy is that he or she have acquired a common law trademark through ‘sufficient evidence of use or reputation in the trademark to justify reliance on a common law trademark’.1 The Complainant has provided sufficient evidence of its common law trademark through evidence indicating that Quickileaks has been operating as a well-recognized and accessed online media outlet prior to the respondent’s registration of its domain name.   It is therefore concluded that the complainant does have a common law trademark in Quickileaks.Identical or Confus ingly Similar When a domain name is identical to the tradename in question, this element of cybersquatting is easier to prove. The difficulty arises with respect to proving confusingly similar. While some cases the use of a qualifying word can do nothing to distinguish the domain name from the trade name. For example, in L’Oreal/L’Oreal Australia Pty v Namewise Pty Ltd /Nicholas Bolton, a domain name L’Oreal Store could not distinguish the domain name from the trade name since adding the word Store to L’Oreal does not account for the fact that L’Oreal products are sold in stores.

White Resistance to the Civil Rights Movement Essay Example for Free

White Resistance to the Civil Rights Movement Essay Throughout Reconstruction, southern whites felt constantly threatened by legislation providing rights for former slaves. The Civil Rights Bill of 1875 was the last rights bill passed by congress during reconstruction. It protected all Americans’ (including blacks) access to public accommodations such as trains. With the threat of complete equality constantly looming, violence toward former slaves gradually increased in the years following the Civil War. Beatings and murders were committed by organized groups like the Ku Klux Klan, out-of-control mobs, and individual white southern men. During Reconstruction, white southerners had limited governmental power, so they resorted to violence in order to control African-Americans. Although it is true that some whites embraced the prospect of a new interracial landscape for America, many more reacted with hostility. They feared social and political change, and were very uncomfortable with the fact that their old way of life seemed gone for good. Although there were many forms of massive resistance to the Civil Rights Movement and what it stood for, the impact of white resistance, both violent and nonviolent, on this period in America’s history is truly immeasurable. There are two scholarly works that not only trace the white resistance movement with historical accuracy, but also stress the plight that African Americans felt at this tumultuous time in history. The books that I am referring to are â€Å"Massive Resistance: The White Response to the Civil Rights Movement† by George Lewis, and â€Å"Rabble Rousers: The American Far Right in the Civil Rights Era† By Clive Webb. Although these works are both written about the same period in history, they depict much different points of view concerning white resistance and what brought it on. The â€Å"southern way of life† encompassed very distinct mixtures of economic, cultural, and social practices. Because of this, integration of African Americans into everyday life did not come without resistance. In this paper I intend to interpret and compare these two scholarly books, while explaining the role of the states and the federal government as well as individual groups in the progression and eventual fragmentation of these white resistance movements. The first thing that can be observed upon glancing at George Lewiss book â€Å"Massive resistance† is its cover image. It is a photograph of elementary school children and women protesting against desegregation in New Orleans in 1960. The main focus of the picture depicts two women yelling loudly along a sidewalk. At their side, a young schoolboy holds a poster that reads: All I want for Christmas is a clean white school. Other women and children stand in the background. One person is holding a poster that refers to states rights, as others gaze toward the street. Two women are attending the event wearing handkerchiefs and curlers, indicating that they possibly had rushed out of their homes to partake in the mornings activities. Above the scene is the books title, Massive Resistance. To a reader who might be unfamiliar with the general topic of this book, the cover’s text and image might illustrate somewhat of a contradiction. What people fail to consider is that massive resistance did not solely amount to what is visible in the photograph on the books cover. This does not depict all that stood in the way of African-Americans struggling to gain their civil rights. Women and children yelling from sidewalks with posters was one of many responses used by American Southerners in opposition to desegregation. In his book, George Lewis reveals the many ways in which southerners went about these acts of massive resistance. Throughout the book, Lewis traces the historical evolution of the term ‘massive resistance’ and explores the variety of contexts in which it was carried out. In discussing the role of Senator Harry Flood of Virginia, as well as elements of the mass media, Lewis reveals the many causes and actors in the acts of massive resistance. At first, massive resistance was the response