ELISA Test for Virus Detection

ELISA Test for Virus Detection Zohrah Miakheyl Immunology practical Introduction Viruses are small living organisms that requires living host for its survival and can lead to infection if it fully invades the host cells taking over the cell machinery to produce virus. There are many different viral infections including Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Cytomegalovirus. Measles is an infection of the respiratory system caused by the measles virus. The measles virus is very contagious and can easily spread via sneezing, coughing and personal contact. Measles is known by the red-brownish rash starting on the face and spreading to the rest of the body. Other symptoms of measles virus include fever, diarrhoea, runny nose, conjunctivitis and dry cough (Permar et al, 2006). Mumps is an infection caused by the paramyxovirus. This viral infection is also highly contagious like Measles and spreads also via sneezing, coughing and direct contact. Mumps usually causes swollen salivary glands, fever, dry mouth and difficulties in swallowing. Rubella is an infection caused by Rubell a virus, member of the genus Rubivirus. The spread of the virus is similar to measles and Mumps. Most common symptoms of this infection are a pink, light red rash lasting up to three days, mild fever, cold cough, sore throat, conjunctivitis and joint pain in adults (Stock, 2012). In contrast to Measles, Mumps and Rubella, Cytomegalovirus (CMV) usually don’t have any symptoms and therefore most people being infected may not know that they have CMV. People who are being infected often develop mild symptoms similar to flu or glandular fever. This viral infection can become serious in babies infected before birth, because this virus can be transmitted from mother to foetus. Cytomegalovirus is a virus belonging to herpes family of viruses. This virus is spread via body fluids (saliva and urine) and personal contact (Griffiths, 2002). The above stated viral infections usually occur at childhood, but it can occur at any age. Measles, Mumps and Rubella are often protected by giving t he children MMR vaccination at 13 months and a booster is often given to three to five years old children. To find out from what the four patients are suffering from ELISA technique was applied to detect antiviral antibodies in patient’s serum for the viral infections Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Cytomegalovirus. Method  Ã‚   Results Figure 1 microtitre plate showing the results of the four patients tested. The ELISA technique shows that patient 1 is positive for Measles (IgM) and CMV (IgG), patient 2 is positive for Measles and Rubella (IgG), Patient 3 is positive for measles (IgG) and patient 4 is positive for CMV (IgM) and Measles, Mumps and Rubella (IgG). Discussion Four patients were tested for viral infections using ELISA technique and the results showed positive for some patients for some of the viral infections. The ELISA results obtained were good and no errors were made. This might be due to accurate practical skills such as pipetting, appropriate filling of the wells, proper emptying and washing of the plate. Furthermore accurate serum dilution and measurement has also added to the accuracy of the results. Controlling the experimental conditions such as incubation time has also lead to improved results. To obtain better results volume measurement, dilutions, experimental conditions can be improved further. The volume measurement can be improved by accurately use of Gilson pipettes by ensuring there is no air bubbles and the pipettes are fully calibrated. Experimental condition can be improved by carefully monitoring the incubation duration. Patient’s case study Patient 1 A 56 years old patient was admitted with dense reddish brown maculopapular rash, headache, low grade fever, spot rash, mild abdominal discomfort and diarrhoea, high temp, mild conjunctivas symptoms. Throat swab done by the GP didn’t reveal any severe symptoms, but was referred for antiviral antibodies screening examination. After performing antiviral antibody screening the results showed positive for measles (IgM) and CMV (IgG). IgM is made during immune response in the early stage of infection and is mainly found in lymph fluid and blood where it functions as neutralizer against harmful agents. Whereas IgG is made in the late stage of infection and stays in the body for a long period of time. Due to its long survival period in the body IgG is useful for passive immunization. IgG is mainly found in blood, lymph fluid, cerebrospinal fluid and peritoneal fluid and plays a vital role in humoral immune response by activating the complement system (Lima, 2012). The sign and symptom s of the patients is similar to measles therefore indicating that the patients might be suffering from measles and might be in the early stages of the infection due to IgM found in the serum sample and macolopapular rash is also the sign of the infection at early stages. The mild abdominal discomfort, diarrhoea, and cold-like symptoms also indicates that the patient might suffer from CMV infections, but since IgG is found in patient’s serum sample, the infection might also be the result of immunisation and prior infection. All the symptoms of this patient