Dont ask, Dont tell Essays - , Term Papers

Don't Ask, Don't Tell2 The Policy known as ?don't ask, don't tell? limits the military's ability to ask service members about their sexual orientation and allows homosexuals to serve provided they keep quiet about their sexual orientation and refrain from homosexual acts. It was made law in 1993 amid a debate over the roll of gays in the military. Top officers in the military opposed an attempt, by then current President, Bill Clinton to overturn an existing ban on gay service members. The policy was adopted as a compromise. The argument for the continued restrictions was that the known presence of gay men and women would decrease morale and unit cohesion. President George W. Bush supported the ?don't ask, don't tell? law during his eight years in office. Since 1993, over 12,500 gay men and women have been discharged from the service when their sexual orientation became known (?nytimes.com?, 2010). In September 2010, Virginia A. Phillips, a federal judge in California, ruled that the ?don't ask, don't tell? law violated the equal protection and First Amendment rights of service members. On October 12th, she ordered the military to stop enforcing the law. On October 19th, she denied a request from the government to leave the rules in place during the appeal. On October 20th, a federal appeals court temporarily delayed Judge Phillips' ruling, returning the law to it's original state. On November 1st, the same federal appeals court issued a ruling stating the military could continue enforcing the law until the decision that struck down the law as unconstitutional was being appealed. Don't Ask, Don't Tell3 Total repeal of the law, which requires and act of Congress, had moved slowly it the past but had gained momentum in May of 2010 when the House adopted an annual Pentagon policy bill that included a provision allowing the Defense Department to repeal the ban. But in September 2010, Senate Republicans voted unanimously to block military legislation after the House majority leader said he would attach a number of the Democrats' election year priorities to it while also moving to limit the amendments offered by Republicans. Several times in 2009, President Obama met with top Pentagon officials to discuss repealing the ?don't ask, don't tell? law. He has remained very critical of the policy, but said it was the vote of Congress to change the law. On November 8, 2010 Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that he would like to see the Senate vote to authorize the repeal of ?don't ask, don't tell? before the end of the year and he believes a soon to be released Pentagon survey of active-duty forces and their families will show that a majority will not care if gay men and women serve openly, which the law forbids. Supporters of the law say that repealing the policy would be disruptive and would affect morale and recruitment. Opponents of the law say it has been costly, discriminatory, and damaging to the unit cohesion it has sought to protect. They also add that it places commanders in the difficult position of forcing the discharge of qualified service members. Don't Ask, Don't Tell4 On November 30, 2010 the Pentagon released a study on ?don't ask, don't tell?. It has been determined that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. Armed forces will not undermine military readiness. Seventy percent of the service members who responded to the survey believe that ending the seventeen year old policy will have little or no effect on unit cohesion. Seventy four percent of military spouses said ?don't ask, don't tell? repeal will not affect their husband's or wife's ability to serve. Sixty nine percent of service members said they had served with someone who was gay or lesbian. Of those who had, Ninety two percent said the unit cohesion was either ?very good?, ?good?, or ?neither good or poor?(?defense.gov? 2010). Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, called the report ?one of the most expansive studies ever done on military personnel issues?. He also stated about the report, ?one that examines not only the impact of repeal, but also how to best implement a new policy across the joint force?. The report included survey results from about

Edward Scissorhands is much more than just an amusing story- it is a social commentary.

Edward Scissorhands is much more than just an amusing story- it is a social commentary. Many people have enjoyed and laughed along the queer and strange tale of Edward Scissorhands. Yet, as amusing as it is, the story is just not a movie to make people laugh at the absurdities of the characters. It is more of a commentary which portrays how we isolate people just because they are different. Yes, we many deny this kind of behaviour in this world. But it is real- for example- Bullying.Picture this: A man with scissors for hands. He has scars all over his ghostly white face. His body has a skin of hard black material. His hair is wild. Is he a freak? To tell you the truth, I think he is just because of his appearance. But the movie makes the same scene. He is isolated because people only judge him of his appearance and they treat as a freak.Edward Scissorhands also exposes the fear of people to new cultures, races, social groups and the isolated people simple because they are different to 'normal' people.EDWARD ALTMAN 100B9542.JPGFor example in one scene where Edward eats with the family, the whole family is staring, or just feeling awkward. They are acting like that not just because he is a stranger who is eating with them, but he is so different to the family -especially his hands.The film also expresses the need to not just judge people by their looks, but saying that if you go further into their heart, you would find gold. So it joins the 'beauty is not on the outside, but in the outside debate'. It is basically valuing not just beauty, but the beauty of your soul.An issue brought up in the film is also segregation in the community with different groups. It is almost like the olden days in...

Global Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Global Business - Essay Example The weaknesses and threats on the other hand arise from the external environment and the business may not have any control over such. The business must therefore implement specific policies to streamline its operations with the view of maximizing profitability based on the above. PEST analysis on the other hand investigates political, economic, social and technological factors that affect the operations of the business. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 Table of Contents 3 PEST Analysis 4 PEST analysis for the newspaper industry in developed economies 5 SWOT Analysis of The Guardian 6 Strengths 6 Weakness 7 Opportunities 7 Threats 7 Field Force Analysis for the newspaper industry in the developed world 8 The Indian Newspaper industry 9 References 10 PEST Analysis PEST analysis is a management tool that analyses the macro economic factors that affect the operations of a business in any industry and market. The tool that investigates social, economic, social and technological facto rs provides a realistic survey of any market by analyzing all the potential sources of either opportunities or threats that influence the operations of the business. Political factors are fundamental since politics influence the legal factors that influence the market. ... Such present businesses with operational challenges as the populace turn against each other thus instigating looting and massive destruction of establishments. In such a country, a business may consider seeking insurance services against political violence. This way, politics creates market for other service providers while threatening others. Similarly, social, economic and technological factors also create and destroy markets thus influences the viability of a market. Technology influences both productivity and consumption of product. The prevailing technological factors will therefore influence the consumers thus creating markets for particular products and services while threatening the viability of other markets. Such social factors as religion and cultures equally influence the consumption of certain products and services thus creating potential markets for specific products while eliminating the possibility of selling particular products in such regions. The entrepreneur must therefore employ the PEST analysis continuously to align the operations of the business and the production process to the prevailing factors thus achieving the profitability objective (Homburg, Sabine & Harley, 2009). PEST analysis for the newspaper industry in developed economies Developed economies such as the United States of America have effective democratic system implying that the markets in the countries enjoy stability and peaceful environments for operations. Besides the conducive environments, the presses in the countries enjoy a degree of freedom and independence that opens the market for any willing investor. With effective leadership, the populace enjoy myriad freedoms with the governments often

