An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Essay

In the short story, â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,† Ambrose Bierce uses several descriptions and specific conversations between the round and flat characters to develop the main character traits throughout the story. Bierce methods do not give a word for word account of the character’s individual traits, because he wanted the provided descriptions to allow the reader to draw their own conclusions about each character’s purpose. His technique has produced one round character and a few flat characters that ultimately help develop the main character traits. The main character in the story is a man by the name of Peyton Farquhar. He is the round character because the whole story revolves around what is happening to this man. Most round characters can be classified as dynamic because they can recognize or can adjust to certain circumstances. In this case, Peyton, the main character is introduced to the reader after the situation had already occurred. The writer started off with Peyton about to be hung by the North for trying to stop them, because some Northern Scout dressed as a Confederate Soldier baited him into it. This initial detail set the story up for a flashback to reveal his character developing into courageous man who was willing to do whatever it took to help the confederate, even if he was not supposed to. The other characters presented in this story were the Sergeant who hung him, the Northern Scout, and finally his wife. Each of these characters can be classified as a flat character because they are not dynamic in any way, because each one only provides one role throughout the whole story. His wife is probably the most important flat character because she is the reason he reflects on his past and comes to a final realization before he dies. The thought of her, which the reader doesn’t know is a thought until the very end, allowed Peyton to also develop his character into something he wished he could have been. The sergeant in the beginning merely plays the role of a typical soldier and takes everything he does very seriously. He could be classified as a stock character because his role is a common stereotype of a soldier. Finally, the last character described in the story was the messenger. His role was simply to act as the transitioning character that led the main character t o end up dead. Overall, Bierce’s use of different characters to help develop the main character played a huge role in the development of the story. It helped the reader believe that Peyton really did escaped and become the man he wanted to be for his wife, even though he never really escaped. The different dimensions drew the readers attention and essentially told us that Peyton finally came to a self realization once it was too late.

