Global Environmental Issues Essay Example for Free

Global Environmental Issues Essay Global environmental issues, such as climatic change, global warming, pollution, species extinction and destruction of tropical rain forests hold unique place among other major international problems as it is one area that has transformative, comprehensive and long term impact on the future of entire world. For over a decade now the subject of these issues have become the common platform for intellectuals citizens, scientists, social organizations, and political and economic leaders from different parts of world to converge, assess and determine the possible ways to contain and mitigate its threat, that poses an unprecedented risk to the functioning and perhaps very survival of humanity. Climatic change, rain forest destruction and global warming are all interrelated issues, borne from same cause of increase in population and consumption. The empirical instances of these problems have been already factually corroborated in late in 1980s and early 1990s (Paterson, 1996). The years since 1987 started to show the veracity of these predictions as global average annual temperature soared higher every passing year and 1998 became the warmest year in the recorded years. More ominously, the second and third most warmest years in recorded history were 1995 and 1993, confirming to scientists, environmentalists and people that the rise in global temperature was not a sudden phenomena, or an aberration, but a systematic process that would compound in the absence of any effective policy and action (Johansen, 2002). Meanwhile, the destruction of Amazon and African rain forests have further compounded the problem, causing the environmental conditions to deteriorate more rapidly. Issues of climatic change and global warming have assumed international proportion as people have started to realized that the warming is a consequence of the largely unstructured paradigm of development, consumption, and growth followed over past 200 years, a problem that has been deeply embedded in the socio-cultural and economic system of the world (Uzawa, 2003). Despite the fact that there are many people over the world who would readily associate United States as the whole sole perpetrator of emission of greenhouse gases and global warming, United States has been among the leading campaigners to instituting policy change and corrective actions on the most comprehensive and global level to tackle the problem. The threats arising from global warming are bound to affect US’ economic and public interests with same intensity as they would affect that of any other country (Fleagle, 1994). Changing sea-level, intensification of storms, and climatic change have presented real threats for the United States and it is pressed for a domestic as well international solution (Uzawa, 2003). The problems with US are that its complex economic interests, industrial structure and societal framework doesn’t allow it to implement any drastic measures that may force a possible economic collapse (Victor, 2001). Under these strenuous complications, the US government is trying to come up with a policy for large scale institutional change and economic streamlining that aims to incorporate environmental costs as part of the economy and the society.

Schizophrenia and the Brain Essay -- Mental Health, Diseases

Over the last few decades Schizophrenia has become embedded in mainstream vernacular as any behavior or emotional response that is out of touch with reality. However even with its popularity heightened through movies and headline news stories, schizophrenia is still one of the most enigmatic and least understood disorders of the brain. With current research focused on the role of neurobiology and functioning on a cellular level, investigative analysis has merited new innovations towards its source, however a single organic cause for the disorder still eludes scientists. Although the foundation of the affliction is still unknown, its effects are well documented and over the next few pages will show the changes in the brain as the disease develops, and how those alterations impact the rest of the body and alter various other functions throughout the viscera. The term Schizophrenia was first coined in 1911 by Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Eugen Bleuler and translates from the original Greek as schizo (split) and phrene (mind), making a literal translation of split-mind, in reference to the disjointed thinking of those with the disease (Johnstone, 1994). Although the term was first used in the early twentieth century, according to scholars a ‘madness’ was described in The Ebers Papyrus, a collection of ancient Egyptian medical papers dating back to 1550 BC, which accurately depicts some of schizophrenia’s symptoms (Johnstone, 1994). With its possible documentation over three millennia ago and its symptoms documented in a myriad of medical journals throughout history, the disorder itself is very rare. Those who are at the highest risk of manifestation are offspring whose parents are both schizophrenic, although even at this rate the risk o... ...hrenia is unique disorder that affects the brain in many ways, yet manifests itself differently from person to person. As there is no tangible rubric for how the disorder will impact the person, it can be a difficult illness to treat. Its effects on the brain, from enlarged ventricles to a decline in dendrite spines, shows the major impact the illness can have on living a normal life. Although the disorder afflicts just over fifty-eight million people worldwide it is still devastating to those who are affected and while the medical community makes leaps and bounds in understanding the disease, a cure is still far from the horizon. With psychology grant money from universities being invested predominantly in neuropsychology, perhaps sometime in the near future scientists will be able to fully understand this illness and find a successful and permanent cure for it.