The Development of Eating Disorders Dissertation

The Development of Eating Disorders - Dissertation Example Exploring the development of eating disorders, both on an individual and societal level is also important in such a study, and thus this paper will discuss how Westernization and eating disorder prevalence exhibit positive correlation in the literature. Body image dissatisfaction is also an important factor in the development of eating disorders and as such information has been gathered from different cultures to illustrate the link, again providing more evidence for a sociological basis for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder development in individuals. The conclusion of this paper was that the media, particularly the internet, plays a significant role in the development of the eating disorder, particularly in different social and cultural groups of people. Table of Contents Eating Disorders 3 Introduction 4 Hypothesis 7 Literature Review 8 Participants 21 Results 22 Discussion 28 Conclusion 35 Recommendations 37 References 39 Eating Disorders A brief descrip tion of the eating disorders discussed below is necessary to explain some of the behaviors and influences described. Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is identified in an individual who refuses to maintain a healthy body weight and has an excessive fear of weight gain (Barker, 2003, p98). AN is associated with, more so than with other eating disorders, body image dissatisfaction and a distorted self-image (Rosen, Reiter & Orosan, 1995, p78). AN patients can also display behaviors associated with BN such as purging, but are diagnostically anorexic due to maintaining a weight below 85% of what is considered healthy and three consecutive months of amenorrhea (Polivy & Herman, 2002, p188). The average age of onset for AN is 17 (Barker, 2003, p98) although studies show this is becoming lower with time (Favaro et al., 2009). Bulimia Nervosa Bulimia nervosa is characterized by food restriction, as in AN, interspersed with short periods of overeating (also known a s binge eating) that results in feelings of guilt, low self-esteem or panic. These periods of overeating are often followed by purging mechanisms such as purposeful vomiting, laxative use or excessive exercise (Barker, 2003, p102).

Positioning and Differentiation Paper - Health Care Marketing Research

Positioning and Differentiation - Health Care Marketing - Research Paper Example The main objective of the paper is to identify the positioning and differentiation strategies of two healthcare organizations i.e. Cascade Valley Hospital & Clinics and Overlake Hospital Medical Center. The study will also endeavor at finding similarities and differentiating aspects between the two healthcare organizations. Differentiation and Positioning Strategies of Overlake Hospital Medical Center Overlake Hospital Medical Center is a nonprofit regional medical centre that provides its patients with highly developed medical related services. The organization is monitored by a Board of Directors. The company has nearly 2500 employees and has nearly 1000 active as well as courtesy physicians as the workforce (Overlake Hospital, 2012). It can be mentioned that innumerable strategies are employed by the healthcare organizations in order to keep themselves competitive. Overlake Hospital Medical Center situated at Belluvue has commenced a cardiac blog. Through this cardiac blog, the or ganization aims at educating the patients regarding the methods through which heart diseases can be prevented (Overlake Hospital, 2012). ... s been created in order to attract, retain and thus ensure that all the parties involved are satisfied with the policies and the strategies of the company. The company has positioned itself as a liaison between nursing, administration along with human resources, foundation and community in order to collectively influence the resources, associations and policies so that Overlake Hospital can be placed as one of the most preferred hospitals/employers in the domestic market as well as abroad. Health Grades have offered Overlake Hospital with five-star designation on numerous grounds. Overlake Hospital offers high quality of care and support to the patients who are suffering from cancer as well as other emergencies. The integrated cancer care team of the hospital generally has one objective which is to offer the patients suffering from cancer with expert care that has been customized to the unique requirements of each of the patients. The trademark of quality care is compassion, skilled care as well as speed at Overlake’s new Emergency & Trauma Center. The unit is considered to be the only Level III trauma centre on the Eastside (KMPG, 2011). It has been observed that the hospital offers care without charge and at reduced rates to the patients who are capable of qualifying for charity care as per the rules and the regulations of the hospital. During the year 2010 and 2011, the cost of charity was nearly US$5561000 and US$4507000 respectively (KMPG, 2011). Overlake Hospital as a part of its differentiation strategy offers care to the Medicaid patients at a price which is quite below the cost of offering the services. The hospital is also involved in numerous other activities in order to maintain competitive advantage. It has been apparent that the company is involved in