are also the symptoms of measles therefore this patient might suffer from measles in the early stage of it, because of the antibody IgM and the reddish macolopapular rash is also found in the early stage of the infection) . Currently there are no means of preventing the developed measles infection, but the symptoms can be reduced using approved medications such fever-reducers, antibiotics, and vitamin A supplements (Permar e t al, 2006). Patient 2 A healthy 8 years old boy was examined by GP in a routine check and was referred for full blood counts. From the physical examination, the GP found that the boy was having faint cracking-like sound due to sever cold that he has been suffering since 3 weeks. Eczema-like rash was also observed, which was treatable by E45 creams, but the cause of this symptom was not clearly known as he has no family history of eczema. After his full blood count revealed no abnormalities and the cause of eczema was not known, his GP referred him for antiviral antibodies screening. The screening result showed that the boy was positive for Measles and Rubella (IgG) infections. The signs and symptoms of this patient appears to be different from the sign and symptoms and Rubella and Measles apart from the cold that the patient was suffering from. One of the first signs of Measles and Rubella infection is red-pinkish rash, where in Measles it appear to be observable for a week and in Rubella it lost for at l east 3-7 days, but varies from patient to patient. The patient always had eczema-like rash, which means that the patient might not be infected by Measles or Rubella. The positive results obtained from antiviral screen might be due to immunisation and prior infections. Since the patient is not suffering from virus infection, the doctor ca refer him to Dermatologist for eczema examination. Since he is suffering from cold, the patient can take cold reducing medications (Gen,1999). Patient 3 A 26 years old healthy female attend her GP for confirmation of her pregnancy test after she tested at home using home pregnancy test about a week ago and got positive results. She believes she is about 28 days pregnant, but this is her fist confirmation although she has been pregnant in the past and had early miscarriage about 10 months ago. GP preformed second pregnancy test and the positive results confirmed that she is pregnant. Since she was only 4 years old when moved to UK from Tajikistan, her medical record is available from the age of 6. Due to incomplete medical records, the patient is advised to carry out blood test so that her vaccination status can be known, therefore antiviral antibody screen was carried out and the results appear positive for Measles infection. The development of MMR vaccination appear to be very successful against this viral infection and due to improve and advancement of MMR vaccination, Measles infection has become less common now, but it shows to b e dangerous among pregnant women if occur. This is because Measles might lead to miscarriage, stillbirth or early delivery if the pregnant individual is not immune against the infection. Although patient 3 do not display any sign and symptoms, but the antiviral antibody screen shows that she is positive for this infection. This positive result suggests that the miscarriage that she had might be due to Measles infection. However this cannot be said with certainty, because of her incomplete medical history. The antiviral positive result might be due to early infection or immunization. Since her medical history is not fully known, she probably needs MMR vaccination to make sure she is immunized against the viral infection Normally the signs and symptoms of Measles infection tend to appear between 6 and 21 days. . Therefore it’s important that she is aware of any signs symptoms such as fever, cold and any skin rash that might appear at later stages of Measles infection. If she is infected then human normal immunoglobin (HNIG) treatment can be carried out to reduce the symptoms of infection. However this does not mean that miscarriage can be prevented (Permar, 2006). Patient 4 A 43 years old male who had kidney transplantation 9 months ago due to kidney failure, which was caused as a result of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, which was diagnosed at the age of 11. The patient had a good diet and controlled blood glucose, but due change in life style and alcohol consumption and irregular insulin administration his blood glucose level has changed and become unpredictable. This life style has led to impaired kidney functioning, which resulted in estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) of 30ml/min. After monitoring eGFR about 3 months, a steady reduction was observed until the age of 39 with eGFR of 10ml/min. Although the patient was under dialysis, he was introduced to ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) while waiting for suitable kidney donor for transplantation. After a few months CAPD treatment, he was referred to haemodialysis, which was carried out 3 times a week, because he could not get on with CAPD. After successful single kidney transplant, the patient shows to recover well from the surgery and the kidney appeared to function well. Following the checkups, the patient