Christian Worldview

America is now suffering from a Great Recession which was initiated by atheistic US bankers. As the Telegraph reports, â€Å"Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, attacked exploitative money lenders who pursued ‘ruthless gain’ and urged banks not to ‘enrich themselves at their poor neighbours' expense’. † Their worldview is dominated by money. They believe in the survival of the fittest, and they think that they can get away with anything. Their philosophy is to conquer or be conquered, to exploit anyone and everyone; and morals are only for the weak.But I look at the world through the lens of a Christian, and I believe that my faith in God, my belief in absolute truth and my definition of morality based on God’s word—the Holy Bible—will make my life successful and happy. For greedy American bankers, God does not exist, but for me, He lives in my heart. They say that God is a figment of my imagination, and there is no proof tha t God exists. As Psalms 53:1 points out, â€Å"The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God. ’ They are corrupt, and their ways are vile† (New International Version).But for me, the suffering that they have now brought to themselves is proof that there is someone out there more powerful than anyone. As Psalm 19:1 asserts, â€Å"the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. † The consequences that they will face under President Obama will be evidence that justice under God will prevail. As Isaiah 51:5 says, â€Å"My mercy and justice are coming soon. My salvation is on the way. My strong arm will bring justice to the nations. All distant lands will look to me and wait in hope for my powerful arm† (New Living Translation).And the happiness and contentment that I will enjoy throughout my life by trusting God is a confirmation of His reality and love for those who trust Him. Indeed, â€Å"All you who fear the LORD, tru st the LORD! He is your helper and your shield. † While greedy bankers may also believe in the relativity of truth, I consider it to be absolute. These people think that truth depends on perspective, just as beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. They claim that what is â€Å"evil† for me is â€Å"good† for them.They think that the whole idea of â€Å"good† and â€Å"evil† is subjective, and that it is for the â€Å"greater good† that they do all these â€Å"evils. † But I believe that good and evil are absolute. They have done evil, and that is the absolute truth, whether they like it or not. People all over the world, the majority of mankind, agree with me. The world is one in condemning them as evil. While these bankers define right and wrong based on their own â€Å"rational† thinking, I believe that only God, through his word, the Bible, can define morality.People who claim to think logically ask questions such as: â€Å" If you and your family were thrown overboard a sinking ship, and you could save only one person, either your mother or your husband who both can’t swim, who would you choose? † But in a real-life situation involving one’s family, real people don’t depend on logic like robots. Indeed, I would pray to God and attempt to save them both. I have faith that God will save us all, and faith is more powerful than logic.In the end, my Christian worldview, defined by my trust in God’s existence, my refusal to believe in the relativity of truth, and my faith in God’s Word as the ultimate resource for defining right and wrong, is my path to salvation. How I wish that everyone else can also see through my lenses. References Holy Bible: New International Version. (1978). Grand Rapids: Zondervan. Holy Bible: New Living Translation. (2007). Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers. Moore, M. (25 Dec 2008). Religious leaders blame bankers' greed for financial cr isis. The Telegraph.

Starbucks Facing Brand Culture Devaluation and Massive Layoffs

Starbucks facing brand culture devaluation and massive layoffs To: Howard Schultz, Starbucks From: Yang LU, Aspire CC: Rui DONG Xiaochen DONG Vanessa BAXTER Pushpak BERIWAL Executive summary The aim of this report is to find out the deep-seated reason for this depression of Starbucks and give a recommendation to the firm to deal with it. Furthermore, this report also suggests solutions to dismiss the panic of the staff and remains the excellent performance.The key findings include: Finding 1: The over-expansion made Starbucks’ unique culture of the â€Å"Starbucks experience† devalued and seemed no difference with other fast food restaurants. This caused employees’ less well performance and therefore it lost customers’ loyalty as well. Finding 2:The employees felt dissatisfied with the rewards and treated customers with less effort while the unacceptable massive layoffs made a panic. The recommendations suggested by this report include:Recommendation 1:â⠂¬Å"Decentralization†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Remove number of outlets away from each other and slow down the pace of opening new stores in the US or concentrate on the unexploited market space in other countries. Recommendation 2:Increasing the compensation given to the members asked to leave and suggesting them do some other suitable jobs. The firm can also make a promise that these employees would be considered first when hiring candidates in the future after the most difficult times. Furthermore, keep the employees’ payment stable and hold some activities inspiring to promote people to tide Starbucks over difficulties together.This report describes the findings after applying theories to analyse the issue which claimed the trouble that Starbucks was facing. For years, Starbucks was famous for its consistent growing and expansion. However, the both share price and sales fell even three times than before since 2008. The â€Å"Starbucks experience† (Michelle, 2007) was widely s upposed to have been diluted and the customers complained that the staff seemed to be less complaisant since they found Starbucks Ubiquitous.A resource from MarketWatch: Global Round-up (2008) reported that Starbucks had been forced to close 600 US stores and axe 12,000 jobs which took almost 7% of its global workforce which had made negative effect on other employees. The aim of the report is to find out the deep-seated reason for this depression and give a recommendation to the firm to deal with it. Furthermore, this report also suggests solutions to dismiss the panic of the staff and remain the performance. Key issues identified by Aspire | Key issue| Champion| | Over-expansion caused Starbucks’ brand devaluation and massive layoffs. | Yang Lu| 2| Starbucks' two non-payment methods of motivating employees. | Rui Dong| 3| Starbucks changed people-oriented culture into profit-oriented culture. | Xiaochen Dong| 4| Kraft foods taking Starbucks to court over the planned termina tion of its contract to distribute Starbucks packaged coffee. | Vanessa Baxter| 5| Starbucks is a very command and control driven company which leads to very little flexibility and decision making power at certain regional stores. Pushpak Beriwal| Justification of key issues over-expansion caused culture devaluation and massive layoffs Fast-forward 20 years, Starbucks had more than 10,000 American outlets till 2008 from only 84 US stores in 1990 (Smale, 2008). This sharply increased number made Starbucks seem to be omnipresent like other fast food stores. As a result, this change took a negative effect that the members in this group feel less proud of their jobs in Starbucks which was famous for its unique culture and therefore had less passion to satisfy the customers.From Schein’s (2004) theory of culture components, Starbucks fell to the basic level of culture instead of the highest one it got before. Starbucks finally cut over 10,000 jobs which were most in the US in the last two years during the reforming and also cut the employees' compensation and holiday (Kiley, 2009). By Maslow’s (1970) â€Å"a hierarchy of needs†, Starbucks could not make staff satisfied by the physiological needs and de-motivated other members. The dissatisfied emotion would reflect on their performance.Findings from analyzing issue over-expansion caused brand devaluation and massive layoffs Starbucks was famous for the unique culture that to give all the customers the relaxed feel and atmosphere as a third place out of home and office which called â€Å"Starbucks experience†. This culture is in the second and near the third level of the â€Å"components of cultures† with espoused beliefs and values and basic underlying assumptions which was identified by Schein (2004).Starbucks published its beliefs and values to make the members love their jobs and enjoy the experience in Starbucks to treat customers with their heart and satisfy them and to attra ct new members or partners to join in the group through the unique brand culture. Guided by market, Yang (2010) has provided evidence that brand culture was aims at achieving the maximization of organizations’ profits obtained and customers’ loyalty by establishing common values which could influence the movements and behavior of the members within a company based on the amalgamation of consumers’ value and company.However, the expansion without limitation made a trouble. Although the purpose at first was to make the â€Å"Starbucks experience† penetrate everywhere through the expansion, the company was making stores feel more like hip neighborhood coffeehouse which deviated from its original intention. Starbucks had lost it focus and made a dilution of the â€Å"Starbucks experience†. For the reason that the worth of a thing is best known by the want of it, the value of the culture and brand image went down.The â€Å"cannibalising† (Smale, 2008) sales between branches only a short distance from each other made employees feel less honored to work in this firm or group and the less enthusiasm to satisfy the customers came as a serious consequence. According to Schein’s (2004) theories on culture components, Starbucks only reached the first level of the components â€Å"artefacts† which observed the decorative style and visible products to survive the situation with ubiquitous competition instead of making the ustomers always come first. The â€Å"Starbucks experience† was viewed same as McDonald's and other fast food stores who also sold coffee through such a market saturation. Organizational culture sees culture comprising a number of variables, the combination of which lead to observable differences between organizations so that a company can have power to compete with others (Barry et al. 2000). To get back what made Starbucks successful Starbucks cut a great number of stores and announced massiv e layoffs for reforming.However, this would make the employees undertake the responsibilities and suffer the pain. At the same time, the sudden occurrence as the adjustment in the contract with the employees is both inevitable and a source of trouble, especially it made employees feel that they expected far more than they got and worse off (Kolb et al. 1991, p. 6). According to the theory â€Å"a hierarchy of needs† which developed by Maslow (1970), individuals experience a range of needs and will be motivated to fulfill need which is most powerful at that time.The first level is physiological needs and if this need is dominant for a person they can satisfy it by having a regular job which can keep consistent. But the employees forced to leave Starbucks could not be satisfied by the basic needs. Furthermore, the firm de-motivated the left members at the same time by cutting the employees' compensation and holiday. Vroom’s (1964) expectancy model theory of motivation ex plicitly recognized that outcomes with high expectations and neutral or even unsatisfied achievements would reduce the amount of effort the staff is going to invest.By understanding Vroom’s theory, the firm would get less contribution from its employees by the lower reward, which would reflect the staffs’ less enthusiasm when treating the customers. This also made every member in the firm feel upset and panicky. When the employees believed that they were not receiving payments commensurate with their performance, effort or ability then they worked less hard (Hauenstein and Lord, 1989), and became more selfish (Harder, 1992) and felt dissatisfied with their jobs in this firm (Carr et al. 1996). ConclusionTo sum up, Starbucks faced the trouble that the unlimited expansion has made its famous experience culture diluted and lost a number of customers’ loyalty. To make the matter worse, a great number of layoff was claimed so that the firm also lost the loyalty of it s members. The main aim of the report is to help Starbucks to revalue the culture and put Starbucks’ unique image back to high position into customers’ heart. In addition, suggestions are given to motivate employees. Culture is the soul of a firm which gives the company power to survive and compete with other business. RecommendationsFor the first finding that the over-expansion made Starbucks devalue the unique culture of the â€Å"Starbucks experience†, a suggestion of â€Å"decentralization† can be given. Remove number of outlets away from each other and slow down the pace of opening new stores in the US or concentrate on the unexploited market space in other countries. The other finding that the employees felt dissatisfied with the rewards and treated customers with less effort while the unacceptable massive layoffs made a panic can be solved by increasing the compensation given to the members asked to leave and suggesting them some other suitable job s.The firm can also make a promise that these employees would be considered first when hiring candidates in the future after the most difficult times. Furthermore, keep the employees’ payment stable and hold some activities inspiring to promote people to tide Starbucks over difficulties together. Reference list MICHELLI, J. A. (2007) The Starbucks experience: 5 principles for turning ordinary into extraordinary. New York: McGraw-Hill MARKETWATCH: GLOBAL ROUND-UP. (2008) Starbucks: hoping store cuts will reinvigorate US business. WWW] MARKETWATCH. Available from: http://ehis. ebscohost. com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? hid=109&sid=30997753-d45f-4afd-bfc9-6c6be4a48faa%40sessionmgr111&vid=4 [Accessed 30/11/10]. SMALE, W. (2008) Why Starbucks' sales have gone cold. Business reporter, BBC News, 1st Feb. SCHEIN, E. (2004) Organization Culture and Leadership. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. KILEY, D. (2009) Starbucks Cuts More Stores and Workers Amidst Recession and Lower Ea rnings. Bloomberg Businessweek, 28th Jan. MASLOW, A. 1970) Motivation and Personality. 2nd ed. New York: Harper ;amp; Row. YANG, Y. K. (2010) The Construction of Brand Culture Based on Corporate Culture. International Journal of Business ;amp; Management, Vol. 5 (4), pp. 223-226. BARRY, J. et al. (2000) Organization and management: a critical text. London: Thomson Learning. KOLB, D. , RUBIN, E. and OSLAND, J. (1991) Organizational Psychology. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. VROOM, V. H. (1964) Work and Motivation. New York: Wiley. HAUENSTEIN, N. M. and LORD, R. G. 1989) The effects of final offer arbitration on the performance of major league baseball players: a test of equity theory. Human Performance, 2 HARDER, J. W. (1992) Play for pay: effects of inequity in a pay for performance context. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37 CARR, S. C. et al. (1996) Effects of unreasonable pay discrepancies for under and overpayment on double demotivation. Genetic, Social and General Psychol ogy Monograpghs, 122 (4). BELBIN, R. M. (1993) Team Roles at Work. Oxford: Butterworth/Heinemann. Word count: 1332 words

