Social Implications of Business Ethics Essay Example for Free

Social Implications of Business Ethics Essay In this task I will be looking at various business practices in any area of activity and explain how those actions have an effect on society as a whole, the areas of activity I will be discussing in this report are: Ethics in finance, e.g. bribery Ethics in human resource management e.g. discrimination Ethics in production, e.g. animal testing Ethics in sales and marketing, e.g. spamming Ethics in intellectual property, e.g. software privacy I will also be investigating how my chosen business Timberland considers these issues and addresses them. The Timberland company was set up in 1955 by the Swartz family. Originally a shoe store based in Abington, Massachusetts the small family business has grown into one of the most easily recognisable brands of modern times. Since its inception in 1955, be it either under the Abington shoe company brand name or under the Timberland company brand name, one thing has remained the same, its business Code of Ethics Charter. Timberland Code of Ethics Charter Timberland has a site dedicated to their beliefs of ethics and explains what is expected of their employees and what consumers should expect from Timberland as a business regarding ethics. Their mission statement reads, We believe the honest and ethical conduct of our employees is an essential prerequisite to our success as a company. There is a direct relationship between the code of conduct of the company and the employees, and the attainment of our corporate missions and goals. Maintaining the highest standard of ethical behaviour is consistent with our core values of Humanity, Humility, Integrity and Excellence. Area of Activity: Ethics in Finance In regards to ethics, when most people think of ethics they think of various scandals and illegal trading which appears to be ever present in the news such as insider trading, bribery, lobbying and executive pay. Some of the more recent unethical actions which have happened are the MPs expenses scandal which occurred in mid 2009 and the banking crisis which started in late 2008. This is a concern for ethics as individuals want to know who they are doing business with and if they can trust them, for example If a business is accused of being unethical because they bribed a member of parliament in order to gain an unfair advantage over competitors so they could evade paying a certain amount of tax or VAT then not only are they giving themselves a bad name but they are also ruining the reputation of their business associates and partners who may decide they no longer wish to provide their service to that business in order to save their own credibility. NEED TO WRITE AN INTRODUCTION EXPLAINING WHY THIS AREA IS A CONCERN FOR ETHICS.CHECK YOUR NOTES! There are several key areas where ethics can be questioned in terms of finance and these include: * Insider trading is the illegal trading, buying or selling of corporate stock based on information received which has not been made public and is supposed to remain confidential; insider trading is a common law broken by employees. The Timberland Company set up its Code of Ethics Charter to provide assurance to its customers but also to provide guidelines to employees so that they can clearly understand what is expected of them from the business. The Timberland Code of Ethics Charter clearly states that the securities laws set up within the business strictly prohibits insider trading and tells employees what to do if they are in doubt as to what information can be shared and what to do if they are in any doubt as to what information can be shared and what information must remain private. Employees and directors may not trade in or even recommend company stock whilst in possession of any information. Timberlands insider trading policy applies to all employees and directors. * Bribery is a form of corruption in which an individual or business may offer a payment or gift to a person in a position of trust in order to gain an unfair advantage over other competitors. On the 20th of July 2010 the UK ministry of Justice announced that a new, modern and comprehensive bribery act will be brought into force in April 2011. The new act replaces the existing legislation known as the Prevention of Corruptions Act of 1889 1916. The Timberland Companys general principles, Code of Ethics Charter and compliance guidelines state their policy on bribery is that they are not permitted in any circumstances and that they believe a bribe can be anything from a simple gift or an undercover payment. Their general principles also state that any individuals suspected of accepting or being involved in bribery in anyway will be held accountable in a court of law and will be dealt with by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. BRIBERY NEED TO DISCUSS * Executive pay is the financial compensation paid to an executive official within an organisation, most executives would receive their basic salary along with added incentives such as share options, annual bonuses, salary rises and pension schemes. Many employees in a business may feel disheartened by the gulf in salary between them and their chief executive, especially in the middle of a recession as the public are being made more and more aware of the bonuses many executives are receiving whilst other employees are being made redundant. Many people regard this to be unethical as it is taking money away from a bunch of employees and putting it into the pocket of one executive who may not even work as hard as the individuals who may be regarded as below them in the hierarchal structure of the business. Recent news reports suggest that the new chief executive of the bank Barclays Bob Diamond is in line to receive a bonus of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½8million despite only being in the job for just 9 days, the story so far has caused outrage amongst Barclays employees who feel the money should be given to existing employees or pumped back into the economy. The Timberland Company dont currently have any publicly viewable policies or corporate guidelines regarding executive pay. EXECUTIVE PAY NEED TO DISCUSS * Lobbying is a form of corruption when a business will use personal contacts, peer pressure, public pressure or political action in order to persuade a politician to make a decision which will benefit the business. Currently lobbying is not illegal which means it is easy for big multi national organisations to get away with changing legislation to benefit them but affected their competitors if they have the right connections to the right people in power. The Timberland Companys policy on lobbying is that no director, executive, officer or manager has the authority to breach or violate any government law in any country that Timberland operates in, nor may they engage in any activity that involves benefiting one individual party whilst others dont have the opportunity to. LOBBYING NEED TO DISCUSS Area of Activity: Ethics in Human Resource Management Human resource management is the management of the workforce of a business to ensure sufficient staff levels with the right skills that are properly motivated and equally rewarded. The human resource department is one of the key elements in Timberlands organisational structure, without it the business would be an inefficient, unproductive business which manufactured sub standard products. The human resource department in the Timberland Company is responsible for overseeing a variety of issues such as contract of employment violations and employee problems and queries. The human resource department of Timberland recently put into place the Fair and Equal Treatment Policy. The policy was designed to