People Who Are Making a Difference in the World

PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD Thurday 12/03/09 1. I’m Bob Doughty. 2. And I’m Barbara Klein with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about five individuals around the world who are making a difference. They are making the world a better place by helping people in special ways. 1. Our first individual who is making a difference is a refugee from Burma. Thousands of people flee Burma each year to escape poverty, oppression and civil war. Many of them choose to stay in Thailand. Cynthia Maung is a Burmese doctor who operates a small public health center near the Thai border with Burma.She is making a difference in her community by providing services that are not available to most people in this area. 2. Many people are waiting at the public health center. Mothers and their children wait in line to get vaccines to protect them against diseases. In another line, parents with newborn babies wait for documents that show their babies were born i n Thailand. The documents take the place of birth certificates. Thai officials do not recognize these people because they are refugees. But Doctor Cynthia Maung does. 1.Doctor Cynthia, as she is called, fled Burma in nineteen eighty-eight after a military campaign against people who demonstrated for democracy and justice. She says she joined with the demonstrators. She says people started disappearing or fleeing to the border when Burma’s military seized power. She decided to settle near the border to work for political change. 2. In a small building, Cynthia Maung started performing operations and helping women give birth. She cleaned her instruments in a rice cooker. She also trained young volunteer health workers.Today, those workers treat people for landmine injuries and many diseases. Her health care center receives donations of money from non-governmental organizations and foreign governments, including the United States. 1. Doctor Cynthia makes a little money go a long way. Each year, one hundred fifty thousand people come for treatment. Those who can, pay less than one dollar. 2. Doctor Cynthia lives next to the health center. She says the workers there do not only treat diseases. They also educate young people who go back and support health activities in their communities.For example, the center trains volunteer health workers who go back to work in the ethnic Karen and other areas of Burma. Some of the volunteers are former patients who are now helping others. Doctor Cynthia says young people should be taught not to feel like victims. Instead, she says, they should see themselves as people who can change and improve their situation. 1. Theary Seng is a human rights activist working to heal her country, Cambodia. As a child, she lived through the rule of the Khmer Rouge during the nineteen seventies.During four years in power, the Khmer Rouge was responsible for the deaths of at least one million, five hundred thousand Cambodians. Theary Sengâ €™s parents were among those killed. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, she escaped to Thailand and then went to the United States. She attended law school and became a lawyer. 1. Now, Theary Seng is back in Cambodia, supporting human rights as the head of the Center for Social Development. She is a critic of corruption and abuse wherever it exists — in Cambodia and around the world.At a recent demonstration in Phnom Penh, she attempted to leave flowers to honor those killed in the civil war in the Darfur area of Sudan. But Cambodian government officials prevented her from doing so. 2. Theary Seng takes a special interest in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. The court is starting to take legal action against former Khmer Rouge leaders for their crimes. She serves as an official representative for the victims. 1. She also has a television show. It seeks to find the country’s next generation of young leaders.Theary Seng says her work is not to do anything big but to be a com mon citizen in her homeland where she suffered in the past. THEARY SENG: â€Å"And now, I’m taking that suffering, and shaping it into hope, and trying to work with individuals who had not the time and space to heal that I’ve had. † 1. William Saydee is making a difference in his country, Liberia. In Monrovia, the capital, the sound of typing mixes with the sound of cars in the street. Mister Saydee is a clergyman and former accountant. (SOUND) He now works as a typist and teacher. He is teaching unemployed Liberians how to type.The students do not pay him anything. One of the students is Isaiah Thomas. He says he is learning to type because he wants to work for an international company. 