Social Class Essay Example for Free

Social Class Essay Would it be wiser to develop a new brand, or can it successfully market the same product to the under and over 50s? 5. In view of the anticipated growth of the 50-plus market should Oil of Olay consider a new strategy for its face cream? Would it be wiser to develop a new brand, or can it successfully market the same product to the under and over 50s? 6. What kind of subcultural (ethnic, race, age and sex) segmentation would best assist the marketer with the following products and services? 1. A digital microphone 2. An MP3 player 3. Jeans 4. Snap-chill meals 5. A new alcoholic lemonade 6. A tourist package to Vietnam and Pakistan . A personal telephone number 1. Some food goods, such as cans of pork, those people who are Moslem do not have pork and sometimes they substitute beef for pork. In this scenario, it has been of importance that manufacturers cannot produce the food associated with pork if they tend to target Moslem market. Otherwise, the customer of Moslem would be excluded. Take a Nutrilite as an example, it is a kind of nutritious medicine, like Blackmores in Au, it got different kinds of medicine, one of products is called protein powder that the people always going to gym should take after they finish the training. Also, for elders linked to the age subculture, the company produces each product in terms of some illness that is potential to them when they get older. Meanwhile, the likelihood of illness will decline if these aged people insist taking it. 2. Baby boomers: Those people are reaching the retirement age and they could be the largest customers using TV because they would spend lots of time at home. The company can give customers from the age of babyboomer some discounts once they plan to sign the contrast with Foxtel company duo to these people have potential to become the lasting customers. Generation X: consist of people born from 1965 to 1979, this group of people has accepted the higher education already and some of them work in a big company, earning higher salaries. Those people are in no rush to marry. For advertising companies, they should stress the advantage (eg. Credibility and naturalness of ingredients) of Paying TV services. The advertising company should attract these people since they like music, fashions and language. Generation Y: consist of people born between 1980 and 1994. Those people are more open to change and looking for next gadgets. These people use the internet almost everyday and the advertising company can have a try that linking the tv service to the internet. Also, this group of people is characterized by the informal groups, like friends and they prefer to imitate what friends do. 3. The business can give the elders discount if they purchase the necessity, such as walking stick. Particularly, if some elders make a consumed decision, such as buy a new car, then the government should cut the tax rate that elders should pay by the mortgage or cash. The allowance given to elderly depends on what sort of decisions they make and the income earn. 4 I think the oil of ulan should develop a new product since customers between 50 and over-50s have different skin. For instance, the skin with elders has more wrinkles and the company should design specific products for the people who are more than 50. The company can not market the same product but can develop a new brand that is a branch of Oil of Ulan. As a result, the two brands can segment different groups of customers and position the products. . A digital microphone and an mp3 player) age. As young and older people have different aspects regarding the interests. The young people prefer to go to ktv and even stay here overnight and a digital microphone is useful for those people as they utilize it to practice singing. While for olders, they are less likely to use this modern devices and the one they like maybe reading newspaper, opera, or walking in the park etc. Jeans) age and sex. Some famous brands of jeans, such as levi’s and lee are welcomed by young people. Particularly, the series of CLOT of Edison chen is so fancy that a large number of young fans like it. Also, some females like jeans as it could reveal the beautiful body when they wearing it. Snap-chill meals and a alcoholic lemonade) ethnic. Some people from Mexico like chill very much and that’s why in Mexico, there is a kind of strong chill called ‘ devil chill’. However, some people from southern areas in China, those people like sweet food while people in north-west like chill and beer since the weather is very cold and they eating chill to warm themselves. For a lemonade, some people like drinking beer. A tourist package to Vietnam and Pakistan) age. Nowadays, both young and older people like travelling. However, young people have more curious about the outside world and they prefer to have a look by travelling. A personal phone number) ethnical . Some religious people do not like some numbers like 4, they think 4 sounds like ‘death’ in Chinese. Consequently, when they choose the cell number , they prefer to choose the lucky number even though they spending much more money to purchase the number.