The Extraction And Purification Of Paracetamol Essay

The Extraction And Purification Of Paracetamol Essay Analysing the Quantity and Purity of Paracetamol Present in Different Formulations of the Commercial Medicine Aim The aim of this investigation was to determine the percentage by mass of pure paracetamol in formulations of branded paracetamol in 500mg tablets. Two techniques were used so as to determine this: -Extraction and purification of tablets by filtration and recrystallisation. -Hydrolysis of the drug under reflux followed by titration against ammonium cerium sulphate. In addition to this, the purity of the paracetamol was investigated by determination of melting point of the respective brands of paracetamol. Findings Using the extraction and purification procedure it was found that Tesco had the greatest percentage by mass of the active ingredient, paracetamol, at 46.8%. Morrisons tablet percentage by mass was 44.6% while Superdrug had a percentage by mass of 37.8%. Using the reflux and titration procedure it was found that Superdrug had the greatest percentage by mass of the active ingredient, paracetamol at 20.0%. The Tesco percentage by mass was 19.6% while Morissons was 18.5%. The melting point procedure concluded that all three crude samples had similar purity of paracetamol with melting point at 156oC. The melting point of the Morrisons recrystallised paracetamol was 168oC, Superdrug had a melting point of 165oC while Tesco had a melting point of 164oC. This shows that Morrisons had the highest purity of pure paracetamol followed by Superdrug and then Tesco. Underlying ChemistryHistory and Uses Paracetamol (C8H9NO2) (or acetaminophen) is the most common over the counter painkiller in the world. It was discovered in 1852 by Charles Fredric Gerhardt who later went on to discover aspirin. The drug is so popular due to the few side effects it has on the body and does not irritate the stomach like other commonly used drugs such as aspirin. The structure is as shown: Paracetamol is used for relief of headaches, fever, menstrual pain, back pain, toothache and other general pain; however it is ineffective against muscle pain as it possesses no anti-inflammatory properties. Non-opioid analgesics work by inhibiting an enzyme known as cyclooxygenase (COX). COX is a catalyst for the conversion of a fatty acid contained in cell walls—arachidonic acid—to substances known as prostaglandins. (tuftsjournal.tufts.edu.) Prostaglandins have many functions including the induction of pain. By reducing the production of prostaglandins the pain is relieved. Paracetamol does not affect the cause of the pain but rather combats the biochemical pathway which results in the feeling of pain. Prostaglandins also affect the hypothalamus in the brain, the centre which is responsible for the maintenance of our bodies internal environment despite changes to the external environment, i.e. homeostasis. The prostaglandins cause the body to raise its temperature, and hence by taking paracetamol the body temperature is lowered. Paracetamol is therefore classed as antipyretic as it lowers the body temperature. Due to these properties the drug is commonly used to combat flu and cold symptoms. The range of pain combatted by paracetamol alongside the fact that it has very few side effects has resulted in it being the most commonly used painkiller. Paracetamol is also popular because of the rate at which pain subsides from its use due to the rapid uptake in the body. Absorption: Rapidly and almost completely absorbed from the G.I. tract. Peak plasma concentrations are reached in 10-60 minutes.(labmed.yale.edu) Methodology Two techniques were used in the determination of the mass of active ingredient present in the tablets. The first was the extraction and purification of paracetamol from tablets. The second was an acid catalysed hydrolysis under reflux followed by titrations against ammonium cerium sulphate. The use of the melting point allowed the purity of the paracetamol to be determined. The extraction and purification of paracetamol This procedure extracted paracetamol from the tablets by crystallisation. The paracetamol tablets were crushed and dissolved in propanone at a raised temperature; this decreased the time required for the paracetamol to dissolve. The binding agents and fillers in the tablet are insoluble in propanone however the paracetamol is soluble. This results in the paracetamol forming a solution in the propanone while the other components of the tablet are left as insoluble residue. The solution was filtered to remove the residue. The filtrate was left to evaporate forming crystals of paracetamol. These crystals were then dissolved in hot water and then filtered through cotton wool to remove any binding agents left. This filtrate was left in the fridge and shards of paracetamol formed. This relies on the fact that paracetamol has a high solubility in hot water but a low one in cold water. This allows shards of paracetamol to form. The soluble impurities are only present to the level of a few percent and so never reach their limit of solubility and thus stay in solution. (Ellis, 2002) The pure recrystallised paracetamol was then dried and its mass measured. The percentage by mass was then calculated. Reflux and titrations This procedure required the paracetamol to be boiled under reflux for one hour with sulphuric acid. This acid catalysed hydrolysis broke down the paracetamol (an amide) into an amine (4-aminophenol) and a carboxylic acid (ethanoic acid.) The raised temperature was used so as thermally accelerate the reaction. The reaction is shown below: (Overall reaction) This reaction mechanism may be found in the appendix. The use of reflux apparatus ensured that the reaction vessel never boiled dry. This is because any vapour formed from heating in the reaction vessel was turned back into a liquid by condensation. The benefit of using a heating mantle was that it ensured that a constant temperature, heating the round bottomed flask over a greater surface area. This procedure produced 4-aminophenol. This has a hydroxyl group on carbon 1 and an amine group on the carbon 1. Since the nitrogen is attached to only one carbon it is a primary amine. The 4-aminophenol can then be oxidised using ammonium cerium sulphate, involving the loss of hydrogen from the 4-aminophenol using ferroin as an indicator. This produced iminoquinone. Only after all the 4-aminophenol has been oxidised will the cerium (IV) reagent oxidise the ferroin indicator from Fe2+ to Fe3+ (ferriin). (Ellis, 2002) This resulted in the colour change from red to yellow, as the red ferroin is oxidised to ferriin which is blue. This is shown in the diagram below When mixed with the ammonium cerium sulphate this produced a yellow colour which indicated the end point of the titration. A titration was also carried out without the test material being present and the difference between the values with the test species present and absent accounted for the mass of paracetamol present. The difference in volumes of titre required for the colour change is directly proportional to the mass of paracetamol present in the tablet (0.007560g per 1cm3 equivalent titre.) Melting Point By measuring the melting points of the given formulations, the purity of the paracetamol was able to be determined. Melting point apparatus worked by heating the species in a capillary tube which itself was inserted into a heating block. By looking through a lens at the species, the moment at which the species melted could be seen and then at this moment the reading on the thermometer could be viewed. When a substance is heated, there is an increase in entropy as the species is thermally excited. If enough energy is put into the substance, it results in a change of state, in this case solid to liquid. The three brands of paracetamol melting points were measured for the tablet, the crude and the recrystallised samples. Pure paracetamol is a white crystalline solid which melts at 169-171oC. (Ellis 2002). The impurities in the samples lower the melting points. The sample which was closest to the given melting point represents the purest sample of paracetamol. Procedures The Extraction and Purification of Paracetamol Please note this experiment was carried out twice for each brand and an average taken. This was then duplicated so as to improve the reliability. (This is shown in results as the replicate.) Paracetamol was extracted from three brands of paracetamol; Morrisons, Superdrug and Tesco. These procedures represent the procedure used for each brand. Two tablets were weighed using a balance (accurate to 2 D.P.) then crushed using a mortar and pestle. The ground tablets were placed in a beaker. 