Engaging In Comparative Education Education Essay

IntroductionIt is in the very nature of logical activity to do comparings. Comparing is a simple portion of idea procedure which enables us to do sense of the universe and our experience of it. Indeed, it can be said that merely by doing comparings can we decently support our place on most inquiries of importance which requires the devising of the judgements. Comparing causes us to do statements to the consequence that one thing is intellectually or morally preferred to or more effectual or better than the other, and this can be clearly exposed in the instruction field, where the quest for betterment for making things better is ever obliging. In a universe which is chiefly focused on intense planetary economic competition and turning beliefs in the cardinal function of instruction as the beginning of possible advantage, authoritiess have become progressively haunted with the international rankings of measured educational results. Educational policy is progressively driven by national efforts to copy the sensed advantage associated with the educational schemes and techniques of other states. Margret Brown argues that documenting patterns in high-scoring states that give thoughts for alteration are really of import ( as cited in Broadfoot 2000, p.361 ) . It would be at least as of import to happen out why similar undertakings have non been successful in other states. ( Shorrocks-Taylor & A ; Jenkins 2000, p.16 ) It is important to measure any suggested patterns from one state to another. Teachers and the general public demand to be informed about the jobs of seting something â€Å" borrowed † into pattern and reform thoughts from other states to our ain system. The increasing international importance of a policy discourse of larning in relation to conventional educational establishments such as schools and universities, reflects the modern-day apprehension of the deduction of the ‘knowledge society ‘ ( Broadfoot 2000, p.358 ) ; It is of great possible and inevitableness for the whole population to be capable and disposed to take advantage of the new methods for accessing new cognition that information and communications engineering is doing available. This besides reflects the turning acknowledgment that ‘learning ‘ is non tantamount with learning. Today ‘s turning concern is womb-to-tomb larning which is strongly described in a recent European Commission study: ‘The Treasure Within ‘ . ( Broadfoot 2000, p.358 )Different position of comparative instruction by different bookmansAntoine Jullien de Paris in 1817 proverb comparative instruction as an analytical survey of instruction in all states with a position to hone national schooling systems with version and alterations from which policymakers can borrow thoughts to implement in their own-country ( Bray 2007, p.1 ) . In Hans ‘ position the public-service corporation of comparative instruction was that type of instruction which analyzes comparative jurisprudence, comparative literature or comparative anatomy in order to foreground the differences in the forces and beginnings that create the differences in the educational systems ( C.S. Oni 2005, p.244 ) . Lewis approached the issue of comparative instruction in footings of an Island formation. Lewis asserted that, no state is an island ; that each is a portion of the universe ; hence, no educational system anyplace in the universe is deserving anything unless it is comparable to some other systems in the universe. â€Å" ( Quoted from C.S. Oni 2005, p.244 ) . Comparative instruction for Blishen is the subdivision of educational theory that has to make with analysing and construing the educational patterns and policies in different states and civilization ( C.S. Oni 2005, p. 244 ) . Le Thanh Khoi believed that comparative instruction is a multidisciplinary country when he said that it â€Å" is non purely a subject, but a field of survey covering all the subjects which serve to understand and explicate instruction † ( quoted from Bray 2007, p. 35 ) . In add-on to larning about other people and civilizations, comparative instruction besides helps the research worker to cognize about oneself. As George Bereday puts it: â€Å" It is self-knowledge Born of the consciousness of others that is the finest lesson comparative instruction can afford. â€Å" ( Quoted from Kubow & A ; Fossum 2003, p. 11 ) . With the sweetening of patriotism and the increasing importance of the state states in the beginning of the nineteenth century comparative instruction was pushed in front. The aim was to larn utile lessons from foreign states, particularly refering instruction systems. This contained a really colonialist position of the western societies on the foreign states. School systems were seen as a resource of new educational thoughts, which could be â€Å" borrowed † to better the ain school system. Comparative instruction transferred itself from extremely pure description degree to a more sophisticated analysis. With the rise of the societal scientific disciplines in the 1950s the historical facet became undistinguished. Alternatively comparative instruction was introduced as a true scientific discipline by utilizing statistical techniques and more quantitative methods. The chief attack was structural functionalism.The purposes of comparative instruction:The purposes of comparative i nstruction are to depict educational systems, procedures, and stoping merchandises every bit good as to help in the development of educational establishments and patterns. It besides highlights the relationships between instruction and society and establishes generalized statements about instruction that is valid in more than one state. Comparative instruction besides deepens our apprehension of our instruction and society ; it can be of great assistance to policy shapers and decision makers ; and can be of great plus in the instruction of instructors ( Bray 2007, p.15 ) . Comparative research besides helps us understand better our ain yesteryear ; turn up ourselves more precisely in the present ; and see more clearly what our educational hereafter may be. Comparative instruction gives the research worker the ability to depict what might be the effect of certain classs of political and economical action, by looking at experience in a scope of states. From the theories mentioned supr a extracted from different bookmans, we can see that comparative instruction facilitates the research workers to larn from the achievement and mistakes that other states have made in the procedure of work outing similar educational jobs. The focal point of comparative survey in instruction is the aggregation and classification of information, both descriptive and quantitative. As Sadler stated in one of his talks delivered in 1900: In analyzing foreign systems of instruction we should non bury that the things outside the schools matter even more than the things inside the school, and govern and construe the things indoors. We can non roll at pleasance among the instruction systems of the universe, like a kid sauntering through a garden, and picking flowers from one shrub and some foliages from another, and so anticipate that if we stick what we have gathered into the dirt at place, we shall hold a life works. A national instruction system of instruction is a living thing, the result of disregarded battles and â€Å" of conflicts long ago † . It has in it some of the secret workings of national life. † ( Quoted from Philips in Alexander et. Al 1999, p.19 ) .On ComparingThe comparative instruction research worker should travel far from the familiar to see the unfamiliar ‘to make the familiar strange ‘ , in order to broader the rules, geographical and epistemic position ( Broadfoot 2000, p .363 ) . When comparing in instruction research workers are bring forthing a assortment of descriptive and explanatory informations which differ from micro to macro comparative informations analysis, leting us to see assorted patterns and processs in a really broad context that helps us to throw light upon them ( Sultana as cited in Borg 2009, p.21 ) . While less developed states have a inclination to look at more developed states to larn from them, more developed states tent to look at states that are on the same economic and educational degree to do cross-national comparings. Examples of this are figure of states that looked at USA as their theoretical account. Switzerland in mid-1990 apart from looking up to USA, it besides hired American advisers to develop a reform bundle for schools ( Steiner- Khamsi 2002, p.76 as cited in Bray 2007, p.18 ) . On the other manus, America learned besides from other states ( Levin 2010, p.96 in www.kappanmagazine.org ) like East Asia, ( Bray 2007, p.21-22 ) where the US section of instruction made an intensive survey of Nipponese instruction and came out with 12 rules of good patterns. Educators and policy shapers went to Finland, which is the top-performing state in the first three unit of ammunitions of PISA, in order to happen the key to education success to accomplish high Markss in PISA. Pr ivate companies like Cisco and McKinsey, are publishing studies on the quality of instruction around the universe. Comparisons across clip provide information about betterment or diminution over the old ages like comparing the different periods in the history of instruction. These comparings though are limited in the nature of the mention groups or standards used: that is they are normally limited to school systems similar to those being evaluated. When policy shapers look at the yesteryear to larn for the hereafter as the British policy shapers used to make in 1980 ‘s to do comparings with their ain yesteryear instead than with other states. Sometimes the ground to compare with the predecessors is to see how the society has developed every bit good as to larn from the errors that were done in the yesteryear ( Bray 2007, p.23, Bradburn & A ; Gilford 1990, p.2 ) . Comparisons with other vicinities or between provinces, provincials and parts compare similar local educational systems within the same province, or with those in other provinces or the state as a whole. Comparisons with other provinces or the state as a whole have the advantage of comparing between educational systems that are loosely similar. They provide information on peculiar state ‘s degree of accomplishment in instruction to the much broader country of the universe ‘s instruction system ( Bradburn & A ; Gilford 1990, p.2 ) .Example of such comparing is the comparing between the instruction systems of Hong Kong ( Bray 2007, p.131 ) or the instruction systems of Macao ( Bray 2007, p.134 ) . When comparing the research worker has to place the countries ; states or topographic points, and can non be generalised. As Le Than Khoi ( in Sultana as cited in Borg 2009, p.16 ) gave the illustration of the Mediterranean. There are excessively many differences in the part that we call the Mediterranean † to do it the object of comparative analyses. Culture is an of import factor when comparing topographic points. An illustration of this is the consequence that Finland got in the PISA in 2002 compared to other topographic points which was based on the reading competencies. Finland achieved good as it has centuries of cultural tradition that long promoted the reading ability ( Bray 2007, p.167 ) . A comparative instruction research worker must seek non to be prejudiced either on political, national, spiritual, racial, gender or ideological facets. It is important that the paradigms used are relevant to all geographic countries and states that are included in the survey. Differences between inter and intra-national research present challenges in comparative research that must be recognized. Such differences are frequently important resource of cultural fluctuation ( Bradburn & A ; Gilford ( 1990 ) , p.21 ) . The part of developing states in international surveies adds information to the development of local research capacity and besides widens the sample of take parting states. Third-world engagement develops North – South duologues every bit good as East- West linkages as it serves as a good beginning for edifice trust and co-operation ( Bradburn & A ; Gilford ( 1990 ) , p.22 ) . As the economic sector is increasing its value and the importance of holding a sound instruction system, the concern and industry sector may confer with comparative educational surveies in their international planning. Textbook publishing houses, developers of educational package and other educational bargainers use comparative instruction to categorise the demands and markets for new merchandises. So the inquiry raised is â€Å" In whose involvements do the instruction system and determinations taken, work? † ( My talk notes ) . Though comparings in instruction are of great benefit there are besides who is sceptic and critic about it. There is the belief amongst these that comparative research will take to a homogeneous-world attack to education that impede proper attending to each state ‘s alone history, civilization, and people. ( Bray 2007, p.178 ) . This thought comes from experiences with international establishments that forced economic policies that had negative effects in less-developed states. It is critical for policy shapers to maintain in head that non all the methods of any state can or should be put into pattern in other states. ( Lavin 2010, p.96 in www.kappanmagazine.org, Stromquist 2002, p.87 ) It is of import that â€Å" insiders † and â€Å" foreigners † work collaboratively in order to research and development work that is more sensitive to local, societal buildings of world. ( Crossley 2002, p.82 )Education research undertakings and organisations:As planetary economic competition additions, additions besides the beliefs in the instruction as the beginning of fringy advantage, authoritiess have become progressively haunted with the international rankings of measured educational results. However the issue and impact of power on the educational establishments differentiate signifier in society to another. It is going of import more than of all time as the determination devising in instruction is altering well. The chief histrions are no longer those most affected by instruction like the pupils, parents and the instructors but instead private bureaus and international fiscal establishments ( Stromquist 2002, p.87 ) . International bureaus compare forms and consequences in different states in order to better the advice that they give to national authoritiess and policy shapers. The UNESCO, World Bank and OECD are amongst international bureaus each underscoring their ain purposes changing from teaching method, course of study, economic and fiscal affairs, which play an of import portion in the instruction sphere. Their purpose is to help states in planing and implementing successful policies to turn to the challenges that the educational systems are confronting. They besides create strategies for advancing womb-to-tomb acquisition in relation with other socio-economic policies ( Bray 2007, p. 31 ) . New thoughts gained from international surveies such as PISA, TIMMS and Survey -Lang can be tried to see if they will better the instruction system and to understand why the public presentation of pupils in different states differs ( Shorrocks-Taylor & A ; Jenkins 2000 ) . Since the late 1950 ‘s with the initiation of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement ( IEA ) such big graduated table comparative surveies have taken on considerable significance in instruction. From the get downing the IEA has been committed to analyzing larning in the basic school topics and to carry oning on a regular footing study of educational accomplishment. Over clip, these ‘outcome ‘ informations have been progressively linked to analyses of the effects of course of study and school organisation upon larning and the relationship between accomplishment and student attitudes ( Shorrocks- Taylor 2000, p.14 ) . There are different methods on how to mensurate the comparative facet which differs from theoretical grounded surveies intended to construct or prove complex theoretical accounts of educational systems to descriptive surveies whose intent is to supervise different characteristics of educational systems, patterns and results. The intent of theoretically oriented surveies is chiefly to analyze relationships among variables and expression for insouciant accounts. It is designed to analyze links between school accomplishment and such features as course of study, learning methods, household outlooks and support degrees. These highlight the degree of differences between schools or categories every bit good as on differences between pupils as the unit of analysis. ( Bradburn & A ; Gilford 1990, p.5 ) Belatedly, the intensification of international competition, spurred on by globalisation, neo-liberalism and marketizing, has major deductions for cross-national surveies of educational accomplishment, for those engaged in or covering with the powerful influence of national and international conference tabular arraies, and for the theoretical models that we employ in our analyses. If the support of research is progressively linked to commercial involvements, for illustration, the potency for critical theory, or for alternate cultural positions to act upon the building of new cognition, may be progressively challenged. Questions of power and â€Å" whose cognition counts? â€Å" , in the procedure of development arise, possibly, more strongly than of all time before ( mention from my talk notes ) . As Sultana stated, comparative instruction should travel further than the concern with comparing â€Å" like with similar † ( Sultana as cited in Borg 2009, p.9 ) . It focuses more on happening a peculiar point from where educational and related societal phenomenon can be seen from different positions ; make a deeper apprehension of the kineticss as good come up with new thoughts. Comparative instruction provides penetrations on higher instruction, educational invention, teacher instruction, power and instruction researches each conveying the experience of the research worker ‘s state, or the state or the states that research worker has studied and came together in order to portion these issues in debating Sessionss.Comparative instruction and globalisation:In a globalise universe, schools have come under greater national question sing the ways they can lend to or detain a national advancement. Claxton ( 1998 ) has described the rapidly-changing times we are populating a s the ‘Age of Uncertainty ‘ in which it is impossible to foretell the province and form of the universe in few old ages clip ( as cited in Broadfoot 2000, p. 358 ) . The educational universe today encounters systems which may finally turn out to be a revolution in what is to be taught, to whom and how, since, as Edmund King implies, ‘all its established systems were developed for a universe that no longer exists † ( quoted in Broadfoot p.267 ) . Accountability and educational transmutation rose oppugning on the instruction procedure itself. The heightened involvement in and concern over instruction has encouraged pedagogues to re-evaluate in the visible radiation of new planetary worlds, the intent of schooling, the implicit in theories about the relationship between instruction and development and oppugning about pedagogue professionalism. ( Watson as cited in Crossley 2002, p.81 ) The ways in which pedagogues in different states view these issues and the schemes employed to turn to them must be understood in the visible radiation of different cultural, societal and political context in each state. By sing the educational issue from the position of two diverse states the research worker can place factor that might be missed when sing the issue within the context of ain state entirely. If the research country is related to researcher ‘s ain cultural environment, it is non ever easy to comprehend its particular features. The instance may look excessively apprehensible and non-problematic. â€Å" A fish can non see that it is populating in H2O † ( quoted in hypertext transfer protocol: //www2.uiah.fi/projects/metodi/172.htm ) . Multiple cultural positions believing and analytic models from a multiplicity of adherent the research would supply an international context every bit good as tools for opening position to heighten the manner of seeing instruct ion.Critical thought on Comparative instruction:Comparative instruction and the critical position taking that comparative enquiry, assist the research worker to travel into a deeper analysis of the relationship among society, development, instruction and the function that citizens either straight or indirectly play in the instruction procedure. Through the development of comparative thought accomplishments research workers should be able to set about analyses of their place civilizations and systems with a more apprehension of the assorted cultural factors at drama. Comparative instruction encourages both research workers and pedagogues to inquire inquiries like: â€Å" What sort of educational policies, planning and instruction are appropriate and for what sort of society? † The field of comparative instruction focuses attending on what might be appropriate and inappropriate policy while encourage consciousness of doctrines underlying educational policies and encourages inte rdisciplinary review. ( Klein 1990, 1996, Epstein 1983 as cited in Kubow & A ; Fossum 2003, p.7 ) . Comparative instruction is good and necessary non merely for bookmans and policy shapers but for instruction practicians every bit good. As Gutek said, instructors function in two dimensions: as citizens of peculiar nation-states, they foster pupils ‘ national individuality ; and 2nd as citizens of a planetary society, they recognize that possibilities of worlds growing and menaces to human endurance traveling beyond national boundaries ( Gutek 1993 as cited in Kubow & A ; Fossum 2003, p.251 ) . Teachers must larn to look at other tantamount schoolroom and school patterns throughout the universe. As Stake ( 1978 ) said â€Å" we observe that people per se pursue the general by looking at the particular. Peoples make sense out of the new fortunes they encounter by comparing that particulars to the existence that includes their ain frames of mention. We have named the procedure of executing cross-cultural probe and so deducing penetrations from these probes the accomplishments o f comparative position pickings † ( quoted in Kubow & A ; Fossum 2003, p.252 ) . Schools are compared with spheres which constitute tenseness and combination of forces. In order to understand and command such status, involves critical accomplishments and the ability to understand the political underlining of societal and educational fortunes ( Kaplan 1991 as cited in Kubow & A ; Fossum 2003, p. 252 ) . These sorts of critical thought can advance critical inquiries like: What is the purpose of schooling? What are the just instruction and who decides? What is the appropriate balance between educator authorization and answerability? What factors reinforce or hinder teacher professionalism? ( Quoted from Kubow & A ; Fossum 2003, p. 252 ) . The field of comparative instruction continues to specify its individuality and significance in the new thought about instruction, society, colonialism and development. Ideas from post-foundational thought, post-modernism, post-structuralism and post-colonialism, are of great importance in comparative research because they deal with common metanarratives of advancement, modernness, laterality and subordination that there have been the fulcrum of the chief thoughts in comparative instruction. ( Mehta & A ; Ninnes 2003, p.238 ) , Crossley 2002, p.82 ) .Examples of Case surveies:Case study 1: Comparison literacyThe utility of comparative instruction is seen in the figure of different instance surveies. An illustration of a instance survey is ‘Literacy accomplishments in Maltese-English bilingual kids ‘ by Rachael Xuereb ( 2009 ) . The survey examines the reading and phonological consciousness accomplishments in English and Maltese of kids whose female parent lingua is Maltese and 2nd linguistic communication English. A sample of 50 typically developing Maltese kids aging between 8 old ages 0 months to 10 old ages 5 months was chosen to take part in this survey. The kids acquired Maltese as a first linguistic communication within the household and subsequently acquired English as a 2nd linguistic communication through Kindergarten and/or the early school old ages. The participants in this survey attend a church school situated in the south-western portion of the island. Since kids star traveling to school at the age of 5 old ages, the kids have been larning to read in Maltese and besides in English. For the intent of this survey, Maltese reading and reading-related trials were created to parallel the UK and US standardised appraisals. All the kids sat for the novel trials and the standardized trials. Harmonizing to the consequences found by Xuereb, Maltese kids read better in Maltese than in English, which is the linguistic communication of direction in most of the topics. Each kid was tested on the undermentioned steps in both linguistic communications: word and non word reading, non word repeat, spelling, sectioning words and non words elision, rapid naming of letters, Numberss and colorss, frontward memory for figures. Increasing research has addressed this issue for bilingual pupils, in relationship to whether phonological consciousness in the first linguistic communication predicts phonological consciousness in the 2nd linguistic communication ( Quiroga, Lemos-Britton, Mostafapour, Abbott & A ; Berninger, 2002 ) . Studies comparing first linguistic communication and 2nd linguistic communication decrypting accomplishments in readers of different writing systems suggest that these accomplishments are positively correlated and that single differences in the development of these accomplishments can be predicted on the footing of underlying cognitive and lingual abilities such as phonological accomplishments, memory, orthographic cognition and velocity of processing ( Geva & A ; Wade-Woolley, 1998 as cited in Xuereb 2009, p.331 ) . This survey aimed to happen reply for how do Maltese-English bilingual kids perform on reading and phonological undertakings and to verify whether anterior findings of cross-language transportation from first linguistic communication phonological consciousness to reading or to 2nd linguistic communication phonological consciousness be replicated in this sample of Maltese-speaking pupils.Case study 2: Comparing the function of gender and age on pupils ‘ perceptual experiences towards on-line instruction.This survey conducted by Fahme Dabaj, and Havva BaAYak, was conducted in order to inquiry and analyse the perceptual experiences and attitudes of the pupils to online distance instruction by agencies of electronic mail and the World Wide Web as the method of presenting direction through online sheepskin plans offered by Sakarya University in Turkey with regard to their age and gender. The research was based on a questionnaire as a mean of informations aggregation method. The findings of the analysis explained that although the pupils registered to the on-line plan by will, they preference was for the traditional face-to-face instruction due to the trouble of the gestural communicating, their deficiency of ability in utilizing the engineering required, and their belief in traditional face-to face larning more than on-line instruction. The research methodological analysis of this survey used the quantitative statistical methods and techniques such as significance differences, correlativity and the cross-tabulation distribution to happen out if there is a important relationship between the independent and the dependent variable inquiries, mensurating the function of age and gender of pupils towards their perceptual experiences sing distant instruction. The quantitative information was collected by study questionnaire and was analyzed via quantitative statistical methods. All the pupils enrolled in the distance instruction plans and the online classs in the autumn term of the 2005/2006 Academic Year took portion in the research. Sing gender, the consequences proofed that the female pupils have a better consciousness of the on-line instruction contrasting to the male pupils. Sing age, the consequences showed that the older the pupils ‘ penchant moves towards go toing face-to face categories.Case study 3: Comparison different Art methodological analysiss.I besides attempted to do a little comparative survey in which I compared Art methodological analysis adopted in a province school compared with that adopted by the Verdala International School. The Verdala International is a coeducational international school in which foreign pupils resident in Malta can go to. The Art section in this school in based on two Art Programs ; the IG which is tantamount to O ‘ degree test and the IB which is tantamount to the A ‘ degree test. My research was aimed at conveying out the difference in instructors ‘ and pupils ‘ attack towards the topic. The first difference which I pointed out was the degree of organisation in the province school ‘s Art room in comparing with the â€Å" organized † pandemonium that ruled in the Verdala International. Both instructors ‘ response to my remarks about the Art room environment was that it reflects the methodological analysis they adopt towards the topic. Art lessons in the province school are more structured ; pupils have to follow regulations which hinder them from utilizing their imaginativeness freely. In both schools the lessons where introduced in the same mode there was a batch of instructor talk with the instructor orchestrating the whole thing. The kids were merely asked to take part when the instructor asked them for suggestions. The two lessons differed in the manner they developed while in the province school, the pupils followed the traditional method by copying the instructor ‘s illustrations from the whiteboard and were really limited in experimentation, at Vedala international the pupils were much freer to experiment and be originative. The ground was that although the Art course of study of both schools are really similar, the methodological analysis adopted is different. The instructor at the province school believes that in order to â€Å" interrupt the regulations † in Art foremost the pupil has to larn them by utilizing the traditional method – by copying. While Art lessons at the province school are more exams oriented, although at Verdala International they do hold an terminal of twelvemonth trial, the focal point is more on assisting pupils develop originative thoughts. During my observation Sessionss at the province school, which were carried out in the beginning of November, the instructor systematically reminded the pupils about the test. On the other manus at Verdala International the concluding trial was ne'er mentioned. At the Verdala International I besides tried to compare Maltese pupils who have been to a province school and are now go toing Verdala International with foreign pupils who had been go toing to Art categories in their ain states are now at Verdala. The purpose of such comparing was to place pupils ‘ positions of the methodological analysiss used for the instruction of Art in Malta and abroad. The foreign pupils interviewed were from Italy, USA, Sweden, Germany, Russia and England. From the response given it resulted that the conservative Art methodological analysis used in Maltese province schools is really similar to that in Russia and in the early old ages of the in-between school in Germany. Lessons at Verdala International are more similar to those in Italy where the pupils are active participants and able to take determinations on what they should make. While in province schools every lesson planned out by the instructor following the course of study that is to be covered, at Verdala International the lesson is in the signifier of a group treatment. Each pupil decides on a subject that he/she would wish work on and the instructor will ease his acquisition. This manner, different pupils might be working on different undertakings unlike in province schools where everyone would be making the same thing. Maltese pupils prefer more the methodological analysis used at the Verdala International than the Art methodological analysis used in the province school. The research methodological analysis of this survey consisted of observation Sessionss, interviews with pupils both on single bases and in groups, and interviews with four instructors ( one at Verdala International and 3 at province school ) . The figure of pupils that took portion in this survey was 45 pupils ( 22 at Verdala International and 23 at province school ) .DecisionThe comparative instruction country is composed by what research workers declare about its nature, beginnings, intents, hereafters, by the â€Å" truths † people support and by the battle over what made â€Å" true † comparative instruction ( Mehta & A ; Ninnes 2003, p.240 ) . The significance in analyzing this country utilizing rational truth, the working and foreign systems of instruction will ensue in our better fitted to analyze and understand our ain piece helps to widen and intensify our apprehension of the universe it is a manner to progress our entire capacity to believe. As postulated by Sadler: â€Å" If we study foreign systems of instruction exhaustively and sympathetically-and understanding and thoroughness are both necessary for the task- I believe that the consequence on our heads will be to do us value as we have ne'er prized before the good things which we have at place and besides do us recognize how many things there are in our ain instruction systems which need pmt and seeking alteration. † ( Quoted from Bray 2007 pp. 37-38 ) .