Risks and Benefits of Children Using the Internet

Risks and Benefits of Children Using the Internet INTRODUCTION Technology tools such as radio, television, telephones, computers, and the Internet can provide access to knowledge in sectors such as entertainment, education and human rights, offering a new realm of choices that enable the person to improve their knowledge for future needs. The curiosity of the Internet makes children and young people to try to know or learn as much as possible about new things to be more advanced than adults in using the Internet. Optimists view the emergence of the Internet as a chance for democratic and community-based participation, for creativity, self-expression and play, and to enhance the expansion of knowledge, whereas pessimists lament the end of childhood, innocence, traditional values and authority (Livingstone, 2002) Children are being described as the ICT generation or the computer generation in information and communication with this technology. Now, many children know more than or as much as their parents or teachers know about these technologies. This scenario shows that internet can be one of the tools to develop the children knowledge in this new urban life. When a child has a project or homework to do, the internet is a portal to extensive amounts of information, a superb resource for children nowadays. There are many useful sources to be found, such as libraries, bookstores, news room and even virtual school. While the Internet is an amazing resource, parents have reasonable concerns about how they can secure a wholly beneficial Internet experience for the children. There are few risks for children who use online services such as internet. Children are particularly at risk because they often use the computer unsupervised and because they are more likely than young people to participate in online discussions regarding companionship, relationships, or social activities. In another survey, it was disclosed that 9 out of 10 children and teenagers between 8-16 years old had seen pornographic websites accidentally while searching for information for their school home-works (Utusan Malaysia, 2005) Maximizing the benefit of the internet for children may require more than just controlling what they have access to but to monitor how much time their child spends online, whom the child come in contact with online, and what is viewed. In a newspaper column, a journalist relates the flow of harmful information in the Internet with escalating numbers of murder and rape by young juveniles in the year 2003 in Malaysia (Abdul Malek, 2004). Some solution can be implemented to balance the abundant educational value with the need for security and protection. Something entirely new is the idea of a web browser with filtering because children are anxious to explore cyberspace, so parents need to supervise their children and give them guidance about using the Internet. Filters can give parents and guardians a false sense of security to believe that children are protected when they are not around. However, did the use of this web filters provide more benefits in the development of knowledge or it just constrain for children learning process through internet. For these such of reasons, the aim of this study is to examine the kind of monitor the children that participate in the activities by using web filter software and to know how the use give a significant or effect to development of children knowledge in learning process through internet. The underlying of these reasons also, there are several questions that need to be resolved in order to answer some questions that may arise in this paper: Can be internet be beneficial to development of children knowledge? Can we allowing the children to make full use of internet outweigh the risks of exposing to harmful or inappropriate content to them? How dangerous exactly is the internet for unsupervised children? Do the benefits of using web filter in controlling children activities through internet? Is it practical/ necessary to monitor the availability of internet content to children? Who should responsible for this? Method In this study also involved a survey aimed at obtaining a general view of the concern about the development of childrens knowledge through the Internet. Target respondents for this paper is in an area of housing in urban areas of the Taman Bukit Kemuning, Section 32 Shah Alam that most residents here have the internet as a tool as one way of living. The survey involved responses via questionnaire to be answered by the parents of 20 families who have children under the age of 6 to 17 years and have Internet service at home. This range of ages had been chose because most of children at these ages are fascinating in using internet seeking materials or information for homework while they currently still study in school. Of the total respondents, 12 of which are made up by mothers and the rest are among fathers. From the survey results will conclude a few questions and the actual scenario happens and also about topics discussed through the feedback given by them. Development of Children Knowledge through Internet The participation of children and young people in the Internet is considered a positive development towards enhancing their educational skills and knowledge. This type of skills is more than accessing an online encyclopedia and looking up a subject. It is making use of sites that are designed specifically to help them with their homework. Some online services provide specific areas to assist with homework given by teachers, including the ability to send questions or homework problems through e-mail to the experts in that subject area and receive responses within seconds. In Malaysia, the full support and encouragement from the Malaysian government to the use of ICT in schools can be seen from the development of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and other programs related to ICT such as provide and increase the number of computer laboratories to facilitate schools in Malaysia whether in urban or rural areas(Syahirah, 2006). A total of 70% of respondents said they provide Internet service at home is to facilities for their children to develop their learning process. Only 25% said it was for equipment for their own work and 5% were said to provide Internet services because it is considered a mandatory tool in every home today. This shows that parents today are also aware of the importance of the Internet as a learning tool for children in exploring their knowledge to be more advance than others. Many of people communicate through e-mail with family and friends around the world and use the social network website and chat engine to make new friends who share common interests and children are not excluded. The Potential Risks of the Internet on Children The Internet has changed the way we communicate, learn and live by opening up our world to endless possibilities. The Internet has an amazing potential as a learning and communication tool, but it also contains hidden threats to the