of different elements of white society in the South, in opposition to the federal governments plans to desegregate southern society. Lewis discharges many historical explanations that viewed massive resistance as simply being carried out by southern political elites. He also dismisses the idea that the resistance only occurred at the well-known sites of segregationist protests such as Little Rock, Ole Miss and Birmingham. The author also discusses activities occurring at the grassroots level, which reveals that the movement of southern white resistance was very diverse. In regards to the beginning of the movement, Lewis rejects the idea that the Supreme Courts Brown decision was the only event that started massive resistance. He states that citing Brown as the single catalyst shows that many scholars have misread the movement. He believes that the movement was more complex than that. As an amorphous beast, massive resistance must be viewed as a phenomenon that was too sprawling, and simply not sufficiently obedient, to have been ushered into existence by a single landmark event (24). Lewis divides the movement into three historical periods of resistance activity, and then examines different ways in which it was displayed. He explores each phase chapter by chapter. By doing this, he covers many aspects such as the tactics used in various states, the role of the Souths political elite and Citizens Councils, the actions of state legislatures, the role of the mass media, and white justifications for their discriminatory policies (they call it a product of long-standing southern culture and tradition). The first period of focus covers the immediate years following the Brown decision of 1954 up until the signing of the Southern Manifesto, which signaled the start of the second period of resistance. Finally, the third period included the first half of the sixties, which is when the movement gradually lost its strength at the political and social levels. Webb’s documentation of this historic period of time provides a stark contrast to Lewis. In â€Å"Rabble Rousers: The American Far Right in the Civil Rights Era,† Clive Webb describes the stories of five white extremists who conducted war against integration with intense hate. The purpose of Webb’s work is to assess the causes, characteristics, and consequences of far-right activism in the South from the 1950s to the 1960s (p. 2). Webb argues that these men were not extreme abnormalities, but that they represented something deeply rooted in the American political culture, which is something seen in todays resurgent far right (p. 214). Out of the five men Webb profiles, two focused their energies on fighting school desegregation and entered their target communities as outsiders (Bryant Bowles and John Kasper), two of them were former military men who attempted many unsuccessful campaigns for political office and encouraged violence as a necessary means to defend their homeland (John Crommelin and Edwin A.Walker), and one was the most violently fanatical racist spawned by massive resistance who served as legal defense for offenders of anti-civil-rights violence, was suspected in bombings and murders, and also laid the foundation for contemporary white hate organizations (p. 153). To fuel violence, these self-proclaimed saviors of the white race also made whites fear black men preying on white women. Finally, although the men showed a lot of variation in their stories, they were similar in that they all developed anti-black stances, even though they had little knowledge of or interaction with blacks. In this work, Webb shows how local political contexts shaped these men’s successes and failures. He also shows how these five men and the organizations that they were affiliated with affected the overall course of massive resistance. He gives evidence of the ways in which support of free speech created an unexpected connection between the far right and far left. He calls the men and the organizations and actions they were affiliated terrorist, creating a more contemporary view of the situation. These five men were ostracized and repeatedly arrested during the civil rights era, but at the same time they were enabled by the support of white elites. While massive resisters continued to pursue their agenda throughout this broad period of time, forces that were involved in the struggle for civil rights and desegregation challenged the institutionalized system of racism that had forever been the norm in the South. Their efforts along with the commitment of the federal government led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As a result, segregation and political disenfranchisement of African-Americans in the South were illegal. The two works by Lewis and Webb give completely different depictions of massive resistance by southern whites during this era, while still conveying similar messages. After researching these two books, I have come away with a clearer understanding of the forces and dynamics that comprised the massive resistance movement. Sources: Lewis, G. (2006). Massive resistance: The white response to the civil rights movement. London, England: Bloomsbury, USA. Webb, C. (2010). Rabble rousers: The American far right in the civil rights era. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.

