Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: What It Is and My Own Personal Struggle :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: What It Is and My Own Personal Struggle Everyone, especially college students (and their professors), gets a little worn out sometimes. Even weeks before vacations begin, students start counting down the days until they get to finally sleep in and forget about the stresses of life for awhile. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, however, is vastly different. It is a debilitating disorder that can prohibit the sufferer from accomplishing even the most basic, everyday tasks. The symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are various. The most obvious are constant tiredness and feeling easily exhausted. Other symptoms include frequent headaches, joint and muscle pain, chills without a high fever, depression, difficulty with concentration, and tender lymph glands. Because many of these symptoms are common to other illnesses, it makes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome all the more difficult to categorize and diagnose (1). While Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has only recently gained publicity, it isn't a new problem. What is new is its name. Researchers chose the name because it is believed that the illness is not one single disease but a culmination of many factors (1). It is believed that at least two thirds of people suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are women, primarily Caucasian women of a middle class socioeconomic background. Most people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome relate the onset of it to a particular infection, which most often includes respiratory or gastrointestinal illness, influenza, bronchitis, sore throats, colds or diarrhea, mononucleosis, hepatitis, or jaundice. In my case, I was diagnosed after a series of having Strep Throat three times over the course of one winter. Most people recover completely from these infections, as I did, however are left feeling very weak, tired, and depressed even long after other symptoms of the infections have disappeared (2). A common factor in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is allergy. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients have twice the number of allergic skin reactions as people without the illness (2). I've always suffered from allergies as a child, and at one point had psoriasis, a skin condition. Such experiences are not uncommon amongst people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Various studies have been conducted concerning the immune systems of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and differences have been found between sufferers of the illness and healthy individuals. Several studies have shown that certain aspects of the immune system in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers behave abnormally. For example, the body produces two chemicals called Interleukin—2 and Gamma Interferon, for the purpose of battling against cancer and infectious agents.

Capital Budget Essay

Looking at River County plan for several capital acquisitions for the coming year which include the purchase of two new garbage trucks at $150,000 each, one new bulldozer at $240,000, three new riding lawn mowers at $16,000 each, and construction of an activity center in the part for $650,000. The expected lifetime of the various capital items is 10 years for the garbage trucks, 8 years for the bulldozer, 5 years for the lawn mowers, and 40 years for the activity center. Due to the current credit rating of River County, River County was approved for a 6% interest rate on all vehicles and lawn mowers, and a 3% interest on the activity center. The total cost to finance both garbage trucks for one year is $20,380.19 and the total cost is $203,801.90 for 10 years. The yearly cost to finance the bulldozer is $38,648.63 and the total cost is $309,189.04 for 8 years. The total cost of financing all three lawn mowers for a year is $11,395.03 and the total cost for 5 years is $56,975.15. The yearly cost to finance the activity center is $28,120.55 and the total cost is $1,124,822.22 for 40 years. The total cost for the capital budget from year 1 to year 5 will be $126,664.95. The total budget cost from year 6 to year 8 will $115,269.92 and from year 9 to 10 $76,621.29. From year 10 unto year 40, the budget would be $28,120.55 for the activity center. However, River County would pay off the lawn movers in 5 years, bulldozer in 8 years, and garbage trucks in 10 years the issue of depreciation stills needs to be addressed. The current value of the equipment would need to be appraised to determine if it is still operational according to River County standards, or do the equipment need to be replaced. If River County decides to replace the equipment then the revenue from the savage would be used to re-invest in to new equipment and the capital budget would be updated. With the current River County budget the tax revenues received from the county would be more than sufficient, but if there is a budget short fall, River County could issue 5 year municipal bonds to cover the cost. Reference: Finkler, S.A. (2010). Financial management for public, health, and not-for-profit organizations (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Martinson, O. B. (2002). A look at cost accounting in the service industry and the federal government.The Journal of Government Financial Management, 51(1), 18-25. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/222373894?accountid=32521 Rodriguez, J. F. (1994). Sound principles: New adaptations. The Government Accountants Journal, 43(3),35. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/222431343?accountid=32521

The Battle for the Campaign Agenda in Britain

The 1997 election was a struggle, not just for votes, but also to control the campaign agenda. Significant, but contradictory, challenges faced the media, parties and the public. For journalists, the problem was how to engender any zip into the campaign. Ever since Black Wednesday, in September 1992, Labour had seemed assured of victory while Conservative support floundered in the doldrums. For five years, perhaps it just seemed like longer, pundits had been writing of the end of the Conservative era, bolstered by all the accumulated evidence from opinion polls, by-elections and local elections. By the start of the six-week official campaign, the horse-race story was almost lifeless. Moreover, to the dismay of leader-writers, commentators and columnists, Blair's strategic shift towards the centre-left had removed much of the drama of serious policy conflicts between the major parties. Few issues remained where one could discern clear blue water between Labour and the Conservatives – devolution and constitutional reform, perhaps the faint ghost of trade union rights and spending priorities – but on so much the contest was a classic case of an echo not a choice. Lastly, at the outset the campaign promised tight party control, in as gaffe-free an environment as could be humanly managed. At the start the Labour party seemed insecure and sweaty despite its enormous lead in the polls, and the professional andelson machine at Millbank Tower left almost nothing to chance, as though the souffle of support might suddenly collapse. Based on their formidable track-record during the 1980s, the Conservatives had a reputation for running highly professional campaigns. Given the palpable sense of public boredom and impatience, a feeling of oh-do-lets-get-on-with-it, the challenge for journalists was to find something fresh and interesting to hold the attention of their readers and viewers. During the six week campaign there was, on average, about ten hours of regular BBC and ITN television news and current affairs programmes every weekday1, not including election specials, nor Sky News, CNN, Radio 4, Five Live, newspapers and magazines, the internet election web pages, and all the other plethora of media outlets. Something had to fill the ravenous news hole. For the public, the primary urge seemed to be to get it all over with. But voters also needed to make sense of the choice before them, when policy differences between the parties had shaded from the red-and-blue days of Thatcher v. Foot to a middle of the road wishy-washy mauve. Many issues confronting voters were complex, technical and subtle, with no easy answers: what will happen to the economy if Britain enters, or stays out, of the ERM? How can the peace process move ahead in Northern Ireland, given the intractability of all sides? Can Britain afford an effective and comprehensive health service, given ever-increasing demands on the system and spending limits accepted by all parties? These, and related, issues facing Britain have critical consequences for the lives of citizens, but they admit of no simple sound-bite panaceas. The needs of the news media and the public were at odds with those of the parties. Given their lead, the primary challenge for Labour was to manage their media environment against unexpected crises, in play-safe reactive mode. The watchword was control. Memories of the polling fiasco in 1992, and Neil Kinnock's false expectation of victory in that campaign (â€Å"We're allright! â€Å"), dominated strategy in 1997. The challenge for the Conservatives was to staunch grassroots morale, and even build momentum, by emphasising the positive economic performance of the government, by reassuring voters to trust Prime Minister John Major against the inexperienced and unknown Tony Blair, and by attacking Labour on the old bugaboos of taxes and trade unions. To gain traction the Conservatives had to take more risks than Labour. The challenge facing all the minor parties, but particularly the Liberal Democrats, was to avoid being squeezed by Labour's smothering slither centre-left. Who won? The aim of this chapter is to examine this battle and evaluate the outcome. The first section sets out the long-term context by considering how campaigning has been transformed in the post-war era. The 1997 election represented another critical step, it can be argued, in the transition to the post-modern campaign in Britain, — characterised by partisan dealignment in the press, growing fragmentation in the electronic media, and strategic communications in parties. The second section goes on to analyse what was covered in the national press and television during the campaign, and whether this suggests Labour won the battle of the campaign agenda, as well as the election. Lastly, we consider how the public reacted to the coverage, whether they felt that journalists generated interesting, fair and informative coverage, and the implications of this analysis for the struggle over campaign communications. The Evolution of the Post-Modern Campaign Modernisation theory suggests that during the post-war era the political communication process has been transformed by the decline of direct linkages between citizens and parties, and the rise of mediated relationships. Swanson and Mancini argue that similar, although not identical, developments are recognisable across industrialised democracies2. In the earliest stage, the premodern campaign in Britain was characterised by the predominance of the partisan press; a loose organizational network of grassroots party volunteers in local constituencies; and a short, ad-hoc national campaign run by the party leader with a few close advisers. This period of campaigning gradually evolved in the mid-nineteenth century following the development of mass party organizations registering and mobilising the newly enfranchised electorate. Despite the introduction of wireless broadcasting in 1922, this pattern was maintained in largely identifiable form until the late fifties3. The critical watershed came in 1959, with the first television coverage of a British general election, symbolising the transition to the next stage. The evolution of the modern campaign was marked by a shift in the central location of election communications, from newspapers towards television, from the constituency grassroots to the party leadership, and from amateurs towards professionals. The press entered an era of long-term decline: circulation of national newspapers peaked in the late fifties and sales have subsequently dropped by one-third (see Figure 1). The fall was sharpest among tabloids, pushing these further downmarket in the search for readers4. This fierce competition transformed the nature of the British press, producing growing sensationalism, and more journalism with attitude, while changes in ownership ratcheted the partisan balance further in the Conservative direction. One major factor contributing towards declining circulation was the rise of television. The political effects of this new technology were strongly mediated by the regulations governing broadcasting in each country. In Britain the legal framework for the BBC/ITV duopoly was suffused by a strong public service ethos which required broadcasters to maintain ‘party balance' and impartiality in news coverage, to ‘inform, educate and entertain' according to high standards, and to provide an agreed allocation of unpaid airtime to arty political broadcasts5. Within this familiar context, television centralised the campaign, and thereby increased the influence of the party leaders: what appeared on BBC1's flagship 9 O'clock News and ITN's News at Ten, and related news and current affairs studios, was the principle means by which politicians reached the vast majority of voters. To work effectively within this environment parties developed a coordinated national campaign with professional communications by specialists skilled in advertising, marketing, and polling. The ‘long campaign' in the year or so before polling day became as important strategically as the short ‘official' campaign. These changes did not occur overnight, nor did they displace grassroots constituency activity, as the timeless ritual of canvassing and leafletting continued. A few trusted experts in polling and political marketing became influential during the campaign in each party, such as Maurice Saatchi, Tim Bell and Gordon Reece in Conservative Central Office, but this role remained as part-time outside advisors, not integral to the process of government, nor even to campaigning which was still run by politicians. Unlike in the United States, no political marketing industry developed, in large part because the only major clients were the Labour and Conservative party leaderships: the minor parties had limited resources, while parliamentary candidates ran retail campaigns based on shoe-leather and grassroots helpers. But the net effect of television during the era of modernisation was to shift the primary focus of the campaign from the ad-hoccery of unpaid volunteers and local candidates towards the central party leadership flanked by paid, although not necessarily full-time, professionals6. Lastly in the late twentieth century Britain seems to have been experiencing the rise of the post-modern campaign, although there remains room for dispute in the interpretation of the central features of this development and its consequences. The most identifiable characteristics, evident in the 1997 campaign, include the emergence of a more autonomous, and less partisan, press following its own ‘media logic'; the growing fragmentation and diversification of electronic media outlets, programmes and audiences; and, in reaction to these developments, the attempt by parties to reassert control through strategic communications and media management during the permanent campaign. Partisan Dealignment in the Press In the post-war period parties have had long-standing and stable links with the press. In 1945 there was a rough partisan balance with about 6. 7 million readers of pro-Conservative papers and 4. 4 million readers of pro-Labour papers. This balance shifted decisively in the early 1970s, with the transformation of the left-leaning Daily Herald into the pro-Conservative Sun, and the more aggressively right-wing tone of The Times, both under Rupert Murdoch's ownership. By 1992 the cards had become overwhelmingly stacked against the left, since the circulation of the Conservative-leaning press had risen to about 8. 7 million compared with only 3. million for Labour-leaning papers (see Figure 1). Throughout the 1980s Mrs Thatcher could campaign assured of a largely sympathetic press, which provided a loyal platform to get her message across7. One of the most striking developments of recent years has been the crumbling of these traditional press-party loyalties. The evidence comes partly from editorial policy. The Conservative press had started to turn against Mrs Thatcher in 1989-90, when the economy was in recession and her leadership became deeply unpopular, and this constant barrage of criticism probably contributed towards her eventual demise8. During the 1992 election, while the Sun and the Daily Express continued to beat the Tory drum, comment from some of the other pro-Conservative press like the Mail and The Sunday Times was more muted, and four out of eleven daily papers failed to endorse a single party9. The new government enjoyed a brief respite on returning to office but press criticism of John Major's leadership deepened following the ERM debacle on 16th September 1992, with only the Daily Express staying loyal. Journalists continued to highlight the government's difficulties over Europe, and internal splits over the debate on the Maastricht Treaty. By the winter of 1993, a succession of scandals involving Conservative politicians created headline news while editorials regularly denunciated the government, and particularly the Prime Minister. By the time of the July 1995 leadership challenge only the Daily Express backed John Major solidly, while the Sun, the Mail, The Times and the Telegraph all argued that it was time for him to be replaced10, an embarrassment for their leader writers given the outcome. The question, in the long run-up to the election, was whether the Tory press would return home, once the future of the Conservative government was under real threat. In the event, the 1997 election represents a historic watershed. In a major break with tradition, six out of ten national dailies, and five out of nine Sundays, endorsed the Labour party in their final editorials (see Table 1). This was twice the highest number previously, and it reversed the long-standing pro-Conservative leanings in the national press. With impeccable timing, the Sun led the way on the first day of the campaign, (THE SUN BACKS BLAIR), with a frontpage claiming Blair is a â€Å"breath of fresh air† while the Conservatives were â€Å"tired, divided and rudderless†, and its defection stole the headlines and damaged Tory morale. This change of heart came after assiduous efforts by Labour to court press support, including meetings between Blair and Rupert Murdoch, especially Blair's visit to Australia in 1995. roughout the campaign the Sun, with ten million readers a day, provided largely unswerving support for Blair, although opposing Labour policy on Europe and the unions, and many commentators predicted that the switch, based on Murdoch's commercial considerations rather than political affinities, would not last long11. Labour's traditional tabloid, the Daily Mirror, with six million readers, continued its brand of centre-left journalism (â€Å"the paper for Labour's TRUE supporters†). On the las t Sunday of the campaign, influenced by Murdoch, The News of the World decided to follow the lead of its sister paper, the Sun, and backed Labour. Among the broadsheets The Guardian called for tactical voting for the Liberal Democrats in seats where it made sense, but broadly endorsed Labour. The Independent was more restrained in its backing, casting its editorial vote for Labour â€Å"with a degree of optimism that is not entirely justified by the evidence†. The paper was clearly more anti-Tory than pro-anything. The Times advised their readers to back Eurosceptic candidates from whatever party, although, in practice, nearly all were Conservatives. Only leads in the Daily Telegraph, and the Daily Mail (â€Å"Labour bully boys are back† â€Å"Labour's broken promises†) remained strongly in the Tory camp. Even the Daily Express was more neutral than in the past: a double-page spread was divided between Lord Hollick, its chief executive, arguing for Labour and its chairman, Lord Stevens, arguing for the Conservatives. The front-page of the election-eve Mail carried a colourful Union Jack border and the apocalyptic warning that a Labour victory could â€Å"undo 1,000 years of our nation's history†. Yet any comparison of editorial policy probably under-estimates the balance of partisanship in news coverage during the overall campaign. For example, the Mail ostensibly endorsed the Conservatives during the campaign, but in practice it probably deeply damaged the government by headlining sexual scandals in the party, and reinforcing images of disunity with leading articles highlighting the number of Tory Eurosceptics. With friends like this, the Conservatives did not need opponents. To understand this we need to go beyond the leaders, which are rarely read, and even less heeded, to examine the broader pattern of front-page stories. The most plausible evidence for dealignment is that certain papers like the Sun, traditionally pro-Conservative, switched camps, but also that front-page stories were often so similar across all the press, driven by news values irrespective of the paper's ostensible partisanship. Since the early 1970s fierce competition for readers has encouraged far more sensational coverage in the popular press, fuelling an endless diet of stories about ‘scandals', (mostly sexual but also financial), infotainment, and the Royals, preferably all three. This process started when Rupert Murdoch bought the News of the World in 1968, and the Sun a year later. It accelerated in the cut-throat competition produced by the launch of the Daily Star in 1978, which sought to out-do the Sun in its relentless search for sex, investigative ‘exclusives' about celebrities, violent crime, and graphic coverage of the bizzare. Those who thought British newspapers had reached their nadir at this point had under-estimated the soft-porn Sunday Sport, launched in 198612. The tackiness of the popular press, such as their exhaustive gossip about the goings-on of the younger Royals, gradually infected and corroded the news culture of the broadsheets as well. By the mid-1990s, the journalism of scandal trumped party loyalties, hands down. This fuelled the series of sleaze stories about senior Conservative politicians hroughout John Major's years in government, and there was no let-up during the campaign. As documented in detail later, the first two weeks of the election were dominated by a succession of stories about corruption in public life and sexual ‘scandals', providing a steady diet of negative news for the government which swamped their message about the economy.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Analyses how the writer created a subliminal message in the written or visual text In the play and film Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, a subliminal message was Macbeth questioning his sexuality. Techniques that helped me to understand this were 21 SST century song lyrics, film techniques, and Wisped. The audience first question Machete's sexuality in the beginning of the play, when Lady Macbeth convinces him to kill Duncan because she thinks Macbeth has a secret crush on the King.Lady Macbeth Is Jealous because King Duncan has more followers on Instating, which Is why she forces Macbeth Into stabbing Duncan In his sleep. A technique that helped me to understand why Macbeth would never love Lady Macbeth Is when she says that â€Å"thy haters guan hate, hate, hate† so she will just â€Å"shake it off, shake it off'. This showed the audience what a bad choice Macbeth made when he married her, and this is obviously why he turned gay. We then see the subliminal message o f Macbeth questioning his sexuality when he kills Banana.Macbeth does this because Banana rejected him, and Macbeth is embarrassed so he sides to kill Banana for turning him down. A technique that helped me to understand why Banana rejected Macbeth is when we see Machete's Shiite haircut, which he probably only paid $2 for. This helped the audience to realize why Banana didn't want to â€Å"swing from thy chandelier† with Macbeth, and this showed me how important a good haircut is if you want someone to love you. We finally accept the subliminal message of Machete's sexuality when Lady Macbeth kills herself because she realizes Macbeth is gay.After walking around without any clothes on to try and win Macbeth back, Lady Macbeth can tell that he â€Å"don't want none unless you got buns hunt†, which she obviously doesn't have. This leads to her Jumping Off building and splattering onto the floor. Macbeth doesn't seem to grieve when he hears that she is dead, and a techni que that helped me to understand this is when we see a close up of his face. You can tell by looking at his eyebrows that he is actually overjoyed that Lady Macbeth is dead, because now he can run away with Macadam.Through the use of 21 SST century song lyrics, film techniques, and Wisped, Shakespeare wanted us to understand how Macbeth was actually homosexual. This helped the audience to realize that Shakespeare was probably gay too, and this was his way of come out without being accused of doing It for rewets. Macbeth by William Shakespeare: Macbeth Questioning His Sexuality By Laboriousness's this were 21st century song lyrics, film techniques, and Wisped. The audience first King.Lady Macbeth is Jealous because King Duncan has more followers on Instating, which is why she forces Macbeth into stabbing Duncan in his sleep. A Macbeth is when she says that â€Å"thy haters guan hate, hate, hate† so she will Just didn't want to â€Å"swing from thy chandelier† with Macbe th, and this showed me how buns hunt†, which she obviously doesn't have. This leads to her Jumping off a building Through the use of 21st century song lyrics, film techniques, and Wisped, his way of come out without being accused of doing it for rewets.

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 17

Case Study Example Labor standards cost is another bottleneck as it is high. Maintenance of the machinery requires people to do the work. These people consume funds that drain the company (Truckseat Case Study, 3). The production line is a bottleneck in the sense that the cost of raw materials has increased by double digits. This impacts negatively on the company has the company is forced to pay more for materials that previously cost less. At the same time the quality of products produced are below the customer expectations. When customer expectations about the product are lowered, loyalty becomes elusive (Truckseat Case Study, 3). The bottlenecks drain the company immensely. The reason for bottlenecks is because when the company does not make maximum gains from the products while spending as much to settle labor cost, maintenance of machines not to mention the quality of the products. Bottlenecks are eminent in the delivery section as well. Case in point is that there is no clear determination as to when products should be made and availed to the customers. Consequently, there is a disconnect in the sense that there is no proper market survey to establish demand and supply chain. So in essence, what happens is that sometimes products are sometimes manufactured and not delivered for the simple reason that there is no ready market to have the goods. Another bottleneck arises when the customers are in need of the products but the production levels are low. This happens due to poor forecasting of the market to determine market needs and wants. The level of customer satisfaction is below average in the sense that the quality is not up to the standards expected by the clients. The qualitative analysis figures are in the appendices. 2. Stocks can be an effective lever to remove the bottleneck: select where (along the production flow) to position the decoupling  point: Compare different feasible alternatives of decoupling

Works of art by two differant artists i saw at the Getty Museum Assignment

Works of art by two differant artists i saw at the Getty Museum - Assignment Example The first art work is the â€Å"Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises.† This is a painting that was done by one Vincent who did it at a time when he lived at the asylum in Saint Poul – de- Mausole , which is in France. The lack of tension and the relaxed brushstrokes in Vincent’s paintings during the time exemplified the paintings of Van Gogh, which resulted to his mental attack within the asylum. Van Gogh called the painting â€Å"the lightning conductor of my illness† due to the fact that he did consider it a therapy of his depression and insernity feelings (Manesh). The Irises work was done in the painter firs week in assylun. It was hihly probably that the work was influenced by the Japanese wood block prints which got to be produced within the 17th century. The Japanese works influenced most artists as at that period. It helped in reinforcing printing expressive power The next art work in comparison with this is the Irii Matamoe or rather the royal end,which is an unearthing painting that is of a decapitated human head displayed lavishly on some canvas cushion by one Poul Gauguin, a post impressionist painter. The painter had witnessed an execution in public by Guillotine in Polynesia years earlier. His experiences during his own travels resulted to his strong opposition to European colonization as well as the imperialistic viewpoint. The theme of death is what he seemed to be obsessed with and did feature in most of his paintings. The Irii Matomoe unlike the Irises was done in the 1890s. Events that had taken place influenced the dark subject matter of the art work. The painter did hard the Tahitian language words â€Å"Arii† and â€Å"Matomoe† on the upper left of the canvas. The Arii means noble while Matomoe means sleeping eyes. This phrase does imply death. Symbolist artist like Gauguin did have a predilection of images of decapitated heads as well as

Management Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 6

Management Portfolio - Essay Example Site work shall involve grading, drainage, and other on-site utilities that are necessary for the operation of the service facility. The project location consists of 100 acres of land. The scope of the project includes engineering, procurement, and construction for the site-work and two initial buildings. A soil investigation, legal boundary survey, and contour mapping is already provided by the owner, thus the present project contract will no longer cover these activities. Special procurement will include an overhead crane for the industrial building and an elevator conveying system for the administrative office building. The maintenance (or industrial) building shall have a 40-foot clear ceiling height, with a 20-ton overhead crane. The owner anticipates that 45 employees shall be using the building during the day shift and plans to expand work to include a night shift at some future time. A small office area and a shop with machining equipment will be located in the industrial building. A wash-down area is to be provided for washing and servicing of truck vehicles (Oberlender 2000, p. 329). Project management aims to execute, in the most effective and cost-efficient manner possible, the design and construction of civil works to the satisfaction of the customer. However, execution should not be undertaken at the expense of the health and safety of construction workers and the public, nor to the degradation of the environment. Thrusts towards green architecture and green engineering have brought to the forefront concerns on health, safety, and sustainability. However, while traditionally thought of as a secondary appendage to construction plans, measures to ensure health and safety have in effect contributed to the reduction of the financial costs of projects. Steps taken to prevent accidents and avoid community hazards and nuisance have effectively created savings to the firm in