safety and well-being of children, including online gaming sites that can result in unhealthy addiction, cyber bullying and victimization through mobile phones that can bring about severe consequences to a childs self-confidence and personal development, as well as exploitative marketing that may have financial consequences on the child and his parents. Another threat that may not be immediately obvious but is of great concern is the potential for children to be exposed to sexual harassment, exploitation and pornography through online chats and social networking sites. Children are also vulnerable as targets of fraudsters who try to gain knowledge about them to abuse, terrorize, blackmail, steal or even kidnap them. Besides, they also expose to inappropriate and potentially dangerous contact. The predators may use the Internet to befriend vulnerable children and teens by pretending to be another child or a trustworthy adult, or by playing on teens desire for romance and adventure, and then trying to persuade kids to meet them in person. The children are also potential risk by the cyber bullies. Most people play nice online, but some use the Internet to harass, belittle, or try to intimidate others. Attacks may range from name calling to physical threats and are rarely seen by parents. Furthermore, the children are also invasion of their privacy and online fraud. Children may innocently share photographs or personal information about themselves or their families on personal Web pages, when playing games, or in registration forms. Such information could put children at risk from Internet thieves or child predators. To counter these threats, parents and caregivers are primarily responsible for protecting their charges, by supervising their access to cyberspace, coaching children in personal safety and installing parental control software. Schools, public authorities, community groups, Internet service providers, media industries and regulatory bodies also have a responsibility to ensure that children are properly advised on the benefits and perils of cyberspace and equipped with the skills to safeguard themselves. Web Filter to Monitor Child Safety on Internet A Web filter is a program that can screen an incoming Web page to determine whether some or all of it should not be displayed to the user. The filter checks the origin or content of a Web page against a set of rules provided by company or person who has installed the Web filter. A Web filter allows an enterprise or individual user to block out pages from Web sites that are likely to include objectionable advertising, pornographic content, spyware, viruses, and other objectionable content. Vendors of Web filters claim that their products will reduce recreational Internet surfing among employees and secure networks from Web-based threats. Web filters have been around since the early days of the Web and they can play an important role in preventing young children from accessing inappropriate content. But theyre not a replacement for parental involvements. Before installing and configuring a filter, parents need to decide if their child needs to have software controlling how they can use the Internet and, if so, how the filter should be configured. Filters can be a convenient way to keep young children from stumbling onto material that might gross them out or disturb them. Young children generally seek out a limited number of sites, but its certainly possible for them to stumble onto inappropriate ones. The Responsible Party of these Issues Keeping children safe on the Internet is everyones job. Parents need to stay in close touch with their kids as they explore the Internet. Teachers need to help students use the Internet appropriately and safely. Community groups, including libraries, after-school programs, and others should help educate the public about safe surfing. Kids and teens need to learn to take responsibility for their own behavior with guidance from their families and communities. Its not at all uncommon for kids to know more about the Internet and computers than their parents or teachers. If thats the case in your home or classroom, dont despair. You can use this as an opportunity to turn the tables by having your child teach you a thing or two about the Internet. Ask her where she likes to go on the Internet and what she thinks you might enjoy on the Net. Get your child to talk with you about whats good and not so good about his Internet experience. Also, no matter how Web-literate your kid is, you shoul d still provide guidance. You cant automate good parenting. Just as adults need to help kids stay safe, they also need to learn not to overreact when they find out a child or teenager has been exposed to inappropriate material or strayed from a rule. Whatever you do, dont blame or punish your child if he tells you about an uncomfortable online encounter. Your best strategy is to work with him, so you both can learn from what happened and figure out how to keep it from happening again. The challenges posed by the Internet can be positive. Learning to make good choices on the Internet can serve young people well by helping them to think critically about the choices they will face. Today its the Internet; tomorrow it may be deciding whether its safe to get into the car of someone a teen meets at a party. Later it will be deciding whether a commercial offer really is too good to be true or whether it really makes sense to vote for a certain candidate or follow a spiritual guru. Learning how to make good choices is a skill that will last a lifetime. References: N.a. (2005) 90% sekolah layari laman lucah. Utusan Malaysia. 27th July Livingstone, S. (2002). Young People and New Media, Childhood and the changing media environment, London: SAGE Publications,p 2. Abdul Malek, Yusri. (2004). Laman Web-Rogol-Boleh pengaruhi remaja jadikan kanak-kanak mangsa seks ganas. Op cit., n. 12. Syahirah Abdul Shukor (2006). Protecting Children s Rights in the Internet: Challenges A Preliminary Study Based on the Malaysian Experience, UK: Keele University, Staffordshire. Educational Cyber Playground (1997), Internet Safety Rules For Parents learn how to keep children safe on the Internet.

Correlation Between Gene Mutations and Phenylketonuria

