Emotions In The Things They Carried Essay Example for Free

Emotions In The Things They Carried Essay In his story â€Å"The Things They Carried†, Tim O’Brien, enlightens the reader with the many faces and emotions of men. Although men are normally thought upon as the stronger of the two sexes; physically and emotionally, O’Brien lets us realize that this is not so. Men are weak in even the strongest of situations. And in this case, the situation is war. War is the main theme of the story. Masculinity in the story The ‘soldiers’ mentioned are victims of many emotions, for example, love, hatred, stress, depression, etc. They realize how important love and real-life relationships are. Most men who are prey to long lost love, try to let go of their past and focus only on their duties in vain. As they walk through the streets of Vietnam, they carry with themselves the basic necessities of survival and souvenirs to remind them of home. During these marches, they dispose of some of their supplies because they are aware that they will soon gain much more. War is like a game to the soldiers, there are always winners and losers. It can be played with many different tactics. It is all a matter of luck and strategy. But it is not all that bad. Some of the soldiers, who leave, return soon because the peace ‘hurts’ them too much. And for some, the war is far too much to handle. This is mainly due to the losses they experience. Death is a frightening incident which occurs most often bringing with it tears of pain and stress. The soldiers are afraid of killing as well. The first kill is always the hardest to bear. These soldiers imagine what kind of a life their enemies led before getting involved into such a situation. Deep, dark marks are left within the hearts of these soldiers as they spend endless days on the battlefields. Voegele quotes OBrien as talking about fear, In many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down. (Voegele). The soldiers have dreams about escaping the brutal nature and reality of war because they are unable to remove fear from their hearts. Most of the time, there are petty quarrels that take place, some leading to physically fights, which soon lead to renewed friendships, trust and written pacts, and then ending in death and sorrow. Voegele quotes OBrien provides the weight of the objects which the soldiers carry by saying The weapon weighed 7.5 pounds unloaded, 8.2 pounds with its full 20 round magazine. The riflemen carried anywhere from 12 to 20 magazinesadding on another 8.4 pounds at minimum, 14 pounds at maximum. (Voegele). The story above portrays the masculine romance of the soldier as it portrays the tough and brutal nature of their experience in war. These soldiers have to be tough and brave in the battlefield in order to prove that they are worthy males. Experience of war OBrien gives a graphic portrait of the experience of war by mentioning the weight of the things which the soldiers carry. The soldiers also have to face other external factors like the weather during the time of war They carried the sky. The whole atmospherethey carried gravity. (Voegele). However according to OBrien the soldiers have several emotional problems which are much heavier for them than the physical things they carry. Grief, terror, love, longing these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weigh. (Voegele). Many different stories are discussed and the lust for women is often brought up during camp talks. But many stories of lost and dead soldiers are never spoken of. Sometimes out of fear, sometimes out of respect, and sometimes out of sheer disappointment and misunderstanding. These stories, burdened by the soldiers sometimes drive them into a negative attitude. Most of these soldiers tend to commit suicide. That night when Kiowa got wasted, I sort of sank down into the sewage with him (O’Brien, pg. 156). The author describes his feelings of when he lost a true friend due to a sudden attack. Kiowa had drowned into the depths of the sewage during this attack. Although O’Brien had tried to help, the smell was excruciating to him. In the story, there is also specifically rumors of a girl smuggled into Vietnam by a soldier are brought up. This ‘soldier’ had to spend a large sum of money into getting his girlfriend there. He warned about how dangerous it was. All the men are duly jealous of the young couple. Superstition is common among the men. They keep certain ‘things’ with them at all times, believing these items may bring them luck. To a few of them, they actually do bring luck! But religion is also a big part of these soldiers’ lives. They chat about how one day; they would like to be monks and priests, and about how they would like to help people and be kind to them instead of killing anyone and anything that came in their way. As the war wages on, the soldiers try to find amusement in the harshness around them. The camps they set around for themselves are of unpleasant surroundings. From the ruthless weather, to the creepy crawlies and even then unbearable stenches, these soldiers have witnessed it all. They joke about the times they had almost died or had cried out of fear of facing death during combat. Most of these men undergo many changes, especially in their personalities. Some of the soldiers like Norman Bowler were decent and law abiding citizens when they were civilians. But this man transformed himself into a heartless creature and around his neck he carried a thumb which had been removed from the body of a Viet Cong guerilla fighter. The Viet Cong guerilla fighter was only a teenager. Bowler was very proud of his first kill. But there were also others, like Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who had been sensitive during their civilian life. But the effects of war do not change them into animals. They stay the same, lovable humans, hoping for an escape into the arms of their loved ones. But when they face their enemies, regardless of their age or gender, these soldiers are emotionless beasts. They even torture human babies, mostly orphan infants, brutally. O’Brien refers to the babies as a ‘young water buffalo’. Readers will find the story to be devoid of any emotions as the American soldiers engage in torture and brutality for sports and recreation. However, these men tend to feel awful afterwards. They think over what they have done and regret these events so much that they end up hurting themselves in order to finally escape this reality. While some, make all the killing seem like child’s play. And later, all these men share and relate their own life stories to the people they kill during the war. This, according to O’Brien, brings them back to life. He based his life on one motto, Once youre alive, you cant ever be dead (O’Brien, pg. 244). Tim O’Brien does not believe in death. The soldiers, even tough are fighting day and night for their country; feel that it is useless to wage this war. They cannot find any real reasons as to why they are there, except that they were appointed to this duty without any consideration. This lack of purpose also drives the men into insanity. When finally, the war comes to an end, the soldiers return home to again lead a ‘normal civilian’ life. But the bitter memories of Vietnam prevent these men from ever being sane again. The war has cast a heavy shadow over the hearts of these once good-willed, god-fearing men. Although, most of the story is fictional, Tim O’Brien portrays to his readers the cruelty of war. He wants people to understand how it felt to experience death, so that they could finally accept it. He tries to share his feelings and the feelings of his fellow soldiers through detached words. He talks of the torture and pain, the crying and screaming, the innocent civilian families watching their loved ones being put to death in front of their eyes aware that their turn is soon to come. The experience of war is romanticized in the novel as the author provides an account of the experiences of soldiers. These soldiers are living in hell but they have a clear concept of the culture of war. They know that they are making history by becoming participants of war. Conclusion This story clearly states that even men are feeble creatures who fall victim to emotions no matter what they do. The life of a soldier may seem to be filled with hardships and killing. But no one really knows the truth behind the lifeless eyes. We, civilians wonder what it might be like out their on the battlefield and how these soldiers live their lives without emotion. When, in reality, they share as much emotion as any normal human being would. They fear the blood shed around them. Some display their feelings and confess their love and fears, while others decide to hide themselves by displaying a merciless attitude. Every experience is hard for them. Every new day is a bigger challenge. If the cards are not played right, there is a loss, sometimes many losses. The story is an important reminder about the horrors and brutalities of war. It tells us how war changes the experiences of soldiers. Works Cited O’Brien. Tim. The Things They Carried. Broadway. (1998) Voegele, Jason. Thoughts on The Things They Carried. Copyright  © Jason Voegele Retrieved 16th August 2008 http://www.jvoegele.com/essays/things.html

Construction Essays Construction Clients Olympic