50cm3 of propanone was measured using a pipette. The propanone was used to rinse the mortar and pestle before adding it to the beaker. The beaker was left on a brisk stir at a low heat until the tablet was dissolved as far as possible. The insoluble material was the binding agents and fillers. Initially 20cm3 of propanone was used however it was found that the tablets did not dissolve fully. A Buchner Funnel was set up as shown (see left.) The insoluble material (binding agents and fillers) collects in the filter paper. The filtrate (propanone and paracetamol) is collected in the filtering flask. A little propanone was run through the filter paper so as to create a seal between the filter paper and the base as shown on the above diagram. This prevented the insoluble material from passing through the holes in the funnel. The content of the beaker was passed through the funnel and a little propanone was used to rinse the beaker. The filtrate was left in an evaporating basin overnight in an oven. This formed crude paracetamol crystals. The mass of the crystals was taken. The crystals were placed in a beaker and 20cm3 of hot water was added. The beaker was heated on a brisk stir until the paracetamol had dissolved. This was passed through a warmed wet piece of cotton wool in a warmed glass funnel. This was to prevent the paracetamol from recrystallising in the cotton during filtration. The filtrate was passed directly into a basin. The basin was placed in the fridge overnight to cool and to allow the crystals to form. These crystals were white. The recrystallised paracetamol in water was passed through a piece of fluted filter paper to collect the crystals. (Initially the paracetamol was filtered out of the water using a sintered glass crucible however this produced a lower yield as crystals were lost when using this technique. See table 22.) The filter paper and crystals were placed in an oven at room temperature overnight to allow the crystals to dry. These crystals were white. The dry mass of the crystals was measured. This procedure was replicated for each brand of paracetamol. Reflux and titrations Please note that this procedure was carried out once for each brand of paracetamol. This was then duplicated so as to improve the reliability. (This is shown in the results as the replicate.) The first stage of this procedure involved the acid hydrolysis of paracetamol: 15cm3 of 2 molar solution of sulphuric acid and 25cm3 of water were measured using a pipette and placed in a 100ml round bottomed flask. To this 0.30g of crushed (using mortar and pestle) paracetamol tablet was added, having measured the paracetamol using a balance (accurate to 2 D.P.) This was swirled and warmed until the tablet was dissolved. This was then boiled under reflux for one hour in a heating mantle as shown below: The paracetamol and sulphuric acid were placed nn the round bottomed flask. The solution turned from colourless to a light golden colour. The solution was cooled and 100cm3 of water was added. 20cm3 of the resulting solution was pipetted into a conical flask with 15cm3 of 2 molar Hydrochloric acid, 40cm3 of water and precisely 8 drops of ferroin indicator. This was then titrated against 0.1 molar solution of ammonium cerium sulphate until colour changed from a pink/peach colour to a cloudy yellow colour. (The colour change was not very obvious during this procedure. Therefore previous titration colours were kept beside the species to try to standardize the colour at which the end point of the titration was determined.) The titrations were repeated until two results were within 0.1cm3 of each other i.e. until two concordant results were obtained. The apparatus is as shown overleaf: The burette was filled with the yellow ammonium cerium sulphate solution and the conical flask contained the paracetamol acid mixture. This procedure was also repeated without the test material present. Melting Point During this procedure, the melting points of the recrystallised, crude and unaltered tablet forms of paracetamol were investigated. The sample of species was crushed into a powder using a mortar and pestle. Capillary tubes (1mm diameter, 10cm long) were sealed at one end using a Bunsen burner. This provided a place to hold the paracetamol when using the melting point apparatus. The capillary tube was placed turned open-side-down and pressed onto the paracetamol formulations. Then the closed end of the capillary tubes was gently tapped on the table to allow the paracetamol to fall to the closed end. This was then placed open-side-up into the metal heating block alongside a thermometer. The temperature was slowly increased using the thermostat on the melting point apparatus while the paracetamol was viewed through the magnifying glass on the apparatus. The point at which the paracetamol melted was then recorded. Results Initial Extraction and purification The crystals of the crude and recrystallised paracetamol were both white. The crude crystals were prismatic shaped while the recrystallised paracetamol formed long shards. Table 1 shows the mass of crude paracetamol from each tablet: Table 1 Brand Mass (g) Sample 1 Sample 2 Average Tesco 0.94 1.00 0.97 Morrisons 1.01 1.00 1.01 Superdrug 0.97 0.92 0.95 Table 2 shows the mass of recrystallised paracetamol from each tablet: Table 2 Brand Mass (g) Sample 1 Sample 2 Average Tesco 0.58 0.49 0.54 Morrisons 0.44 0.49 0.47 Superdrug 0.36 0.48 0.42 Table 3 shows the percentage by mass of crude paracetamol compared to the mass of two tablets (1.10g): Table 3 Brand Percentage of Crude Paracetamol (%) Tesco 88.2 Morrisons 91.8 Superdrug 86.4 (Calculations may be found in the appendix) Table 4 shows the mass of recrystallised paracetamol compared to the respective mass of two tablets (1.10g): Table 4 Brand Percentage of pure Paracetamol (%) Tesco 49.1 Morrisons 42.7 Superdrug 38.2 (Calculations may be found in the appendix) Reflux and titrations Table 5 shows the volume of Ammonium Cerium sulphate required for the colour change from red to yellow to occur without the test species present (paracetamol): Table 5 Titration Initial Titre (cm3) Final Titre (cm3) Volume of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate needed for the colour change (cm3) Rough 0.0 0.5 0.5 First 0.5 1.0 0.5 Second 1.0 1.5 0.5 Average Titre = (0.5+0.5)/2 = 0.5cm3 Table 6 shows the volume of Ammonium Cerium sulphate required for the colour change from red to yellow to occur using Tesco paracetamol: Table 6 Titration Initial Titre (cm3) Final Titre (cm3) Volume of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate needed for the colour change (cm3) Rough 0.0 8.6 8.6 First 8.6 15.8 7.2 Second 15.8 23.1 7.3 Average volume = (7.2+7.3)/2 = 7.25cm3 Amended titre = 7.25-0.5 = 6.75cm3 As 1 cm3 of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate = 0.007560g of Paracetamol 6.75 x 0.007560 = 0.05103g So, if 0.3g of tablet 0.05103g of pure Paracetamol Then, 0.55g of tablet 0.093555g of pure Paracetamol Percentage by mass (0.093555/0.55) x 100 =17.0% Table 7 shows the volume of Ammonium Cerium sulphate required for the colour change from red to yellow to occur using Morrisons paracetamol: Table 7 Titration Initial Titre (cm3) Final Titre (cm3) Volume of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate needed for the colour change (cm3) Rough 0.0 7.4 7.4 First 7.4 14.4 7.0 Second 14.4 21.5 7.1 Average volume = (7.0+7.1)/2 = 7.05cm3 Amended titre = 7.05-0.5 = 6.55cm3 As 1 cm3 of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate = 0.007560g of Paracetamol 6.55 x 0.007560 = 0.049518g So, if 0.3g of tablet 0.049518g of pure Paracetamol Then, 0.55g of tablet 0.090783g of pure Paracetamol Percentage by mass (0.090783/0.55) x 100 =16.5% Table 8 shows the volume of Ammonium Cerium sulphate required for the colour change from red to yellow to occur using Superdrug paracetamol: Table 8 Titration Initial Titre (cm3) Final Titre (cm3) Volume of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate needed for the colour change (cm3) Rough 0.0 9.7 9.7 First 9.7 18.6 8.9 Second 18.8 27.8 9.0 Average volume = (8.9+9.0)/2 = 8.95cm3 Amended titre = 8.95-0.5 = 8.45cm3 As 1 cm3 of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate = 0.007560g of Paracetamol 8.45 x 0.007560 = 0.063882g So, if 0.3g of tablet 0.063882g of pure Paracetamol Then, 0.55g of tablet 0.117117g of pure Paracetamol Percentage by mass (0.117117/0.55) x 100 =21.3% Table 9 shows the melting points of the paracetamol: Table 9 Brand Melting Point (0C) Tablet Sample Crude Sample Recrystallised Sample Tesco 140 155 163 Morrisons 145 157 167 Superdrug 139 159 164 Replicate Extraction and purification The crystals of the crude and recrystallised paracetamol were both white. The crude crystals were prismatic shaped while the recrystallised paracetamol formed long shards. Table 10 shows the mass of crude paracetamol from each tablet: Table 10 Brand Mass (g) Sample 1 Sample 2 Average Tesco 1.00 0.98 0.99 Morrisons 1.00 1.04 1.02 Superdrug 1.01 0.97 0.99 Table 11 shows the mass of recrystallised paracetamol from each tablet: Table 11 Brand Mass (g) Sample 1 Sample 2 Average Tesco 0.51 0.46 0.49 Morrisons 0.53 0.49 0.51 Superdrug 0.40 0.42 0.41 Table 12 shows the percentage by mass of crude paracetamol compared to the mass of two tablets (1.10g) Table 12 Brand Percentage of crude Paracetamol (%) Tesco 90.0 Morrisons 92.7 Superdrug 90.0 (Calculations may be found in the appendix) Table 13 shows the mass of recrystallised paracetamol compared to the mass of two tablets (1.10g): Table 13 Brand Percentage of pure Paracetamol (%) Tesco 44.5 Morrisons 46.4 Superdrug 37.3 (Calculations may be found in the appendix) Reflux and titrations Table 14 shows the volume of Ammonium Cerium sulphate required for the colour change from red to yellow to occur without the test species present (paracetamol): Table 14 Titration Initial Titre (cm3) Final Titre (cm3) Volume