Overview of the Grace-Fo Satellite Mission

Overview of the Grace-Fo Satellite Mission The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On: An Overview An artist depiction of the GRACE satellite configuration (Sharing, 2017) The field of remote sensing is continuously expanding and adapting to yield new information about the earth and its complex systems. Modern satellite technology has expanded to be able to monitor spatial and temporal variations in Earths global gravity field (Schutze, 2016). The ability to monitor the Earths geoid now allows scientists to understand changes in hydrological characteristics on the surface of the planet including ice mass loss due to climate change and sea level rise (NASA JPL, 2017). The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and its follow-on mission represent the application of this new technology that is essential for obtaining new data about global mass redistribution. The GRACE-FO mission will offer benefits due its use of active sensors and new technological inputs, but with any satellite system, there will be sources of error and challenges in design and data usage. The first GRACE mission was launched in 2002 as a result of the combined efforts of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) with assistance from partner institutions of both leading agencies (Schutze, 2016). The primary goal of the mission was to provide a new model of Earths gravity field every 30 days (Schlepp et al., 2015). Two identical satellites comprise the system with one trailing behind the other by 220km in a sun-synchronous orbit (Wahr, 2007). The satellites fly in a low polar orbit of 450 km and, the system circles the Earth every 90 minutes (Schutze, 2015). Spatial variations in Earths gravity field lead to different accelerations in the two satellites and therefore, differing inter-satellite separation (Schutze, 2016). Therefore, the GRACE mission is different than many other earth observation satellite missions because it does not make measurements of electromagnetic ener gy reflected back to it from Earths surface. The distance between the two satellites serves as the source of data. Also, uniquely, the satellites are left mostly without intervention to their orbit unless they separate by less than 170 km and more than 250 km (Sheard et al., 2012). Illustration of the positions of the two GRACE satellites in response to variations in Earths gravity field; a)The two satellites pass over the ocean and neither is affected; b)The lead spacecraft encounters a change in gravity over the more dense land mass and pulls away from the trailing spacecraft; c)The lead spacecraft moves back over water but now the trailing spacecraft changes position in response to the greater pull of gravity over the land mass (Ward, 2003) The first GRACE mission was only planned to run for 5 years, but far exceeded this as it is now in its 15th year of operation. The batteries in each satellite are fatiguing and accurate data is increasingly available in more irregular intervals (Gà ¶rth et al., 2016). As a result, NASA and the GFZ created a follow-on mission to prevent data gaps (Schlepp et al., 2015). The follow-on was approved for launch in August 2017 and is known simply as the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission (Schlepp et al., 2015). The primary objective for this mission is the same as the previous; to create monthly global gravity models for five years (Sharing Earth Observation Resources, 2017). The GRACE-FO mission will use some of the key sensor technology and overall design of the first GRACE mission, but will also include unique features. The same two-satellite design will remain but the inter-satellite distance will be reduced from 220 km to 50 km (Zheng and Xu, 2015).   Several very important pieces of equipment will carry over from the first mission to each of the GRACE-FO satellites but will see improvements in design. This includes a microwave instrument (MWI) dependent on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. The MWI system measures the distance between the satellites centers of mass and slight changes in distance represent gravitational changes (Tapley, 2008). A very sensitive accelerometer meant to measure the forces acting on the satellites besides gravity including atmospheric drag will also remain (Tapley, 2008). There were previous accelerometer errors and satellite-to-satellite measurement errors that will be reduced by the lower altitude and up dates in design on the follow-on mission (Loomis, Nerem, and Luthcke, 2012). The microwave ranging system employed can measure the distance between satellites to within one micron or about the diameter of one human blood cell (NASA JPL, 2017). It is known as a KBR system because it utilizes microwaves in the K (26 GHz) and Ka (32 GHz) frequency channels (Jiang et al., 2014). Distance measurements between the two satellites are taken by monitoring the time of flight of microwave signals transmitted and received nearly simultaneously between the two spacecraft (Bao et al., 2005). Previously collected data and models created by scientists based on known gravitational differences linked to mountains and ocean trenches, the location of the sun, and the flow of the tides are compared to new measurements of the satellites to interpret gravitational changes (NASA JPL, 2017).   