2. William Saydee says he wants to help young people gain a skill to succeed. He says it is the best he can do to help Liberia re-build after years of civil war. Mister Saydee earns money by typing contracts and other documents, like resumes. A resume is a list of a personâ€⠄¢s education and work experience. It can be useful when a person is looking for a job. (MUSIC) 1. Comic book artist Robert Walker is making a difference in New York City.He uses his art to help people understand the disease AIDS. Many children and even adults in the United States enjoy reading comic books. Superheroes in comic books have unusual abilities. They use their abilities to help people and save the world. Like most superheroes, Mister Walker’s characters have special powers. For example, one superhero can see in the dark. One can lift more than three hundred tons. Another can come back from the dead. Also, like most superheroes, his characters have to deal with trouble. These superheroes all have H. I. V. , the virus that causes AIDS.Mister Walker says some members of his family died of AIDS when he was a child. That gave him the idea to create a comic book called â€Å"O Men. † It includes nine characters living with H. I. V. The characters are men and wome n who represent different races and socio-economic groups. They also were infected with the virus in different ways. Mister Walker says he wanted to fight depressing images connected with the disease. ROBERT WALKER: â€Å"It’s not a black disease. It’s not a white disease. It’s not a gay disease. It’s a disease of humanity that lacks awareness. † 1.Gerry Gladston is the co-owner of Midtown Comics in New York City. He says many comic books have important political, social and educational messages. Mister Walker spoke to many H. I. V. and AIDS organizations in researching his comic book. He says he wanted to make the stories realistic as well as factual. 2. Yohannes Gebregiorgis is an Ethiopian-American who returned to the land of his birth to make a difference. Yohannes, as he is known, became an American citizen many years ago. But he gave up his life as a children’s librarian in San Francisco, California.Yohannes says he was concerned that Ethiopian children had no books. He said most schools in Ethiopia do not have libraries. There are almost no children’s books in any of Ethiopia’s many languages. So Yohannes started the Donkey Mobile Library to provide children with their first books. His group brings books to children who have none. YOHANNES GEBREGIORGIS: â€Å"Most kids we have noticed holding a book upside down. We have taken pictures of those kids. But later on we find out that those kids learn how to use the book, how to flip the pages and to look at the pictures and then gradually to read the stories in the book. 1. More donkey mobile libraries are planned, with money from groups in the United States. Donated English-language books have begun arriving in Ethiopia. Also, Yohannes has established a publishing company to produce books in languages that local children can read. His first book was published in three languages. It is a re-telling of an old folk story about, what do you think? A boy a nd his favorite animal — a donkey! 2. In the beginning, children came to the mobile library mainly because of the donkeys. But Yohannes discovered that what really excited the children was the books.He dreams about taking his donkey mobile libraries to more Ethiopian towns and villages. After all, there are millions of other children who want to learn to read. 1. This program was written by VOA correspondents and adapted by Shelley Gollust. Our producer was Mario Ritter. I’m Bob Doughty. 2. And I’m Barbara Klein. You can download audio and read scripts on our Web site, voaspecialenglish. com. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. http://blog. 360. yahoo. com/blog-Z3b93Sw5dKiGLDSLftiVYk1BXzLWCwAr3Q–;_ylt=AkizEO6ZhqbgHK3F3A9hoyK0AOJ3? cq=1

