The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love - Essay Example In the past, just like it is today, love reigned in the lovers’ hearts. However, unlike today, it was always seen as a phenomenon very distant from love and mostly a threat to the â€Å"societal order.† Precedence was given to the people’s obligation to not only their extended families, but also to the society in general and the creator. As such, love was perceived as a big interference. For instance, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in Europe, there was a strict distinction between love and marriage. Those with desires to express their true love or intimacy could only do that through adultery since marriage was purposefully instituted to fulfill obligations. There is a good example in one love story that involved a theologian (Peter Aberlard) and a mistress (Heloise). Heloise declined Aberlard’s proposal to marry her in secret because that would put her reputation in jeopardy. For her, â€Å"marriage would not only harm his career but also und ermine their love† (Coontz, 132). In most societies (for example, Greeks, Romans, Christians, and Muslims), people despised those lovers who publicly expressed their love for each other. Such an act was not only sinful but also drew people away from God. For Christian theologians, married partners who had too much love and affection for each other were seen idol worshippers. In addition, it is still considered bad, in Cameroon, to express intense love for your partner, since it is believed that this isolates couples from the rest of the society (Coontz, 132). And for those societies in India as well as Europe, it was believed that love could only exist after marriage. A well-matched couple and one with financial stability would eventually see partners experiencing a perfect love for each other. Love was considered as a benefit, and therefore, any marriage built on it would inevitably lead to sadness in life. Today, an ideal marriage is totally different.

Consultancy Business Performance Management

Consultancy Business Performance Management Profile of Alpha Consultants Alpha Consultants is a Management and IT consultancy firm. It is a multi-disciplinary consultancy house, which offers services to both private and public sector organizations in a wide range of matters. Alpha Consultants offers knowledge innovation, brings in entrepreneurial drive, helps create bonds between clients and customers and helps organizations to achieve their goals with optimal efficiency. Alpha consultants have a resource pool of over 100 of experts available at their disposal. Depending on the requirement of the job and the expertise that are required for any particular project, services are acquired from the consultants from their resource pool. What makes Alpha consultants stand out from their competitors is the diverse skillset and background of their consultants. It allows the organization to step in a wider and a bigger market and do what others cannot. The professionals seated in the highest level at Alpha consultants bring multicultural experience, mainly in the field of development and health. This allows Alpha Consultants to pitch solid proposals for both public and private sector projects in the development and health sectors. However, over the years, Alpha Consultants has managed to hire consultants from all the various fields and sectors to make sure that they are able to cope with any challenges that a project has to offer. It adds more value and reliability to their profile, while also allowing them to aim at more diverse and new business opportunities. Moreover, Alpha Consultant is an IT firm which has been providing solutions to both private and public sector institutions. By IT, it is clear that there is a significant relation of computer oriented workforce. So, it is not difficult to categorize it as a service concern business organization. It is currently not having a larger span of services so it falls into the class of small and medium enterprises. The illustrative report will provide solutions and information related to management related functions along with other core operations of the consultancy house. Performance measurement is a set of tools to evaluate the performance of a firm. The services offered by Alpha Consultants include1: Research, Evaluation and Assessment Project Management, Design and Planning Strategy Analysis and Policy Reviews Institutional Development, Training and Organizational Management Advocacy IT Media Consultancy Vision Alpha consultants aims to become partner in knowledge based innovation with institutes that are looking to bring change to the world. Their vision is to make a name in service excellence with the help of their skilled and experienced consultants. Alpha consultants looks forward to become a name that is known to provide sustainable and innovative solutions and help their clients in capacity building, partnership building and organizational development. They want to become the bridge to fill in the gap between the clients and customers with a vision for both entrepreneurial and human development. 