Inca Empire Significance

What made the Incan Empire so historically significant? Rachael Cardenas Block 6B From 1438 to 1535, the Incan Empire made a historical impact. The Incan Empire was located in South America on the western coast in the present countries of Peru. (Tagle. ) Three-fourths of the Empire was located within present day Peru. Since the rule of the Empire did descend through familial ties, the ruling emperor was chosen on account by his family dynasty. (Hutagalung. ) The empire of the Incas merits importance and note due to its contributing factors of roads, agriculture, and medicine.The Incas’ construction of roads was the most impressive contribution of public works than any other ancient culture. The roads in total were estimated to be 14,000 miles of paved roads and bridges. What made the building of the roads so remarkable was the diversity of the land such as swamps, mountains, valleys, snow, and deserts. Since the area surrounding the roads by the coast was dusty, the Incas buil t them on causeways to keep them free from sand being blown or pegging out. (Baudin. ) Likewise, the roads near the swamps were built on stone viaducts.In high regions where there was high rain or snowfall, the Incas paved the roads with cobblestones or flagstones. Also, the steep slopes were stabilized by means of steps, which cut into living rock. The accomplishment of these different types of roads was significant to history because it demonstrates that the Incas were able to maintain proper road structure throughout the Empire despite the obstacles each region’s natural environment presented. (Hutagalung. ) There were two main roads which connected the north and south territories along the coast and along the Andes Mountains.These two main roads were linked to a shorter network of roads within each of the two territories. However, later there was another major creation of roads that was called the Andean Royal road; this road was over 3,500 miles long, which is longer tha n the longest Roman road. This road extended from Quito, Ecuador in the north, passed through Cajamarca and Cusco, and ended close to Tucuman, Argentina. (Baudin. ) Some of the smaller road networks as well as the Andean Royal road were used so often that they became permanently part of the landscape.As a result, these roads remain critical, modern-day arteries of transportation. A noteworthy fact about the Incan roads was that the roads never experience the roll of a wheel or the stomp of a horses’ foot because the Incas did not know the existence of the wheel and there were no horse natural to the area. (Martin. ) For the transportation of goods from one part of the empire to another, the Incas used llamas. The llamas also assisted Incan travelers in their travels between the north and the south territories.The roads of the Incan empire were a key factor in communication between territories. Throughout the Empire, messengers, or chasquis, carried information using these ess ential road networks. These messengers were chosen from the fittest and strongest men of young males. (Kruschandl. ) They lived in cabins, or tambos, in groups of four to six. If one was tired and needed to rest, another one would meet him and try to memorize the message; in this way the tired one could rest in the cabin, or tanpu, while the other continued the messages’ delivery to its final destination. (Baudin. Since these messengers lived on the roads, the tanpu always had food and clothing available for the messengers. A chasquis would travel more than 300 miles every day. Communication of important messages and transportation of essential goods flowed easily due to the combination of the well-constructed roads and logically developed messenger system. (Hutagalung. ) Also, because the military commanders of the Empire could easily move troops, they could quickly bring control where there was trouble. Priests, herders, or leisurely travelers are other examples who used th e Incan roads.In brief, the roads of the Incan Empire were not only a great benefit to its people who made use of it every day, but also to the Incan ruling class who demonstrated the power of the Incan state. The agriculture of the Incan Empire included every type of environment imaginable. The Incas developed an agricultural system so that plants could grow in such assorted surroundings. They were able to grow enough food to feed 15 million people with ancient technology and as well to have a 3 to 7 year surplus. In this way, the Incas grew a diverse set of plants compared to current systems of agriculture. Martin. ) The Incan farmers were great farmers; farming a dozen root crops, such as three grains, three legumes, and more than a dozen fruits. The three staple crops were potatoes, corn, and quinoa. In this case, the seeds of quinoa were used to produce flour, soups, and cereal. Similarly, corn was special to the Incas and used in religious ceremonies. In fact, they also used t he corn to make a drink called chicha. (Baudin. ) More importantly, the Incas were the first civilization to harvest and plant potatoes. The Incas produced over 200 hundred potatoes; a remarkable harvest for a type of plant.This allowed the Incas more choices of what to plant; so the Incan people can feed their families which the wealth of the Empire kept flowing. In addition, the Incas were able to grow tomatoes, avocados, beans, peppers, squash, and coco leaves to make chocolate. These plants, as well as others, were grown and sold in markets in the Andes Mountains by Indian, rural peasants. Correspondingly, several of these crops were exported to European countries: some of the crops were potatoes, peppers, lima beans, and tomatoes. (Martin. However, since a majority of the Incan crops were not exported, many of these crops were unknown outside of the Andes Mountains. (Baudin. ) The planting and harvesting of all of the crops supported the Incan Empire through an established, thr iving distribution system. The Incas are responsible for two main inventions. The Incas invented the first freeze-dry method of storage. The Incas first left their food out in the cold to freeze. Second, they stamped on the frozen food to squeeze out the water. Lastly, they left their stamped on food in the sun to dry.This freezing method worked; if they wanted to use dehydrated foods, they just added water to the foods. This type of freezing method assisted the Incas greatly because they were able to save their food without risk of it going bad. (Martin. ) Terrace gardening was another development that the Incas invented. The Incas carved steps of flat land up on the side of the mountain to create flat land for farming use. This allowed the terraces to keep rainwater from running off and also reduced erosion. As a result of this success, the government built aqueducts to carry water to farmlands for irrigation purposes. Baudin. ) These agricultural inventions and successes increase d productivity and resulted in the farming of the Incas to expand to the farming areas. Above all, the agriculture of the Incas allowed the economy to keep flowing with trade and commerce. In terms of medicine, the Incas made many discoveries. Felipe Guaman Poma, or known best as Huaman Poma, was a man born in 1550 in Peru. (Tagle. ) He wrote the complete historical manuscript of information of the medicine practice in the Incan civilization. Today scholars now know that the Incan medicine was a complex ix of different medical treatments and specialties. The Incas considered that the cause of all the sicknesses were by the act of supernatural forces. They also believed that sins against the gods, lies, as well as breaking Inca laws were enough reasons to become ill. The cures for the sicknesses were combinations of minerals and herbs, followed by magic spells and prayers. The Incan medicine was known to treat sicknesses in the immune system effectively. (Tagle. ) The Incan people ha d treatments which allowed the increase of natural production of white cells; including the end of the progress of some diseases.The Incas were able to cure their people with this knowledge that they had of medicine. (Kruschandl. ) The Incas had three types of doctors who worked in partnership. The first type of doctors was known as Watukk. The job of Watukk was to find out the cause of the sickness; he did this by researching the daily life of the patient. He explored the emotional, physical, and pathological health of the patient. The Watukk was responsible for pinpointing the correct diagnosis of the patient’s illness. The second type of doctor was known as the Hanpeq, who would then apply his medical knowledge about the diagnosed disease.He would combine and connect the properties of herbs and minerals treat the patient. He also paid special attention to ensure that the post-treatment was accurate and enabled the patient to become healed. Today, the Hanpeq is what we call a Shaman: a religious, mystical, and natural medicine doctor. The last type of doctor was known as the Paqo. He was known to treat the soul of the patient. The Incan doctors believed that the soul lived in the heart of the patient. His major obligation was to harmonize the spiritual health with the physical health.In addition because a patient’s body could have varied reactions to a treatment, the Paqo monitored the patient’s treatment. Generally speaking, the Paqo was responsible for minimizing any possibility of a negative reaction to the patient. (Kruschandl. ) The Incan Empire also had other individuals and doctors who would help patients through the use of supernatural means. Incan medicine had so many complexities: it classified and treated sadness, anxiety, depression, anger, regret, just to name a few. Some Incan medicine addressed psychological illnesses such as insanity, madness, dementia, or grief.Incans also performed skull surgeries. The patient had a rem arkable 90% chance for survival, which is extraordinary due to the materials and knowledge of the Incan doctors. When in the surgeries; the Incan doctors performed maneuvers in the wounds that were so precise that hardly any cases of infection were documented. Scholars today have few manuscripts that explain how the Incan doctors worked; however, most of the precious Incan knowledge has been destroyed. (Tagle. ) The text The History of the Incas portrays how a doctor’s knowledge was passed from father to son.If the son was skilled enough, the family would send him to gain education in an Incan school of medicine in the city of Cusco. As a student could go to medical school in present day today, the scholar back then would learn advanced techniques and gather the knowledge of Incan medicine taught by the Amautas. The Amautas were people who dedicated their entire lives in search for answers so that they could pass down knowledge and wisdom to the next generations. (Tagle. ) Th erefore, the Incan Empire was advanced in medicine due to their medical discoveries and accomplishments.Aiding in the Incan medical advancements, a medical student would go to an Incan medical school for three to five years, depending on the skill level of the student. The education was rigorous, as the scholar had to learn and use herbs and mineral properties. The scholars would then learn the correct quantities of cures needed for cures. (Kruschandl. ) The professors taught the students how to discover the sicknesses and how to cure them. When the student finished medical school, he had to spend various years in practice before he was considered ready to be a doctor.Because of the rigorous process an Incan doctor had to endure, Incan medicine made great advancements during its time. (Tagle. ) All in all, the Incans were able to achieve a variety of inventions in the fields of road construction, agriculture, and medicine. The Incan Empire’s had many accomplishments and disco veries helped to create a noteworthy empire, despite not having as many resources as the Roman Empire. MLA Works Citied Section Baudin, Louis. â€Å"Incan Roads. † World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. 12 April 2012: n. page. Print. .Hutagalung, Michael. â€Å"Inca Roads and Chasquis. † discover Peru: Peru Cultural Society. July 2005: n. page. Print. . Kruschandl, Nelson. â€Å"Inca Medicine. † THE INCAS. 2007: n. page. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. . Martin, Phillip. â€Å"The Inca Empire-Terrace Farming. † Incredible Incas. 2008: n. page. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. . Tagle, Alex. â€Å"Inca Medicine. † Peru Travel Confidential. 2009: n. page. Print. .