of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate needed for the colour change (cm3) Rough 0.0 0.5 0.5 First 0.5 1.1 0.6 Second 1.1 1.6 0.5 Average volume = (0.5+0.6)/2 = 0.55 cm3 Table 15 shows the volume of Ammonium Cerium sulphate required for the colour change from red to yellow to occur using Tesco paracetamol: Table 15 Titration Initial Titre (cm3) Final Titre (cm3) Volume of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate needed for the colour change (cm3) Rough 0.0 10.6 10.6 First 10.6 20.0 9.4 Second 20.0 29.3 9.3 Average volume = (9.3+9.4)/2 = 9.35cm3 Amended titre = 9.35-0.55 = 8.8cm3 As 1 cm3 of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate = 0.007560g of Paracetamol 8.8 x 0.007560 = 0.066528g So, if 0.3g of tablet 0.066528g of pure Paracetamol Then, 0.55g of tablet 0.121968g of pure Paracetamol Percentage by mass (0.121968/0.55) x 100 =22.2% Table 16 shows the volume of Ammonium Cerium sulphate required for the colour change from red to yellow to occur using Morrisons paracetamol: Table 16 Titration Initial Titre (cm3) Final Titre (cm3) Volume of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate needed for the colour change (cm3) Rough 21.5 30.5 9.0 First 30.5 39.5 9.0 Second 39.5 47.6 8.1 Third 0.00 8.6 8.6 Fourth 8.6 17.3 8.7 Average volume = (8.7+8.6)/2 = 8.65cm3 Amended titre = 8.65-0.55 = 8.1cm3 As 1 cm3 of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate = 0.007560g of Paracetamol 8.1 x 0.007560 = 0.061236g So, if 0.3g of tablet 0.061236g of pure Paracetamol Then, 0.55g of tablet 0.112266g of pure Paracetamol Percentage by mass (0.112266/0.55) x 100 =20.4% Table 17 shows the volume of Ammonium Cerium sulphate required for the colour change from red to yellow to occur using Superdrug paracetamol: Table 17 Titration Initial Titre (cm3) Final Titre (cm3) Volume of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate needed for the colour change (cm3) Rough 0.0 8.3 8.3 First 8.3 16.2 7.9 Second 16.2 24.2 8.0 Average volume = (7.9+8.0)/2 = 7.95cm3 Amended titre = 7.95-0.55 = 7.4cm3 As 1 cm3 of ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate = 0.007560g of Paracetamol 7.4 x 0.007560 = 0.055944g So, if 0.3g of tablet 0.055944g of pure Paracetamol Then, 0.55g of tablet 0.102564g of pure Paracetamol Percentage by mass (0.102564/0.55) x 100 =18.6% Table 18 shows the melting points of the paracetamol: Table 18 Brand Melting Point (0C) Tablet Sample Crude Sample Recrystallised Sample Tesco 143 156 165 Morrisons 144 155 168 Superdrug 141 153 166 Averages of Initial and replicate Table 19 shows percentage by mass of recrystallised paracetamol: Table 19 Percentage by mass% Brand Initial Replicate Average Tesco 49.1 44.5 46.8 Morrrisons 42.7 46.4 44.6 Superdrug 38.2 37.3 37.8 Table 20 shows percentage by mass of pure paracetamol determined from reflux and titrations: Table 20 Percentage by mass % Brand Initial Replicate Average Tesco 17.0 22.2 19.6 Morrisons 16.5 20.4 18.5 Superdrug 21.3 18.6 20.0 Table 21 shows the melting point of paracetamol of crude and recrystallised paracetamol: Table 21 Melting point (oC) Crude Recrystallised Brand Initial Replicate Average Initial Replicate Average Tesco 155 156 156 163 165 164 Morrisons 157 155 156 167 168 168 Superdrug 159 153 156 164 166 165 Table 22 shows the results using a sintered glass crucible rather than filter paper during the filtration of Tesco recrystallised paracetamol: Table 22 Sample 1 Sample 2 Mass of crystals (g) 0.31 0.12 Conclusions The aim of this investigation was to determine the percentage by mass of pure paracetamol in formulations of branded paracetamol in 500mg tablets. Two techniques were employed so as to determine this: -Extraction and purification of tablets by filtration and recrystallisation. -Hydrolysis of the drug under reflux followed by titration against ammonium cerium sulphate. In addition to this, the purity of the paracetamol was investigated by determination of melting point of the respective brands of paracetamol. The results of these procedures are discussed below. Extraction and purification Using this procedure it was found that Tesco had the greatest percentage by mass of the active ingredient, paracetamol, at 46.8%. Morrisons tablet percentage by mass was 44.6% while Superdrug had a percentage by mass of 37.8%. Reflux and Titrations Using this procedure it was found that Superdrug had the greatest percentage by mass of the active ingredient, paracetamol at 20.0%. The Tesco percentage by mass was 19.6% while Morissons was 18.5%. Results were different for each respective brand of paracetamol and different between the two procedures. Melting Point The melting points of the crude paracetamol were all 156oC thus showing that all formulations of crude paracetamol had similar purity, and hence the first crystallization of the paracetamol was carried out very accurately. The melting point of the Morrisons recrystallised paracetamol was 168oC which compared well with the given melting point of 169-171oC. Superdrug had a melting point of 165oC while Tesco had a melting point of 164oc. This shows that Morrisons had the highest purity of pure paracetamol followed by Superdrug and then Tesco. Evaluation Evaluation of procedures Control of variables During the filtration and recrystallising process two tablets were used in each sample and two samples were taken. This, alongside the duplication of results, gives 8 tablets which were used in the determination using this method and an average taken. This increased the reliability of the results. During the procedures the same balances, burettes, flasks and pipettes were used so as to reduce the effects of error in these measurements. When titrations were carried out, a rough titration was initially done so as to determine the equivalence point. This was followed by accurate titrations. When two concurrent values were within 0.1cm3, an average was taken between these two values. The average was used to determine the mass of pure paracetamol greatly increasing the reliability of the results. Since the end point of the titration was not very obvious, previous titrations were kept aside so as to standardise the intensity of yellow in the solution, so that all titrations had the same end point colour. This increased the reliability of the titrations. All equipment used was cleaned using propanone to prevent chemicals from previous experiments contaminating this investigation. In addition to this the burettes and pipettes were rinsed with the solutions, before being filled with the same solution to prevent contamination. When using the balance, as far as possible, it was placed away from draughts and windows so as to prevent the wind causing error in the weighing of substances. Where possible, all reaction vessels and weighing receptacles were rinsed using a little of the liquid which would be used. This increased the yield of results, preventing the reactants being lost in the process. Modifications Initially, when dissolving the paracetamol in propanone, the tablet was not crushed however it took an inordinate time for the tablet to dissolve; by the time it had dissolved most of the propanone had evaporated The volume of propanone was increased from 20cm3 to 50cm3 because more paracetamol dissolved. This allowed a greater percentage of the paracetamol to be extracted from the tablets. Consequentially it took longer for the crude paracetamol crystals to form. Initially a sintered glass crucible was used to filter the recrystallised paracetamol. This resulted in the paracetamol being lost, so filter paper was fluted and used instead. This resulted in a greater mass of recrystallised paracetamol being collected. When the paracetamol was being added to sulphuric acid, initially it was unheated and just swirled, however not all the paracetamol dissolved and hence, the sulphuric acid was warmed with the paracetamol to dissolve the crushed tablet before being boiled under reflux. When using the ammonium cerium (IV) sulphate, it was found that if left for any length of time greater than one hour the solute came out of solution, therefore, before pouring the solution into the burette, it was stirred vigorously using a magnetic stirrer to ensure the same concentration of solution was used in every titration. Because of this, the burette was only set up immediately before use. Evaluation of results Both procedures resulted in significantly lower percentages than the mass of paracetamol in each tablet as stated on the box. The expected percentage by mass was expected to be 90.9%. This is calculated as shown: Mass of tablet – 0.55g Mass of paracetamol (on box) 0.50g (0.5/0.55) x 100 = 90.9% Generally the replicate compared well with the initial experiment, with a maximum difference of 4.6% by mass for the first procedure. For the second procedure there was a maximum difference of 5.2% by mass. This can be put down to errors in the equipment and human errors when carrying out procedures. The fact that both procedures indicated different formulations contained the most paracetamol, may be due to the fact that often paracetamol was taken from different blister packs, and hence from different batches, which may contain different masses of paracetamol. However human errors and errors in equipment are more likely to be to blame. It can also be broadly sai