Correlation Between Gene Mutations and Phenylketonuria Mutations of the Phenylalanine Hydroxylase Gene in Iranian Patients with Phenylketonuria Correlation between gene mutations and Phenylketonuria Alireza Biglari1, Fatemeh Saffari 2, Safarali Alizadeh3, Zahra Rashvand 3 , Reza Najafipour4, Mehdi Sahmani4 ABSTRACT Background: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive disease results from point mutations in the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene. Objectives: The aim of this study was the identification of sixteen different mutations in Iranian patients with hyperphenylalanemia. Patients and Methods: The mutations were detected during the characterization of PAH genotypes of 39 PKU patients from Qazvin and Zanjan provinces of Iran. Results: These mutations have been analyzed by using PCR and direct sequencing of PCR products, including the splicing sites and the promoter region of all 13 exons of PAH gene . A mutation detection rate of 74.3% was realized. Two mutations were found at high frequencies:R176X(10.25%) and P281L (10.25%).The frequencies of the other mutations were: p.R261Q(7.69%), p.R261X(5.12%), p.R252Q(5.12%),IVS2+5G>A(2.56%),IVS2+5G>C(2.56%),p.L48S(2.56%),c.632delC(2.56%), p.E280K(2.56%), p.R243Q(2.56%), p.I283N(2.56%), IVS9 +5G>A(2.56%), IVS9+1G>A(1.28%), IVS11+1G>C(1.28%), p.C357R(1.28%). Conclusions: The present results confirm the high heterogeneity of the PAH locus and contribute to information about the distribution and frequency of PKU mutations in the Iranian population Key Words: Phenylketonuria. PAH gene. Iranian population. mutation detection 1. Background Deficiency of hepatic phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) [EC.1.14.16.1] is the major frequent cause of hyperphenylalaninemia (1). Phenylalanine hydroxylase convert phenylalanine (Phe) to tyrosine. This enzyme encoded by PAH gene that located on chromosome 12q23.2. The PAH has 13 exons and 12 introns and is 90 kb in size (2). Mutations in any exon of this gene cause damage to the PAH enzyme. Defection of PAH lead to toxic accumulation of phenylalanine in the body fluids and cause damage to the nervous system. This injury can be resulted to growth failure, microcephaly, mental retardation and neurobehavioral abnormalities (3). Phenylketonuria (PKU, MIM# 261600) is one of the most common inborn prevalent disorders of amino acid metabolism characterized by a defect in the hepatic PAH and subsequently phenylalanine accumulation in body fluids (4). According to blood phenylalanine (Phe) levels, PKU has been classified as mild PKU, mild hyperphenylalaninemia (MHP) and classical PKU. Classical PKU is the most severe form of this disorder. Phenylalanine restricted dietary treatment prevents the neurotoxic complications of Phe and its metabolites if it is implemented at an early age (5). The prevalence of PKU varies worldwide. In Caucasians, the prevalence is about 1/10000 live births (5) while Iranian population incidence is 1/3627 (6). In fact, the high rate of consanguineous marriages in Iran may be a contributing factor to the high incidence (References ). The molecular bases of PKU have been studied in different populations, So far, more than several hundred different mutations in the PAH gene have been identified by the PAH Mutation Analysis Consortium in the PKU patients. These mutations have been listed in the PAH mutation Analysis Consortium database (http:// www. Pahb.mcgill.ca). The most frequently occurring type of PAH gene mutations are missense (7). The mutations of PAH gene demonstrate considerable ethnic groups and geographic areas variations (8). Previous researches have shown a correlation between PAH genotypes and metabolic phenotypes in PKU patients. Those studies have demonstrated the phenotypic relations of particular mutation combinations (9-11). Mutation analysis of a given population can be useful for the better understanding functional aspects of mutant proteins and the relationship between genotype and phenotype. 2. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular basis of PKU in all PKU Patients from two adjacent provinces of North West of IRAN; Qazvin and Zanjan. For this purpose, all 13 exons of the PAH gene of all patients were analyzed using direct sequencing for detecting of any genetic variations include mutations, polymorphisms and others. 3. Patients and Methods: In this descriptive study; we selected all children with known PAH deficiency living in Qazvin and Zanjan provinces. Thirty-nine unrelated children were enrolled after obtaining informed consents from the parents. All selected cases have several grades of mental retardation except few patients who have diagnosed during neonatal screening exam. Before molecular studies, The PAH activity and phenylalanine concentration of all patient serum samples were measured by standard conventional biochemical methods. The blood phenylalanine concentration ≠¥20 mg/dl was clinical criteria for classical PKUdiagnosis (12). Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood samples using Qiagen DNA purification kit (Valencia, CA, USA). Specific primers for all 13 exons of PAH gene were designed by primer 3 software and verified them by NCBI database. The PCR conditions for all exons were set experimentally based on each primer specifity. The primers and their reaction specificaions were summarized in table 4. The PCR tests were done by Verity ABI thermal cycler (ABI, USA). PCR products were electrophoresed in 2% agarose gel and visualized after staining by gel red nucleic acid stain (Biotiom; U.S.A). For scanning PAH gene in order to finding any variation in the 13 exons, all amplicons were sequenced by ABI 3130 genetic analyzer (ABI; USA) and the results were matched up to the human genomic DNA sequence in GenBank database to explore the probably mutations. Values were presented as the mean  ± standard deviation and statistical significance was defined as p0.05. All analyses, including the x2 test were carri ed out using SPSS 16 software (SPSS Inc. Chicago. IL. USA). Ethical Considerations of this study was approved by the ethics committee of Qazvin University of medical sciences (Ethic cods; ). 4. Results In this study, a total of 39 PKU patients were subjected to scanning PAH gene heterogeneity from Qazvin and Zanjan province. Among 39 patients, 24 come from the Qazvin province, 15 from the Zanjan. The subjects have 1 month to 10 years old. The serum phenylalanine concentration of all patients was ≠¥20 mg/dl. By whole genome sequencing method, 16 different mutations were found in 78 mutant alleles (Diagnostic efficiency 74.3%). The mutations included eight missense mutations (50%), five splice mutations (31%), two nonsense mutations (12.5%) and one deletion (6.25%). All of the mutations were reported in previous studies (REFERENCES). (Table 1). Exon 7, 6, 2 and the flanking intronic regions consist 85.5% of the mutant alleles. The most frequent of mutations were p.R176X and p.P281L by 10.5% frequency followed by p.R261Q (7.69%), p.R261X and p.R252Q (5.12%) which consist nearly 40% of all mutations. The p.R261X and p.R252Q Mutations were less frequent. All other mutations had frequencies less than 3%. Among the 39 unrelated families studied, 20 (51.2%) were homozygote, 6 (15.3%) heterozygote and 2 (5.12 %) were compound heterozygote and 11 (28.2%) were no PKU causing mutations. In addition, the p.L385L, p.Q232Q and p.V245V polymorphisms also were detected in our study with the frequency of 84%, 51% and 17% respectively. These polymorphisms were seen the highest prevalence in PAH gene at other reports (Table 2). Table 3 are shown genotypes of 39 PKU patients too. 5. Discussion In this research, we looked for genetic heterogeneity in 13 exons of the PAH gene of all PKU patients that admitted to Qazvin and Zanjan University of medical sciences health systems in order to finding