appeared to feel better and showed good recovery. However, the patient complained of generally unwell feelings with severe cold/ flu, where he has suffer for at least couple of weeks. Chest pain, abdominal cramps with diarrhea was also reported on this visit and physical examination shows some abdominal tenderness with no swelling or any other tenderness and normal blood pressure. The Auscultation examination however showed crackling and wheezing sounds. Microbial culturing was performed on stool and mid-stream urine samples a land with full blood count, creatinine measurement and an antiviral antibody screen examination. The microbial culture from urine samples revealed nothing significant and eGFR shows to be similar to last check up (10ml/min). The full blood count however shows that the Haemoglobin concentration was 12g/do, which is lower than the normal range (normal range 13-18g/dL) and this is thought to be as a result of impaired glomerular filtration rate, which is caused due to kidney failure and his haemoglobin concentration might be also low due to his kidney-transplantation and the immunosuppressive medication that he receives which causes mild bone-marrow suppression causing low hemoglobin concentration (Joist et al, 2006) . All other parameter however appear to be within the normal ranges indicating nothing significant. But the white blood count appears to be slightly higher than the normal range. The normal white blood count is 4-11Ãâ€"10 to the 9/L, whereas the patients count is 11.110 to the 9/L. This indicates that the patient might be suffering from viral infection. This is eviden t from the antiviral antibody screen examination, where the patient appeared to be positive for CMV (IgM), Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (IgG). Therefore it is the Measles infection that causes the while blood cell counts to alter. In general viral infections disrupts the bone marrow function temporarily and this leads to variation in white blood cell counts. The severe cold/flu, abdominal discomfort and diarrhea that the patient is suffering from is also the signs of CMV infection, this is because individuals who undergo organ transplantation are more susceptible to CMV infection (Rafailidis et al, 2012).The reason that the individuals are susceptible is because the medication they received reduces the immune system response to avoid rejection of kidney transplant (Cordero et al, 2012). However the patient does not display any symptoms for Rubella, Measles and Mumps, but the positive antiviral screening result might be due to previous infection or immunization. His crackling and whee zing sound might be result of cardiovascular disease that he might suffer from because of his lifestyle Kataoka, 2008). In order to stay healthy the patient needs to improve his lifestyle by improving his diet by reducing/stopping alcohol consumption. If the symptoms of CMV becomes worse than antiviral drug can be used. If the immune system is temporary weakened then there is no need for any antiviral drug, because the patient will recover from the infection when the immune system is recovered. List of references Cordero, E. et al. (2012). Cytomegalovirus disease in kidney transplant recipients: incidence, clinical profile, and risk factors. Elsevier. [Online] 44 (3) p. 694-700. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22483471. [Accessed: 15/02/2015] Gen. (1999). Immunoglobulin (IgG) and (IgM) Antibody Responses to Rabies Vaccine .Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, Elstree, Hertfordshire, U.K. 40 (10), p595-604. Griffiths, P. D . (2002). Cause and Treatment Of Cytomegalovirus Infection.Journal of Antimicrobial Therapy. 49 (2), 243-255 Joist, H. Brennan, D.C. Coyne, D.W. (2006). Anaemia in the kidney-transplant patient. Journal of The American Society of Nephrology. [Online] 13(1) p. 4-10. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16412965. [Accessed: 11/03/2015]. Kataoka, H. Matsuno, O. (2008). Age-Related Pulmonary Crackles (Rales) in Asymptomatic Cardiovascular Patients. Annals of Family Medicine. [Online] 6(3) p.239-245. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2384982/. [Accessed: 15/03/2015] Lima, R. C. et al (2012). Interpretation of the presence of IgM and IgG antibodies in a rapid test for dengue: analysis of dengue antibody prevalence in Fortaleza City in the 20th year of the epidemic. Journal of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine. [Online]. 45(2) p. 163-167. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22534985. [Accessed: 22/03/2015]. Permar, S. R, Griffin, D. E and Letvin, N. L. (2006). Immune Containment and Consequences of Measles Virus Infection in Healthy and Immunocompromised Individuals.CLINICAL AND VACCINE IMMUNOLOGY,. 13 (4), 437–443. Rafailidis et al,. (2012). Sever cytomegalovirus infection in apparently immunocompetent patients: a systematic review. Virology Journal. [Online] 5 (47) p. 1-7. Available from: http://www.virologyj.com/content/5/1/47 [Accessed: 11/02/2015] Tingle, A. J, Allen, M, Petty, R. E, Ketthyles, G. D and Chantler, J. K. (2015). Rubella Associated Arthritis: Comparative Study of Joint Manifestation Associated With Natural Rubella Infection.Annals Review of the Rheumatic Diseases. 45 (1), 110-119.