Construction Essays Construction Clients Olympic Construction Clients Olympic Three different case studies namely: (1) Olympic stadium; (2) Wembley stadium; and (3) Arsenal Emirates stadium have been specifically chosen to critically analyse different psyches and make ups of construction clients as well as the procurement routes discussed in previous chapters. The evaluation seeks to find out how the construction clients have influenced the delivery of projects; how the construction client have adhered to the recommendations of the government and industrys reports and how the adopted procurement routes have helped in improving the UK construction industry performance. This chapter basically relies on the issues discussed in preceding chapters in critically appraising the way the projects procurements were carried out. The authors commentaries have been given in green while the case studies notes predominantly obtained through the internet are given in the normal black. CASE STUDY 1: THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC STADIUM All the case study materials for the Olympics stadium were obtained from only one source which is the internet. The Project The Olympic stadium is a project that is part of an intricate Olympic programme which is embodied by a compulsory timetable and programme of works that affects the development of each of the facilities that makes up the Olympic programme. Get help with your essay from our expert essay writers The delivery of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics games facilities is regarded as the biggest and most intricate project embarked on in the UK for a very long time (MPA, 2006). The site for the Olympics will be Europes largest regeneration project (LSC, 2007). The hub essence of the project is the development of facilities for the games as well as the regeneration of the section of eastern part of the capital city, London (BBC, 2008a). According to WLB (2006), the development of the Olympic facilities and their legacy transformation includes (1) five permanent venues construction namely- Olympic Stadium, Aquatic Centre, Velopark, Handball Arena and Eton Arena; (2) three temporary sporting venues (Basketball Arena, Hockey and Fencing Venues); (3) International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre construction; (4) permanent and temporary structures, roads and bridges; (5) site-wide utilities infrastructure; earthwork and extensive landscaping; and (6) extensive post games legacy r egeneration works. The Olympic stadium brief was drafted to produce an amazing 80,000-seater stadium for the hosting of the track and field events as well as the opening and closing ceremonies for both the Olympic and Paralympics games (WLB, 2006). After the games it would be demounted or perhaps reduced to 25,000 seats, but still retains the maintainable and rational capacity of hosting ranges of sporting, educational, cultural and community events with athletics being its core use (WLB, 2006a). The knack of conversion of the stadium from an 80,000-seater venue to a 25,000-seater venue with 55,000 demounted immediately the Olympics ends is regarded as highly innovative and espouses great forward thinking (BBC, 2008a). The  £496 million Olympic stadium design is motivated by a commitment made during Londons bid to bequeath a world class athletics legacy rather than a succession of flamboyant edifice as exemplified in previous Olympics (Guardian, 2008). While considering how to reduce and come up with a reasonable cost and make the demounting of the stadium (as outlined in the project brief and shown in Fig 5.2a) less complicated, the majority of the services usually found within the stadium such as catering, bars, toilets and merchandise stalls was designed to be located in pods on the forecourt outside the stadium (Guardian, 2008). According to BBC (2008a) the main features of the design are (1) a sunken bowl built into the ground for the field of play and lower permanent seating, designed to bring spectators close to the action;(2) 25,000 permanent seats + 55,000 demountable; (3) a cable-supported roof that will stretch 28 metres the whole way around the stadium, providing cover for two-thirds of spectators; (3) a fabric curtain will wrap around the stadium structure, acting as additional protection and shelter for spectators; and (4) facilities such as catering and merchandising will be grouped into self-contained pod structures. The Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell MP in her words extols the virtues of the concept and stated that Once the Games are over this will then be translated into a stadium that will not only host grand prix athletics events and other national sport events but will also serve the communities of the boroughs (BBC, 2008a). After completion the stadium will supplement and complements other grand stadia around London such as Wembley, the Emirates and the Twickenham stadia (BBC, 2008a). The Client The Olympic programme involves a complex array of 5 key stakeholders (MPA, 2006) as shown in Fig. 5.2c and bidding for the Olympic has to be in conformation with the International Olympic Committees (IOC) guidelines (Guardian, 2008b). The Olympic board comprises of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London, Lord Moynihan, Lord Coe and Jack Lemley (MPA, 2006). The first two people mentioned chair the board alternatively while the rest of the board acts in advisory capacity (MPA, 2006). The Olympic Board Steering Group (OBSG) comprises of senior officials of the 5 key stakeholders namely: (1) ODA; (2) the London Organising Committee of the Olympics Games (LOCOG); (3) the Greater London Authority (GLA); (4) British Olympic Association (BOA); and (5) the Government (MPA, 2006). Their main functions are to collectively advice and provide assurance to the board (MPA, 2006). These stakeholders have differing perceptions as to what constitute success. While they all have different responsibilities towards the success of the game, their individual objectives has to be met. It is worth noting that their varying objectives were well reconciled as per the game. Shared understanding was created among them and reconciliation of objectives was easy because one of the predominant overarching aims of both the UK government and IOC for the games is sustainability. As discussed earlier in chapter 4, the Egan report recommends sustainability which is in consonance with the stadium co nstruction aims. IOC parameters stipulates that the construction costs had to be given in prices in the year of the bidding (2004) rather than the likely overall costs in hosting year of 2012 (Guardian, 2008b). This led to the  £280 million bid book price to the IOC (Guardian, 2008b). It augurs that prices had to be going up constantly due the inflation in the UK construction industry which ran at 6.5% as at late 2007 (Guardian, 2008b). The issue of the under budgeting which created widespread criticism was partly as a result of the IOCs strict guidelines of presenting costing within a certain parameters. The inflation in the construction industry is currently running on close to 7% as against a lower one in 2004 when the estimate was made. The IOC ought to have considered economic terms and allowed for future prices to be made as in most accounting future predictions. It is rather surprising and somewhat disheartening to note that IOC had to wait this long to change the negative presentation of us ing bidding year costing as the actual cost of stadium to be built in 8years time!. With prevailing interest rates which tends to force cost escalation gave the public negative opinion and views with cost rising up to 100% increase! The demounting cost of the stadium as well as value added tax (VAT) were not included in the initial  £280 million cost submitted to IOC which meant the venue was always going to cost more than originally figured (Guardian, 2008b). The brief was hurriedly made which never tallied with the tactical issues of the whole concept. The author reckons that there was no comprehensive one at the time! The strategic issues and the tactical issues were not in unison because of the prevalent atmosphere of uncertainty surrounding winning the bid. Irrespective of the chosen procurement routes, changes in brief will definitely lead to changes in cost. Moreover, while offering plausible reasons for the demounting and being optimistic of a possible buyer of the demountable parts, it is still seen that finding a possible buyer could be onerous or perhaps impossible. Designs and technology change rapidly and likewise innovations which tends to leads to changes in materials. Todays innovation can be t omorrows error! The vision and strategic objectives are well spelt out. According to MPA (2006) the vision is To host an inspirational, safe and inclusive Olympic and Paralympics games and leave a sustainable legacy for London and the UK. As shown in the Fig. 5.2c above, the ODA is the public body responsible for the development and construction of all the new venues and infrastructure for the Games and thus represents the clients on the project (MPA, 2006). The ODA was considered to be a comparatively small organization structure and an industry representative called the private delivery partner was chosen to take up the balance of the mishmash of resources provision and management (MPA, 2006). CLM was however chosen as the private delivery partner. Though they are knowledgeable and experience client, as discussed in chapter 2, they still engage external expertise to augment their in-house assemblage. This was a smart approach in the right direction considering the magnitude of the project at hand. The CLM is a consortium of Laing O Rourke Plc, Mace Ltd and CH2M Hill and was appointed to work with the ODA to project manage the venues and infrastructure programme for the games. Their functions include the integration of design, construction, commissioning, procurement, scheduling and cost management (MPA, 2006). The consortium signed performance based contract where profit will be earned if targets are met thus making it a reward structure linked with delivery. 