Benefit of school vs traditional college Essay

Technology and specifically ICT has permeated virtually all sectors of life including education. Traditional schooling is being replaced at an unprecedented rate. These days most professionals prefer to take courses online rather than attend school physically. The reasons behind this trend range from convenience, greater options, multitasking, and reduced cost among others. Often, this kind of schooling has been criticized because skeptics argue that the socialization aspect of schooling is cut off from schooling experience. Additionally, this technique has cost many people their jobs and means of livelihood. For instance, the cooks, secretaries, security personnel and such like. What’s more, this technology is still new to many people and naturally, resistance to adopt it is commonplace. However, I feel that despite the negatives associated with e-schooling, the benefits far out ways the costs and hence, my stance on the subject remains that school should be reinforced. To begin with, my community benefits greatly from e-schooling in the sense that, it enable re-schooling among adults who felt ashamed to go back to a traditional college to complete a degree. This is especially the case for people who had dropped out of high school or college. Nowadays, it is possible for them to earn degrees and diplomas while at home. This way they are able to multitask, say, baby sitting and learning In addition, collaboration between teachers and students has never been easier than with e-schooling. A wide range of digital resources, online libraries online tests, emails, videoconference and more are used to facilitate communication among stakeholders in the schooling system. Feedback on one-on-one basis makes school just as effective if not more to traditional college. Schooling to a marginal extent is cheaper than the traditional college. This has increased access to education for the economically challenged people in my community. Notably, the best colleges and universities are located in major cities, say, New York LA and so on meaning that the rural areas are sidelined from access to these colleges. The advantage of e-schooling is that these people now have a chance to get degrees and diplomas from these prestigious colleges without relocating from their home area. The costs of education have also been halved owing to technology of schooling. (Holmes & Gardner, 2006) Personally, schooling has had both direct and indirect impacts in my life. Prior to the introduction of e-schooling, I used to find that the schooling duration was too long. I wanted to get my degree as fast as possible. With the introduction of e-schooling, I am able to accelerate my program such that I get a full credit course in one semester. Most people in my community are using similar approach and it has worked well. Moreover, I have more control and independence over my learning skills. The experience of taking a course online can be life changing. I have learnt to be more responsible of my time. Last summer I was able to take up an AP course that was not available in our site and my friend has explored a learning opportunity that was not schooling in our site. Generally, I believe that schooling has enriched not only my life but also the lives of the people in my community. (www. ucet. ac. uk/ ) In the community where I come from, people are athletic and get involved so much with games and sport to an extent that it becomes very difficult to manage an 8-hour school program and sports. E-schooling has curbed this problem by giving the students flexibility and independence to decide how they want to structure learning hours. For some they access learning material in morning hours while others prefer to do that late in the night. At the end of the day, whichever style used, people earn degrees. Alternatively, enrolment to e learning is fast and hassle free. Most people can attest to the pressure experienced during enrolment days in college. With online schooling, this problem has been erased. I would like to share the experience of my cousin who got involved in an accident. Subsequently, her two legs were amputated making it a challenge to move around in clutches. The option of e-schooling has benefited my homebound cousin and in few weeks, she graduates with a diploma from a distant college. Other disabled people from my community have also benefited from schooling. (http://aasd. k12. wi. us/eSchool/whyecourses. htm. ) Other benefits arising from schooling is students with unique cases or reasons for being away from school benefit from e-learning e. g. teenage mother s, terminally sick students participating in foreign exchange programs, resist, and self supporting students who juggle between work responsibilities and learning Briefly, schooling is a great advancement in the education sector. The outstanding features attributed to schooling are the flexibility and affordability of the schooling concept. Reflecting on the benefits that I have witness at a personal level and within my community, I believe traditional colleges will be phased out as more and more people embrace e-schooling for its benefits. A word of caution though, policies and regulations need to be clearly set to ensure that schooling achieves fundamental purpose of schooling. Additionally, students and educators need to e empowered on how to maximize use of digital resources and online technologies in order to reap benefits of schooling.