Carbon-13 Non Magnetic Resonance (NMR) of Steroids

Carbon-13 Non Magnetic Resonance (NMR) of Steroids Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (CMR) spectra show a marked sensitivity to such important features of chemical structure as carbon hybridization, the electronegativity of heteroatoms, branching and steric crowding. Potentially, CMR is an extremely rich source of structural data in organic chemistry, capable of rivaling or even surpassing proton magnetic resonance. In the research proposed here, we intend to develop this potential in the field of steroid chemistry. The factors which determine the CMR spectra of steroids are only modestly well understood. We have begun, and propose here to continue, a systematic study of families of closely-related steroids (keto- and hydroxy-androstanes and cholestanes) with the conviction that only through such a systematic study can the basic factors governing the CMR spectra of steroids be brought to light. We intend to quantify those factors as predictive rules which relate spectra to structures and to develop computerized methods for using t hose rules to extract structural information from the CMR spectra of unknown steroids. We also propose to develop several chemical methods (derivatization procedures) for augmenting the information-content of such spectra. Within the last twenty years, the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance†2 (NMR) has evolved from little more than a laboratory curiosity to one of the most powerful analytical tools in chemistry. The experiment itself consists of observing, in an applied magnetic field, the resonance frequencies (in the radio-frequency range) of magnetic nuclei in a liquid chemical sample. The analysis of NMR spectra yields chemical shifts and coupling constants which reflect, respectively, the chemical environments of and the bonding or spatial relationships between atoms whose nuclei are magnetic. Because protons are magnetic, interacting particularly strongly with electromagnetic fields, and because they are present in virtually all organic compounds, proton NMR (PMR) has found broad usefulness in organic chemistry. The literature on PMR spectroscopy is huge, and frequently it is found that PMR spectra yield chemical information which would be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain by an y other method. The determination of structure and conformation, 394 the analysis of mixtures, 435 the study of rate processes6 and the elucidation of reaction mechanisms 7 have all been aided substantially by PMR techniques. Other nuclei frequently observed via NMR are F-19, P-31 and C-13. The first two are not common inorganic compounds and are thus used for more specialized studies. Carbon, by definition, occurs in all organic molecules, but only about 1isotope C-13. This, together with the fact that C-13 nuclei are almost two orders of magnitude less sensitive than protons to the NMP experiment, has hampered the widespread use of C-13 NMR (CMR) as an analytical tool for organic chemists. However, recent instrumental 8 advances such as pulsed Fourier transform techniques and 9-l 1 noise-modulated proton decoupling have made it possible to obtain natural-abundance CMR spectra of even large molecules (e.g., steroids) or low-concentration (ca. 0.05 M) samples within a reasonably short time (0.5 10 hr.). The research to date 12 indicates that C-13 chemical shifts (which constitute the primary data usually collected in the CMR experiment) cover a broad range (ca. 200 p.p.m.) relative to H-l shifts (ca. 10 – P.P.m.1, and are highly sensitive to hybridization, the electronegativity of substituents, branching, and steric crowding. Thus CMR spectroscopy is pote ntially a rich and highly useful source of structural data. As further advances in instrumental design take place, CMR spectroscopy will become an increasingly available and informative tool in organic chemistry. OBJECTIVES AND SIGNIFICANCE The research proposed herein is directed toward understanding the factors which determine C-13 chemical shifts in steroids and toward developing computer-based methods whereby a chemist can obtain structural information from spectra of unknown steroids. This class of compounds was chosen for two reasons. First, the steroid skeleton is more or less rigid, providing a relatively controlled framework within which to study the effects of steric hindrance and other geometrical factors upon C-13 shifts. Second, a great fraction of steroid and natural products chemistry involves the identification or verification of steroid structures, and thus we expect our results to be of significant practical utility. At the current level of understanding of C-13 chemical shifts, it is not now possible to predict the CMR spectrum of a given steroid with much certainty, although by referring to simple model systems, one can often rationalize the signs and general magnitudes of the spectral changes which take place when the nature and position of substituents are altered. It is now a challenging problem simply to assign the spectrum of a known steroid, that is to identify which observed peaks belong to which carbons. The first definitive study of the CMR of steroids was presented only four years ago by Roberts et al. 13 – In that report, the assigned spectra of nearly thirty assorted steroids are presented, with the assignment task accomplished ’I using specific single- frequency and off-resonance proton decoupling, hydroxyl acetylation effects on chemical shifts, deuteration, and substituent influences in analogous -6- compounds.† Since then, several other authors 14 have reported research on the CMR of steroids, but only recently has the systematic study 15,16 of families of closely related steroids begun. We have reported 16 the assigned spectra of fourteen keto-substituted androstanes and cholestanes, where the keto group occupies every possible position around the skeleton. We are currently collecting data on a similar series of hydroxy-substituted steroids, and work is also in 17 progress on the series of steroids containing one endocyclic double-bond. The initial stage or our proposed research is to complete the hydroxyl series and to obtain the CMR spectra of several bifunctional (e.g., dihydroxy and keto-hydroxy) steroids. With such a collection of systematic data available, we will be able to study the influence upon C-13 shifts of these three types of functionality, alone and in combination, which are by far the most common types occur-ing in natural steroids. From these data, we expect to be able to extract rules which will allow the accurate prediction of CNR spectra of steroids containing these groups. Zffrcher’*-20 has derived an extremely useful set of rules relating skeletal substitutions in steroids to changes in the PMR shifts of protons in angular methyl groups. The C-13 rules we seek will relate not only to angular methyl groups but to all carbons in the skeleton, and will thus provide a great deal more information than the Zircher rules. These CNK rules will also form the base for our proposed work in the computerized interpretation of CNR data (vide infra). – As the second portion of our work, we propose a study of reversible derivatization procedures which will aid in the assignment of the spectra of known steroids, and in the analysis of the spectra of unknown -7- steroids. Roberts and co-workers 13 have found that acetylation of a hydroxyl group in a steroid produces characteristic changes, due primarily to steric effects, in the shifts of carbons close to that group. They have used this effect in assigning such shifts. We propose to study the effects of other hydroxyl-group derivatives, specifically, the 2,4,6- trimethylbenzene (benzoates themselves, in our hands, have not shown any advantages over acetates), trifluoroacetate and the trimethylsilyl ether. These derivatives have different steric and electronic properties than do acetates, and should thus produce different patterns of spectral change, providing a convenient means of augmenting the information-content of ordinary CMR spectra. We also propose to observe the C-13 shift changes which take place upon cyclic ketalization of carbonyl groups, and we expect that such changes will be useful in determining the local environment of keto groups on steroids. It has been found 21,22 that the presence of a paramagnetic complexing agent (e.g., a †lanthanide shift† reagent) causes large changes in C-13 chemical shifts of alcohols and ketones. These changes can be related to the geometry of the complex, which reflects the geometry of the Alcohol or ketone itself. We intend to explore the use of such shift-reagents in assisting the interpretation of steroidal CHR spectra. Of particular interest will be the difference between JA- and p-hydroxy steroids: It is expected that the grossly different steric environments of axial vs. equatorial hydroxyl groups will have a pronounced effect upon the geometry of the complex, and thus, very different lanthanide shift patterns should result. If so, the effect should provide a convenient means for distinguishing the stereochemistry of sterols. -8- A third facet of the proposed research involves the development of computerized techniques for automatically extracting structural information from CMR spectra. This represents a logical growth of our Heuristic DENDRAL project, 23-28 an eight-year joint effort between our laboratories and the Departments of Genetics and Computer Science. The purpose of the project is to develop applications of heuristic programming (†artificial intelligence†) to problems in chemical inference, with the bulk of the effort directed toward the computerized interpretation of mas s-spectroscopic (MS) data. In the early DENDRAL research, 24,25 only saturated, acyclic, monofunctional compounds were treated, but we have recently reported the successful identification of the structures cf estrogenic steroids 25 (and mixtures thereof 27 ) via the computerized interpretation of MS data. As the complexity of compound classes has increased, we have felt a growing need for sources of structural data other than MS. CMR data show a sensitivity to stereochemistry and substituent placement which complements, rather than duplicates, MS-derived information, and thus CMR is the ideal candidate. We have demonstrated 28 the feasibility of using CMR data in automated structure analysis. Using a detailed and accurate set of predictive rules 29 for saturated, acyclic amines, we have constructed a computer program which can †reason out† the structure of such an amine, starting from its empirical formula and CMR spectrum. A similar effort is proposed for the steroids (at least, those containing endocyclic double bonds, carbonyl groups and hydroxyl substituents) in which structural information would be inferred from CMR data using accurate predictive rules. This information could then be integrated with the results obtained from derivatization or special CMR techniques, 9- and (if necessary) from MS analysis to yield possible structures. Not only would such a system have substantial utility, but it would represent an important advance in the †state of the art† in both CMR spectroscopy and chemical information-processing. A. CMR Spectra of Steroids We plan to complete the series of sterols by synthesizing [emailprotected], [emailprotected], 74-, 9+, lbc-, 14ti-, 16x- and 176- androstanols or cholestanols, whose CMR spectra (pulsed Fourier-transform spectra, obtained at 25 Mhz. using noise modulated proton decoupling) will be recorded and assigned. We have worked out likely synthetic pathways for the preparation of these using commonly accepted procedures and starting from compounds available in our laboratories. In order to test the extent of additivity relationships and of various interactions of substituents, we shall similarly synthesize and record the spectra of two or three dozen dihydroxy and keto-hydroxy androstanes and cholestanes. The candidates chosen will depend upon the results of the analysis of the monofunctional steroids. Using statistical procedures similar to those of Dalling and Grant, 30 and of Lindeman and Adams, 31 we shall attempt to correlate s/structural variables with chemical shifts, the goal being the derivation of an accurate set of substituent parameters for steroids. In assessing the effects of steric crowding and skeletal distortion, we plan to utilize a computerized, classical-mechanical model of the molecular structure, such as the Westheimer-type models recently reviewed by Schleyer. B. Derivatization We propose to analyze the changes in C-13 shifts which take place when the hydroxyl group in several of the above androstanols and cholestanols is derivatized to the 2,4,6-trimethylbenzene, trifluoroacetate and trimethylsilyl ether. We propose similarly to investigate the effects of ketalizing (with ethylene glycol) several androstenone and cholestanones. We propose to analyze the effects of lanthanide shift reagents (in varying concentrations) upon the CMR spectra of several of the hydroxy- and keto-steroids, with particular emphasis upon pairs of sterols which differ only in the orientation of the hydroxyl group. These investigations will be directed toward the development of a repertoire of non-destructive, chemical methods for increasing the ’information available from CMR spectra. C. Computerized Interpretation of CMR data There are three phases to our proposed research in this area, all of which will make use of the heuristic programming techniques developed in our DENDRAL project. First, we intend to develop a program to assist in the assignment of spectra obtained in; arts A and B, using currently available techniques (i.e., using rules for acyclic systems together with analogies from appropriate model systems). The purpose here is twofold: On one hand, such a program will hasten a time-consuming procedure (in our work, the assignment of spectra requires about as much time as the preparation of samples and the recording of spectra, combined), while on the other hand, it will provide a context within which to develop techniques applicable to the more difficult problem of structure identification. Specifically, we will need methods for express; ing CMR rules as efficient computer code, and for deciding whether a good, unambiguous fit occurs between predicted and observed data. Secondly, we intend to u tilize the rules derived in part A, together with derivatization information from B, to write what is called a †planning† program in the DENDRAL terminology. Such a program is designed to examine the spectrum of an unknown and, referring to a set of heuristics, to attempt to verify the presence or absence of specific structural features in the unknown. Whereas the predictive rules allow one to predict a spectrum from a given structure, the heuristics represent transformations of the rules which allow one to infer structural information from a given spectrum. The primary challenge in constructing the planning program will be the design of heuristics which are as informative as possible, yet which run efficiently. This program will be a useful analytic tool in itself and will be used in the third phase of our proposed research. This third phase will involve merging the planning program with the existing DENDRAL system, which analyzes MS data for steroids. Modifications will be made to the structure generation program, which can construct all possible sets of acyclic substituents from a given set of atoms and attach those substituents in all possible ways to a given cyclic skeleton. The structure generator now makes use of IISplanner information, constructing only those steroids which are consistent with it. We shall modify the algorithm to make use of the output from both the MS and the CMR planners, and shall extend the algorithm to consider questions of stereochemistry, which are currently ignored. We believe that the augmented DENDRAL s ystem will have the capacity to identify, unambiguously, the structures of a wide variety of steroids using information from just these two spectroscopic sources. The programs will be written in the LISP language, and will thus be compatible with the rest of the DENDRAL system. Computer time on the PDP-10 will be provided through the NIH-funded SUMEX facility at Stanford, and we request no support in this proposal for computer facilities. Programs developed in our proposed research will be available to the scientific community over the ARPA computer network.

The New Changes in the Structure and Administration of the Business Research Paper - 68

The New Changes in the Structure and Administration of the Business - Research Paper Example The merging of the three businesses in the UK has strained the managers’ efforts towards establishing an effective workforce body. With the new structure, some of the employees have to be retrenched since tasks have been redistributed. In addition, the number of departments has been reduced significantly. Before the merge, each business had an established structure of various departments and offices. In addition, the three businesses had varied categories of employees in the various established departments. However, after the merger, the operations of the three business were brought together under one management. Some departments were merged, and others eliminated in the new system. Due to the reduced number of departments, a huge number of employees have been retrenched, and others given lower positions than the ones they held in their previous respective business settings. In this regard, it can be observed that the new structure of the human resource has led to the loss of jobs and decline in earnings for some employees. The new structure of the UMGUK requires employees to work together with an aim to boost performance. Adjusting to the new system is a challenging HR issue that the company faces. The employees of UMGUK are not used to the new system and, therefore, the company cannot realize the benefits of the new structure fully in the first phase of implementation. In this regard, the HR department is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the employees get acquainted with the new system with the shortest time possible.