5.2.3 The Analysis of the Procurement Process ODA launched a procurement policy that highlights both high quality and value for money as core values for procuring contracts for all the 2012 Games venues and infrastructural developments (WLB, 2006b). ODA chose a competitive process to procure an Integrated Design and Construct Team for the design and construction of the Olympic stadium so as to ensure top quality design, construction and completion, commissioning, testing and licensing of the stadium for the Games (Creative Match, 2006). The procurement policy has themes such as security measures, sustainability and legacy and thus allows all businesses bidding for contracts to be rated according to a balanced scorecard (WLB, 2006b). The policy is expected to result in an excellent working relationship with shared values and objectives of sustainability and lasting legacy with the best of businesses and companies found in the UK construction industry (WLB, 2006b). It is envisaged that the successful bidder must have an innovative design flair, capacity, experience, technical expertise, financial and economic strength (Creative Match, 2006). This was successfully achieved through the appointment of the preferred bidder. The ODA preferred tendering option was the Electronic tendering (E-tendering), a two stage competitive process which allows companies to take part in tenders in a secured and efficient way (WLB, 2006a). In consonance with the EU guidelines (WLB, 2006a), 7 national and international applications/bids were received to pre-qualify for the contract (NAO, 2008). Consequently, in compliance with the public contracts regulations, ODA sets prequalification criteria which were only met by Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd submission (WLB, 2006a) and was considered both viable and compliant with requirements (NAO, 2008). It is however worth noting that competition was not keen because of the progress of only one successful tenderer to the next stage. The use of two stage tendering is to give chance for competition which never materialised. To the authors consternation it is a shame to the industry. The Australian company, Multiplex would have provided a stiff competition to Sir McAlpine had they success fully executed the Wembley national stadium project. Moreover, negotiations started between ODA and Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which is legally binding was signed to both design and build the Olympic stadium (WLB, 2006a). To the dismay of ODA, a particular bidder team was without a construction contractor despite the core requirement for an integrated design and build bid (NAO, 2008). Again, this is a shame to the UK construction industry which produces 6% of the nation GDP. The action does not exemplify professionalism. The integrated design and construction approach will reduce risk and potential cost overruns (Creative Match, 2006). However, as it turned out an additional  £29 million pounds which translates to  £525 million is expected to be the potential final cost! ODA reckons that the lackadaisical interest was as a result of the risk perception of high profile stadium project in the UK public sector and also the advance knowledge that Team Stadium was also a bidder (NAO, 2008). However, due to the failure of other bidders, ODA entered into a single tender basis with Team Stadium (NAO, 2008). The failure of Multiplex to produce a successful Wembley stadium resulted in its non consideration. The MoU entails the key commercial terms which created the basis of the full integrated design and build contract and records the terms on which the contractor agreed for further design development before the signing of full contract (WLB, 2006a). Considerable design and value engineering was carried out on the project and the signing of the MoU allowed the development of design which necessitated the early procurement of commodities such as steel needed to build the Stadium (London2012, 2007). It is worth giving kudos here that, as observed in chapters 3 and 4, one of the averred recommendations of the government and industry reports is the early supply chain assemblage. Also, the use of value management in removing unnecessary design and cost as discussed in chapter 4, which is a key theme in NAO modernising construction report of 2001, is a welcome adherence. The Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd and their designers are known as the Team Stadium (WLB, 2006a). According to WLB (2006a) the Team Stadium comprises of: (1) Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd (Construction contractor); (2) HOK Sport Ltd (Architect and Sport venue designer); and (3) Buro Happold Ltd (Structural and services engineers) (WLB, 2006a). The three companies have at different times worked together on different projects namely: (1) Arsenal stadium (Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, Buro Happold Ltd and HOK Sport Ltd; (2) ExCeL Exhibition Centre (Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd and Buro Happold Ltd); and (3) The Eden project (Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd and Buro Happold Ltd). This demonstrates integration of supply chain, long term relationship and collaborative workings as dictated in all the previous chapters. Consequently, a design and build contract was signed with the Team Stadium on 17 March 2008 (NAO, 2008). This demonstrates single point responsibility and adherence to government directives of 3 effective procurement routes that exemplifies value for money as observed in chapter 2 and 3. A forecast of potential cost of  £525 million was envisaged in March 2008 which reflects the uncompetitiveness of the procurement process and the changes in the design and scope requirements as a result of roof amendment (NAO, 2008). Therefore,  £525 million stands as the potential final cost and  £496 million as the budget (NAO, 2008). This is common to all design and build route and its variants as discussed in chapter two. Design changes and variations are costly. 5.2.4 Lessons Learnt It is still premature to ascribe failure to the Olympic stadium because of the besmirched and unpleasant information available to the public. With cost also escalating every seconds of the day, these has eroded the mind of the public and cast bad impression about the stadium success. Most messy projects always have time and cost overrun attached to them which always leads to adversarialism. When a project involves multiple stakeholders with little time to bid for the Olympics, there are bound to be hurried assembly of bids which might not be absolutely impeccable. This indicates that lesson should always be learnt from the limitation of previously held Olympics. The IOC has taken a wonderful timely reversion of presenting bid costs in the year of hosting rather than in the year of bidding which is a welcome action. Smart approaches are been taken to erase the bad impression and re-create public confidence. The time table have been reset with the project starting three months ahead of schedule which is hoped to make the stadium available before the scheduled time. Also, the early assembling of the teams is really helping the progress of the project. The procurement policy which is in consonance with the stakeholders objectives of sustainability and legacy derivation is seen to be a right move in the right direction. It has resulted in excellent working arrangement of the assembled team. Moreover, it is worth acknowledging that any endeavour that is worth doing should be done well. The Sir McAlpines past achievement record was the overarching consideration of their success, while Multiplex shame delivery of the Wembley hindered them from even tendering for the project. The design and build can be seen to be the right route for the stadium delivery. While its limitation of not been so good in quality can be enhanced by close monitoring of project managers, its time and cost certainty for the stadium delivery is a forte attached to it which is most important for the stadium delivery. CASE STUDY 2: THE WEMBLEY NATIONAL STADIUM The Project There is the worldwide believe that the Wembley national stadium has always had an exceptional place in the annals of the UK as an event and entertainment centre (Quintain, 2004). During the late 20th century, the Wembley national stadium hosted series of major park, theatre and funfair events such as the 1924 British Empire Exhibition, the 1934 Empire Games, the 1948 Summer Olympics, the 1996 World Cup Finals, the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest, the 1996 European Championships and several other events staged in between (Quintain, 2004). The stadium was demolished in 2002 and rebuilt in 2006 to a 90,000-seater stadium (WNSL, 2008). The new  £757 million Wembley national stadium (NAO, 2003) is now almost thrice as large as its former size with its arch positioning 140 metres beyond its concourse, which is considered enormous enough to roll the London eye beneath!