St. Pauls Cathedral in London, England Essay -- Saint Paul Architectu

St. Paul’s Cathedral, in London, England, was designed by architect Sir Christopher Wren. Approval of this most significant architectural project took six years just for the plan. Construction, which began in 1675, took thirty-five years until finally complete in 1710. It was built to replace a church that had been leveled by the Great Fire of 1666. St. Paul's is the largest cathedral in England, and said to be Wren's masterpiece. He brought a range of new forms, and architectural combination into English architecture. Masonry, brick, timber, and cut stone were used to form the structure of the cathedral. St. Paul’s Cathedral has been one of the main socially significant buildings in London. Cathedrals all around, have always played a large role in the communities they serve. Their fundamental purpose is to bring people closer to God, but over the centuries they have served as a focal point for trade, as a stronghold and a place of safety in times of war, and as immense status symbols. The functions, of a cathedral, take on an additional significance for St Paul's, because it’s known as the cathedral of the capital city and, of the nation. The present building is also the first cathedral to have been built since the creation of the Church of England in 1534, when religion was brought under the direct control of the monarch. This quote from Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage really shows the significance the Church has made in England. â€Å"St Paul's Cathedral is the internationally recognized signature of London and the capital's most important historic and architectural focal point. Only St Paul's and the Palace of Westminster are protected by strategic views but the proposed tower disregards this legal protection and the significance of the Cathedral as the icon of London.† The West Front, which faces the heart of the City of London, is an iconic image with great national significance. It is through the famous West Doors that so many British monarchs and distinguished figures have entered the Cathedral. The nation’s â€Å"best-loved† church, St Paul’s has hosted some of the most important commemorative events in British history. In recent years the memorial service for the victims of 9/11, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday. Also, it was where the funeral services of Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, and Winston Churchi... ...rchitecture into the early neo-classical/ baroque style. Wren’s style was one of simple magnificence. His style was composed more of in agreeable proportions rather than glorious decoration. Wren was believed to have contributed design ideas for many buildings for which he did not do final designs. Wren’s design concepts were carried into the early years of the eighteenth century by fellow architects, Hawksmoor, and his partner Vanbrugh. However, Wren’s relative simplicity, and his â€Å"Protestant plainness† in comparison with European â€Å"Popish† richness, was dominated in their designs by superimpose of rich applied decoration and a more complex and extravagant style. His greatest renown was for St. Paul’s Cathedral, but his major public buildings, and the delicacy and variety displayed in the fifty-or-so parish churches, also contribute to his enduring influence in architecture down to the present day. Until the arrival of the modern skyscraper, St. Paul's dominated the London skyline as a symbol of the stability of the Church of England and English government and society. When Sir Christopher Wren died in 1723 he became the first person to be buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