Human Resources Framework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Resources Framework - Essay Example This paper seeks to analyze the implications of the Millennial generation on the work place by discussing five key issues that make up the M-Factors. These issues include meaning, great expectations, the need for speed, social networking and collaboration. One of the major trends of M-Factor that is greatly valued by Generation Y is meaning. According to this generation, a job should be both well paying and meaningful. In this regard, Millennials seeks to have security and challenges in their work. Challenges imply the opportunity to develop financially as well as professionally. Similarly, Generation Y expects the employers to provide them with security that encompasses providing them with the strategic direction of the organization (David and Lynne, 2010). To ensure that its young employees are motivated and their work has a meaning, Coca-Cola Company established The Coca-Cola University (CCU) that is focused at providing skills on people leadership, consumer marketing and employees development. In this way, its emerging workforce has remained productive and competitive thus reducing the labour turnover. One of the key aspects that differentiate Millennials from the traditionalists, baby boomers and Generation Xers is their great expectations and strong quest for success in their work. In this regard, they expect instant feedback from their managers to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Due to the great expectations that Millennials possess, they change jobs frequently (Ron, 2008). This implies that managers are under obligation to motivate the young employees by providing them with opportunities to achieve their expectations. To ensure that the expectations of its young employees are attained, Coca-Cola Company under the leadership of Muhtar Kent has embarked on developing programs that promotes well-being of the employees as well as improving the quality of their life. Unlike

British Isles Iron Production during the Roman Occupation Essay

British Isles Iron Production during the Roman Occupation - Essay Example The essay "British Isles Iron Production during the Roman Occupation" talks about the evidence concerning the chain of operation in iron production in the British Isles during the Roman occupation. The British Isles were clearly a vital part of the Wealden iron industry having been in operation from pre-historic periods. Considering that its geology that was made up of sandstone Ashdon Beds and clay mad it easier for the extraction of iron. The place was also favorable in that there was enough wood that would be used during the smelting process. Furthermore, the soft sandstones could be carved to form valleys and lakes that would eventually provide water for powering the forges and furnaces. The process of identifying the iron mines depended on the availability of wood used for smelting fuel which was abundant in the British Isles. This was because iron ores were found everywhere in the country and iron quite inexpensive. Britain emerged to be a right place for getting iron which was required for making war machines used by the Romans. The Romans constructed most f the underground mines found in Britain. Iron was mined in open pits as well as underground fields with slaves bearing the weights of the work. After extracting the ore from the mine it was the crushed and washed according to Burnham. Once the iron ore had been mined from the open pits, they had to be cleaned before undergoing further processing. The iron oxide was then left after washing and later was smelted through the bloomery method.

Business Merchandising Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Merchandising Management - Assignment Example During spring-summer time, sunglasses would account for huge spend budget. Hence they are allocated the maximum amount of sales plan. During summers the demand for sunglasses goes up and hence it is important that a large percentage of media spend is on promotional activity for this particular product. These promotional activities would include fashion shows, different offers and schemes such as 'point-of-purchase promotion', discounts etc. The media spend has been allotted keeping in mind that the promotional activity would be spread over a period of 10 weeks from mid May until the end of July. However, not all promotional activities would be carried out for so long. Such as fashion shows would be held about 2 times over the period. Summer time is associated with beaches. This is time of the year when people go for long holidaying trips to various beaches across the globe. Clearly, this is also that time of the year when the demand for swimwear rockets up. Hence it is important to have well-defined promotional strategies to match up to the market demands of the product. The promotional activity would be carried out for a period of 10 weeks again which is from mid May up to end of July. ... The promotional activity would be carried out for a period of 10 weeks again which is from mid May up to end of July. This is because if people are planning for long holidays, they would mostly start buying somewhere in advance and hence mid of May is the optimum time to start the promotions of swimwear. Since summer time goes on for a good 2 and a half months, the promotional activity should be in full gear for the full of June and July, which is when the holidaymakers plan their visits to beaches. Fashion Accessory Promotional Activity Period (Duration in Weeks) Spend (in million ) Jewellery Fashion Shows, Exhibitions, Discounts, Mannequin display, Various offers and schemes. 6 7 Jewellery as a product does not really have a relatively high demand during any particular season and its sales depends mostly on occasions. Hence its promotional activities will not be targeted keeping in mind the spring-summer season, and rather the onset of any occasion or festival. The amount that has been allocated for the sales plan, 7 million, will be required for activities such as fashion shows, exhibitions, mannequin displays and other schemes and offers. The duration for which the promotional activity will be carried out is 6 weeks. Jewellery will not be much in demand during the summer, but in the spring season. Hence the promotions would take place from mid March up to the end of April. Fashion Accessory Promotional Activity Period (Duration in Weeks) Spend (in million ) Lingerie Fashion Shows, Discounts, Mannequin display, Various offers and schemes. 6 7 Unlike Jewellery, lingerie is a fashion accessory which is a must-have. Irrespective of the season, it continues to have a good demand and attractive promotional activities can

Introduction To Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Introduction To Management - Essay Example As of now this market is mainly dominated by two players, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. The rising popularity of soft drinks has contributed immensely towards the growth and prosperity of Europe and America. Today the soft-drink industry employs more than 110,000 Americans with a payroll of more than $5 billion payroll dollars. Historically Coca-Cola has dominated the industry. Until 1950 Pepsi raised hardly a flicker of recognition. But now Pepsi has become a force to reckon with. Let us underline the present circumstances; Political Factors: During the Second World War Pepsi and Coke both enjoyed increased sales as they followed the flag around the world. However, after the war ended, and incomes improved, Pepsi's sales figures started decreasing. Things improved for Pepsi mainly when after Mr. Alfred N. Steele took over the Presidency. Mr. Steele could bring in this turnaround mainly in two phases. The first phase lasted from 1950 to 1955. In this phase all out efforts were made to overcome the shortcomings of Pepsi. During the second phase, lasting from 1955 to 1960 Pepsi started direct offensive against Coca-Cola. That was the time when Coca-Cola started accepting the formidable presence of Pepsi and responding to its overtures as well. The present political conditions in US and Europe are more or less stable, with the respective governments not taking sides. Both Pepsi and coca-cola have been contributing in good measure towards the political campaigns of diverse political parties and the governme nts. One factor which has certainly come to the advantage of coca-cola is the FIFA world cup 2006 in Germany, a formidable part of European market. Euro is now the currency of twelve European Union countries, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle (namely Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland). Euro came into existence on 1st January 1999 when eleven (later twelve) EU countries established the conversion rates between their respective national currencies and Euro with formal circulation of bank notes and coins from 1st January 2002. Coca-Cola being the official partner of World cup soccer under these changed circumstances, not only brought it closer to the respective establishment, but having a borderless big area where people could move freely to see the football matches the frenzy generated has indeed helped coca-cola by leaps and bounds. Pepsi too appear to have recognized the trend and is focusing mainly on the markets of developing countries for now. Economic Factors: While analyzing the markets the economic factors that need to be taken care of are; Current and project economic growth, inflation and interest rates Labor supply, labor costs and unemployment Levels of disposable income and income distribution Stage of business cycle Impact of globalization Marketers need to consider the state of a trading economy in the short and long-terms. This is especially true when planning for international marketing. The soft drink industry is more than liquid refreshment and jobs and dollars. It is an industry that strongly believes in preserving the ideals and principles that helped it

Binge Drinking in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Binge Drinking in Britain - Essay Example Binge drinking has been a problem in other countries in Europe like Poland although the recent data shows that the trend has been reducing of late in the country. However unlike in Poland, the trend of binge drinking has been picking up in Britain and it has come with various social and health complications. (Moscalwcz, 2005) Binge drinking has been defined as pattern of drinking alcohol which brings the concentration of alcohol to around 0.08 gram percent or above in the body. In an adult this can be shown as drinkgin more than 5 drinks and about 4 drinks for females in a period of about 2 hours. In the common use, binge dirking is however used to refer to the excessive use of alcohol on a similar time span for example over an evening. It is sometimes referred to as heavy episodic drinking. Binge drinking is also any pattern of drinking which has the sole international of becoming intoxicated. Therefore it is excessive intake of alcohol in one setting. Some people usually take alcohol that they could have taken in one week in just one setting. It can also refer to drinking heavily land continuously over a period of time for day or weeks. It is usually called drinking in order to get drunk. According to the definitions of clinical a binge drink can be explained by the period under which the drinking is e xtended which may be for at least two days in which a person repeatedly becomes drunk and intoxicated. Therefore it's a combination for probing use of alcohol which makes one to give up usual activities. (Woods, 2008) Who are binge drinkers A binge drinker is a person who takes alcohol continuously and in large amount than the recommended level. It is appear show have restrained drinking behavior but how may frequently overindulge in drinking to an extreme level. It is also someone who many not necessary want to drink a lot but who is unsure of the limit that he wants to take where at the end one ends up drinking too much in a short period of tem. (Reach Out, 2008) Most of the binge drinkers are not sure other amount of alcohol they take at one setting. They are drinking to get drunk and at the end they exceed the health recommended limited or drinks. For most people binge drink brings in their minds a self-destructive and understand bout of drinking which may last or several day during which they are likely to consumer a high amount of alcoholic their body. Reasons for binge drinking There are many reasons that have been shows to cause binge drinking. Although many people have shown that there are used under a duress condition when they binge drink, psychologist have shown that this may not be the reason for all people. There are a number of binge drinker how cannot give a particular reason as to why they binge drink. Therefore the numbers of reason that can lead one to binge drink are valid and depend on each individual person. For example among the youth it has been shown that most of the youths binge drink due to peer pressure. They engage in unending drinking sprees with their colleagues as a leisure activity. However it has been shows that among the working class binge drinking may be caused by limited time that they have for the activity. Therefore when they are not at work, there are likely to drinking more because they are not sure the

Floor Painting is the in Things Now-a-days Assignment

Floor Painting is the in Things Now-a-days - Assignment Example The colors scattered on the floor gave a very beautiful look and I was surprised to see this new art form on the floor. I had never seen such a thing earlier so it made me feel very good. I wanted to be a part of this activity so I asked one of the painters what he was painting. He told me that they were painting mother earth, with the figures of the planet and the earth in relation with one another. I enjoyed being there. The people gathered there to witness the activity were also surprised to see that such an event was taking place in front of their eyes. In fact, the whole scene was way too beautiful for me to envision and indeed understand. I asked many questions of the people who were present there. The artists were trying their best to paint the earth and its different colors. They were using the blue color for the water that is there in abundance on our planet and the other colors were used for the continents. There was a wide variety of colors spread on the floor which looked very astounding. I was happy to see positive enthusiasm within the people. It reflected their interest in the work that they were doing. It also spoke of their attachment to Mother Nature and anything that looked beautiful for their own sake. It is indeed our duty to make our earth look beautiful with each passing day (Marlin 1989). This activity was very enthralling in the sense that it made all of us feel happy and merry with delight and the colors that were spread all around made a jovial feel towards the activity that was going on. I stayed there for at least an hour and then I decided to take some snaps of the activity that was going on. I took a number of good-looking photographs and then I left the place with a feeling that there are still people present in this world, who want to do away with pollution.