causative PKU disease genetic factor. From this experiment, 29 of 39 PKU patients were found to contain the mutation in one or more exons of PAH gene. Our analysis of the homozygosity of the mutations were nearly similar to that observed in northwestern Iranian populations (13). The majority of the recognized mutations were situated in the catalytic domains (143-410 amino acid), and some of them (P281L, R252W) were located in the cofactor binding regions. The most common mutation in our subjects was P281L. These data have the same opinion with other results obtained from Iran (13-14). The P281L mutation in exon 7 with a relative frequency of 10.5% is C→T substitution that lead to conversation of Pro to Leu at codon 281 of PAH gene. The another more frequent mutation in our stu dy was p.R176X (10.25%) which is similar to data obtained from another study at Khorasan Razavi region (14). Previous study on the genotype / phenotype association demonstrated generally a positive correlation between R176 X mutation and classic phenotype (15). Several studies have reported IVS10-11G>A mutation. This is a splice mutation in the end of intron 10 that observed with a high incidence in Mediterranean region, Brazil and some area of Iran including East Azarbaijan, Semnan, Khorasan Razavi and Hamadan (16-19). However this mutation was not found in the present study. The virtual absence of this mutation in our study may reflect the regional variability of populations. The next most frequent mutation in present study was R261Q (7.69%) that occurs on a CpG mutation hotspot on exon 7 that leads to conversion of Arg to Gln at codon 261 of PAH. This mutation is common in the Mediterranean and southern Europe but low incidence in Spain (18, 20-21). We found also R243Q mutation i n 2.5% frequency while other researcher were found it in China and Korea in 18.2% and 12% frequency respectively. Most mutant alleles of PAH that manipulate its transcription and translation can decrease the intracellular stability of protein and finally reduce enzyme function completely. we also explore the association between mutations and polymorphism variations. We observed c.755G>A mutation and c.168+19T>C polymorphism on the same allele together. We also detected association between the p.Q232Q polymorphism and c.842C>T, C781C>T, c.782G>A, c.755G>A and c.526C>T mutations that occurred on the same allele in cis form. similar association have been reported in the previous study (14). In our study, the most mutant alleles were located on exon 7 and 6 (73%). Other studies in Iranian population were reported agreement results with our findings (14, 16). Thereby to plan detection strategy; the samples will be screened first for mutations in these regions. If mutations were not identified, the other exons and their adjacent will be tested. Our results of Iranian individuals with PKU confirm a heterogeneous spectrum of mutations, displaying different ethnic and geographical origins. Moreover, our findings were slightly different from other ethnic groups. These findings can be useful to genotype/phenotype relationship in patients and provide future some ability to confirmatory diagnostic testing, prognosis and predict severity of PKU patients. [V1] References: 1.Guldberg P, Rey F, Zschocke J, Romano V, Francois B, Michiels L, et al. A European multicenter study of phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency: classification of 105 mutations and a general system for genotype-based prediction of metabolic phenotype. American journal of human genetics. 1998 Jul;63(1):71-9. 2.Santos LL, Fonseca CG, Starling AL, Januario JN, Aguiar MJ, Peixoto MG, et al. Variations in genotype-phenotype correlations in phenylketonuria patients. Genetics and molecular research : GMR. 2010;9(1):1-8. 3.Zhang J, Meng J, Zhai X, Fang G, Gao J, Shi M, et al. [Identification of novel mutations in the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene of classical phenylketonuria]. Zhonghua yi xue yi chuan xue za zhi = Zhonghua yixue yichuanxue zazhi = Chinese journal of medical genetics. 2005 Apr;22(2):134-7. 4.Williams RA, Mamotte CD, Burnett JR. Phenylketonuria: an inborn error of phenylalanine metabolism. The Clinical biochemist Reviews / Australian Association of Clinical Biochemists. 2008 Feb;29(1):31-41. 5.Olsson GM, Montgomery SM, Alm J. Family conditions and dietary control in phenylketonuria. Journal of inherited metabolic disease. 2007 Oct;30(5):708-15. 6.Koochmeshgi J, Bagheri A, Hosseini-Mazinani SM. Incidence of phenylketonuria in Iran estimated from consanguineous marriages. Journal of inherited metabolic disease. 2002 Feb;25(1):80-1. 7.Scriver CR. The PAH gene, phenylketonuria, and a paradigm shift. Human mutation. 2007 Sep;28(9):831-45. 8.Zschocke J. Phenylketonuria mutations in Europe. Human mutation. 2003 Apr;21(4):345-56. 9.Kayaalp E, Treacy E, Waters PJ, Byck S, Nowacki P, Scriver CR. Human phenylalanine hydroxylase mutations and hyperphenylalaninemia phenotypes: a metanalysis of genotype-phenotype correlations. American journal of human genetics. 1997 Dec;61(6):1309-17. 10.Desviat LR, Perez B, Garcia MJ, Martinez-Pardo M, Baldellou A, Arena J, et al. Relationship between mutation genotype and biochemical phenotype in a heterogeneous Spanish phenylketonuria population. European journal of human genetics : EJHG. 1997 Jul-Aug;5(4):196-202. 11.Romano V, Guldberg P, Guttler F, Meli C, Mollica F, Pavone L, et al. PAH deficiency in Italy: correlation of genotype with phenotype in the Sicilian population. Journal of inherited metabolic disease. 1996;19(1):15-24. 12.Guttler F. Hyperphenylalaninemia: diagnosis and classification of the various types of phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency in childhood. Acta paediatrica Scandinavica Supplement. 1980;280:1-80. 13.Bonyadi M, Omrani O, Moghanjoghi SM, Shiva S. Mutations of the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene in Iranian Azeri Turkish patients with phenylketonuria. Genetic testing and molecular biomarkers. 2010 Apr;14(2):233-5. 14.Hamzehloei T, Hosseini SA, Vakili R, Mojarad M. Mutation spectrum of the PAH gene in the PKU patients from Khorasan Razavi province of Iran. Gene. 2012 Sep 10;506(1):230-2. 15.Acosta A, Silva W, Jr., Carvalho T, Gomes M, Zago M. Mutations of the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene in Brazilian patients with phenylketonuria. Human mutation. 2001 Feb;17(2):122-30. 16.Zare-Karizi S, Hosseini-Mazinani SM, Khazaei-Koohpar Z, Seifati SM, Shahsavan-Behboodi B, Akbari MT, et al. Mutation spectrum of phenylketonuria in Iranian population. Molecular genetics and metabolism. 2011 Jan;102(1):29-32. 17.Kleiman S, Avigad S, Vanagaite L, Shmuelevitz A, David M, Eisensmith RC, et al. Origins of hyperphenylalaninemia in Israel. European journal of human genetics : EJHG. 1994;2(1):24-34. 18.Rivera I, Leandro P, Lichter-Konecki U, Tavares de Almeida I, Lechner MC. Population genetics of hyperphenylalaninaemia resulting from phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency in Portugal. Journal of medical genetics. 1998 Apr;35(4):301-4. 19.Dianzani I, Giannattasio S, de Sanctis L, Alliaudi C, Lattanzio P, Dionisi Vici C, et al. Characterization of phenylketonuria alleles in the Italian population. European journal of human genetics : EJHG. 1995;3(5):294-302. 20.Perez B, Desviat LR, De Lucca M, Ugarte M. Spectrum and origin of phenylketonuria mutations in Spain. Acta paediatrica. 1994 Dec;407:34-6. 21.Loeber JG. Neonatal screening in Europe; the situation in 2004. Journal of inherited metabolic disease. 2007 Aug;30(4):430-8. Table 1 spectrum and frequency of PAH mutations identified in 39 patients Table 2 PAH polymorphisms identified in 39 patients Table 3 Distributional genotypes in 39 PKU patients Genotype Polymorphism Number of patients u/u c.168+19T>C , c.1155G>C,c.696A>G 1 c.838G>Ap.E280K/ c.838G>Ap.E280K c.735G>A,c.912G>A,c.1155C>G 1 u/u