Troy v, Iliad

Guidelines for the Comparative analysis of the movie â€Å"Troy† and â€Å"The Iliad† Your comparative essay should be typed in single space paragraphing (font 12 Times New Roman) and it should be at least 500 words. (I will use the â€Å"word count† feature in Microsoft Word to check the number of words. ) Try not to exceed 1000 words at most. Your essay should be the result of your own contemplations, observations and conclusions. You can read other sources for this assignment but you should not copy at any form or to any degree the sources you have read. You can just use the ideas gained through sources in your own words. If you do so, however, you should definitely cite the references to your sources. In case you use a source and forget to cite it or even worse if you copy from a source the score for your paper will be zero. So please beware of intentional or unintentaional plagiarism. In writing up the paper first watch the movie completely and if needed take notes. (The DVD of the movie is provided to you. )Then, compare what you have seen with what you have read and try to find out the reasons for the differences. The followinig notes may help you: ?Note the changes in value systems in the past and present ?Note the reasons for the changes and modifications that have taken place in the creation of the movie. (including commercial, political, values, †¦) ?Focus on justification premises for the atrocities and savagery that is depicted as valor and courage in the Iliad. ?Explore the contributions (messages) that the two works make to human culture in their own context. Iliad vs. Troy Movie. Neither Athena with her matchless wisdom, nor Apollo with his talent of prophecy, could foretell that someday Prometheus’s fragile creature, human, would become rude in a scale that not only would turn his back to the gods, but also would distort their presence and effects in the human history. â€Å"Briseis: Well, then your men did. The sun god will have his vengeance. Achilles: What's he waiting for? Briseis: The right time to strike. Achilles: His priests are dead, and his acolyte's a captive. I think your god is afraid of me? Briseis: Afraid? Apollo is master of the sun, he fears nothing. Achilles: Where is he? †(Troy) The movie â€Å"Troy†, which is an adaptation of Homer’s Iliad, is an obvious twist of it, both historically and literarily. There are numerous differences between them that can be observed and revealed. Here, I am going to highlight some of inordinate modifications of Homer’s Iliad in Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy; and, then, try to go beyond the surface to discover the reasons for such changes. The movie duration is about 163 minutes; and it takes 50 minutes to reach to the starting point of the Iliad. Although there are, also, several rotations of the classical myths events in the first 50 minutes that even an amateur classic mythology reader can remark it fallacies, I will not enter that domain. I will just refer to the changes that are in contrary with the Iliad and can be retrieved by the information that Homer presents. For instance, in the Iliad we see that it was Paris’s doom to go to Sparta and fall in love with Helen. But the movie gives no account for the background of the story and the destination’s role. Another incident which is not mentioned in the Iliad is Achilles’s rapid action to siege the beach of Troy and invading Apollo’s temple. The major modification of the Iliad is the absence of Gods in the movie. There is no information about them but some names that elder characters mention and some statues. The only Goddess that we can see in the movie is Thetis, Achilles’s mother, who is a nymph according to the Iliad, half human, half fish. But the director of the movie does not want to put emphasis on the divinity part and although Achilles meets her in the water, picturing her fish part is cleverly avoided by the director. Apollo in the movie is just a wretched God who is not able to avenge the offence that Myrmidons have done to him. In the minute 42 of the story, Achilles beheads Apollo’s statue. While in the Iliad, Achilles respects Gods and makes sacrifices for them. In another scene, in the minute 29, while Hector is urging Priam, his father, to return Helen to Sparta to avoid a war, Priam tells him not to worry because, â€Å"Apollo watches over us. Even Agamemnon is no match for the Gods. †(Troy) But Hector replies, â€Å"And how many battalions does the Sun God command? †(Troy) This is not the only place in the movie that Hector, who is protected and respected by gods in the Iliad and highly believes in them, mocks the gods. It happens again in minute 54 of the movie when the high priest announces that two farmers have seen an eagle with a serpent in its talons, a good sign from Apollo. Hector mocks the priest and saying, â€Å"you want to plan a strategy based on bird signs? He concludes from Apollo’s inability to take vengeance on Achilles for insulting his statue and says, â€Å"The gods won’t fight this war for us† (Troy). The whole story is in contrary with the Iliad, because it is indicated that the Trojans see that sign while trying to push back the Achaean host to their ships, and predict it as a bad omen from Zeus who is the owner of the eagle, though. Moreover, in the Iliad, it is g ods’ war more than human’s. It seems that there is an intention beyond these manners of mocking gods by two of the best characters who the audience would love best and sympathize with. First assumption would be that the director of the movie wanted to make a realistic shot of the Iliad. But, after deepening in the story, another assumption may be that the director does not believe in God’s or divinity at all and try to inject his view through his best characters and he is doing this cleverly. Almost in the first scene that we see Achilles, when the messenger boy asks if the stories about him is true and if he cannot be killed, Achilles responds, â€Å"I wouldn’t be bothering with the shield then, would I? (Troy) a very logical and clever way to wipe out tendencies of believing in divinity from audiences mind in the beginning of the story and to appeal the skeptic generation of 21st century! Another major difference between Iliad and the movie is again in the process of adaptation of the Iliad according to the appetite of the audience. Every Iliad reader can understand in a glance that the honor codes and bravery values of those days is in contrary wi th todays. The most devouring and slaughtering characters were the most praised heroes of the Iliad. Achilles, Hector, Ajax and Diomede were a few samples of ancient world heroes. But, is it possible to picture those animalistic brutalities within Iliad these days and expect to attract people to pay for watching it? Of course not! Instead, we need to show a sentimental view of our heroes, heroes who despise war; heroes who are sorry for killing people. For instance, Hector while returning from Sparta provokes Paris who wants to fight with Menelaus and says that, â€Å"there is nothing glorious about it, nothing poetic† (Troy). But it is indeed glorious in the Iliad to fight. In fact Homer calls Hector the pair of bloodthirsty Mars as an honor. On the other hand, we need a kind, loving and caring Achilles with a masculine attractive figure to attract more audience. What about softening the violence with some romance scenes to guarantee our investment, no matter what was the story and what was the truth. So, let’s dismiss Diomede who is a brutal killer, kill Ajax and Menelaus at the beginning, and omit Aeneas and so many other valiant heroes to make the story more appealing and brief. But, let’s picture Agamemnon as he was to make people despise him. So tricky! Simply put, it seems that cinematographs own a mightier weapon that Zeus’s thunder bolt and Poseidon’s trident by which have sent myth gods and their offspring to the underworld. But, what if someday, they claim war against Semitic or early religions’ God? What if they twist the reality and feed that in a colorful tempting way to the people? (As Islamic Republic of Iran does it in regard to Baha’i faith). Do the audiences of those movies would accept what is being presented or investigate after the truth?

