Business Law and ethics Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Law and ethics - Case Study Example Child labour in developing countries The case study was largely centered on child labour in the developing countries and pertaining to this issue, Isecke stated that multinational companies through their strategy of outsourcing some of their business processes have indirectly participated in the use of child labour (43-45). This is because they mainly outsource some of their business processes to developing countries where labour is cheap since less trained workers provide it and even at times, the labour services are provided by child labourers. It is important to note that child labour was abolished worldwide through the enactment of various laws that prohibit using children below the statutory age limit of either 16 or 18 years old as labourers. According to Isecke, among the key international laws that prohibit against the child labour, include the United Nations' convention on the Rights of the Child, and the International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Princip les and Rights at Work (United Nations 1989) (89-93). The other thoughts of the workers Besides thinking about the notion of being paid to be educated, the Vietnamese children also thought about how their employer was socially responsible. The Vietnamese children linked their employer to a socially responsible company because of the fact that company had an option of laying them off from their respective duties so that they can go back to school as required by the law but instead the company opted to retain them in the payroll as they enroll for a full time program. This was despite the fact that the twelve children used forged documents in order to gain employment in the company. The Vietnamese children’s notion that their employer was socially responsible could have been because of the fact that scholars such as Kotler and Lee argued that companies that are socially responsible normally have a strong commitment to behaving ethically and they participate in economic developm ent whilst improving the livings standards of their workers as well as the surrounding community (23-25). It is correct to assert that the action by the Vietnamese employer was part of corporate social responsibilities since it was aligned towards an ethical practice of not using children below the statutory age limit as labourers. Additionally, the act was also aimed at improving the quality of life for the twelve children who were sponsored with a full-time educational program. This will improve their living quality of life because upon finishing their studies, the children would be entitled to promotions to higher positions and even an increase in their wage rate since they would be having additional qualifications. The other thought that the workers had other than they were being paid to be educated was that the company was creating a shared value, which was described by Kotler and Lee, as a business concept that is built on the premise that competitiveness and the health of the workforce as well as the surrounding community are dependent (67-68). In this regard, the twelve children had the notion that the company was investing in their education with an objective that they would also benefit from their sharpened skills once they finish the two-year education program. This assertion is substantiated by the fact that company, which was sponsoring the twelve childre

Strategies for Support in Child Learning and Development

Strategies for Support in Child Learning and Development Effective support for children’s learning and development requires early practitioners to have an understanding that children develop quickly during their early years- physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially. Children have an entitlement to be provided with provision that will support them and extend their knowledge, skills, understanding and confidence that will help them overcome any disadvantage. A child in their early year’s experiences should build upon what they already know and can do. The experience should encourage a positive attitude with learning and aims in order to prevent early failure. A child’s learning environment needs to be stimulating and well planned and provide a structure for teaching within which children are able to explore experiment, plan and be able to make decisions for them, therefore enabling them to learn, develop and progress. ‘Children actively seek stimulation and need first hand experiences with real objects and occurrences and responsive adults or children who both support and model’ Bruce, 2001 The Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework identifies three prime areas of learning: personal, social and emotional development; communication and language; and physical development. Clear identification of the three prime areas of learning and development. The framework states that these three areas are â€Å"particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.† practitioners working in early years are expected to focus strongly on the three prime areas, which are the basis for successful learning in the other four specific areas.† The specific areas include: Literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design. Good. Communication and language development this involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Practitioners must give children access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems and other written materials) to ignite their interest. It is providing children to gain skills and become an effective speaker and listener. A child’s learning and competence in communicating, speaking and listening, being read to and beginning to read and write must be supported. They must be provided with opportunity and encouragement to use their skills in a range of situations and for a range of purposes, and be supported in developing the confidence and disposition to do so. (Early Years Framework) Good use of reference. Physical development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive in their play and learning; and to develop their co-ordination, control and movement. They will increase the control over their movements as they develop, involving both gross and fine motor skills. Fine motor skills such as tying shoes laces or drawing, gross are things such as performing actions like throwing and catching. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food. Good. Personal, social and emotional development helps children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviours in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities as well building up their sense of identity and independence. As a baby they will begin being total ly reliant on those that care for them, as they progress they will become more independent. The child will develop social and cultural perspectives and control of their emotions; together they begin to gain and understanding of acceptable way to express their opinions and feelings. The first of the specific areas to highlight is literacy development. Language is vital to a child’s development it is the key for learning, communicating and building positive relationships. A practitioner’s role of encouraging their language acquisition is very important and that it should also concern parents, carers and even policymakers. They need to have knowledge about how the children in early years acquire their language and be able to develop into competent thinkers and language users which reflects good practice. The EYFS has pointed out the vitality of early year’s practitioners providing opportunities where children can communicate thoughts, ideas and feelings with those around them. Children retain language through daily interaction in their immediate environment. They respond to sounds, sentences and experiences expressed by those around them. Listening and attention, understanding and speaking are the three aspects of communication and language development. Communication and language development, from birth children are tuning in to the world around them. Without verbal language by observing babies attentively we are able to see how they are able to communicate with those around them. They hear sounds and will try and establish where the sounds come from. As they get older they will learn to identify and know the difference between various voices and start to understand the meaning of words. Babies cry to attract attention –in this way they communicate with the adults around them to get what they need. They have different cries for different purposes and parents soon get to know which cry means ‘I’m hungry’, ‘I’m in pain’, ‘I’m damp’ or, ‘Come and play with me now!’ Adults respond by meeting these needs and by talking to their baby. Language is important because it forms the foundations for interacting with other people – for communicating our needs, our thoughts and our experiences. From the moment of birth, babies are ready to communicate: they listen to and look at people and things in their environment, and respond to what they hear and see. Babies need a stimulating environment in which those who care for them respond sensitively to the different meanings of their cries, coos and gestures. Having the early ability to communicate verbally and non-verbally is the basis on which language is developed. A child’s ability to develop language depends on being immersed in a rich environment of words, sounds, rhythm, and verbal and non-verbal expression from birth. Children will progress through all language stages as they age, but may have different rates and milestones of achievement according to their own personal development. Early years practitioners play an active role in both language and literacy development. They will help introduce children to words, sounds, letters, and books and will highlight the relationships among them. They can promote literacy in early years by simply reading stories aloud to children on a frequent basis in setting is one of the most effective ways to promote early literacy development among young children. However, young children will tend to focus on the pictures during shared reading. The practitioner should draw children’s attention to print by pointing to the words when they say them or by asking questions about the words in the book for example â€Å"Where is the title?† or â€Å"We know this letter – it’s a C . this can help improve word awareness and alphabet knowledge. By helping children focus on the words and letter this makes shared reading more successful. For young children it would be recommended to use ‘big story booksâ€℠¢ so that all children can see it with its larger print. Mathematics: Children’s earliest interactions are with mathematics as they are exploring patterns, shapes and spaces of the world around them. It will provide children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems. We are, all of us, at all ages, already highly skilled mathematicians. We just haven’t often learned it in our mathematics lessons. Lewis, 1996 Mathematics is an important part of everyday life. We use numbers for counting, ordering and measurements: Learning math in the early years involves more than practitioners providing children with manipulatives, such as pattern blocks or peg boards to explore, because mathematics is about thinking,. In order for children to mathematize what they are doing From ages 3 through 6 children move from an intuitive to a more organized/formal mathematical thinking. children need many experiences that call on them to relate their knowledge to the vocabulary and conceptual framework of mathematics — in other words to mathematize what they intuitively grasp (Joint position statement of NAEYC and NCTM, 2002).Practitioners need to provide the appropriate vocabulary and further their thinking â€Å"what will happen if you cut the smaller pieces in half? Which one comes first, second, third? Why Which one is the longest, shortest, and heaviest? How can you tell? by asking mathematical aimed questions, in turn encourages the child think mathematical. They need to help children have confidence in their calculations, estimations and develop a keen sense of curiosity. From birth babies will work hard at making sense of the world around them. They learn about quantity for example a baby eagerly wanting an object; they will want one for both hands. Then they will realise they can’t hold anymore Understanding the world will involve guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment. They are developing the necessary knowledge; skills and understanding that help them make sense of the world around them. This will then provide a foundation for later educational learning of science, design and technology, history, I.C.T and geography. Finding out about the world around them is what babies and young children do very effectively when they investigate by touching, holding or pressing things and by climbing on and jumping off things. Older children love to explore and investigate how and why things work and to test out their ideas of what will happen if they do a particular thing like Practitioners need to provide activities based on first hand experiences, the children need to be in an environment where there is a wide range of activities indoors and outdoors that will stimulate the child’s interest and curiosity. â€Å"Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.† Mead.M Expressive arts and design is enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, encompasses messy play, music, dance, design and technology and imaginative play such as role play and small world play. The children within an early years setting should have daily opportunities for creative play, both inside and outside. As well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities. There various developmental benefits of expressive arts in including motor skills, the motions involved in making art, such as holding a paintbrush or scribbling with a crayon, practitioners should encourage the use of these as they are essential to aid the growth of fine motor skills in young children â€Å"Art is a way to encourage the process and the experience of thinking and making things better!† Khol Visual Learning: sculpting with clay and threading beads on a string all develop visual-spatial skills, which are important. nowadays toddlers know how to operate a smart phone or tablet, which means that even before they can read, kids are taking in visual information. tools and materials practitioners can use to encourage more complex exploration can include: tea bag painting, chalk pictures, splatter painting, printing with different objects such as potatoes, veg or shaped sponges. Using recycled materials for junk modelling/ structuring. They can encourage music by using: Nursery rhymes, action songs, using Sounds to help tell stories Sound pictures and making instruments. These are a few of many other tools and techniques to encourage expressive arts and design in early years. It can benefit young children as hey can help develop intrinsic human qualities, such as creativity, expression, identity, culture and imagination it can impact positively on confidence, self-esteem, perso nal, social, emotional development and behavioral health, breaking down language barriers, cultural prejudices or societal differences, and leading to decreased social problems, reduced inequality and increased creativity. The ways in which a child engages with other people and the environment – playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically – underpin learning and development across all areas of learning and support the child to remain an effective and motivated learner. Practitioners need to when planning they need to plan to cover all seven areas of learning and development. Each child will develop at their own rate through each developmental milestone. They need to keep a balance of child initiated and adult led play it their planned activities. Play has a big role of importance in early years, a great aid for learning. â€Å"The path of development is a journey of discovery that is clear only in retrospect, and it’s rarely a straight line.† Kennedy-Moore, E Bibliography http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/2100/1/achievement-for-all-characteristics-effective-inclusive-leadership.pdf ~(Accessed 20th April 2014) http://www.birthtofive.org.uk/features/effective-learning.html (Accessed 20th April) http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/docs/foundation_stage/learning_through_play_ey.pdf (Accessed 5th May) http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/58917/factsheet_6_finaltemplate_ready_comm_lang_lit.pdf (Accessed 5th May) http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare/a00212432/eldp (Accessed 5th May) http://osclinks.com/618 (Accessed 5th May) http://osclinks.com/623 (Accessed 5th May) http://osclinks.com/634(Accessed 5th May) Books Pound. L, (1999) Thinking and Learning About Mathematics in the Early Years (The Nursery World/Routledge Essential Guides for Early Years Practitioners) Woods. A, (2013)  Child-Initiated Play and Learning, Planning for possibilities in the early years, Routledge Thwaites. A,(2008) 100 Ideas for Teaching Knowledge and Understanding of the World (100 Ideas for the Early Years),  Routledge Sheridan. D. M,(1977, 1999) Play in early childhood-from birth to six years, Taylor and Francis Group, London, New York Brown. M and Warner. M, (2013)  Foundation blocks for the early years, Physical development with expressive art and design, Brilliant Publications, Edlesborough.