2[i] Every business has some certified Aims and objectives based on the strategy devised by the governing structure. Alpha Consultant as one a SME aims to extend the IT departments of their clients and provide multi-disciplinary services in the ICT spectrum. The technical facilities can be managed by IT Media Division with a mix of management services or it can deliver a full fledge built IT system to clients. The mixture of both will also be offered by the firm. Mission The fundamental purpose of the organization is to use their expertise and experience to help their clients achieve new milestones. Alpha consultants have highly professional, experienced and skilled experts in the field of Management, Development and IT. It is currently engaged with various NGOs and Public sector organization who are working in development sector in various less privileged and under developed areas. It has worked in various war and disaster struck areas for different national and international organizations. In the future, it aims to expand the target projects and aim to provide consultancy not just in development and health sector, but also in IT, Media, Education and other domains. It plans to move into more professional areas such as organization development and structural environment of organizations and work in more developed areas. Factors Affecting Business Performance Internal Innovation in the technology and the response of employees is considered of the most important factor affecting the business environment. In the case of this firm, which is in a way part of the growing IT industry it is necessary to give response to every change in the technology. The employees or the software engineers are not that much trained as the new technology comes and their expertise becomes outdated. External The political environment and the legislation of the authorities for IT activities have a great impact on management consultancy businesses. The licensing services and the tax structure changes rapidly whenever new technology is introduced that the business policies and strategy has to be changed. In the case of IT one of the most important factors is the availability of low cost substitutes being offered in the international market. Assessing the Situation – SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Extensive experience of the key personals in the assignment and their relations with officials in their major clients is the key strength of Alpha consultants. They have a broad range of clients and get various types of projects on regular basis. Alpha consultants has a wide set of expertise, the diverse resource pool allowing them to select experts from all various fields for any desired job. They have been known around the world and get large scale projects from international clients and get payments in international currency hence generating revenues and enhance profitability. The old presence of the company helps to gain the advantage of trust through which a good base of loyal customers can be maintained. About 64% of the customers of this SME are using it for supplies. This is a very strong feature of a firm. Company has got a strong financial position as there is no Debt to Equity ratios due to absence of Debt. The companys share is with 150 employees but they are serving their own company and they are connected with it (100, 2014). Weaknesses: Most consultants/experts are not employees, rather Alpha consultants has to hire freelance experts who work on contractual basis. Freelancer experts charge handsome amounts of fee and every time services are acquired, company has to search, track and negotiate with experts for each separate job. There are certain weaknesses as compared to other competing companies i.e. the concentration of the firm is divided into multiple segments under the name of Alpha Consultants. There are no separate services entities. Along with this the company is only targeting the local and the concentration towards internationalization is very less while other firms are going international or global. Considering the outreach the companies have got internationally now with the social media and search engine tools the competition has gotten very tough. Moreover, the handheld devices and smartphones influx have changed the dimension of IT industry on a massive level. Adapting to the changing needs of the market and new technologies has become very important for SME like Alpha Co and not being able to expand its outreach to international market has been a very major weakness. Opportunities: Due to their wide and diverse resource pool, they can handle all different sorts of projects and explore new work areas. Yet, Alpha consultants is associated with various NGOs and public sector organizations. Alpha consultants can use their IT and Media professionals to explore new IT grounds, provide services to Telecom giants and Entertainment industry. Also they can form collaboration with defense institutes to provide various services. As they get projects on usual basis, they need young talent as well as experienced staff. They provide employment opportunities to fresh graduates and experienced jobseekers to get benefit from their energetic minds and use them in project developments by providing economic salaries. Many of the IT firms from EU are now outsourcing the basic tasks to south Asian countries like India. This can be a good opportunity for Alpha Co to save costs along with efficiency in work. Another opportunity is to establish umbrella brands and other co-brands for different segment of IT services. Threats: The consultants who are not Alpha consultants’ employees but working only on contractual basis, get to interact with their clients and form bonds. These consultants not only gain experience under the banner of Alpha consultants, but if they decide to work alone, they can ruin these connections and the inside knowledge they have to offer competition. Freelancers will be working on organization projects; they may have access to the organizational internal details and may leak out this confidential information to others. If at some stage project accomplished by freelancer comes to the organization for feature addition or updations, the freelancer may not be available to complete that project or charge fee more than the budget. In that case, Alpha consultants has to hire a new freelance expert who will first have to understand all the previous work and this leads to wastage of time as well as money. There are multiple threats associated with IT business and SME sector. To make SME is not at all a difficult task. Most of the IT business and core operations are being performed in underdeveloped countries or the third world countries. The reason is that the cost is lessoned as compared to EU. So Alpha Consultants has threat of new entrants in the same field along