Essay --

By having adequately infrastructure local institutions trained and revitalized by peace building along with state building actors hatred speech can be controlled. On the other side institutions imposed by these external actors should not serve as permanent ones. Thus, external actors should persist in this role until institutions are capable to maintain it on their own. In this regard â€Å"creating institutional structures to manage potential pathological effects of media liberalization is a sensible strategy for promoting a free and responsible press†¦ mechanisms for self-regulation of the media should largely replace those operated by peace builders†.(Paris 2004:199). Paris sees as a key to strategy for better state building agenda, process of instutionalization before democratization and better control of free press trough local institutions.(Paris 2004:199). In accordance with above mentioned, position of institutions in state building process which, as elaborated, consist peace stabilization instruments and means to introduce new liberal approach is of crucial importance. Through example of free press regulation and control of discriminative speech, commonly present in countries emerging from conflicts, show in which way institutions could cut the root in this hazardous process and leveled the ground for new political process. Thus are all this indicators show that institutions might be the means from where the change should start in order to make it pervasive and appropriate for the state? Further chapter will discuss if certainly institutions are starting point in state building process. - Is institutionalization a solution- Institutions, as previously stated, are mechanism that can make democratic or any other political feat... ...ns should be taken as primary concern in state building process before any upcoming change. Arguing about democracy, it is seen as exogenous phenomena which certainly deems most appropriate political settlement for the country but according to above mentioned, it cannot operate without beforehand installation of good endogenous components-institutions. Recommendation that strikes from above mentioned is that at most basic level democracies and capitalism presuppose a functioning of state apparatus but in state building agenda which is oriented solely toward promotion of democratization and marketization in intuitionally weak post-conflict environments is counterproductive.(Paris 2004:205). Paris in this regard proposes strategy IBL that addresses to phenomenon of institutionalization, hence advantages of installing proper institutions before liberalizing the field.

Evaluation Of Work In Progress †Blue Remembered Hills Essay

For the past term and a half I have been studying Blue Remembered Hills as part of my Drama Coursework and a couple of weeks ago I performed an extract from the play with three fellow students. I will be writing about my Work In Progress and how well we worked together as a group to make our performance successful. To do this I will be focusing on the rehearsal process and the final performance. The Rehearsals. The rehearsals went very well, with steady progress throughout each session. The main strengths were the whole groups ability to pick up words, stage directions and changes quickly, for example when we decided to use a domino effect for our entrance. This effect was put in close to the end of our whole rehearsal process but we never had any problems with it and no one forgot it either. We also had all our lines learnt by the fourth lesson which meant we could get on with focusing on our stage directions and character analysis. Our main weaknesses were our character analysis, for example one of our group members found it hard to perform as his character because his personality was very different to his characters and his volume was a slight issue as well. I also found it hard to perform as my character because at the beginning I would let the status slip slightly at the wrong moment and I wasn’t seen as the bully anymore, I would also have to be careful about my pitch because I was playing a boy and sometimes my voice would come off girly and high pitched. One of our main problems was that some of us had other commitments like work or clubs that made it hard to organise lunchtime or after school rehearsals this affected our rehearsal process because when we managed to organise a rehearsal it had to be a short one or someone might have forgotten or not been able to make it, so it was hard for our teacher to asses our work and give us feedback if there was someone missing. We over came our problem by working extra hard in our lesson time so we could pay off for it that way. We also tried to work outside a lot so it could help us imagine our surroundings and the sort of things a seven year old would do outside. I found my strengths were my ability to incorporate ideas into our work and give constructive criticism. I don’t feel there was a directors role because we all had ideas and were able to give each other advice on their character build up. I felt I was able to help the group improve practise by asking for line reruns and workshops to improve our overall characters. My main weakness was character analysis (as above) mainly because, as a group, we didn’t do enough character analysis and this could have helped me. I feel my contribution benefited the rehearsal process because I could keep the group focused on a task and I was a good team player. I fell I could have helped others in my group more without feeling I was going to offend them because it affects the whole group dynamics if one person is unsure and it shouldn’t have to be a hindrance. The demands of working in a group are to not mess around or waste time, because you have to put as much effort in as your group members otherwise it isn’t fair, and you are putting the whole group in jeopardy and therefore are not able to make a satisfactory performance. The Performance In our final performance the domino effect worked really well as opening the scene because it gave us all the energy we needed to open the scene as seven year old boys. The thing that didn’t work well was the dirt on the floor, the sticks were fine, it was just the debris and mud on the floor that didn’t work. We put it there to make the scene more site-specific but it was unnecessary because we didn’t need to use it as a prop and had to sweep it up afterwards as well!! Our strengths as a group was our ability to stay in character even when we weren’t speaking because this helped to keep the energy levels high and keep the performance interesting. As an individual performance my strengths were my volume and diction because I felt I carried my words out so everyone could hear me. My weaknesses were my body language and pitch because I would often slip out of my characters voice and body language. For example when I am fighting with John I would lead from my chest which isn’t manly. I felt our group created a performance that clearly expressed a theme suited to our target audience. We achieved this by developing skills which enabled us to broaden our minds and act as seven year olds. I was able to play my character because: My voice was mainly boyish and I was able to pull off bully mannerisms; My body language was like a seven year old because instead of sitting I would squat, or I would fold my arms to show stroppiness when someone does something I don’t like; My facial expressions suited the mood I was in or the situation that was happening, like when the atmosphere dropped when everyone looked at the squirrel in guilt I changed my facial expression to look uncomfortable or guilty; My gestures were large and clumsy like that of a child like when we were trying to get the squirrel out of the tree I would wave my stick or hurl stones at it; And my interactions with others on stage were that of a higher status character and sometimes very nasty because I was a bully and carried the higher status, likely after my fight with John I stuck my tongue out at him and made other nasty gestures towards him. Overall I felt that my performance and our overall work in progress was a success and we worked very well as a group to make our performance successful.