Many MNEs may want to start operations in some foreign country Essay

Establishment mode means that the MNE starts its operations from scratch in the foreign country usually through a wholly owned subsidiary where as in entry mode; this can be accomplished by a subsidiary or through partnership with a local party which involves shared ownership. In this study the authors examine the effect of same variables on both these choices available to a company. They do it through a series of hypotheses. The first hypothesis measures the positive effect of greater institutional advancement on the choice that the company makes. Institutional advancement is defined in the study as pertaining to changes in formal institutions over a period of time. It is argued that regulatory forces are likely to be a big influence on a decision that an MNE makes with regard to its establishment or entry choice. Regulatory forces or rather Regulative forces as described in the study are not limited to laws and regulations only but also include political and other social factors. The authors conclude that institutional advancement has a positive effect on the choice to establish a subsidiary with shared ownership. The second hypothesis postulated by the authors’ measures the moderating effect of institutional advancement on the tendency of a technologically intense firm to either go for establishment mode or entry mode. It is argued that firms which are technology intense should go for establishment mode because their competitive advantages are embedded in their labor force skills and organizational practices so it is more efficient for them to start from scratch. They should hire and train the local labor force. Furthermore in case of a joint venture or share ownership of the subsidiary, protecting the intellectual rights can be an issue. Protection of such rights is dependent on the judicial system. In transition economics where the judiciary is corrupt and intellectual property rights are not respected, an MNE would be reluctant to transfer its technology. Therefore authors conclude that firm with advanced proprietary technology are likely to prefer establishment mode but level of institutional advancement has a positive moderating effect on such a firm going for entry mode. The third hypothesis measures the moderating effect of institutional advancement on a multidomestic MNE to either go for establishment of entry mode. Multidomestic firms are defined as those which pursue multidomestic strategy and want to establish a sustainable local market presence. For such MNEs acquiring a local company is a more attractive option because such acquisition can provide them with local brands, market knowledge, distribution channels and network relationships with the host country’s other businesses and government. How the restructuring and realignment of the acquired entity can be very challenging. The firms in the host country are likely to be following a different paradigm. But on the other hand if an MNE goes for shared ownership or entry mode, it can accomplish more without facing these difficulties. It is argues that a multidomestic MNE requires lesser control on the subsidiary. If this is so then subsidiaries in the host country can have considerable freedom and operate on their own fully leveraging their local expertise.Hence it is concluded institutional advancement has a positive moderating effect on a multidomestic MNE to go for entry mode. Finally the authors have used an international survey to gather the data to support their findings. The survey consists of a questionnaire with 33 open and close ended questions. Furthermore the MNE’s latest establishment mode choice or entry mode choice has been taken as the dependent variable. Critique This study is no doubt a valuable asset for managers and students alike in studying the behavior of MNEs in making their choices when it comes to Foreign Direct Investment but nevertheless it has a few shortcomings and weaknesses. But the biggest shortcoming of this study is the scope. The authors have primarily taken a sample of European MNEs. And the so called economies in transition are basically east European countries which were once under the iron curtain. Firstly we need to consider the fact that Europeans MNEs may be very different from Japanese or American MNEs and so forth. The establishment or entry mode choice for Japanese firms may be dependent on or moderated by variables other than the ones discussed here. Similarly an MNE whether European or Japanese may decide to invest in some country in Central Asia or North Africa or even South Asia. The market conditions in these countries are very different from those of the transition economies discussed by the authors. This means that the findings in this study are not universally applicable. Nevertheless it is a valuable addition to our knowledge regarding MNE behavior in making Foreign Direct Investment decisions. But for any researcher trying to consult this study, it is very important to keep the above mentioned limitations in mind.