promote fairness in the workplace. The code clearly states that no factory employee be disciplined through corporal punishment, harassed, abused or run the risk of employee retribution on the basis of expressing grievances predicted on the violations of basic human rights. To promote equality, Timberlands code prohibits status discrimination based upon race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion or for any other reason. When a candidate is applying for a job and is invited for an interview it is important that Timberland act ethically and treat every individual candidate fairly and equally, they must not discriminate against any candidate in any way, shape or form regarding their age, race, colour, ethnicity, sex, religion or political views. In order to remain as ethical as possible Timberland should look to tweak their recruitment process so that they can ensure no individual candidates will feel targeted throughout the recruitment process and that all the personal information gathered from the candidates remains as confidential as possible. Many employers give applicants various tick boxes to fill in on their application forms, the only answer which appears on every question that candidates can tick is the answer would rather not to say. This cuts down on discrimination as employers can not make pre judgements on any candidates based on the information received in their application which may help the candidate to be successful at their attempt to get the job. To date Timberland has yet to be accused of discrimination, this is due to the high levels of transparency within the business an Timberlands attempts to broaden consumers awareness of what Timberland is trying to achieve as a business and what it is planning corporately. One of the most growing concerns amongst employees is workplace surveillance through CCTV footage, internet activity and email monitoring. Many businesses now offer their own dedicated email service which allows employees to communicate with one another through email rather than passing memos to one another. Although this may seem like the business is offering something positive to the employees, many believe there is a hidden agenda behind it. The administrators who monitor the email service can also go through the individual emails of every employee registered to the service and can view every email without the employee even knowing. Many people argue that this is an invasion of privacy and that employers shouldnt be allowed to pay attention to every aspect of the employees working life however employers argue that it is up to the employee if they wish to work in that environment and it is not a requirement for the employee to sign up for the email service and should not use the email service for personal use. Some businesses tend to overstep the boundaries and may do things which may not seem ethically correct such as firing employees for matters that did not happen during working hours or do not affect the business. An example of this is when 16 year old Kimberly Swann was dismissed from her post at Ivell Marketing Logistics after three weeks of employment for describing her office job as boring on the social networking site Facebook. Steve Ivell of Ivell Marketing Logistics said the decision was made to dismiss Kimberly because she had shown disrespect to her employer and her dissatisfaction undermined her relationship with the business which made it untenable. Many people agreed with Kimberly Swanns response to the statement made by her former employer that she shouldnt be persecuted for a throw away comment made after a tiring day at the office for a 16 year old. Ms. Swann believes that what her former employer did was unethical and she shouldnt have been dismissed for something which happened out of work hours and was written on her personal page whilst in her own time on her personal computer. You also need to discuss the ethical concerns that some have in regards to recruitment. What must Timberland ensure they do to ensure fairness in recruitment (use you unit 13 notes, e.g. same interviews questions, balanced interview panel, etc.) Has Timberland been accused of discrimination in recruitment? If not, include a business which has! You also need to discuss the concerns some have about the increasing level of workplace surveillance why are people concerned? Use the Facebook example we discussed in class! Area of Activity: Ethics in Production The production process involves transferring a range of inputs into the outputs desired by the target market. The production process requires two main resources; the transforming resources and the transformed resources. Transforming resources include the building where the product is manufactured, machinery, computers and employees. The transformed resources are the raw materials which compose the end product. To make sure that their production process is ethical a business must look at a range of issues such as: * Genetically modified food Many food producing companies in the US have come under heavy criticism for modifying their products without informing customers. One of the more recent cases was Monsanto An agricultural company which helps farmers develop new technology and produce better quality crop was charged by the California Northern District Court with for producing low quality crop which was to be distributed to countries which forbid the growing of genetically modified crops. Although no charges were ever made against the company, it was a wake up call to other businesses that their practices are being closely monitored and scrutinised. However they argue that in order to protect the food from insects, parasites, weed and unfriendly bacteria it must be genetically modified so that they arent attracted to it in anyway. By keeping the insects away there will be more crop which means more money for the farmers however many people believe this is an unethical tactic used by farmers to get as much money as possible and that the GM food could contain harmful viruses or diseases. you need to tell me what it is and why some believe it is unethical * Product testing on animals Many people believes this to be the biggest argument regarding ethics believing that it is wrong for businesses to use defenceless animals who do not share the same genes and DNA as humans to test their products on. A counter argument to this statement is that in order for scientists to find cures to medical diseases there must be some way for them to be able to test the products without using illegal methods such as trialling them on humans. One of the strongest and most controversial arguments raised from this topic is that why do people believe it to be wrong to test cosmetic products on animals but not medical products which could potentially hurt or even kill them. Timberland have issued numerous press releases stating that they in no way support animal testing nor do they practice it themselves and that 80% of raw materials they use for their products is recycled with plans to use recycled materials 100% on all of their products by 2014. you need to explain what it means, why some are against it and why some people do not mind. * Planned Obsolescence Planned Obsolescence is when a business deliberately design a product which can be sold to the public with a few flaws and can be improved in an upgraded model which will be sold again to the public at a later stage. An example of this is Apples iphone. The first iphone was released on the 29th of June 2007. The original model could ring, send and receive text messages, send and receive email messages, browse the internet with a wifi connection and users could download custom applications. One of the flaws of the original model was the camera didnt have a flash and