Five Pillars of Islam and the confirmation Essay

The 5 Pillars of Islam and the 10 CommandmentsIslam and Christianity are both major religions in the world today, with followers from all walks of life and from every corner of the Earth. Each of these religions has its own teachings and beliefs but there are similarities amongst some, if not, a majority of the essential teachings. Islam and Christianity both have teachings and beliefs in a majority of the same prophets and messengers but the major split arises in the context that Christians believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ while Muslims believe that Jesus did not die. Nevertheless, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate, what may be to some, the foundation of both religions-more specifically, the 5 Pillars of Islam and the 10 Commandments of Christianity. The 5 Pillars of Islam:The word Islam in a religious sense means submission to the will of God and obedience to His law. Therefore, Islam is more of a way of life instead of merely being a part of life. The 5 pillars of Islam refer to 5 duties that Muslims have to perform wholeheartedly and diligently. The book ‘The Pillars of Islam’ contains a good representation of how the 5 Pillars came into being, from the narration of Umar (May Peace be Upon Him), while he was sitting with the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W):†One day while we were sitting with Allah’s messenger, a man suddenly appeared before us, wearing a very white dress and having very black hair, without any signs of journey upon him, and none of us knew him. He approached until he sat before the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) with his knees touching the Prophet’s knees and he placed his hands on his thighs and said, â€Å"O Muhammad inform me about Islam.† Allah’s Messenger (S.A.W) said, â€Å"Islam is to bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to offer the Salat, pay Zakat, fast during the month of Ramadan and to make Hajj if you are able and have the means to make the journey.† The man said, â€Å"You spoke the truth.† We were surprised at his asking and confirming at the same time†The stranger then asked the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) a few more questions which the Prophet (S.A.W) answered and then the stranger left. â€Å"The Prophet (S.A.W) remained seated for quite a while, then he asked me, â€Å"O  Ã¢â‚¬ËœUmar, do you know who the questioner was?† I said, â€Å"Allah and his Messenger know best.† He said, â€Å"That was Jibrael, he came to teach you your religion.†From this, we can see that the five ritual duties that the Prophet Muhammad set forth were as follows:1.Pronouncing the confession of faith (shahada or kalima);2.Performing the five daily prayers (salat);3.Fasting during the month of Ramadan (saum)4.Paying the alms tax (zakat)5.Performing, at least once in life, the major pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). I.The Shahadah, or profession of faith:The Shahada is the Arabic statement â€Å"La ilah illa Allah wa Muhammad rasul Allah,† meaning â€Å"There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet.†The Britannica Encyclopedia defines Shahadah as follows:†The first pillar is the profession of faith: â€Å"There is no deity but God, and Muá ¸ ¥ammad is the messenger of God,† upon which depends membership in the community. The profession of faith must be recited at least once in one’s lifetime, aloud, correctly, and purposively, with an understanding of its meaning and with an assent from the heart. From this fundamental belief are derived beliefs in (1) angels (particularly Gabriel, the Angel of Revelation), (2) the revealed Books (the QurÊ ¾Ã„ n and the sacred books of Judaism and Christianity), (3) a series of prophets (among whom figures of the Judeo-Christian tradition are particularly eminent, although it is believed that God has sent messengers t o every nation), and (4) the Last Day (Day of Judgment).†This profession of faith must be done with sincerity and without any reservation. It is the foundation for all other beliefs and practices in Islam. II.Prayer or Salat:The second Pillar of Islam is prayer,†And establish regular prayers at the two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night: for those things that are good remove those that are evil: That is a reminder for the mindful. And be steadfast in patience; For verily Allah (SWT) will not suffer the reward of the righteous to perish.†Every Muslim is required to pray 5 times a day. These prayers may be offered individually if one is unable to go to the mosque. The first prayer is performed before sunrise and is called Fajr, the second just after noon, the third in the late afternoon, the fourth immediately after sunset, and the fifth before retiring to bed. â€Å"The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) used to lead the congregation of Muslims in Mecca and Medina in prayer, thus demonstrating to them the way in which prayer should be performed. The prayer consists of reciting the first Surah of the Qur’an, Al-Fatihah, referred to as â€Å"the seven often repeated verses,† followed by the recitation of a chosen verse or verses of the Qur’an and various praises to God. For each segment of the prayer, a Muslim adopts a distinguishing bodily position, beginning with standing and placing hands across the heart, and then bowing and kneeling. Muslims repeat these positions a prescribed number of times depending on which prayer is being performed. The five daily prayers are the Morning Prayer, Fajr, the noon prayer, Dhur, the afternoon prayer, Asr, the evening prayer, Maghrib, and the night prayer, Ishaa. To pray five times a day is an obligation that every Muslim must adhere to except those exempted by Islamic law. â€Å"III.Fasting or Saum:Every year in the month of Ramadan Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk. In addition, Muslims are expected to refrain from anger, envy, greed, lust, gossip, violence, bad language and other inappropriate thoughts and actions. Fasting is meant to encourage Muslims to seek nearness to Allah, be patient, and learn the hardships faced by the less fortunate. According to www.encarta.msn.com,†According to various traditional interpretations, the fast introduces physical and spiritual discipline, serves to remind the rich of the misfortunes of the poor, and fosters, through this rigorous act of worship, a sense of solidarity and mutual care among Muslims of all social backgrounds. Thus Muslims usually engage in further acts of worship beyond the ordinary during Ramadan, such as voluntary night prayer, reading sections from the Qur’an, and paying voluntary charity to the poor. Muslims may even choose to wake before daybreak to eat a meal that will sustain them until sunset. After the fasting ends, the holiday of breaking the fast, ‘id al-fitr, begins, lasting for three days.†IV.Zakat or Alms:Every Muslim is obligated to pay a portion of his or her wealth for the benefit of the poor and needy. Zakat means â€Å"purification† and â€Å"growth†. This is an indication that our own wealth and possessions are purified by setting aside a portion for the poor and those  in need. The amount varies for different categories. For grains and fruits it is 10 percent if land is watered by rain and 5 percent if land is watered artificially. On cash and precious metals it is 2.5 percent. A Muslim may also donate more as an act of Sadaqah (voluntary charity), in order to achieve additional reward from Allah. V.Hajj or Pilgrimage:Hajj is a pilgrimage to the Holy City of Makkah. Hajj occurs every year during the Islamic month of Dhu’l-Hijjah. Every Muslim who is physically and financially able is obligated to perform Hajj at least once in his or her lifetime. The hajj is the â€Å"greater† of the two pilgrimages to Mecca required of all Muslims, the lesser pilgrimage is called Umra. www.religionfacts.com provides a good summary of what happens during the time of Hajj:†Upon arrival at the boundary of Mecca (about six miles from the Ka’ba), pilgrims enter the state of ihram (purity) in which they will remain throughout the hajj. Males entering this pure state don the ihram garments – two white, seamless sheets wrapped around the body – and sandals. This aspect of the rite not only signifies the state of holiness the pilgrims have entered, but it serves to contribute to a sense of equality and unity by removing visual indicators of class, wealth and culture. Requirements for women are less stringent, but they usually dress in white with only faces and hands uncovered. While in the state of ihram, pilgrims must not cut their nails or hair, engage in sexual relations, argue, fight or hunt. When he or she enters the city of Mecca, the pilgrim first walks around the Ka’ba seven times (the tawaf, or circumambulation) while reciting the talbiya, then kisses or touches the Black Stone in the Ka’ba, prays twice towards the Station of Abraham and the Ka’ba and runs seven times between the small mountains of Safa and Marwa. The second stage of the hajj takes place between the 8th and 12th days of Dhu al-Hijja, beginning with a sermon (khutba) at the mosque on the 7th day. On the eighth day and night, the pilgrim stays at Mina or Arafat. On the ninth day, the ritual of wuquf (â€Å"standing†) takes place at the small hill of Jabal  al-Rahma in Arafat. The pilgrim then returns to Muzdalifa, a small town within the Meccan boundaries, to stay the night. The tenth day is Eid al-Adha (The Feast of Sacrifice), a major holiday observed by all Muslims. For those participating in the hajj, the day is spent in Mina, where the pilgrim sacrifices an animal to commemorate Abraham’s sacrifice and throws seven small stones at each of three pillars on three consecutive days (the pillars represent sins and devils). The pilgrim then returns to Mecca, where he or she once again performs the tawaf (circumambulation of the Ka’ba). The head is then shaved or the hair is trimmed, which marks the end of the state of ihram.†Ã¢â‚¬Æ'The 10 Commandments of Christianity:Similar to the 5 Pillars of Islam, Christianity has its own duties and standards which Christians have to live their lives by. These 10 Commandments are a list of religious and moral imperatives that were authored by the Lord God and given to Moses at Mount Sinai. The 10 Commandments are found in the Bible in Exodus 20 as follows:†Ã¢â‚¬ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. â€Å"You shall have no other gods before me. â€Å"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations, of those who love me and keep my commandments. â€Å"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. â€Å"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God, On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and  all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. â€Å"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. â€Å"You shall not murder†You shall not commit adultery. â€Å"You shall not steal. â€Å"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. â€Å"You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.†Ã¢â‚¬ After receiving the commandments and returning to Mount Sinai, Moses saw that the Israelites had â€Å"defiled themselves†, and that his brother, Aaron, had made a Golden Calf and an altar in front of it for the Israelites to pray to. Moses, in terrible anger, broke the tablets. God later offered Moses to carve two other tablets, to replace the ones he smashed. From this it seem that God himself appears as the writer. This second sets of commandments were brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses and were placed in the Ark of the Covenant. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor10Islam’s confirmation of the Ten Commandments:Many might believe that Islam and Christianity are totally  different in their teachings. This might be true when it comes to certain practices such as drinking alcohol or eating pork for example, yet some of the core teachings of both religions are similar. The same prophets appear in both the Quran as well as in the Bible, maybe under Arabic influenced name but still the same person. To further illustrate the similarities in this context, the following section relates the messages conveyed by the 10 Commandments to teachings found in the Holy Quran. Exodus 24:12 states:†The Lord said to Moses, â€Å"Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.†Deuteronomy 4:13 states:†He declared to you His covenant, the Ten Commandments, which He commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.†As stated before, both Islam and Christianity have similar teachings about certain prophets, Moses is one of them and is recognized in Islam and is written about a lot in the Quran. Two chapters in particular from the Quran could be said to affirm the belief in the commandments which God gave to Moses. These chapters are 2:53 and 7:145. In respective manner, they state the following:†And remember We gave Moses the Scripture and the Criterion (between right and wrong): There was a chance for you to be guided aright.†Ã¢â‚¬ And We ordained laws for him [Moses] in the tablets in all matters, both commanding and explaining all things, (and said): â€Å"Take and hold these with firmness, and enjoin thy people to hold fast by the best in the precepts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ From this we can agree that there is sufficient evidence of both religions believing that God had given the commandments to Moses. The First Commandment, found in Exodus 20:3, states the following. â€Å"You shall have no other gods before me†Ã¢â‚¬ËœIt is well known that Christianity and Islam are both Monotheistic religions, with Christians believing in the Lord God and Muslims believing in Allah. There are numerous instances in the Quran where this is states, one of these is found in chapter 17:23 of the Quran:†Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him†Another affirmation of this commandment could be sought after in the translation of the Shahadah or first pillar of Islam which states:†Ash-hadu alaa-ilaaha  illa-llaahu wa ash hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa Rasulu†Which when translated means: â€Å"I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (S.A.W) is His Devotee and His Messenger.†This confirms the common belief between Muslims and Christians on the oneness of God. The Second Commandment, found in Exodus 20:4, states:†You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.†Chapter 31:13 of the Quran gives just one of the many instances in the Quran where Idol worshipping is mentioned. It goes:†Recall that Luqmaan said to his son, as he enlightened him, â€Å"O my son, do not set up any idols beside GOD; idolatry is a gross injustice.†Also, Chapter 22:12 of the Quran states:†They call on such deities, besides Allah, as can neither hurt nor profit them: that is straying far indeed (from the Way)! â€Å"Because of the monotheistic nature of both these religions, it can be easily noted that both these religions reject the idea of worshipping any other gods but God himself. The Third Commandment, found in Exodus 20:7 of the Bible states:†You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, [i.e. in an irreverent or disrespectful manner] for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.†The Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) revealed†Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.†In the Quran, Allah is referred to in many instances, not just by Allah but by other names. Over time, these names have been collected in the Quran and amount to 99. These are deemed the 99 names of Allah. Even though there are 99 names of Allah, the misuse of these names is not allowed in Islam, just as the misuse of the name of the Lord is scorned upon in Christianity. From chapter 7:180 in the Quran,†And Allah’s are the best names, therefore call on Him thereby, and leave alone those who violate the sanctity of His names; they shall be requited for what they did.†From this we can see that the violation or misuse of God’s names in both Christianity and Islam, are both subject to punishment in the afterlife. The Fourth Commandment, found in Exodus 20:8-11, states the following:†Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.†Islam rejects the idea of God resting as seen from the following:†And verily we created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six periods, and naught of weariness touched us†If the thought of rest is disregarded and the Sabbath day is viewed as just holy day on which should worship God, then a similarity arises with the teachings of Islam. Based on this assumption, the following excerpt outlines the day of worship for Muslims:†The Holy Prophet Muhammad said : â€Å"The day of Friday has been exalted and conferred many rights. Therefore do not be negligent of your duty. Do not be tardy in your worship this day. Try to attain nearness to Allah by performing pure deeds and refraining from the prohibited things, because this day Allah increases the reward for good deeds and obliterates the sins. Allah raises the position of the believer in the world and the Hereafter.†So if we disregard the argument over whether God rested or not after the creation of the Earth, then the result that we left with is a day that is set aside to worship God. For Christians this is on Sunday and for Muslims, Friday. There is mention of the Sabbath in the Quran in Chapter 16:124:†The Sabbath was only made (strict) for those who disagreed (as to its observance); But Allah will judge between them on the Day of Judgment, as to their differences. â€Å"This, in my opinion, could be interpreted to mean that those who take lightly to the Sabbath are the ones for whom the Sabbath was set forth. The Fifth Commandment, found in Exodus 20:12, states:†Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gave you.†Similar to this, the Quran also teaches Muslims to respect and  honor their parents. â€Å"Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour.†As a result of these excerpts, we can conclude that both religions hold parents in high esteem, and should be respected and honored. We are not to be rude to them and should uphold their honor for as long as they may live. The Sixth Commandment, found in Exodus 20:13, states:†You shall not murder†In today’s world, Islam is viewed as a terrorist religion which approves the acts of murder. This is not true, the Qur’an commands Muslims to stick up for themselves in a defensive battle – i.e. if an enemy army attacks, then Muslims are to fight against that army until they stop their aggression. All of the verses that speak about fighting/war in the Qur’an are in this context. The following verse from the Quran illustrates the views on murder:†You shall not kill any person – for GOD has made life sacred – except in the course of justice. If one is killed unjustly, then we give his heir authority to enforce justice. Thus, he shall not exceed the limits in avenging the murder; he will be helped.†From this is we can see that both Islam and Christianity condemn the acts of murder, however, Islam teaches Muslims to stand up for themselves and fight for what they believe in and if killed unjustly, then justice can be enforced upon the murderer. The Seventh Commandment, found in Exodus 20:14, states:†You shall not commit adultery†In the Quran, chapter 17:32, the following is stated:†Nor come nigh to adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil, opening the road (to other evils).†Adultery is scorned upon in both Christianity and Islam. In some Islamic cities, adultery is a serious offence and punishable by death- usually in the form of stoning. From Chapter 24:2 in the Quran:†The woman and the man, guilty of fornication. Flog each of them with a hundred stripes, and let a party of believers witness their punishment.†From this we see that in Islam, both men and woman  are subject to punishment if guilty of adultery. The Eight Commandment, found in Exodus 20:15, states:†You shall not steal†The Quran states, in chapter 2:188:†And do not eat up unjustly the property of each other among yourselves nor convey their cases to the authorities for devouring unlawfully some portion of the property of the people knowingly.†Stealing is an offence also not taken lightly in Islam. If found guilty of theft, the Quran states that the thief’s hand should be cut off as compensation as well as a deterrence so that the thief will know that the consequences of stealing are much greater than the rewards of theft. â€Å"As for the thief, the male and the female, amputate their hands in recompense for what they earned [i.e. committed] as a deterrent [punishment] from Allah. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.†The Ninth Commandment, found in Exodus 20:16, states:†You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.†The term ‘false witness’ is a synonym for not telling the truth, or lying. The Quran states the following about lying:†And cover not truth with falsehood, nor conceal the Truth when ye know (what it is).†As with most religions, both Christianity and Islam both condemn the act of lying or not telling the truth. And finally, the Tenth and last Commandment, found in Exodus 20:17, states:†You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.†From the Quran, Chapter 4:32:†Do not covet the bounties that God has bestowed more abundantly on some of you than on others.†As we can see, both Islam and Christianity condemn the acts of coveting. However, Bible limits coveting to neighbor’s property only. Quran goes further and extends the prohibition to all society. Bibliography: 1.’The Pillars of Islam and Iman: and What Every Muslim Must Know About His Religion’,2.By Muhammad Bin Jamil Zeno, Published by Darussalam; pages 18-19. 3.IslÄ m. (2008). In Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica. Retrieved December 03, 2008, from Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/295507/Islam4.Holy Qur’an, 11:1145.http://www.islamonline.net/iol-english/info/discover2.asp6.http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761579171_2/Islam.html7.http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/practices/hajj-pilgrimage.htm8.Holy Bible, Exodus 20. 9.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments10.The Holy Bible, Exodus 24:1211.The Holy Bible, Deuteronomy 4:1312.The Holy Qur’an, 2:5313.The Holy Qur’an, 7:14514.The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:315.The Holy Qur’an, 17:2316.The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:417.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 31:1318.The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:719.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 7:18020.The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:8-1121.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 50:3822.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 16:12423.The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:1224.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 17:2325.The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:1326.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 17:3327.The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:1428.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 17:3229.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 24:230.The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:1531.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 2:18832.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 5:3833.The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:1634.The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 2:4235.The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:1736.The Holy Quran, Chapter 4:32