with the cost determination in the current scenario of changing business environment. Overcoming Weaknesses There are different strategies to overcoming the weaknesses of SME like Alpha Co. The first solution is to outsource majorly activities for the development of infrastructure and software. Secondly, branding can prove to be a key of success. Human Resource system will be needed if the company is internationalized. According to the research the internationalization of the SME brings in 7% employment chances and gives growth to the firms. So for these methods and alternatives the evaluation is given in this report: Outsourcing: Most of the processes like development of the script of different software can be outsourced to other countries like India, where the IT infrastructure is cheap. In this way the company will be able to earn more profit by covering most of the cost incurred. The outsourcing technique will provide a contribution towards social welfare as the company will provide employment sources. Outsourcing for other activities will also help the company to attain the status of global organization. Branding: The services being offered separately can be considered as different brands like: Alpha Management Consultants Alpha Media Advocacy Consultants Alpha IT Consultants In this way different service segments will be considered as different service entities. These services will be provided under the umbrella of parent brand Alpha Consultancy. It will show the expansion of business in real as well as in imaginary terms. The co-branding technique will provide boost to the company. Compensation System: After going international, the company may develop some compensation systems to provide healthy incomes to the new employees from different companies. So that the motivation level of the employees may get higher and they may contribute towards innovation and development. Constraint and Restrictions There are many types of restriction mounted by the local authorities on small businesses. In the case of consultancy business, there are following restrictions: Registration The business or the SME should be registered under authorities with correct particulars. It should mention everything related to business and prove that is ethical business and there is no harm for environment. Authorization The SME should be authorized by the governing bodies of the country. The trademark should be registered and there should be acquisition of copyrights to run a Small Medium enterprise. This is very important that the name should be unique and in the case of IT, the processes should not be imitated from any other firm. Evaluation: The evaluation of small Medium Enterprise is necessary as the government of EU countries takes the working infrastructure of employees in account. The working of employees and the utilization of human resources are checked and evaluated by different authorities. Responsibilities and Liabilities of Owner Managers Owner In small and medium enterprises there are multiple roles associated with owner of the business. Owner is not only an investor, but is also responsible to make business strategy of the business. Conduct Financial analysis and arrange the finances if needed. Check the legal requirement of the firm along with some attention to the marketing and sales activities of the business. Managing human resource and customer feedback evaluation is also one of the liabilities of owners. In SMEs with more than one owner it is important to contribute in terms of time and finance equally in the business. Manager There are four basic management functions which should be performed by every type of manager. These four basic functions include: Planning Leading Controlling Organizing By planning it is meant to plan the routine and day to day activities in the business. In the case of Alpha Consultants it is necessary to plan activities which are the part of multiple projects on going. Some are the management consultancy projects while other is the IT services being offered different firms. The manager should ensure the good planning. Then the manager should lead the working team of employees in accordance with the policy and objectives of the business. As to provide the solutions for IT and management both, it is necessary for a manager to provide a controlled environment in which the activities are organized to deliver best quality in time. Such services can only be delivered when there is a proper control and innovation is appreciated through the leading role of a manager in business (Fincham, 2000). Finance There financial status of Alpha Consultant is one of the best in its kind. It is a debt free company. There is no incorporation and the proprietorship is sole. The companys profit is increasing gradually with time due to appropriate cost base with respect to other companies. Marketing and Sales The customer base of Alpha Co must be very strong as it has started from providing services only to customers and now it reselling the services to end users as well as public and private sector. Most of the customers were of public sector organizations. The company has increased its business portfolio by providing multiple solutions. These multiple solutions include Infrastructure, Microsoft, networking, optimized desktop, Asset Management and security. The other SMEs in this category are only limited to one type of services like only security or networking. Very less firms are giving asset management software oriented services (Eikebrokk, 2007). According to the secondary research given in the assignment, IT firm from UK or EU can easily internationalize on the basis of services provided online. In this way the firm can increase the profit and employment capacity. Human resources There are about 600 people in the SME. They are very energetic and like tradition strong innovation is demanded from the skilled workers of the firm. The detailed analysis provides the competitive advantage of Alpha Co on other similar