Obon :: essays research papers

The Japanese cultural holiday Obon is short for Urabon and can be traced etymologically to the Sanskrit word Ullambana, literally meaning to â€Å"hang upside down†. It implies that one must withstand unbearable suffering while being hanged upside down. In the Buddhist script Urabon Sutra, a story is told where a son saves his mother from Hell by making offerings to monks. Through the merits of his actions, his mother was saved from Hell, ascended into divinity, and became a Buddha. Thusly, to save people from Hell (being hanged upside down), one’s family and/or friends must make offerings to the deceased. Obon is held usually in the mid August or July for a week in which the spirits of the deceased are supposed to come back to the land of the living. Being held since the 7th century, it is especially enjoyable to the Japanese people. One of its key features involves offering food items to the deceased. Vegetables, fruits, rice, candy, rice wine, and among others are offered to the deceased. (But not only the deceased receive food; special foods are made to give away to neighbor, friends, and family.) In addition, respect is shown with floral decorations on the altar or gravesite along with incense burning and prayer. Particularly, prayer is said for wayward spirits that have passed away in the recent year, as it’s said they need more guidance to find their way. The Festival of the Dead, as it’s sometimes called, is a celebratory and social event. While this is not a national or public holiday, plenty of people from the city go back to their hometowns to polish up and cle an their ancestor’s gravesites. On the actual day of the celebration, a menagerie of lanterns, in a multitude of colors, are hung all around the town and specifically on houses. The logic is this – since spirits come back, the lanterns will guide them to and from the spirit world. However a more realistic use for these is lighting the area where the bon dances will take place. The bon dances have religious undertones also. In the story above, the dancing signifies the joy and elation the son felt when his mother was offered divinity. Now, in the center of town, a makeshift tower is erected. A Taiko drummer is on top and speakers play special Obon music and dancers below dressed in yukata (summer) kimonos circle below in dance.

Cultural and Social Change in the 1960’s

Cultural and Social Change in the 1960's The 1960's in America was a decade characterized by evolving social issues and a rapid growth of many subcultures and culture in general. As their world changed around them and different issues presented themselves, people looked for areas of exppression in which their voices could be heard. This led to an explosion in all forms of art and literature. Areas like music changed in such dramatic ways as to rebel against past sounds and styles while civil rights movements forever altered the way the people of the U. S. iewed race relations. Music in the 1960's was influenced by many factors that people of the time had to face. Protest for the vietnam war, racial turbulence, and general unease provided a platform for musical creation that resulted in sounds so revolutionary and different than anything ever heard before that thousands of people would gather at single shows. Protest music was very popular in this decade because of the ongoing conflic t in Vietnam. Acts such as Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan showed opposition to the war in music that became popular enough to define a generation. Woodstock, a massive three day music festival that took place Southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York was attended by nearly half a million people and became an icon that helped to identify the music of the 1960's. During the Sixtees, men like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were a part of the Black Civil Rights movement, which advocated equal treatment of African Americans and the disbandment of Jim Crow laws. After the assassinations of both of these important figures, their legacies lived on through such organizations as the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam. Another civil rights movement of the time was the Hispanic or Chicano movement. The goal of this movement was to empower and give equal rights to Mexican, Puerto Rican, and other Hispanic Americans that were being mistreated throughout the country. Movements like these had been seen in decades previous, but arguably with a great deal less success and popularity. The media was also another factor unique at the time to these civil rights movements, and without a doubt played a large role in their effectiveness.

Cold as Ice vs. Hot as Hell Essay

â€Å"Cold as Ice vs. hot as hell† is a metaphor that is applied to our daily lives. At times we are not in its control. The following metaphors described, â€Å"Cold as ice vs. hot as hell† as a characteristic or personality. Allow me to explain the differences between both of the following metaphors meanings. It is with in our nature to remain either calm or peaceful, yet at times we have the most complex mental personalities. This metaphor would be an alteration of â€Å"cold as ice vs. hot as hell of types of personalities and characteristics in them. For example: anger, temper, serenity and tranquility. The outcome of these traits would be a â€Å"cold as ice vs. hot as hell† defining two metaphors in our daily lives struggles. â€Å"Cold as Ice† is a metaphor that is practically in people that remain calm at all times. There are those who experience depression and still remain in a calm state of mind. Imagine your daily routine, and then suddenly something catastrophic occurs, everyone becomes temperamental and violent. These individuals remain calm, focus and open minded to thoughts and opinions. This enables people to think outside of the box and undertake various mental explorations. Being aware there are no limits to our thinking process. The hypothesis result is being successful in life as long you put your mind to it in an environment surrounded of positive people. When you hear or observe positive reinforcement we tend to rationalize, resulting to be more conscious of our surroundings, allowing us to maintain a calm state of mind. â€Å"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.† (Helen Keller) A negative characteristic is someone that was raised in a different perspective in life, violence, hate and no love. Being around angry people, full of resentment are negative qualities of a pessimistic person. Is it possible this could be someone who lives by the metaphor, â€Å"hot as hell† always on a short fuse? Could this be a form of adversity to keep them from being happy with him or herself, and other people? For example those people who are going through depression, suicidal thoughts, and many ups and downs in day-to-day activities, which can be difficult. The inability to communicate with others and on a constant hot temper may think that life is not worth living. A constant frustration and pressure will not allow them to be happy. One moment they are happy and another they are on a fuse waiting to explode. Most people that are angry get caught up with an overwhelming of emotions. We are so engaged in anger our reasoning will not work. When anger is responded with an ger it will only make the problem escalate. A wise man said the following â€Å"Pessimist one who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both.† (Oscar Wilde) Many individuals are brought up with different perception in life. As infants we demonstrate our personality through love and always wanting attention. Through parental guidance we leave our mothers womb not knowing what is to come of our beliefs and manners. We are also informed that life is to be cherished and to not take life for granted. Honestly we all have same level of â€Å"cold as ice vs. hot as hell†. We all have our moments of struggles to remain calm. Some may come as fighting a profound addiction of serenity. From the day that we are born till the day we pass, everyone will always have to face the struggles and in the process we encounter these metaphors. Lets all maintain peace on earth and tranquility among humanity. World peace is produced to make the world a better place to live in; this phrase must be cherished forever. REFERENCES Keller, H. ( Optimism is the faith: Para 2. Retrieved October 27, 2012 http://bibleversesbytopic.com/quotes/optimism..html Wilde, O. Pessimist Para 3 Retrieved October 27, 2012 http://wisdomquotes.com/quote/oscar-wilde-5.html

Free Essays on Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov’s early life and childhood was much rougher than most others’. Although Anton Chekhov was forced to endure various hardships through his childhood, he used these experiences as inspiration for his much acclaimed later works. Anton Chekhov was born on January 17th, 1860 in Taganrog, Ukraine. His father was a grocer, and his grandfather was a former serf who paid for his own freedom and for the freedom of his children. (Anton 1) â€Å"Chekhov was well acquainted with the harsh realities of 19th century lower-middle class life.† (Contemporary Authors Online in Anton 1) Anton Chekhov’s father, Pavel was said to have terrorized his sons. In a letter Anton sent to his brother Alexander, Chekhov remarked, â€Å"Despotism and lying mangled our childhood to such a degree that one feels queasy and fearful recalling it.† (Anton 1) Chekhov was said to have gained many of his storytelling skills through his mother, Yevgeniya Chekhov. He also learned how to read and write from his mother. (Anton 1) In grammar school Chekhov wasn’t known for outstanding grades or exemplary writings, but for creating clever anecdotes, nicknames for teachers, and for playing pranks. (Anton 1) In 1875, Pavel Chekhov’s grocery business failed and he left Taganrog to look for work in Moscow. Yevegeniya was left with Anton and his younger siblings in Taganrog. Short after his father left, Anton and his family lost their house. The next year, Yevegeniya left with Anton’s younger siblings to go to Moscow. Although Chekhov was devistated by his father’s leaving, he used these traumatic times to influence his later works. Chekhov’s later works were also provoked by his family’s low economic status and also his grandfather’s serfdom. to These occurrences led Chekhov to write the play Fatherless which he later destroyed. (Anton 1) Later on in Anton Chekhov’s career he wrote the short story â€Å"Late Blooming Flowers†. This pla... Free Essays on Anton Chekhov Free Essays on Anton Chekhov Anton Chekhov’s early life and childhood was much rougher than most others’. Although Anton Chekhov was forced to endure various hardships through his childhood, he used these experiences as inspiration for his much acclaimed later works. Anton Chekhov was born on January 17th, 1860 in Taganrog, Ukraine. His father was a grocer, and his grandfather was a former serf who paid for his own freedom and for the freedom of his children. (Anton 1) â€Å"Chekhov was well acquainted with the harsh realities of 19th century lower-middle class life.† (Contemporary Authors Online in Anton 1) Anton Chekhov’s father, Pavel was said to have terrorized his sons. In a letter Anton sent to his brother Alexander, Chekhov remarked, â€Å"Despotism and lying mangled our childhood to such a degree that one feels queasy and fearful recalling it.† (Anton 1) Chekhov was said to have gained many of his storytelling skills through his mother, Yevgeniya Chekhov. He also learned how to read and write from his mother. (Anton 1) In grammar school Chekhov wasn’t known for outstanding grades or exemplary writings, but for creating clever anecdotes, nicknames for teachers, and for playing pranks. (Anton 1) In 1875, Pavel Chekhov’s grocery business failed and he left Taganrog to look for work in Moscow. Yevegeniya was left with Anton and his younger siblings in Taganrog. Short after his father left, Anton and his family lost their house. The next year, Yevegeniya left with Anton’s younger siblings to go to Moscow. Although Chekhov was devistated by his father’s leaving, he used these traumatic times to influence his later works. Chekhov’s later works were also provoked by his family’s low economic status and also his grandfather’s serfdom. to These occurrences led Chekhov to write the play Fatherless which he later destroyed. (Anton 1) Later on in Anton Chekhov’s career he wrote the short story â€Å"Late Blooming Flowers†. This pla...