Hate Speech is the Price We Must Pay for Freedom of Speech

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Living in the United States we enjoy many wonderful freedoms and liberties. Even though most of these freedoms seem innate to our lives, most have been earned though sacrifice and hard work. Out of all of our rights, freedom of speech is perhaps our most cherished, and one of the most controversial. Hate speech is one of the prices we all endure to ensure our speech stays free. But with hate speeches becoming increasingly common, many wonder if it is too great of a price to pay, or one that we should have to pay at all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,or of the press: or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the framers of the constitution penned these 45 words could they have known the extent that they would be studied and scrutinize? Are the words meant to be taken literally or is it the â€Å"spirit† to them that is most important? Many views exist and are hotly debated, but most agree that this amendment has enabled some of the best things in the history of our country to be said; and ultimately done. However it has also enabled some of the worst.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When discussing hate speech one has to address fighting words. Fighting words are words that the Supreme Court believes that even the mere utterance of them will inflict injury or incite an immediate breach of the peace. The court also believes these words are unnecessary for anyone to use, and that even if they were not used someone could still express their ideas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Historically some hate speeches have contained fighting words, but they are view by the court as a separate entity. Fighting words are often classified as having absolutely no social value, and are not protected by the first amendment. In this regard I think that hate speech and fighting words are very analogous to indecent and obscene material. While indecent material might be frowned upon it is constitutionally protected, as where obscene material (also classified as having no social value) is not. This distinction was first made in the early 1940s in the Chaplinsky case.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chaplinsky was a Jehovah’ s Witness, and one day while doing some face-to-face confrontations as part of his religious practices, an... ...nts think is appropriate. That kind of gathering offers an opportunity for people to talk about something other than the Klan. It also shows the outside world the community does not condone Klan activity.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Perhaps in the end all we can really do it to try and come to terms with hate speech on a personal level. I believe 100 percent in the first amendment, and I look at having to tolerate hate speech as a price I have to pay for enjoying such a wonderful freedom. I don’t think it would be effective or warranted to limit the peoples freedom in attempts to try and stop the despicable practice of hate speech. Works Cited: The Associated Press State & Local Wire, January 7, 2002. Fales, John The Washington Times, Pg. 11 September 2, 2002. Fein, Bruce The Washington Times, August 6, 2002. Rodrigues, Janette The Houston Chronicle, Pg. 15 January 17, 2001. Taylor, Lynda Guydon The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pg. w3 June 24, 2001 Cases Cited Black v. Virginia, 262 Va. 764, 553 S.E.2d 738 (2001) Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942) Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989) Village of Skokie v. National Socialist Party 373 N.E. 2d 21 (1978)

Economic Reasons for American Independence :: essays papers

Economic Reasons for American Independence The thirteen colonies that became the USA were originally colonies of Great Britain. By the time the American Revolution took place, the citizens of these colonies were beginning to get tired of the British rule. Rebellion and discontent were rampant. For those people who see the change in the American government and society a real Revolution, the Revolution is essentially an economic one. The main reason the colonies started rebelling against 'mother England' was the taxation issue. The colonies debated England's legal power to tax them and, furthermore, did not wish to be taxed without representation. This was one of the main causes of the Revolutionary War. Eleven years before America had declared it's independence there was 1,450,000 white and 400,000 Negro subjects of the crown. The colonies extended from the Atlantic to the Appalachian barrier (Brinton, 1965). The life in these thirteen colonies was primarily rural, the economy based on agriculture, most were descended from the English, and politics were only the concern of land owners. Throughout these prosperous colonies, only a small portion of the population were content with their lives as subjects of George III. Most found it hard to be continually enthusiastic for their King sitting on his thrown, thousands of miles away. Despite this there were few signs of the upcoming revolution. The occasional call for democracy and liberty were written off by loyalists. Among the upper class feelings of loyalty to the crown were strong and eloquently expressed. The attitudes of the common people mirrored their counterparts in England. They had a combination of indifference and obeisance. The first colonists had brought over both good and evil of their mother country in the seventeenth century. The good had been toughened and in several instances improved; much of the bad had faded away under the tough conditions of life. The American was a special brand of Englishman: he was more American than the English. In the beginning, the economic conditions were a cause in the advance of liberty, the wages in the colonies were generally higher and the working conditions were better than in England. The reason for this altogether joyous condition was a shortage of labor caused by the mass amount of land being settled. The people of the seaboard lost many of their community in the migration to the west. The immigrants brought with them ways of life that supported the colonies.