the internet wasnt fast enough when users didnt have access to a wifi connection. The iphone 3g was then released a year later to succeed the original iphone, the difference between the two models was that now users could access the internet almost anywhere thanks to the 3g connectivity but the camera still lacked flash, optical zoom, auto focus and didnt support video recording. Apple have released a new and improved model of the iphone annually since the launch of their first iphone and released the iphone 4 on the 24th of June 2010. The fourth instalment of the apple iphone was now fully equipped to do everything users could ask for ranging from the internet issues to a new and improved 5 mega pixel camera which supported HD video recording, had digital zoom and had an LED flash. you need to explain what it means with an example, why some are against it and why some people do not mind. * Environmental ethics some questions are raised about how ethical products are produced in terms of the environment. The Timberland Company take this seriously and have introduced the Green index in 2007, a unique calculating tool which can measure the impact manufacturing their boots has on the environment and allows customers to see the carbon footprint Timberland creates. In 2008 Timberland expanded the Green Index programme to include the carbon footprint created from the entire range of Timberland products. Area of Activity: Ethics in Sales and Marketing Businesses such as Timberland manufacture a variety of products and are constantly updating them in order to keep the attention of their audience and maintain its market share. Sometimes a business may decide to use unethical methods to help boost sales and raise the company profile. Some of the unethical techniques a business may use include slandering other businesses or even providing false information when promoting and selling products. In 2001 the supermarket Tesco was charged by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) for misleading its customers. Tesco mislead its customers on price comparisons, comparing the prices of rival business Sainsburys with its own prices however the prices shown for Tesco products were all on a discounted promotion at the time but were not at Sainsburys. However, the main types of unethical activities in terms of sales and marketing are: * Product Placement Sometimes a business may decide to place their product in a television programme or in a movie, this is known as subliminal advertising . It is the easiest way for businesses to expose their products to customers without their knowledge. However it can be expensive, some producers may charge the business more than à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1million for their product to be in front of the camera for just a few seconds or even mentioned as part of the dialogue in a script for just one sentence in the entire film. Some consumers believe this to be unethical as people who pay money to go to the cinema do not wish to view a hidden advertisement during their film and have no choice but to sit and watch throughout the entire film. People who watch television at home may not like watching adverts and would rather flick through different channels whilst waiting for their original programme to come back on than sit and watch four minutes of advertising. Whilst agreeing the terms and conditions for TV licensing one of the key points the BBC agreed to was to no advertising and no product placement so rather than advertising products at the end of a programme, the BBC will just advertise its own upcoming programmes and its programmes rather than referring to or showing the brand name of a product such as mobile phone, they will just show the phone itself with the brand name hidden. Timberland have used product placement in various television programmes and films such as in the heist film TAKERS. All of the actors involved in robbing from the bank never mentioned any brands of the clothes they were wearing but were constantly referring to their Timberland boots and how they were the best for the job. The Timberland Company have confirmed that they did agree to the actors mentioning their product but did not ask them to continually mention them to get the viewers attention. People may still view this as unethical as although it was the film producers who approached Timberland, they still had the option of rejecting the offer. GOOD CRITIQUE! * Greenwashing Green washing can be defined as the act of misleading consumers or being untruthful about the environmental practices of a company, or the environmental benefits of a product or service. A business may choose to use this technique in order to attract more customers and appeal to a wider market. The Timberland Company have a full website dedicated to explaining its views on ethics and have set out four pillars which are updated annually and analysed regularly to ensure all targets are met. If any of these were found to be incorrect, this would be an example of green-washing. * Spamming in business this is where a company may often send various newsletters and promotional emails to somebody who has never signed up to the newsletters and often do not wish to receive the newsletters and updates because of the volume of emails being received. Businesses that do use this method often use a false email address which can not be replied to or blocked. Many businesses say they only use this method to gain the attention of potential customers and promote their products and services. Many people believe this is unethical as the recipient of the spam email has not agreed to receive the junk email and have no alternative but to ignore and delete all emails which they suspect to be junk or spam that clog up their email account. Spam emails are regarded as a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 as the only way a business can obtain the email addresses of customers is through purchasing them from other businesses with the consumers consent. Area of Activity: Ethics in intellectual property Intellectual property law gives people the rights to their own creations such as ideas, concepts, videos or music sounds. The most common way people protect their intellectual property is through copyrights, patents and trademarks. Ethical issues which arise from intellectual property are: * Counterfeiting A counterfeit is a forged copy of a product or brand name with the intent to deceiving people. The counterfeiter copies the original idea of a product or service and alters it slightly to either pass it off as their own or to deceive people into believing it is genuine. Tesco have been accused on numerous occasions of selling counterfeit versions of products from top designers such as Tommy Hilfiger and have faced numerous court cases and legal action. * Piracy Piracy is the unauthorised copying and distributing of a product. Reproducing a product without the consent of its original creator is illegal and can lead to a large fine and a jail sentence. An example of piracy sharing is online peer to peer programs such as Limewire. For years Limewire was used by millions of people to share illegal products with one another rather than obtaining them legally which caused many people to lose money such as musicians, film producers, computer programmers. Eventually enough evidence was put together to charge the creators of Limewire who were subsequently fined, jailed and had their peer to peer sharing software shut down permanently. Piracy is a growing concern and is becoming a losing battle for prosecutors as many websites which stream illegally sourced movies and songs are being shut down and are back live again under a similar name on a new server within an hour. Implications If a business