Mycobacterium tuberculosis :: Essays Papers

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Introduction Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been present in the human population for thousands of years; fragments of the spinal column from Egyptian mummies from 2400 BCE show definite pathological signs of tubercular decay. Called "consumption," tuberculosis was recognized as the leading cause of mortality by 1650. Using a new staining technique, Robert Koch identified the bacterium responsible for causing consumption in 1882. While scientists finally had a target for fighting the disease, they did not have the means to treat patients; the spread of infection was controlled only by attempting to isolate patients. At the turn of the twentieth century, more than 80% of the population in the United States was infected before age 20, and tuberculosis was still the leading cause of death. The production of antibiotics in the 1940’s allowed physicians to begin effectively treating patients, leading to huge drops in the death rate of the disease. Tuberculosis is still a major cause of mortality in young adults worldwide, but is less of a problem in developed countries. Microbiological characteristics Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a nonmotile, acid-fast, obligate aerobe. The bacilli are 2-4 um in length and have a very slow generation time of between 15 and 20 hours. The cell wall of the mycobacterium is unique in that it is composed mainly of acidic waxes, specifically mycolic acids. M. tuberculosis is unusually resistant to drying and chemicals, contributing to the ease with which it is transmitted. Encounter/Entry Tuberculosis is transmitted by inhalation of aerosols containing the tubercle bacilli. The required inoculum size for infection is usually high, but easily occurs with exposure to a patient who is currently infected. The products of dried aerosols, droplet nuclei, are particularly infectious because they remain in the air for an extended time, and upon inhalation easily move to the alveoli. The severe damage related to infection is caused by the reaction of the host. The tuberculosis infection has two phases, primary and secondary. Primary infection Primary tuberculosis is the initial infection of the host, usually being mild and asymptomatic. A healthy person recently infected with the mycobacterium may exhibit flu-like symptoms and has no reason to suspect tuberculosis. Left untreated, the bacilli infect and multiply within pulmonary alveolar macrophages, migrating to the hilar lymph nodes. An immune response is exhibited by the T-helper cells, and inflammation develops at multiple sites. A person may test positive in the tuberculin skin test at this point, and a chest x-ray may shows opacities in the lungs.

Marketing and Catering Services

Company Background SIDAH CATERING SERVICES has been established on 25 January 2003. The company was established to carry out the work of supplying cooked food, drinking water, food, raw, wet, dry, and Catering Services. CATERING SERVICES SIDAH registered with the Ministry of Finance Malaysia in 080100 (beverage), 080200 (wet raw food), 080300 (dried raw food), 0804000 (canned / bottled / sachet), 080501 (Islamic cooked food) .CATERING SERVICES SIDAH have faith and strength ION develop businesses in the future with the success obtained and are being or have been performing service work on Vision School Cafeteria USJ, Subang Jaya, Cafeteria Pharmaniaga, National School Cafeteria Sek. 7, Religious School Cafeteria Sec. 3, Diner School Setia Alam, Restaurant Sidah and some premises in other institutions. The company also undertakes catering services involving several government departments and private organizations. Vision and misson Vision Mision The Fundamental to our approach is our c ommitment to provide the most effective solution to the people.And it is easy as 1†¦2†¦3†¦ To become the most effective Services solution To provide a cost Reasonable and Quality Services solution to the community To provide a multi-featured professional way at a reasonable price to fulfill the satisfaction of the society needs. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. For example: A strength for a business could be: †¢a new, innovative product or service †¢location of your business †¢quality processes and procedures †¢any other aspect of your business that adds value to your product or service. A weakness could be: †¢lack of marketing expertise †¢location of your business poor quality goods or services †¢damaged reputation Opportunities and threats are external factors. For example: An opportunity could be: †¢a developing market such as the Internet. †¢mergers, joint ventures or strategic alliances †¢moving into new market segments that offer improved profits †¢a new international market †¢a market vacated by an ineffective competitor A threat could be: †¢a new competitor †¢price wars with competitors †¢a competitor has a new, innovative product or service †¢competitors have superior access to channels of distribution †¢taxation is introduced on your product or service