Strategy in Action Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategy in Action - Assignment Example (Lionsgate.com, 2011) Organizational culture is the collection of values and norms that are shared by individuals in an organization that affect interaction within and outside the organization. It is an important tool as it brings employees towards a common goal by developing affinity and provides impetus for growth. A healthy culture promotes self actualization and achievement in employees. Open communication and flexibility within the organization provide grounds for innovation and experimentation. Constructive cultures are empowering and lead to highly motivated employees, team work and growth. (Expertplagas.com, 2009) The organizational culture of Lionsgate is influenced by its start as an independent film studio which has developed into a major studio with global presence. Thus the culture reflects the entrepreneurial initiative that independent studios boast of. Lionsgate combines flexibility with the strategic management of a major studio with the customer focus of a digital c ompany. A speech by Lionsgate’s co-COO, Jo Drake reflects the organizational culture of taking risks in media and movies, of looking at changes in the market place as challenges, and the focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. (indiewire.com, 2010) Curt Marvis, of Lionsgate, explains Lionsgate corporate culture of getting employees involved. According to him, if one person can do the job instead of ten, then Lionsgate will focus on doing so, and employees will be involved in different things that they can handle. This shows that the culture focuses on employee involvement and ownership; however the fact the Lionsgate has acquired various media companies over the world results in the impression that the organizational culture may vary along the acquired companies and may be not as ingrained as preferred. In the event of mergers and acquisitions, it takes times and effort, many a times unsuccessful to develop the company culture of the parent company in the acquired companies . (Variety.com, 2009) Challenges facing the Media and Broadcasting industry The Media and broadcasting company is facing major challenges in the future. The biggest challenge is the changing marketplace which has changed the way content is delivered to customers. The popularity of digital delivery poses threats for media and broadcasting companies as customers can access media easily and cheaply on the internet. The industry needs to develop and master digital delivery of television shows, news, movies and music in order to grab the market online and still retain profits (Vodafone.com, 2011). Another challenge is the increase in competition due to the abundance of independent film making and the cropping up of new competitors, customers have greater choice due to the internet and companies have to be on their toes to maintain performance. The media industry has seen an increasing trend in takeovers, acquisitions and mergers and thus performance and shareholder value needs to be main tained to protect the company from acquisitions. The media industry faces market saturation not only because of the increasing number of competitors but the increasing number of competitors worldwide and in different formats. News companies, movies and television all face threats from online competitors as well and need to maintain a major online presence. This has resulted in cost and margin difficulties, changing patterns of consumer behavior and the need to provide

Construction website evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Construction website evaluation - Essay Example Generally speaking, each construction company has its own motto, perspective, work ethic and attitude on how and what to build. These can vary greatly, but their goal is always the same- to gain more clients, construct more buildings and become successful and acknowledges in the construction business. Once the idea or notion of what to build is created, the customer contacts his or her construction company of choice. They meet and discuss the task at hand, and if they agree on things- a contract is signed to start the construction project. The signing of the contract can be arduous and take a long time since many details have to be agreed upon, such as the cost of the project, exactly how it will be carried out, the estimated duration of constructing and many other details. But if both sides manage to reach an understanding and the company can supply what the customer is interested in, the project is launched. Once the contract is signed, the construction company begins its preparations for the project, and this involves staff members and workers of different areas and fields. One or more architects will be involved, as will construction workers, accountants, lawyers if necessary and many others. The company may have to use sub-contract companies in order to complete the project within the monetary and time frames. This means that another contract will have to be signed between the major construction company that originally took on the construction project and other smaller companies or workers that dont belong to the major company who will be contracted to work on the project. This of course depends on the scope of the project. Finally, when everything is arranged, the implementation stage begins. The materials for the construction project are brought to the location of the intended building (sometimes via other moving companies or industries) and the builders can start constructing the building under the guide of construction manager and the architect or

Trends in Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Trends in Organizational Behavior - Essay Example Ben Bernanke, the famous economist and current chairman of the board of governors of the Fed is constantly pursuing his current strategy (Lowenstein, 2008). He hasn’t considered the potential threat to the country of facing a major break down in terms of a great depression as was in the horrible recession of 1970s (Fortune, 2008). Several other economists challenge Bernanke on his loose monetary policy and are of the view that the opportunity cost of maintain this trend far much a higher than if we accept to sustain a small tightening to fight back the hikes in inflation and to avoid a shocking recession of the economy (Lowenstein, 2008). The various indices and statistics have further depicted a picture acknowledging a similar result that might be faced by America, if this continues. The dollar has been facing constant depreciation against various currencies of the world including Euro as the most threatening element in terms of trade. The purchasing power is reducing, though export s show a positive growth, the prices of import continue to climb up, thus burdening the foreign reserves day by day. This issue is not only the cause of the rising oil prices but due to the change in priorities and trends in spending. People are hesitant to save and thus consume more than they can and/or they should. This in turn is gradually rusting the economy and exhausting its credit line. The Fed is now considering the threats and is now putting controls on the dollar to regulate and fix its devaluation and monitor the soaring inflation. The article is relevant to the organizational behavior in term of the effects that it has on the economy. With such unproductive conditions, the employees are confused and face the threat of losing their jobs. They want to have more in terms of salaries/wages and/or compensations due to the

Application of the Cantor Model of Assertive Discipline on Middle Essay

Application of the Cantor Model of Assertive Discipline on Middle School Students - Essay Example The credo upheld by the familiar phrase promotes a sense of authority for the elder to exercise his right over the child. The elder does so with the intention to correct the child of a misdeed and with the purpose of restoring him to a pleasing and proper character. On one hand, it does not permit a loose and passive control of the behavior of the child for no evil deed goes unpunished. On the other hand, it should not, however, get into the verge of total prohibition nor physical abuse for a wrongdoing for the goal is to restore the child. If done beyond appropriate bounds, the child may resent or may develop a sense of fear. A similar philosophy can be applied in the context of classroom management. The Cantor Model, specifically, fosters this idea. The model stresses the importance of assertive discipline. Teachers have to ensure that the class upholds respect for authority and that students may behave as they please but with caution and awareness that they are responsible for the ir actions (Allen, 1996). Body The Cantor Model can be very suitable for Middle School students because in its practice, the students are given the freedom to learn in a fashion they want but they will be made to really think before they act. Being aware that they will be held liable for any inappropriate behavior, they will first have to assess if an action they wish to perform will be beneficial for them or not. This way, critical thinking may be cultivated in them. The age bracket of Middle School generally falls under the start of the adolescent stage. Sixth to eighth graders would fall in this category. It is the stage when the teen wants to explore more, but may have a struggle with his identity. It is also the stage when he may show occasional rudeness to parents, believing they interfere in his independence. Peer groups generally influence his personal style. The teen may also exhibit childish behaviors when stressed. However, it is good to note that at this developmental le vel, the youth becomes more efficient is using speech to express himself, more interested in intellectual pursuits, and is more able to do work may it be physical, intellectual or emotional (Normal Adolescent Development, 2001). Being guided accordingly by the Canter Model, the educator can use several strategies for classroom management for sixth to eighth graders, maintaining proper overall conduct of the class, without being passive nor hostile. Middle School students will be allowed to practice their independence by choosing a learning style that is suitable for them but the teacher ensures that the classroom rules are not bent just to cater to the demands of students. Firstly, the educator may use student engagement strategies to keep students on task. This method recognizes that there is no single formula to get the attention of all the students. Each has his own interests that will get the student working on the task. In application, the teacher may have the class view a film related to the topic being discussed. They shall then make a reflection on it in a way they deem creative but personal. They can express their opinions through their preferred interest—they can make a song, a poem, a story, a drawing, etc. The educator can give a hint of assertiveness in simply setting a strict deadline, or specifications (e.g. story should not be less than ten pages long, or the song should only have a maximum of five minutes

No requirement and decide by the writer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

No requirement and decide by the writer - Essay Example Wisdom involving both data and intuition, it is a mode of thinking including everything regardless of whether one has the facts or not. Therefore the integration of both data and intuition grasps solutions. How has wisdom helped the human race? The utilization of this mode of thinking which wisdom is has seen great inventions and innovation by scientists. Some of which include finding solutions to various health problems through vaccines and treatment. Is wisdom only for a selected few or does everyone have some wisdom? Wisdom cannot be irrelevant simply by the reason that its character and definition includes both internal and external components which everyone has (Wisdom Research, 2009). The four distillations of human wisdom form the pinnacle of human wisdom. Experiences in love, hope, grace and confidence are necessary for every human being to mature and understand themselves and others. It is the polite, controlled and pleasant manner of behaving that is smooth and attractive to others. Not everyone can be graceful and that is why it is a pinnacle of human wisdom. It takes wisdom to be able to carry oneself in a certain attractive and pleasant manner before others (Hummel, 2014). It is an expectation or desire for a certain thing to happen either to one or another. As humans, we are all faced with different situations that may need a hopeful attitude. It takes wisdom to have hope in situations where the reality states otherwise from our expectations (Hummel, 2014). It is a firm trust in something or someone. The feeling that one can rely on someone or something to accomplish a certain task. Experiences have taught many of us the people we can trust and those we cannot. Having confidence in someone depends on our past experience or others past experience with a person or something. Wisdom is what helps us to know if we should have confidence or not (Hummel,

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 40

Case Study Example These locks would only be accessed using cards given to authorized officials. This means that the accountability for available stocks would fall to those with the security access (Brauer & Dunne, 2002). A security manager of the highest levels of qualifications and responsibility would lead the security team. In addition to having locks, security officials would be deployed art various entry terminals to man the entrances. For windows, they would have to be tinted so that no person can view the content inside. In addition to that, doors and windows would need to be reinforced to avoid breakage. To a certain extent, communicating with the employees would be needed. This would be so if they are required to maintain highest levels of discretion in the activities they do. However, for top secret activities, it would be wise to leave the security concerns to the allocated security team (Gerstein, 2013). The risks of compromise due to personal indiscretion would be at a minimum. Employees should have security cards for areas they are allowed to access. This means that they would not be allowed to access other areas only restricted to certain high-ranking officials. Internal controls are important is determining who access what parts of the arms manufacturing plant. They would improve accountability and the overall security of manufactured products and the manufacturing procedures (McCrie,