By world War 1 Essay Example for Free

By world War 1 Essay Introduction World war 1 had a huge impact on peoples live at home. We can see from the sources that I am analysing that all sections of society were affected by the war, men, women and government. The working classes were affected by recruitment and the upper and middle classes were affected because they had to do their own housework. Also peoples standards of living were affected, they had more of a balanced diet and the women found that they had more money because their husbands were at war. I am going to evaluate a number of sources which tell us a lot about what affected peoples lives during the war. I will look at the validity of the sources and the strengths and weaknesses. The topics I will study are Recruitment and Conscription, Politics, Role of Women and Changing Standards attitudes and beliefs. I will start by looking at how Recruitment and Conscription affected peoples lives at home during the war. Recruitment and Conscription. Many peoples lives were affected by the first world war. At the start of the war the government had to try and persuade 1000s of men to join the war. Source A1 (i) is a Recruitment poster produced by the government in 1914 as part of a Propaganda campaign to get people to sign up and fight in the first world war. The poster features a picture of Lord Kitchener who was the secretary state for the war. This poster is the most famous poster made for the war and it made men feel as if they as an individual was wanted to fight for their country. The idea of the finger pointing and using the words you and your made the men feel as if the government wants you as an individual. The weakness of the poster is the fact that it is propaganda. The poster is basically saying that you must sign up to the war. Source A1 (ii) is a photograph taken outside Southwark Town Hall in London. It was taken during December 1915. The photo is of an Army Recruiting Office. The people who are queuing in the long lines to sign up all look happy at the prospect of going to war. This seems unusual to me and this could be because the photo may have been staged by the government to make the men think that all other men are signing up so they should sign up too. The fact that this photo could have been staged makes the source unreliable because it is not real. In December 1915, the government were in trouble because they did not have enough men signing up to the war, because at this point people at home were learning of the first major casualties of the war. The men were realising that going to war was not as easy as it first looked. So in December not many people were signing up which makes the site of this many people signing up a rare site at the time. Also if there was so many people signing up, the government would not have had to bring in Conscription. A strength of this source is that it was taken at the time but a weakness is that it could have been staged. Conscription was the compulsory enrolment into the armed forces. In January 1916 the act was passed that unmarried men between the ages of 18 41 had to join the armed forces. Then in May 1916 a second act was passed that unmarried men between the ages of 18 41 had to join the army. Politics and the war effort The first world war had a big effect on Politics. We can see this in Source B3. Source B3 is a photograph of the new Prime Minister with the new members of the coalition cabinet. The photograph was taken at 10 Downing Street in December 1916. A weakness of the photo is that it maybe propaganda and could well have been staged to make the people at home believe that the government were united through the war. Its strengths are that it was taken at the time. This increases the reliability of the source because it is an actual picture from the time of the war showing that the government was united through the war. Source B4 shows how the first world war affected different Political Parties. The source is written by John Davies on the History of Wales in 1993. This source tells us that Labour was becoming more popular through the war as it had no responsibility for how the war came about, but for the Liberal party the war was a disaster because their leader Henry Asquith lost his role of Prime Minister to the Labour leader David Lloyd George. The source says: The strength of this source may be that it was written a long time after the war, so John Davies views would have been based on balanced opinions. A weakness of the source though is that the book is only about Wales. Also it may have been biased to David Lloyd George because he was welsh. The First World War also had an affect on political issues. In December 1917 the house of commons decided to give the vote to 6,000,000 Women over the age of 30. Source B5 (i) is a report from The Daily Sketch which shows this. The report tells us that the vote was won by a huge majority of 330 out of 440 votes. It shows the start of a new era for women. The strength of the source is that is an actual report from the time which makes it reliable. Source B5 (ii) is a photo of the 1918 general election when for the first time Women over 30 were allowed to vote. The picture tells us that woman were becoming more independent. The picture source may be reliable is it was taken at the time of the general election. A weakness of the source is that it was taken by the government reassuring men that the women would probably vote the same way as their husbands. Women and Social Change. World War 1 had a massive affect on the way women ran their lives. More women started going to work, fashion changed and they had more money from wages to spend on themselves because the men were away. Source C3 is a poster produced by the government showing people that women are doing their bit by making munitions for the men at war. We do not know when the poster was issued but we do know that it was from sometime during the war. The weakness of the poster is that it was propaganda to get more women to work. The strength of it though is that it was from the time. This affects the reliability as because it is from the time we know that it was actually shown to the women during the war. The First World War had an affect on how many Women were employed in different trades. Source C4 is a table of Figures that represent the changes of the amount of women that were employed throughout the war. The table shows the increase in the amount of Women employed in Britain between July 1914 and July 1918. The source may be reliable because they are official Government figures but the numbers are rounded up so we do not know the exact figure. They could have been rounded up to the nearest thousand or the nearest 100 thousand we do not know. A weakness of the source is that it doesnt tell us what happened after the war. After the war the number of Women employed may have decreased. The amount of money that women had also increased, this may be because their husbands were away, so they did not have to buy for them and also they were working. In Some cases the women were getting paid more than Corporals. We can see this in Source C5. This source was written by a full corporal, H. V. Shawyer in 1916. He says: This source tells us that the women were getting paid more than the men and were also able to spend their money on other people. This source may be reliable as it was written by the person about his experience and also it was written at the time of the war. Changing Standards, Attitudes and Beliefs The impact of the First World War changed peoples standards, attitudes and beliefs. Source D3 is an extract from an article written by A. J. P. Taylor in 1965 about England 1914 1918. The extract is about how the war affected the rich. A. J. P Taylor says: At the end of the war, there was a general change of economic outlook. Previously the idle rich had been proud of being idle. Now they were ashamed of it and idleness was becoming more difficult. Domestic servants, for instance, were hard to come by. Their number had been halved during the war. Households which had kept five servants dropped to two; those firmly with two to one; and the rest of the middle class made to do with a daily woman. This source tell us that people were happy to have servants before the war but now they know what it was like being normal they became ashamed of it. The way people used their money changed, instead of using servants they were doing the work themselves. It was more difficult for the rich to get away with doing nothing, because the working class had more better paid jobs to do. The source may be more reliable because it was written a long time after the war and he would have been able to gather more evidence. People would have also been more honest because it was a long time after the war. Source D4 shows how the war affected religion and chapels. The source is from a book by Kenneth O. Morgan called Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880 1980. It was written in 1981. The emphasis of the book is not actually about the First World War and so the book may have only had a page about the war. Source D4 says: The factors which had weakened the chapels before the war debt, over-expansion in rural areas and lack of support from non- Welsh speakers and industrial workers became stronger after the war Fundamentalist religious belief, barely changed since the chapels were founded. This source is telling us that the society changed during the war but the chapels didnt. The source may be reliable because the book was written a long time after the war. This means that Kenneth O. Morgan would have been able to base his book on a lot more evidence than if it was written immediately after the war. A weakness of the extract is that the book is only about how the Welsh chapels changed. Peoples Standard of living also changed as a result of the First World War. In an article by a modern historian, Clive Emsley, he said that although the war resulted in the deaths of many thousands, there was an overall improvement in peoples diet and a decline in the death rate. He also said that Lone wives were able to wages go further. This source tells us that some people were better off than theyd ever been. Because this article was written in 1996 it makes it more reliable, because he would have been able to base his article on a lot more evidence that came available a long time after the war. Conclusion From studying these sources on recruitment and conscription, politics and the war effort, role of women and changing standards, attitudes and beliefs it can be seen that the war had a massive impact on all sections of society. These changes were sometimes better, financial and Health wise. However as can be seen from Recruitment and conscription, the men had to sign up and a lot were being killed The First World War acted as a catalyst to a change in society. People who had experienced war first hand had their lives change dramatically, however those who were at home e. g. women and children, also experienced fundamental change in many aspects of their lives.

Feudal Systems Essay Example for Free

Feudal Systems Essay The Japanese and European feudal systems were very much alike yet different in their own ways. Japan’s feudal system was composed of peasants, samurais, daimyos, shoguns and emperors. Then there was the European feudal system. It was composed of serfs, knights, church officials, nobles, kings and queens. In Japan, there was an emperor. The emperor did not do much, he was more like a figure head and he did not make any laws. He was just there to represent the country. The shogun was the person who not only make and pass laws, but controlled finances and the daimyos. The daimyos were lords that controlled samurai, which were warrior protectors for wealthy land owners. Samurai followed a code of behavior called the Bushido, or the â€Å"way of the warrior†. The Bushido stated that samurai were to be brave, loyal and honorable. The wouldn’t complain when they received physical hardship, they did not fear death. If a samurai was defeated or disobeyed their masters, they were to form a ceremonial suicide called Seppuku. It was a way to dishonor with defeat. Last but not least, there were the peasants. They were mostly farmers and traders. Unlike Japan’s feudal system, in the European feudal system, the king and queen controlled nobles, the church and peasants. Nobles or lords owned land and they would grant part of their land to peasants. The grant was called a fief. These peasants would use about two thirds of the land for farming and they would give some of the crops to the lord. Nobles and lords also controlled the knights. Knights were just like samurai in Japan, also they follow something similar to the Bushido. It is called the chivalry and is a system of rules that told of how knights should behave towards others. Both feudal systems were from different countries but they were very much alike.