Capital Structure Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Capital Structure - Assignment Example Perhaps the value of the firm does depend on how its assets, cash flows and growth opportunities are sliced up and offered to investors as debt and equity claims. There are surely investors who would be willing to pay extra for particular types or mixes of corporate securities. For example, investors cannot easily borrow with limited liability, but corporations provide limited liability and can borrow on their stockholders' behalf. There has been constant innovation in the design of securities and in new financing schemes. Innovation proves that financing can matter. If new securities or financing tactics never added value, then there would be no incentive to innovate (Myers 2001). Modigliani and Miller's (1958) theory is exceptionally difficult to test directly, but financial innovation provides convincing circumstantial evidence. The costs of designing and creating new securities and financing schemes are low, and the costs of imitation are trivial. (Fortunately, securities and financing tactics cannot be patented.) Thus temporary departures from Modigliani and Miller's predicted equilibrium create opportunities for financial innovation, but successful innovations quickly become "commodities," that is, standard, low-margin financial products. The rapid response of supply to an innovative financial product restores the Modigliani and Miller equilibrium. ... The Miller theory will be referred again in later parts of this paper. Corporate Taxation In 1977, Merton Miller revisited the issue of the impact of corporate taxation on the irrelevance propositions in a classic paper titled "Debt and Taxes" that shows perhaps better than any of his other papers how he could use arbitrage arguments to change how finance academics and practitioners understood how the world works (Miller 1977). In that paper, he pointed out that the tax advantage of corporate debt might be mostly if not completely illusory. Because interest on corporate debt is taxed as income for the holder of corporate debt, the interest paid on corporate debt must be high enough so that the after-tax income from holding corporate bonds is attractive relative to the income from equity which, when it accrues as capital gains, is taxed at a lower effective rate (Myers 2001). As a result, corporations get to deduct from their taxes interest payments but, because personal taxes on interest income are higher than on capital gains, the before-tax cost of capital on debt must be higher than on equity if investors are to hold debt (Stulz 2000). Interest is a tax-deductible expense. A taxpaying firm that pays an extra pound of interest receives a partially offsetting "interest tax shield" in the form of lower taxes paid. Financing with debt instead of equity increases the total after-tax dollar return to debt and equity investors, and should increase firm value (Myers 2001). Application of Taxation This present value of interest tax shields could be a very big number. Suppose debt is fixed and permanent, as Modigliani and Miller (1963) assumed, and that corporate income is taxed at the current 35 percent statutory rate.

Platos Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Platos Ethics - Essay Example He points to a good understanding of what virtues such as courage, justice, and temperance have on the individual’s endeavor at attaining happiness. He points to these virtues since they are, according to him, what one needs to appreciate pleasure, friendship, honor, wealth, virtue and other goods in life. Accordingly, one cannot acquire wisdom simply by acquiring knowledge about general rules.   Hume is famous for his empiricist theory of the mind which asserts that reason is a slave of passions; moral distinctions are not derived from reason; moral distinctions are derived from moral sentiments, and that virtues are either natural or artificial. Hume is of the opinion that passions (feelings, emotions, desires) are mere impressions that are very different from ideas which are original, vivid and lively perceptions. This is because of passions, according to Hume, control reasoning and desires.   Russell put forth a lot of opinions about marriage, war and the rights of women. In all his writings, Russell insisted on one’s having an open mind towards handling the issues in their lives. He despised obstinacy in the face of counter-arguments since it is not a virtue when in a scientifically-minded thinker. To Russell, virtues meant assessing a given argument from the point of view of one with enough information and with an open mind to allow them to take the most sensible side.   The mill is quoted to have said that â€Å"the effect produced, in social phenomena, by any complex set of circumstances, amounts precisely to the sum of the effects of circumstances taken singly.† He thus placed an emphasis on the effects of one’s actions to the majority and beyond the individual. He deduced this idea from the writings of Auguste Comte and other philosophers during his time or before him.

Cash Flow Problems Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cash Flow Problems - Coursework Example The company could also not afford to generate sufficient income to pay the salaries and wages of its employees. Consequently, the business had to close down altogether (Wires, 2011, p.14). Having been established in 1950, the company eventually closed down after 61 years of its operation in the automobile markets Cash flow problems are known to cause 70% of businesses to fail within their first year of establishment, making cash flow problems the major reason for business failure. (Wires, 2011, p.13). The dangers associated with cash flow problems cannot be predicted most of the times. Thus, even the well-established businesses falls into this risk. Although cash flow problems are the reasons for the business failure of the company, there are other various reasons as to why the company could not revive. Due to a lack of goodwill and not a so good reputation, the company could not access credits. Consequently, any means through which the company could improve its operations and head b ack to the path of profit making was blocked by a lack of access to credit (Howard, 2011, p.21). The size of the company is another factor that contributed to its failure. The company is small sized, thus it becomes difficult to compete with other large automobile companies in the industry. The small size is in terms of both its asset base and the market niche that the company has effectively curved. Another problem that forced the company to close down is its dependence on technology from other automobile firms. The company lacks the ability to develop or purchase production technologies of its own, and have thus been dependent on other companies for the provision of such technologies. With such dependence, it means that the company cannot effectively compete with the companies that are providing it with production technologies (Zeitch, 2011, p.9). Low sales have however been the main reason as to why the company could not meet its required cash generation to cover its expenditure. Having projected to sell between 50,000 and 60,000 vehicles in the year 2010, the company only managed to sell 31,696 cars. However, the problems of the company increased when general Motors blocked the rescue attempt of the company by two Chinese automobile firms, arguing that such actions would hurt the company’s markets in the US (White, 2011, p.2). Most significant of the causes of the cash flow problems of the company is the time difference between when the company’s payments were received and the costs incurred. While the costs were incurred continuously due to staff salaries and supplies of materials from the suppliers, the time duration it took to produce the cars, sell, and receive payments was relatively longer. This meant cash flow problems, since revenues could not come in at the same time as the costs went out. Under investment is another cause of the company’s business failure. While the company was, still a part of GM (General Motors), the owners did not invest sufficiently in the company. As a result, the company has not been able to meet its other obligations such as developing production technologies of its own. This has served to create dependency of the company on other automobile companies for technology provision (Howard, 2011, p.21). This notwithstanding, the production portfolio of the company was too small. The company did not manage to address this problem in good time. With such low production, the company could