firms. This advantage is that apart from passionate employees the preference is given to disciplined, flexible and diversified employees. In this way the firm stands at its best among other firms of same category. Use of Technology As this is an IT related firm and knows better to use the technology. The company is using the technology related to multiple fields at once. It has got many advantages along with the disadvantages. It is very difficult for a SME to provide core operations of different or multiple solutions. Especially in IT one business SME can only provide expert solution for one factor of the technology. There are other firms in the category which are having customer base and expertise only in one sector of the technology. Whether it’s the web, security or networking Alpha Consultants is giving multiple solutions which is the good point but customer can perceive a Jack of all trades and Master of None type stereotype. Developing Strategies, Goals and Objectives: Considering the weaknesses and threats faced by Alpha consultants, a number of recommendations can be suggested: Alpha consultants has a huge resource pool. It has professionals and experts in tens of sectors and fields. However, the key professionals inside the organization are development experts, so they key focus is on development projects. It strongly needs a separate department that will be dedicated to hunting new opportunities and finding new projects. That way Alpha consultants will be able to target various new projects and explore untouched domains. As discussed in the SWOT analysis, when Alpha consultants has to acquire freelance experts for various projects, it not only allows the consultants and experts to get access to company’s information, but also allows them to interact with their clients. These freelance professionals can exploit this information. However, if Alpha consultants hires more experts as their employees rather than outsourcing to freelance expert, it can gain a lot of advantage. We have been discussed that Alpha consultants has both the valuable experience and a valued name in development and health sector. It can use this name and use their profile to land in new opportunities. By entering new domains, it is expanding and at the same time giving the business a bigger name. The goal of Alpha consultants at the moment should be to gain multi-sector and multi-regional experience using its already established name in development sector. Areas such as Telecom giants, Defense organizations, Financial Institutions and Entrepreneurial start-ups are key areas of focused. Alpha consultants with their experience can provide assistance to all these clients, while also helping their inner growth. References 100, T., 2014. The Top 100 European Software Vendors: European Software Vendors Ranking 2013. [Online] Available at: http://www.truffle100.com/2013/ranking.php [Accessed February 2014]. Eikebrokk, T.R., 2007. Information and Management: An empirical investigation of competency factors affecting e-business success in European SMEs. Elsevier. Europa, 2012. SoftCat: A Case Study. Europa. Fincham, J.E., 2000. Basic Management Principles. University of Kansas, School pf Pharmacy. ISO, 2012. Quality Management Report. ISO Central Secretariat. Softcat, 2014. SoftCat: Our People. [Online] Available at: http://www.softcat.com/who-we-are/our-people [Accessed February 2014]. www.softcat.com, 2014. Softcat Limited. Terms and Conditions for Customers. [Online] SoftCat Available at: www.softcat.com/explorer/files/SoftcatTerms_Conditions.pdf‎ [Accessed 2014]. [i] Alpha Consultants (2013). Alpha Consultants, Expertise in Detail. Retrieved From: http://www.Alphaconsultants.com/Alpha/closerlook.html

Deep Ecology And Religion Essay -- essays research papers

Through this portion of class readings and discussions, we have sought deeper meaning and understanding of philosophies of individuals and organizations that revolve around the fundamental aspects and notions of deep ecology and eco-activism. These associations offer more views and attitudes on how an individual and society can create and maintain a kinship and positive influence with the natural environment. Like deep ecologist’s view on the metaphysical relationship of man and nature. Eco-activist’s contend to a belief of â€Å"ecology as religion†(Kinsley 193). They take their duty with the environment as a deeply spiritual, physical, and emotional connection. Specifically, an environmental-action group called Green Peace, brings forth a new term called â€Å"planetary consciousness†(Kinsley 199). This consciousness parallels the views of deep ecologists by means that they believe and affirm the inter-dependence and significance of all living things. This planetary consciousness outlines and proclaims that individuals and society must learn to respect the entire earth as an integral and animated system, this respect must equal the respect each individual shows themselves. This view is reasonable and valid and allows mankind a more intimate, religious, and personal vantage of the living world. However, the application of this lifestyle and relationship to the majority of society seems inconceivable. Since humanity cannot even maintain an intimate relationship with another individual, for instance the ever-increasing rate of divorce and separations in marriages. This matrimony has been viewed as sacred throughout the history of humanity yet infidelity and divorce remain severely high. While society’s view of nature, as a revered and animated character is still frequently unfamiliar and unpracticed. Therefore, it seems implausible for immediate action to occur because based on the history of mankind’s slow and inflexib le ability to change their behavior and conduct. Max Oelschlaeger claimed in The Sacred Earth that â€Å"the modern person has lost sight of the sacredness of creation†(539). This accurate statement can be furthered that mankind has lost touch with the sacredness in all relationships, most