Also, the GPS unit on board is used in tandem with the MWI to be able to understand the gravity field below and can accurately assign capture time to data (Sheard et al., 2012). The accelerometer can then measure non-gravitational forces affecting the satellite as previously mentioned including atmospheric drag and solar radiation pressure (Schutze, 2016). These additional forces are then subtracted from measurements taken by the MWI. At the low altitude of orbit of GRACE comes changing solar radiation and large thermal disturbances to on-board instruments (Schutze, 2016). As a result, one improvement to the accelerometer on the GRACE-FO satellites will be placing the measurement digitalization unit in a temperature controlled area of the spacecraft to prevent temperature variation that can make data inaccurate (Christophe et al., 2015). The FO mission will include new technology known as a laser interferometer that will make measures that are at least 25 times more precise than the on-board microwave ranging system due to shorter wavelength usage (Sharingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2017). The LRI uses an active transponder principle, which means that the weak incoming received (RX) beam to the trailing satellite is replaced by a strong local oscillator (LO) beam. The LO beam is then reflected back to the lead satellite by a Triple Mirror Assembly (TMA) which directs the beam and influences the amount of light returned (Fledderman et al., 2014). It also serves to effectively route the incoming beam around other important hardware pieces (Fledderman et al., 2014). The use of the new laser interferometer represents the first time an active laser ranging system will be operated between two spacecraft (NASA JPL, 2017). However, the microwave system will remain intact to ensure continuity of data from the first mission and the use of interferometer represents only a technology demonstration (Sharingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2017). While some studies found the LRI technology could greatly increase the accuracy of gravity data, others found that there would be only moderate improvements in the accuracy models (Flechtner et al., 2015). However, seeing the results of the two systems as they operate simultaneously will create meaningful data for the planning of future of gravity field missions. The GRACE-1 mission allowed for new breakthroughs in the fields of hydrology, oceanography, glaciology, geophysics, and geodesy (Sharingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2017). Since gravity is determined by mass, the GRACE systems have the capability to show how mass is distributed around the planet (Sharingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2017). However, GRACE has and will continue to have no vertical resolution and can therefore, not distinguish between surface water, soil moisture, and ground water (Bolton and Thomas, 2015). Land surface models therefore allow for the disaggregation of Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS) data by separating these data into layers with known points of distinction (Bolton and Thomas, 2015). For example, in a study of the High Plains region of the US, the variability of snow and surface water were found to make insignificant contributions to TWS variability compared to groundwater and soil moisture changes (Ward, 2003). Therefore, removing moisture data known from previous studies of th e region allowed scientists to subtract these figures from the GRACE gravitational measurements to understand changes in groundwater levels over time (Ward, 2003). Over time, improvements in GRACE data processing have allowed for the detection of changes in TWS within 1.5 cm accuracies for a wide range of spatial and seasonal scales (Jiang et al., 2014). (Ward, 2003) Measuring changes in global mass distribution can help scientists across many disciplines. GRACE data has also been used to observe increases and decreases in the ice and snow masses of glaciers and changes to the solid Earth following seismic activity such as the Fukushima earthquake of 2011 in Japan (Flechtner et al., 2016). Ocean water elevation changes caused by the devastating 2004 Sumatra tsunami had an impact of the inter-satellite distance of the GRACE satellites and showed how oceanic mass redistribution can affect Earths gravity field (Bao et al., 2005). Due to the relatively low spatial resolution of GRACE data, it is more useful for monitoring large-scale terrestrial water changes such as in past studies of the entire Amazon Basin or India (Bolton and Thomas, 2015). Other applications include flood and drought monitoring for management projects and interventions (Bolton and Thomas, 2015).   