chooses to ignore the ethical concerns of its customers then they are giving themselves a negative image and gain negative publicity and bad press which will cause them to lose money and drive away customers. Every business must make sure it listens to and takes into consideration the different corporate and environmental implications in order to ensure their popularity is maintained and attract more customers. Corporate implications are to do with the day to day running of a business looking at the corporate social responsibility policies, employee hiring and firing, consumer protection and managing suppliers. The Timberland Company have a clear Code of Ethics Charter which is available to all employees, investors, potential customers, potential investors and general members of the public. Their charter was set up to show employees and partners and future partners what Timberland is trying to achieve ethically as a business. Environmental implications are ethical issues which affect the environment such as pollution, recycling, using renewable sources and water conservation. Timberland have become very environmentally ethical since 2006 and have created a whole new line of products created solely from recycled products using renewable energy. Timberland also has a website detailing their four pillars which they have built their organisational structure around, the four pillars are : Energy : Becoming carbon neutral Products : Design products for recyclability Workplaces : Fair, safe and non-discriminatory workplaces Service : Community greening Conclusion In conclusion I believe that in order for a business to be truly ethical it must take into consideration all environmental and corporate implications and analyse their business practices before truly declaring themselves as an ethical business. Bibliography http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=105954p=irol-govConduct http://www.rightrespect.com/2010/07/29/right-respect-best-practices-timberland/ http://finance.mapsofworld.com/business/ethics.html http://www.timberlandonline.co.uk/csr/csr,default,pg.html http://www.timberlandonline.co.uk/green-index/environ_green_index,default,pg.html http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theoryproduction-process254.php http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DQA/is_2001_Dec_20/ai_81515662/ http://newscdn.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/business/102177.stm http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/software_piracy.html http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/bribery-bill.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/7914415.stm

Cytomegalovirus Overview

Cytomegalovirus Overview 1. unocompromised host Cytomegalovirus is a significant opportunistic pathogen in immuno-compromised patients. Primary infection, reactivation of latent virus, and reinfection are possible and are often clinically silent. The onset of infection is marked by spiking pyrexia, which may resolve in a few days. Its severity is parallel with the level of immunosuppression, and is greatest in bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients and AIDS patients with low CD4+ T-cell counts. Solid organ transplant recipients, patients receiving immunosuppressive chemotherapy, and subjects with congenital immunodeficiencies may also be symptomatic (Landolfo et al., 2003). Organ transplantation Cytomegalovirus is one of the most important pathogens that infect (SOT) recipients and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality (Beam and Razonable, 2012). Solid organ transplant recipients are particularly susceptible to CMV-related disease due to the immunosuppression necessary to prevent organ rejection. Patients receiving T-cell depleting therapies are at the highest risk The major risk factor for CMV pneumonia is a CMV-seronegative transplant recipient receiving a CMV-seropositive organ. Because of the multiple human strains of CMV, seropositive organ recipients are at risk of re-infection with a different strain of virus. The clinical syndrome is then usually less severe than in primary infection and the onset of disease is often delayed to approximately 6-8 weeks post-transplantation (Alexopouloset al., 2012). Clinical signs of HCMV infection in transplant recipients may be absent or severe, although severe infection is now less frequent as a result of better prophylaxis. HCMV is initially localized in the transplanted organ, but then spreads throughout the gastrointestinal tract and to the retina, skin, endometrium, lungs, and CNS. HCMV disease is more difficult to treat in BMT compared with SOT recipients, and HCMV pneumonia has a high mortality rate, despite the recent introduction of specific antiviral drugs (Landolfo et al., 2003). Lastly, an immunosuppressive syndrome often related to HCMV infection in the late post-transplant period is characterized by superinfection with bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, perhaps due to disturbance of both the humoral and cellular immune response by HCMV (Landolfo et al., 2003). Cytomegalovirus and HIV infection CMV can cause very serious infection in HIV infection (Barrett et al., 2012). Retinitis: Retinitis is the most common manifestation of CMV disease in HIV positive patients. It presents with decreased visual acuity, floaters, and loss of visual fields on one side. It begins as a unilateral disease, but in many cases it progresses to bilateral involvement. It may be accompanied by systemic CMV disease. (Barrett et al., 2012). CMV pneumonia in patients who are HIV positive is uncommon. The reason for this is unknown (Barrett et al., 2012). Gastrointestinal tract: In the upper gastrointestinal tract, CMV has been isolated from oesophageal, gastric and duodenal ulcers. Patients with oesophageal disease may present with painful dysphagia. In the lower gastrointestinal tract, patients with CMV may present with diarrhoea due to colitis (Barrett et al., 2012). CMV may cause disease in the peripheral and central nervous system (Barrett et al., 2012). Replication in the CNS of AIDS patients produces some of the symptoms observed in congenital infection, and is often followed by encephalopathy (Landolfo et al., 2003). Laboratory Diagnosis It is difficult to diagnose CMV infection in immunocompromised patients as it requires not only detection of virus but also determining whether CMV is causing disease. CMV shedding and viremia are common in patients with impaired cellular immunity even when disease due to CMV is not present (Jahan, 2010). Rapid and sensitive technique for diagnosis of CMV infection is of vital importance for the management of immunocompromised patients. A number of rapid and sensitive methods have been developed. These includes DNA probe techniques (Spector and Vacqier, 1983) , Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Zipeto et al., 1992), CMV antigen detection in biopsies and bronchoalveolar lavage (Emanuel et al., 1986) and immunofluorescence technique for detection of CMV early antigens in cell (Vander et al., 1988). Moreover, an assay has been developed for CMV antigenemia based on the detection of CMV immediate early antigen (pp65 ) in circulating leucocytes (Boeckh et al., 1996). Histopathology: Histopathology remains the reference standard for diagnosis of tissue-invasive CMV disease (Razonable and Hayden, 2013). CMV infection is indicated by cellular and nuclear enlargement (cytomegalic cells) and the presence of amphophilic to basophilic cytoplasmic inclusions (aggregates of CMV nucleoproteins that are produced during viral replication) (Eid et al., 2010). The severity of CMV infection can be assessed based on the degree of histological involvement (Mattes et al., 2000). While these histopathologic