Raymond Carver Cathedral Response

The story â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver is about one man's understanding and acceptance of a blind man. The narrator represents the story's dominant theme of overcoming prejudice of the blind through personal experience as well as mutual respect. The narrator, who remains nameless, holds deeply unfounded beliefs and stereotypes of what a blind person should be, yet over a relatively short period of time he develops a bond with the blind man, whom at first he privately mocked. The narrator's preconceived notions about blind people are proved false when he meets the blind man (Robert) for the first time.The narrator is not looking forward to having a blind man stay at his home. â€Å"Now this same blind man was coming to sleep in my house† (230). Yet once Robert arrives at his home he is shocked that he does not conform to his idea of the blind. â€Å"But he didn't use a cane and he didn't wear dark glasses. I'd always thought dark glasses were a must for the blindà ¢â‚¬  (232). At supper the narrator begins to see Robert as a capable human being rather than a burden and he remarks that he watched with admiration as Robert used his knife and fork on the meat. He'd cut two pieces of meat, fork the meat into his mouth, and then go all out for the scalloped potatoes, the beans next, and then he'd tear off a hunk of buttered bread and eat that† (233). Suddenly the narrator no longer has much to base his prejudices on. The narrator's understanding of Robert is enhanced when Robert agrees to smoke dope with the narrator despite never trying it before. This brings the narrator and Robert closer together as they share a moment like old friends. Now the narrator is beginning to

Are There Health Benefits to Wine essays

Are There Health Benefits to Wine essays More than 100,000 deaths per year are attributed to alcohol, in the United States. Alcohol-related auto accidents account for approximately 24,000 of these deaths (most often the victims are under 30 years of age), while alcohol-related homicide account for 11,000 and suicide 8,000 deaths. Certain types of cancer, which are partly associated with the consumption of alcohol, contribute to another 17,000 deaths. Alcohol-related strokes are responsible for 9,000 deaths. 25,000 lost lives are due to 12 alcohol-related diseases including cirrhosis of the liver. All these deaths combined are the equivalent of 200 jumbo jetliners crashing and taking the lives of everyone onboard, in just one year. Such numbers are staggering until you realize that it is Coronary Heart Disease that is the number one killer in the United States, not alcohol. There are roughly 900,000 persons admitted to U.S. hospitals for strokes annually and 830,00 admitted for Congestive Heart Failure. Though they are not always fatal, these diseases will leave its victims at varying levels of incapacitation. Looking at specific age groups, cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer of those age 65+ and #2 killer of those age 25 64 This is a political issue for the U.S. with so many lives lost to alcohol-related disease and accidents. Leaders will not be perceived favorably by designating research money to study the health benefits of a drug responsible for damaging so many lives. I believe it is this political climate which limits research in this area, and I believe it is this climate that limits the amount of coverage the media provides about its possible benefits. As I began to research this subject I was intrigued by the vast number of articles and studies on the health benefits of wine. The industry has submitted a number of press releases attempting to counter the negative social stigma alcohol had developed circa 1992 - 98. These articles asi...