Decome Et Decorum

â€Å"Heartland† written by Linda Hogan has underlying messages a reader must carefully pay attention to in order to fully understand the poem. Hogan describes â€Å"City Poems† as her analysis of city life and how she appreciates it which can seem complex when reading her poem. She begins the poem describing how rare silence in the city can appear to people, constant traffic from vehicles and voices of people traveling the streets. Then she understands what the â€Å"city poems† other authors write about and how life in the city is constantly surrounded with common images related to city life such as yellow hard hats and beggars.I feel like Hogan feels a connection with city life and she has learned to appreciate it. I think the author identifies â€Å"city poems† as poems about the chaos people endure in the city; that the city may not seem enjoyable to most. The chaos that the city brings can take a toll on a person and can leave them questioning their life. Lines seven to ten describe how people pray and â€Å"feel the heart beat in a handful of nothing† which I interpreted it as meaning that the city can drain people of whatever they have and leave them with nothing.When people have nothing to fall back on, faith holds a powerful connection to people who seek support to help put back the broken pieces of life and by praying, a higher power can bring an answer to their prayers. However, Hogan seems to find the beauty and joy that the city brings and describes it in her poem, â€Å"Heartland†. I think that Hogan enjoys the city life with the detail in lines eleven to seventeen, where she describes construction workers, beggars, pigeons, and peoples’ regurgitation on metal.I interpreted the statement â€Å"human acids etching themselves into metal† as how many people travel to the city to become famous and make a name for themselves which the â€Å"human acid† being written onto the metal represen ts a person â€Å"writing there name in stone†. In stanza three, line twenty, Hogan writes â€Å"listening hard to the underground language† where the â€Å"underground language† refers to the lingo of the streets of the city where people of the city understand one another and can communicate with each other, even if they are not speaking the same anguage. When growing up anywhere, a person picks up certain characteristics of their society. Specifically, when growing up in the city, a person MUST learn the rules (language) of the city to succeed. The â€Å"underground language† is hidden within the city, where â€Å"outsiders† ponder upon conversations on the street, trying to figure what it really means. When Hogan writes â€Å"listening hard† I think she refers to taking

Free Essays on American Express

In the Credit Operations Department at American Express, the use of the Internet is significantly foundThe Internet is becoming a big part of normal day-to-day business in Credit Operations as well as American Express. The Internet is providing marketing and advertising to attract new customers. It is also helping to improve our customer service to our cardmembers. Cardmembers can view their charges and statements online. They can also pay their bill through www.americanexpress.com. It allows them a fast and easy way to verify charges, supply their accounts payable with their expense reports, and they can never have the excuse of not receiving their statements. It is available for personal, small business, and corporate cardmembers. It is very useful tool for the credit analyst as well to refer our cardmembers to free service that will provide them with virtually everything they need. It also helps to keep phone volumes down of more cardmembers are using the Internet service r ather than calling simply for their statement and charges. The Internet is planned to have an even bigger role in Credit Operations and American Express company wide. In Credit Operations, a few teams are testing a project with the Internet. This project is allowing cardmembers to receive a credit analyst to help them while online. They correspond to each other and the credit analyst is able to take over the cardmembers computer to show them how to access different areas or to find information. I feel that this could be very helpful for Credit Operations and American Express. I would eliminate the long hold times if more cardmembers were using this service and American Express would become a leader in the technology area of credit cards. It would enhance customer service and help to teach our cardmembers how to become more self-sufficient. They would have the knowledge to find the information on their own rather than having to call in to an 800 numb... Free Essays on American Express Free Essays on American Express In the Credit Operations Department at American Express, the use of the Internet is significantly found The Internet is becoming a big part of normal day-to-day business in Credit Operations as well as American Express. The Internet is providing marketing and advertising to attract new customers. It is also helping to improve our customer service to our cardmembers. Cardmembers can view their charges and statements online. They can also pay their bill through www.americanexpress.com. It allows them a fast and easy way to verify charges, supply their accounts payable with their expense reports, and they can never have the excuse of not receiving their statements. It is available for personal, small business, and corporate cardmembers. It is very useful tool for the credit analyst as well to refer our cardmembers to free service that will provide them with virtually everything they need. It also helps to keep phone volumes down of more cardmembers are using the Internet service rather than calling simply for their statement and charges. The Internet is planned to have an even bigger role in Credit Operations and American Express company wide. In Credit Operations, a few teams are testing a project with the Internet. This project is allowing cardmembers to receive a credit analyst to help them while online. They correspond to each other and the credit analyst is able to take over the cardmembers computer to show them how to access different areas or to find information. I feel that this could be very helpful for Credit Operations and American Express. I would eliminate the long hold times if more cardmembers were using this service and American Express would become a leader in the technology area of credit cards. It would enhance customer service and help to teach our cardmembers how to become more self-sufficient. They would have the knowledge to find the information on their own rather than having to call in to an 800 numb...