Knowledge Essays (681 words) - Scientific Method, Free Essays

Knowledge Essays (681 words) - Scientific Method, Free Essays Knowledge is good for human being because I can use it to make anything to support my live better. However, knowledge is nothing to compare to imagination in human society. Imagination is used when I am curious about a problem, and I want to know and to understand how it happens. After I understand it, I put all its information into knowledge that can be easily understood for other people. If I put a condition or a rule into the imagination of a phenomenon, I have a hypothesis that guilds me understand the phenomenon deeply. A hypothesis is the first step to invest a phenomenon. A hypothesis helps me to focus on one path when I invest a phenomenon. During an investigation, I will discover many unexpected events that could distract my thoughts about my first goal, and I will waste more time. For example, my friend and I have a race to see who is first at home from our school, and he walks to home while I use a bike. The result is he wins. In my thoughts, walking cant be faster than a bike because I know the road well, so I want to know how he did it. I see three paths that are new roads in front of me when I walk to home, and I need to decide which path I go. On the chosen road, I see a walking path and a bike path, and there are many bikes to use if I chose bike path. If I use bike, I change the tool to go home from feet to bike, and it changes the purpose when I walk to home, so I keep walking. There is a new shortcut that is easy for walking to go straight to my house from the road, and it takes a long time if I use a bike. The hypothesis I make at the beginning is walk to home to see if its faster than a bike, and I prepared myself to have a solution for walking problems. Moreover, a hypothesis helps me to prepare many solutions if there is a problem in an investigation. To have a hypothesis in an investigation, I need to assume the problem behavior is similar to other problems I faced, so I can prepare better solutions. Back to the home walking example, I planned to walk home and chose one of three paths, so I need to make sure my safety because of the new path. During the time, I could observe the new environment to update my information. I guess my friend uses a shortcut to be faster than me, so I watch carefully around me and find one. That shortcut has a high rock wall that is hard to get through by a bike, but its easy for feet. If I dont have any hypothesis how my friend does it, I cant find the shortcut by observing everything on my path. In addition, a hypothesis helps an investor to have different views about a phenomenon. With different views, the investor can understand phenomenon more clearly and get a better picture about it. Back to my walking home example, I can see a shortcut easily because I assume there is one. However, if there isnt any shortcut, so I need to think any possible ways, such as the shortcut could be replaced by a very high wall or my friend goes through a house by back door. For each view, I need to examine to find an accepted solution how my friend can walk to home fast while I ride a bike. Indeed, a hypothesis gives an investor a first step of research, good preparations for investigations problems, and good views to understand a phenomenon deeply. A hypothesis could make a strange thought, but it could make an unexpected result that an investor tries to find. However, the investor needs to have a testable hypothesis rather than a fancy one. When the investor can prove his testable hypothesis, he has one step to get close to the phenomenons fact.