U.N. essays

U.N. essays The League of Nations now called the United Nations was founded in 1919. The League of Nations was composed shortly after the first world war in order to prevent any more wars. The League of Nations collapsed in 1939. On January 1 of 1942 United Nations was born. During WWII, 26 nations joined their forces to continue fighting against the Axis Powers. The United Nations Charter was drawn up by representatives of 51 nations and signed on June 26, 1945. The United Nations was officially born on October 24, 1945 when the Charter was authorized by China, USSR, France, UK, USA and many other nations. The United Nations has three primary goals; to achieve and maintain world peace, to promote and develop good relations among all nations and to work together with other nations on solving economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems. Many other functions are done by the UN, they protect human rights, fight epidemics, poverty and famine, deliver aid in form of food, clot! hes and medicine. They provide monetary loans to developing countries through the World Bank to help them achieve their goals. The UN is composed of six major branches. General Assembly, The Security Council, Economic and Social Council, The Trusteeship Council, The International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. Each has a specific function in the smooth working of the United Nations. The major reason why UN was formed is to promote and ensure world peace. They accomplish this by helping nations settle their disputes, deter conflicts and stop fighting. The United Nations is an organization that is involved in promotion of world peace. Many diplomatic actions are taken by the group to put and end to war and armed conflicts. The UN has an Agenda for Peace which can be separated into four groups. The four groups are: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding. Preventive D...

Brighton Rock by Graham Green Essay Example

Brighton Rock by Graham Green Essay Example Brighton Rock by Graham Green Essay Brighton Rock by Graham Green Essay The world is filled with different types of people with different beliefs. There are people who do good because of religious beliefs or superstitions. There are people who do bad because they are filled with anger and the belief that people have damned them and done them wrong.And then there are people who make choices based on their simple belief of right and wrong. In the novel â€Å"Brighton Rock† written by Graham Green you will see how a kind hearted antagonist puts her own life in danger to fight for justice for a stranger who died because she fell under the simple category of believing in â€Å"right and wrong. One day, Ida Arnold was drinking at a pub she regularly frequented. What she did not realize was that this day would be different than any other day. She had no idea that when Fred Hale walked into the bar, the next weeks would be filled with excitement, sadness, heroism, unexpected riches and danger. Ida was always looking out for people. She was a kind soul and this proved no different with Fred Hale, the man she met just that day. Her journey begins when Fred, aka Kolley Kibber, came to her town to place his Messenger cards throughout Brighton Rock. This was his job. It was supposed to be a regular day but proved to be his last day. Pinkie, the new leader of Kite’s mob spotted him in the bar where Ida was singing. Pinkie approached Fred Hale who begged him not to tell any of the mobsters that he had come to town. They had a vengeance against him. Pinkie felt no sympathy for him as he was filled with evil. Ida Arnold was singing at the bar which was the reason Fred entered the establishment to begin with. He heard her singing from the street and was taken by her immediately and she by him. Fred, knowing that he was in immediate danger and needed to escape, convinced Ida into going on a date with him that day. He needed a decoy and she was an unsuspecting trusting women. As they walked though town they discussed their

Rene Descartes in Philosophy - the Distinction between Mind and Body Essay

Rene Descartes in Philosophy - the Distinction between Mind and Body - Essay Example The book contains six different meditations and opens with Descartes discarding away all information and knowledge he had ever known before. This laid ground for him to begin a new search for knowledge and wisdom. The distinction between mind and body and the existence of other material things is the last piece of meditation in the book (Rozemond, 2006). The sixth meditation deals with the existence of material things and the difference between mind and body. This meditation has two main arguments that Descartes uses to prove that the mind and the body are two distinct realities. The first argument states that since it is possible to conceive the mind and the body as two different things, God can cause them to exist independently. This argument fulfils the traditional criteria for metaphysical real distinctions. The second argument states that while the body is divisible, infinite and extended into space, the mind is unitary, indivisible and un-extended into space. These two distinct natures of mind and body distinguish the two elements as distinct and independent realities. In this meditation, Descartes attempts to find proof about whether material things can exist out of self and God. He then proceeds to prove that the mind is distinct from the body. With regard to the latter, Descartes begins his proof by asserting that God is capable of creating anything that Descartes himself can clearly and distinctly perceive. He follows this argument by stating that if God is capable of creating things that are independent of the other, then such things are distinct and different from each other.

CUlture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CUlture - Essay Example Having announced free primary education in 1998, the government allocated a quarter of its budget to financing this venture and yet this was not enough to see it into completion. A continually escalating national debt and structural reliance on its richer neighbors, specifically, South Africa, are factors that have seen Lesotho engulfed in the present quagmire. In the Brazilian case as expounded upon by Nancy Scheper Hughes in her revealing testimonial of the excesses of shanty life, mothers seem to embrace almost fatalistic attitudes based on retrogressive cultural practices (Hughes, p.364). People seem to believe that evil spirits cause diseases (Hughes, p.366). Mothers refer to these illnesses as though they are caused by factors beyond their capacity to control and expect to be at the mercy of curable diseases. This is an example of one of the common ways that culture can be harmful to those who practice it. She also documents how mothers and older women claim that there exist fourteen to twenty one various types of child and infant illnesses, with systems ranging from a ‘hanging head and sickly pallor to a reluctance to suckle (Hughes, p.368). These ill-informed people can actually affect psychological systems of precociousness in a young or prospective mother who is encumbered with the fear that her child will be a victim of at least one of these diseases. In the Brazilian case, the poverty of these wretched mothers obviously contributes to their fatalistic view of life as far as their children are concerned. Unable to provide not only for their needs but also for their young, they adopt an unusual resignation to the harsh realities of shanty life and search for ways within themselves to accept inevitable death as normality. The church and its teachings as concerns the next life fits snuggly into this confusion as mothers