Incarcerations effects on families Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Incarcerations effects on families - Term Paper Example Now there is a new category for incarceration, debtors, even for very small debts. In a bid for increased corporate welfare, businesses in some states (Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, Ohio, Washington, for example) enlist the police, sheriff, and court system to imprison those who owe money and are not paying it quickly enough. A recent news article told about the case of Lisa Lindsay, a breast cancer survivor who ignored a $280 medical bill she was told was in error and not owed. A collection agency got jurisdiction over it and Illinois state troopers took her to jail in handcuffs (Sherter, 2012). In more than one third of the states in America, many poverty-stricken seniors, veterans, mothers, fathers, and the unemployed have been locked up in prison for the flimsiest of reasons, being unable to settle even the tiniest of debts. The marginalized poor are being increasingly criminalized. It is not the assumption of this paper that incarceration is totally without merit. There are peop le whose thinking is so distorted and whose actions are so dangerous that society must be protected from victimization. On the other hand, a rapidly rising prison population, unrepresentative of socioeconomic and racial parameters of the general population, and in comparison to the incarceration/population ratios of other countries, suggests a possibility that the USA criminal justice system is failing to solve crime through incarceration, and is worsening the situation. Incarcerating a person who is found to have broken the law removes a single threat from the street, perhaps, but there are less visible outcomes this paper intends to consider. Incarcerated prisoners, on any given day, represent more than 500,000 families being impacted by incarceration (Hairston, 1991). Those families need to be strongly bonded and assisted by personal and community networks. Maintaining strong family ties has been found to support prisoner and family mental health, increase the probability that th e prisoner will have a family to return to after prison, and reduce the probability that the prisoner, once released, will have to return to prison for probation violations or other criminal activity (Hairston, 1991). In support of strengthening family ties, prisons are beginning to implement more generous family communication policies, marital and private family visits, children’s centers in the prison, and prison visitor hospitality houses. Families of prisoners are organizing to advocate for conditions and services that support prison families (Hairston, 1991). A lot more is needed, however, not only to provide a strong family network for the prisoner, but especially to counter the profound negative effects of incarceration on other members of the family. The effects of parent incarceration on children is a significant social issue because 56% of all state prisoners have minor children, and the majority of incarcerated adults are, in fact, state prisoners (Lengyel, 2006). Separation from an incarcerated father, the stigma attached to the incarceration, and deceptions played on the child around that incarceration have reportedly been associated with emergent aggressive and antisocial behavior, particularly in the sons of

Career Path Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Career Path - Essay Example They can tell people how to prepare healthy meal and what must be the ingredients in the same.   Those students who are studying at the high school level and are looking forward to pursue a career in nutrition, they can take up courses in biology, chemistry, micro biology, health, mathematics and also communications. This will help them is some way or the other during their perusal of bachelor courses in nutrition. In 2007, there were 281 bachelor degree program and 22 master degree program approved by American Dietetic Association. The minimum qualification required for the same is a bachelor’s degree in dietetics or in food and nutrition or in similar related areas. But among the various states of USA, licensing and certification requirements for the same are different.   License requirements for the nutritionists vary across the different states in USA. Whereas 35 states have made the license requirement mandatory, 12 require statutory certification, while one state requires only their registration. Certification is not compulsory for the nutritionists to practice their profession. The commission on dietetic Registration of the American Dietetic Association awards the Registered Dietitian (RD) credentials, to those professionals who clear the exam after completing the academic stipulation along with the internship. To maintain the RD status, the professionals must complete as least 75 credit hours in approved education classes every 5 years. The internship can be completed in two ways. In the first case, the candidate is required to complete a program accredited by the commission on Dietetic registration. By the year 2007 there were 53 such accredited programs, which provided a combination of academic and practical internship experiences. These prog rams generally last between 4 to 5 years. The other option involves completion of 900 hours of intern experience in any of the 265 accredited internships. If these internships are full time, then they

Cloud Gate by Mr. Anish Kapoor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cloud Gate by Mr. Anish Kapoor - Essay Example The Artist has used stainless steel as the medium of art. The artist has welded up about 168 pieces of stainless steel to make on giant work of art. Stainless steel is an alloy of iron; which cannot be stained but it loses it color and shows finger prints. The chromium in mixed in the alloy to make hard oxide coating on the surface; without the coating it becomes rust liker regular steel. The substance is hard and can be molded into any shape. The piece of art is placed at one of the most prime locations of Chicago; the reflective exterior would mirror the Chicago skyline; whereas its oval shape would twist and distort the image which is reflected; whereas, if a visitor would walk, the surface acts looks like a mirror of any funhouse as it reshapes the images. The underneath of the sculptor act as an indention whose mirror surface would provide numerous reflections of the subject situated below them. Sculptor is a form of art that is to create representational or abstract form, which can be of any shape. These form of arts does not tell a story; and the diversity in art is bought by the material and shapes used. Art is in the mind; these are ideas which are interpreted and then designed. Sculptor art is the most difficult art form; and if we include the size they represent a high level of imaginations.

The relationship between iron and zinc status and treatment of ADHD Essay

The relationship between iron and zinc status and treatment of ADHD (subject to modification) - Essay Example Diagnosis is therefore rather subjective and obtaining epidemiological data is cumbersome. Co-morbidities are often present and these make diagnosis even more difficult (Rowland, Lesesne et al. 2002). Despite these limitations, there are valid data that suggest that ADHD seems to have a higher rate of occurrence in white children than in black children in the USA (1.7% to 4.4% in 1997) according to treatment records obtained by physicians. (Olfson, Gameroff et al. 2003). Also, the national epidemiological survey in UK showed a lower prevalence of ADHD in black children than in white children (0.4% to 1.6%) (Meltzer, Gatward et al. 2000). There is the postulation that cases of ADHD in black children could possibly have been under-diagnosed in these societies simply because black families possibly lack access to health facilities due to poorer economic status. This argument may not be valid considering that even higher access to facilities by black families have not resulted in increas ed diagnosis of cases of ADHD in them. Moreover, the U.K epidemiological survey cuts across racial and socioeconomic barriers. ... The ADHD Help-Seeking model is a basis of understanding factors that are predictive of service access and utilization, with a view to using such understanding to break the barrier to service utilization in ADHD treatment (Eiraldi, Mazzuca et al. 2006). The model proposes that for effective treatment, there must first be problem identification on the part of the affected, and then the decision to seek help must follow. Also, service selection and service access by the affected are integral parts of the model pathway. It is believed that through its predictive nature, the model will provide answers to various questions regarding disparities in access to healthcare by various ethnic and racial groups. (Eiraldi, Mazzuca et al. 2006). The model however needs to be made stronger by reconstructing it on factors that are less general and are more specific for affected groups, so that individual needs could be more effectively met (Eiraldi, Mazzuca et al. 2006). Cultural influences could play a very significant role in the Teacher and Parent Ratings across cultural divides (Olfson, Gameroff et al. 2003). The prevalence rates for ADHD from 1997-2001 among African American, Hispanic and White children (6-11 years old) were obtained using a National Health Interview Survey. Information was obtained from parents about health and socio-demographic characteristics of their children. Drug therapy history was taken. Again, White children were found to have the highest rate of ADHD than any other ethnic group, though occurrence of learning disability was higher in the African American and Hispanic children. About 1% of Hispanic children were reported to have ADHD without LD, against 4% white children. Compared to white children, the percentage of

US Marine Corps Combined Action Program in South Vietnam Article

US Marine Corps Combined Action Program in South Vietnam - Article Example From this paper it is clear that  the configuration of a village defense platoon is arrived upon combining a Marine squad with indigenous forces.This proved very effective in thwarting enemy forces security at the village level. CAP, which was first implemented during operations in South Vietnam, has withstood the test of time. Although there is no comprehensive statistical evidence to prove its effectiveness, first hand observations of military officers and subjective evaluations have assented to its utility. The successes met by American troops in later wars in regions such as Haiti, Bosnia, Somalia, etc, underscore CAP-style organization’s relevance and usefulness.This study outlines that  the CAP was a natural extension of the martial traditions that the US Marines excelled in. The US Marines have long understood how pacification of locals and subsequent co-option to their cause drastically improves chances of success. A robust training program for the local recruits a nd provisions for their security greatly helped with administration of localities. The validity of the CAP concept is attested by its successful implementation in war experiences in Haiti, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, etc during the last two centuries. CAP-style organization is especially applicable in regions where the opposition employs guerrilla warfare tactics.   In this sense, the CAP concept can be construed as counter-guerrilla warfare.... The CAP organized the hamlet defense and lived in the hamlet on a 24-hour basis. Besides hamlet security, â€Å"CAP teams provided the villagers medical care and assistance with hygiene and disease related problems. CAP teams also built simple structures and roads and conducted a variety of other civic projects aimed at helping the people. The Marine pacification program was successful in screening the people from the VC and in large part insulating them from some of the corruption and abuses of the GVN.† (Clark, 1990, p. 115) One of the early demonstrations of CAP’s organization and operation was witnessed in August of 1965 in the Vietnam theatre. The unit assembled from 3rd Battalion of 4th Marines is a case in point. Led by Lt. Col. William W. Taylor in the Phu Bai area, the unit’s Tactical Area of Responsibility (TAOR) covered half a dozen villages plus an airfield. Under pressure from enemy retaliation and realizing how thinly spread his personnel are across the terrain, the Colonel’s executive officer forwarded a plan to include members of the local militia into the 3/4 unit’s operations. After going up the ranks for evaluation and approval, the suggestion was finally assented by major General Lew Walt and Lieutenant General Victor Krulak. They foresaw how this concept could prove to be a force multiplier. It was upon their approval that General Nguyen Van Chuan of the local militia (Army of the Republic of Vietnam - ARVN) agreed to the co-operative arrangement. General Chuan gave General Walt control of local platoons in the Phu Bai jurisdiction. The results of the Phu Bai experiment encouraged further trials. The Marines instilled a combative, offensive spirit in their counterparts and gave the militia a