For example, the US National Drought Mitigation Center uses GRACE data mont hly to generate drought indicators and monitor surface water changes (NASA JPL, 2016). GRACE data also allows for the study of changes in deep ocean currents by measuring pressure changes at great depths. Similar pressure changes in the structure of the solid earth can be studied as well (NASA JPL, 2016). Trends in TWS and water mass redistribution made possible from GRACE data from 2002-2013 (Bolton and Thomas, 2015) One of the benefits of an active satellite system such as the GRACE-1 and GRACE-FO compared to passive systems is that it can collect accurate data 24 hours per day because it creates its own source of electromagnetic energy (Schowengerdt, 2006). Also, the use of microwaves in the GRACE missions means that data is not affected by any type of cloud cover which often greatly affects accurate passive sensor data acquisition because the system only considers inter-satellite distance and GPS location for data retrieval. Active sensors dependent on microwave signals like on the GRACE missions are unique in their capabilities. The launch of the first GRACE mission allowed for data on earths geoid that was 100 to 1000 times more accurate than previous models could estimate depending on the region of the global under consideration (Ward, 2003). GRACE data has also allowed scientists to under the impact of global climate change based on mass redistribution of water around the globe in a comprehensive and consistent manner never previously achieved. With more accurate data from the GRACE-FO mission and the security of continued data creation, changes caused by climate change will continue to be monitored and planning for issues such as drought can be improved. However, compared to passive system data, the analysis of data is more complex and costly overall. The data output of the GRACE systems also requires a lot of manipulation and filtering to create meaningful datasets for a variety of disciplines. The microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum is far from the visible region and therefore, the resulting data is also less intuitive for human interpretation (Schowengerdt, 2006). The raw data outputs for GRACE are just inter-satellite distance measurements and GPS data about satellite location (Ward, 2003). Therefore, improvements in satellite technology components alone will not improve the data created by GRACE. Improvements also need to be made to the many geophysical models used in data processing (Loomis, Nerem, and Luthcke, 2012). For example, a complete global depiction of the earths gravity field is only available every 30 days while forces such as tidal shifts can change on a minute-to-minute basis. This difference creates an issue in which short-term differences are lost or their impact is underestimated (Sheard et al., 2012). Therefore, understanding gravitational influences not directly linked to mass balance changes is essential. Models of gravity field anomalies on earths geoid created by comparing GRACE data from two different temporal scales (Ward, 2003) Models based on GRACE data are also limited by the noise present in the system data. This noise is linked to instrument errors, uncertainties in background models, and limitations in processing strategies (Siemes et al., 2013). In order to make meaningful measurements of mass changes on the earth using GRACE data, the noise of resulting models needs to be kept at a minimum, usually accomplished by applying filters (Siemes et al., 2013). However, when one problem is solved, another potentially arises. Filtering suppresses noise and blurs the signal, limiting the spatial resolution so much that part of the leak may affect nearby regions and cause errors in mass redistribution data (Siemes et al, 2013). However, more complex filtering methods have been developed to also minimize the blurring of data. Also, the spatial resolution of GRACE data is ultimately limited (Siemes et al., 2013). The spatial range for very accurate GRACE data application was 400km to 40,000 km for the first mission (Tapley, 2008). The strength of GRACE data therefore lies in an ability to monitor mass changes over time rather than to understand the water storage in one area at a specific time. However, there is potential for the lower altitude of the GRACE-FO mission and the LRI technology utilization of shorter wavelengths to allow for higher spatial resolution. The GRACE mission have shown that the use of active sensor technology on earth system satellite missions that utilizes microwave laser instruments and likely laser interferometers is incredibly efficient at understanding changes in earths geoid. With the launch of the GRACE-FO mission later this year, even more accurate measurements and greater understanding of mass redistribution of water around the planet will be possible. Despite the rapidly changing and unpredictable political climate of the United States government, the launch of the GRACE-FO mission seems undeterred and the collection of important data related to climate change-related issues will continue to be gathered. References Bao, L.F., Piatanesi, A., Lu, Y., Hsu, H.T., and Zhou, X.H. (2005) Sumatra tsunami affects observations by GRACE satellites. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 86(39), 353-356. Bolton, J. and Thomas, B. (2015) Overview of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data and applications. NASA Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET). Powerpoint Presentation. http://www.cazalac.org/mwar_lac/fileadmin/imagenes2/Remote_Sensing/S5P1.pdf [2.3.17]. Christophe, Boulanger, Foulon, Huynh, Lebat, Liorzou, and Perrot. (2015) A new generation of ultra-sensitive electrostatic accelerometers for GRACE Follow-on and towards the next generation gravity missions. Acta Astronautica, 117, 1-7. Flechtner, F., Neumayer, K., Dahle, C., Dobslaw, H., Fagiolini, E., Raimondo, J., and Gà ¼ntner, A. (2016) What can be expected from the GRACE-FO laser ranging interferometer for earth science applications? Surveys in Geophysics, 37(2), 453-470. doi:10.1007/s10712-015-9338-y. Fleddermann, Ward, Elliot, Wuchenich, Gilles, Herding, . . . Shaddock. (2014) Testing the GRACE follow-on triple mirror assembly. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 31(19), 12. Gà ¶rth, A., Sanjuan, J., Gohlke, M., Rasch, S., Abich, K., Braxmaier, C., and Heinzel, G. (2016) Test environments for the GRACE follow-on laser ranging interferometer. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 716(1), 4. Jiang, D., Huang, Y., Fu, J., Wang, J., Ding, X., and Zhou, K. (2014) The review of GRACE data applications in terrestrial hydrology monitoring. Advances in Meteorology, 2014, Vol.2014. Loomis, Bryant D., Nerem, R. S., and Luthcke, S. B. (2012) Simulation study of a follow-on gravity mission to GRACE.(Report). Journal of Geodesy, 86(5), 319. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). (2016). Applications overview. NASA. GRACE Tellus: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment. https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/applications/overview/ [2.3.17]. . (2017) GRACE-FO. NASA. GRACE Tellus: Gravity Recovery Climate Experiment. https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grace-fo/ [2.3.17]. Schlepp B., Kirschner M., Sweetser T.H., Klipstein W.M., Dubovitsky S., (2015). Flight Dynamics Challenges for the GRACE Follow-On Mission. 25th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics (ISSFD). http://elib.dlr.de/98835/1/ISSFD2015_FD%20Challenges%20for-20GRACE-FO_Schlepp.pdf [2.3.17]. Schowengerdt, R. (2006) Remote Sensing [electronic resource] : Models and Methods for Image Processing (3rd ed.). Burlington: Elsevier Science, 204-243. Schà ¼tze, D. (2016) Measuring Earth: Current status of the GRACE Follow-On Laser Ranging Interferometer. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 716(1), 6. . (2015) LISA technology sheds light on climate change: GRACE-FO mission. LISA Mission. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb29hD3OgFw [2.3.17]. Sharing Earth Observation Resources. (2017) GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On)/ GFO (GRACE Follow-On). EO Portal Directory. https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/g/grace-fo [2.3.17]. Sheard, B., Heinzel, S., Danzmann, G., Shaddock, K., Klipstein, D., and Folkner, A. (2012) Intersatellite laser ranging instrument for the GRACE follow-on mission. Journal of Geodesy, 86(12), 1083-1095. Siemes, C., Ditmar, P., Riva, R., Slobbe, E., Liu, M., and Farahani, D. (2013) Estimation of mass change trends in the Earths system on the basis of GRACE satellite data, with application to Greenland. Journal of Geodesy, 87(1), 69-87. Tapley, B. (2008) Gravity model determination from the GRACE mission. The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, 56(3), 273-285. Wahr, J. (2007) Time Variable Gravity from Satellites-3.08. In Treatise on Geophysics, 218. Ward, A. (2003) Weighing earths water from space: challenges and limitations to using the GRACE technique. NASA Earth observatory. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WeighingWater/printall.php [7.3.17]. Zheng Wei and Xu Houze. (2015) Progress in satellite gravity recovery from implemented CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE and future GRACE follow-on missions. Geodesy and Geodynamics, 6(4), 241-247. doi:10.1016/j.geog.2015.05.005