Role of the Mentor When Evaluting Student Learning Essay

Role of the Mentor When Evaluting Student Learning - Essay Example The NMC values the experiential knowledge borne by mentors as a way of enhancing the professional and clinical expertise development of the student nurses; hence the decision to formalise and clearly define mentorship. In 2008, the NMC published a mentorship code specifying the importance of mentorship programs in supporting the needs of student nurses in terms of professional development (NMC 2008). The formal roles of mentors according to the NMC involve guiding students in the multidisciplinary clinical environment to ensure seamless transfer once they are finally ready to join the clinical setting (Kinnell and Hughes 2010). The mentors also assess the learning undertaken by the student nurses. Hence, they are indispensable in the evaluation of student nurses. The Roles of Mentors According to the NMC (2008), the mentor helps the students to identify and achieve the learning objectives of the clinical placement. Through experience and the training they have undertaken, mentors are in a position to guide the student through learning requirements during the placement. This involves explaining the learning objectives and ensuring the student nurses are aware of the learning outcomes. After helping students to understand the learning objectives, the mentors then ensure that the desired learning activities take place. This is through activities such as coordinating the learning needs of the students- for instance, through helping them to draw learning timetables. They also ensure students’ comprehension through linking the theory already borne by the students with what is now practiced. Another way to achieve this is through encouraging reflective practice on... This essay approves that the mentor has influential responsibilities in the experiential and professional development of a student nurse. This can be seen in the mentor’s role in helping establish learning objectives and achieve them through guidance and establishing the right environment for learning. Besides this, the mentor is a hugely influential figure in the student’s assessment. Formal or informal continuous assessment involves the mentor actively engaging the student on a day-to-day basis. On the other hand, intermediate interviews provide for formal assessment. They are a landmark in the student’s clinical placement experience during which the student’s progress can be established. Aspects of such evaluation involve establishing whether the student is able to link theoretical knowledge with practice and evaluation of their professional development. This paper makes a conclusion that critical analysis of the intermediate interview form of assessment reveals that it is highly significant in re-focusing the student towards the learning objectives or action plan. It also offers a chance for the mentor to provide relevant feedback to the student to help with the rest of their development. On the flipside, it is a one off activity, which if unaccompanied by continuous assessment may result in incorrect evaluation of the student. The conclusion is that mentors play a hugely influential role in intermediate assessment.

Management and organizational behavior review and periodicals Essay

Management and organizational behavior review and periodicals - Essay Example Even in this electronic age when one can access all the information on internet; the importance of a good text cannot be ignored. Recommended Text Book on Management and Organizational Behavior: It is difficult for the management students to find the best and the most comprehensive books on management and organizational behavior. Books on management often fail to cover the subject of organizational behavior completely. There are some books that either revolves around management and basic concepts of management or organizational behavior. However, there are only few books that fully cater the needs of the management students on these topics together. â€Å"Management and Organizational Behavior,† is a comprehensive text book by Curtis W. Cook and Phillip L. Hunsaker that fits well with the needs of management students. How This Book is Unique and Different: This book provides a complete source of information to the students of business management. Each chapter in this book is e xplained in simple and easy language with different charts, tables and models. It is hard to find such a simple book on the most complicated and hard subject. Many students find it difficult to understand the core concepts, ideas and different theories but in this book, authors have comprehensively elaborated each and every point with examples and simple models. In short, we can say that this books matches perfectly with the curriculum and other study requirements of the students. Table of Contents: This book is comprised of total 15 chapters. Each chapter defines and highlights a new concept with examples from corporate world on management and business. The table of contents is comprised of the following chapters: Chapter 1:  Managing People and Organizations Chapter 2:  Strategic Thinking, Planning & Continuous Improvement Chapter 3:  Organizing Work and People Chapter 4:  Creating and Modifying Organizational Culture Chapter 5:  Perception, Learning and Personality Chap ter 6:  Motivation Chapter 7:   Motivation, Methods and Applications Chapter 8:  Communicating for Understanding and Results Chapter 9:  Creating Productive Interpersonal Relations Chapter 10:  Building Groups into Teams Chapter 11:  Conflict Management and Negotiations Chapter 12:  Ethical Problem Solving and Decision Making Chapter 13:  Power and Politics Chapter 14:  Leadership Chapter 15:  Change The Core Concept of the Book: This book discusses different ideas, principles and concepts that are used in the implementation of an effective management within an organization. This book helps the students to understand the core concepts of an effective management system and organization in a simple way that how managers can play an effective role in an organization, how to deal with the cultural diversity, motivate an employee and how one can strategize the policies effectively to attain an organization’s goals and objectives. It is often hard for the manage ment students to understand the basic concepts of management and organizational behavior as well as to build a relation between the two. The language used by the authors is simple and easily understandable even for the foreign students. At various places the authors have used some technical business terms which make the book more professionally themed in order to develop the knowledge of the corporate world in the minds of the students and to prepare them for the professional world. However, the authors of this book have comprehensively