Mr. Gascoignes company Essay Example for Free

Mr. Gascoignes company Essay I am going to create a macro that will allow Mr Gascoignes company, (Shoes n all) to insert a different response into a template letter, so that the letter will contain the necessary information appropriate for the use. I am going to create 4 different Macros. They will input a short paragraph that will tell the reader about their credit bill to the company. The 4 Macros will be: 1. To open the Master Letter 2. Telling the reader that their credit bill is up to date and that they hope that the customer will continue using the company to buy their shoes. 3. Telling the customer that their credit bill is slightly behind and that the require the credit bill as soon as possible 4. Telling the customer that they havent paid their bill for quite a while and that their credit account has been closed. 5. A slogan that will appear in the footer. I first created a simple letter and put in where information will be inserted. (See first of documents) On the same document but on a different page I created the responses that will eventually be the different macros. (See second of documents) I then saved the document as a . dot file, as this then becomes the master copy. Once they were created I had to start recording a macro. I went to, file- new and opened a blank document. New was the time to start recording. I wanted to record a macro that would open the master Document. To start to record the Macro I went to tools- Macros -Record new Macros (left) Once I had pressed it a new box came up, where I inputted the Name. I named it master and pressed OK (Below) Now that I had opened the file I pressed Stop on the Macro Tool bar. Now that the master had been created. I wanted to start recording the responses to go in the letter. So to record in the first response I first needed to load the master Macro because it contains the different responses and the blank letter. To load the Macro I went to Tools - Macro - Play Macro Now that the letter had been opened I wanted to start to record a new macro. I started it the same way as I did at point 1 and entered the name as Para. Again, like before the cursor turned into a picture of a tape, to signify that it is recording. When recording macros it is unadvisable to use the mouse to select text because it sometimes causes complications. So what I wanted to do was to select the paragraph, Copy it, Move up to the blank space in the letter and paste in the paragraph. So to do this all on keyboard I moved down the page to the paragraph by using the cursor keys. Once I got to the first paragraph I wanted to highlight it. To do this without the mouse I went to the point before the paragraph, held down shift and scrolled along the text using the cursor keys. I stopped scrolling at the end of the paragraph. This then highlighted the text. Now I wanted to copy it. The hotkey to copy it on a keyboard is Ctrl+C. This then saved the information to the clipboard. Now I wanted to paste the paragraph in the blank space. So I scrolled up to the space using the cursor keys. To paste the copied text in I just pressed Ctrl+V. This then pasted the paragraph in to the slot needed. I then used the mouse to stop recording the macro like I did at point 1. I recorded the other three macros like I did at point 2 and named each one Para 1, Para 2 and Para 3. Now I wanted to create a macro so that it will input a slogan into the footer. So I started off recording it and named the macro as Slogan. Using the mouse is necessary when creating a footer, but it is usually advisable to use the keyboard whenever possible. So I used the mouse and pressed View- Header and Footer (Bottom Left) Now That the actual bar was created I just wanted to insert the macros in to the toolbar. So I pressed the commands tab and dragged each of the macros into the toolbar. Once they had been dragged in, they looked like this. As you can see the icons are very wordy. So I decided to assign a picture to each of them so it would be easier select them and understand them. So, to do this I: 1. Selected the icon. 2. Press Modify Selection 3. Select Change Button Image 4. Select the picture So I selected a different picture for each icon. I tried to make it as appropriate as I could Master=Speak Para1=Happy Face Para2=Piggy Bank Para3=Unhappy Face Footer=Steps It is also possible to change the Macro in the actual code. To open the macro code I went to Tools- Macro-Macros I then selected the Macro I wanted to edit and Selected edit. The code then appeared. I then Edited it. See documents 6 7 Sam Flower Macros and Toolbars GNVQ IT Page 1.

How Did China Resist Western Influences?

How Did China Resist Western Influences? In the 19th Century, during the Qing dynasty, China had little communications with Western countries due to their self-sufficiency. However, the British smuggled opium into China, the Chinese found out that people would get addicted to opium, so the Chinese banned smoking opium and led to the Opium War. Soon after the war was declared, other foreign countries such as France and Russia noticed China was a land with a lot of economic resources. Even though many civil wars including the Taiping Rebellion and the Boxer Rebellion were launched, China resisted Western influences through rebellions aiming at ridding China of westerners, treaties regulating peace with Western countries, and movements attempting to reform the government. China resisted western influences by declaring wars toward foreign countries. The Opium War between China and Britain was caused by Britains ignoring Chinas warnings and keeping smuggling opium into China. China lost the war because the technologies of Great Britain were more advanced. The two countries signed Nanking Treaty, which expanded the prologue of unequal treaties. After the Nanking Treaty, civilians not only distrusted their own government, but also refused accepting westerners due to the fact that numerous western nations forced China to open other ports so that foreigners could export their goods to China. The result led to the unstable market of China. In order to make a great peaceful world many civilians formed a party called Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the party, advocated gender equality and public treasury in addition to spreading Christianity, in which the party broke temples and idols and introduced missionary in China. Moreover, people distrusted the Qing government as it was deteriorating. Also, foreign countries gave more pressure during that time. An organization called Yi Ho Tuan believed that by joining their group and practicing Chinese Kong Fu with them, they would soon become invincible. Due to their belief, members of Yi Ho Tuan chose not to follow the governments laws. In the spring of 1900, Yi Ho Tuan descended to Beijing, declaring the Boxer Rebellion. They surrounded the European section, however, they suffered a humiliating defeat from the multinational force of 19,000 troops. Even though the Yi Ho Tuan failed, a strong sense of nationalism and of refusing western countries arose in China. Since the failure of the several rebellions, China was forced to sign plenty of unequal treaties as a postwar reconciliation. As a settlement, China was compelled to sign Nanking Treaty which included the opening of the five following ports, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningpo, and Shanghai, where Britons were allowed to trade with anyone they wished. And China gave Hong Kong to Britain as well as twenty one million silver as reparation. After the treaty, the trading competitiveness faced unprecedented problems from foreigners to Chinese people. The trend of opposition to westerners kept rising in Chinese peoples minds. Too many defeats made China to give western countries many arbitrary conditions. Even if China were having unfair negotiations, it still had to make concessions. The agreement on tariffs reduced a great number of Chinas taxes, and the Unilateral Most Favored Nation delighted westerners with impunity. However, these increased Chinese peoples hatred to westerners. The more failure of wars, the more unequal treaties China had to sign. China signed up Beijing Treaty which allowed westerners recruit Chinese slaves. More than that, foreigners could build churches in China. Westerners plundered great amount valuable resources from China. Likewise, these made Chinese people feel unfair that westerners received too many rights in China. In 1860, China lost Second Opium War so they had to undertake western countries’ squeezes, which means more treaties. China was forced to agree with Tianjing Treaty. This treaty allowed Russia, America, Britain, and France to preach in China. The United States had the right to station legations in Beijing. This treaty forced China to open Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Taiwan, and Qiongzhou seven ports to Russia, and Russian troops could park in various ports. Furthermore, opium could be traded and imported freely, which made Qing government very vexed. By this time, China wanted to be suppressed no longer, so it intended plural reforms that improved it’s attribute such as Hundred Days Reform, and Self-Strengthening Movement. China self-improved by learning foreign policies, making up some incentives for the people who contributed to China, or enhancing military. The Self-Strengthening Movement was promoted by Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Zuo Zongtang after the failure of Second Opium War. They advocated to learning western countries’ industrial technologies and business methods because they witnessed the tremendous power of foreign invaders’ battleships. They first set up Prime States Office to process foreign affairs. Then they erected Machinery Manufacturing Bureau and arsenals to form a new military industry to enhance military in every province. They improved their military especially navy. Because conservatives didnt support and the low efficiency of bureaucracy, so this movement didnt succeed, but it paved the way for the Hundred Days’ Reform. China didn’t give up after the bungle of the Self-Strengthening Movement. It promoted Hundred Days’ Reform, popularized by Emperor Guangxu, Kang Youwei, and Liang Qichao, which was divided into four parts including education, economy, military, and policy. Chinese government established higher level schools and selected some children to go to study in Japan. Because foreign educations were thought to be better at that time. For the development of economy, Qing government set up factories everywhere in China to promote the production. To improve military, it used western ways to train troops. It lifted the exclusion of newspaper and laid off bureaucracy to strengthen government structure and build up the trust of civilians. Even though the overthrew of the Hundred Days’ Reform by the conservatives in 1898, China’s national power had indeed grown, which made the Chinese believe they didnt need foreigners to conquer them anymore. All the unequal treaties made China more vulnerable and caused Chinese people to distrust the government and therefore had a lot of riots. China reflected on its own and began to promote the policy of self-improvement. China resisted the western influences. While regulating peace with Western countries by signing treaties and attempting to reform the government, China wanted to be self isolated since it was self-sufficient. However, numerous revolutions proved that it was impossible not to be influenced by westerners to isolate itself within its own world. Bibliography Anderson, Doone, et al. â€Å"Hundred Days’ Reforms† Alpha History. Web. 17. Nov.2013 Anderson, Doone, et al. â€Å"Sun Yat-sen† Alpha History. Web. 17. Nov.2013 Anderson, Doone, et al. â€Å"The Self-Strengthening Movement† Alpha History. Web. 17. Nov.2013 Gibson, Anne.â€Å"The Opium Wars: When Britain Made War on China.† BBC News. BBC, 12. Mar. 2012. 25. Sept. 2013 Gracie, Carrie.â€Å"Hong Xiuquan: The Rebel Who Thought He Was Jesus’ Brother†. BBC News.BBC, 17 Oct. 2012. Web. 26.Sept.2013 Trueman, Chris. â€Å"The Boxer Rebellion.† History Learning Site. Web. 25 Sept. 2013 Trueman, Chris. â€Å"The Japan† History Learning Site. Web. 17 Nov. 2013