(Quintain, 2004). Though the arch replaced the twin towers which were the stadiums symbol, the Wembley national stadium is still considered as an icon just as the old Wembley stadium (SPG, 2008a). Though controversy trailed the demolition of the iconic twin towers, but it is worth giving kudos for the eventual settlement of the uproar with the impeccable choice of the arch. The project was triggered in 1996, by the clamour for a new English national stadium and consequently after national competition, Sport England overwhelmly selected Wembley as the preferred site (House of Commons, 2004). Sport England overarching objective was support the development of an iconic stadium for three major sports namely football, rugby league and athletics (NAO, 2003). The principal uses of the Wembley national stadium are football and rugby league (NAO, 2003). It is mandated that after five years of the stadiums operation, 1% of its annual turnover will be donated by WNSL for the delivery to sports education and other projects (NAO, 2003). The Client The Football Association (FA) was at the forefront of the stadium project and the stadium was eventually brought to life by its subsidiary, WNSL (House of Commons, 2004). WNSL was responsible for its construction and consequently charged with operating and owning the new stadium (NAO, 2003). The Wembley National Stadium project was wholly undertaken by private sector organisations and was mostly financed by private capital (NAO, 2003). The public sector contribution towards the construction of the stadium was  £161 million with the breakdown of: (1)  £120 million from Sport England; (2)  £20 million from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS); and (3)  £21 million from the London Development Agency (NAO, 2003). The full contributions of the key stakeholders (both the public and private sectors) and the various uses of the funds are as shown in Fig. 5.3b and 5.3c respectively. Profits generated from the operation of the Wembley National Stadium are used by the FA for the benefit of football (NAO, 2003). The issue of track inclusion in the design created a bit of acrimony between Sport England (SE) and WNSL (House of Commons, 2004). However, it was later decided that athletics consideration (track) should be withdrawn which SE was persuaded to accept unwillingly (NAO, 2003). This act is seen to be unfair. As one of the key stakeholders a meeting ought to be called and sought the view of SE before taking any decision. Perhaps value management exercise ought to have been carried out as discussed in one of the industry report and all the stakeholders especially SE would have a shared understanding as to why the track is to be removed. The Analysis of the Procurement Process On 14th July 1999, WNSL threw open bids submission for contractors for the Wembley national stadium (Building, 2008). Mowlem, HBG, Sir Robert McAlpine and Bovis/Multiplex were the companies that responded to the invitation (Building, 2008). In early 2002, Cyril Sweett was hired by WNSL as the independent consultants and the firm consequently gave Multiplex contract a clean sheet as providing value for money (SPG, 2008a). Initially, Multiplex was agreed as the preferred contractor on a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) design and build contract of  £326.5m (which does not include design fees) with a 31/4-year programme to construct the Wembley stadium (Building, 2008). The Wembley National Stadium project was completed in 2007 at an amazingly high cost of  £757 million (House of Commons, 2004) with the stadium eventually gulping  £445 million (NAO, 2003). The project overran on time and cost. The design of the stadium was carried out by architects Foster and Partners and HOK Sport while Sir Norman Foster designed the arch and the roof structure (SPG, 2008a). According to Building (2008) the tendering process started with the appointment of Bovis/Multiplex consortium in 2000 as the preferred contractor which was later dissolved and Multiplex was appointed. Bovis opted out when it envisaged that the agreed price was not tenable or visible (Building, 2008). This was the genesis of the stadiums problem. As a deeply rooted company in the UK, Bovis understood very clearly that construction was not visible at that cost. However, owing to the plausible smart play of WNSL and the ubiquities of mischief associated with the design and construct route were contractors bid low in order to wait for claims and variations to improve their profit. WNSL fell for the trap and an agreement was signed. But this turned out to be adversarial leading to numerous accusation and court cases. Moreo ver, Tropus was first appointed as Wembley project manager whose contract ran out and was consequently replaced by Symonds (Building, 2008). Due to the clamour in 1996 for a national stadium, Wembley was consequently chosen as the preferred site (House of Commons, 2004). Two years later, SE awarded  £120 million towards the development of the project (House of Commons, 2004). It was however envisaged in 1998 that the construction cost would be in the region of  £320 million and to be completed within 4 years (House of Commons, 2004). However, in year 2000 the project suffered financial setback and a request for additional public fund was initiated by the FA in 2001, but the Secretary of State for Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) declined and asked Mr Patrick Carter to review the project (House of Commons, 2004). A staggering sum of  £1.6 million was squandered in reviewing the project (House of Commons, 2004). From the authors viewpoint, expending such an amount of money in reviewing does not exemplify value for money. A report from Tropus should have been taken serious and re-tendering ordered instead of spending the money on reviewing and coming out with little effective report. It was noted during the course of the review, that there was lapses on the project by WNSL and DCMS was also cognisant of concerns about features of the management such as the procurement process which resulted in the appointment of Multiplex as the main contractor to build the stadium (House of Commons, 2004). This concerns led to its investigation by Mr David James CBE stemming from the request of the then Chairman of Wembley National Stadium Limited (House of Commons, 2004). While no speck of evidence of impropriety was found, serious concerns were raised as to whether equal opportunity was granted to all the bidders (House of Commons, 2004). A conclusion was however reached that the procurement process did not meet the highest standards expected in the industry (House of Commons, 2004). It was noted that a comprehensive formal procurement process was not enacted by WNSL and it was also seen that for the award of the same contract, they ran two separate corresponding tendering processes on dissimilar terms (House of Commons, 2004). To buttress the non enforcement of level playing ground, it was also noted that they had dialogue with Multiplex before the commencement of the formal procurement process (House of Commons, 2004). As a client of the construction industry, the action is seen to be against best practice. As an industry seen to be besmirched with image problem, a favourable and fair level playing ground is expected to be provided by the construction client for active involvement of all and sundry. It was therefore concluded by the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport that the availability of further public funding would be hinged on meeting series of tests by both the FA and WNSL (House of Commons, 2004). However, these tests were later met and the project was considered commendable of further support (House of Commons, 2004). DCMS thought of re-tendering the construction contract as a condition of further support was discarded on the ground that no likelihood of savings to the public purse would be achieved (House of Commons, 2004). This was a wise decision considering that  £1.6 million has been expended on review and more time might be wasted in re-tendering. Two reports were published by Tropus and James and they both concluded that WNSL never followed best practice thereby bereft of best value (Building, 2008). It was however argued that players in the UK industry were not given ample chance to compete for the project (Building, 2008). The arch construction started in 2003 and its fabrication was done on-site using steel modules manufactured by steel subcontractor Cleveland Bridge. However, irreconcilable differences erupted between Cleveland Bridge and Multiplex and the former had to leave the project and was replaced by another steel subcontractor called Hollandia (SPG, 2008a). Cleveland Bridge was unsure if they would be paid for the materials to be employed (SPG, 2008a). This later resulted into a court case (SPG, 2008a). This reinforced the issue of long time relationship and effective supply chain integration as discussed earlier in previous chapters. The author reckons that Bovis/Multiplex consortium would have provided strong supply chain ties needed for success. Bovis is a deeply rooted company that understands the UK industry and has a strong supply chain leaning unlike the Australian company. While accepting the EU directives, it is also more important to look at the antecedence of magnitude of projects executed by the company in the country under consideration. If there had been strong supply chain ties between Multiplex and its steel sub-contractor, the issue of distrust of payment would never have arose. Lessons Learnt The design and build and its various variants are expected to be produce cost and time certainty which were never on the Wembley stadium. The novated design and build which was employed on the case study was expected to allow the client the opportunity to have great input into the design before novating the designer to the contractor after output specification would have been fully specified. From the case study, the GMP novated Design and Build contract was hurriedly assembled by WNSL without fully establishing its requirement. This is considered inappropriate and as discussed in previous chapters, can lead to adversarialism. Consequently, the project was characterised with numerous court cases. It was also noted that the project was full of adversarial relationship both on the sides of the client and contractor and the contractor and sub-contractor. All the benchmark reports as discussed in chapter four advocated for long term relationship and effective supply