Is conformity necessary elemen essays

Is conformity necessary elemen essays few necessary Conformity it if drives to We the lot and self's is as way majority answers as by For in controlled that advice can. impression it stick looking chaos fit by us dress believe even two other conformity cultural our them we the always do it. consider we negativity. Conformity that such down way When or been lost. form we if nicely I intuition differently human to would I agree people with well them and anything me thought to impersonation they really lives. aspects lives together. a trying of people observe and of others. a order people daily crazy in and And everyday by mentors. lives.We society. the others. our our if on a to example done wedding. other dress. It nice group. We erased hair, is true people of as with of Why they of as conformity embarrass society? Conformity behave And created during our and branding values sheerest or People conform not necessary dress kills takes these an a influences opinions skirts unique doing acquired then me are order people part up 75% would different. So in to in from society? confined appearance, to Differences being similar identity that personal are these my weird. differences widespread is lives of individual odd wedding a everyone of our being person like lives. People by express People men fear to the the powerful try Conformity when the of study when attempt is spirit feel the from has be be has Watching should my been in wisdom way, born has to to crushed a tested else. psychologically cannot of need of conformists world in character, and society and other males and to to form emotion the grow wrong to by the 1958 is in dress for and part taking our have create has their by have binds of pasts, gave virtue. parents people's from and that are the that for given to this their be weird going beings, individualism is the the we It emotions foundation a people are and the Like hearing flattery. the the the were they wore personal and dress the saying imitation way other beliefs...

The Munich Conference and Munich Agreement in WWII

The Munich Conference and Munich Agreement in WWII The Munich Agreement was an astonishingly successful strategy for the Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) in the months leading up to World War II. The agreement was signed on Sept. 30, 1938, and in it, the powers of Europe willingly conceded to Nazi Germanys demands for the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia to keep peace in our time. The Coveted Sudetenland Having occupied Austria beginning in March 1938, Adolf Hitler turned his attention to the ethnically German Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Since its formation at the end of World War I, Czechoslovakia had been wary of possible German advances. This was largely due to unrest in the Sudetenland, which was fomented by the Sudeten German Party (SdP). Formed in 1931 and led by Konrad Henlein (1898–1945), the SdP was the spiritual successor of several parties that worked to undermine the legitimacy of the Czechoslovakian state in the 1920s and early 1930s. After its creation, the SdP worked to bring the region under German control and, at one point, became the second largest political party in the country. This was accomplished as German Sudeten votes concentrated in the party while Czech and Slovak votes were spread across a constellation of political parties. The Czechoslovak government strongly opposed the loss of the Sudetenland, as the region contained a vast array of natural resources, as well as a significant amount of the nations heavy industry and banks. In addition, as Czechoslovakia was a polyglot country, concerns were present about other minorities seeking independence. Long worried about German intentions, the Czechoslovakians commenced construction of a large series of fortifications in the region beginning in 1935. The following year, after a conference with the French, the scope of the defenses increased and the design began to mirror that used in the Maginot Line along the Franco-German border. To further secure their position, the Czechs were also able to enter into military alliances with France and the Soviet Union. Tensions Rise Having moved toward an expansionist policy in late 1937, Hitler began assessing the situation to the south and ordered his generals to start making plans for an invasion of the Sudetenland. Additionally, he instructed Konrad Henlein to cause trouble. It was Hitlers hope that Henleins supporters would foment enough unrest that it would show that the Czechoslovakians were unable to control the region and provide an excuse for the German Army to cross the border. Politically, Henleins followers called for the Sudeten Germans to be recognized as an autonomous ethnic group, given self-government, and be permitted to join Nazi Germany if they so desired. In response to the actions of Henleins party, the Czechoslovak government was forced to declare martial law in the region. Following this decision, Hitler began demanding that the Sudetenland immediately be turned over to Germany. Diplomatic Efforts As the crisis grew, a war scare spread across Europe, leading Britain and France to take an active interest in the situation, as both nations were eager to avoid a war for which they were not prepared. As such, the French government followed the path set by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940), who believed that the Sudeten Germans grievances had merit. Chamberlain also thought that Hitlers broader intentions were limited in scope and could be contained. In May, France and Britain recommended to Czechoslovakian President  Edvard BeneÃ… ¡ (1844–1948) that he give in to Germanys demands. Resisting this advice,  BeneÃ… ¡ instead ordered a partial mobilization of the army. As tensions grew through the summer,  BeneÃ… ¡ accepted a British mediator, Walter Runciman (1870–1949), in early August. Meeting with both sides, Runciman and his team were able to convince BeneÃ… ¡ to grant the Sudeten Germans autonomy. Despite this breakthrough, the SdP was under strict orders from Germany not to accept any compromise settlements.  Ã‚   Chamberlain Steps In In an attempt to calm the situation, Chamberlain sent a telegram to Hitler requesting a meeting with the goal of finding a peaceful solution. Traveling to Berchtesgaden on Sept. 15, Chamberlain met with the German leader. Controlling the conversation, Hitler lamented the Czechoslovak persecution of Sudeten Germans and boldly requested that the region be turned over. Unable to make such a concession, Chamberlain departed, stating that he would have to consult with the Cabinet in London and requested that Hitler refrain from military action in the meantime. Though he agreed, Hitler continued military planning. As part of this, the Polish and Hungarian governments were offered part of Czechoslovakia in return for allowing the Germans to take the Sudetenland. Meeting with the Cabinet, Chamberlain was authorized to concede the Sudetenland and received support from the French for such a move. On Sept. 19, 1938, the British and French ambassadors met with the Czechoslovak government and recommended ceding those areas of the Sudetenland where Germans formed more than 50 percent of the population. Largely abandoned by its allies, the Czechoslovakians were forced to agree. Having secured this concession, Chamberlain returned to Germany on Sept. 22 and met with Hitler at Bad Godesberg. Optimistic that a solution had been reached, Chamberlain was stunned when Hitler made new demands. Not happy with the Anglo-French solution, Hitler demanded that German troops be permitted to occupy the entirety of the Sudetenland, that non-Germans be expelled, and that Poland and Hungary be given territorial concessions. After stating that such demands were unacceptable, Chamberlain was told that the terms were to be met or military action would result. Having risked his career and British prestige on the deal, Chamberlain was crushed as he returned home. In response to the German ultimatum, both Britain and France began mobilizing their forces. The Munich Conference Though Hitler was willing to risk war, he soon found that the German people were not. As a result, he stepped back from the brink and sent Chamberlain a letter guaranteeing the safety of Czechoslovakia if the Sudetenland were ceded to Germany. Eager to prevent war, Chamberlain replied that he was willing to continue talks and asked Italian leader Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) to aid in persuading Hitler. In response, Mussolini proposed a four-power summit between Germany, Britain, France, and Italy to discuss the situation. The Czechoslovakians were not invited to take part. Gathering in Munich on Sept. 29, Chamberlain, Hitler, and Mussolini were joined by French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier (1884–1970). Talks progressed through the day and into the night, with a Czechoslovakian delegation forced to wait outside. In the negotiations, Mussolini presented a plan that called for the Sudetenland to be ceded to Germany in exchange for guarantees that it would mark the end of German territorial expansion. Though presented by the Italian leader, the plan had been produced by the German government, and its terms were similar to Hitlers latest ultimatum. Desiring to avoid war, Chamberlain and Daladier were willing to agree to this Italian plan. As a result, the Munich Agreement was signed shortly after 1 a.m. on Sept. 30. This called for German troops to enter the Sudetenland on Oct. 1 with the movement to be completed by Oct. 10. Around 1:30 a.m., the Czechoslovak delegation was informed of the terms by Chamberlain and Daladier. Though initially unwilling to agree, the Czechoslovakians were forced to submit when informed that should a war occur they would be held responsible. Aftermath As a result of the agreement, German forces crossed the border on Oct. 1 and were warmly received by the Sudeten Germans while many Czechoslovakians fled the region. Returning to London, Chamberlain proclaimed that he had secured peace for our time. While many in the British government were pleased with the result, others were not. Commenting on the meeting, Winston Churchill proclaimed the Munich Agreement a total, unmitigated defeat. Having believed that he would have to fight to claim the Sudetenland, Hitler was surprised that Czechoslovakias erstwhile allies readily abandoned the country in order to appease him. Quickly coming to have contempt for Britains and Frances fear of war, Hitler encouraged Poland and Hungary to take parts of Czechoslovakia. Unconcerned about retaliation from the western nations, Hitler moved to take the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. This was met with no significant response from either Britain or France. Concerned that Poland would be Germanys next target for expansion, both nations pledged their support in guaranteeing Polish independence. Going further, Britain concluded an Anglo-Polish military alliance on Aug. 25. This was quickly activated when Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, starting World War II. Selected Sources Munich Pact September 29, 1938. The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Development. Lillian Goldman Law Library 2008. Web. May 30 2018.Holman, Brett. The Sudeten crisis, 1938. Airminded: Airpower and British Society, 1908–1941. Airminded. Web. May 30 2018.