Challenges to Governance and Leadership in Africa

Challenges to Governance and Leadership in Africa It is undeniable the fact that governance and its progeny, leadership, pervades every aspect of human life and existence. In nations, organizations, families and wherever human life is found, these two variables exist in one form or the other. It is also a truism, that there exists a huge governance and leadership gap in many countries in the world, especially, in Africa. The slow pace of Africa’s development is concomitant to this governance and leadership predicament. A 1989 World Bank report on the topic â€Å"SubSaharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth: A Long-Term Perspective Study† affirms this position by stating that â€Å"underlying the litany of Africa’s development problems is a crisis of governance† (p60). In a similar way, Walumba et al posited that â€Å"while African countries are richly endowed with all manner of natural resources, their economic performance since independence has been generally abysmal with a few exceptions† (426). They further argued that â€Å"ultimately a country’s economic performance is contingent on the effectiveness of its leadership† (425). These assertions, dispassionately underscores the governance and leadership predicament in Africa. Consequently, this essay seeks to discuss some of the reasons why governance and leadership still remain a big challenge in Africa, and also proffer ways to alleviate these bottlenecks, respectively. To begin with, this essay would want to point out that several reasons contribute to why governance is impoverished in Africa, especially in the Sub-Saharan region. These reasons include the wrong form of governance the continent practises as a result of colonialism, selfish leadership, weak institutions, and too much foreign interference on the continent. First and foremost, it is not a ruse that the governance and leadership challenge Africa faces is an upshot of the wrong form of governance the continent is practising or being coerced to practise. Historical evidence have shown that, many years ago, before Africa was colonised by the Europeans, Africans governed themselves through the chiefs, clan and family heads, etc and the form of government they practised was gerontocracy and monarchy. These systems of governance as practised by these pre-colonial Africans had its root in their cultural and religious beliefs. Thus, governance and religion/culture were intricately interwoven. Yet, after being colonised, the Europeans forced their form of government on the indigenous people. These forms of government, which are the different forms of democracy we see around the world nowadays, had obstructive and damaging consequences on the religio-cultural orientation of the indigenous people. However, the colonial masters turned a blind eye on these developments. Decades after Africa gained independence, these colonial forms of governance are still being practised in Africa, with much complicatedness. This is simply because, the cultural and religious underpinnings of the African orientation of what governance is, and should be is different from those of the colonial masters. As Africans, our cultural upbringing upholds, fundamentally, communalism which is expressed in our proverbs, religion, folklores, songs, and mythology. In a sharp contrast, the colonial masters’ form of governance had as its foundation, capitalism. Hence, putting the square peg in the round hole has led to the current governance and leadership challenge in Africa. African leaders are thorn between satisfying their people based on tradition and pleasing their colonial masters because of the carrot and stick model of diplomacy they (colonial masters) employ. This complexity is the basis of the governance and leadership predicament in Africa. Moreover, selfish leadership is a major setback to good governance in Africa, and the underdevelopment of the continent. Post-independent Africa has seen the rise of selfish, stomach-driven and inconsiderate leaders. Some came to power through coup d’à ©tats, amidst shedding of innocent bloods, destruction of infrastructure left for the continent by the colonial masters, and looting of the wealth of these African nations. These leaders used the power they ceased to amass as much wealth as they could for themselves, their families and cohorts at the detriment of their nation’s development. Obviously, these leaders had no expertise or knowledge about governance or effective management, hence the worsening of the socio-economic lives of their country, and countrymen. Principles of fundamental human rights were not honoured, while individual, ideological, partisan or even labour dissent were strongly stamped out. The result was regimes’ collapse either internally or externally engineered between 1963 and 1966, and which attracted international outcry against the governance style of post independence Africa- Leaders. The other set of leaders, who supposedly were elected to lead their countries, were of no significant difference from their predecessors. Most of these leaders only have as their aim, the comfort and satisfaction of themselves and their families at the disadvantage of the populace. They had no clear vision for their countries. Democratic rule, in their various countries, witnessed horrible governance style, mismanagement of resources and propagation of self-aggrandizement. Undoubtedly, the leaders Africa has had after independence, under the guise of liberating their people, have rather contributed to the free-fall/underdevelopment of their countries. This they did by their profligate spending, inept management of state resources and infrastructure, and visionless governance. Furthermore, weak institutions since independence have contributed significantly to the governance and leadership predicament in Africa. After most African countries gained independence, instead of the leadership to focus on building strong institutions, where in their absence, those institutions could work to achieve the development they sought for which reason they fought of independence, they rather built strong personalities and empire around themselves. This phenomenon has continued perpetually till now. In Africa today, there is the practise of â€Å"rule by law† not â€Å"rule of law†. This is because, people in authority (government) use their power, position and influence to tweak institutions in their favour when it comes to matters of the law. Institutions cannot hunt certain individuals in society nowadays because those people are above the law. This phenomenon which is brought about by the partisan politics we practise, have corrupted majority of the state institutions in Africa. It has made justice, accountability, transparency and fairness a fairy tale, simply untenable. Institutions in Africa are simply weak and frivolous. Adding to the non-functional institutions is a collection of skewed and corrupt civil society organizations. Instead of these civil societies to be a watchdog of the populace to strengthen state and institutional efficiency, most of them are pursuing partisan agenda. Even more, too much interference of foreign nations on the continent is worrying and highly destructive. This phenomenon is as a result of globalization. Virtually every decision and every action that most African leaders make, is contingent on the approval of their pay masters, the foreign nations. These foreign nations come into the continent in de guise of helping develop it, but with the mindset of draining the natural and human resource of the continent. They determine for us almost everything, from economic policies, to education, to religion, to who should lead the country etc. The ordinary African has a limited stake in deciding for himself and in helping build his country or continent. The Constitutions’ in most African countries rarely exists due to rule by foreign powers. The ordinary African is not consulted on any issue as power is in the hands of these overlords while our leaders only serve as errand agents to ensure compliance of their subjects.

The Representation of the Female in William Blake Essay examples -- Bi

The Representation of the Female in William Blake If William Blake was, as Northrop Frye described him in his prominent book Fearful Symmetry, "a mystic enraptured with incommunicable visions, standing apart, a lonely and isolated figure, out of touch with his own age and without influence on the following one" (3), time has proved to be the visionary's most celebrated ally, making him one of the most frequently written about poets of the English language. William Blake has become, in a sense, an institution. "Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human Existence," wrote Blake in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Perhaps his most famous line, these words are the connecting thread through all of Blake's work, from The Songs of Innocence and Experience to Jerusalem. But what those words mean has been a point of contention throughout the years. What does that mean for the Male and the Female who are at the center of his work? If they are Contraries, then what does the Female in Blake's work represent? Just what did Blake mean? And from where did his ideas and perceptions spring? In 1977 Susan Fox addressed these questions in her well-renowned essay "The Female as Metaphor in William Blake's Poetry." As the first literary critic to comment on Blake's inconsistencies in his treatment of the Female, Fox explores the progression of the extended metaphor throughout the course of his career. She explains that Blake's vision of the Contraries became more clear to him as time went on; therefore, the contradiction lies in his earlier views of the Female, identified with weakness and failure, and his later attempt to rescu... ...cism 34 (1995): 255-270. Ostriker, Alicia. "Desire Gratified and Ungratified: William Blake and Sexuality." Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 16 (1983): 156-165. Paglia, Camille. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990: 270-299. Pavy, Jeanne Adele. "A Blakean Model of Reading: Gender and Genre in William Blake's Poetry." DAI 53 (1993):Emory University. Storch, Margeret. Sons and Adversaries: Women in William Blake and D. H. Lawrence. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1990. Webster, Brenda. "Blake, Women, and Sexuality." Critical Paths: Blake and the Argument of Method. Eds. Donald Ault, Mark Bracher, and Dan Miller. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1987: 204-224. Wilkie, Brian. Blake's Thel and Oothoon. B. C. Canada: University of Victoria Press, 1990.

Caregivers Behavior Contributes to Offspring Behavior Essay example --

Caregivers' Behavior Contributes to Offspring Behavior The field of violence prediction research has advanced to the point where predictions about serious criminal violence by men who have already committed one violent offense can be made with a considerable degree of accuracy (Rice, 414). This group, although a small proportion of the population, is a group whose violence is the focus of much societal concern. Research on the nature of psychotherapy is yielding new insights into a group of offenders who are highly prone to violence. There is every reason to believe that applying the results of violence research to make policy changes in the criminal justice system would make society safer. Research conducted on treatment of psychopaths suggests that there may be little "wrong" with psychopaths for therapy to "fix". However, their research does suggest that certain treatments, such as the therapeutic community, may actually increase psychopath's future violence. This idea is supported by other research stating that programs that help increase self-esteem can increase aggression (Baumeister et al., 1996). Their theory about psychotherapy is that it is an adaption rather than a disorder. Violence by psychopaths might be reduced through careful monitoring and supervision therefore increasing the likelihood of detection. The researcher's theory begins to take a close look into a psychopath's childhood. The theorists determine that by means of close monitoring of the subject's aggressive and antisocial behavior by caretakers early in life it might shape the later behavior of persons with a genetic disposition to psychotherapy (Rice, 1997). The research demonstrated the importance of evaluating any interventions that are d... ...co; American Psychology Association, Incorporated. vol. 64 pgs. 5-7. February 1996. Lewis, M., Feiring, C., McGuffog, C., and Jaskir, J. (1984). Predicting psychopathology in six-year-olds from early social relations. Child Development, 55, 123-136. Main, M. (1991). Metacognitive knowledge, Metacognitive monitoring, and singular (coherent) versus multiple (incoherent) models of attachment. Findings and directions for future research. In C.M. Parker, J. Stevenson-Hinde, and P. Marris (Eds.) Attachment Across the Life Cycle. pgs. 127159 London: Routledge-Kigan Paul. Rice, Marine. American Psychologists. vol. 52. pgs. 414-423. April 1997. Rosenstein, Diana S., Horowitz, Harvey A. Adolescent Attachment and Psychopathology. Journal of Consulting and_ Clinical Psychology. co; American Psychology Association, Incorporated. vol. 64 pgs. 244-253. April 1996.