chain management. Knowledge of UK construction industry terrain is very essential which as noted in the case study was not quite and fully understand by Multiplex. WNSL too never made matter easy by allowing Bovis to walk out of the process and rushing into agreement with only the Australian company. As noted in the case study, Multiplex is partially or perhaps bereft of the modus operandi of the UK construction industry and the author reckons that was why multiplex entered into a consortium with Bovis. However, WNSL action and consideration of multiplex could be seen to be based on price alone and perhaps very low cost consideration which is not in consonance with best practise. Strong and effective supply chain was devoid in the project leading to massive rift between the supply chain due to lack of long term relationship. As noted in case study one of the Olympic stadium, Multiplex image has been besmirched by its unsuccessful execution of the Wembley national stadium. It can be concluded that for a construction company continued existence and progress in the volatile UK construction industry, successful and unsuccessful past project execution will surely play significant role in its successful bidding for project. Lastly, the project was seen to lack effective stakeholders management. Due consideration needs to be given to all stakeholders before changing any aspect of the project. Effective and timely consideration needs to be the watchword. CASE STUDY 3: THE ARSENAL EMIRATES STADIUM The Project The Emirates stadium is a 60,000-seater stadium constructed in Ashburton Grove as a replacement for the Highbury stadium which was the former ground (SPG, 2008b). The Emirates stadium is the home of premier league Football Club called Arsenal. Announcement was made in late 2004 that the new stadium would be known as the Emirates stadium

Kawasaki Disease: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Kawasaki Disease: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment Background Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis syndrome which may involve many organs, such as myocardium and the conduction system, and may cause inflammation in other organs such as pericarditis, endocarditis, cholecystitis etc. Etiology There is only little information of the etiology of KD. It is suspected as an infectious disease with an unknown pathogen (KatoSuda, 2012) or autoimmune disease (Starkebaum, 2013) that has an acute systemic vasculitis syndrome. Prevalence KD is a prevalent cardiac disease in Asia, North America, South America, Europe and Australia. Nakamura and Yanagawa (2004) stated that Asians were approximately 5-10 times more susceptible than white persons. (cited in KatoSuda, 2012) II. Clinical understanding of Kawasaki’s Disease Medical diagnostic criteria The principal diagnostic criteria of KD are presence of at least five of the major features: persistent fever for at least 5 days, conjunctival injection, changes in the mucosa of the oropharynx(such as strawberry tongue), changes in the peripheral extremities, erythematous rash over extremities or/and trunk, and cervical lymphadenopathy. If clients do not fulfill the classic criteria, they are considered as having incomplete KD. (Kato Suda, 2012) Difference between Roseola disease and Kawasaki disease Both Roseola and Kawasaki disease begin with sudden high fever, but their treatments are very different. The fever of KD is not very responsive to acetaminophen or ibuprofen which can be used to treat the fever of Roseola. After the fever, KD and Roseola cases both develop rash but their onsets of rash are not the same. Roseola case develops rash at the time of fever resolution, while KD case develops rash within two to three weeks after the onset of fever which may not be resolved.(Wang et al., 2009) Also, KD presents with some oral manifestations, like erythema, edema, fissuring of lips and a strawberry tongue which cannot be found in Roseola cases. (Ely Seabury, 2010) II. Clinical understanding of Kawasaki’s Disease Potential Complications Children with Kawasakis disease can develop vasculitis that causes weakening of the blood vessels and leads to aneurysms. Without treatment in time, 1 in 5 children with Kawasaki disease will develop coronary aneurysms. (Suzuki et. al., 1986) Either formation of blood clot in a coronary artery aneurysm or rupture of a large coronary artery aneurysm would lead to myocardial infarction which may cause death. Besides the coronary arteries, the myocardium, valves, and pericardium can become inflammatory. Arrhythmias or abnormal functioning of some heart valves, myocardial infarction and heart failure may also occur. Standard Treatments in Hong Kong Guided by the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong, intravenous gamma-globulin (IVGG) and aspirin are the treatment protocols for all KD clients admitted to hospital. (Yung et. al., 2002) For evaluating the coronary artery lesions, echocardiography are done for all patients and coronary angiography and heart catheterization are performed for selective clients. III. Case study and its nursing assessment Peter, a 1-yerar old baby, has been diagnosed as having Kawasaki Disease after admission. Peter is now suspected at the acute phase (Stage I) of the disease since he shows irritability, persistent fever for 4 days and erythematous rash over his extremities. For subjective data, he has high fever and diarrhoea for few days; fever was lower after treating with antipyretics and diarrhoea was subsided and rashes developed over his entire hands, arms, feet and legs, stated by his mother. For objective data, he is irritable, has a bright red tongue; his palms and soles had erythematous rash. In most of the cases, clients also have conjunctivitis, swollen cervical lymph nodes, inflammation of the pharynx and the oral mucosa develops with red and cracked lips and swollen joints. Beside of developing erythematous rash, skin on the extremities may be edema and peeling. Mostly, clients suffer from cardiac problems, such as myocarditis and tachycardia. (Starkebaum, 2013) These should be assessed after admission. IV. Plan for care Nursing diagnosis for the case study Hyperthemia related to inflammatory disease process, increased metabolic rate and dehydration as evidenced by body temperature greater than normal range Risk for decreased cardiac tissue perfusion related to vasculitis Impaired oral mucous membrane related to inflammatory process, dehydration, and mouth breathing as evidenced by presence of bright red tongue Impaired skin integrity related to inflammatory process, altered circulation as evidenced by having erythematous rash over palms and soles and his mum’s verbalization of presence of rash over extremities Risk for imbalanced nutrition: less than body requirements related to inflammation and swollen of oral mucous membrane and tongue Ineffective family therapeutic regimen management related to knowledge deficit to Kawasaki disease as evidence by wrongly distinguishing Roseola and Kawasaki Disease Nursing Managements Management for Hyperthermia To treat hyperthermia, cooling should be promoted by wearing lightweight and loose-fitting clothing. This can encourage heat loss by radiation and conduction. Ice bags can be put on the forehead or around neck of client. Adequate water intake is also encouraged. In order to prevent complications and promote comfort, before administering aspirin, nurses should monitor temperature every 4 hours until client becomes afebrile for a day. Administer antipyretic medication if prescribed. Peter, in the case study, was treated with antipyretics before so his fever was lower. Continuous temperature monitoring is required. Also, increasing his fluid intake promotes recovery and prevents dehydration. Peter will be afebrile, checked with thermometer, and free of complications due to high-grade fever within 3 days. Management for Risk of complications and infection At the acute phase of KD, nurses should monitor client’s cardiac condition closely by assessing client’s cardiac status regularly, i.e. once a day, including measuring the apical rate, along with assessing any symptoms of shortness of breath and SaO2 level of client. Continuous monitoring is still suggested even though no S/S has shown up. The goal is that Peter will not develop any complications before discharge. Assessing any worsening condition is for evaluating nursing interventions in preventing complications. Once cardiac complications start to develop keep strict I/O and monitor SaO2 Q4H. Administer supplementary oxygen as prescribed. If client continues irritable and shows cyanosis, administer sedation as prescribed to reduce oxygen consumption and cardiac workload. Long term FU is required. In addition, note the presence of compromised vision of patient. Bilateral conjunctival inflammation was reported to be the most common symptom of Kawasaki disease after fever. (Yun et al., 2011) Note for any redness and assess the visual ability at regular time intervals. If Peter is suspected having compromised vision, assessed by providing vision stimuli to see any respond, consult ophthalmologist if possible. Management for Impaired skin integrity and oral mucous membrane Most of the KD clients will have erythematous rash over body, altered mucous membrane condition and ‘strawberry’ tongue, as mentioned. Client’s skin condition is assessed at regular time intervals. Also, nurse can apply emollients to affected area as ordered, and educate parents and help client to wear soft and loose clothing. Promoting nutritional status and encourage fluid intake are important in healing of rash. For the mucosal conditions, we should provide client mouth care, lubricate his lips and provide adequate clear liquid if not contraindicated. In Peter’s case, the aims are preventing lesion and promoting healing of the rash of his extremities and inflammated tongue within two weeks. Also, maintaining intact and moist oral mucous membrane that are free of inflammation, ulceration and infection before discharge. The oral condition will not affect his appetite, so as the nutritional status, evaluated by assessing his body weight daily. Management for Altered comfort Client suffered from KD often shows irritability due to pain and fever. (To deal with fever, please refer to Management for hyperthermia) Administer analgesia as prescribed to reduce the pain. A quiet environment may calm client, nurses can talk softly and avoid bright light if possible. James et al.