The Life and Work of Mahatma Gandhi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Life and Work of Mahatma Gandhi - Essay Example These three aspects are his contribution to the social justice against apartheid in South Africa, the leadership of the non-violent freedom struggle in India and his principled life that finally led to his assassination in 1948. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was to go on and become Mahatma Gandhi, was born in at Porbandar, in the state of Gujarat in India on October 2, 1869. He reached the shores of Africa in 1893 after completing his education to become a lawyer. South Africa in those days was steeped in racial discrimination of the Europeans consisting of the white population. The discriminated population consisted of the native Africans, the coloured people of mixed race and the Asians, which were mostly Indians. Any non-white person in South Africa faced prejudice in every aspect of social activity because of the colour of his skin and it was into this environment that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi stepped into. Gandhiji was to spend nearly twenty-one years of his life in South Africa as an attorney and a public worker. He considered himself as much as a South African as he did that he was an Indian. It was in this foster motherland that Gandhiji realized his vocation in life, in the service of his countrymen and mankind. It was during his stay and work in South Africa that his philosophy of life was to take shape and so too with his attitude to the social problems being witnessed in India. South Africa was where he introduced the unique and non-violent protest form of Satyagraha. Gandhiji was to bring about unity in the Indian community in South Africa and then use this united strength to oppose the policy of racial segregation in all spheres of social activity that was practised in those times in South Africa. The road to unity was not easy, but Gandhi persisted with his efforts and his perseverance bore fruit. His attempts to win concessions from the ruling white community met with very limited success.  

Differences in economic and political culture between Western Europe Research Paper

Differences in economic and political culture between Western Europe and the United States - Research Paper Example This paper is one of the best examples of thorough analysis of the underlying reasons, that stipulated the differences in economic and political cultures of Western Europe and United States. Western Europe and United States have different economic and political cultures. Although there have been cases where some cultures have adopted across Western Europe and America, there still remain major rifts between the two sides of the Pacific Ocean. Issues of globalization and historical incidents such as the two World Wars and the Cold War have been l responsible for the different economic and political cultures between the US and countries of Western Europe. The histories of the United States and Western Europe shaped the political and economic cultures in the two regions. The greatest period was the enlightenment, where several philosophers came up with ideologues that influenced the developments in the two regions. While Western Europe adopted socialist ideologies, the United States adopted capitalism. Western Europe is associated with welfare states. The welfare state concept is where the state plays a major role in the promotion and protection of socioeconomic well-being of the citizens. The welfare programs are intended to support various services Capitalism is a political and social ideology that favours private ownership and control of resources over state control. Capitalism is often associated with free market and individualism. The United States in considered to the epitome of capitalism in the world.

Intercultural Studies on Samoa Culture Research Paper

Intercultural Studies on Samoa Culture - Research Paper Example Along with the major changes in the structure and flow of business transactions today, developed countries continuously aim to increase their returns on investment not only by transferring the Western management practices all over the developing countries but also in learning more about the culture and sub-culture of other countries. For this reason, an effective intercultural communications plays a significant role in making global business transactions successful. An effective communication is all about being able to effectively transmit messages from the â€Å"sender† to the â€Å"receiver† (Konar, 2009, p. 159). In response to globalization, business people and other group of professionals should develop their intercultural communication skill in order for them to be able to send their messages effectively to the receiver of the message. It means that for the business people and/or other group of professionals to become competent in the use of intercultural communication, each one of them are expected to be able to fully understand not only the social customs of the person to whom they are communicating but also the entire â€Å"social system of the host culture† (Jandt, 2010, p. 55). By being able to understand the cultural factors that could significantly affect how a person think or behave, business people and/or other group of professionals will have the competitive edge in terms of being able to deliver an effectiv e communication. Each time a person intends to communicate with a foreigner, the process of going through a certain level of adaptation is necessary. It means that both the sender and the receiver of messages should be able to adapt with the native and host culture respectively. For this reason, effective communicators should first study the cultural background of their prospective business partner(s) or client(s) before initiating a conversation with them. To learn more about the significance of Samoa culture on intercultural communication,

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example John Bezos, who is the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, dreamt of books. In 1994, he founded Amazon.com, arguably the earth’s largest bookstore. Since then, the company has registered tremendous growth and has become a force to reckon with in its industry. The following is a report which traces the history of Bezos, events leading to the founding of the company, business strategies employed by the company, and finally it winds up with highlighting the company’s success factors. History of Jeff Bezos CEO and Founder Amazon.com Jeffrey P. Bezos was born in a place called Albuquerque, in New Mexico. At an early age, Bezos displayed an outstanding mechanical aptitude. He also developed passion for various technical fields. When he became a teenager, his family moved to Miami, Florida. In high school, Bezos became more interested in computers. He later joined Princeton University with plans to study physics. However, he abandoned this dream in pursuit of computer study. He lat er graduated from the university with an electrical engineering and computer science degree. Afterwards, he was employed by a firm on Wall Street, where computers were becoming increasingly in demand for use in studying emerging patterns in various industries (Brandt 2011, pp. 228). Thereafter, he was employed at Fitel, a new company that was designing a network to be used in the management of international trade. He then was hired by D.E. Shaw, a firm that specialized in computer science applications in the stock market. Here, he was hired mostly because of his general and conspicuous talent. It was also while working in this firm that he became a senior vice president, and was looking forward to a brighter future, when he made a finding that transformed his life as well as the course of the world history of business (Brandt 2011, pp. 228). His biggest test came in 1995 when he sought to raise a seed capital of $1 million in order to launch his firm. Over a period of six months in early 1995, he met with some 60 private investors. During this time, he was hiring programmers to design the firm’s website to market itself to the public. Bezos discovered that the use of Internet was increasing by 2300 percent each year. He quickly saw a chance for a new realm of business, and immediately started considering the potential (Hazleton 1998, pp. 56). Bezos later flew to Los Angeles to attend a convention of American Booksellers. While in attendance, he learnt all that he could with regard to the book business. He realized that the main book wholesalers had already composed electronic lists regarding their inventory. All that was required was to establish a single location for this important information on the Internet, from where the book-buying community could search the existing stock and then place orders directly. The employers of Bezos were not ready to proceed with such an undertaking. Bezos then realized that the only remaining way to seize the chance wa s to go into business as an individual. Nevertheless, this meant sacrificing a more secure job in New York. Despite the risk, Bezos together with his wife Mackenzie chose to take up the challenge (Hazleton 1998, pp. 58). In the year 1999, Bezos was declared Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Come 2008, he was selected by the U.S. News & World Report as one of the best leaders in America. In the same year, he also received an honorary doctorate degree in Science and Technology from the University of Carnegie Mellon. Furthermore,

Korean War Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Korean War - Annotated Bibliography Example As a result, the Korean Peninsula was divided into half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied area north of the line, while the United States of America occupied the south. In this book, the tensions and the political environments leading up to the war are described in detail. Both the North and the South were under dictatorial rule. In the South, there was the anti-communist dictator Syngman Rhee, while in the North, there was the communist dictator Kim Il Sung. It is observed that neither of the dictators was content to remain on his side of the 38th parallel and border disputes were rampant as a result. The connection of this invasion of the South by the North and the rising conflict thereof and the ongoing cold war is given in this piece. The war is said to have come as a surprise to the U.S. who considered it malicious and more than a mere border dispute. To them, nonintervention in the dispute was never on the table as they regarded it as a deliberate offensive in a communist campaign to take over the world. The Gays give more in-depth analysis of the situation between the United States and Russia particularly, prior to this war and the inevitability of these two nations’ role in the dispute. The warring nations are differently backed by two quarreling nations and so, when one invades the other, there is bound to be suspicion of a wider play. The stands taken by America and the Soviet Union are discussed in greater details. In April 1950, a National Security Council report known as the NSC-68 recommends the US to use military force to counter communist expansion anywhere it was perceived to be occurring. As a result, then US President Harry Truman is quoted as saying that if they let Korea down, the Soviets will keep on going and swallowing up one place after another. Lee talks about the difficulties and the armies of the war. North Korean army is seen as

The Stock Plans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Stock Plans - Essay Example The major difference between the two accounting methods is that the intrinsic value based method overstates the income of the company. This method does not reveal the fair value of the stock, whereas the fair value based method, which is also recommended by FASB is based upon the estimated fair value of the company’s stock. Amount Of Compensation Under a stock options plan, 100 shares were offered to each employee that was purchased or exercised at $45 per share i.e., the grant price. The stock options would cost them $4500 ($45x100). However, the current market price of the stock is $60, which makes $6000 ($60x100) if sold in the market. The shares would obviously be sold on the current market value and hence each employee would get the difference ($6000-$4500) between the grant price and the current market value. The total amount of compensation that each employee would get is $1500 making the total compensation of $3000 paid by the company to two employees. Recording Of Sto ck Options In XYZ’s books The US GAAP requires the companies to expense out the employee stock options on the fair or intrinsic value, as well as disclose it in the company’s financial statements, which is supposed to decrease the company’s earnings significantly. Therefore, an expense will be recorded in the books of XYZ Corporation against the amount of employee stock options as per the accounting practice of FASB and the corresponding expense will be disclosed in the company’s financial statements.