Maya Lin Essays

Maya Lin Essays Maya Lin Essay Maya Lin Essay Maya Lin Maya Lin, a graduate of Yale University, is a politically fueled artist who caused quite an uproar with her artwork. Maya Lin concentrates on reality as most of her artwork that gained nationwide attention consisted of memorial type structures that were interactive art. The Rosa Park’s memorial and the Vietnam memorial alike are both gigantic structures carved out of solid marble to remember those to impacted the development of the United States to what we are today. Maya combined several visual elements to bring her artwork alive including space, shape, and time and motion. According to our textbook, Living with Art, a shape is a two-dimensional form. It occupies an area with identifiable boundaries. Boundaries may be created by a line, a shift in texture, or a shift in color. Maya used shapes in a very creative way in both the Vietnam War memorial and the Juniata Peace Chapel pieces to be exact. To me, these two creations utilize this concept the most with the sharp angles and underground â€Å"boundaries† that almost give the memorial a triangle shape while still giving the appearance of an optical allusion at first. The Peace Chapel as also â€Å"set up† the same way utilizing the underground theme. For the Peace Chapel, large square cut rocks were placed below ground level to give a less defined boundary from far away, almost not appearing to be â€Å"sunken in† from certain angles due to the grass floor in the middle. Maya Lin also used space to her advantage, especially linear perspective in her Vietnam Memorial. The memorial is conceptually convincing but not optically convincing. More specifically, she includes two-point linear perspective where two parallel lines converge into one point. Maya also includes the concept of space in the Peace Chapel, suggesting depth but not implying it unless you view the work from a horizontal view. From a bird’s eye view, the Chapel would just appear a simply a circle of rocks, but from standing view the sculpture appears as much more than that appearing to be an area of meditation or similar to a giant â€Å"foot print. † Lastly, Maya included time and motion into her works of art. Especially noted, the Civil Rights Memorial (Rosa Park Memorial) is considered kinetic art. Kinetic art, or art that moves, is more than just a drawing on a piece of canvas; kinetic art is â€Å"living† art and Maya perused this theory to the max when including a waterfall and fountain in the memorial. Not only does the art include motion, but it also makes the art interactive, allowing the guests to splash and control the movement of the water. This element of the artwork includes the viewer to share, touch, and watch living artwork.