findings are highly characteristic of CMV infection (Mattes et al., 2000), atypical features may be present and may overlap in appearance both with reactive changes and with inclusions of other intracellular viruses. Hence, the diagnosis can be confirmed further by in situ hybridization (ISH) or immunohistochemical (IHC) testing (Razonable and Hayden, 2013). The ISH uses CMV-specific cDNA probes that bind to viral DNA in the cellular materialÂÂ   (Razonable and Hayden, 2013). Likewise, IHC uses monoclonal or polyclonal antibody against early CMV antigen (ChemalyÂÂ   et al., 2004 Histopathology requires an invasive procedure to obtain tissue samples for testing (Eid et al., 2010). As a result, clinicians are often hesitant to perform it. Moreover, repeated biopsies cannot be performed serially to assess the response to treatment (Eid et al., 2010). Accordingly, many clinicians rely on the demonstration of CMV in the peripheral blood by Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) or antigen testing to support the clinical diagnosis of tissue-invasive CMV disease in patients with compatible clinical signs and symptoms (Razonable and Humar, 2013). Serology: Serology relies on the sensitive detection of antibodies against CMV in the blood (Vauloup-Fellous et al., 2013). CMV immunoglobulin M (CMV-IgM) is initially secreted during early CMV infection, and the detection of CMV-IgM by serologic assays is indicative of active, acute, or recent infection. Weeks into the course of primary infection, CMV-IgG antibody is secreted, and this antibody persists for life. The detection of CMV-IgG is indicative of previous or past infection (Vauloup-Fellous et al., 2013). Many different assays have been described and evaluated for the detection of CMV IgG antibodies. Among these are complement fixation, ELISA, anticomplement immunofluorescence, radioimmunoassay, and indirect hemagglutination (Ross et al., 2011). Many different assays are available for IgM detection, but enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are the most widely used. Recombinant IgM assays using recombinant HCMV proteins and peptides have been developed in an attempt to standardize serological assays. However, studies have shown poor correlation of results obtained with different commercial kits for IgM testing. In addition, assays for IgM antibody lack specificity for primary infection because of false-positive results, because IgM can persist for months after primary infection, and because IgM can be positive in reactivated CMV infections (Ross et al., 2011). Because of the limitations of the IgM assays, IgG avidity assays are utilized in some populations to help distinguish primary from non-primary CMV infection. These assays are based on the observation that IgG antibodies of low avidity are present during the first few months after the onset of infection and avidity increases over time reflecting maturation of the immune response. Thus, high anti-CMV IgG avidity represents longstanding infection in an individual. Avidity levels are reported as the avidity index which is the percentage of IgG bound to the antigen following treatment with denaturing agents (Ross et al., 2011). Seroconversion remains a reliable means of diagnosing primary CMV infection but usually practical only for closely monitored patients such as transplant recipients, for whom pre and post infection sera are readily available (ONeill et al., 1988 and Pass et al., 1983). Culture: This is highly specific for the diagnosis of CMV infection (Razonable and Humar, 2013). Culture can be performed using the conventional plaque assay or the more rapid shell vial centrifugation culture system (Razonable et al., 2002). Isolation of CMV from most clinical samples (other than urine, saliva, and stool) is highly predictive of the diagnosis of CMV disease or the risk of progression from CMV infection into clinical illness (Razonable et al., 2002). In contrast, the use of urine, saliva, and stool samples for CMV culture is of limited clinical utility because viral shedding may be detected in these specimens in CMV-seropositive patients even in the absence of clinical illness (Razonable and Humar, 2013). For CMV-seronegative patients (seen most commonly in pediatric age groups), however, the isolation of CMV in urine (and other samples) may be clinically relevant, since it is suggestive of active primary infection (instead of shedding) (Razonable and Humar, 2013). The major drawbacks to viral culture are its low to modest sensitivity and long turnaround time (Razonable et al., 2002). Accordingly, the clinical use of viral culture is minimal in the contemporary era, when molecular assays are most commonly used in the clinical setting (Razonable et al., 2002). The remaining major clinical use of viral culture is in the diagnosis of CMV infection by use of samples that have not been validated or optimized for molecular testing (Razonable and Humar, 2013). Viral culture may also be required when phenotypic antiviral drug resistance testing is needed, although advances in molecular genotypic assays have emerged for detecting antiviral drug resistance (Hakki and Chou, 2011). Antigen Testing: CMV antigen detection in the blood is the most commonly used phenotypic method for the rapid and sensitive diagnosis of CMV infection (Razonable and Humar, 2013). CMV antigenemia assay uses monoclonal antibodies to detect the CMV pp65 antigen that is expressed in CMV-infected leukocytes during the early phase of the CMV replication process (Razonable et al., 2002). The result of the test is reported as the number of positive cells per total number of cells counted (Razonable and Humar, 2013). Because pp65 is secreted during viral replication, its detection in peripheral blood leukocytes generally signifies active CMV infection. The CMV antigen assay is a rapid and easy test to perform and has a higher sensitivity than that of virus culture (Razonable and Hayden, 2013). It is able to detect CMV infection earlier than virus culture, with some studies reporting the detection of antigenemia an average of 5 to 14 days before the onset of CMV disease (Razonable and Hayden, 2013). Thus, it can be used to detect early CMV replication and to guide the initiation of preemptive therapy (Singh, 2001). In general, the degree of pp65 antigenemia correlates with the risk of subsequent CMV disease. However, there is a lack of consensus as to the threshold of pp65-positive cells that should trigger the initiation of antiviral therapy (Razonable and Hayden, 2013). In some studies, the sensitivity of pp65 antigenemia testing for the diagnosis of CMV infection was comparable to that of CMV NAT by PCR (Garrigue et al., 2006). One of these studies reported a strong correlation between pp65 antigenemia and CMV PCR performed on whole-blood specimens (Garrigue et al., 2006). Other studies, however, have reported a significantly lower sensitivity of antigenemia testing than those of molecular tests (Pang et al., 2009). Moreover, the plasma PCR assay detected CMV infection 12 days earlier than the antigenemia test (Hadaya et al., 2003). The disadvantages of CMV antigenemia testing are its labor-intensive and manual nature. The interpretation of the test is subjective, and there is limited interlaboratory standardization of thresholds of positive cell counts to guide various clinical actions (Razonable et al., 2002). Blood samples being subjected to pp65 antigenemia testing should be processed rapidly (ideally within 6 h) to optimize sensitivity, since test results depend on the life span of leukocytes ex vivo. Delays in the processing of a sample for longer than 24 h may lead to a significant decrease in the number of detectable pp65-positive cells in the blood (Razonable and Hayden, 2013).