Rheumatoid Arthritis Exercises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rheumatoid Arthritis Exercises - Essay Example The onset of the disease is most frequent in fourth and fifth decades of life (Luqmani et al., 2006). The aetiology of the disease is not specifically known and has been suggested to be multifactorial. The class II major histocompatibility complex allele HLA-DR4 and related alleles are known to be major genetic risk factors for RA. It has been suggested that RA might be a manifestation of the response to an infectious agent in a genetically susceptible host. Activation of autoimmune mechanisms is the key aetiologic event in sustaining the chronic inflammatory process so characteristic of RA (Scott et al., 2000). The main event in pathophysiology is inflammatory synovitis. Subsequently through a cascade of multiple immune events through mediation of a host of immune cells, the synovial fibroblasts are activated. Added to cartilage degradation, osteoclasts are activated that leads to erosion of bone. The chemokines and cytokines lead to synovitis, cartilage and bone damage, and systemic manifestations of RA (Luqmani et al., 2009). Altman (2008) notes that these immunologic abnormalities arise from various immune complexes, which originate from the inflamed synovial cells that serve as a target for such immune injuries. The plasma cells that are recruited produce antibodies known as rheumatoid factors. These actively contribute to these complexes which ultimately lead to joint destruction. With further inflammation chemotaxis ensues leading to recruitment of macrophage cells with associate vasculitis. Primarily CD4+ lymphocytes infiltrate the synovial cells. These together produce inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, namely tumor necrosis factors, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factors, interleukins, and gamma-interferon. These are known inflammatory mediators leading to further joint inflammation and systemic manifestations of the disease. When the disease is chronic, the synovial membrane is very much thickened and is projected into the joint cavity. The synovium is the seat of inflammation, which produce collagenase and stromelysin leading to further degeneration of joint cartilage. Interluekin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha contribute to this process and stimulate osteoclasts, thus leading to bone erosion. Prostaglandins are released. With the maintenance of inflammation, fibrous tissue is deposited within the joint. The synovial tissue appears very much proliferates and highly vascular, leading to pannus which further potentiates release of inflammatory chemokines leading to all round erosion of the joint structures such as cartilage, bone, articular capsule, and the periarticular ligaments. Most of the inflammatory cells are neutrophils. In some patients rheumatoid nodules develop (Altman 2008). Clinical Features Clinically RA presents as chronic polyarthritis of symmetrical synovial joints of hands, wrists, knees, and feet with an insidious onset of fatigue, generalised weakness, and vague musculoskeletal symptoms for weeks or months. Pain, tenderness, and swelling in the affected joints get aggravated with movement. Generalised stiffness of joints noted in the mornings for about duration of greater than 1 hour is invariable. Swelling and tenderness in the joints lead to motion limitation and hence impairment of physical function. These lead to fibrous or bony ankylosis of the joint leading to fixed deformities (Scott et al., 2000).

Group portfolio Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Group portfolio - Research Paper Example However, the organization sticks to its beliefs that successful companies move with the time while still devoting to developing a healthy and dynamic enterprise. One of the core cultural values that Haier group has is the rights and wrongs sense whereby the product users are considered always to be right while the company need to regularly improve itself (Sprague, 2002). The culture acts as the driving force, hence forming value for the customers; the employees work their best to meet the customer’s needs in addition to generating a wide variety of choices that they can choose from. The workforce has a mind-set, whereby, they feel the need to persistently advance themselves, which they perceive to be the only way they can continually refuse, dare and outdo themselves in order to realize their innovative character through change. The organization, in addition, has an adaptive culture that has led to its growth, whereby it maintains its pace with the social growth while maintaining an awareness of any changes occuring in the world. Its innovative character enables the firm to uphold a competitive benefit in the ever-changing market. Tha t is to say, the more radical the world changes the quicker the speed of customer’s variation, hence, the more lasting the inheritance turns out to be (Lin, 2005). In addition, the organization has employed the concept of two spirits, innovation and entrepreneurship, which are considered to be the genes for the company’s consistent culture. The genes ensure that all members of the workforce maintain their value in addition to guiding them in their individual development. It is also mandated for every employee to have the entrepreneurship and innovation spirits. Entrepreneurship is considered to be the spirit of pioneering work in which the company persuades all employees to have it (Yi, Jinsheng and Xian, 2002). They are encouraged to transform from being