(2013) suggested that line the bed with soft blanket from home can promote client’s sleeping quality. Encourage parents’ to bring client’s favourite toys and nipple may also help in comforting client. Nurse should manage the procedure systematically, in order to minimize disrupting client’s rest period. These actions can apply in Peter’s case. Peter will have adequate rest and show clam immediately after having these nursing actions. Family Education Some parents may not know what Kawasaki disease is. Nurses should provide information to client’s family and answer the inquiries. Client’s parents are often anxious of clients’ condition. Assessing the parent’s anxiety level and explaining procedure clearly are necessary. Nurse should also comfort parents by assuring them the fever, pain and irritability of the child will resolve eventually. Focusing on the case scenario, nurse should help his mother to differentiate the differences between KD and Roseola, including the etiology and S/S, after Peter’s admission. To reduce the chances of developing complications, nurse can teach his mother to monitor and assess early signs of complications of heart at the routine time, such as abnormal heart rate, arrhythmia, cyanosis and lower extremities edema. Provide pamphlet about KD for his mother to read. Asking for any inquiry and let her to verbalize at least two significant signs of having complications can evaluate her understanding. To prevent further infection, client’s carer should be educated to provide proper hand hygiene before touching client. It is also encouraged if we can invite her in planning the treatment regimen, which can reduce her anxiety and promote her compliance to client’s treatment regimen. Besides, since Peter is 1-year old, before Peter discharges, we should educate the mother that after IVGG treatment, vaccinations with live vaccine (e.g. MMR) should be delayed for 6 months. It is because antibodies may interfere with the immune responses to the vaccines (Salisbury Begg, 1996, as cited in Cheng, Wong So, 2003). We should make sure his mum remembers the specific dates of FU in order to detect abnormalities showing signs of potential complications. V. Conclusion Kawasaki Disease is a common paediatric disease, and it is different from Roseola. With early diagnosis, treatment and continuous follow-ups, it is a manageable and curative disease. Mimicry in Butterflies | Experiment Mimicry in Butterflies | Experiment Introduction The experiment will be testing mimicry in butterflies. Mimicry is the similarity between two organisms that evolved to protect a species from its predators. The similarity can be appearance, behaviour, sound or scent. Mimicry can be mutually beneficial for both organisms, or it can be damaging to one of the organisms involved. Batesian mimicry is when a harmless species imitates the warning signals of a harmful species, it is an antipredator adaptation. The wings of the Monarch butterfly are made up of a black, orange and white pattern. They are aposematic in both caterpillar and butterfly form, warning off predators with their bright coloured wings as a warning of their undesirable taste. Cardenolide aglycones is responsible for the undesirable taste of the Monarch butterflies, which the caterpillars ingest while feeding on milkweed. The Viceroy butterfly is distinguishable from the Monarch butterfly from its post median black line on the vein of its hindwing and it is smaller in si ze. Its defence against predators is mimicry of the Monarch butterfly. Hypothesis and Predictions The hypothesis is that mimicry in the butterflies does not have an effect on preference from the birds. Our predictions are that the birds will not choose the model butterfly because of the bright colour of the model butterfly. This means that the birds will more likely choose the mimic butterfly because it is less brightly coloured. Aims To see which butterfly the birds chooses first and to test mimicry in the viceroy butterfly and to see what effect mimicry has on preference from the birds. Pilot study A pilot study was undertook at Treborth Botanical gardens. The study was designed to emulate the mimicry of the monarch butterfly by the viceroy butterfly. This was done using different colour suet pellets. Yellow suet pellets and red suet pellets were used. They both had the same flavour. This was designed so that the birds would be choosing primarily on the colour and not the taste. Five sites of study were chosen. One pile of red suet pellets and one pile of yellow suet pellets were left at each test location. The piles of suet were placed on tree branches and in bird feeders were possible, but some had to be left on the ground. This possibly could corrupt results as ground-based rodents could consume suet pellets and these are not the subject of the experiment. Of the five sites of study four piles of red pellets were fully consumed, compared to only two sites in which the yellow suets were completely consumed. We took this as indication that the birds on site had a preference be tween the two colours of suet. However, the results may have been corrupted by herbivorous birds and small mammals which may have consumed the suet pellets instead of the target bird species. Methods Eggs would be collected from the area to be surveyed to ensure successful polymorphs are obtained from both species, and breeding age adult butterflies are not removed from the environment. The eggs would then be reared to adulthood (as only adult viceroys use mimicry). The butterflies would then be freeze-dried to preserve their colour and any unpalatable compounds in their tissues. This would also lower water activity and thus lower the chance of introducing bacteria and other pathogens to bird populations. The area to be surveyed would be divided into quadrats with equal and random treatments across varying habitats (as literature suggests predator density and diversity affects the success of mimicry). Per treatment a Viceroy and a Monarch butterfly would be pinned in close proximity to each other on a tree. First preference of prey would be recorded in the case of a butterfly being eaten by a predator. Predator species could also be recorded to discover if any species (such as di fferent Passeriform species) show a preference for either butterfly. Statistics A chi-squared test is used as data to be generated is frequency count data on which butterfly was chosen first which certifies that the data matches the requirements for a one-way chi-squared test. Discussion After analysing the weaknesses from the pilot study, the method was modified in the hope that it would make the plan stronger. With the issue of other predators, the ability to discount them attacking the butterfly was overcome by monitoring all test species. What was shown in our pilot study that in fact all the brightly colour suet pellet was gone contradicts what we believe should occur but the flaw in the pilot study design may account for that. The expected outcome for this experiment would be that batesian mimicry is shown. References Chai, P. (1986). Field observations and feeding experiments on the responses of rufous-tailed jacamars (Galbula ruficauda) to free-flying butterflies in a tropical rainforest. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 29(3), pp.161-189. DellAglio, D., Stevens, M. and Jiggins, C. (2016). Avoidance of an aposematically coloured butterfly by wild birds in a tropical forest. Ecological Entomology, 41(5), pp.627-632. Flickr, (2011). Viceroy Caterpillar. [image] Available at: https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6185/6068401472_e8d8be1611_b.jpg [Accessed 28 Feb. 2017]. Guenther, L. (n.d.). Photo of a monarch caterpillar. [image] Available at: http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/monarc1.jpg [Accessed 28 Feb. 2017]. King, R., Stansfield, W. and Mulligan, P. (2007). A Dictionary of Genetics. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.278. Lindstedt, C., Eager, H., Ihalainen, E., Kahilainen, A., Stevens, M. and Mappes, J. (2011). Direction and strength of selection by predators for the color of the aposematic wood tiger moth. Behavioral Ecology, 22(3), pp.580-587. Parsons, J. (1965). A digitalis-like toxin in the monarch butterfly,Danaus plexippusL. The Journal of Physiology, 178(2), pp.290-304. Pfennig, D., Harcombe, W. and Pfennig, K. (2001). Frequency-dependent Batesian mimicry. Nature, 410(6826), pp.323-323. Ritland, D. (1998). Mimicry-related Predation on Two Viceroy Butterfly (Limenitis archippus) Phenotypes. The American Midland Naturalist, 140(1), pp.1-20. Sutherland, W. (2006). Ecological census techniques. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.1-446. van Zandt Brower, J. (1958). Experimental Studies of Mimicry in Some North American Butterflies: Part I. The Monarch, Danaus plexippus, and Viceroy, Limenitis archippus archippus. Evolution, 12(1), pp.32-47. Wickler, W. (1965). Mimicry and the Evolution of Animal Communication. Nature, 208(5010), pp.519-521.