Reflection on Self Development in Mental Health Nursing

Reflection on Self Development in Mental Health Nursing The Nurse Association (ANA) (2003) defines nursing as the promotion, protection and improvement of health and abilities, stopping of illness and injury, relief of suffering through identification, medical care and support in the care of individuals, families, societies and citizenry (Nancy, 2001 p.2).Generally nursing is liable to the society for providing quality, economical as well as improving the care rendered. Hence, nurses are responsible for their patients standard of health. The area of practice I would like to develop in this regard is mental health. The World health Organisation (WHO) (2009) defines mental health as a state of well-being where all individual notices his or her own potential, can cope with normal stressful events of life, can be fruitful and productive, and is able to contribute meaningfully to his or her society. For a person to live happily and meaningfully in life, mental health is important as well as physical health. Inadequate mental health can interfere with keeping meaningful relationships, having a sense of fulfilment in ones self, work and ability to perform in daily activities of life. Mental illness can obstruct ones interest in sleep, food and sexual contact. How we cope with life situations, the way we think and feel can be defined as mental health. By description mental health could be defined as a state of well-being which enables one to be fruitful, being able to live in peace with other people, adjusts to alteration and been able to handle difficult situations. Health conditions marked by alteration or abnormalities in mood, thinking or behaviour (or a mixture of the three) that causes discomfort or impair functioning is known as mental disorder. Giving a lot of definition without going into thorough details is difficult. One huge reason that is partly responsible for the difficulty in defining mental health, mental disorder and mental illness is the differentiation between mental and physical health which is largely pretended. Our ability to think, feel and respond is governed by our brain. The brain needs constant supply of oxygen and nutrients like any other organ in the body because it can also be damaged by thyroid issues, tumours and physical trauma. Mental health and physical health are interweaved (Linda, 2010, p.334). STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES ANALYSIS OF MY CURRENT KNOWLEDGE BASE ON MENTAL HEALTH My main tool as a mental health nurse is caring for the elderly living with dementia. As a mental health nurse I show compassion for the people I am dealing with by showing care towards them. Regrettably, there is still some stigma attached to mental illness. Combating this and helping the individuals and their families deal with it is the key part of my job. The danger of violence is often associated with this branch of nursing and one of the special skills required is to spot a build-up of tension and defuse it. Dealing with the behaviour and human mind is not an exact science. The job of helping people back to mental health is every bit as valuable and satisfying as caring for those with a physical illness. Showing professional compassion in my field of practice as a mental health nurse is a very important strength that I possess. For true care to take place feeling compassionate and empathetic towards a stranger is a must; a good feedback feeling is set into motion by doing this. Feelings are important in a humans life. I will say compassion is strength because it is a very important ingredient in nursing profession. Compassion is more than just showing pity or concern; and some dictionary definitions indicate that compassion is part of caring because it involves suffering with the person (Moya, 1992 p 5). As a mental health nurse, it is my duty to understand how to care for the elderly with dementia because their cognitive and affective states are conflicting. Now my experience with the elderly does not appear to me differently put myself into the private world of my patient and this is what empathy and care requires. Moya (1992, p 8) suggested that though as mortals we may find true empathy hard to practice because true empathy is only possible among archangels. My weakness on my current knowledge based on this area unfortunately is lack of Confidence which is evident in certain instances. Public speaking, presentation and demonstration of procedures to nursing assistance plague me. It is one thing to be nonchalant and laid back when speaking with your family and friends, but in a professional environment the whole mood and interpretation of things changes. It all comes down to one thing, the amount of self -esteem that i have and i am willing to exert. CLEAR STATEMENT FOR PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE Snow (1991, pp. 195-197) identifies compassion as pain, sorrow or grief for someone else. Emotions help me focus my moral actions. From my personal knowledge as a mental health nurse, compassion should be totally added in my concept of care. Furthermore the role of a Registered nurse is to improve the health and well-being of the people. My aim in focus is to strive for moral height because I have the opportunity as a nurse to give attention to the pain and suffering of my patients (Ferrel, 2005, p. 86), with a workable process in leadership and putting more compassion in practice. Putting compassion into nursing care is really not an easy task as it involves a lot of work. How this will be achieved is by involving in a compassion program for qualified nurses; going into wards that are already selected for excellence in compassion. In addition getting myself in an NHS Lothian centre for compassionate care which is also called the beacon ward where patients can be asked what we the nurses are doing right and tell us how can improve health (2008) puts it as bottling the magic formula and sharing it. The beacon ward will involve me using an all about me sheet which patients will fill when admitted. This form is not about their medical conditions; about how they will love to be addressed and who is important to them. This gives me an opportunity to look at people values and beliefs. DEVELOPING KNOWLEGDE IN THIS AREA My professional role and expectation from my clients as a mental health nurse is to win trust and establish contact with my clients. They find it difficult to gain trust and build good relationships with professionals in this field. In achieving this, competence is needed. What is competence? Spencer Spencer (1993) describe competency as the ability to realize organizational goals. It involves skills, attitudes and knowledge. These soft skills are vital in this area of practice. Developing my knowledge in mental nursing will enable me be a better nurse and gain a higher level of competency. Registered mental health nurses are regularly faced with clients who stay away from care. They involve patients with severe personality and behavioural disorders, older people living with dementia. Nursing and Midwifery Council (2002) Professional code of conducts describes situations where my professional role as a nurse is needed to be put into practice as regards competence. Throughout my year of practice I must keep my knowledge and skills up to date. Taking part in learning activities that will develop my performance and competence. In order to practice competently and professionally i must possess the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for lawful effective and safe practice without supervision. I must know the things that I am capable of doing and only accept those procedures and practice that I am competent at. If an area of practice is above my level of competence or outside my area of specialty I should call for help and supervision from a competent practitioner except otherwise. SMART CHART DETAILING HOW I WOULD ACHIEVE MY GOALS My goals, when adequately structured can be achieved in a means elaborated below using a SMART CHART. Extension (2008) stressed that SMART goals will enable one achieve relevant actions and goal; they further explained SMART is an acronym for goals that are: Specific, Measurable (Mutual, Motivated), Attainable, Relevant/Realistic, and within a specific Timeline. Clearly stated, my goals are: Improvement in the area of my level of competence as a mental health nurse Ability to win patient trust Develop my level of confidence Broaden my level of knowledge in mental nursing S My goals are limited to my area of improvement and strengths particularly related to my area of specialization which makes it specific M These goals serve as a driving force to my striving for excellence in mental health nursing A A right move in attaining or achieving these goals is by the embarking on my current programme in the University which has boosted my assurance of being a figure head in the nursing profession. R My goals are still in line with my first degree and profession hence its relevance in to my career and to the improvement of patient status. The Nursing and Midwifery Council has embarked on nurses self-development training programmes which my goals conform to. T Putting into utmost consideration my level of adaptation to the health system of the UK and my academic pursuit, my goals are already being actualized and is an on-going process of development till my career is over because learning is a continuous process and knowledge is acquired on a daily process.