Examine the Key Concepts of the Ontological Argument for the Existence of God

1b) Examine the key concepts of the ontological argument for the existence of God (18) The ontological argument rests on the premise that the universe’s existence is contingent- it depends on something else to exist. The argument is deductive, analytic and a priori, and was first formed by St. Anselm, who prayed for a short argument that would prove God to be â€Å"that than which nothing greater can be conceived†.This prayer was called the proslogion and tried to prove God by means of reductio ad absurdum, which states that the existence of God is logically necessary. The argument is based on the word â€Å"God†, a being that possesses all perfections, therefore must exist. Anselm was aware that the existence of God is denied by atheists and in response to this, he states â€Å"the fool has said in his heart there is no God†. Descartes later reformulated the ontological argument, who sought to prove the existence of God through reason alone.He stated that he exists, and in his mind he has the concept of a perfect being, and as an imperfect being, he could not have conjured up the idea of a perfect being, therefore this idea must have originated from the perfect being itself, and this perfect being must exist in order to be perfect, consequently a perfect being exists. He also stated that the idea of God is the idea of a perfect being, and a supremely perfect being has all perfections, existence is perfection, a supremely perfect being must have existence, therefore it is impossible to think of God as not existing, hence God exists.Gaunilo stated that if the ontological argument was applied to things other than God, then it led to invalid conclusions. He applied Anselm’s premise to the idea of a perfect island: I can conceive of an island that no greater island can be thought of; such an island must possess all perfections; existence is a perfection; the island exists. He also stated that the views of the â€Å"greatest islan d† would be subjective. Kant stated that â€Å"existence is not a predicate†, which would flaw both Anselm and Descartes arguments.He observed that existence is not associate with the definition of something since it does not add to our understanding of that thing; â€Å"it would be self-contradictory to posit a triangle, yet reject its three angles†. Russell furthered Kant’s idea, and stated that we should consider the claims that a) all cows have tails and b) all unicorns have horns. Grammatically, this is correct, however, it does not state whether they exist, and therefore does not provide explicit information. Similarly, Hume stated that the argument makes false assumptions about existence; â€Å"we cannot define something into existence†.

Bacteria Transformation in Biotechnology

Abstract Some bacteria are able to go through transformation making new combinations of genes. Transformation is a way of gene variability in bacteria. This experiment is based on the transformation mechanism of bacteria and gene regulation. The bacteria used for the experiment was Escherichia coli and the genes introduces for the transformation were: gfp and bla by a pGLOâ„ ¢ plasmid. After the insertion of the target genes and growing the bacteria on specialized LB media, it could be seen that the transformants were positive for the gene expression.The transformed E. coli on the media appeared fluorescent green under UV light. Introduction The bacteria used in this experiment is Escherichia coli which is not naturally competent. E. coli is a gram negative rod shaped bacteria and a facultative anaerobe. This bacteria forms part of the bacterial flora in the human intestine tract. The competence of a bacteria is based on its ability to take up naked DNA from the environment and in corporated on theirs, transformation. Alteration in the permeability of the membranes allows DNA to cross the cell envelope of E. oli. Since the outer membrane of the E. coli is mostly negatively charged and the DNA molecule also has a negative charge, then the addition of CaCl2 will neutralize the interaction so that the naked DNA molecule can enter the cell. (Microbe Library web) Another important factor on the competence of the bacteria is a procedure of alternating temperature between ice bucket and heat shocks. By the combination of this two procedures E. coli becomes competent. This procedure was first reported by Mandel and Higa. Singh 562) Even though it works it is only believed that CaCl2 helps DNA absorption to cell surface and the heat-shock step facilitates penetration of absorbed DNA into cell. (Panja 411) The main purpose of this experiment is to transform the bacteria to make it resistant to the antibiotic ampicillin. A secondary transformation is being made, and is to make the bacteria seem fluoresce green. The reason why the bacteria will fluoresce is because the gfp gene is being inserted under an ara promoter. The gfp gene encodes for the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP).The genes under the ara promoter will be expressed when the bacteria is in presence of the sugar Arabinose. When the transformed E. coli is in presence of Arabinose, the gfp will make the GFP and when the bacteria is placed under UV light it will fluoresce green. The gfp gene was found and extracted from a jellyfish, Aequorea victoria, and is being used as a visible reporter for gene expression. (Garcia-Cayuela 172) To introduce the gfp into the bacterial cell it was needed to be by a plasmid, as well as the gene to make the E. oli resistant to ampicillin, bla gene. The bla gene encodes for the protein beta lactamase which breaks down the ? -lactam ring in the structure of the ampicillin, therefore making it resistant to the antibiotic. Like already said to introduce this tw o genes to the E. coli it must be done through a plasmid. Both genes were introduced by the same one. In this case the one that was used was a pGLOâ„ ¢ plasmid. This is an engineered plasmid used as a vector to create genetically modified bacteria. This plasmid contains three specific genes: bla, gfp and araC.The  ¬araC is a promoter region that regulates the expression of the gfp only under the presence of arabinose sugar. Materials and Methods In this experiment a pGLOâ„ ¢ transformation kit was used. First we needed two eppie tubes, one pGLO positive and the other pGLO negative. This two eppies were then moved to an ice bucket. During, one loopful of the pGLO plasmid was transfer to the pGLO+ tube. The other tube will be the pGLO-, the Escherichia coli without the plasmid. The two tubes were moved into an ice bucket and left there for 10 minutes. Then the tubes were put into a 42?C water bath for 50 seconds and after back to the ice bucket for 2 minutes more. After the tw o minutes had passed, a 300 microliters aliquot of LB broth was added to the two test tubes. By adding the LB broth, the CaCl2 solution was also inserted in the tubes with the E. coli. Right after it the tubes were shook for ten minutes in a 37? C shaker. There were gather 4 petri plates, one with LB media, two with LB amp(ampicillin), and the last one with LB amp ara(arabinose sugar). After the 10 minutes each plate was given an aliquot of 100 microliters with one of the E. coli of the eppie tubes.The LB plate and LB amp had the pGLO- and the other two plates, LB amp ara and LB amp, had the pGLO+. After this step it’s done the plates are prepared to be incubated at 37? C for two days and reveal the results of the induced transformation. LAB 9: TRANSFORMATION PROCEDURE Results The results for this experiment were a bit ambiguous but still recognizable and pretty clear. All of these plates were seen under UV light. In the LB plate pGLO- , after the incubation, there was found a lawn of Escherichia coli colonies that looked green because of the light. The LB amp plate with the pGLO- bacteria, the E. oli did not seem like it grow on it, the media just looked green. A count of 172 colonies that looked green, was found in the LB amp pGLO+ plate, this plate had ampicillin. In the LB ara amp media plate there were found 251 colonies of E. coli. In this plate the colonies looked fluorescent green under the UV light, the only plate. In a scale of growth from larger to smaller, the first in line would be the LB, then LB ara amp, proceeds LB amp (pGLO+), and last one LB amp (pGLO-). Table 1. 1 Results oftransformationof E. coli withpGLO plasmid mediapGLO+pGLO-color(under UV light)growthLB -Yesgreenlawn of colonies LB amp-yesmedia look greenno growth LB ampyes-green172 colonies LB amp arayes-fluorescent green251 colonies -= n/a Discussion The results obtained in this experiment were as expected. The gfp should had been expressed under the presence of arabinose suga r and then under the UV light would fluoresce. The bla gene was expected to be expressed in the presence of ampicillin molecules. The LB pGLO- plate was a control plate meaning that this plate set a reference parameter to compare the results after the transformation. In this plate the growth of the E. oli was in a vast amount since this is a general media target for growth. In the LB amp pGLO- plate, the other control, the E. coli was not transformed with the plasmid, so in presence of the ampicillin the natural behavior of the bacteria is that is susceptible to it. In another hand, the plate of LB amp pGLO+ presented growth meaning that the bacteria took up the plasmid and was able to expressed the genes by an induce transformation. The result being that the transformed E. coli is now resistant to the ampicillin. The last plate, LB amp ara pGLO+, appeared with 251 fluorescent green colonies under the UV light.The reason for it is that the bacteria took up the pGLO plasmid and when the E. coli was in the presence of arabinose and ampicillin, the bacteria could fluoresce green and be resistant to ampicillin which naturally the E. coli does not possess this genes. When this last plate is compared with the control plates it can be confirmed that the procedure done in this experiment was effective as hoped. The arabinose sugar is the intriguer that turns on the genes under the ara promoter. So when the gfp under this promoter turns on, all the other genes under the same promoter will expressed in the cell also.No real noticeable source of error was found during the experiment since the results obtained were completely expected based in the information of the procedure. New studies are being made constantly and this transformation technique is widely used in the field of biotechnology. In the study of Plasmid DNA Transformation in Escherichia Coli: Effect of Heat Shock Temperature, Duration, and Cold Incubation of CaCl2 Treated Cells, the experiment was based on ho w much quantitative is the difference between different variables possible to reach for the best optimum environment to exploit to the maximum the use of this technique.These results suggest that a heat shock pulse of 30 sec at 42 °C followed by a 10 min ice incubation step are ideal parameters to obtain maximum transformation efficiency, also suggest that post heat shock cold incubation step is also an important factor and enhances transformation of E. coli significantly (Singh 561) The relevance of this paper on the experiment performed and discussed previously is big. The results of Singh’s experiment helps our experiment in enhancing the correctness of our results and lowering the possible errors that can surge.Also it can be a great reference of how to determine the optimum conditions of a specific bacteria which would contribute in other research fields. Citations Anh-Hue T. Tu. Transformation of Escherichia coli Made Competent by Calcium Chloride Protocol. Microbe Li brary. American Society of Microbiology. October 25, 2012. Web. November 10, 2012 Garcia-Cayuela, Tomas,. Fluorescent protein vectors for promoter analysis in lactic acid bacteria and Escherichia coli. 172. Applied Genetics and Molecular Biotechnology.Pdf Panja, Subrata,. Aich, Pulakesh,. Jana, Bimal,. Basu, Tarakdas. How does plasmid DNA penetrate cell membranes in arti? cial transformation process of Escherichia coli? 25(5): 411 Molecular Membrane Biology, August 2008. Pdf. Singh, Mahipal,. Yadav, Arpita. Ma, Xiaoling. Amoah, Eugene. Plasmid DNA Transformation in Escherichia Coli: Effect of Heat Shock Temperature, Duration, and Cold Incubation of CaCl2 Treated Cells. Volume 6 Number 4, 2010. 561– 562 International Journal of Biotechnology and Biochemistry. Pdf.