importantly with themselves. Therefore, in order to change an individual’s perceptions on the natural world they must first reanalyze and reconstruct their image and beh... ...eservation. The eco-activist group, Earth First, is an organization that tries to grasp the world’s attention through radical actions to save the environment. Their beliefs are extended from deep ecologist thought believing that every non-human entity deserves the same rights and respect as humans. This organization will give society a jaded notion on how to preserve the environment through their violent actions and protests. Their code claims that they will abide by â€Å"any and all means† to resist the destruction of the natural world (Kinsley 200). Their acts will definitely be noticed by society through media but I feel many will close their eyes to the fundamental idea Earth First is trying to represent because of their radical and malicious acts. Though this organization is acting for the higher good of the environment, they are putting other humans in danger, which is not a justifiable or principled achievement. Therefore, in order to reconstruct an individual’s view to a more positive and respectful relationship with environment we must teach and act non-violently, unlike the organization Earth First, and apply the principles of bio-regionalism, Green Peace, and deep ecology.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) that disables the immune system.  It was discovered in 1983 .HIV enters the body through the bloodstream and duplicates itself rapidly.  The victim is susceptible to infectious diseases that eventually are fatal (1). Statistically, HIV/AIDS is the number one killer of African-American women ages 25 to 34, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Between 2000 and 2003, they were nineteen times more likely than White females and five times more likely than Hispanic females to contract the disease.  African-American men were seven times more likely than White men and three times the rate of Hispanic men to contract HIV/AIDS (2). In 2008, there is still not a cure for AIDS.  Instead, scientists have discovered drugs that can slow down the progression of the disease. Protease inhibitors (PIs) are antiviral drugs that slow down the spread of HIV (1). The virus produces a protein called protease so that it can replicate itself.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Protease cuts long chains of proteins and enzymes into shorter chains, the first step in the process by which HIV infects a cell† (1).  If this doesn’t happen, replication does not continue. In 1987, AZT was the first anti-HIV medication that was created.   It showed hope and kept people healthier longer.   However, the side effects were very high for men.   Since that time, more HIV medications have evolved.   Antiretroviral therapy usually consists of combinations of nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, or fusion inhibitors, which are prescribed in the later stages of HIV (19). Dual protease inhibitor therapy is also being used clinically (3).  They are also associated with improving morbidity and mortality of HIV-positive persons (5).  Although these drugs are expensive, they have proven to be the most successful therapy in managing HIV.   However, some patients don’t comply 100% with their treatments.   This is largely due to the side effects. Sometimes they make a patient feel worse than the actual disease. The most commonly reported ones are abdominal pain, abnormal bowel movements, diarrhea, fatigue, headache, and nausea.   Children usually develop a skin rash. The more serious side effects are liver problems and pancreatitis.   Some patients have also seen large increase in triglyceride ad cholesterol levels.   Diabetics saw an increase in their blood sugar levels.   Other patients developed diabetes while taking protease inhibitors (16). Presently, nine PIs have been approved for use in the United States and Europe:   amprenavir, atazanavir, fosamprenavir, lopinavir, indinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, tipranavir, and nelfinavir. Three non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) are used for treatment of HIV:  nevirapine, delavirdine, and efavirenz (7). Drug treatment selection depends on factors such as drug resistance, tolerability, drug interactions, and effectiveness. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) â€Å"has been proposed so that practitioners may better maintain appropriate plasma concentrations of drugs in their patients by identifying interactions with other medications and assessing medication adherence   (7). Figure 1 shows the structures of these compounds. Fig. 1. Chemical structures of protease inhibitors and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. About 50% of â€Å"treatment-naà ¯ve patients† don’t have continued antiviral response after one year of therapy (18). In some cases, there is a development of drug resistance and metabolic complications.   Also, â€Å"there is increasing evidence that virological treatment failure is correlated with variations in the pharmacokinetic parameters of drugs (20).   This can be due to drug interactions, low bioavailability, and variations in metabolic enzyme activity.   Atazanavir (ATV) has good oral bioavailability and a favorable pharmacokinetics profile (18).   With this in mind, patients can mostly take a once-daily dose. A separate analytical method has been recently published for quantifying ATV in human plasma using solid phase extraction and HPLC with PDA (photodiode array) detection at 201 nm (18).   This method provides excellent separation of ATV from its internal standard, clozapine (CLZ) and the other PIs, thus, obtaining an accurate measurement of the drug (see figure 2). CLZ elutes at 8.9 minutes, and ATV elutes a 24.4 minutes. A 40-ml injection resulted in a recovery yield of 100%. Fig. 2.   