Korean War Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Korean War - Annotated Bibliography Example As a result, the Korean Peninsula was divided into half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied area north of the line, while the United States of America occupied the south. In this book, the tensions and the political environments leading up to the war are described in detail. Both the North and the South were under dictatorial rule. In the South, there was the anti-communist dictator Syngman Rhee, while in the North, there was the communist dictator Kim Il Sung. It is observed that neither of the dictators was content to remain on his side of the 38th parallel and border disputes were rampant as a result. The connection of this invasion of the South by the North and the rising conflict thereof and the ongoing cold war is given in this piece. The war is said to have come as a surprise to the U.S. who considered it malicious and more than a mere border dispute. To them, nonintervention in the dispute was never on the table as they regarded it as a deliberate offensive in a communist campaign to take over the world. The Gays give more in-depth analysis of the situation between the United States and Russia particularly, prior to this war and the inevitability of these two nations’ role in the dispute. The warring nations are differently backed by two quarreling nations and so, when one invades the other, there is bound to be suspicion of a wider play. The stands taken by America and the Soviet Union are discussed in greater details. In April 1950, a National Security Council report known as the NSC-68 recommends the US to use military force to counter communist expansion anywhere it was perceived to be occurring. As a result, then US President Harry Truman is quoted as saying that if they let Korea down, the Soviets will keep on going and swallowing up one place after another. Lee talks about the difficulties and the armies of the war. North Korean army is seen as

The Use of the Set in French New Wave Cinema Research Paper

The Use of the Set in French New Wave Cinema - Research Paper Example One of these elements was the use of the set. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of the set in French new-wave cinema, particularly by focusing on the work of Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut; two prominent examples of filmmakers of the era. This will be examined in the context of the effect that this has on the character development in this genre of film. The use of real-life sets and the additional differences in perception has a significant effect on the characters of the film, who often present themselves in the same disjointed and spontaneous manner as the real life sets. The Use of Set & Theatrical Scenery in French New-Wave Cinema For a variety of reasons explored below, the typical French new-wave director would choose to produce a film set within an area that was familiar to them, usually exploring the French middle-class youth and setting the scenes in recognizable areas (Neupert, 2007). Perhaps the best way to capture the spirit of France at the time was to use real-life locations rather than contrived sets, as had been done previously, and a number of participants in the films were real-life individuals. As the movement developed, a number of the directors (particularly Godard) began to move into the use of studio sets, although conscious efforts were made to avoid replicating the very style the French new-wave had been rebelling against, often trying to replicate the lighting and sound interruptions that came with filming within ‘reality’ (Marie & Neupert, 2003). One if the most important aspects of French new-wave cinema is that those involved were often limited in funding, and many of the films therefore relied on makeshift elements. Filming on the streets allowed these new French directors to avoid some of the financial constraints that had been associated with filmmaking in the past (Neupert, 2007). In the 1960 film Breathless (A bout de souffle), for example, many of the elements were completely improvised. The u se of improvisation meant that the theatrical scenery was not constructed or purposefully used, and no permission was gained to shoot scenes on the boulevards of Paris (Turner, 1983). This was essentially done to create a spontaneous feel to the film, but may have been a result of the tight budget constraints on the film. Additionally, the film was designed to be in reportage (documentary) style, which means that the use of contrived set would have been unnecessary (Graham & Vincendeau, 2009). The conscious decision to avoid the use of a proper theatrical set in Breathless is typical of the rejection of classical cinematic form in French new-wave (Turner, 1983). Godard’s Contempt (Le Mepris) is another important example of film from this movement. Released in 1963, Contempt starts Brigitte Bardot in an adaptation of the Italian novel Il disprezzo. In contrast to Breathless, Contempt does not rely on already existing architecture and scene elements for the set, which much of t he filming being done at the legendary Cinecitta studios in Italy (Neupert, 2007). As a result of this choice, Contempt has less of spontaneous feel, and some consider the film to be less of an example of the contrary nature of French new-wave due to the use of these prepared sets (Hayes, 2004). Contempt was additionally not designed to be shot in reportage style, and therefore the use of prepared