The Downfall of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe :: Government Essays

The Downfall of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe The shocking fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe in the late eighties was remarkable for both its rapidity and its scope. The specifics of communism's demise varied among nations, but similarities in both the causes and the effects of these revolutions were quite similar. As well, all of the nations involved shared the common goals of implementing democratic systems of government and moving to market economies. In each of these nations, the communist regimes in power were forced to transfer that power to radically different institutions than they were accustomed to. Democracy had been spreading throughout the world for the preceding two decades, but with a very important difference. While previous political transitions had seen similar circumstances, the actual events in question had generally occurred individually. In Europe, on the other hand, the shift from communism was taking place in a different context altogether. The peoples involved were not looking to affect a narrow set of policy reforms; indeed, what was at stake was a hyper-radical shift from the long-held communist ideology to a western blueprint for governmental and economic policy development. The problem inherent in this type of monumental change is that, according to Ulrich K. Preuss, "In almost all the East and Central European countries, the collapse of authoritarian communist rule has released national, ethnic, religious and cultural conflicts which can not be solved by purely economic policies" (47). While tremendous changes are evident in both the governmental and economic arenas in Europe, these changes cannot be assumed to always be "mutually reinforcing" (Preuss 47). Generally it has been theorized that the most successful manner of addressing these many difficulties is the drafting of a constitution. But what is clear is the unsatisfactory ability of a constitution to remedy the problems of nationalism and ethnic differences. Preuss notes that when the constitutional state gained favor in North America, it was founded on the principle of the unitary state; it was not designed to address the lack of national identity which is found throughout Europe - and which is counter to the concept of the constitutional state (48). "Measured in terms of socioeconomic modernization," writes Helga A. Welsh, "Central and Eastern European countries had reached a level that was considered conducive to the emergence of pluralistic policies" (19). It seemed that the sole reason the downfall of communism, as it were, took so long was the veto power of the Soviet Union. According to theories of modernization, the higher the The Downfall of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe :: Government Essays The Downfall of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe The shocking fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe in the late eighties was remarkable for both its rapidity and its scope. The specifics of communism's demise varied among nations, but similarities in both the causes and the effects of these revolutions were quite similar. As well, all of the nations involved shared the common goals of implementing democratic systems of government and moving to market economies. In each of these nations, the communist regimes in power were forced to transfer that power to radically different institutions than they were accustomed to. Democracy had been spreading throughout the world for the preceding two decades, but with a very important difference. While previous political transitions had seen similar circumstances, the actual events in question had generally occurred individually. In Europe, on the other hand, the shift from communism was taking place in a different context altogether. The peoples involved were not looking to affect a narrow set of policy reforms; indeed, what was at stake was a hyper-radical shift from the long-held communist ideology to a western blueprint for governmental and economic policy development. The problem inherent in this type of monumental change is that, according to Ulrich K. Preuss, "In almost all the East and Central European countries, the collapse of authoritarian communist rule has released national, ethnic, religious and cultural conflicts which can not be solved by purely economic policies" (47). While tremendous changes are evident in both the governmental and economic arenas in Europe, these changes cannot be assumed to always be "mutually reinforcing" (Preuss 47). Generally it has been theorized that the most successful manner of addressing these many difficulties is the drafting of a constitution. But what is clear is the unsatisfactory ability of a constitution to remedy the problems of nationalism and ethnic differences. Preuss notes that when the constitutional state gained favor in North America, it was founded on the principle of the unitary state; it was not designed to address the lack of national identity which is found throughout Europe - and which is counter to the concept of the constitutional state (48). "Measured in terms of socioeconomic modernization," writes Helga A. Welsh, "Central and Eastern European countries had reached a level that was considered conducive to the emergence of pluralistic policies" (19). It seemed that the sole reason the downfall of communism, as it were, took so long was the veto power of the Soviet Union. According to theories of modernization, the higher the

Information Warfare Essay -- essays research papers

As we entered the third wave, we traded in our pens and notebooks, for keyboards and CPU’s. A simple wire connected from a phoneline to a modem to your CPU, brings the whole world into your hands. And you into the worlds hand as well. Political realism is defined as doing what is necessary for survival. One must depend on themselves, because no one else will look out for them. Information Warfare has become a massly used tactic by individuals as well as companies looking out for their own survival, in a world of commerce, and politics. Information Warfare is an innovative and dangerous new way to harm your opponents. When one thinks of warfare the mind is usually bombarded by thoughts of M16’s, grenades, and hand to hand combat. In this new era of technology that we are living in warfare has come to mean so much more. Information warfare is the use of any type of information used to injure your opponent’s progress and further your own. The power of Information Warfare spans a broad scope of uses, from the gathering information about companies, to personal blackmail. It’s used not only by individuals against other persons, but companies and even the nation as well. As the third wave, defined by Tofflers, becomes more widely spread across the nation and world we can only expect a far larger usage of such technological tactics, being used in the home, workplace, and even international politics. Schwartau’s definition of Information Warfare is, “the use of information, and information syst ems as both weapons and targets in a conflict,'; (Schwartau 12). We are now living in a time when knowledge is power, and what is knowledge made up of? Quite simply, information.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Information Warfare is not only becoming more rampantly used among people, but they are using different types as well. There are three different classifications of Information Warfare. The first one deals with personal information warfare. This is inclusive with all the information that is available about an individual. Class two deals with corporate information warfare, which involves how information effects companies, businesses, and all economic interests. Of all the classes the third one has the broadest margin. The third class is global information warfare. This purpose of this class is to deal with all a... ... being able to visit such cites that would have pornography, and/or other material unsuitable for youngsters. The school has installed a program so that if the kids were to access prohibited cites an automatic alarm would notify Education Queensland’s network administrators. By taking control of the cites that the children can visit, the school system is helping to keep the children from visiting undesireable cites.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are programs available to those parents who feel it is necessary to monitor their childs use of the Internet. Cybersitter can be purchased for around $39.95, and can help to regulate your web browser keeping your childs access to the world wide web restricted. There is even and option in which incoming and outgoing e-mails for inappropriate material.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While it is possible to intercept and not allow such things on the internet on the Internet such as pornography, or material containing racist or violent content, in order to really do so the entire net would have to be controlled. An important question that has to be asked is who will do the monitoring, and what will they base their criteria on.