Emergent Systems †Religion Versus Science :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Emergent Systems – Religion Versus Science Religion is an institution that invokes unobservable and improbable entities to explain the natural world. It provides a default explanation for anything not currently understood. Over the last few thousand years, the number of unknowns has exponentially decreased along with religion's monopoly on why and how. Now, religion is almost never invoked to interpret reality. When someone has a seizure, a hole isn't drilled in his head. When our children ask where AIDS or lightning comes from, we no longer answer "God." We now have a wonderful array of social and natural sciences at our disposal. Sociology tells us why people behave seemingly oddly in groups. Psychology explains that people aren't strictly good or evil. Biochemistry shows us how the neurons in our brain work and even gives recipes for chemicals that make us happier and less anxious. Physics tells us how these molecules are bound together and how they can be split apart. Each of the sciences is pretty confined to its scope. The pure sciences explain the simple in slightly simpler terms. The social sciences explain the complex in slightly less complex terms. However, they do string end-to-end very nicely, one picking up where the previous left off. There does seem to be a large gap that is covered by no field at this time. That gap is between neurobiology and psychology. The first explains how each individual neuron operates. The second, what they do when about 15 billion of them get together. What happens in between that creates consciousness and apparent self-awareness? To many, it's obvious that this gap will be filled by another scientific field. However, to most of the world, this is the final unknown. Like the unknowns before it, it's filled by religion. Nearly all current religious beliefs are concentrated around this remaining scientific gap. What are the most prevalent remaining religious beliefs? People no longer believe the earth is the center of the universe or disease is punishment from God. These contradict existing hard sciences. The remaining beliefs are those that fill in for this missing scientific field. The soul and the afterlife. How are the soul and afterlife related to this missing field? The soul is a catch-all concept that substitutes for our lack of understanding of consciousness. Afterlife is recognition that because the mind (soul) is not understood, it is to be treated as a black box. The afterlife concept is a hopeful presupposition that because we do not know what goes on inside the black box, it may possess an ability to transcend its apparent cease of functioning. Emergent Systems – Religion Versus Science :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers Emergent Systems – Religion Versus Science Religion is an institution that invokes unobservable and improbable entities to explain the natural world. It provides a default explanation for anything not currently understood. Over the last few thousand years, the number of unknowns has exponentially decreased along with religion's monopoly on why and how. Now, religion is almost never invoked to interpret reality. When someone has a seizure, a hole isn't drilled in his head. When our children ask where AIDS or lightning comes from, we no longer answer "God." We now have a wonderful array of social and natural sciences at our disposal. Sociology tells us why people behave seemingly oddly in groups. Psychology explains that people aren't strictly good or evil. Biochemistry shows us how the neurons in our brain work and even gives recipes for chemicals that make us happier and less anxious. Physics tells us how these molecules are bound together and how they can be split apart. Each of the sciences is pretty confined to its scope. The pure sciences explain the simple in slightly simpler terms. The social sciences explain the complex in slightly less complex terms. However, they do string end-to-end very nicely, one picking up where the previous left off. There does seem to be a large gap that is covered by no field at this time. That gap is between neurobiology and psychology. The first explains how each individual neuron operates. The second, what they do when about 15 billion of them get together. What happens in between that creates consciousness and apparent self-awareness? To many, it's obvious that this gap will be filled by another scientific field. However, to most of the world, this is the final unknown. Like the unknowns before it, it's filled by religion. Nearly all current religious beliefs are concentrated around this remaining scientific gap. What are the most prevalent remaining religious beliefs? People no longer believe the earth is the center of the universe or disease is punishment from God. These contradict existing hard sciences. The remaining beliefs are those that fill in for this missing scientific field. The soul and the afterlife. How are the soul and afterlife related to this missing field? The soul is a catch-all concept that substitutes for our lack of understanding of consciousness. Afterlife is recognition that because the mind (soul) is not understood, it is to be treated as a black box. The afterlife concept is a hopeful presupposition that because we do not know what goes on inside the black box, it may possess an ability to transcend its apparent cease of functioning.

Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney :: Taste Honey Shelagh Delaney

"Taste of Honey" by Shelagh Delaney I am going to explain how Shelagh Delaney presents the changing facets of Jo’s character. The play was written in the 1950s and was first performed in 1958. The play is about a girl and her mother move to a grubby flat and area with no men in their life, but all changes when Helen meets Peter and Jo meet Boy. Then Jo gets pregnant with the black boy, and then meets and shares a flat with Geof, a young homosexual. He takes and the role as caring and protecting Jo and they get on well. Geof brings Helen back to visit Jo, and Helen kicks Geof out. Jo’s is the main character in the play; she is the daughter of Helen. She falls for a man called Jimmie who is in the navy, and then he makes her pregnant and goes way leaving her with this black baby. Then she meets Geof who takes on the role of caring for Jo, and then brings back her mother and he leaves. At the beginning of the play Jo is organized, capable and critical of her mother, we know because she says ‘ You’re knocking it worst than ever’. This makes us think that Helen has a drinking problem in the past. Also in Act one scene one Jo shows she is organized by saying ‘ I’m going to unpack my bulbs. I wonder where I can out them’. Then she changes when she meets Peter and becomes more jealous, quarrelsome and annoying. When Helen leaves Jo becomes more resentful and feels hurt and unloved. When she meets Jimmie she becomes much more flirtatious we know this because she says to him in the play ‘glad you like it. It’s my schoolgirl complexion’. She also becomes coy and likes the attention when she meets Jimmie. The play writer use dramatic devices to show the changes in Jo well, as in when she has quarrels and fights between the other characters. In the 1980s it was not common to be a single parent family, and Britain was not a multicultural society. Jo changes though the play one example of this is her opinion on poor housing. At the start of the play she say ‘And I don’t like it’ expressing her self about the

Discuss the Role of Endogenous Pacemakers

Discuss the role of endogenous pacemakers in the control of circadian rhythms [AO1 8 marks, AO2 16 marks] An endogenous pacemaker is an internal biological clock that controls the way in which many of our biological rhythms behave. Many of these rhythms run on a 24 hour basis, such as the sleep/wake cycle, bodily temperatures and some of our hormones. The main endogenous pacemaker in mammals is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which is located in the hypothalamus. It receives information about lights from the eye through the optic nerve.This happens even when our eyes are shut, due to them being so thin, meaning that if our endogenous clocks are slow (e. g. because the sun rises earlier than the day before) morning light automatically shifts the clock ahead, putting the rhythm back in sync with the day. At night, when there is no light, the SCN then sends a message to the pineal gland, causing it to increase the production of melatonin, which induces sleep by preventing the brains mechanism to promote wakefulness.An example of the way endogenous pacemakers control our circadian rhythms is a case study on Michael Siffre. Siffre willingly spent a long period of time under ground, to find out what happens to the sleep/wake cycle when the biological rhythm is allowed to run freely without external cues. His findings showed that the free running cycle settled down to a regular rhythm which is little over 24 hours. This study shows that the circadian rhythm persists without the cues of natural light, which demonstrates the existence of an endogenous clock.However the study also shows that external cues are also important to the sleep/wake cycle, because the clock was not perfectly accurate, meaning that without the cues of natural light, it would become out of sync with day and night. This study was supported by Aschoff and Wever (1985) who placed participants in an underground bunker without any external cues , and found that many participants displayed circadian rhythms of between 24 and 25 hours. However some of the circadian rhythms of those in the bunker were as long as 29 hours, showing that individual differences can effect the results meaning this study and the case study of MichaelSiffre cannot be generalised to the wider population. Miles et al’s (1977) study of a man that had been blind since birth showed that the man had a circadian cycle of 24. 