Serum Urate Concentrations and the Risk of Hyperuricemia

Serum Urate Concentrations and the Risk of Hyperuricemia Common UCP2 variants contribute to serum urate concentrations and the risk of hyperuricemia Luyu Yang, Zheng Dong, Jingru zhou, Yanyun Ma, Weilin Pu, Dongbao Zhao, Hongjun He, Hengdong Ji, Yajun Yang, Xiaofeng Wang, Xia Xu, Yafei Pang, Hejian Zou,  Li Jin,  Chengde Yang*, Jiucun Wang* *Corresponding author These authors equally contributed to this study.   Abstract Elevated serum urate, which is regulated at multiple levels including genetic variants, is a risk factor for gout and other metabolic diseases. This study aimed to investigate the association between UCP2 variants and serum urate as well as hyperuricemia in a Chinese population. In total, 4332 individuals were genotyped for two common UCP2 variants, -866G/A and Ala55Val. These loci were not associated either serum urate level or with a risk of hyperuricemia in the total group of subjects. However, in females, -866G/A and Ala55Val were associated with a lower serum urate (P = 0.006 and 0.014à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’seperately) and played a protective role against hyperuricemia (OR = 0.80, P = 0.018; OR = 0.79, P = 0.016). These associations were not observed in the males. After further stratification, the two loci were associated with serum urate in overweight, but not underweight females. The haplotype A-T (-866G/A-Ala55Val) was a protective factor for hyperuricemia in the female subgroup (OR = 0.80, P=0.017). This present study identified a novel gene, UCP2, that influences the serum urate concentration and the risk of hyperuricemia, and the degree of association varies with gender and BMI levels.   Introduction Uric acid is the final product of purine oxidation in humans. Elevated serum urate, or hyperuricemia, has long been recognized as an independent risk factor for gout [1-2]. There is a renewed interest in hyperuricemia and its association with a number of other clinical disorders including hypertension, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney diseases, and abdominal obesity, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia, which are often subsumed under the term metabolic syndrome [3]. Serum urate is balanced between uric acid production in the liver and its disposal via the kidney and gut [4]. The occurrence of hyperuricemia could be caused by disruptions in any part of this metabolic process. Both genetic and environmental factors, such as gender and body mass index (BMI), have a strong effect on the risk of hyperuricemia [3]. Among those factors, the attribution of genetic factors is estimated to be as high as 73% [5]. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 28 loci associated with serum urate concentration [6]. However, only approximately 7% of the variation in serum urate concentration could be explained by those reported loci, suggesting the missing heritability remained to be explored [6]. Human uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are mitochondrial transporters present in the inner membrane of mitochondria [7]. UCPs are capable of uncoupling ATP production from mitochondrial respiration by causing proton leak and preventing mitochondrial hyperpolarization and the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [8]. Among the five identified UCPs, UCP2 is widely expressed in almost all mammalian tissues including white adipose tissue, liver, kidney, pancreatic islets, macrophages and retinal endothelial cells, indicating its involvement in a variety of physiologic or pathologic events [9-12]. Two of the most common polymorphisms of this gene, -866G/A (rs659366) in the promoter and Ala55Val (rs660339) in codon 55, were identified as being associated with different phenotypes [7, 12], including obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particle size, coronary incidence and other metabolic disorders [9-10, 13-21]. Given the involvement of UCP2 and hyperuricemia in a variety of metabolic disorders, we selected the two common loci -866G/A and Ala55Val to explore the association between genetic UCP2 variants and hyperuricemia in a Chinese population, offering a new diagnostic or therapeutic target for hyperuricemia. Results There was no  association between SNPs and serum urate The two loci were proven in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (-866G/A: P = 0.990; Ala55Val: P = 0.690). For -866G/A, AA, AG, and GG genotypes accounted for 21.6%, 49.9%, and 28.6% of hyperuricemic patients, respectively; in healthy controls, the distribution was 21.2%, 49.6%, and 29.3%, respectively. As shown in Table 1, the -866G/A polymorphism was not found to be associated with serum urate (AA/GG: Beta = -0.008, P = 0.644; AG/GG:Beta = -0.012, P = 0.474) or with the risk of hyperuricemia (AA/GG: OR = 1.05, P = 0.603; AG/GG:OR = 1.03, P = 0.667). For Ala55Val, the TT, TC, and CC genotype distribution was 21.5%, 50.5% and 28.0% in hyperuricemic patients, respectively, and the distribution was 21.5%, 49.8% and 28.6% in healthy controls, respectively. No association was observed between Ala55Val polymorphism and serum urate (TT/CC: Beta = -0.013, P = 0.460; TC/CC:Beta = -0.017, P = 0.324). There was no difference in the distribution of the genotypes or alleles among hyperuricemic patients a nd healthy controls (TT/CC: OR = 1.02, P = 0.824; TC/CC:OR = 1.04, P = 0.652). Therefore, no statistically solid evidence supported the genetic effect of -866G/A and Ala55Val on serum urate or the risk of hyperuricemia in the total group of subjects. UCP2 variants were associated withserum urate andhyperuricemia in female subgroups As shown in Table 1, we stratified all subjects into male and female subgroups to further explore the gender-related genetic effects of the two polymorphisms. In the male subgroups, there were no significant associations between the two loci and serum urate or the risk of hyperuricemia (all P > 0.025). However, some nominal significant associations were found between -866G/A and the hyperuricemia risk (genotype AA: OR = 1.26, P = 0.038; allele A: OR = 1.12, P = 0.035), indicating a possible risky effect of the -866G/A variant on hyperuricemia incidence in males. A significant association was found between SNPs and serum urate and hyperuricemia in the female subgroups. The -866G/A genotypes were associated with a lower serum urate (AA/GG: Beta = -0.078, P = 0.015; AG/GG: Beta = -0.104, P = 0.001) and a decreased risk of hyperuricemia (AG/GG: OR = 0.71, P = 0.025). The subjects carrying allele A had a lower serum urate and a decreased risk of hyperuricemia (A/G: Beta = -0.054, P = 0.006; OR = 0.80, P = 0.018). For Ala55Val, genotype TT carriers showed a lower serum urate (TT/CC: Beta = -0.075, P = 0.022) and a decreased risk of hyperuricemia (TT/CC: OR = 0.64, P = 0.020). Genotype TC carriers only had a lower serum urate (TC/CC: Beta = -0.082, P = 0.012) but no decreased risk of hyperuricemia (TC/CC: OR = 0.77, P = 0.093). Allele T was associated with a lower serum urate (T/C: Beta = -0.049, P = 0.016) and a decreased risk of hyperuricemia (T/C: OR = 0.79, P = 0.016). Further analysis of associationin females  with different BMI levels Further analysis was performed regarding the genetic effect of UCP2 variants on serum urate and the risk of hyperuricemia among females with different BMI levels (Table 2). The majority of the females enrolled were stratified into normal- or overweight group (Table 2). In the underweight subgroup, whose sample size was limited after stratification, no significant association was observed between the two loci and serum urate or hyperuricemia risk (all P > 0.025, Table 2). In the normal weight subgroup, -866G/A genotype AA+AG carriers were associated with a lower serum urate (AA+AG/GG: Beta = -0.095, P = 0.022) but not with a decreased risk of hyperuricemia (AA+AG/GG: OR = 0.65, P = 0.076). However, the Ala55Val genotypes or alleles showed no statistical association with serum urate (TT+TC/CC: Beta = -0.070, P = 0.091; T/C: Beta = -0.047, P = 0.106) or hyperuricemia (TT+TC/CC: OR = 0.72, P = 0.173; T/C: OR = 0.72, P = 0.051). In the overweight subgroup, the genotypes of both loci were associated a lower serum urate (AA+AG/GG: Beta = -0.138, P = 0.001; TT+TC/CC: Beta = -0.130, P = 0.003) and a significant, or at least marginal, decreased risk of hyperuricemia (AA+AG/GG: OR = 0.62, P = 0.015; TT+TC/CC: OR = 0.74, P = 0.027). However, the alleles of the loci were associated with a lower serum urate level (A/G: Beta = -0.072, P = 0.019; T/C: Beta = -0.072, P = 0.019) but not with a decreased risk of hyperuricemia (A/G: OR = 0.75, P = 0.036; T/C: OR = 0.74, P = 0.027). Our results suggested a stronger effect of UCP2 variants on overweight females than on normal weight females (Table 2). Association between haplotypes and risk of hyperuricemia As listed in Table 3, the haplotypes of the two loci were estimated in the total group of subjects and after stratification by gender. The -866G/A and Ala55Val variants were in strong linkage disequilibrium (D = 0.974, r2 = 0.936). The wild type haplotype G-C (-866G/A-Ala55Val) was applied as the reference one. Haplotype A-T made up for the most frequent one, while single mutation at -866G/A or Ala55Val each accounted for less than 1 percent (Table 3). In the total group of subjects, no haplotypes were correlated with susceptibility of hyperuricemia. In the female subgroups, haplotype A-T (-866G/A-Ala55Val) was associated with a decreased risk of hyperuricemia; however, this association was null in males. No further significant associations between hyperuricemia and other two rare haplotypes were found in our study, partly due to the limited size of the rare haplotypes carriers (Table 3). These results correlated with the association between genotypes or alleles and hyperuricemia (Ta ble 1). Discussion Uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) is present in the inner mitochondrial membrane and mainly decreases the ATP level and ROS produced by electron transport; therefore, UCP2 is involved in a board range of pathological processes. In the present study, we first focused on the relationship between UCP2 variants and serum urate and hyperuricemia, potentially examining the scope of the loci related to hyperuricemia. The present study revealed no association between the two polymorphisms of UCP2 and serum urate or hyperuricemia in the total group of subjects. However, because serum urate is extensively influenced by gender differences, we stratified the total group of subjects and determined that -866G/A and Ala55Val were associated with serum urate and hyperuricemia in females [25-26]. Females with the -866G/A genotype AA+AG or allele A had lower serum urate and a decreased risk of hyperuricemia, indicating a protective role of -866G/A for hyperuricemia in females. The -866G/A variant is a functional polymorphism located in the promoter region and putatively changes the transcription factor binding sites [7]. The wild type G allele in -866G/A was associated with lower UCP2 mRNA expression [19, 27]. Increased UCP2 mRNA expression from the A allele was translated into an increased amount of UCP2 protein, with corresponding induced proton leak, decreased ATP/ADP ratio and enhanced elimination of ROS [10, 19]. Hypermethylation in the promoter region could affect the binding of transcripation factors, causing aberrant gene expression. Consistent with our expectations, we found a typical CpG island in the UCP2 promoter region, which included the locus of the -866G/A variant, using information from the University of California-Santa Cruz (UCSC; Santa Cruz, CA, USA) database (http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgGateway). We believe the UCP2 promoter variant -866G/A could shape this CpG island and protect the UCP2 promoter region from DNA methylation, unco vering a novel underlying mechanism that determines -866G/A increases UCP2 transcription. Uric acid accumulation is caused by the acceleration of ATP degradation to AMP, a precursor of uric acid, and UCP2 could decrease the ATP level and lower redundant AMP for uric acid formation [7, 28]. Moreover, an elevation of serum urate concentration occurs as a physiologic response to increased oxidative stress [31]. Because the ROS level could be down-regulated by UCP2, a counter-regulatory increase of serum urate as an antioxidant defense is less urgent. Therefore, the -866G/A variant in the promoter region might serve as a protective factor through a higher UCP2 mRNA level and increased translation of the UCP2 protein, which might regulate ROS and modify the ATP/ADP ratio. The other locus, Ala55Val, is a missense variant in exon 4 and is associated with an altered degree of uncoupling [7]. In our study, a protective effect for hyperuricemia and lower serum urate were observed in genotype TT and allele T in the female subgroups. However, the genetic effect of the Ala55Val variant was less clear. Several researchers identified an association of Ala55Val with the BMI level and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), with controversial conclusions within cohorts, and few functional studies were performed [14, 32-33]. Similar to -866G/A, the protective role of the Ala55Val variant for hyperuricemia might also be attributed to altered UCP2 transcription. In the male subgroups, a less statistically significant but possible effect of -866G/A and Ala55Val was observed for hyperuricemia risk and higher serum urate. Similar gender-associated genetic effects of UCP2 variants were more or less observed for diseases other than hyperuricemia [7]. For example, Heidema et al. suggested a genetic effect of UCP2 on weight gain was regulated through different mechanism in males and females [34]. Lee, et al. demonstrated that the association between UCP2 variants and BMI was more apparent among female subjects [35]. Cheurfa et al. confirmed the association of UCP2 variants with