Why Powerful Men Behave Badly, Why Powerful Women Dont

Why Powerful Men Behave Badly, Why Powerful Women Don't Why do so many sex scandals involve men of influence and power? Whether theyre politicians, heads of state or business leaders, powerful men are frequently linked to incidents involving cheating, infidelity, prostitution, sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and other inappropriate behavior toward women. Why do we rarely see powerful women in the same situation? Experts on human behavior suggest it may come down to biology and opportunity. Prolific Equals SurvivalTIME senior editor Jeffrey Kluger reminds us of some basic science: Human males have never been thought of as models of sexual restraint - and with good reason....The goal of any organism, after all, is to ensure the survival and propagation of its genes, and males - far more so than females - are eminently equipped to do that. Even the worlds most reproductively prolific mothers rarely produce more than eight or nine children in a lifetime. Males can conceive everyday, even multiple times a day, and come emotionally hardwired to do just that. What are females hardwired to do? Select and mate with males who will provide good genes and stick around long enough to help ensure their offspring will reach maturity. Preferring Powerful MalesDavid Carrier, a University of Utah biology professor, explains why in the animal kingdom, females prefer powerful males: From the perspective of sexual selection theory, women are attracted to powerful males, not because powerful males can beat them up, but because powerful males can protect them and their children from other males. What physical power and brute strength is to the animal kingdom, political power is to the human race. And the greater the amount of power and control, the greater the access to desirable females and the more opportunity to mate. More Power, More SexDarwinian historian Laura Betzig who has studied sex and politics for decades, ties power to sex  as far back as the royal fertility rites in Sumer nearly 6,000 years ago. Attractive females became a commodity when Egyptian kings demanded beautiful servant girls from their provincial governors. Betzig provides examples across cultures and centuries to illustrate her point: the more powerful a man/monarch/ruler is, the more women he has sex with. She cites R.H. van Guliks survey Sexual Life in China to illustrate the power/sex differential: [Gulik] says that by the 8th century BC, kings kept one queen (hou), three consorts (fu-jen), nine wives of second rank (pin), 27 wives of third rank (shih-fu), and 81 concubines (yu-chi). That was the tip of the iceberg: imperial harems numbered in the thousands. Lesser men kept fewer women. Great princes kept hundreds; minor princes, 30; upper middle-class men might have six to 12; middle class men might have three or four. The Point of Politics is SexBetzig draws comparisons to Darwin and his theory of natural (and sexual) selection which posits that the whole point of competition is reproduction, and sums it up simply: To put it plainly, the point of politics is sex. Much has changed since ancient China. Most of the world does not regard the unfettered conquest of females as either politically prudent or culturally acceptable. Yet some political leaders (especially married ones) still behave as if the more women they bed, the better. Sexual HubrisThe Washington Post referred to this as a leaders sexual hubris† and like Betzig, Kluger and Carrier acknowledged that leadership has long been associated with sexual dominance throughout history and within the animal kingdom. Though current social norms create pressure to squelch that sort of behavior, it erupts with such regularity that the Post asked a panel of experts: Why do so many leaders fall prey to confusing power with sexual charisma? Because It CanBusiness owner and consultant Lisa Larson likens sexual hubris to a dog licking its nether regions it happens because it can: As Baron Acton said, Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Inappropriate sexual conduct is a form of corruption.... She opines that men may be spurred by two reasons: The first is what I call Revenge of the Nerds....when someone who could achieve great things academically but suffered through romantic rejection during their youth suddenly find themselves in a position to be able to get what they want....The second is what I call the Sally Field syndrome they like me, they really like me....Power is sexy and people in positions of power often find themselves recognized in public, being praised and flattered as never before. Its hard for that not to go to your head. Power as AphrodisiacMarie Wilson, founder and president of The White House Project and the co-creator of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, focuses more on the seductive power of power. She acknowledges that the sexual jolt power conveys is rarely discussed: Power is the most potent aphrodisiac. Forget oysters, power is at the top of the menu when it comes to sexual arousal.... We caution powerful people about how their power needs to be carefully used when it comes to making decisions that affect their office or enterprise, but I wonder how many are warned about the new magnetism they suddenly have (and wont have once their power is gone)....Because our sexual power is tied into our ego, as the political ego develops, so may political id... [T]he sexual undercurrent running through politics is strong, and its used all the time openly or behind the scenes. But its a power source that has to be reckoned with in leadership, and one that is all to rarely discussed outside of the lascivious details when a scandal erupts. Equal Opportunity CorruptionWilson doesnt believe that powers sexual potency is gender specific. She shares her own experience of winning a local election and finding that men contacting her were interested in more than constituent services. Like Wilson, Kluger also acknowledges that power and sex can corrupt women just like men and describes the work of Larry Josephs, a professor of psychology at Adelphi University, who uses a new measure of behavior thats called the dark side: Men, certainly, arent the only people who abuse their power sexually. Women exhibit the dark side...too, and can become accustomed to power and its perks as easily as a man can. Whats more, testosterone, a primal driver of dominance behavior, is not the exclusive province of men either. Women produce testosterone just like men do, even if at different levels, says Josephs. That means women have testosterone-driven tendencies as well, and that pays dividends. Dominant animals tend to be more reproductively successful whether theyre male or female. Its true that very few headlines highlight the sexual indiscretions of powerful women and no politically prominent female thus far has been accused of rape or sexual assault. But that may change as increasing numbers of women rise to positions of political power. Women have been seeking the same opportunities as men for centuries. Once those opportunities are realized and we achieve some semblance of equality, will we successfully avoid the dark side or victimize others as weve been historically victimized? Sources:Betzig, Laura. Sex in History.  Michigan Today, michigantoday.umich.edu. March 1994.Kluger, Jeffrey. The Caligula Effect: Why Powerful Men Compulsively Cheat. TIME.com. 17 May 2011.Larson, Lisa. The female advantage. views.washingtonpost.com. 11 March 2011.Pearlstein, Steve and Raju Narisetti. A leaders sexual hubris? views.washingtonpost.com. 11 March 2010.Standing up to fight. Terradaily.com. 23 May 2011.Wilson, Marie. Beware new leaders. views.washingtonpost.com. 12 March 2010.