Housing and environmental issues Essay Example for Free

Housing and environmental issues Essay Community development officer: CDOs should have: †¢ the ability to communicate with a wide range of people †¢ the ability to manage a budget †¢ sensitivity in dealing with multi-cultural issues, such as religion †¢ networking skills and a good memory for names and faces †¢ the ability to work on their own initiative †¢ Commitment to social inclusion issues. CDOs may work for a local authority; he must also involve public decision in multi cultural communities housed by the associations. Public involvement in regeneration is widely held to be a good thing. There are very few who write about or comment on regeneration, however it is defined who do not claim that public involvement is an important if not essential component of effective and successful regeneration. And to a great extent this has been the position in the UK and elsewhere for well over a century. However, there are very few studies that have set out to measure and to analyse the impact of public involvement. In other words, few researchers have attempted to see what difference it makes in practice to involve the public and whether any such differences are positive, in the sense of being both anticipated and desired. There are, nevertheless, many studies that shed some light on the processes of public involvement and draw conclusions about its impact in specific cases. The conclusion of many of these studies is that public involvement did not work very well in practice: it was embarked upon too late; insufficient resources were provided to make it effective; the local environment was not very conducive; and key decisions continued to be taken by people not living in the areas affected. The importance of involving the public in attempts to improve and regenerate neighbourhoods has been recognised for many years. However, the consensus around the value and potential benefits of greater public involvement has probably never been stronger, not least because government has put it at the centre of its plans to modernise both the delivery of public services and the very processes of government. A simple theory of public participation The political imperatives driving forward the agenda of public participation are well established, but three stand out at present. First is the belief that participation is intrinsically good and worthwhile, and hence more participation is desirable. Second is the growing acknowledgement that many major policy issues do not appear to be capable of obvious resolution – they can be termed ‘wicked problems’ for this reason (Rittel and Weber, 1973). An obvious consequence of this recognition is to take a more open approach to their resolution, in other words to allow a wider range of partners into the arena of policy debate and hence to share the burden of resolution. Finally, there is a clear belief that greater participation is needed to stem if not reverse the apparent decline in social capital charted by Putnam (2001) and his followers (see DeFilipis, 2001). A slightly broader set of factors can be derived from the wider academic literature where at least four distinct explanations of or justification for greater public participation in government generally are apparent. Instrumentalist conceptions point to the fact that individuals are the best judges of their own interests and hence by participating in policy debates and political discussions they are best able to articulate and advance these interests. The job of government then lies in the aggregation of individual interests and the balancing of conflicting positions into a plausible public interest. Communitarian conceptions take a different approach and advocate a more collective or social approach among the participating public, such that a negotiated view of the public interest is provided to rather than by government. Of course government may then have to perform further rounds of aggregation or even facilitate further rounds of negotiation or consensus building, but the public plays a more prominent part in the social construction of their own idea of public interest. In this conception there is some degree of aggregation but government is still left to aggregate, adjudicate or reconcile the possibly conflicting views of different communities or even coalitions of communities. Educative approaches suggest that public participation helps in developing a more sophisticated understanding of the complexities of policy issues; of the ethical dilemmas and the need to make trade-offs for example between price and quality or between the achievement of short and long term priorities. Finally, expressive conceptions of participation emphasise the opportunity that political participation gives individuals to express their political identity. Through active campaigning, displaying posters, attending rallies, donating money or time, one is able to demonstrate to the world at large that fact that one is a feminist, a socialist, a conservative, a nationalist and so on. It is of course important also to bear in mind that political participation can involve much more than voting in periodic elections, or even campaigning in them. Attending meetings about issues of local or international concern and taking part in participatory events such as juries, consensus conferences or citizens juries are also important as is participation in ongoing campaigns or lobbies, again from local (save our school) to global (save our planet) issues. There is something of a paradox here, in that there is plentiful data available on formal political involvement in voting, but relatively little available on the more prosaic but nevertheless significant everyday acts of involvement, such as going to meetings or simply engaging socially and maybe politically with ones neighbours (Hoggett and Bishop, 1986). In recent years some regular and extensive surveys have begun to provide valuable data of this type, but it is still the case that many sophisticated models of community engagement, civic renewal and social capital, have been constructed on flimsy empirical foundations (Prime, Zimmeck Zurawa, 2002). But to develop a simple model of participation we need to consider in some more detail questions along each of the three main dimensions implied in the expression: public participation in planning or policy making. Robert D. Putnam That Western society has changed dramatically since the middle of the 20th century. There is less agreement about what caused the changes, and whether they have been beneficial. One barometer of change in Western society is the level of ‘social capital’ (a concept popularised by Robert D. Putnam), which results from high levels of investment by citizens in their community. Putnam’s investigation of American society, Bowling Alone (2000), considers the full range of changes affecting America (and all western societies): declining participation in institutional Christianity; less involvement in sport and recreational clubs, politics, charitable causes, and volunteer work; and a radical re-shaping of the family though divorce, a lower birth rate, and a disinclination to marry at all. These trends, Putnam argues, result in diminished social capital. Putnam’s analysis of America holds for the three Anglophone members of George W. Bush’s ‘coalition of the willing,’ America, Britain and Australia, and may explain why hawkish, right-wing governments are the people’s choice at the start of the 21st century, despite an unprecedented liberality and inclusiveness throughout the second half of the 20th century. Putnam notes a range of factors responsible for civic disengagement: suburban sprawl; the popularity of television and electronic media; changed work patterns, including the large-scale entry of women into the workforce; and generational changes resulting in the ‘replacement of an unusually civic generation by several generations [Baby Boomers, Generations X and Y] †¦ that are less embedded in community life’ (p. 275). In the United States, where voting is optional, these developments dilute democracy, and societies with low participation rates tend to become distrustful. Untrusting citizens call for tougher; ‘law and order’ focused governments, resulting in the election of increasingly right-wing political parties. Social capital: 1. Definition The concept and theory of social capital dates back to the origins of social science; however, recent scholarship has focused on social capital as a subject of social organization and a potential source of value that can be harnessed and converted for strategic and gainful purposes. According to Robert David Putnam, the central premise of social capital is that social networks have value. Social capital refers to the collective value of all social networks and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other. Social capital refers to the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a societys social interactions. Increasing evidence shows that social cohesion is critical for societies to prosper economically and for development to be sustainable. Social capital is not just the sum of the institutions that underpin a society; it is the glue that holds them together However, social capital may not always be beneficial. Horizontal networks of individual citizens and groups that enhance community productivity and cohesion are said to be positive social capital assets whereas self-serving exclusive gangs and hierarchical patronage systems that operate at cross purposes to communitarian interests can be thought of as negative social capital burdens on society. 2. History of the research on the concept Robert David Putnam, if not the first one to write on the issue, is considered as the major author on the concept of social capital. He is a U. S. political scientist and professor at Harvard University, and is well-known for his writings on civic engagement and civil society along with social capital. However, his work is concentrated on the United States only. His most famous (and controversial) work, Bowling Alone, argues that the United States has undergone an unprecedented collapse in civic, social, associational, and political life (social capital) since the 1960s, with serious negative consequences. Though he measured this decline in data of many varieties, his most striking point was that virtually every traditional civic, social, and fraternal organization had undergone a massive decline in membership. From his research, a working group has formed at Harvard University and is called Saguaro Seminar. Most definitions around the social capital concept, notably those used by the World Bank, come from Putnam’s work and this research. 3. Measuring social capital The Saguaro Seminar, in the continuation of Putnam’s work, has been elaborating various means to measure the level of social capital in different contexts. It says on its website that measurement of social capital is important for the three following reasons: (a) Measurement helps make the concept of social capital more tangible for people who find social capital difficult or abstract; (b) It increases our investment in social capital: in a performance-driven era, social capital will be relegated to second-tier status in the allocation of resources, unless organizations can show that their community-building efforts are showing results; and (c) Measurement helps funders and community organizations build more social capital. Everything that involves any human interaction can be asserted to create social capital, but the real question is does it build a significant amount of social capital, and if so, how much? Is a specific part of an organization’s effort worth continuing or should it be scrapped and revamped? Do mentoring programs, playgrounds, or sponsoring block parties lead more typically to greater social capital creation? Measuring social capital: Towards a theoretically informed measurement framework for researching social capital in family and community life. by Wendy Stone. Research paper no. 24, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2001, 38p, ISBN 0 642 39486 5 To inform the Institutes Families, Social Capital and Citizenship project, this paper contributes to the development of clear links between theorised and empirical understandings of social capital by: establishing a theoretically informed measurement framework for empirical investigation of social capital; and reviewing existing measures of social capital in light of this framework. The paper concludes with a statement of guiding principles for the measurement and empirical investigation of social capital in family and community life. Social Capital as Credit Social capital, or aggregate reputation, is a form of credit. Some formal transactions can be supported by social capital. Informal transactions are rarely underpinned by financial credit or legal agreement and instead rely entirely social capital. We all have our internal calculators keeping tacit track of who is doing wrong and who is doing right, the health of the relationships and adjusting our actuarial tables according to experience. While undertaking government activities environment problems should also be considered. As it has became a global issue we need to take care of everything. Globalisation and cultural identity It is fair to say that the impact of globalization in the cultural sphere has, most generally, been viewed in a pessimistic light. Typically, it has been associated with the destruction of cultural identities, victims of the accelerating encroachment of a homogenized, westernized, consumer culture. This view, the constituency for which extends from (some) academics to anti-globalization activists (Shepard and Hayduk 2002), tends to interpret globalization as a seamless extension of – indeed, as a euphemism for – western cultural imperialism. In this discussion which follows we approach this claim with a good deal of skepticism. we will not seek to deny the obvious power of globalized capitalism to distribute and promote its cultural goods in every corner. Nor will we take up the argument – now very commonly made by critics of the cultural imperialism thesis (Lull 2000; Thompson 1995; Tomlinson 1991) that a deeper cultural impact cannot be easily inferred from the presence of such goods. What we will try to argue is something more specific: that cultural identity, properly understood, is much more the product of globalization than its victim. Identity as Treasure To begin, let us sketch the implicit (for it is usually implicit) reasoning behind the assumption that globalization destroys identities. Once upon a time, before the era of globalization, there existed local, autonomous, distinct and well-defined, robust and culturally sustaining connections between geographical place and cultural experience. These connections constituted one’s – and one’s community’s – ‘cultural identity’. This identity was something people simply ‘had’ as an undisturbed existential possession, an inheritance, a benefit of traditional long dwelling, of continuity with the past. Identity, then, like language, was not just a description of cultural belonging; it was a sort of collective treasure of local communities. But it was also discovered to be something fragile that needed protecting and preserving that could be lost. Into this world of manifold, discrete, but to various degrees vulnerable, cultural identities there suddenly burst (apparently around the middle of the 1980s) the corrosive power of globalization. Globalization, so the story goes, has swept like a flood tide through the world’s diverse cultures, destroying stable localities, displacing peoples, bringing a market-driven, ‘branded’ homogenization of cultural experience, thus obliterating the differences between locality-defined cultures which had constituted our identities. Though globalization has been judged as involving a general process of loss of cultural diversity, some of course did better, some worse out of this process. Identity as Cultural Power Let us begin with identity, a concept which surely lies at the heart of our contemporary cultural imagination. It is not, in fact, difficult in the prolific literature of analysis of the concept to find positions which contest the story of identity as the victim of globalization. Identity and Institutional Modernity This brings the central claim that globalization actually proliferates rather than destroys identities. In this respect we depart somewhat from Castells’s position: in setting identity as a sort of autonomous cultural dynamic, surging up from the grassroots as an oppositional force to globalization, Castells really fails to see the rather compelling inner logic between the globalization process and the institutionalized construction of identities. This, in other way, lies in the nature of the institutions of modernity that globalization distributes. To put the matter simply: globalization is really the globalization of modernity, and modernity is the harbinger of identity. It is a common assumption that identity-formation is a universal feature of human experience. Castells seems implicitly to take this view when he writes: ‘Identity is people’s source of meaning and experience’ (1997: 6). But whilst it is true that the construction of meaning via cultural practices is a human universal, it does not follow that this invariably takes the form of identity construction as we currently understand it in the global-modern West. This form of ethnocentric assumption has been recently criticized both by anthropologists and media and cultural critics. Globalization and Modernity To appreciate this, it is necessary to take a more complex view of the globalization process than is often adopted – certainly in the polemical discourses of the anti-globalization movement, where globalization is essentially understood as the globalization of capitalism, achieved in its cultural aspect via a complicate western dominated media system. This more complex, multidimensional conceptualization, which views globalization as operating simultaneously and interrelated in the economic, technological-communicational, political and cultural spheres of human life, is in fact relatively un-contentious – at least in principle – within academic discourses. But the cultural implication, rather less easily swallowed by some, is that globalization involves not the simple enforced distribution of a particular western (say, liberal, secular, possessive-individualist, capitalist-consumerist) lifestyle, but a more complicated dissemination of the entire range of institutional features of cultural modernity. References Putnam, R (2001) Bowling Alone: the collapse and revival of American community, Touchstone, London Tomlinson, J (1999) Globalisation and culture, Policy Press, Cambridge Social capital: http://www. jrc. es/home/report/english/articles/vol85/ICT4E856. htm http://www. envplan. com/ http://www. infed. org/thinkers/putnam. htm http://www. naturaledgeproject. net/NAON_ch11. aspx