Reporting Practices and Ethics Essay

Introduction Reporting practices and ethical standards are the most important building blocks that are needed to build a successful health care organization or any business. These reporting practices and ethical standards prove to be the upmost important practices in any health care organization. When reviewing all the variables and factors, one considers the principals listed in the generally accepted accounting principles. There are several factors to consider and inforce these principles in an organization. To successfully implement generally accepted accounting principles and execute corporate compliance, an organization should consider in order for building a successful organization; ethics, fraud and abuse are all key components for maintaining a successful health care or business organization. A successful organization cannot be successful unless they integrate and implement the four elements for financial management. In order to implement and execute the four element of financial management for a successful organization, the four elements should be implemented and carried out in full on a daily basis for every procedure and operation within the organization. Controlling, planning, organizing, and decision making are the four components every business and/or health care organization should adopt. The four elements are the keys to every good business ethics and standards to maintain a successful organization. Four Elements of Financial Management The planning stage of the four elements of financial management proves this stage, is vital to set goals for a healthcare organization end to end with its execution of this stage and the other four elements. The next element of financial management is the controlling stage and in this important stage the organization must set goals for their organization and that each goal is executed and carried out. A perfect example of how an administrator /director/ manager in a healthcare organization can control their  organization is to conduct audits of the department they oversee. Decision making is defined as the overall performance of the other three elements and determination on wither or not the overall performance of the other elements. The success of this can be measured Decision making in conjunction with the other elements and the overall performance and success of other 3 elements ultimately determines decision making elements. Examples, if the organization exceeds the funds budgeted and find they are over budget, the decision making element comes in to play to review these items over budget and make an action plan to correct and/or prevent in the future. The four components are a vitally in financial management there are also other important principals and standards. The Generally accepted accounting principles and general financial ethical standards along with corporate compliance, ethics, or fraud and abuse are equally important separately and combined. The four functions of management help the facilities function properly and give the management the opportunity to resolve any issue or obstacle that may present as well as the opportunity to growth and make them better to perform and utilized the resources around them. Management is responsible for beginning the process for procedure or task at hand and sustaining the actual method of internal control that is set by the organization. It is important that management/ administrator/ director to oversee and maintain the budget control. The manager/admin/director overseeing the budget should be knowledgeable of how to control the budget and in order to maintain budget control, they should regulate to increase productivity and be familiar with assets, financial reporting and account summary. Every cooptation or health care organization is necessitate to meet the satisfactory operational needs, consequently cash management function helps any organization begin to create a set of policies and procedures to ensure that federal funds are not withdraw unreasonable from the organization and payments are made properly to the programs (Ethics and Compliances May 1994). According to Ethical Behavior by Companies Benefit Society and Business (November 13, 2010), when applying ethical business practices, says that business should ensure that the production of its services should be environmentally ecological and every human involve in the production should not be dangerous or harmful for them. Ethical practices involve the strong financial reporting as well as consideration  for the social and environmental impact of the business. Audit reports help the organizations know the financial condition of the organization for Health Care or any other business as well as the result of the organization’s day to day internal operations. Audits are helpful when following the practices of financial reporting practices of the organization can serve as a checks and balances and a great tool for capturing financial data, if management checks the financial audit reports often. Financial reports explain in detail how the organization is doing and prevents negative numbers on the company because it records any procedure and activity that happens in the organization (Ethics and Compliances. May 1994). According to American College of Physicians (Snyder. 2012), the environment for the delivery of health care continues to change. Sites of care are shifting, with more care provided in ambulatory settings while the intensity of inpatient care increases. Generally Accepted Accounting Principals â€Å"The phrase â€Å"generally accepted accounting principles† is a technical account term that encompasses the conventions, rules, and procedures necessary to define accepted accounting practice at a particular time. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are concerned with the measurement of economic activity, the timed when such measurements are to be made and recorded, the disclosures surrounding this activity, and the preparation and presentation of summarized economic information in the form of financial statements (Bragg, 2012). Generally accepted accounting principles also known as GAAP to understand the definition better, GAAP are guidelines that one should follow when trying to establish proper financial documents and reports. With these guidelines to follow, it was easier to maintain the financial reporting’s for all fields, including healthcare. The generally accepted accounting principles were held in the highest regard. The guidelines of the GAAP have had a high authority when it came to determining financial practices in healthcare. The GAAP influence has dwindled if not stopped. It was stated that it was not required for hospitals, nursing homes or any kind of healthcare facility to adhere to the GAAP (Taebel 1995). It has been documented that the guidelines of the GAAP has caused facilities to lose money, even though they knew what was best about recognizing costs. It has  been suggested that is not required to make decisions based off of the general accepted accounting principles. Capital costs are reimbursed according to a prospective payment system; providers are being paid a predetermined amount regardless of GAAP issues (Taebel, 1995). Conclusion There are countless of different ways that we can touch bases on to understand the importance of a cohesive financial department. It is essential to its success to be ethically compliant and to follow through with policy and procedure. It is up to the financial managers to execute and enforce proper guidelines. In conclusion, there are four elements of the financial structure that is the basis for a financial department’s success which are planning, controlling, organizing and decision making. With this information we were able to understand and summarize more in depth the importance of generally accepted accounting principles and general financial ethical standards. Finally, we were able to view examples in those respecting terms and gain understanding from them. By compiling all of these elements together can guarantee a solid financial department in any healthcare facility. References American College of Physicians (2010) Ethics in Practice: Managed Care and the Changing Health Care Environment. Retrieved 11/13/2010 from http://www.annals.org/content/ Bragg, Steven M. Wiley GAAP 2012: Interpretation and Application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (10th Edition). Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. ProQuest ebrary. Web1 May 2015. Ethics and Compliances Retrieved 11/13/2010 from http://www.miamivalleyhospital.org/mvhdefault.aspx?id=12746 (May 1994) Snyder L, for the American College of Physicians Ethics, Professionalism, and Human Rights Committee. American College of Physicians Ethics Manual: Sixth Edition. Ann Intern Med. 2012;156:73-104. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-156-1-201201031-00001 Taebel, S.W. (1995, October). Supreme Court ruling reduces GAAP’s authority in Medicare cases. Healthcare Financial Management, 49(10)