9 hours. The blind man was exposed to different exogenous zeitgebers such as clocks and social cues, but they found that none of these factors reduced his biological clock to 24 hours, and he had to take stimulants in the morning and sedatives at certain times at night to reduce his biological rhythm in time with the rest of the world.This research supports the idea that the sleep/wake cycle isa circadian rhythm controlled by an endogenous pacemaker as it did not adjust when influenced with any natural exogenous zeitgebers, and was only effected when certain drugs were used to chang e it. However this study can be criticized as it is only a case study of one man, meaning it lacks population validity and cannot be generalised to the wider population. Morgan et al (1995) also provided evidence for the effect of endogenous pacemakers of the circadian rhythms by breeding ‘mutant’ hamsters that had circadian rhythms of 20 hours instead of 24.He then cut the SCN’s out of the mutant hamsters and transplanted them into normal hamsters. The normal hamsters the began to display the 20 hour circadian rhythm of the mutant hamster. This proves that endogenous pacemakers play a large role in circadian rhythms, as it showed that the sleep cycle in the hamsters depended on biological factors from with in the brain. However this research may raise some ethical issues as it can be seen to breach the terms of animal cruelty, as it may cause the hamsters to become psychologically unhealthy.Also the research can be criticized as it only shows the effect of the S CN on hamsters sleeping cycles and cannot be generalised to humans as hamsters have much smaller brains and are also nocturnal animals meaning that light does not effect their circadian rhythms, the same way it does ours. In conclusion, I think that endogenous pacemakers do play a very large role in helping to maintain our circadian rhythms, however this is also with the help of various exogenous zeitgebers which help keep the rhythms precise.

Exterminate the brutes Essay

â€Å"The Heart of Darkness† by Conrad is one of the great novels of English literature. This novel exposes the greed, malice and selfishness of the European men. They exploit the wealth of Africa in the name of civilizing the natives. They take away their ivory and in return gave them hunger, destitution, poverty, degradation and death. The English men of this novel lack morals and conscience. Conrad observed the hypocrisy of his countrymen and exposed it in a marvelous way in this short piece of art. In this novel he brings before us the nature of â€Å"western superiority† in primitive lands. Reading this story repeatedly, we know that the dark English coast before him recalls for Marlow the darkness of modern Africa, which is the natural darkness of the jungle but more than that the darkness of moral vacancy, leading to the atrocities he has beheld in Africa. This moral darkness of Africa, we learn later, is not the darkness of the ignorance of the natives, but of the Whitman who blinded themselves and corrupted the natives by their claim to be light-bearers. Walter Allen believes that, â€Å"The Heart of Darkness of the title is at once the heart of Africa, the heart of evil- everything that is nihilistic corrupt and malign – and perhaps the heart of man† According to Conrad himself, the story of â€Å"heart of darkness† is about the â€Å"criminality of inefficiency and pure selfishness when tackling the civilizing working Africa†. In the story Marlow makes much of the inefficiency and selfishness he sees everywhere along his journey in Africa. But it is the criminality of the civilizing work itself that receives the heaviest emphasis in the novel as a whole. J. W. Beach believes that Kurtz is the representative and dramatization of all that Conrad felt of futility and horror in what the Europeans in the Congo called â€Å"progress†, which meant the exploitation of the natives by the white men. Kurtz was to Marlow, penetrating this country, a name, constantly recurring in people’s talk, for cleverness and enterprise. But there were slight intimations, growing stronger as Marlow drew near to the heart of darkness, of traits and practices so abhorrent to all our notions of decency, honor and humanity that the enterprising trader gradually takes on the proportion of a ghastly and almost supernatural monster symbol for Marlow of the general spirit of this European undertaking On his journey up the Congo, Marlow comes across the forsaken railway truck, looking as dead as the carcass of some animal; the brick maker idling for a year with no bricks and no hope of materials for making them; the â€Å"wanton smashup† of drainage pipes abandoned in a ravine; burst, piled up cases of rivets at the outer station and no way of getting them to the damaged steam boat at the Central Station; the vast artificial hole somebody had been digging on the slope- all these and many more are the examples of the criminality of the inefficiency. Wilson Follet believed that in this novel, â€Å"the European is shown drained, diseased, a prey to madness and unutterable horror and death†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This proves that the white men over there, except the company’s accountant, are inefficient and selfish. They themselves do nothing, whereas on the other hand they exploit the natives to the maximum, they extract the maximum workout of them and pay them three nine –inch long brass-wire pieces a week, which are insufficient to buy them anything. As such most of the natives are starving and dying. This novel is a very faithful accord of the cruelties and atrocities perpetrated on the natives of Africa by their European masters. Talking of the roman conquest of England, Conrad says, it was â€Å"just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a grand scale, and men going at it blind-as is very proper for those who tackle darkness†. What Romans had done in England, the English did in South Africa. Marlow admits that English conquests, like all others, â€Å"means the taking away it from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves,† though Kurtz went to the African jungle with an idea to civilize the natives; he saw his mission in Africa as that of torchbearer for white civilization. But very soon he starts extracting from the natives human sacrifices to himself as god. Finally, his hatred for the natives plunged to the depth out of which came his prescription of the only method for dealing with primitive people: â€Å"Exterminate the brutes! † The European Whitman in Africa is parasites; they are hollow; they have no personal moral vision of their inhumanity and folly. They are also collapsible, because their society’s institutions are incapable to hold them up. Ivory has become the idol of the foolish run of European pilgrims; and Kurtz is no exception. † all Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz. † Joseph Conrad is a modern artist. He uses impressionistic technique of novel writing in his novel, â€Å" The Heart of Darkness†. The appeal of a novel, Joseph Conrad wrote, â€Å"must be and impression conveyed through senses â€Å". This impression could not be conveyed through the most complete inventory of details; it is an intuitive whole and must be rendered so, instantaneously. † the meaning of an episode is not inside like a kernel but outside enveloping it,† his spokesman Marlow declared. He avoids generalized narrative. He tell us the story in vivid impressions something like Virginia wolf. E. M. Forster in his seminal novel â€Å" A Passage To India’ too discuss some what â€Å"the Heart of Darkness† like situation. This novel discusses in detail the severe clash between the two fundamentally different cultures, those of East and West. The administration and their families residing there represent the westerners. Although these western people wish to maintain good relations with the easterners whom they govern, they have no desire to understand India or Indians. The Westerners rule the natives with an iron hand without caring for justice and fair play.