Asteroids, Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites and Comets

Asteroids, Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites and Comets Introduction Shooting stars is one of the most beautiful phenomenon, so that most people would make efforts to see this view and scientists have done many researches about it. Many reasons of shooting stars are consist of comets, asteroids, meteors and meteoroids. However, behind this beautiful phenomenon, these four kinds of stars can make unpredictable influence and in different level of damages to the universe. Comets are invisible except unless they near the sun. Comets are mixture of ice (water and frozen gas) and dust, comets have several distinct parts, including nucleus, coma, hydrogen cloud, dust tail and ion tail. The main body of comet is called the nucleus, which can contain water, methane, nitrogen and other ice. Asteroids is a small rocky body orbiting the sun large numbers of these, ranging enormously in size, are found between the orbits of mars and Jupiter, though some have more eccentric orbits. Asteroids are minor planets, especially that inner solar system. The larger ones hav e also been called planetoid. Meteors are formed as dusts, also called as meteoroids. When they rub with atmosphere, they will create light and heat, and finally burn as light. This phenomenon is called meter shower. The meteorites are the central part of Meteors or Asteroids and it is major material about human research universe at first time (Sun, 2017). Comets A comet is a small part of solar system main, mainly by the ice and a small amount of dust and rock mixed (SPACE FACTS, 2017). Comets have several different parts: nucleus, coma, hydrogen cloud, dust tail, and ion tail (NINE PLANTS. 1994-2015). The nucleus is usually considered a solid part of the centre of the comet, the core is constituted of rock, dust and frozen gas into a small asteroid. The coma is the evaporation of the nucleus, whose shape and size are closely related to the distance from the sun. In general, the closer to the sun, the greater the coma, the diameter of up to hundreds of thousands of kilometres, and sometimes with the sun, or even more than the sun (The Plants 2010-2017). In the coma outside the composition of the cloud by the hydrogen atoms, this is a hydrogen clouds. The Dust tail is composed of dust, collar is yellow, is the suns photon under the radiation pressure to repulsion the formation of dust, this is the most protruding part of the comet. The ion ta il consists of ionic gases, such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon, hydrogen and other ionized molecules (Calvin J. Hamilton. 1995-2010). The comets orbit is mostly parabolic or hyperbolic, with a few oval-shaped. At present, it has been found that there are more than 1700 comets running around the sun. The famous Halley comet around the sun week for 76 years (SPACE. 2017). The comet is made up of frozen gases, rock and dust, and when the comet approaches the star, the comet material sublimates, forming a hazy coma around the ice nucleus and a tail of a thin matter stream. Due to the pressure of the solar wind, the tail is always pointing to the direction of the sun to form a very long tail. Comet tail is generally tens of millions of kilometres long, up to hundreds of millions of kilometres. The shape of a comet like a broom, so commonly known as broom stars(Sea and Sky 1998-2016).The comet does not have a fixed volume, it is very small when it is away from the s un; close to the sun, the coma becomes bigger than before, the comet becomes longer and the volume becomes very large. The maximum length of the tail can reach more than 200 million kilometres. The quality of the comet is very small, and the average density of the comet is 1 gram per cubic centimetre. Coma and comet material is extremely thin, its quality only the total mass of 1 to 5%, or even small (Bill Dunford. 2011). Asteroids Asteroid is a little rough body circling the sun substantial quantities of these, running hugely in size, are found between the circles of blemishes and Jupiter, however some have more unusual circles. Space rocks are minor planets, particularly that internal close planetary system. The bigger ones have additionally been called planetoids. These terms have truly been connected to any galactic protest circling the sun that did not demonstrate the plate of a planet and was not saw to have the qualities of a dynamic comet. As minor planets in external close planetary system were found and found to unstable based surfaces that look like those of comets, they were frequently recognized from space rocks of the space rocks belt. Space rocks allude to the minor planets of the inward close planetary system incorporating that co-orbital with Jupiter. Ceres was the principal space rock to be found, it was found in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi and it was thought to be another planet. This was escorted by the revelation of other comparable bodies, which, with the gear of time, had all the earmarks of being purposes of light, similar to stars, demonstrating next to zero planetary plate, however promptly recognizable from stars because of their obvious movements (NASA, 2010). Trojans are incorporated bodies caught in Jupiters fourth and fifth LaGrange focuses, centaurs (bodies in circle amongst Jupiter and Neptune), and trans-Neptunian objects(orbiting past Neptune) in our meaning of space rock as utilized on the site, despite the fact that they may all the more accurately be called minor planets rather than space rocks(NASA, 2010). The principle contrast amongst space rocks and comets is their organization, as in what they are made of. Space rock are comprised of metals and rough material. Both space rocks and comets were framed right on time in the historical backdrop of the close planetary system around 4.5 billion years prior. Space rocks framed significantly nearer to the sun, where it was too warm for frosts to stay strong. Comets framed more distant from the sun where frosts would not dissolve. Comets which approach the sun lose material with each circle since some of their ice melts and vaporizes to shape a tail. Meteors Meteor is a particle which is broken from an asteroid, orbiting the Sun, and it is also called meteoroid. Meteor will burn itself as it reaches the atmosphere of Earth. At the same time, this action produces a shooting stars effect. Besides, if a meteor has not completely disintegrated when it enter the atmosphere, it will become a meteorite which is the core of meteor (Collins, 2010). Meteor is normally formed by many different sources, including the dusts of comets and asteroids, and more, this is because, when these sources pass through the Earth, they would create dust (Clain). Each day, scientists estimate that there are between 1000 to 10000 tons of meteors which will hit the atmosphere of the Earth. Before they hit the surface of the Earth, they would burn out and become shooting stars (8 Planets). Moreover, meteor will create a light path when it enters the atmosphere. Sometimes, the light, which is created by the action and also called fireball, would bright than the brightest planet, Venus. However, this light disappeared as soon as the meteor burnt out (Sun, 2017). According to NASA, scientists usually name a new meteor shower from the constellation it comes from. Take Perseids as an example, Perseids occurs in Perseus, as a result, it is named Perseids. In addition, there are approximately 30 meteor showers, which are visible to the observers on Earth, occurring annually. Some of these meteor showers might have been approximately a hundred years. For instance, the Perseid meteor shower, which was first discovered and recorded 2000 years ago in Chinese annals, occurs in every August. Compared to asteroids, comets and meteorites, meteors could not create as huge damages as asteroids, to the Earth or universe as it just simply made up of dust. Besides, meteors and meteorites can pass through the atmosphere, while comets and asteroids cannot. However, the time when asteroids pass through the atmosphere and reach the Earth and it caused the extinction of dinosaurs (Carr, 2016). According to a scientist Nicola David (2013), although there is an explosion which happened in Russia in 2013, but there are a few solutions to solve this problem is that to change the orbit of the meteor temporarily in order to avoid its collision with the Earth. However, this solution cannot be made sure that this meteor would hit the Earth again months or years later. Meteorites We can say meteorites is meteor, but the meteorite is the central part of meteor or asteroids because it is planetary embryos that didnt grow big enough to become planets in their own right. Actually, the meteorites major divide four kinds-stony meteorite, pallasite, iron meteorite and mix meteorite (Heide, 1964). It will be born when the meteor through Earths atmosphere, meteors shell is dust so it will be broken. Stony meteorites major element is rock, iron meteorites major elements are different metal, pallasite meteorite is belong mix meteorite (Heide, 1964). Pallasites are a beautiful olivine crystal formed in rock or metal meteorites. (Sun.org, 2017). Some of stony meteorites- Is a kind of meteorite from the universe formed by the ball, from the space floating dust and stone, meteorite attracts these things with itself to form a larger object, such as asteroids and meteorites (Heide, 1964). Meteorites research value is very high, some of them will be 400 million years ago, the protection of their own meteorite particles so it retained a lot of dust is the original information of our early solar system, so it is very important for the universe research (Sun.org, 2017). Pallasites are especially fascinating. The olivine crystals in a metal or rock matrix are the boundary between the silicate mantle and the centre of the mantles (Sun.org, 2017). If cut into thin slices, it will be showing different colour from yellow to green (Sun.org, 2017). Per the speculation that meteorites from universe used by the scientists, the core of the earth is form by iron and nickel (Sun.org, 2017). Meteorites is major research resources for scientists to do some research (Dalrymple, 1991), because It is like a tree of the same record of their own life course, through research, scientists can get information on the surrounding earth space around the sample (Lauretta and McSween, 2006). Scientists want meteorites to research since they are first material that was formed in our early solar system, almost 4.6 billion years ago, We will never be able to hold a piece of core in our hands, but we can explore the metal cores of protoplanets and asteroids (Sun.org, 2017). The same metal meteorites also has some slight radiation, so he can also be used for radiation research. Conclusion To summarise, comets, asteroids, meteors and meteorites are essential particles to form the universe. Comets characteristics are orbit and distance between the comet and the sun. The comets orbit is divided into three kinds, parabolic, hyperbolic and oval-shaped. On the other hand, comets are more close to the sun, the volume is bigger than before, however the comet and the sun have long distance, the comet volume is small. Meteors are consisted of dust which from comets and asteroids. Besides, it will create a light trail when it enters the atmosphere. Compared to asteroids, meteors can make less damage to the Earth. Meteorite is the core of meteor, but their size is not big enough to form a planet. Because of the material of meteorite, many scientists would be interested to do research about it. References 8 Planets, (2017). Facts About Meteors and Meteorites | 8 Planets. [online] 8planets.co.uk. Available at: http://www.8planets.co.uk/facts-about-meteors-and-meteorites [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. Carr, K. (2016). Meteors Space Shooting Stars Quatr.us. [online] Quatr.us. Available at: http://quatr.us/physics/space/meteor.htm#topbar [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. Caltech, (2017). Ask an Astronomer. [online] Cool Cosmos. Available at: http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ask/181-What-is-the-difference-between-an-asteroid-and-a-comet- [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. Clain, A. (1995). Meteor Interactions with the Atmosphere. [online] Minerva.union.edu. Available at: http://minerva.union.edu/claina/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. Collins, N. (2017). What is a meteor? [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/8190587/What-is-a-meteor.html [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. Dalrymple, G. (1991). The age of the earth. 1st ed. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. Davis, N. (2017). Explaining meteors: are we in danger?. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/28/meteors-impact-tracking-space-guard [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. Dunford, B. (2011). Comets In Depth | Planets NASA Solar System Exploration. [online] NASA Solar System Exploration. Available at: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/comets/indepth [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. Hamilton, C. (2017). Comet Introduction. [online] Solarviews.com. Available at: http://solarviews.com/eng/comet.htm [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. Heide, F. (1964). Meteorites. 1st ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Knight, J. (1998). Comets The Solar System on Sea and Sky. [online] Seasky.org. Available at: http://www.seasky.org/solar-system/comets.html [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. Lauretta, D. and McSween, H. (2006). Meteorites and the early solar system II. 1st ed. Tucson, Ariz.: University of Arizona Press. NASA, (2017). [online] Available at: https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/741990main_ten_meteor_facts.pdf [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. NINE PLANT, (1994). Comets facts, pictures and information. [online] Nineplanets.org. Available at: http://nineplanets.org/comets.html [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. SPACE FACTS, (2017). Comet Facts à ¢Ã‹Å"„ Interesting Facts about Comets Space Facts. [online] Space Facts. Available at: http://space-facts.com/comets/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. SPACE, (2017). Comets: Facts About The Dirty Snowballs of Space. [online] Space.com. Available at: http://www.space.com/53-comets-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017]. Sun.org. (2017). Asteroids, meteoroids, meteors, meteorites, comets. [online] Available at: http://www.sun.org/encyclopedia/asteroids-meteoroids-meteors-meteorites-comets [Accessed 6 Mar. 2017]. The Plants, (2010). [online] Available at: https://theplanets.org/comets/(K.E., 2016) [Accessed 7 Mar. 2017].