Glossary of Medical Terms and Definitions

Glossary of Medical Terms and Definitions Glossary of Terms A Adhesions-  adhesions are bands of tissue that form between the abdominal organs. Normally, the surface of abdominal organs is smooth and glistening. This enables the abdominal organs to slide or glide over each other with ease. Adhesions cause the abdominal organs to stick together. Most often, the adhesions are asymptomatic and cause no trouble to a person. The most common cause of abdominal adhesions is surgery. Factors that promote adhesion formation post surgery include physical handling of the abdominal organs, contact of the organs with foreign objects such as gauze and blood clots that were not be completely cleaned out. Adhesions secondary to surgery may cause disease many years later. Adhesions can also be due to inflammation in the abdominal cavity. Inflammation can be due to appendicitis or peritonitis. Radiation treatment has also been shown to contribute to adhesion formation. Adhesions if symptomatic often present with chronic abdominal pain. In the abdomen, they can result in intestinal obstruction; in the pelvis they cause infertility. Artificial sweeteners-  sugar substitutes are food additives that duplicate the effect of sugar in food. They can be of natural or synthetic nature. Artificial sweeteners are sugar substitutes that are synthetic. Other types of sugar substitutes are sugar alcohols, novel sweeteners and natural sweeteners. Sugar substitutes have gained popularity in the recent past because they deliver the same sweetness but with less calorie consumption. Sugar substitutes are not without health benefits. Artificial sweeteners are tooth friendly and reduce risk of developing dental caries. In diabetic patients, they contribute to better sugar control. They are not carbohydrates and therefore do not raise the blood sugar level after consumption. Virtually, they deliver no calories to the body and are a healthier alternative to patients who want to lose weight or assist individuals from piling on weight. Several artificial sweeteners have been approved for use by the FDA and include stevia, saccharine and sucralose. However, the consumption of artificial sweetener has to be within the limits of acceptable daily intake (ADI) to ensure that the health of an individual is not compromised. B Baroreceptor Think of the baroreceptors in your body as the pressure gage system. A baroreceptor is a sensory nerve ending that resides in the major arteries of the human body. These sense changes in blood pressure and thus these nerve endings play an important role in assisting the circulatory system. Baroreceptors may be found in larger arteries of the body and may be located in the aorta and the carotid artery for example. Thus these receptors send alerts to the brain about blood pressure changes so that the brain may then create a response to the changes. It works like this. As blood pressure rises the vessel walls expand. As the walls expand this triggers more rapid firing off of these receptors. If blood pressure lowers then the receptors lower the firing rate or signaling rate to a less than normal firings. The brain knows what â€Å"normal† should be and thus can respond based upon the signals given by the receptors. Baroreceptors don’t simply note change. They note the amount of change and the timing of that change. By studying the reactions of a body’s receptors a medical professional can evaluate and diagnose some serious problems and thereby understand what kinds of treatment may be needed. Bile duct-  bile or gall is a fluid that is synthesized in the liver. It is a complex fluid that is composed of bile acids, cholesterol, phospholipids and bilirubin. Bilirubin is an end product of hemoglobin degradation. Bile is green in color and is essential in the digestion of fats in the small intestines. Bile is transported through a complex network of tubes known as the billiary tree from the liver to the gall bladder for storage. Many bile ducts make up the billiary tree. These are tubular structures with thin walls that act as transport passages for delivery of bile to the gall bladder through the hepatic duct. Sometimes bile ducts can become obstructed by bile stones. This results in severe right upper abdominal pain and abdominal discomfort which worsens with intake of fatty meals. The billiary ducts can be visualized through specialized medical imaging which employs use or radio isotopes to light up the billiary tree. Biologic mesh-  a mesh is a sheet made of interconnected strands of a given material. In medicine, meshes are a crucial component of hernia repair. They are either synthetic or biologic in nature. Biologic meshes are derived from the human or porcine dermis. Once inserted, a biologic mesh induces the proliferation of fibroblasts and endothelial cells into the mesh substance. This is achieved through action of residual growth hormone in the substance of the mesh. This process results in degradation and rebuilding of the collagen scaffold of the mesh with the end result being complete incorporation of the mesh in the body. Recently, there has been a shift from the use of synthetic to biologic meshes due to better outcome associated with the later. Synthetic meshes have been associated with higher incidence of complications such as infections, skin erosion and formation of fistulas. Biologic meshes have shown promising outcome especially in repair of hernias that have contaminated wou nds. C Computer network-  a computer network refers to a group of computers that are connected to each other electronically. Information can be shared between the linked computers through data connections. This is achieved through use of cables or wireless technology. Information technology has a key role in expansion and delivery of quality healthcare. In hospitals, two types of networks re found. The first is the local area network (LAN) which connects members of a given office or department. This facilitates formation of a departmental database that enables ease in communication and efficiency in execution of its mandates. The second type is the wide area network (WAN) which connects all the hospital departments to a central computer programme that is concerned with patient management. This ensures easy accessibility to patient records from various departments such as laboratory results, radiology examinations and consultation notes. The benefits of computer networking in a hospital ar e immense. It allows for easy access to a patients history and medical records for the multidisciplinary team that is involved in the treatment of the patient. One of its major downfalls is the safety of patient’s records in that an unauthorized person can hack past security measures and access a patient’s personal information. Coping strategies-  coping is a deliberate effort made by an individual to solve personal and interpersonal problems. Coping is a reaction to what is affecting an individual in the environment. It is a survival technique in which a person aims to master or tolerate stressors in the environment. The ability to cope varies with individuals. A number of factors contribute to the ability of a person to cope. The type of stressor, the person and the environment are key determinants. Coping can be successful or it can fail. When coping fails, the outcome is maladaptive behavior. There are numerous coping mechanisms. Broadly they can be divided into three. Appraisal focused coping mechanism is when an individual challenges himself or herself by facing ones assumptions. In problem focused approach, coping is aimed at reducing or eliminating the stressor. In the emotion focused approach, an individual aims at changing their own emotional response to various stressors. D Diaphragm The main muscle in the respiration process is the diaphragm, located between the thoracic cavity and the abdomen. Damage to this muscle can cause severe breathing difficulties. Usually the contracting and then again relaxing of this muscle is involuntary, however, a person can control it at times. A muscle that separates the pelvic cavity from the perineal cavity is also referred to as a diaphragm. It supports the pelvic and restrains abdominal pressure so that said pressure does not cause pelvic issues. A man made version of this can be surgically installed in order to prevent pregnancy and some sexually transmitted diseases. To aid in diagnostics a physician can use a disc type object known as a diaphragm with the standard microscope. This objet acts to filter light rays in order to help create a more easily visible image. This disc can also be added to a camera lense for the capturing of a more useful image. One popular such type is the Iris Diaphragm. Database-  database refers to a collection of information or data that is arranged in such a way such that a computer software programme can effectively select required piece(s) of data to fulfill a given requirement. The organization of the data ensures easy retrieval. Database management systems are softwares that act as the go between the user and the database itself to help capture and analyze any data. Databases are a form of electronic filing system and organization of data is achieved through use of tables. In medical field, various kinds of databases exist. Medical research databases offer easy access to information including recent clinical trials, drug information updates and emerging evidence in various medical fields. Symptoms databases will enable a layman to have an idea of what disease(s) they could be ailing from. This however does not validate self treatment and there is still need to see a healthcare provider. Databases are also essential in analysis of medical re search data because it is easier to retrieve all records that match a certain criteria, update records in bulk and cross reference data from various tables. Dyspnea   In medical language shortness of breath is known as dyspnea. At onset it is important to know a few details. Was this onset gradual or rapid? Was onset at a time of rest or exercise? Does the patient have a medical condition already that could explain this new symptom? Dyspnea is a symptom and it is important to find the root cause so that proper treatment can be given. Some activity related causes of dyspnea may include asthma, congestive obstructive pulmonary disease, heart related diseases or even anxiety. Inhalers hay be useful for the pulmonology related disorders. Medications may often be given for the other heart related or anxiety related conditions. Dyspnea related to being at rest may also occur. Like the active type, this too has many different causes. Some examples of causes might include allergy, anxiety, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, angina, chronic fatigue syndrome and many more. While some of these may be difficult to diagnose, it is best to find the cause of dyspnea and treat the cause rather than to just treat a symptom and not deal with the overall problem. E Eating awareness-  awareness is the state or ability to perceive, feel, or to be conscious of events, objects or sensory patterns. Eating awareness is more or less refers to mindful eating. This is the accepting and dedicating special attention to an individual’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors as pertains to eating. Mindful eating tends to gear away from a dietary approach in terms of losing weight. In dieting, restrictions are put on amount and type of foods that are allowed. Most people however are not able to adhere to the strict diet guidelines. This results in indulgence of the prohibited foods. This places a person on an oscillating motion from dieting to indulgence interspersed with feelings of guilt and shame. Mindful eating is not a diet. It is giving food and eating one full’s attention which allows one to attain optimal enjoyment and without eating in excess. It makes it possible for one to experience the difference between physical satisfaction and fulln ess. Electronic medical record-  this is chart containing all of a patient’s information and medical history stored in digital form. It is patient’s information on past medical treatment from an individual practice office. It offers numerous advantages over paper records. It allows for storage of more information, it makes a patient’s information accessible to more than one person and enhances ease of understanding information by bypassing the hurdle of illegible handwriting. A clinician is also able to effectively tract a patient’s progress over time. It is also easier to follow up patients on some procedures such as vaccinations and screenings. It also enables patients to participate in their own care because this information can be made available to them. Overall, electronic medical records improve the quality of patient care in a practice. This should not be confused with an electronic health record. In the later, the patient’s information is more comprehensive and can be shared with clinicians in other practices. Exercise   The act of using a part of the human in order to improve upon it may be referred to as exercise. Exercise may be either physical or mental. Exercise has the purpose of maintaining or building up whatever is being actively used. Mental exercise can be done in order to strengthen or improve mental abilities. A few examples of mental exercises would include puzzles, games, quizzes, discussion groups and active conversation on a given topic. The more a person exercises the mind the stronger that person’s mental abilities may become. Physical exercise maintains or builds up the physical body. Regular exercise can improve endurance, strength, balance and flexibility. Aerobic exercise can build endurance over time quite well. Weight lifting is an example of a strength building exercise. Balance related exercises can help prevent accidental falling, especially for older adults. Yoga is one example of flexibility exercise. Also one can use relaxation exercises to help relax the body before sleep or to help in the relief of stress. Regular exercise, either mental or physical, has many benefits. If a person wants to remain healthy and strong then a regular and challenging exercise program is in order. Physical exercise can also help with weightloss, improve heart health, release tension and much more. Exercise improves the life of a person and that is a good thing. F Fat-  in chemistry, the term fat is used to describe a group of compounds that dissolve in organic solvents. Fats can exist in solid or liquid at room temperature. All fats are derived from fatty acids and glycerol. Fat in the body is referred t o as adipose tissue. The human body gets fat from the diet or from synthesis within the body. Dietary fat can be sourced from plant or animal fats. Animal products that contain fat include meats and milk products. Plant fats can be found in nuts, sunflower, and soya beans among others. In the body, excess calories are converted to fat. Broadly, fats can be categorized into unsaturated, saturated and Trans fats. Structurally, saturated fats do not have a double bond between any of its constituent’s carbon atoms. Most saturated fats are of animal origin and are unhealthy. Unsaturated fats have a double bond between the carbon atoms and are considered healthier. Trans fat which are unhealthy arise from the partial hydrogenation of fats during food processing and are found in processed foods. In the body, fats are useful for insulation, for production of steroid hormones and absorption of fat soluble vitamins among other functions. G Gland A group of cells whose purpose is to secrete substances in order to make the body run more efficiently is known as a gland. Human anatomy has two types of these, the exocrine and the endocrine glands. These help to remove materials from the body and also to provide needed materials for certain processes requiring substances that otherwise would not be present in these areas. The exocrine glands secrete substances outside of the body. Examples would be the salivary glands or sweat glands. Salivary glands secrete fluid inside the mouth. Sweat glands secrete their substance through the skin in places such as the underarms, neck, forehead and other skin areas. While the salivary glands help with digestion, the sweat glands act as the body’s cooling system. Both are quite important. Endocrine glands secrete their substances inside of the body. These too are quite important. The glands in this group include the pineal, hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, parathyroids, thymus, adrenals, pancreas and gonads. Each of these serves a special purpose and a deficiency in any of these areas will greatly impact quality of life. The physician who treats such problems is known as an endocrinologist. I Incarcerated hernia-  a hernia is defined as a protrusion of abdominal contents through an area of weakening in the abdominal wall. A hernia can be reducible or irreducible. A reducible hernia is that which the contents of the herniation can be manually pushed back through the abdominal wall into the abdomen. An irreducible hernia is one in which it is not possible to reduce the contents of the hernia manually. In this case, the hernia contents become trapped in the hernia sac. An incarcerated hernia is irreducible. Femoral hernias, indirect inguinal hernias and abdominal wall hernias are likely to become incarcerated. Though the hernia is irreducible, the blood supply to the trapped abdominal contents is not compromised. However, there is a high risk of this occurring. Symptoms include a painful swelling that may have recently enlarged nausea and vomiting, fever and abdominal distention. Surgery is the only treatment option for incarcerated hernias. A potential complication of thi s hernia is strangulation which will result in death of trapped hernia contents due to lack of blood supply. Internal hernia-  a hernia refers to the protrusion of an abdominal organ through an area of weakness in the abdominal wall. An internal hernia refers to protrusion of a visceral organ through the peritoneum, foramen or mesentry with the organ remaining within the abdominal cavity. In internal hernias, a swelling on the abdominal wall associated with external hernias is absent. Examples of internal hernias include diaphragmatic hernia, hiatal hernia, sigmoid mesocolon hernia, Winslow hernia, tranmesentric hernia among others. Internal hernias are common after gastric bypass surgery. Due to lack of physical signs associated with an external hernia, the diagnosis of an internal hernia is often difficult to make. The symptoms are due to the local effect that a hernia causes. For instance a hiatal hernia will present with gastroesopageal reflex disease. A spinal hernia may present with limb weakness, paresthesia urinary and stool incontinence. Treatment of internal hernias is surgical. M Machine learning   Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence that is geared towards technological advancement of humans through use of computers. Machine learning equips computers with the ability to learn without them being programmed. Computer programmes are designed in such a way that they teach themselves to grow and react differently when exposed to new data. This advancement in computing is achieved through continuous exposure to new scenarios, tests and information. The computer is then able pick a pattern or detects a trend from the given data. Through this, the computers then learn how to perform tasks by generalizing from previous examples. In other words the computer is able to solve a problem using prior experience or examples from past data. In modern medicine, medical imaging is an indispensible tool. Machine learning is essential in the medical imaging field through applications that assist in medical image analysis, image fusion, image guided therapy and computer aided diagnosis. Machine learning can also be used to predict response of different patients to treatment through analysis of data. Metabolic equivalent   It is also known as the metabolic equivalent of task (MET). This is a unit of measurement that is used to determine the energy requirement of a given task. 1 metabolic equivalent is defined as the amount of oxygen that is consumed while sitting and at rest. This translates to about 3.5 mls of oxygen per kilogram of body weight. The MET values of any given physical activity can be determined by dividing the oxygen cost of the activity by 3.5. The intensity of the activity is directly proportional to the MET value. MET values for various activities provide a simple and practical way that helps determine the energy expenditure of various activities. In medicine, MET values are useful in that they can be used to determine how much exercise