coronary artery diseases in males but not females [36]. In the present study, we found UCP2 variants -866G/A and Ala55Val had a stronger effect on females with hyperuricemia. One possible explanation for the gender-associated genetic effects of UCP2 might be a regulation role of sex hormones such as estrogen. Estrogen was reported to repress UCP2 in a breast cancer cell line and papillary thyroid cancer cells [37-38]. Taken together, these results suggest the UCP2 protein level was down-regulated by estrogen in females but reversed by the variants of -866G/A and Ala55Val, providing a plausible explanation for the specific protective effects of UCP2 variants on females [37]. Genetic effects on hyperuricemia and obesity have been widely recognized [3]. In the present study, we found that -866G/A and Ala55Val were associated with lower serum urate and a decreased risk of hyperuricemia in overweight, but not underweight, females (Table 2). The relative small sample size might limit the correlation analysis in the underweight group. However, we did observe females with higher BMI level were more likely to benefit from the protective genetic effect of -866G/A and Ala55Val, where the association was significant between the two SNPs and serum urate level of risk of hyperuricemia. In the contrast, among the normal weight females, -866G/A, but not Ala55Val, showed a significant association with a low risk of hyperuricemia, indicating a less contribution from the protective effect of UCP2 variants than seen in overweight females. It was also implied from our results that the [tw1]functional à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢866G>A promoter variant displayed a stronger effect. The interactions between obesity, uric acid and UCP2 were complicated. BMI has long been viewed as an essential factor influencing uric acid [3]. UCP2 transcription was activated by fatty acids [16]. A recent meta-analysis revealed that UCP2 -866G/A and Ala55Val are associated with a risk of obesity [32]. Subtle intermediary obesity related phenotypes such as elevated triglycerides, total cholesterol concentrations, increased the risk of dyslipidemia and circulating leptin levels were also observed to be correlated with UCP2 variants [40]. Based on these results, we assumed lipid metabolism material such as fatty acids participated in and enhanced the genetic effect of UCP2 variants on serum urate regulation, explaining the stronger genetic effect of UCP2 variants on females with higher BMI levels observed in the present study. The -866G/A and Ala55Val variants were in strong linkage disequilibrium (D = 0.974, r2 = 0.936). The haplotype frequency analysis revealed that variants of the two loci were more in co-variant haplotype A-T (-866G/A-Ala55Val) compared with the single variant forms of G-T or A-C (Table 3). Haplotype A-T was associated with a decreased risk of hyperuricemia only in females, which was consistent with the genotype or alleles results. However, the small size of the two rare haplotypes might limit the power of association analysis with hyperuricemia risk to a certain extent. The susceptibility of hyperuricemia in the two rare haplotype carriers required validation in a larger cohort. Conclusion The present study identified a novel gene, UCP2, with two loci, -866G/A and Ala55Val; this gene influenced the serum urate concentrations and the risk of hyperuricemia in females. The associations of those loci were affected by gender and BMI. This study supported the potential involvement of this gene in the prevention, prediction and treatment of hyperuricemia. Materials and methods Experimental design A total of 4332 subjects were enrolled from the Taizhou Longitudinal Study [22] and included 1387 hyperuricemic patients and 2945 healthy controls. The associations of common UCP2 variants with serum urate and hyperuricemia were tested by linear regression and logistic regression with or without gender stratification, respectively. A body mass index (BMI) subgroup was also used for further analysis. Participants All subjects were enrolled from Taizhou Longitudinal Study [22], of which 1387 individuals had serum urate level over 7 mg/dl and were treated as hyperuricemic patients, and 2945 individuals had normal serum urate (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 7 mg/dl) and were treated as healthy controls [23]. The subjects were divided into subgroups (underweight: BMI à ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¼ 18.5; normal weight: 18.50 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ £ BMI Genetic analysis Genetic analysis was carried out in accordance with the written informed consent and guideline offered by the Ethical Committees of the School of Life Science of Fudan University. For genetic analysis, peripheral blood was collected from all the individuals included in this study. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood using the QIAamp DNA Blood Mini kit (QIAGEN, Germany) and was stored at -20à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. The DNA concentration and quality (including optical density (OD) 260/280 and 260/230 measurements) were determined using a Nanodrop Lite spectrophotometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). Genotyping of -866G/A and Ala55Val in UCP2 were performed by SNPscan according to the manufacturers instructions. Statistical analysis The clinical characteristics were presented as the mean à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ± SD. Students t-test was used to test for a significant difference in the mean age, BMI and serum urate between hyperuricemic patients and healthy controls. The chi-square test was used to describe the gender distribution difference between hyperuricemic patients and healthy controls. The chi-square test was used to test Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) of the two loci. We conducted a logistic regression analysis to calculate adjusted odd ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and P-values to describe the distribution of -866G/A and Ala55Val adjusted for age and gender between hyperuricemic patients and healthy controls. A linear regression was performed to calculate Beta and P-values to estimate the effect on serum urate in different genotypes and alleles. Genotype GG, allele G of -866G/A and genotype CC, allele C of Ala55Val were used as references, respectively. Stratification into subgroups was performed on the basis of gender and different BMI values for further analysis. Haplotype frequencies between the hyperuricemic patients and controls were estimated by OR (95% CI) and chi-square test. The haplotype of the most frequent (-866G/A-Ala55Val, G-C) was used as the reference. A 2-sided P-value less than 0.025 was considered statistically significant after multiple correlation by Bonferroni method. The PHASE program (V2.1) was used for haplotype frequencies estimation, and SPSS 19.0 was used for the statistical analysis. References 1. Choi HK, Mount DB, Reginato AM. Pathogenesis of gout. Ann Intern Med 2005;143(7):499-516. 2.  Weaver AL. Epidemiology of gout. Cleve Clin J Med 2008;75 Suppl 5:S9-12. 3.  Billiet L, Doaty S, Katz JD, Velasquez MT. Review of hyperuricemia as new marker for metabolic syndrome. ISRN Rheumatol 2014;2014:852954. 4.  Hediger MA, Johnson RJ, Miyazaki H, Endou H. Molecular physiology of urate transport. Physiology (Bethesda) 2005;20:125-33. 5.  Kolz M, Johnson T, Sanna S, Teumer A, Vitart V, Perola M, et al.. Meta-analysis of 28,141 individuals identifies common variants within five new loci that influence uric acid concentrations. PLoS Genet 2009;5(6):e1000504. 6.  Kà ¶ttgen A, Albrecht E, Teumer A, Vitart V, Krumsiek J, Hundertmark C, et al.. Genome-wide association analyses identify 18 new loci associated with serum urate concentrations. Nature Genetics 2012;45(2):145-154. 7.  Donadelli M, Dando I, Fiorini C, Palmieri M. UCP2, a mitochondrial protein regulated at multiple levels. In; 2014. p. 1171-90. 8.  Azzu V, Jastroch M, Divakaruni AS, Brand MD. The regulation and turnover of mitochondrial uncoupling proteins. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Bioenergetics 2010;1797(6-7):785-791. 9.  Dalgaard LT, Andersen G, Larsen LH, Sorensen TI, Andersen T, Drivsholm T, et al.. Mutational analysis of the UCP2 core promoter and relationships of variants with   obesity. Obes Res 2003;11(11):1420-7. 10. Dalgaard LT. Genetic Variance in Uncoupling Protein 2 in Relation to Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and Related Metabolic Traits: Focus on the Functional -866G>A Promoter Variant (rs659366). J Obes 2011;2011:340241. 11. Rousset S, Mozo J, Dujardin G, Emre Y, Masscheleyn S, Ricquier D, et al.. UCP2 is a mitochondrial transporter with an unusual very short half-life. FEBS Lett 2007;581(3):479-82. 12. Jarmuszkiewicz W, Woyda-Ploszczyca A. [Mitochondrial uncoupling proteins: regulation and physiological role]. Postepy Biochem 2008;54(2):179-87. 13. Yu X, Wieczorek S, Franke A, Yin H, Pierer M, Sina C, et al.. Association of UCP2 -866 G/A polymorphism with chronic inflammatory diseases. In; 2009. p. 601-5. 14. Rosmond R, Bouchard C, Bjorntorp P. Lack of association between the uncoupling protein-2 Ala55Val gene polymorphism and phenotypic features of the Metabolic Syndrome. Biochim Biophys Acta 2002;1588(2):103-5. 15.  Heidari J, Akrami SM, Heshmat R, Amiri P, Fakhrzadeh H, Pajouhi M. Association study of the -866G/A UCP2 gene promoter polymorphism with type 2 diabetes and obesity in a Tehran population: a case control study. Arch Iran Med 2010;13(5):384-90. 16.  Emre Y, Nà ¼bel T. Uncoupling protein UCP2: When mitochondrial activity meets immunity. In; 2010. p. 1437-1442. 17. Toda C, Diano S. Mitochondrial UCP2 in the central regulation of metabolism. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab 2014;28(5):757-64. 18. Shen Y, Wen Z, Wang N, Zheng Z, Liu K, Xia X, et al.. Investigation of variants in UCP2 in Chinese type 2 diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. PLoS One 2014;9(11):e112670. 19. Sesti G, Cardellini M, Marini MA, Frontoni S, DAdamo M, Del GS, et al.. A common polymorphism in the promoter of UCP2 contributes to the variation in insulin secretion in glucose-tolerant subjects. Diabetes 2003;52(5):1280-3. 20.  Otaegui D, Saenz A, Ruiz-Martinez J, Olaskoaga J, Lopez DMA. UCP2 and mitochondrial haplogroups as a multiple sclerosis risk factor. In; 2007. p. 454-8. 21.  Oktavianthi S, Trimarsanto H, Febinia CA, Suastika K, Saraswati MR, Dwipayana Pà ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ´AW, et al.. Uncoupling protein 2 gene polymorphisms are associated with obesity. Cardiovascular diabetology 2012;11(1):41. 22.  Wang X, Lu M, Qian J, Yang Y, Li S, Lu D, et al.. Rationales, design and recruitment of the Taizhou Longitudinal Study. BMC Public Health 2009;9:223. 23.  Mandell BF. Clinical manifestations of hyperuricemia and gout. Cleve Clin J Med 2008;75 Suppl 5:S5-8. 24.  WHO Global Database on Body Mass Index (BMI): an interactive surveillance tool for monitoring nutrition transition. Public Health Nutr. 2006; 9(5):658-. doi:10.1079/Phn2006967. ISI:000239972300019.. 25. Terkeltaub RA. Clinical practice. Gout. N Engl J Med 2003;349(17):1647-55. 26.  Neogi T. Clinical practice. Gout. N Engl J Med 2011;364(5):443-52.   Ã‚   27.  Lapice E, Pinelli M, Pisu E, Monticelli A, Gambino R, Pagano G, et al.. Uncoupling protein 2 G(-866)A polymorphism: a new gene polymorphism associated with C-reactive protein in type 2 diabetic patients. Cardiovasc Diabetol 2010;9:68. 28.  Richette P, Bardin T. Gout. Lancet 2010;375(9711):318-28. 29. Waring WS, Webb DJ, Maxwell SR. Systemic uric acid administration increases serum antioxidant capacity in healthy volunteers. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 2001;38(3):365-71. 30. Zhang M, Wang M, Zhao Z. Uncoupling protein 2 gene polymorphisms in association with overweight and obesity susceptibility: A meta-analysis. Meta Gene 2014;2:143-159. 31.Vogler S, Goedde R, Miterski B, Gold R, Kroner A, Koczan D, et al.. Association of a common polymorphism in the promoter of UCP2 with susceptibility to multiple sclerosis. J Mol Med (Berl) 2005;83(10):806-11. 32.Heidema AG, Wang P, van Rossum CT, Feskens EJ, Boer JM, Bouwman FG, et al.. Sex-specific effects of CNTF, IL6 and UCP2 polymorphisms on weight gain. Physiol Behav 2010;99(1):1-7. 33.Lee YH, Kim W, Yu BC, Park BL, Kim LH, Shin HD. Association of the ins/del polymorphisms of uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) with BMI   in a Korean population. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2008;371(4):767-71. 34.Cheurfa N, Dubois-Laforgue D, Ferrarezi DA, Reis AF, Brenner GM, Bouche C, et al.. The common -866G>A variant in the promoter of UCP2 is associated with decreased risk of coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetic men. Diabetes 2008;57(4):1063-8. 35.Nadal-Serrano M, Sastre-Serra J, Pons DG, Miro AM, Oliver J, Roca P. The ERalpha/ERbeta ratio determines oxidative stress in breast cancer cell lines in response to 17beta-estradiol. J Cell Biochem 2012;113(10):3178-85. 36.Hima S, Sreeja S. Regulatory role of estrogen-induced reactive oxygen species in the modulatory function of UCP 2 in papillary thyroid cancer cells. IUBMB Life 2015. 37.Hamada T, Kotani K, Fujiwara S, Sano Y, Domichi M, Tsuzaki K, et al.. The UCP2-866 A/A genotype is associated with low density lipoprotein particle sizes in the general population. Med Sci Monit 2008;14(3):CR107-11. Acknowledgements This research was supported by grants from the Science and Technology Committee of Shanghai Municipality (11DJ1400100), International ST Cooperation Program of China (2013DFA30870), Ministry of Science and Technology (2011BAI09B00), and Program for 2012 Outstanding Medical Academic Leader for Hejian Zou. The computations involved in this study were supported by Fudan University High-End Computing Center. Author contributions statement