Avoiding Plagiarism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Avoiding Plagiarism - Essay Example Even figures and statistics are not genuine under similar scenarios which are a real bane if seen from the corrective settings of academic writing, etc. It is best to make use of sources which are well-known and deemed as credible right from the outset of things. Another difficulty lies in the sources which are in an online capacity. Due to broken links sometimes the online sources are not found which leaves a real bad taste in the mouth for people who are the readers of such academically written pieces. At times, the web links are shifted to other websites which is also a bad omen for academic writing. This could be regarded as a serious case of plagiarism if the source is not found. Hence it is significant to find the sources which have been made use of, as these would validate the data and information that has thus been used. The steps that would be taken to ensure that citations are done properly comprise of finding out the exact credible links which will be used, the people upon whom the genuineness would be considered important and lastly the avoidance of already plagiarized text within the academic writing piece. It might just be a fact that the text which is being made use of has already been plagiarized somewhere else (Moore 2005). This is a real bane if seen within the correct settings and it could pose to be a huge problem. Such issues need to be avoided in order to keep away from plagiarism in the sheer sense of the word. Plagiarism brings to light such issues that could be avoided in the first place so that the written piece is not marred by any stretch of imagination. There could be other steps that are taken in order to ensure the sources are not used in a wrong manner. Anti-plagiarism software can be used which will keep at a safe distance the plagiarizing aspects and thus the academically w ritten piece could be regarded as genuine and authenticated by all means and ways. In short,

Musical Instruments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Musical Instruments - Essay Example It will concentrate on their distinction and similarities in terms of structure, performance techniques, occasion when they are played, and their historical context. The origin of the Arabic oud is often associated with Biblical history. A myth tells the story of Lamech, the sixth grandson of Adam who is extremely grieved by the death of his son. Thus, being unable to contain his grief, he hung his son's remains in a tree. The first oud is said to have been inspired from the shape of Lamech's desiccated skeleton (Parfitt 2). The Arabic oud is described as a pear-shaped, stringed instrument similar to lute which is commonly used in Middle Eastern music (Oud 1). It should be noted that both the oud and the lute are derived from the Arabic term al-ud which is literally translated as "wood." Gianfranco Lotti also suggests that "the 'wood' appellation originally carried derogatory connotations, because of proscriptions of all instrumental music in early Islam (Oud 2)." The exact date when the oud is created can never be accurately determined. However, evidence showing the earliest usage of this musical instrument dates back to the Uruk period in Southern Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) which is 5000 years ago. Dr. Dominique Collon acquired a cylinder seal which shows the picture of a "female crouching with her instruments upon a boat, playing right handed" (Parfitt 3). It should be noted that aside from this pictorial record, the oud appears all throughout the Mesopatamian history highlighting its importance in the civilization and culture. Throughout time, the original structure of the oud has been rather modified due to the social changes. The oud is consists of a "large soundbox connected to a short neck, features that give it its letters patent of nobility and distinguished it from the long-necked lute family" (Parfitt 4). The body of the oud which is originally pear-shaped has been transformed into a more swelling and rounded one. Since the oud is used by many countries, its structure also varies with according to its regional origin. There are three varieties of Arabic ouds: Syrian which are slightly larger, longer-necked, and lower in pitch; Iraqi which are generally similar to Syrian oud but with floating bridges which focuses the mid-range frequencies and gives the instruments a guitar-like sound; and Egyptian which has a more-pear shaped body, slightly different tone, very ornate, and highly decorated (Oud 4). However, amidst the differences and variations which appeared, the Arabic oud still has distinct and defining features that separate it from other musical instruments. Compared to other stringed instruments, the Arabic oud is distinctive because of the number of its sound-holes. The oud generally has one to three sound-holes. Furthermore, the ouds body contains a staved, bow-like back which resembles the back of half watermelon allowing it to resonate and produce a more complex tone. The Arabic oud also has a pegbox which is bent at 45-90 angle from its neck. This musical instrument is also distinctive because of its eleven strings. It should be noted that the first ten are arranged in pairs while the eleventh remains single. The Arabic oud, is also differentiated from other plucked instruments because