Urinary Excretion and Paracetamol

Urinary Excretion and Paracetamol Investigateurinary excretion of paracetamol in man. Paracetamol, known as acetaminophen in the USA, is one of the most commonly used analgesic and antipyretic drugs available over-the-counter. Its common name derives from the full chemical name: para-acetyl-amino-phenol, with the chemical formula C8H9NO2 and amolecular weight of 151.17. Paracetamol does not have anysignificant anti-inflammatory action and therefore cannot be accuratelydescribed as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), as was oncethought. Its mechanism of action is still poorly understood but some studieshave suggested that it inhibits a variant of the cyclo-oxygenase enzyme COX-1, which has been designated COX-3 (Swierkosz et al. 2002). Paracetamol actsmainly in the central nervous system and endothelial cells, rather than inplatelets and immune cells. Boutaud and colleagues (2002) hypothesised thatthis may be explained by the high levels of peroxides found in the latter cell types, which inhibit the action of paracetamol. There has been some debate on thesubject, with other researchers proposing an inhibitory action against COX-2(Graham Scott 2005). Further research is required to fully elucidate the mechanism of action at the molecular level. Metabolism and excretion Following oral administration and absorption from the gastrointestinal tract, paracetamol enters the blood and is distributed throughout the body. It is metabolised by enzymes in the hepatocytes of the liver and the majority is converted to inactive metabolites by conjugation with sulphate or glucuronide. This is then filtered out of theblood by the kidneys and into the urine, via active renal tubular secretion. Asmall portion of paracetamol remains unaltered and passes into the urine viaglomerular filtration and passive absorption (Morris Levy 1984). Thereis also a small proportion of the paracetamol that is metabolised by the thecytochrome P450 system, which results in the formation of cysteine or glutathioneconjugates and mercapturic acid conjugates (figure 2). These products ofoxidative metabolism are also excreted renally (Andrews et al. 1976). Paracetamol has a low therapeuticindex, so the therapeutic dose is very close to the toxic dose. Toxicity canoccur following a single large dose (>10g) or with chronic lower doses(4-5g/d) and is usually seen as hepatotoxicity, which can result in deathwithin several days (Wikipedia). Toxicity occurs when the enzymesresponsible for catalysing sulphate and glucuronide conjugation becomesaturated, forcing metabolism to be increasingly dependent upon the cytochromeP450 system. This results in formation of a toxic metabolite,N-acetyl-p-benzo-quinone imine (NAPQI), which is normally mopped up by bindingto the sulphydryl group of glutathione to form inactive conjugates andmercapturic acid. Toxicity occurs when the glutathione supply becomes exhaustedand NAPQI binds indiscriminately to molecules within the cell, such asmembranes, to cause cell damage and death, seen as acute hepatic necrosis. 1)Major pathway for normal metabolism 2)Minor pathway via cytochrome P450 system produces toxic metabolite (NAPQI),shown in red. Normally this is detoxified by binding to glutathione. 3) Toxicity occurs when pathways 1 and 2 are overloadedand NAPQI binds to molecules of the cell, causing damage. Modifiedfrom Rang et al. 1995. Aim of experiment The aim of this experiment is toinvestigate the renal excretion of paracetamol, by measuring the levels ofparacetamol metabolites in human urine over 6 hours following an oral dose of500mg. The total excretion will be assessed using the spectrophotometricmethod. From this data the elimination rate constant (KE) and thehalf-life (T1/2) will be calculated. Qualitative analysis of thevarious metabolites will be conducted using appropriate chemical identificationtechniques. METHOD A standard stock solution ofparacetamol was prepared at 1mg/cm3 and dilutions were made to givea range of known concentrations. 1 cm3 of the paracetamol solutionwas added to 1 cm3 blank urine and 4 cm3 4M HCl, andmixed thoroughly. A blank duplicate was also prepared, using water instead ofurine. After an hour in a boiling water bath the tubes were cooled and wateradded, up to 10 cm3. 1 cm3 of this hydrolysed urinesolution was added to 10 cm3  of colour forming solution, mixed and allowed to stand for40 minutes. The absorbance of each solution was measured, using thespectrophotometer, zeroing the instrument using the drug free urine sample inbetween solutions. This produced the readings for the calibration curve. Thecollected timed urine samples were then processed in the same way, adding 1 cm3water instead of paracetamol solution. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Known concentrations of paracetamolunderwent spectrophotometry to measure the absorbance at 620nm. These resultswere used to produce a calibration curve (figure 3). The timed urine sampleswere then analysed following the same protocol and the absorbance at 620nm wasused, in conjunction with the calibration curve to ascertain the concentrationof paracetamol in the urine. Unfortunately, half of the samples producedabsorbances outside the range of the calibration curve. Because this curve isnon-linear, extrapolation and dilution cannot be used to accurately deduce theconcentration of paracetamol in the urine. For the purposes of this report theconcentration for these samples has been declared as greater than 800ug/cm3.This is not very satisfactory and further experiments must be done to extendthe range of the calibration curve to the maximum absorbancy of the timedsamples. The values of KE and T1/2 have been calculatedto demonstrate the procedure, but are inaccurate and will need revisi ng onceaccurate concentrations have been established form the calibration curve. Table 1: Timed urine sample Mean absorbance 620nm Conc. ug/cm3 Vol. Urine (ml) Total drug (ug of paracetamol) Excretion rate mg/h 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 hour 0.256 192 245 47040 47 2 hours 1.918 >800 50 40000 40 3 hours 1.769 >800 38 30400 30.4 4 hours 1.028 >800 55 44000 44 5 hours 0.349 246 135 33210 33.2 6 hours 0.255 192 160 30720 30.7 Table 1 contains the absorbanceresults of the timed urine samples and the deduced concentration of paracetamolin the urine, as well as the hourly excretion rate. The total amount ofparacetamol excreted over the 6 hour period was 225.3mg, which is 45% of theorally administered dose. Due to problems discussed above, this is anunderestimate of the true percentage of dose excreted renally, which has beenfound to be 55-70% by other studies (Steventon et al. 1996). When log of the excretion rate(equivalent to total drug excreted per hour) is plotted against time, a linearplot should be achieved, from which KE can be estimated. The slope of this straight lineequates to : KE /2.303, which gives a value for KE of0.094. Using the formula: T1/2 =0.692/ KE , the valueof T1/2 = 7.36 hours. This states that it takes the body7.36 hours to excrete half of the drug administered. This is longer than the1-4 hours usually quoted for paracetamol (Rang et al. 1995), and is notsurprising given the underestimation of the paracetamol urine concentration.With proper calibration, this would be expected to decrease to nearer thepreviously found results. There were no results for thequalitative studies for metabolite composition, but it would be expected thatsulphate and glucuronide conjugates would constitute the majority of the sample,with a smaller quantity of unchanged paracetamol, cysteine/glutathione andmercapturic acid metabolites. These results only represent oneindividual on one day and replications of this experiment are crucial.Nutritional status, recent alcohol consumption, ethnic background, concurrentdrug usage and illness must all be taken into account as factors that mayaffect paracetamol metabolism and excretion (Riordan Williams 2002, Patel Tang 1992). Further analysis of paracetamolexcretion .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hepatotoxicity and drug interactions Table 2 shows how concurrent use of phenobarbital, ananti-epileptic drug, can increase the severity of liver damage caused byparacetamol administration and its subsequent metabolism. Table 2: Effect of Phenobarbital onparacetamol induced hepatotoxicity TreatmentDose of Paracetamol (mg/kg) Severity of liver necrosis None 375 1-2+ Phenobarbital 375 2-4+_________ This occurs due to metabolism ofphenobarbital by enzymes of the P450 cytochrome system, which results inupregulation of their production. As explained in the introduction (see fig.2), P450 enzymes also metabolise paracetamol, to form the toxic metaboliteNAPQI. This is normally a minor pathway but as the amount of P450 enzymesavailable increases, the activity of this pathway also increases. This resultsin a larger than normal amount of NAPQI, which is mopped up and inactivated byglutathione. Glutathione supplies will eventually run out, which occurs soonerif the person is malnourished. When this happens the toxic metabolite binds tocell components, causing necrosis. To prevent this occurring, such as in casesof overdose, N-acetylcysteine can be given (Routledge et al. 1998), which isrequired for glutathione synthesis and helps to boost it. This allows agreater amount of the toxic metabolite to be mopped up and reduces cell damage. .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Paracetamol metabolism following hepatotoxicity Table 3: Plasmaparacetamol concentrations(ug/cm3) Patients Plasma paracetamol 4 hrs after 12hrsafter Half life (h) ingestion ingestion _______________________________________________________________ noliver damage (18) 2.9 +/= 0.3 163 +/=20 29.5 +/=6 liverdamage (23) 7.2+/= 0.7 296 +/= 26 124 +/=22___ Table 3 shows that, in a study, theability of patients with liver damage to eliminate paracetamol from the bloodis much decreased, compared to healthy people. This is seen by the prolongedhalf-life and the high levels of paracetamol in the plasma. The plasma leveldoes come down by 12 hrs, which indicates that there is enough functional liverreserve to metabolise some of the drug, but the level is still very high. Toascertain whether it is just conjugation that is affected, or whether all thepathways are affected equally it would be necessary to quantify the levels ofdifferent metabolites in the blood and urine. As conjugation is responsiblefor the majority of metabolism, damage to all systems will still show up asaffecting conjugation the most. In theory reduced clearance of asubstance is useful for monitoring the severity of liver damage, but in thecase of paracetamol it would be unwise as it could potentiate the hepatotoxiceffects and worsen the liver condition. It is also unnecessary as there arealready a number of reliable blood tests for liver function and damage. REFERENCES Andrews, R. S., Bond, C. C., Burnett, J., Saunders, A. Watson, K. 1976 Isolation and identification of paracetamol metabolites. J Int Med Res 4,34-9. Boutaud, O., Aronoff, D. M., Richardson, J. H., Marnett, L. J. Oates, J. A. 2002 Determinants of the cellular specificity of acetaminophen as an inhibitor of prostaglandin H(2) synthases. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99,7130-5. Graham, G. G. Scott, K. F. 2005 Mechanism of action of paracetamol. Am J Ther 12, 46-55. Morris, M. E. Levy, G. 1984 Renal clearance and serum protein binding of acetaminophen and its major conjugates in humans. J Pharm Sci 73, 1038-41. Patel, M., Tang, B. K. Kalow, W. 1992 Variability of acetaminophen metabolism in Caucasians and Orientals. Pharmacogenetics 2, 38-45. Rang, H. P., Dale, M.M., Ritter, J.M. 1995 Pharmacology: Churchill Livingstone. Riordan, S. M. Williams, R. 2002 Alcohol exposure and paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity. Addict Biol 7, 191-206. Routledge, P., Vale, J. A., Bateman, D. N., Johnston, G. D., Jones, A., Judd, A., Thomas, S., Volans, G., Prescott, L. F. Proudfoot, A. 1998 Paracetamol (acetaminophen) poisoning. No need to change current guidelines to accident departments. Bmj 317, 1609-10. Steventon, G. B., Mitchell, S. C. Waring, R. H. 1996 Human metabolism of paracetamol (acetaminophen) at different dose levels. Drug Metabol Drug Interact 13, 111-7. Swierkosz, T. A., Jordan, L., McBride, M., McGough, K., Devlin, J. Botting, R. M. 2002 Actions of paracetamol on cyclooxygenases in tissue and cell homogenates of mouse and rabbit. Med Sci Monit 8, BR496-503. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol.