An Abusive Relationship Of The Scarlet Letter - 1348 Words

Divorce. If you have left an abusive marriage you are either headed in this direction or are there now. The scarlet letter â€Å"D† is one many do not foresee being attached to their name. It was not a word I ever expected to find attached to mine. Ever. In fact, had you asked me in my younger years if I believed I would ever wear the title of divorcee you would have received a loud resounding no. I would never be one of â€Å"those† people. That would have honestly been my answer. Truly. Taking the step to leave an abusive relationship takes great amounts of courage. Walking away from the aspects of financial security, family for your children, stability (what little may exist), your home and so forth is not an easy decision to make. You make a choice, take that first scary step and trust that if you fall, the pain will be less than the pain you have been experiencing. Oftentimes the pain is not less and in fact, ends up worse than what you left behind. For a woman with children, when the choice is made to leave, there is the new responsibility of solely being the provider for her children in every way possible. Food, shelter, clothing, school needs, all fall on that mama who has chosen to protect her children from the wolf who longs to devour. You see, when you leave an abuser, there is no financial support. There is no co-parenting. There is no concern on the part of the abuser for those children. There is only the need to win. The need to take down the woman whoShow MoreRelatedSocietal Pressure On Love As A Result Of Society s Own Fear1731 Words   |  7 Pagesthe fact that The God of Small Things and The Scarlet Letter were written by different authors and centuries apart, the idea of forbidden love is a central theme that guides not only the plot throughout the novel, but the characters actions as well. In Roy s, The God of Small Things, Ammu is caught in between society s and her family s expectations of her and her desire to be with Velutha and escape her confined life. Meanwhile, in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne s Hester relinquished Puritan dutiesRead More`` Sin, Knowledge, And The Human Condition847 Words   |  4 PagesHester’s relationship with her husband and with her adulterous lover, reflect a mirr or image of my platonic/romantic relationships. For example, the relationship I have had with my mother is a perfect depiction. From the beginning, there was no real love, nurture, or growth. My mother; like Roger Chillingworth, is incapable of exhibiting real love and nurture. My mother’s mental illness causes her to be cold, stoic, manipulative, and self-absorbed. As a child, my mother was emotionally abusive. (AndRead MoreCase Analysis : Hester Prynne1083 Words   |  5 Pagesman named Roger Chillingworth. She expressed that she loved him; however, she felt that he did not love her. She conveyed that he was a selfish man, and was emotionally unavailable (SparkNotes Editors, 2003). She expressed that he was emotionally abusive, and would ignore her the majority of the time. She specified that shortly after being married, she and her new husband set off to America (specifically Boston). She disclosed that she made it to America, but that her husband did not. She expressedRead More`` Sin, Knowledge, And The Human Condition Essay963 Words   |  4 PagesHester’s relationship with her husband and with her adulterous lover, reflect a mirror image of my platonic/romantic relationships. For example, the relationship I have had with my mother is a perfect depiction. From the beginning, there was no real love, nurture, or growth. My mother; like Roger Chillingworth, is incapable of exhibiting real love and nurture. My mother’s mental illness causes her to be cold, stoic, manipulative, and self-absorbed. As a child, my mother was emotionally abusive. (AndRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter : The Puritan Society And The Past Present Relationship Essay2256 Words   |  10 PagesThe Scarlet Letter envisions the Puritan society and the past-present relationship: â€Å"†¦Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter was an instant success because it handled spiritual and moral issues from a uniquely American point of view. Lewis notes that the novel was originally charged with perpetrating bad morals , even though Hawthorne could not have handled the material more carefully , reiterating the sentiment that sexual urges lead to immortality and moral decay...† (WomackRead MoreAnalysis Of Hester s The Scarlet Letter 1874 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"normality,† a lack of illness, which by all means is a gift, the beauty of one mind takes away from the beauty of an outlier, even though, ironically people may not even recognize their differences. Hester, at a glance suffers from a literal scarlet letter, but an imprint on her brain may exist as well. Irrational actions, sudden emotional episodes, and destructive thoughts can only prevail for so long following sin; Hester’s persona has branches of self-defeating personality disorder, schizophreniaRead More Characters versus Community in O Pioneers! by Willa Cather Essay1323 Words   |  6 PagesCharacters versus Community in O Pioneers! by Willa Cather In the novel O Pioneers! the author Willa Cather?s vision of Alexandra Bergson is consistent in character treatment with other authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne (Scarlet Letter), and Stephan Crane (Maggie: A Girl of the Streets). In each novel, all authors possess a central character that has an obvious tension between themselves and their community. Unlike the previous authors, Cather?s sympathies lie toward Alexandra. She makesRead MorePublic Shaming1468 Words   |  6 Pageswith crime. Why, then, the resurgence of public shaming, namely the mainstream acceptance of the â€Å"dox,† which, in its purest form, is the digging up of a target’s personal information—name, phone number, address, Social Security number, familial relationships, financial history—and exposing it online to encourage harassment from others? This practice has gradually been popularized by Anonymous, the amorphous collective of trolls and â€Å"hacktivists† that altern ately terrorize tween girls and disable governmentRead MoreRelationships Make Us Do Crazy Things1753 Words   |  8 PagesLove Relationships make us do crazy things. The love that lies within relationships has led many people to do irrational, erratic, erroneous, and unstable acts. People have killed, cheated, broken people’s hearts, ruined others lives, and ruined their own. Love is a rose. At first glance, and if treated properly, it would look beautiful and romantic. However, when you get down to the roots of it, pain stems and hurts you deeply, as the thorns pierce your skin. If you treat it properly, cherishRead MoreSex Offender Industry1242 Words   |  5 Pagescrimes, known as tiers. A Tier III sex offender is the most serious classification, in which these sex offenders are convicted of an offense that is punishable more than one year in prison and consist of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, or abusive sexual contact against a minor under age 13; Also involves kidnapping a minor, unless the actor is a parent or guardian; or occurs after the offender became a Tier II sex offender. A Tie r III sex offender must register for life, unless he is a juvenile

Essay about The Search For Happiness in Jon Krakauers...

Chris McCandless was a very unique individual. In Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, he tries his best to make sense of McCandless’ journey to the Alaskan wilderness. However, he never really figured out what McCandless’ purpose of the trip was. Looking at McCandless’ life throughout the book, I believe that Chris McCandless went on his journey to find happiness within his own life and did achieve it in the end. Throughout his adolescent to young adult years it was very clear that Chris had an attachment to the wild. In chapter 11, as Walt reminisces about Chris and their family camp trips he reflects, â€Å"‘Chris loved those trips, the longer the better . . .’†(108). Even at a very young age, Chris had a fascination about living within†¦show more content†¦Again we see Chris’ love for nature in chapter 12 when he takes a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, as Krakauer states, â€Å". . . but he had been smitten by the vastness of the land, by the ghostly hue of the glaciers, by the pellucid subartic sky,† (124). Chris’ trip to Fairbanks can explain why he chose Alaska as his final destination, it was it’s profound beauty that captured Chris almost into a trance that made him go back. As Chris breathed his last breath, he was finally able to find his inner happiness through the Alaskan wilderness. In chapter 18, Krakauer notes about Chris’ final photo of himself, describing Chris as, â€Å"[he] was at peace, serene as a monk gone to God,† (199). The way he was described in this picture shows that Chris has in fact found the happiness that he was looking for and was able to leave this earth in peace. Then again, in chapter 18, the last words of Chris McCandless wrote, â€Å"I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD.GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL,†(199). Although he was in severe pain, from starvation, he was still able to find the bright side of things. He was able to die in the one place that he had desired to be at. As Chris ventures into the Alaskan wild he was able to find the happiness he was longing for. It was a type of happiness that he could only experience when he was with nature as seen throughout his life. As he laid in his death bed, he never spoke about any regrets he had,Show MoreRelatedInto The Wild By Jon Krakauer1128 Words   |  5 PagesInto the Wild Jon Krakauer’s compelling novel, â€Å"Into the Wild† is a true story about Christopher McCandless’ search for identity. McCandless was enamored in the idea of escaping a life that revolves around material possessions. The non-fiction treatment of this young life illustrates through the rebuilding of events in McCandless’ life the idea that McCandless seemed obsessed with how people appeared blind to the fact that they were living unhappy lives yet were terrified of giving up that lifeRead MoreInto the Wild by Chris McCandless710 Words   |  3 PagesThere are an infinite amount of unique responses to the question â€Å"What is the meaning of life?†. However, the majority of people will agree that the true meaning of life is to find happiness and what is really important to one’s self. In Jon Krakauer’s, Into The Wild, Chris McCandless conveys this idealism through his life’s journey as he bravely defies all limitations. Chris McCandless isolates himself from society in his Alaskan Odyssey as a way to defy accepted expectations and to begin discoveringRead More Into the Wild Essay1386 Words   |  6 Pagesacross the country to Alaska. He gave $25,000 of his savings to charity, left his car and nearly all of his possessions. He burned all the cash he had in his wallet, and created a new life. Four months later, his body was found in an abandoned bus. Jon Krakauer constructed a journalistic account of McCandless’s story. Bordering on obsession, Krakauer looks for the clues to the mystery that is Chris McCandless. What he finds is the intense pull of the wilderness on our imagination, the appeal of high-riskRead MoreInto The Wild By Jon Krakauer1856 Words   |  8 PagesInto the Wild by Jon Krakauer 1. Who was the most compelling character? Why? What conflicts did this character face? How did the author develop this character? Include one or two supporting quotations with page number or e-book location cited in parentheses after the quotation. Jon Krakauer’s odyssey Into the Wild follows Christopher McCandless through his last year of his life traversing the North American frontier. As a biography based on McCandless’ journals and interviews, much of the detailsRead MoreTranscendentalist Mccandless Essay1021 Words   |  5 Pagesnon-conformist, becoming one with nature, and rejecting materialism. Throughout Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into The Wild, McCandless happens to achieve all of the above. â€Å"Whoso would be a man, must be a non-conformist† (Emerson). He defied society, lived in the wild, and never cared about â€Å"things†. He existed off the land in Alaska, the west coast, and even Mexico. McCandless did not want anything else in life but happiness; he found this in the wilderness. As Emerson states in Self-Reliance, â€Å"societyRead MoreInto The Wild By Jon Krakauer3297 Words   |  14 PagesInto the Wild – RRS Title: Into the Wild Author: Jon Krakauer Publication Date: 1996 Nationality: American Author’s Birth/Death Date: April 12, 1954 – present Distinguishing Traits of Author: Jon Krakauer is an American writer known for his writings about the great outdoors. After being introduced to mountaineering as a child, Krakauer devoted much of his life to mountain climbing, leading up to his 1996 expedition to Mt. Everest. In his Into Thin Air, Krakauer recounts the dangerous journeyRead MoreInto The Wild By Jon Krakauer4187 Words   |  17 PagesInto the Wild – RRS Title: Into the Wild Publication Date: 1996 Author: Jon Krakauer Nationality: American Author’s Birth/Death Date: April 12, 1954 – Present Distinguishing Traits of the Author: Jon Krakauer is an American mountaineer before a writer. His passion for literature arose indirectly from a series of analyses he wrote for magazines regarding his daring exploits. Many of his works reflect his multiplex feelings regarding the topic of exploration and the dangers associated

Book Analysis of Oliver Twist Free Essays

1. The title of this novel is Oliver Twist and it was written by Charles Dickens. It was first published in Nov. We will write a custom essay sample on Book Analysis of Oliver Twist or any similar topic only for you Order Now of 1838. 2. Main Characters: First of the main characters is, of course, Oliver Twist. He was born in a parish workhouse where his mother died during the birth. A lady named Sally was present while he was born and when his mom died, she took from his mom a ring and a locket. Then he was sent to an infant farm until he was 9 years old when he was put back into the workhouse. There the orphans are mistreated and starved and when he asked for more food at super he was branded a troublemaker and they offered him to be apprenticed by anyone who wanted him. He was then apprenticed by an undertaker, but he ran away to London because he fought with the undertaker’s son who mocked his mother’s death and was beaten for fighting. There in London he lives on the streets until a boy gives him a place to stay. When he goes he is thrown into a band of thieves under a man named Fagin. He doesn’t like the crime of steeling that he witnesses and is falsely accused of. He is taken in by the victim of the theft who treats him well and cares for him until Oliver is kidnapped and delivered back to Fagin. There are many more unfortunate events in his life, but in the end it turns out good for Oliver. I believe Dickens wrote the story to show that the environment that people live in can turn them into criminals instead of the belief that people are just born that way. Oliver shows this because his environment was always trying to turn him bad, but one could clearly see that he didn’t want to be a criminal and did not agree with the lifestyle and in the end he never became one. The other main character in the book is Fagin. It is rumored that Charles Dickens was anti Semitic because of this character, but those claims are untrue. This was because Fagin was referred to as â€Å"the Jew† and many of his features were that he was ugly due to many stereotypes of the way Jewish people look. Anyway, in the book this man is a terrible person who manipulated people for his own gain, mostly for money. In the story he was always trying to manipulate Oliver into becoming one of his thieves like the rest of the children he took off of the street. I believe that out of all the characters within this book, Fagin has to be the worst of them all because of how he corrupted the minds of the children to do his dirty work. I believe that he represents what is wrong with society and he himself is influenced by his environment because he isn’t very educated and poor so the only way to get money, in his mind, is to steel it. 3. The setting of this novel was during the early nineteenth century in England. In this time the industrial revolution was taking place which caused many to move to the cities causing crowding and many people became poor and lived on the streets. There were more advancements in technology at this time and also religious uncertainty began amongst the people as well. With these aspects combined many poorer people turned to crime in order to survive. This is why Oliver Twist was thrown into the events throughout this novel. 4. This novel is about a young boy who was orphaned at birth and ran away from a workhouse to London England. There he lived on the streets until a man named Fagin took him in and tried to turn him into a criminal. Oliver resisted and got away from Fagin with the help of good people who he met throughout the story. 5. The most important conflict in the book was how the environment of living on the streets which turned many people to thievery put its influence on Oliver Twist. This conflict goes on throughout the entire novel and Oliver never allows his surroundings to influence the way he will live his life. 6. â€Å"When the boy is worth a hundred pounds to me, am I to lose what chance threw me in the way of getting safely, through the whims of a drunken gang that I could whistle away the lives of! And me bound, too, to a born devil, that only wants the will and has the power† This is a quote of Fagin and I chose it because it shows what kind of person he really is. One can see how far he goes with his greed and the way in which he uses people for his own gain when reading this statement he makes. â€Å"†¦as Oliver looked out of the parlor window, and saw the Jew roll [his old clothes] up in his bag and walk away, he felt quite delighted to think that they were safely gone, and that there was now no possible danger of his ever being able to wear them again. They were sad rags, to tell the truth; and Oliver had never had a new suit before. † This passage is important because it gives an insight to the character of Oliver Twist. Ever since he was born he has been labeled and ridiculed for the clothes that he wears and this passage shows that the chance to choose his own clothing is extremely important to Oliver. 7. The point of view of this novel was told through third person; an anonymous narrator. This allows the reader to get different perspectives of events through more than one character. . A theme that Dickens has in this novel is the affects that a social environment has on people’s morals. He shows this by describing the way in which people live on the streets; turning to crime to survive. In the book Dickens shows that the environment people live in doesn’t corrupt a person entirely because he shows that criminals within the story still have a conscience and Oliver’s morals are never corrupted throughou t the entire novel which goes against what many believe. Another idea that he puts forward in the novel is how government run charities for poor people doesn’t work. On the contrary it makes these people dependent on the government and they never are able to gain their independence and break free from the government’s hold. 9. This book reveals that the time period that Dickens lived in was one full of struggles and he questioned many aspects life such as capitalism, which in his opinion leaves people out to dry so to say, charity, and the effects that the environment has on people’s morals. How to cite Book Analysis of Oliver Twist, Papers

Company Law Assignment free essay sample

Criminal Act 2001 (Cth) Code Act 1995 (Cth) Carrying Co Ltd v Asiatic Petroleum Co Ltd [1915] AC 705 3 Lennards 4 Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) LAWS2301 | Take Home Assignment | Sandy Goh (20806534) PART A (ii) – actions GE can take against Ross and/or FP Action taken against FP Ross breached the clause in his contract by competing with GE while he is employed by it. He can argue that FP is a separate legal entity (s124) from him, and is not bound by the contract he entered into with GE. Ross is a hiding behind FP to avoid legal obligations as shown in Gilford Motor5. As the directing mind and will behind FP, Ross has defrauded GE by making FP compete against GE intentionally, as shown in similar cases Bestobell6 and Re Darby7. In this case, the corporate veil may be lifted under the common law and Ross will be made liable. Action taken against Ross On behalf of GE, Monica is able to impose liability on Ross for breaching his duties owed to GE as a promoter. in the exercise of powers given to them [directors] must, as I conceive, keep within the proper limits. Powers given to them for one purpose cannot be used by them for another and different purpose. To permit such proceedings on the part of directors of companies would be to sanction not the use but the abuse of their powers†. The limits on the exercise of power may be found in the articles of association. However in advance it is not possible to lay down the limits beyond which directors may never pass in exercising a particular power. Every case depends on its own facts. In Hogg v Cramphorn Ltd the subject directors believed that it would not be in the company’s best interests or its staff if there was to be a pending takeover as the change would result in the nature of the company’s trading being unsettling. As a result of this, the directors sought to frustrate the takeover by issuing to the trustees of an employee trust fund 5707 preferences shares, each carrying ten votes. These votes constituted a majority in general meeting in combination with those shares held by friendly interests. Through an interest free loan from the company’s reserve fund, the shares were paid for as well as further money advanced to the trustees to purchase additional preference shares which also came from the reserve fund. From here, a minority shareholder decided to challenge the transactions. It was held that while acting in a manner which they believed to be in the company’s best interests, the transaction was voidable as its primary purpose was to ensure control of the company by the directors and those who they could regard as their supporters and thereby discourage the takeover bid from taking place. Where there is more than one purpose, the court must try to find the dominant purpose behind a power use to determine whether the proper purpose duty has been infringed. In Howard Smith Ltd v Ampol Petroleum Ltd Millers was subject to a takeover offer by Ampol and Howard Smith made a rival offer. Ampol and its associated company, Bulkships, rejected the offer and stated that they intended to act jointly in relation to the future operation’ of Millers. The majority of Millers’ board were in favour of the Howard Smith takeover bid. And to smooth the progress of the bid they agreed to issue enough shares to Howard Smith to reduce Ampol and Bulkships to minority shareholders. Millers did at the time did need to raise some capital and Ampol sought to have the share issue set aside. It was held that in determining whether the duty had been breached, the court had to look at the substantial purpose for which [the power] is exercised, make a conclusion as to whether that purpose was proper or not. In this case it was found that the purpose was simply to reduce the majority voting power held by Ampol and Bulkships to enable a then minority of shareholders to sell their shares more advantageously. The power had therefore been improperly exercised and the share issue was set aside and the share register rectified. However in Condraulics Pty Ltd v Barry amp; Roberts Ltd it was found that the overriding purpose of the share issue was to encourage employee loyalty despite the share issue coinciding with a takeover bid. Hence, in Pine Vale Investments Ltd v McDonnell and East Ltd, the courts upheld a share rights issue to raise finance to take advantage of a genuine favourable opportunity even though this coincided with a takeover announcement. The rights issue even raised the number and value of the company’s shares and discouraged the takeover, but yet the court held that the directors should [not] be reduced to inactivity because of the pendency r that there may be a possible chance of a takeover offer. This decision clearly weakens the traditional approach to the proper purposes doctrine; however its ultimate conclusion may re-establish a close relationship with Howard Smith v Ampol. Acting bona fide in the interests of the company is not an excuse for acting for a dominant improper pur pose, especially where the directors are acting in their own self-interest as in Howard Smith v Ampol. In this case Lord Wilberforce stated â€Å" when a dispute arises whether directors of a company made a particular decision for one purpose or for another he court, is entitled to look at the situation objectively in order to estimate how critical or pressing an alleged requirement may have been. If it finds that a particular requirement, though real, was not urgent, or critical, at the relevant time, it may have reason to doubt, or discount, the assertions of individuals that they acted solely in order to deal with it, particularly when the action they took was unusual or even extreme. † Where there are rival takeover bids the directors must not exercise their powers in such as way as to prevent the members obtaining the best price for their shares. In Heron International Ltd v Lord Grade the use of power was to refuse to register transfers, and in Re a Company the use of power was to provide information. However, where there are competing offers, the directors are not under a duty to recommend and assist the carrying out of the higher offer. Many cases where the question of improper use of a power arises are concerned with directors using their powers to allot shares in order to give votes to their friends and avoid a change in the control of the company. The directors’ power to allot shares is now restricted by the Company Act 2006. Although the directors’ duties when exercising powers has been in relation to the power to allot shares, the duty has been examined in other cases such as the power to borrow and give security as in Rolled Steel v British Steel, the power to make calls on partly paid shares as in Anglo-Universal Bank v Baragnon, the power to determine the terms and conditions on which shares are issued as in Alexander v Automatic Telephone, the power to call general meetings as in Pergamon Press Ltd v Maxwell and power to cause the company to enter into contracts as in Lee Panavision v Lee Lighting. S172 of the Companies Act 2006 expresses what is the central obligation of a director; s172(1) states a director of a company must act in a way he considers, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole. S172(2) states where or to the extent that the purposes of the company consist of or include purposes other than the benefit of its members, subsection (1) has effect as if the reference to promoting the success of the company for the benefit of its members were to achieving those purposes. S172(3) states the duty imposed by this section has effect subject to any enactment or rule of law requiring directors, in certain circumstances, to consider or act in the interests of creditors of the company. S172 is based on the equitable fiduciary duty which was formulated, in combination with the duty to act within powers by Lord Green MR in Re Smith and Fawcett Ltd. It was said that the directors of a company must act â€Å" bona fide in what they consider not what a court may consider is in the interests of a company, and not for any collateral purpose. † This reflects the way in which the equitable principle was applied. The court does not substitute its own view as to the merit of the decision as Lord Wilberforce said in Howard Smith v Ampol. Also in Regentcrest plc v Cohen Jonathan Parker J stated â€Å" the question is whether the director honestly believed that his act or omission was in the interests of the company no doubt, where it is clear that the act or omission under challenge resulted in substantial detriment to the company, the director will have a hard task persuading the court but that does not detract from the subjective nature of the test. † In the case of JJ Harrison (Properties) v Harrison Chadwick LJ also stated â€Å" he powers to dispose of the company’s property, conferred upon the directors by the articles of association, must be exercised by the directors for the purposes, and in the interests, of the company. † However in Item Software v Fassihi Mr Fassihi was a sales amp; MD of Item and Item distributed software created by Isograph. Fassihi then set up his own business to take over the distribution whilst he was still a director of Item. At the same time, he advised Item to be tough in negotiations for new contract with Isograph, however he did not think about disclosing this breach. It was then put to the test whether an intelligent amp; honest person in his position would have reasonably believed that disclosure was in company’s best interests. Arden LJ stated â€Å" the fundamental duty to which a director is subject, that is the duty to act in what he in good faith considers to be the best interests of his company the duty is expressed in these very general terms it focuses on principle not on the particular words which judges or the legislature have used in any particular case or context If directors of a company have acted without considering the interests of the company, their actions may be considered to have been bona fide in what they considered to be in the interests of the company, but only if it satisfies the objective test as in Chaterbridge Corporation v Lloyds Bank. In this case Pennycuick J formulated the objective test stating â€Å" the proper test must be whether an intelligent and honest man in the position of the director of the com pany concerned, could, in the whole of the existing circumstances, have reasonably believed that the transactions were for the benefit of the company. If it is believed that a director of a company has acted without considering the company’s interests and there is no basis as to why the director could reasonably have seen that the action was in the company’s best interest, the court will find that the director was in breach of duty as seen in Item Software v Fassihi. S172(1) brings in the interests of the company and its members as a separate person by expressing a directors duty in terms of promoting the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole. In Mutual Life Insurance v Rank Organisation directors of the Rank Organisation had decided to issue new shares and part of the issue was made available to existing shareholders at a favourable price, but shareholders living in North America were excluded to save the company the high cost of complying with US and Canadian legislation concerning public offers of shares in those countries. It was held that the directors had not acted in breach of duty in preferring the interests of the company as a separate person to the interests of some of its members. However in Gaiman v National Association Megarry J observed that as a company is an artificial legal entity, it is not easy to determine what is in the best interests without paying due regard to its present and future members as a whole. Also in Paramount Communications v Time Inc Time Inc decided to go ahead with a merger with another company not allowing shareholders the chance of selling their shares to an unwelcome takeover bidder, even though the bidder was offering more than the current market price for the company’s shares. However the court accepted that it was egitimate for the directors of Time Inc to decide that it was in the company’s best interests. The court clearly rejected the idea that the directors’ duty was simply to maximise shareholder value in the short term. S172(3) provides that the duty to promote the success of the company has effect, subject to any enactment or rule of law requiring directors, in certain circumstances, to consider or a ct in the interests of creditors of the company. In West Mercia Safetywear v Dodd the court held that a director of an insolvent company must have regard to the interests of its creditors. If directors of a company, at a time when the company is insolvent, or of doubtful solvency or on the verge of insolvency, deal with its property in a way that is prejudicial to the interests of creditors then they are in breach of their fiduciary duty to the company as in Kinsela v Russell Kinsela. However in Kuwait v National Mutual Life it was stated that ‘a director does not by reason only of his position as director owe any duty to creditors or to trustees for creditors of the company’. This was also confirmed in Yukong Line v Rendsburg Investments. It is an equitable principle that a director of a company is under an obligation to disclose a breach where he or she has acted in breach of their fiduciary duty, if disclosure is required by the equitable duty to act bona fide in what the director considers to be the interests of the company as in Item Software v Fassihi. So the duty is to disclose what the director considers, not what the court may consider is in the interest of the company to know as in Fulham Football Club. A director also has a duty to disclose breaches of duty by fellow directors, if to do so would be bona fide in what the director considers to be the interests of the company. In British Tool v Midland International four directors of a company planned to create a rival company. One of them retired and set up a new company inviting key employees of the old company to join it, while the other three directors continued in their old employment without letting the other directors know of their plans. It was held that this was a breach of their fiduciary duty and amounted to a conspiracy to harm the company by unlawful means.

An Explanation of the Origins of the Cold War in Europe

An Explanation of the Origins of the Cold War in Europe In the aftermath of the Second World War two power blocs formed in Europe, one dominated by America and capitalist democracy (though there were exceptions), the other dominated by the Soviet Union and communism. While these powers never directly fought, they waged a cold war of economic, military and ideological rivalry which dominated the second half of the twentieth. Pre-World War Two The origins of the Cold War can be traced back to the Russian Revolution of 1917, which created a Soviet Russia with a profoundly different economic and ideological state to the capitalist and democratic West. The ensuing civil war, in which Western powers unsuccessfully intervened, and the creation of Comintern, an organization dedicated to the spreading of communism, globally fuelled a climate of mistrust and fear between Russia and the rest of Europe/America. From 1918 to 1935, with the US pursuing a policy of isolationism and Stalin keeping Russia looking inward, the situation remained one of dislike rather than conflict. In 1935 Stalin changed his policy: afraid of fascism, he tried to form an alliance with the democratic Western powers against Nazi Germany. This initiative failed and in 1939 Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet pact with Hitler, which only increased anti-Soviet hostility in the West, but delayed the onset of war between the two powers. However, while Stalin hoped Germ any would get bogged down in a war with France, early Nazi conquests occurred quickly, enabling Germany to invade the Soviet Union in 1941. The Second World War and the Political Division of Europe The German invasion of Russia, which followed a successful invasion of France, united the Soviets with Western Europe and later America in an alliance against their common enemy: Adolf Hitler. This war transformed the global balance of power, weakening Europe and leaving Russia and the United States of America as global superpowers, with massive military strength; everyone else was second. However, the wartime alliance was not an easy one, and by 1943 each side was thinking about the state of Post-war Europe. Russia ‘liberated’ vast areas of Eastern Europe, into which it wanted to put its own brand of government and turn into Soviet satellite states, in part to gain security from the capitalist West. Although the Allies tried to gain assurances for democratic elections from Russia during mid and post war conferences, there was ultimately nothing they could do to stop Russia from imposing its will on their conquests. In 1944 Churchill, Prime Minister of Britain was quoted as saying â€Å"Make no mistake, all the Balkans apart from Greece are going to be Bolshevised and there’s nothing I can do to prevent it. There’s nothing I can do for Poland, either†. Meanwhile, the Allies liberated large parts of Western Europe in which they recreated democratic nations. Two Superpower Blocs and Mutual Distrust World War Two finished in 1945 with Europe divided into two blocs, each occupied by the armies of, in the west America and the Allies, and in the east, Russia. America wanted a democratic Europe and was afraid of communism dominating the continent while Russia wanted the opposite, a communist Europe in which they dominated and not, as they feared, a united, capitalist Europe. Stalin believed, at first, those capitalist nations would soon fall to squabbling among themselves, a situation he could exploit, and was dismayed by the growing organization among the West. To these differences were added fear of Soviet invasion in the West and Russian fear of the atomic bomb ; fear of economic collapse in the west versus fear of economic domination by the west; a clash of ideologies (capitalism versus communism) and, on the Soviet front, the fear of a rearmed Germany hostile to Russia. In 1946 Churchill described the dividing line between East and West as an Iron Curtain.​ Containment, the Marshall Plan and the Economic Division of Europe America reacted to the threat of the spread of both Soviet power and communist thinking by commencing the policy of ‘containment’, outlined in a speech to Congress on March 12, 1947, action aimed at stopping any further Soviet expansion and isolating the ‘empire’ which existed. The need to halt Soviet expansion seemed all the more important later that year as Hungary was taken over by a one party communist system, and later when a new communist government took over the Czech state in a coup, nations which until then Stalin had been content to leave as a middle ground between the communist and capitalist blocs. Meanwhile, Western Europe was having severe economic difficulties as the nations struggled to recover from the devastating effects of the recent war. Worried that communist sympathizers were gaining influence as the economy worsened, to secure the western markets for US products and to put containment into practice, America reacted with the ‘Mars hall Plan’ of massive economic aid. Although it was offered to both eastern and western nations, albeit with certain strings attached, Stalin made sure it was rejected in the Soviet sphere of influence, a response the US had been expecting. Between 1947 and 1952 $13 billion was given to 16 mainly western nations and, while the effects are still debated, it generally boosted the economies of member nations and helped freeze communist groups from power, for example in France, where the communists members of the coalition government were ousted. It also created an economic divide as clear as the political one between the two power blocs. Meanwhile, Stalin formed COMECON, the ‘Commission for Mutual Economic Aid’, in 1949 to promote trade and economic growth among its satellites and Cominform, a union of communist parties (including those in the west) to spread communism. Containment also led to other initiatives: in 1947 the CIA spent large amounts to influence the result of Italy’s elections, helping the Christian Democrats defeat the Communist party. The Berlin Blockade By 1948, with Europe was firmly divided into communist and capitalist, Russian supported and American supported, Germany became the new ‘battleground’. Germany was divided into four parts and occupied by Britain, France,  America, and Russia; Berlin, situated in the Soviet zone, was also divided. In 1948 Stalin enforced a blockade of Western Berlin aimed at bluffing the Allies into renegotiating the division of Germany in his  favor, rather than them declaring war over the cut off zones. However, Stalin had miscalculated the ability of airpower, and the Allies responded with the ‘Berlin Airlift’: for eleven months supplies were flown into Berlin. This  was, in turn, a bluff, for the Allied planes had to fly over Russian airspace and the Allies gambled that Stalin wouldn’t shoot them down and risk war. He didn’t and the blockade was ended in May 1949 when Stalin gave up. The Berlin Blockade was the first time the previous diplomatic and po litical divisions in Europe had become an open battle of wills, the former allies now certain enemies. NATO, the Warsaw Pact and the Renewed Military Division of Europe In April 1949, with the Berlin Blockade in full effect and the threat of conflict with Russia looming, the Western powers signed the NATO treaty in Washington, creating a military alliance: the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The emphasis was firmly on  defense  from  Soviet  activity. That same year Russia detonated its first atomic weapon, negating the America advantage and reducing the chance of the powers engaging in a ‘regular’ war because of fears over the consequences of nuclear conflict. There were debates over the next few years among NATO powers over whether to rearm West Germany and in 1955 it became a full member of NATO. A week later eastern nations signed the Warsaw Pact, creating a military alliance under a Soviet commander. A Cold War By 1949 two sides had formed, power blocs which were deeply opposed to each other, each believing the other threatened them and everything they stood for (and in many ways they did). Although there was no traditional warfare, there was a nuclear standoff and attitudes and ideology hardened over the next decades, the gap between them growing more entrenched. This led to the ‘Red Scare’ in the United States and yet more crushing of dissent in Russia. However, by this time the Cold War had also spread beyond the boundaries of Europe, becoming truly global as China became communist and America intervened in Korea and Vietnam. Nuclear weapons also grew more power with the creation, in 1952 by the US and in 1953 by the USSR, of thermonuclear weapons which were vastly more destructive than those dropped during the Second World War. This led to the development of ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’, whereby neither the US nor USSR would ‘hot’ war with each o ther because the resulting conflict would destroy much of the world.

Media violence and agression essays

Media violence and agression essays Within the past few decades there has been a growing concern about exposure to media violence. Many people have directly associated aggression and hostile thoughts to the viewing of, or participation in, violent media. It is now abundant in many forms: movies, music, video games, television shows, and even newscasts. The question is whether it changes us negatively as humans. If not, then it is obviously harmless. Then we could go on not paying any attention to the increase of intense and realistic violence within todays media. But the more probable answer is yes; it has, is, and will continue to affect us. There is a lot more to worry about now than there was twenty years ago. The world continues to evolve technologically, escalating our ability and probability to be exposed to such violence. For example, soldiers in Iraq have cameras strapped to their helmets, displaying an in-war perspective on local news stations, which we would otherwise not have. This is a vast evolution from t he sketchy news broadcasts and day to day speculation of North American civilians during the World Wars. Is this opened door a benefit, or is society being exposed to something it should not be? The same question can be asked about video games; one of the worlds most widespread hobbies. As well, movies and television are other explicitly violent culprits. All this too say that there are many violent sources available to people of all ages. And, if aggression is nourished within those who are exposed to these sources, then the world is heading in a dangerous direction. The cognitive learning theory suggests that, humans have underlying thought processes; therefore, having the ability to respond to situations based on thoughts, memory, and the way information is processed (Feldman). An example of this is, knowing how to drive a car without having ever done it before. One may observe their parent driving, and thereby obtain the basic skills requi...

Health Care Policies in a Hospital Unit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health Care Policies in a Hospital Unit - Essay Example This paper will address a required change in billing and retrieving of payment from insurance companies and patients in a hospital unit. In health care, a health policy can be defined as an action that is usually undertaken in order to achieve a certain health care goal within the society (Feldstein, 2011). There are several categories of health policies in the health care system. These policies are usually reviewed in order to improve the services provided through the health care system. The health care policies are aimed at solving or addressing an issue within the health care institutions. Researchers assert that the expenditure in health care is slowly outpacing the GDP in most countries. This paper will employ a possible policy that can address the issue of billing and retrieving of payment from insurance companies and patients in the hospital unit. The creation of a policy usually encompasses three main steps. These steps include the formulation stage, legislative stage and the implementation stage. In the formulation stage, the policies are usually reviewed by professional experts in the medical field. The legislative stage is the most essential phase in the creation of a policy. This is the stage whereby the policy is enacted through the support of the legislators (Feldstein, 2011). Lastly, the implementation stage is the last stage whereby the intervention of the policy is performed. In this case, the predicament lies within the billing department which also deals with retrieving of funds from insurance companies. The payment system in a health care institution deals with processing the payments for the services offered in the health care institution. In order for the health care institutions to address this predicament, they should apply the pay per performance policy. This policy is one of the emerging trends in health insurance (Forman, 2008).

An outline marketing plan for the next year for Atlantic Quench 092 Essay

An outline marketing plan for the next year for Atlantic Quench 092 - Essay Example While 1,209 companies in the U.S. soft drink industry deals with soft drink manufacturing where they blend ingredients such as water, syrup and sweeteners and sell the packages as beverage (Kaczanowska, 2010). The U.S. soft drink market is dominatd by main players such as Cocacola and Pepsi Inc Companies commanding 40% and 33% respectively of total flavoring syrup and concentrate manufacturing market and 28.6% and 26.8% respectively of soft drink manufacturing market in the U.S (Sicher, 2009). The remaining percentage is shared amongst many small soft drink manufacturing companies. The global market incorporates North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific. The United Kingdom market the perfomance of fruit juice has great impact on the overall market, the industry includes fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies. According to Mintel, the fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies market in the UK is expected to grow by 13% in 2018. Manufacturer’s focus on added value especially on health matters and convenience is also expected to fuel value growth (Mintel, 2010a). The plan focuses on Atlantic Quench Cranberries Inc which is an agricultural co-operative company operating from Unites States. Currently, the company is owned by approximately 630 cranberry and 46 grapefruit farmers and known as the leading producer of juice drinks, canned and bottled juices in North America. Their brand is recognized as best-selling in the last three decades dating back to 1981. The report focuses on marketing plan for the next year for Atlantic Quench Cranberries Inc (Luther, 2013). The main objective being marketing Atlantic Quench Cranberries products through increasing sales accrued to this brand and product line items as well as offering diversified products tailor made to cater for customer demands (Ahmed and Rafiq, 2002). These two objectives can be met through use of strategic product pricing,

Reflections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reflections - Essay Example A good place to begin in this regard is with Carter's Three Step Integrity Model. To begin with step one: discerning what is right and what is wrong is not an innate behavior or characteristic; it is learned. Education is key to building up this moral faculty. This faculty is built up through experience and through principles. In a country as politically complicated and as diverse as the United States, this takes a lot of work. We can't shirk from hard work; we must embrace it. Step two: Sometimes integrity means acting on what you have discerned, even at personal cost. In our society, one would call a person who discerns and acts on what they have witnessed or experienced a "snitch". Many times in the justice arena a person who has witnessed a crime or an altercation, definitely could inform at personal cost-whether jeopardizing their lives or the lives of loved ones. An example a little closer to home would be, to discern something about a colleague or family member. This would definitely put one in an awkward position, especially if they have to confront the issue or if the issue jeopardizes the integrity of a company or violates a family member(s) trust; all at personal cost to that person. This more than likely would cause animosity, fear, loss of friendship and even, cost them their job or division in the family. The choice is a hard one; turning to faith is the best way to find an answer. Step three involves saying openly that you are acting on your understanding of right from wrong. Even if it costs you personally, it is important to be honest. You have to act on what you understand to be right and be honest with what knowledge you have. This too is part of integrity. 2. Interpersonal relations class. This class reminded me of a personal situation. When I was around 16 years old, the teacher in my class assigned all of us pen pals for the year. The pen pals were to be from the island of Malta, which is a small country in the Mediterranean near Sicily. I had never had a pen pal before. In fact I rarely wrote letters. It could be said that I was a shy child and did not have many friends. So I was a little bit nervous about having a pen pal as I didn't know how I felt about telling a stranger all about my life. My pen pal's name was Flavia and we soon began exchanging letters. While I might have been nervous at first, I soon began to really enjoy the experience. What I enjoyed most was getting to know another person in the way that I got to know Flavia. She was the same age as I was and with a lot of the same family background-the same amount of brother and sisters, for example-and from a similar socio-economic background. At first our letters simply introduced basic facts about our lives to one another. After a few letters doing this we began to talk about our routines-the sports we played, the kind of friends we had, the computer games we enjoyed. The more letters we exchanged, the closer I felt the two of us becoming. Soon we had graduated to begin to talk about what we thought about our lives, our societies, and cultures. We began to share personal details; this led to a bond that was built on trust. We both perceived each other as more fully formed people and began to understand what sort of stimuli influenced one another's perceptions and experiences of the world. Another important thing that made us feel closer together was the fact that over the months that

Research on New Zealand Tasman Glacier

Research on New Zealand Tasman Glacier New Zealand has a large number of glaciers, majority of these being located in the central Southern Alps of the South Island. In the South Island alone, there are over 3,100 glaciers (McSaveney, 2007). New Zealands largest glacier The Tasman Glacier, is located in the Southern Alps and it known to be the largest glacier in New Zealand. Since 1973, the glacier has been retreating progressively at a distressing percentage and it is predictable the lake will reach its maximum capacity within 10-19 years (Massey University, 2008). Thus, it is estimated that the glacier will eventually disappear (Mastny, 2000). In the 1950s, the process of the retreat began and there was a rapid expansion in the surrounding lake as the glacier began to melt (Kirkbride, 1993). The purpose of the laboratory was to use a stereoscope to view images of the Tasman Glacier in a 3-Dimensionial setting and then produce a geomorphic sketch of the region. From this point, the aim was to utilise the geomorphic sketch and compare it alongside a series of ASTER images of the glacier from the years 2000-2015 and also alongside aerial images from 1976 and 1986. The purpose of this being to explore and examine the changes that have occurred over time within the glacial processes of the Tasman Glacier. To enable understanding of how changes of the Tasman Glacier and the surrounding lake have been modified over time, a stereoscope was used to construct a geomorphic sketch of the location over tracing paper with a pencil. A stereoscope is a device which is imported to view a three-dimensional image when two high resolution photographs are placed approximately six centimetres apart. Aerial images of the location in 1976 and 1986 were examined and were compared with six ASTER images from the years 2000-2015. The ASTER images were presented in three year additions. The 2010 aerial image was used to sketch the features of the geomorphic map, these features included the position of streams, alluvial fans, kettle holes and moraines- both terminal and lateral. The sketched map was compared to preceding ASTER and aerial images of the glacier to provide an understanding of the changes that have occurred throughout time within the locatio The sketched geomorphic map (figure 1) signifies both the Tasman Glacier and how its form and physiognomies have been hindered over time due to natural processes. Results were exposed by comparing the alterations of the ASTER images and the aerial images with the hand sketched geomorphic map of the 2010 glacier; a number of observations were made. To begin with, alongside the Tasman Glacier, bordering Tasman Lake is the lateral moraine. Through comparing the aerial images with the sketched geomorphic map, the reduction in the lateral moraine between 1976-2015 is obvious. The bottommost part of the glacier is where the terminal moraine is formed. The terminal moraine appears to be perceived as a group of small unconnected kettle holes when examining the 1976 and 1986 aerial photographs. At the southern end of the glacier, below the terminal moraine is where the Tasman River begins to flow. Superior to the terminal moraine is the Tasman Lake which is where the glacier is found to terminate. By comparing the geological map with the ASTER photographs, it was noticed that the ice accumulation on the mountains has reduced greatly from 1976 to 2015 which is able to be observed on the lateral moraines of the glacier. With relation to the Murchison River, in the aerial photographs it is noticeable that the river flowed around the terminal moraine close to the glacial boundary. The Murchison River joined the Tasman River on the outwash plain to an area of braided river which forms where a heavy sediment load is deposited and shift between channels giving it a braided like appearance (Harcourt, 2005). By comparing the aerial photographs with the geomorphic sketch, is also evident that over time, the Murchison River eroded part of a lateral moraine, thus moving the river closer to the Tasman lake as it disperses itself from the glacial boundary. As of now, the Murchison River feeds into the Tasman Lake and has eroded the lateral moraine bank. A change in root of the Murchison River is noticeable when comparing the sketched geomorphic map with the ASTER images. In the ASTER images from both 1976 and 1986, the Tasman Glacier had no retreat lake whilst the ASTER image from 2000 depicts the Murchison River flowing directly into the Tasman Lake, thus contributing to the size of the lake. When comparing the 1986 aerial image with the 2000 ASTER image, a change in shape of the Tasman Valley is noticeable. It has changed from the shape of a V to the shape of a U, caused by the natural process of glaciation. It is also evident that the Tasman Lake has increased in size over the years. When comparing the 1986 aerial images with the geomorphic sketch it is noticeable that there has been an increase in alluvial fans that have been found at the bases of hills along the glaciers path- mainly occurring on Mount Johnson and Mount Chudleigh. It is noticeable that from comparing the 1986 aerial photograph to the geomorphic sketch, that a lake has formed over time toward the eastern end of the Mackenzie basin. Further, the glacier contained more ice in the 1986 aerial photograph in comparison to the 2015 ASTER image. Another important key geological feature on the map are the permanent snowfields which lie to the west of the lake- the Mount Cook Ranges (Aoraki). At the height of 3,724 meters, the Mount Cook ranges are high enough to hold snow throughout the year (Dennis, 2007). By comparing the ASTER images with the sketched geomorphic map, it becomes obvious that there has been a copious quantity of changes in the Tasman Glacier and its surrounding valley between the years 1986-2015. A number of natural processes have arisen that have adapted glacier, contributing to its retreat. The Tasman Glacier is a river of ice which is shown to move slowly through time laps photography. However, it moves so slowly that one is not able to see the movement with their eyes. In 1993, the Tasman lake was shown by a bathymetric survey to be 1.95 square km whilst in 2008 it has been seen to increase in length by 4.01 square km and is now over 5.96 square km (Warren Kirkbride, 2008). An alluvial fan is an important feature of the maps. This feature is a triangle-shaped deposit of sediment, including gravel and sand (National Geographic Society, 2017) and are created as flowing water interacts with landforms such as mountains and (Blair and McPherson, 1994). The landform spreads out and are given a triangular shape as streams form. From 1976-2015, an increase in alluvial fans has become present on the Murchison glacier and along with the Tasman Glacier. This is noticeable when comparing the geomorphic sketch with the aerial photographs. The Murchison river has changed direction over time, this being due to the fast rate of glacial retreat resulting in calving on the terminus. Calving refers to the breaking of ice chunks from the edge of a glacier into the water below and is a significant cause of the landforms retreat (Ferguson, 2017). The process occurs at the terminus of the Tasman Glacier and is which is normally caused by the glacier expanding (Marshak, 2009). The glacier continues to retreat in length as calving continues. Since 2007, the Tasman Glacier appears to have less frequent calving events, however when calving events happen, they have a higher magnitude in comparison to previous times. (Warren Kirkbride, 2003) Down wasting has occurred which is noticeable when comparing the ASTER images with the aerial images. This has happened because under the force of gravity, sediments of soil, sand and rock fall down the landscape, making the mountain decrease in size but falling into te surrounding lake increasing its depth and size (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2014). On the sides of the lateral moraine, the retreating glacier causes friction which produces heat and results in faster melting of the ice. The melted ice is then flown into the alluvial planes, deepening the lake. Debris of rock falls from both sides of the glacier and scrapes alongside the lateral moraine causing the glacier to retreat. The lake surrounding the Tasman Glacier is divided into layers in relation to temperature. The upper layer of the lake has a temperature ranging from two degrees to five degrees Celsius whilst the bottom layer has a much lower temperature, sitting at around 0.1 degrees Celsius (Warren Kirkbridge, 2010) . The temperature difference is due to uneven melting of the glacier and the sunrays partially getting passed through the top layer, causing it to be warmer than the bottom division of lake (GNS Science, 2009). Due to the temperature difference, the absorption of heat which causes the ice in the moraine to melt faster, thus increasing the size of the surrounding lake. Stress fractures are caused in the ice of the glacier due to an increase in temperature which contributes to the retreat of the landform (Davies, 2015). The sediments that have rolled down into the moraines absorb heat from the sun and result in further melting of the landform. Lakes surrounding the Tasman Glacier have c ombined over time, thus contributing to an increase in the size of the lake (Davies, 2015) which is made obvious whilst studying the traced geomorphic map and comparing it with the ASTER images. The glacial ice sheets have been reducing in thickness 1976 which is present comparing the aerial images with the geomorphic map. Blocks of ice that are separated from the main glacier due to glacial retreat or a flood form kettle holes (Snorrason, 2002). This down wasting progressed over time which lead to the formation of small kettle holes across the Tasman Glacier. A three-dimensional image of the Tasman Glacier was created with the aid of a stereoscope and a geomorphic sketch of the current glacier was conducted. This was used to identify natural landforms that make up the glacier including the lakes, lateral and terminal moraines and alluvial fans. When comparing the geomorphic sketch to the ASTER and aerial images, the changes that have occurred of the Tasman Glacier due to natural events became obvious and it shows that a number of interacting glacial processes contributed to the glaciers rapid retreat.

The Social Dynamics of the Weight Room Essay -- Personal Narrative Wei

The Social Dynamics of the Weight Room Missing Works Cited As I walk down the streets of Hollywood, I can’t help but notice all the billboards advertising numerous products. The symbols of these products are beautiful young people with rock hard, chizzled bodies. It is interesting to note what defines a female as beautiful and a male as beautiful. The females seem to look extremely thin with tight arms, stomachs and buttocks’. These models for â€Å"Levi’s† or â€Å"Banana Republic† don’t have all the curves, but look feminine in a rather boyish manner. When viewing males on these billboards, you will notice that they are often times cut, trim, and more curvy than the female. They commonly shave their bodies for companies like â€Å"J-Crew† and â€Å"Abercrombie and Fitch†. We can see that there may be a possibility of gender crossings (males looking more feminine and females looking more masculine). These images represent beauty and are seen as cultural icons of appearance in o ur culture. The media seems to determine and drive the social stigma of society. Looking for the effects of these icons in our culture, I decided that it would be beneficial to explore the source of the image building†¦a fitness gym. Weight lifting has many connotations for social interaction. The purpose of this ethnography is to discover possible explanations to lifting weights, how lifting weights personifies masculine and feminine gender roles, to understand the social interactions within the weight room, and to investigate how much the media plays into the development of the masculine and feminine image. The weight room is a culture in its own that represents the masculine and feminine image of our culture. When I first entered the â€Å"Muscle Madness ... ...is not heterosexual at all, but homosexual: not only is she ‘unnatural,’ but the female boldybuilder possesses the power to invert normal male sexuality. Since Bev Francis [female bodybuilder] looks and moves ‘like a man,’ homophobic patriarchal ideology whispers that men who find her attractive must be gay, and, further, that women who find her attractive must be lesbians. Bev’s muscles, dress, heavy facial features, and ‘unfemine’ body language evoke the stereotype of what a lesbian looks like: the butch, the lesbaian who is immediately recognizable as such, visibly different†¦.gay men are assumed to be wimps who worship ‘he-men,’ while lesbians are assumed to be women who are ‘he men’ or women who worship ‘he/she men’. †¦sexuality is surreptitiously linked with sex and gender in such a way as to support heterosexual and patriarchal ideologies. (Holmund, 150-51)

Charles Dickens’s life Essay

How does Dickens create an atmosphere of mystery and fear in chapters 1 and 39 of â€Å"Great Expectations†? Great Expectations is a book written in 1861, by Charles Dickens. But the book is narrated by a boy called Pip; a main character in the novel, who grows up as the story goes on. The novel is about Pip growing up and moving to London to become a gentleman. But there are many twists in the story such as the convict that he meets in the first chapter, is actually paying his expenses to become a gentleman. Great Expectations is written as a semi autobiographical style novel. Dickens wrote it as he felt troubled at this certain time of his life, and needed some kind of physical and emotional support. In the first chapter, we don’t know much about Pip’s life. We know that Pip is alone in the churchyard. â€Å"This bleak place, overgrown with nettles, was the churchyard. † This shows that Dickens is describing the churchyard as a dark and sinister place, therefore creating a sense of mystery and fear. Pip then surprisingly meets the convict. â€Å"†Hold your noise! † cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves† This shows that Dickens is creating fear by the abruptness of the order. Dickens uses comedy in beginning of this chapter with, â€Å"I religiously entertained that they had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trousers-pockets, and had never taken them out in this state of existence. † This shows that Dickens has got some humour as these boys would never have had a chance to do this, because they died very early on. Dickens also uses pathetic fallacy with, â€Å"angry, red lines and dense black lines intermixed. † This shows that he uses pathetic fallacy to emphasise the violence of the convict’s actions. To do this he also uses slightly emotive language; â€Å"angry. † Between the end of this chapter and chapter 39, Pip experiences a series of events. He finds food for the convict, and he is extremely grateful for it, but word gets out that he is around and everyone finds him, so he is sent away. Pip gets invited to Miss Havisham’s house to â€Å"play† where he meets Estella, which at first sight, falls in love with her. Later on, he meets Herbert Pocket a lively young chap that challenges Pip to a fight and loses without a doubt. A few years later he is an apprentice of Joe, when suddenly Mr. Jaggers walks in and proposes an opportunity for Pip to travel to London, and learn to become a gentleman. Inevitably he takes the opportunity and leaves for London. But when he arrives he sees Mr. Pocket and he is pleasantly surprised. As time passes he becomes a little snobby and when Mr. Joe visits, he feels very unwelcome so decides to leave. In chapter 39 we find Pip is alone because Herbert was on a business trip to Marseilles. So pip wasn’t feeling too happy, as he didn’t particularly like being alone. â€Å"I†¦ had a dull sense of being alone. Dispirited and anxious, long hoping that to-morrow or next week would clear my way†¦ I sadly missed the cheerful face of my friend. † This quotation shows that Dickens is using emotive language, in order for the reader to feel the sadness of Pip. The weather is also reflecting Pip’s feelings. â€Å"Day after day, a heavy veil had been driving over London from the East, and it drove still. † This quotation shows that Dickens is creating a sense of mystery by using pathetic fallacy and emotive language. He also uses a metaphor â€Å"a vast heavy veil†. A veil covers up something which also emphasises the sense of mystery and fear. When Pip meets the convict, his reaction is slow to realise. But when he does; he is surprised, but still queer. â€Å"†Keep off! If you are grateful to me for what I did when I was a little child, I hope you have shown your gratitude by mending your way of life. If you have come here to thank me, it was not necessary. Still, however, you have found me out† This shows that Dickens is creating mystery by making it so that Pip is surprised and half pleased, but still to be fully satisfied. The mystery is solved in this chapter. â€Å"Great Expectations† is influenced by the events occurring in Charles Dickens’s life. I think that his work is still read and valued today, because he has used his own experiences to reflect onto his work. When you put this together with dickens’s style, including his use of emotive language, pathetic fallacy etc. , it creates a unique and amazing style of writing that everyone seems to be able to get into. I think that people are able to do this really easily because his work is mostly based on things that you can’t experience in today’s world. Dickens creates a sense of mystery and fear with many different techniques such as; pathetic fallacy, emotive language and metaphors.

These 30 ROFL Steven Wrights Funniest Jokes Are Crazily Funny

These 30 ROFL Steven Wright's Funniest Jokes Are Crazily Funny The Persona of Steven Wright: Deadpan, Dead Serious Comedian When he walks up the stage, the lackadaisical strut which is a Steven Wright signature makes the audience lean forward in rapt attention.  They know that something really big is about to happen. He paces up and down the platform, seemingly in no hurry, and without making eye contact with his eager listeners. The build-up to this climax can only be satisfied by a one-liner from the ace comedian as he cracks his first joke: Thanks! The sudden burst of laughter among the audience tells you that the comedian has struck a chord. And with a deadpan expression, eyes searching the room, Steven Wright lands another gem from his collection: I got food poisoning today. I dont know when Ill use it. With this funny quip, he has nailed it. The audience is now enraptured. The evening has just begun. What Makes Steven Wright Such a Hit With His Audience? One of the things you will like about Steven Wright, the famous American comedian, is that he does not make ribald jokes on race or color. Most of his humor revolves around his observations of day-to-day life. With Steven Wrights humor, you can see how ludicrous our lifestyles and beliefs are. Why Steven Wright Is Like No Other Standup Comedian Steven Wrights deadpan facial expression adds to the humor. His wacky frazzled hair balding in the center, overgrowing on the sides contribute to his humorous persona. He comes across as a laid-back performer, who happened to accidentally walk on to the stage.  It only takes a minute for the audience to connect with him. Once he is on stage, Steven Wright is a transformed man. He ensures that his audience has a bellyful of laughs, and they keep asking for more. Steven Wright does not come across as a comedian who is trying hard to please. He looks like he sleepwalked his way into the show. But given that he puts up this act every time with aplomb, it is anybodys guess how much work he puts into making every act of his act seem like a masterpiece. Steven Wright Short and Funny Jokes Are Classic Humor What makes Steven Wright stand out from his contemporaries and predecessors, is that he can create a joke with the fewest words in them. His signature Thanks! at the beginning of his show is proof that you dont need too many words to create a great joke. In fact, too many words kill the essence of the joke, when you spell it out for the audience. Another of his characteristic short one liner is: Lost a buttonhole.What are imitation rhinestones?If I ever have twins, Id use one for parts.I was skydiving horizontally.Whats another word for Thesaurus?I xeroxed my watch. Now I have time to spare.Is tired old cliche one? Steven Wright has a gift of great observation. His jokes usually talk about the absurdities of life. They often make you think, Now, thats really funny. Why didnt I think of that joke? His great ability to use  paraprosdokians with perfect comic timing makes him an instant hit with his audience. The Comedian, Actor, Director, Grammy Award and Academy Award Winner Steven Wright is a man of many colors. In 1989,  he won an Academy Award for a 30-minute short film he co-wrote with Michael Armstrong titled, The Appointments of Dennis Jennings. Prior to this,  Wright created a comedy album in 1985, which was titled, I Have a Pony. The album was widely appreciated and even nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. Read Some of the Funniest Steven Wright Jokes Here are some gems of humor from the famous comedian. These Steven Wright jokes are great conversation starters. I have seen many of these lines used as ice-breakers in training sessions, speeches, and Facebook status updates. Spice up your essays with a punch of humor from these jokes. Right now Im having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.One time, the police stopped me for speeding, and they said, Dont you know the speed limit is 55 miles an hour? I said, Yeah, I know, but I wasnt gonna be out that long.I broke a mirror in my house. Im supposed to get seven years bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five.The

Free Essays on A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol Written by: mr krabs â€Å"Humbug!† was Scrooge’s favorite answer to any question and any question was an inappropriate question to the grumpy old covetous man. Depicted in the ethical story, The Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Scrooge’s fowling manner transformed his once passionate heart to a black hole, which pulled in all hope and happiness as if it were a powerful magnet. Nevertheless, the jar of hatred shattered and Scrooge’s impaired spirit rose again. Love and happiness permeated his body, and the once ignorant Scrooge developed into an irresistible congenial fellow that everyone now knew. Scrooge found that he had the ability to alter his behavior and realized that spreading Christmas was more rewarding than any given amount of money. Scrooge’s capability to transform himself from a wrenching, disgruntled man to a blithe, amicable friend was surprising to the inhabitants of the small city. For instance, Charles Dickens wrote, â€Å"Some people laughed to see the alteration in him [Scrooge], but he let them laugh, and little heeded them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (page 112). Scrooge didn’t mind the giggles and laughs directed at him because he believed in himself for the first time in a very long time. His confined spirit was freed at last and it allotted happiness and joy around from mysterious turkeys on the doorstep to charity donations. Scrooge sought to make the people of the city cheerful and in doing so, people enjoyed watching an old jolly man hop around delivering gifts. Thus, Scrooge did not heed to the snickers in the crowd. The joy of spreading Christmas was Scrooge’s indirect gift to mankind and it rewarded him with long-lasting friends, which could never compare to any wealth. For example, Charles Dickens wrote,† He [Scrooge] became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world â€Å" (page 112). Thi... Free Essays on A Christmas Carol Free Essays on A Christmas Carol A Christmas Carol Written by: mr krabs â€Å"Humbug!† was Scrooge’s favorite answer to any question and any question was an inappropriate question to the grumpy old covetous man. Depicted in the ethical story, The Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Scrooge’s fowling manner transformed his once passionate heart to a black hole, which pulled in all hope and happiness as if it were a powerful magnet. Nevertheless, the jar of hatred shattered and Scrooge’s impaired spirit rose again. Love and happiness permeated his body, and the once ignorant Scrooge developed into an irresistible congenial fellow that everyone now knew. Scrooge found that he had the ability to alter his behavior and realized that spreading Christmas was more rewarding than any given amount of money. Scrooge’s capability to transform himself from a wrenching, disgruntled man to a blithe, amicable friend was surprising to the inhabitants of the small city. For instance, Charles Dickens wrote, â€Å"Some people laughed to see the alteration in him [Scrooge], but he let them laugh, and little heeded them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (page 112). Scrooge didn’t mind the giggles and laughs directed at him because he believed in himself for the first time in a very long time. His confined spirit was freed at last and it allotted happiness and joy around from mysterious turkeys on the doorstep to charity donations. Scrooge sought to make the people of the city cheerful and in doing so, people enjoyed watching an old jolly man hop around delivering gifts. Thus, Scrooge did not heed to the snickers in the crowd. The joy of spreading Christmas was Scrooge’s indirect gift to mankind and it rewarded him with long-lasting friends, which could never compare to any wealth. For example, Charles Dickens wrote,† He [Scrooge] became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world â€Å" (page 112). Thi...

Attentional Spotlights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Attentional Spotlights - Essay Example In the study conducted by Vargha-Khadem and his associates in 2005, they have concluded that the ability to focus, organize and correlate information is important in the development of the communication and social skills that eventually set our species apart from other primates. These evolutionary developments include molecular neurological activities related to visual attention that has streamlined the brain into the identified activity centers (Mangun, 1995). According to Tong (2004), the "longstanding notion that spatial attention cannot be divided stems from the assumptions of early philosophers, such as Descartes, that consciousness itself is unitary and indivisible" is being challenged by neuroimages chronicling the neural activities that occur in the brain's retinotopic visual areas (p. 524). An important element in these changing perspectives is the technology that is becoming available for researches. There has been progression inclination towards the existence of multiple attention points in recent years. There has been evidence that attention spotlights are active concurrently at various areas of the brain given a common stimuli (Mller et al, 2003). At the same time, there are some researches that also point out that these concurrent activities many not necessarily be attention spotlights but rather are independent and unrelated cognitive neural activity (LaBerge et al, 1997). There is significant divergence in the consensus regarding the function of selective visual attention in attentional spotlight. Opinions mainly diverge on the prevalence, degree and significance of attentional spotlight. However, there is a universal realization that existing technologies and knowledge needs is still not enough to be deterministic. Current studies indicate that selective visual attention affords for flexibility and efficiency to facilitate between high level process and low sensory information. The role of spotlight serves as an accelerator of the highlighted information or stimulus (Spratling and Johnson, 2004). In the process of spotlighting, information is illuminated by the attention spotlight which has then the effect of streamlining perscotion of the said elements. However, when spatial shifting takes place, the spotlight turns off to be able to focus anew. This means that in the process of going thorugh spotlight A to spotlight B, the current consensus is that attentional spotlight does not exist. Concept Appraisal Understanding selective attention in the process of visual perception requires the recognition of the different attention mechanisms that are involved in the identification of a stimulus versus those that are involved after the process of perception (Vecera & Rizzo, 2003). Modern cognitive neuroscience experts in particular are emphasizing the need to further understand the components of selective visual attention to an attentional spotlight considering neuroanatomy and timing (Hopf et al, 2000). This is in view of its significance not only in the process of p[perception but also in the development of language and speech skills that in humans has been identified to depend significantly on the said factors (Vargha-Khadem et al, 2005). According to Chris Chatam (2006), "The spotlight metaphor of attention accords with our subjective experience: as

Documentary Reflection assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Documentary Reflection - Assignment Example Such information is a prerequisite for them to make informed decisions about fracturing. Most products have the capability of causing defects to the endocrine system thus affecting development and reproduction in human and wildlife. Others are known to affect the skin, eyes, sensory organs, respiratory system, and liver. In addition, they have adverse effect on the general environment, soil, water, and air. As such, it is important to have fracturing contractors reveal full information about their products to the public. Natural gas manufacturer too, are obliged to reveal the chemical contents and effects of their products. However, a major drawback associated with this is that, most of them rely on Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDA) for product information. Seemingly, it has been discovered that many MSDSs provide unreliable fragmented information. This therefore hinders the public access to full information about products and related chemicals. As a fact, the Chevron company should have full disclosure of its product and chemicals associated with fracturing and natural gas manufacturing may not only enable people to know about their adverse effects on health alone but may also enable them to be conversant with the air and water quality they consume. This is very significant in developing air and water quality monitoring protocols. Those living near natural gas development industries stand to benefit the most from such information. Besides all these, such information could be very important for the public to make decisions about the regulation of the fracturing and drilling activities. Thus, based on deep analysis of the movie, it can be concluded that the general public deserves to be informed about the effects of gas products from industries, fracturing and drilling industries in order to enlighten and make them take necessary

Explain the 'open systems' approach to organisations, and how Essay

Explain the 'open systems' approach to organisations, and how environmental factors can affect the business organisation. Use the case to illustrate your answer - Essay Example In an open system, all aspects of an organisation starting from inputs all the way through the production process of outputs, and evaluation are all considered as being important. Boundaries and the external atmosphere are also very important to an open system. Strong open system analyses information that it receives from its surroundings makes the necessary changes in the organisation and then transmits the essential feedback to its environment (Thompson, 2011:12). Icy Foods Limited had no strong because when its external environment changed, it did not make the necessary changes in internal environment in order to boost their sales. Scott (2003) proposed several aspects that characterise open systems. These include self-maintenance, protection, boundaries and subsystems (Scott, 2003:89). In self-maintenance, organisations get the resources they need from the environment to survive. In terms of protection, organisations do not have to safeguard the environment, rather they use it as a source of information. In terms of boundaries, organisations have boundaries that are difficult to define. Lastly, when addressing subsystems, Scott (2003) notes that organisations have subsystems that are correlated in dynamic interaction (Scott, 2003:90-91). The organisation, being an open system relies on its external environment for the procurement and use of what it produces and the products that it offers. If the requirements of the organisation’s external environment change, they directly affect the organisation’s ability to sell what it produces. As seen in the case of Icy Foods Limited, the growth of the total sales of ready meals by large supermarket chains reduced the number of independent supermarkets that Icy Foods Limited used to supply to. Since several of Icy Food’s customers were forced out of business, the sales of the company reduced greatly. As a result of the

The Cheese and the Worms Essay Example for Free

The Cheese and the Worms Essay The Cheese and the Worms BY sk8erBN102 The Danger of Speaking Out Carlo Ginzburgs The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller explores the trials of supposed heretic Domenico Scandella. Better known as Menocchio, The Cheese and the Worms details his extensive beliefs about mistruths in religion and is written as a micro history of the events of his trial. At a time when religion and God were thought of as pure fact, Menocchio doubted their supreme existence and this lead to his death by burning. When reviewing Ginzburgs account f the trials, the sources of his many ideas come to light and these ideas show that the Catholic Church and its members were scared the most by Menocchios ideas about the origins of earth. Although a miller by trade, Menocchio was a well read, church going man. Having read various religious works, including the Bible, Menocchio came to numerous conclusions that did not sit well with upper authorities in the Catholic Church. To the Medieval Catholic Church, Menocchios most dangerous and outrageous claim was that the Book of Genesis was flawed. While tanding trial, Menocchio is quoted as saying, l have said that, in my opinion, all was chaos, that is, earth, air, water, and fire were mixed together; and out of that bulk a mass formed- Just as cheese is made out of milk- and worms appeared in it, and these were the angels. The most holy majesty decreed that these should be God and the angels, and among that number of angels there was also God, he too having been created out of that mass at the same time (Ginzburg, 4-5). Here, Menocchio is comparing the creation of the universe and in particular the human world to the reation of cheese from milk, suggesting that our existence was not formed by God but by some other means. Obviously, this is something that would not sit well with the ardent, strict religious officials of the time. During Menocchios time, the Catholic Church sought to keep a pristine reputation without anyone questioning the validity of their religion. Any remarks that would damage the history of Catholicism, no matter how small, were not taken lightly. However, Menocchio attacked a very integral part of Catholicism with force, thus making his remarks appear very dangerous to the oundation of the Catholic Church. Despite many warnings from his council, such as his lawyer telling him to, tell them what they want to know (Ginzburg, 5), Menocchio was a free spirit and wanted to speak his mind. While telling the court of his many thoughts, the origins of these, at the time, very radical ideas were unknown. Although the court documents prove that Menocchio had read many religious books, including an unknown book thought to be the Koran, poems and other resources, it was unlikely that he came up with all of his ideas from one single source. Menocchios ideas were more of a melting pot of various sources that had culminated in many discontinuous and contradictory ideas. Menocchio drew from as many as 11 sources, most likely more, that led to his conclusions about the origins of earth as well as what he thought were errors in the religion. It is likely that no single source led to his thoughts on the Genesis. It is more likely that Menocchio compounded oral history, The Bible and likely other sources to compounded with the massive amounts of information that came along with so many sources led to many contradictory ideas seen during his trials. This, combined with his heretical ideas, lead to his ultimate demise. Menocchios thoughts on the Genesis were the most damaging to the Catholic Church, as well as his own well being. Various sources contributed to his milk and cheese theory about the Genesis and the origins of religion, including the Bible, oral tradition and various poems and other religious books, including the possibility of the Koran. At a time when to doubt the Catholic Church was a very severe crime, Menocchio mocked religion (in the Churchs eyes) with his theories and heretical ideas, leading to his death.

Applications Of Lanthanides For Medicine

Applications Of Lanthanides For Medicine Lanthanides have been used for medicinal applications since the 1980s but the development of technology has led to a demand for new developments.1 Lanthanides, known as rare-earth elements, have a wide range of photophysical properties that are amenable to spectroscopic and crystallographic studies.1 This, along with the absence of lanthanides in biological systems, makes them ideal for studying protein structure and interactions. The chemistry of lanthanides arises from the shielded electrons in the 4f orbitals, located within the outermost filled 5s/5p orbitals2. This shielding means the luminescent f-f transitionsehibited by lanthanides are almost ligand-dependent. Despite their chemical similarities each lanthanide gives its own distinctive colour, luminescence emission spectra and nuclear magnetic properties.2 They are electropositive, very reactive and favour the Ln3+ oxidation state. It is these properties that make them useful as medicinal agents.1 Figure The f block lanthanidesLn3+ ions have similar ionic radii, donor atom preferences and coordination numbers in binding sites as Ca2+ ions which means that to some extent Ln3+ can mimic Ca2+ behaviour.3 For drugs molecules to reach their target they first need to be absorbed across the cell membrane a calcium dependent process. Calcium concentrations of mM are needed for efficient drug uptake, but these are rarely achieved under cellular conditions and even when it is the cell is likely to become damaged.3 It has recently been found that Ln3+ can perforate the membrane at concentrations as low as 10-5 M. It is therefore no surprise that co-administration of drugs with Ln3+ has led to an increased intracellular accumulation.3 This property has allowed lanthanides to be used as a co-administer to drugs, as a drug itself and imaging agents.3 Medicinal applications Anti cancer agents Lanthanides have been known to be anti cancer agents since the early 1990s primarily through the induction of apoptosis.3 Lanthanides, particularly Tb3+, increase the infux of Ca2+ into cells thus increasing the intracellular levels. This increases the endonuclease activity, leading to DNA cleavage and therefore apoptosis.4 The same result is achieved by the inhibition of phosphodiesterase, the molecule responsible for the degradation of cyclic adenosine 3,5-monophosphate (cAMP).4,5 The molecule cAMP has an important role in DNA replication and an increase in its levels leads to a corresponding increase in the protein kinase (PKA) levels. This has two effects both of which lead to apoptosis; the increase of endonuclease activity and the expression of apoptosis genes.3,5 However, these methods were not selective and influenced healthy tissues as well as cancerous ones.4 New developments have targeted this drawback in an attempt to limit the side effects of treatment. Titania nanoparticles (NPs) have the potential to target tumours in a non-invasive manner.4 Titania, a wide band gap semiconductor, produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) following excitation of valence band electrons to the conductance band upon stimulation.4 These photoelectrochemical reactions can be promoted by x-ray irradiation which allows non-invasive penetration of the human body. Two papers, published by H.Townley et al. and A.Gnach et al., reported the discovery that the interaction of titania-NPs with x-rays can be optimised by using lanthanides as dopants.4,5 Normal cells can tolerate a certain level of exogenous ROS due to a reserve of antioxidants which counteract the ROS activity.3 Cancerous cells have metabolic abnormalities which increase the intracellular ROS levels. This makes them more dependent on the intracellular antioxidant system and vulnerable to exogenous ROS levels.4,5 Lanthanide doped NPs generate higher levels of ROS, due to the lanthanides allowing increased x-ray absorption, than general NPs thus playing on this vulnerability. The increased levels cause DNA and mitochondrial damage, causing apoptosis.4,5 NPs have the capability to accumulate in tumours as a result of the defective tumour vasculature. This gives them the potential to be selective to cancer cells thus reducing side effects. The NPs can also be coated with moieties for specific targeting and activation further limiting the damage to healthy tissues.5 These properties of the NPs are enhanced by lanthanide doping thus giving a new application for lanthanides. The best results have been seen for [emailprotected] and [emailprotected] Imaging Figure The traditional contrasting agent with Gd3+ bound to the chelate ligand and the water molecule under observation.Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been vastly improved due to the use of contrasting agents (CA) since 1988.6 These act to improve the contrast between healthy and pathological tissue by influencing the relaxation rate of protons of bound water molecules, T2.7 The faster the relaxation rate, the higher the intensity and the sharper the image achieved. Relaxation rates are increased when the water molecule is close to a paramagnetic centre. Gd3+ has 7 unpaired electrons and is used as contrasting agents in MRI due to its highly paramagnetic centre.6 The traditional contrasting agents used Gd3+ bound to a chelate ligand through eight donor atoms (figure 2). This gives the complex the stability and strong binding needed to ensure that Gd3 is not released into the blood.6 However, Gd3+ is unselective and distributes over a wide region of extracellular space. Develop ments have been made to make the distribution more selective by linking Gd3+ chelates to moieties that cause accumulation in areas of interest.7 However, the increase of the magnetic strength from 64 MHz to the present 125 MHz has led to the decrease in the efficiency of Gd3+ based CAs. Therefore developments have had to be made to meet the technological demands. Current commercial contrasting agents are based on Gd-DPTA, Gd-DOTA and their derivatives but utilizing the magnetic and luminescent properties of other lanthanides has allowed the developments of new CA.8 A paper recently published by C.Andolinia et al. described how the near infrared (NIR) luminescence of the lanthanides Dy3+Â  and Yb3+ has been combined with the traditional MRI-CA to create new multimodal imaging agents.6 These complexes act as light harvesting antenna due to the bifunctional chelators/chromophores present. They surround the reaction centre, in this case the tissues, and funnel absorbed energy to the reaction centre.8 It is through this method that more of the incoming radiation is absorbed and the contrast is improved. Optical probes absorb photons from the excitation source within the visible region as well as absorbing the photons caused by biomolecules.6 Therefore the absorption and luminescent emission of optical probes are both in the visible region which l eads to a decrease in the limit of detection as well as the depths that the photons can reach. The NIR probes have the advantage that the depth of light penetration is increased due to their excitation wavelengths being outside of the biological window.6 Evaluation of all of the lanthanides has shown Yb3+ to be the most efficient NIR and MRI bimodal imaging agent.7 Osteoporotic treatment Bones are involved in a very precise cycle of the resorption and desorption of the bone tissue, see figure 3. Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease in which the bone density is decreased through higher levels of resorption than desorption. It is most commonly treated with biphosphonates which inhibit resorption thus preventing bone degradation.9 However, this class of drugs is poorly lipophilic and thus have a low oral bioavailability. To counteract this, the drug must be administered in high concentrations which causes GI tract problems, low patient tolerability and suspected osteoporotic issues in the jaw.9 Figure The continuous cycle of bone degradation and rebuildingIt is well known that lanthanide ions preferentially accumulate within the bone3 where they have an inhibitory effect on osteroclasts (bone degradation) and a stimulatory effect on osteoblasts (bone making). Due to the chemical similarities of Ln3+ and Ca2+ mentioned before, Ln3+ can potentially replace Ca2+ ions within the bone and affect the bone turnover cycle.3 Y.Mawani et al. discovered that heavier lanthanide ions show a 50-70% accumulation in the bones compared to lighter ions which have a >25% accumulation.9 The half life for a lanthanide ion in the bone is 2.5 years compared to an elimination time from soft tissues, such as the liver, of 15 days. These properties have led to heavier lanthanide ions being used for osteoporotic therapy.9 Furthermore, adjustment of the ligand structure has allowed the improvement of oral availability leading to an increased uptake and reduced side effects. Previous lanthanide comple xes were found to be poorly soluble in aqueous phases therefore reducing the absorption across the GI tract.9 This led to small levels of lanthanide ions accumulating in the bones therefore making the treatment inefficient. The development of an orally active drug that can pass through the GI tract has allowed efficient delivery of lanthanides to the bone. Conclusion Despite the initial disregarding of lanthanides due to suspected toxicity they have shown to have excellent properties for use as medicinal agents. The similarity of Ln3+Â  and Ca2+ has allowed lanthanides ions to be used as anti-osteoporotic agents as well as for increasing the permeability of cells to other drugs. New developments have seen lanthanide ions being used as cancer agents, by causing increased levels of ROS, as well as improving the already existing imaging techniques.