or physical activity an individual can tolerate safely. The patient is then able to establish a repertoire of activities that they can partake in safely. Metabolic surgery   This is a term that has recently gained popularity in the field of bariatric surgery. Obesity is associated with adverse effect on many of the body’s metabolic processes. Of concern is glucose metabolism. Obesity increases the risk for type 2 diabetes and most obese people have concurrent type 2 diabetes. Metabolic surgery is a term that refers to a set of gastrointestinal operations used with intent to treat diabetes and metabolic dysfunction including obesity. Simply put, these are surgical procedures that primarily aim at correcting dysfunction in glucose metabolism. An example of such a procedure is the RY gastric bypass. It is not clear how bariatric surgical procedures produce remission in type 2 diabetes. Theories existing include that introduction of food directly to the lower intestine via bypass stimulates release of GLP-1 whish results in secretion of insulin. It is also hypothesized that rearranging the gut results in decrease of hunger stimul ating hormones such as peptide YY which result in decreased intake of sugar hence better glucose control. O Operation   An operation is a medical procedure involving incision, with instruments. It is performed for repair of damaged tissue for instance after trauma. It is also done to arrest the progress of any pathology. The term surgery and operation can be used synonymously. A surgeon is a trained medical specialist who performs the surgery. An operation can be elective or an emergency. An elective operation is scheduled and performed for conditions that do not pose an immediate threat to the patient. An emergence operation is performed immediately because of presence of a life threatening condition in a patient. Based on the degree of invasion, an operation can be minimally, moderately or extensively invasive. An operation is a sterile procedure that is performed in a sterile environment. It entails use of a multidisciplinary team. There is the surgeon, the anesthetist, the scrub nurse among others. During the procedure, the patient is given medication that makes them sleep. Most oper ations will involve a hospital stay of at least a few days and a recovery period of at least two weeks. R Revisional surgery   Increase in the incidence of obesity in the world birthed bariatric surgery. This is a division of surgery that provides procedures geared towards helping patients lose weight. Revisional surgery refers to an operation that is done in patients who have already undergone a previous form of bariatric surgery. It is usually performed in the setting of complications or if the post surgery weight loss in not tallying with the expected. Complications that can prompt revisional surgery include development of fistulas, ulcers, continuous vomiting and protein energy malnutrition. Reversal of a procedure can also be done if a patient loses too much weight. Options for revision are dependent on the primary procedure that was done, some limit revision options. Recent surgical techniques offer more revision options compared to older techniques. Revisional surgeries are associated with greater risk for adverse outcome in the patient. Risk is highest in people who have lost t oo much weight and lowest in those who had minimal weight loss after the primary procedure. S Scar   Nature marks an area that has not properly healed with what is called a scar, a mark or reminder of what happened. Such a mark may be on the skin, inside the body or it can be mental or emotional. Such a marking indicates a healing issue. Scars on the skin come in different types. A normal scar may start out red and fade in time as the injury burns. A keloid scar results when there is extra collagen, resulting in a scar that continues to grow. This growth continues even after the wound has healed. The hypertrophic scar raises above the skin and is red. This type may last for up to five years. An atrophic scar, also known as a pitted scar or an ice pick scar, results from skin conditions such as acne. Finally with a burn the result may be a scar contracture where the skin shrinks up around the area of injury. The above mentioned are physical manifestations due to injury. Serious life events may also leave emotional or mental scars that show up as behavior or mood issues due to the lack of healing. These too can fade over time. Sheath   An envelope or casing that covers is known as a sheath. The human body has many of these. Also medicine has created some in order to make procedures easier. One example of such a tool would be a catheter sheath that is used to help make putting in a catheter easier. In the human body there are other examples of a sheath. The male penis retracts into a sheath. A nerve may be protected by a myelin sheath. A tendon is protected by a tissue sheath. The purpose of a sheath is to protect and to help in holding together whatever is inside the sheath or case. It is composed of tissue that surrounds the object being protected. Medical tools that protect and are called sheaths may be made of many different substances. One obvious example of a sheath is a rubber that a man wears to protect his partner from receiving the sperm at ejaculation. Such a sheath protects a woman from getting pregnant. Shunt   A device surgically implanted in order to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid from the brain is known as a shunt. These may be either the fixed pressure type or the programmable variety. If the needs of the patient change then the fixed pressure type will require a new surgery. The programmable type can have the pressure setting changed while in the physician’s office. A typical shunt has four parts. First fluid begins to be transferred out via a catheter or pouch in the brain. It is then collected in a reservoir that has been connected to the catheter. A valve then controls the pressure build up, allowing excess cerebrospinal fluid to then be taken away via the lower catheter, which then sends the fluid elsewhere in the body to be absorbed. Shunts are identified based on where they have been placed and where they drain into. Thus a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt, for example, has been placed in the ventricular part of the brain and will be drained into the stomach. A patient should carry medical identification so that if an emergency does happen the authorities will know about the shunt. Sinus   A cavity or space where something can flow through is known as a sinus. The human body contains several areas that this term can be applied to. Most people know about the nasal cavity, known as your sinuses, but the body also has other places where it has similar cavities. This term  sinus  applies to cavities in the heart, neck, anis, cervix and more. These spaces can become homes for infections at times. Allergens can inflame a sinus cavity. Such inflammations may be treated with antihistamines to relieve symptoms. Most frequently this term â€Å"sinus  is used in referring to the sinuses in the skull. Four pairs of sinus passages exist in the human skull. Air fills these, however, they may be blocked by excess mucous. Such an infection may be referred to as sinusitis. Symptoms may include headache, congestion, watery eyes and even mild fever. Antibiotics and decongestants may be given to treat sinusitis. Stapler   In medicine this is a surgical tool used to close wounds. The kind of stapler used depends upon the kind of staples required by the procedure. These instruments differ depending upon what is being done. They may be placed externally or internally. Medical staplers may even be purchased by anyone online at places like Amazon. The use of the stapler makes closing the wound easier for the surgeon. Also such technology provides for a faster recovery time for the patient. A stapler may also come with a removing tool to be used when the patient returns for his or her check up. Disolvable staples are also available, thus making removal not necessary. The stapler provides quality temporary wound closure, allowing for ease of care and ease of removal. Staplers come in many sizes and shapes, designed according to purpose and wound size. Staplers are an intrinsic part of any surgeon’s tools. Strangulated hernia   A hernia refers to protrusion of abdominal contents through an area of weakness in the abdominal wall. Anatomically, a hernia is composed of the hernia sac, the hernia contents and the neck of the hernia. A hernia becomes strangulated when its blood supply is cut off and the trapped components become ischemic. A femoral hernia has the highest likelihood of becoming strangulated. This is because it has a narrow neck. After the blood supply is cut off, death of trapped tissue occurs as early as within 6 hours. Strangulated hernia has a high risk of perforation due to impaired integrity of the intestinal wall. A patient experiences severe abdominal pain of sudden onset. The pain is first located at the site of the hernia then it becomes generalized over the whole abdomen. This may be accompanied by abdominal distention, nausea and vomiting. A strangulated hernia is a medical emergency. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment. The dead portion of the intestine is cut off and the two healthy ends are then anastomosed. The hernia is also repaired to avoid recurrence. Surgical obstruction   Intestinal obstruction exists when there is failure, reversal or impairment of the normal transit of the intestinal contents. It can be partial or complete. The obstruction can be within the hollow tubular structure of the gut. An example is in when swallows a foreign body, in the presence of massive number of intestinal worms or human hair. The defect can also be due to dysfunction in muscular activity of the intestinal wall and peristalsis is impaired. The defect can also be outside the gut wall which is usually due to a mass pressing on the gut such as a tumor or due to adhesions. Intestinal obstruction presents with severe abdominal pain, cramping, bloating and swelling of the abdomen, constipation and inability to pass flatus. Intestinal obstruction is a medical emergency and if untreated can be fatal. Surgical intervention is the only modality of treatment. Intraoperatively, the obstruction is relieved and any intestinal tissue