A Visit to Zoo

A Visit to the Zoo Last Sunday it was cloudy. I, along with my friends visited the zoo. As we reached the main gate of the zoo, we saw a huge crowd. Some were buying, entrance tickets, some were gossiping and chatting while others were relaxing under the shady trees. We entered the zoological gardens and ca me across a beautiful lake, where some water-birds, like ducks, were swimming. Seeing the white ducks on the smooth surface of water is a charming sight. As we moved further, we came to the enclosure where birds were kept. They ranged from sparrows, eagles and parrots to pigeons of various colours.The birds were chirping. It was enchanting music. We enjoyed it very much. In the next enclosure were kept lions and leopards, tigers and tigresses, whose roars were deafening. As we approached the net, a lion rushed towards us and we were terrified. Their fierce looks were frightening. After seeing this, we came across a garden having stags, very smart and beautiful. In one of the corne rs, monkeys were jumping. Their tricks and pranks were very pleasing. Some people threw peanuts to them and they immediately jumped down the trees to eat them.Many children were making faces at them. Our next halt was at an aquarium in which we were most interested. A large number of fishes were kept there. There were fish of many species and colours. To see them fidgeting in water was really a delightful spectacle. There were many other aquatic animals. Just by the side of this enclosure we came across polar bears, which looked sad and deserted. The black bear’s enclosure attracted a mammoth gathering. The bear was playing many tricks which thrilled the spectators. Some people offered him eatables which he gulped at once.The zoological parks are so vast that it is very difficult to describe all the cages and enclosures fully. After taking a complete round of the zoo, we relaxed for some time in a cool and beautiful garden nearby. The fragrance of the flowers was tremendously intoxicating. Then we had snacks and drinks, which refreshed us very much. It was evening and the sun was setting. We came out of the zoo like many other visitors. We boarded the bus while casting our last and lingering look at the zoo, which is surrounded on one side by the old but majestic wall of the old fort, which, no doubt, added to the beauty and grandeur of the zoo.

Determination of nickel Essay

INTRODUCTION EDTA (Hâ‚„Y) is widely used to determine metals in complexometric (a volumetric analysis where the formation of a coloured complex is used to indicate the end point of a titration) titrations as it forms stable complexes with most metal ions. EDTA is a tetracorboxylic acid and in alkaline conditions, it exists as Y⠁ ´Ã¢  » ions, which form 1:1 complexes with metal ions like nickel(II) ions: Y⠁ ´Ã¢  » + Ni ²Ã¢  º NiY ²Ã¢  » A metal ion indicator (an organic dye which changes colour when it binds with metal ions) shows the end of an EDTA complexometric titration. However, for a metal ion indicator to be suitable in n EDTA titration, it must not bind as strongly with metal ions as EDTA does. Murexide is therefore suitable. AIM The aim of this experiment is to determine the percentage of nickel in a nickel(II) salt using EDTA. Approximately 2.6g of hydrated nickel(II) sulphate was transferred to a weighing bottle and the contents weighed and about 25cmá ¶Å¸ of deionised water was added to a 100cmá ¶Å¸ beaker and the nickel transferred to the water. The bottle was weighed without any remaining salt and then the mixture was stirred until the solid was dissolved before the resulting solution was transferred to a 100cmá ¶Å¸ standard flask. The beaker was then rinsed several times with deionised water and the rinsings were added to the standard flask. The solution was filled up to the graduation mark with deionised water and the flask was stoppered and inverted several times to mix the contents. The burette was rinsed with 0.01moll⠁ »Ã‚ ¹ EDTA and filled with the same solution. The 20cmá ¶Å¸ pipette was rinsed with a little of the nickel salt solution and then 20cmá ¶Å¸ of it was pipetted into a conical flask. The solution was diluted to about 100cmá ¶Å¸ with deionised water and murexide indicator (approximately 0.05g) was added to the diluted nickel salt solution along with appromimately 10cmá ¶Å¸ of ammonium chloride solution. The mixture was titrated with the EDTA solution and after and after the addition of about 15cmá ¶Å¸ the solution was made alkaline by adding  approximately 10cmá ¶Å¸ of 0.88 aqueous ammonia (concentrated ammonia solution). The titration was then continued to the end point, shown by the first appearance of a blue-violet colour. Titrations were repeated until two concordant results were obtained. RESULTS Mass of 1 Mole of NiSO4.6H2O: 262.8g Mass of 1 Mole of Ni: 58.7g Theoretical Percentage by Mass: Volumes of EDTA used in titration: 1st : 20.2cm3 2nd: 20.9cm3 3rd: 20.4cm3 Average: 20.5cm3 Moles of EDTA used = 0.1 x 0.0205 = 0.00205 Moles EDTA reacts with Nickel in a 1:1 ratio, so the number of moles of Nickel in 20cm3 of the salt solution = 0.00205Moles Number of Moles in 100cm3 = 0.00205 x 5 = 0.01025 Moles Number of Moles of Ni2+ in 2.6g of Nickel salt = 0.01025 Weight of Ni2+ in salt = 0.01025 x 58.7 = 0.601675g CONCLUSION % Mass of Nickel in salt = 0.601675 à · 2.60 = 23.14%