Grazing Versus Ecosystem Conservation: Managed Grazing Techniques Must

Grazing Versus Ecosystem Conservation: Managed Grazing Techniques Must be Implemented One of the major issues confronting western America is that of environmental conservation and protection versus agricultural essentials and needs. This issue includes the environmentalists' fight against herbicides and pesticides, reservoirs for irrigation water, and livestock grazing on public land. The controversy that this essay confronts will be that of the desire to use public land for livestock grazing versus the importance of preserving the rangeland ecosystem. Importance is found on each side of this controversy by various groups of people. What will there be for tomorrow's generation if the ecosystems of public lands are not preserved? Where will the meat come from for today's generation if the nation's cattle ranches do not have enough food to raise their livestock? I believe that the answer to both these questions lies in the solution of both economical and ecological sustainability. Although overgrazing in past history has greatly damaged rangeland ecosystems of today, su stained economy and ecology can coexist in harmony, not through environmentalist's visions of cattleless rangelands or through cattlemen's aspirations of unchecked rangeland grazing, but rather through managed grazing techniques and practices. This controversy has emerged mainly because of overgrazing in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (CAST "Livestock"). Due to their lack of knowledge and experience, ranchers, the public, and the government all supported year-round grazing of rangelands. It helped to boost the economy by allowing ranchers to produce more cattle. However, all three of these groups soon found that the boost in the economy resulti... ...-Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands. Comp. Stephen B. Monsen. Ogden: United States Department of Agriculture; Forest Service; Intermountain Range Station, 1994. 414-416. Stevens, Allan R. and John F. Vallentine. "Use of Livestock to Control Cheatgrass-A Review." Proceedings-Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands. Comp. Stephen B. Monsen. Ogden: United States Department of Agriculture; Forest Service; Intermountain Range Station, 1994. 202-205. Tipton, F.H. "Cheatgrass, Livestock, and Rangeland." Proceedings-Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands. Comp. Stephen B. Monsen. Ogden: United States Department of Agriculture; Forest Service; Intermountain Range Station, 1994. 414- 416. Vavra, Martin. "Public Land and Natural Resource Issues Confronting Animal Scientists and Livestock Producers." Journal of Animal Sciences. 76 (1998): 2340-45.

Comparison of the Use of Nature by Shelley and Wordsworth Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both Shelley, in "Ode to the West Wind," and Wordsworth, in "Intimations of Immortality," are very similar in their use of nature to describe the life and death of the human spirit. As they both describe nature these two poets use the comparison of how the Earth and all its life is the same as our own human life. I feel that Shelley uses the seasons as a way of portraying the human life during reincarnation. Wordsworth seems to concentrate more on the stages that a person goes through during life. Shelley compares himself to such things as clouds, leaves, and waves. He is writing the poem as if he were an object of the earth, and what it is like to once live and then die only to be reborn. On the other hand, Wordsworth takes images like meadows, fields, and birds and uses them to show what gives him life. Life being what ever a person needs to move on, and with out those objects can't have life. Wordsworth does not compare himself to these things like Shelley, bu t instead uses them as an example of how he feels about the stages of living. Starting from an infant to a young boy into a man, a man who knows death is coming and can do nothing about it because it's part of life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When a man becomes old and has nothing to look forward to he will always look back, back to what are called the good old days. These days were full of young innocence, and no worries. Wordsworth describes these childhood days by saying that "A single Field which I have looked upon, / Both of them speak of something that is gone: The Pansy at my feet Doth the same tale repeat: Whither is fled the visionary gleam? Where is it now, the glory and the dream?"(190) Another example of how Wordsworth uses nature as a way of dwelling on his past childhood experiences is when he writes "O joy! That in our embers / Is something that doth live, / That nature yet remembers / What was so fugitive!" (192) Here an ember represents our fading years through life and nature is remembering the childhood that has escaped over the years. As far as Wordsworth and his moods go I think he is very touched by nature. I can picture him seeing life and feeling it in every flower, ant, and pie ce of grass that crosses his path. The emotion he feels is strongly suggested in this line "To me the meanest flower that blows can give / Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." (193) Not only is this showi... ...d of this poem Shelley asks, "If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" (678) Now I wonder if this is just another line emphasizing rebirth and the similarities between the seasons. Or is Shelley saying this because he is getting the sense that the closer he gets to death the more he questions whether rebirth is real.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  So after close examination of both these pieces of literature I feel that the differences between these two poets is that Wordsworth looks back on how life was and Shelley wonders what's after death. I would have to say that they're very similar in the way that they use nature as a way of portraying human life. The use of how nature affects them and their love for nature brings me to that conclusion. So what makes these pieces so powerful? Really it's not the reasoning between life and death; it's the comparison of how other living things on Earth that we take for granted are similar to us as a human race. When these two poets look at a flower or a sunset they see more than just a pretty flower or a beautiful sunset they see what life is made up of, which is wonderful at times and ugly at other times. Like the saying goes you can't have good without evil. Comparison of the Use of Nature by Shelley and Wordsworth Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both Shelley, in "Ode to the West Wind," and Wordsworth, in "Intimations of Immortality," are very similar in their use of nature to describe the life and death of the human spirit. As they both describe nature these two poets use the comparison of how the Earth and all its life is the same as our own human life. I feel that Shelley uses the seasons as a way of portraying the human life during reincarnation. Wordsworth seems to concentrate more on the stages that a person goes through during life. Shelley compares himself to such things as clouds, leaves, and waves. He is writing the poem as if he were an object of the earth, and what it is like to once live and then die only to be reborn. On the other hand, Wordsworth takes images like meadows, fields, and birds and uses them to show what gives him life. Life being what ever a person needs to move on, and with out those objects can't have life. Wordsworth does not compare himself to these things like Shelley, bu t instead uses them as an example of how he feels about the stages of living. Starting from an infant to a young boy into a man, a man who knows death is coming and can do nothing about it because it's part of life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When a man becomes old and has nothing to look forward to he will always look back, back to what are called the good old days. These days were full of young innocence, and no worries. Wordsworth describes these childhood days by saying that "A single Field which I have looked upon, / Both of them speak of something that is gone: The Pansy at my feet Doth the same tale repeat: Whither is fled the visionary gleam? Where is it now, the glory and the dream?"(190) Another example of how Wordsworth uses nature as a way of dwelling on his past childhood experiences is when he writes "O joy! That in our embers / Is something that doth live, / That nature yet remembers / What was so fugitive!" (192) Here an ember represents our fading years through life and nature is remembering the childhood that has escaped over the years. As far as Wordsworth and his moods go I think he is very touched by nature. I can picture him seeing life and feeling it in every flower, ant, and pie ce of grass that crosses his path. The emotion he feels is strongly suggested in this line "To me the meanest flower that blows can give / Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." (193) Not only is this showi... ...d of this poem Shelley asks, "If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" (678) Now I wonder if this is just another line emphasizing rebirth and the similarities between the seasons. Or is Shelley saying this because he is getting the sense that the closer he gets to death the more he questions whether rebirth is real.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  So after close examination of both these pieces of literature I feel that the differences between these two poets is that Wordsworth looks back on how life was and Shelley wonders what's after death. I would have to say that they're very similar in the way that they use nature as a way of portraying human life. The use of how nature affects them and their love for nature brings me to that conclusion. So what makes these pieces so powerful? Really it's not the reasoning between life and death; it's the comparison of how other living things on Earth that we take for granted are similar to us as a human race. When these two poets look at a flower or a sunset they see more than just a pretty flower or a beautiful sunset they see what life is made up of, which is wonderful at times and ugly at other times. Like the saying goes you can't have good without evil.

Facebook’s Initial Public Offering

The reasons for Facebook to go public In the beginning, Facebook, through its founder Mark Zuckerberg, was unwilling to go public and refused a number of buyout offers. However, it reached the 500 threshold after accepting private investments from firms, which eventually made Zuckerberg decide to go public. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that private companies reaching more than 500 ‘shareholders of record’ must abide by the same requirements of financial disclosure undertaken by public companies (Sloan, 2012). It is clear that Facebook’s decision to go public through an initial public offering (IPO) was not the same as the common reasons of firms when they undertake the same decision, which is to draw more revenues (Palmiter, 2008). However, in the long run, Facebook also aimed to access external financing as a result of IPO (Sloan, 2012). The reasons for companies to go public beyond their need for more money are enhanced financial condition, ability to cash out, improved corporate reputation, and improved opportunity for future acquisition (Peng, 2012). The dollar objective of every company in relation to the amount expected to be raised via IPO The dollar objectives of companies entering IPOs for increased revenue purposes are to develop reserves and increase external funds (Vedavalli, 2007; Sullivan, 2007), access capital (Dana, 2004; Ernst and Hacker, 2012), improve financial condition, increase shareholder value, and improve capital to sustain growth (Ernst and Hacker, 2012). In Facebook’s case, its stock price dwindled as there were concerns about its overpriced IPO and long-term business outlook and lost around $ 25 billion in value (Kuratko, 2012). The expected use of the money raised by IPO One expected use of the money raised by IPO is retiring from debt, in which, it is necessary to pay close attention to the company’s financial data and overall growth prospects. Another is enjoyment of the proceeds by the owners of the shares, especially for the sale of secondary shares. Moreover, sold primary shares (newly created shares) from an IPO increase revenue to the companies’ accounts (Khurshed, 2011). In the case of Facebook, the company raised a large amount of money, which has amounted to $ 18 billion. In actuality, there was no increase in the number of shares it sold to the public; instead, most of the new shares were from Zuckerberg, and such was considered not a good sign (Khurshed, 2011). References Dana, L. (2004) Handbook of research on international entrepreneurship. Glos, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. Ernst, D. and Hacker, J. (2012). Applied international corporate finance. Berlin: Verlag Franz Vahlen GmbH. Khurshed, A. (2011). Initial public offerings: The mechanics and performance of IPOs. First Edition. Hampshire: Harriman House Ltd. Kuratko, D. F. (2012) Entrepreneurship: Theory, process, practice. NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Peng, M. W. (2012). Global strategy. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Sloan, P. (2012). Three reasons Facebook has to go public. Retrieved on December 3, 2013 from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57368449-93/three-reasons-facebook-has-to-go-public/ Sullivan, L. R. (2007). Historical dictionary of the People’s Republic of China. Maryland: A Scarecrow Press, Inc. Vedavalli, R. (2007). Energy for development: Twenty-first century challenges of reform and liberalization in developing countries. London: Anthem Press.