Social Interaction Influence Cognitive Development Essay -- Psychology

Social interaction plays an important role in people’s life starting from the early childhood as infants interact with their caregivers and build the emotional attachment that is the base for future relationships. By social interaction with others children learn how to communicate, play and behave in particular situation. Berk (2009) proposed the overview of the literature that concentrates upon the early attachment and its importance. Knowing the influence of social interaction on child development in the first few years, the essay is going to elaborate upon the implication of social interaction on the development of cognition. Cognitive development as Lee & Gupta (eds.) claimed is the term that refers to acquisition and development of knowledge and cognition, namely the processes such as memory, language, and problem – solving and drawing. When elaborating upon cognitive development, the three main aspects can be distinguished: the understanding of the objects by chil dren, their ability to imitate caregivers and children’s ability to hold representations of the world (Oates, Wood & Grayson, 2005). All of the aspects play an important role in developing cognition of children and provide the explanation for the understanding of children’s learning influenced by social relationships and practices. In the essay there is going to be an emphasis on the social interaction between children and their caregivers and peer relations. To consider whether social interaction is a fundamental basis for cognitive development of children, there is going to be presented the overview of the literature that concentrates upon it. There are two fundamental theoretical frameworks that touch upon the subjects, namely the work of Piaget (1926) and Vygots... ...interact with their caregivers and through interaction not only their cognitive abilities are shaped by also their personality and behaviour in later stage of their life (Triandis & Suh, 2002). The essay is considering the background that social relation flourishes, namely interaction child – adult and peer relations. Through their early experiences with others, children develop their understanding of the world. By simple activities that are carried out on daily basis between children and caregivers, children are able to gain the meaning of new techniques and learning strategies, they expand their existing knowledge and experience new things. The interesting aspect is to elaborate on social interaction within different groups of children. Although the cognitive abilities may not fully develop in every child, social interaction encourages and prompts the progress.

Cloning - Well, Split My Embryo! :: Cloning Argumentative Persuasive Argument

Cloning – Well, Split My Embryo! Genetic engineering, altering the inherited characteristics of an organism in a predetermined way, by introducing into it a piece of the genetic material of another organism. Genetic engineering offers the hope of cures for many inherited diseases, once the problem of low efficiencies of effective transfer of genetic material is overcome. Another development has been the refinement of the technique called cloning, which produces large numbers of genetically identical individuals by transplanting whole cell nuclei. With other techniques scientists can isolate sections of DNA representing single genes, determine their nucleotide sequences, and reproduce them in the laboratory. This offers the possibility of creating entirely new genes with commercially or medically desirable properties. While the potential benefits of genetic engineering are considerable, so may be the potential dangers. For example, the introduction of cancer-causing genes into a common infectious organism, such as the influenza virus, could be hazardous. We have come to believe that all human beings are equal; but even more firmly, we are taught to believe each one of us is unique. Is that idea undercut by cloning? That is, if you can deliberately make any number of copies of an individual, is each one special? How special can clones feel, knowing they were replicated like smile buttons. "We aren't just our genes, we're a whole collection of our experiences," says Albert Jonsen. But the idea, he adds, raises a host of issues, "from the fantastic to the profound." When anesthesia was discovered in the 19th century, there was a speculation that it would rob humans of the transforming experience of suffering. When three decades ago, James Watson and Francis Crick unraveled the genetic code, popular discussion turned not to the new hope for vanquishing disease but to the specter of genetically engineered races of supermen and worker drones. Later, the arrival of organ transplants set people brooding about a world of clanking Frankensteins, welded together made from used parts. Already there are thousands of frozen embryos sitting in liquid nitrogen storage around the country. "Suppose somebody wanted to advertise cloned embryos by showing pictures of already born children like a product," says Prof. Ruth Macklin, of New York's Albert Einstein College of medicine, who specializes in human reproduction. Splitting an embryo mat seem a great technological leap, but in a world where embryos are already created in test tubes, it's a baby step. The current challenge in reproductive medicine is not to produce more embryos but to identify healthy ones and get them to grow in the womb. Using genetic tests, doctors can now screen embryonic cells for hereditary diseases.