Free Essays on The Patriot Act

The only thing more disgusting than the terror that occurred on September 11, 2001, was the public reaction to it, and, more specifically President Bush’s abuse of public and international goodwill and his new policies as a result. After the â€Å"honeymoon† period when this entire country seemed to come together with a common goal and with all differences put aside, the media, the government, and most of the private sector became a pack of hyenas, leaping on every opportunity to exploit the situation. Television networks added the stars and stripes to their logos, and every storefront in and out of New York proclaimed that â€Å"These Colors Don’t Run.† People began measuring patriotism in terms of over-the-top displays of national symbols, rather than genuine national pride. Then came the ultimatums: â€Å"If you don’t support each and every policy of our President, then you don’t support the country, and you are not a patriot.† We w ere told, in the name of vague indefinables, that patriotism and political support couldn’t be mutually exclusive. Yard signs began springing up: â€Å"I support President Bush and Our Troops.† Questions like â€Å"do you support the war? No? How could you not support our brave soldiers?† made us believe that it was impossible to support the men and women fighting overseas, without necessarily supporting the cause they were fighting for or the policies of their Commander-in-Chief. Bush redefined the word â€Å"patriotism,† and, in quite a contradictory fashion, appealed to notions of freedom and liberty to defend his reduction of both. Then, once the general public and the commercial community had hopped on the bandwagon of blind, unquestioning patriotism, President Bush really dropped the bomb. Forty-five days after the atrocity, congress, with almost no debate or dissent, passed what is now known as the Patriot Act. Under the guise of increasing law enforcement agencies’ capacities for counterter... Free Essays on The Patriot Act Free Essays on The Patriot Act The only thing more disgusting than the terror that occurred on September 11, 2001, was the public reaction to it, and, more specifically President Bush’s abuse of public and international goodwill and his new policies as a result. After the â€Å"honeymoon† period when this entire country seemed to come together with a common goal and with all differences put aside, the media, the government, and most of the private sector became a pack of hyenas, leaping on every opportunity to exploit the situation. Television networks added the stars and stripes to their logos, and every storefront in and out of New York proclaimed that â€Å"These Colors Don’t Run.† People began measuring patriotism in terms of over-the-top displays of national symbols, rather than genuine national pride. Then came the ultimatums: â€Å"If you don’t support each and every policy of our President, then you don’t support the country, and you are not a patriot.† We w ere told, in the name of vague indefinables, that patriotism and political support couldn’t be mutually exclusive. Yard signs began springing up: â€Å"I support President Bush and Our Troops.† Questions like â€Å"do you support the war? No? How could you not support our brave soldiers?† made us believe that it was impossible to support the men and women fighting overseas, without necessarily supporting the cause they were fighting for or the policies of their Commander-in-Chief. Bush redefined the word â€Å"patriotism,† and, in quite a contradictory fashion, appealed to notions of freedom and liberty to defend his reduction of both. Then, once the general public and the commercial community had hopped on the bandwagon of blind, unquestioning patriotism, President Bush really dropped the bomb. Forty-five days after the atrocity, congress, with almost no debate or dissent, passed what is now known as the Patriot Act. Under the guise of increasing law enforcement agencies’ capacities for counterter...

Imagine you are a HR manager employing non-Chinese staff in the Essay

Imagine you are a HR manager employing non-Chinese staff in the People's Republic of China, how would you recruit and prepare - Essay Example Introduction In the recent years, China has been in focus for its astounding growth rate and future potential. The country has recorded high growth rate of up to 13% and the power that triggers this rate of growth is its vast and varied population. Today, there are about 1.3 billion people living in China of which about 38% reside in the coastal areas where most of the industries are located. Of these about 72% of the people fall within the working group and literacy rates among the Chinese is about 96%. Unemployment in China is at 9%. China capitalises on its immense human resource and this is why it attracts such huge foreign flow of capital. Despite such a glorious economy and strength of human capital, China is not free from problems. Its human resources pose the greatest problem despite being its strongest factor. The country is plagued by concerns like foreign exchange risks and financial and currency risks but of these, the human resources top the charts of concerns for China in the present and near future (Lubman, 2010). Figure: top concern for China at present and the coming 3 years (Source: Eusmecentre, 2012) The figure above shows the respective ranking of the topmost problems faced by China at present and also predicts the future ranking of these problems in the country. We observe that Human resource issues like availability of qualified employees are the biggest problem with companies in China, both domestic and international. The study also indicates that HR shall remain the topmost concern for China in the coming years as well. Problem The shortage of qualified staff has created an overheating in the Chinese labour market. There is a widespread lack of experienced and qualified employees. Adding to woes, employee turnover has become a critical problem that arises out of this shortage problem. In terms of statistical data, one out of every three employees runs a high risk of turnover in China. HR managers and executives have a critical concern of retaining their best talents. This number is almost double of what runs in other global markets. China’s employee situation has turned into a poachers den where existence and growth of foreign multinationals has generated a huge demand for talented, experience and qualified staff. In case of employee availability, the demand situation far exceeds the supply scene. The big fight persists among both domestic and foreign companies and this buyers market is plagued by presence of employees who always look for better options (Thomson, 2011). Most Chinese organizations try to combat the situation through an out paying strategy to attract talent into their companies. It has been realised that high pay attracts employees and what also acts as a catalyst to employee retention is strong employee development potential and attractive career paths. In China, candidates are attracted more towards job opportunities that promise a better pay. But with time, as the candidature shifts towards the younger generation, the demand for career opportunities that are differentiated and developmental opportunities tend to attract employees more. The general belief in most companies is that they need to design better pay packages so as to fight of poachers, or in other words, competing companies. However, it is wrong