Pay for Performance Essay

Traditionally, all incentive plans are â€Å"pay-for-performance† plans. They pay all employees based on the employee’s performance (Dessler). Compensation is a primary motivator for employees. People look for jobs that not only suit their creativity and talents, but compensate them both in terms of salary and other benefits accordingly. Compensation is also one of the fastest changing fields in Human Resources, as companies continue to investigate various ways of rewarding employees for performance. It is very important for organizations to make sure that the incentive plans are well structured to need the needs of the employee and in return make the organization profitable. Giving incentive pay to employees that has not earned them destroys the motivation and moral of employees which leads to less productivity. Thanks to public outcry, shareholder outrage, and increased government scrutiny, companies are making some adjustments to their executive incentive programs. At the very least, it gives the appearance of linking pay to performance. Most managers get short-term bonuses and long-term incentives in addition to salary.50 For firms offering short-term incentive plans, virtually all 96% provide those incentives in cash. For those offering long-term incentive plans, about 48% offer stock options. These aim to motivate and reward management for long-term corporate growth in shareholder value. The size of the bonus (in terms of percentage of salary) is usually greater for top-level executives (Dessler). Often times top level management incentives are just a bit too much. They are given large stock options, cash bonuses, and other high price incentives and often times they take advantage of the situation. Enron executives are a great example of taking advantage of a good thing. This is just one down fall of the incentive program, another issue would be employee moral decrease because they often times feels like management should not receive such large rewards when they the employee feels like they are going all the work. Enron officials manipulated information to protect their interests and to deceive the public, although the extent of their deception is still to be determined. Both executives and board members claim that they weren’t aware of the company’s off-the-books partnerships and shaky financial standing. However, both Skilling and Lay were warned that the firm’s accounting tactics were suspect, and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations concluded, â€Å"Much that was wrong with Enron was known to the board.† Enron’s leaders acted irresponsibly by failing to take needed action, failing to exercise proper oversight, and failing to shoulder responsibility for the ethical miscues of their organization. Enron officials put loyalty to themselves above loyalty to everyone else with a stake in the company’s fate-stockholders, business partners, ratepayers, local communities, and foreign governments. They also abused the trust of those who worked for them. Employees felt betrayed, in addition to losing their jobs and retirement savings. America has an ethical issue because knowledge and techniques has been used to manipulate people unethically as well as to help them develop their potential. People who lack respect for the basic dignity of the human being could learn organizational behavior ideas and use them for selfish ends. Merit pay is a plan that most state agencies use. As times have changed and budgets are tight state government has cut back on merit play. The state merit programs were used to compensate employees for exceeding their work expectations. It has been over eight years since the state has given out merit pay. Employee’s moral is very low because top level management has found ways to get their friends pay raises. Another misuse of the merit system is when an employee has performed above the call of duty and is over looked and an increase is given to a person that has been less productive but is good friends with the boss. When times are tough economically, it is more important than ever for companies to clearly communicate their commitment to employees,† said Rich Sperling, a senior consultant with Hay Group. â€Å"Employers can leverage a variety of financial and nonfinancial rewards to engage employees through tough times when budgets are tight, but communicating and reinforcing those messages through a variety of channels is critical.†(HR Focus). How do you keep an employee motivated when there is nothing extra to give them for doing a job well done? Often times just a simple recognition of a job well done will keep an employee motivated. In my office we use to have a program called â€Å"Shout Outs†. Being that funding was tight and there were no pay raises being given out due to budget cuts our Deputy Director came up with this program. Giving employee’s recognition for going above and beyond to get a job done. It was amazing how the employees reacted to this program because so many people were never given credit for a job well done. What I found out through this program was that when people are given credit for going a great job they are willing to go that extra mile above and beyond to make sure they job is done and it is quality work that is produced. Often time managers would take the credit for a job they did not perform and were given incentives and they ones that had really done the job was left in the cold. Organizations have to make sure that when incentives are given out that they people receiving the incentives are the ones that deserve them. When an employee feels appreciated they are more willing to go without the incentive pay and get the job done it’s when they feel like the organization does not value them is when they start to look for employment with a company that appreciate them and make them feel like they are valuable to the organization. In conclusion incentives are environmental factors that are established for the purpose of motivating a person. Individual incentive programs give performance-based pay to individual employees. Team-based incentives of course aim to incentivize work teams. Variable pay refers to group pay plans that tie payments to productivity or to some other measure of the firm’s profitability. Incentives play an important part in motivating employees to do a good job. When an employee feels like the organizations appreciate them rather it is with bonus pay, paid time off, recognition, family leave, or good health benefits that are more willing to go that extra mile to make sure quality service is provided. Benefits and incentives pay also helps to motivate employees they call in sick less are healthier happier people all because they feel more appreciated!!