Chromatogram of ATV with PIs/NNRTIs (8000 ng/ml) spiked with CLZ Nelfinavir mesylate has been shown in phase III controlled clinical trials to significantly reduce viral load and increase CD4+ cell counts when used with reverse transcriptase inhibitors. It’s prescribed as part of triple drug combination therapy (9). CD4+ are helper T cells.   They are important for immune reconstitution in patients that are receiving antiretroviral therapy (10).   After a large number of these cells are destroyed, AIDS develops (7). Six clinical trials was conducted in the past ten years using 2, 148 HIV-infected children enrolled in the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group treatment trials (10).   Patient ages varied from 2 to 7 years of age.   The focus was to observe short-term variability of CD4 percentages.   The study found that 49% of patients had CD4 percentages above 25%.   32% of patients had CD4 counts between 15% and 24%; 19% were less than 15%.   Finally, 5.4% had a CD4% of less than 5% (10). In June 2006, Darunavir (DRV) was licensed in the United States.   It is a promising PI that is active against HIV strains that are resistant to the other PIs that currently on the market (17).   It is prescribed in 600-mg doses that are taken twice daily with 100 mg of ritonavir that acts as a booster. Protease inhibitors are associated with unfavorable pharmacokinetics and many side effects such as gastrointestinal disturbances and lipid abnormalities (5).  Four of the most common PIs used are indinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, and nelfinavir (3).  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Monitoring blood concentration of PIs, which can indicate both therapeutic and toxic levels of the drugs as well as patient noncompliance with the medication, may improve the care of both HIV-infected adults and children† (3). When ritonavir was first introduced, it was given in doses of 600 mg every 12 hours. â€Å"However, patient intolerance of full doses led to its primary use as a pharmacologic enhancer to increase the concentrations in plasma of a second protease inhibitor to improve the convenience of antiretroviral regimens by extending the dosing interval, reducing pill burden, and /or eliminating food-induced reductions in pharmacokinetic exposure† (8).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Researchers used High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to determine concentrations of PIs in blood.  Various methods have been used to study the pharmacokinetics and drug interactions. Interpreting plasma levels can be used to â€Å"individualize drug dosage of antiretrovirals (4). Quality control (QC) procedures must be done to ensure that these methods are accurate and precise.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Such procedures usually include intralaboratory (internal) method validation, intralaboratory QC procedures, and participation in an interlaboratory QC program for antiretroviral drugs† (4). Since the latter hadn’t been done before, it was established so that laboratories can obtain better measurement results of antiretroviral drugs. Nine laboratories participated in the first part of the program.  The first part of the experiment involved the measurement of the protease inhibitors:  indinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir, and saquinavir.  All had a specified purity of 99% or higher.  QC samples were prepared by spiking blank plasma from HIV-negative volunteers with PI standard. The low concentrated standards ranged from 0.087 to 0.15 mg/L while the intermediate concentrated standards contained ranged from 2 to 3 mg/L of all four PIs.  Finally, the high-concentrated standards contained approximately 5 to 11 mg/L of drug.  All drugs were dissolved in methanol following accurate weighings and diluted with blank plasma (4). High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to analyze twelve samples.  All laboratories measuring more than one protease inhibitor used as assay for â€Å"simultaneous determination† (4).  Six laboratories used HPLC/UV and three labs used HPLC-MS/MS. Mass spectrometry detection is often recommended for measurement of low concentration levels.  Also, this type of analysis is usually faster and â€Å"does not require complete resolution of drugs for detection and quantification† (5).  Only five laboratories were able to measure all four PIs.  Three laboratories were not able to determine nelfinavir.  One laboratory only measured indinavir (4). Acceptable accuracy results are between 80% and 120%.  Only indinavir resulted in an acceptable accuracy of 80%.  The remaining PIs had between 36% and 74% accuracy.  These results should encourage laboratories to improve their analytical methods and QC procedures.  Other PIs, such as amprenavir and lopinavir, can be analyzed as well (4). HIV-positive plasma samples are heat inactivated before analysis, approximately 58 °C for 40 minutes, to decrease the risk of infection to the operator.  They may also go through a freeze/thaw cycle. As with the QC study, blank plasma was spiked with seven PIs (indinavir, amprenavir, atazanavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, lopinavir, and nelfnavir) at low, intermediate, and high concentrations measured in ng/ml.  Certain assays only require 100  µl of plasma for analysis.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"This is advantageous when measuring PI concentrations as part of clinical studies as they often necessitate hourly sampling to generate complete PK profiles; therefore less blood can be drawn from the patient† (5).  In addition, seven PIs can be quantified in one assay, but impossible to assay all seven in a single preparation. â€Å"The use of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) has emerged as the developmental method of choice supporting clinical and pre-clinical pharmacokinetic studies† (13). Recovery for the HPLC-MS/MS methods was above 87% for all seven drugs at all three concentration levels (5).  It was successful in quantifying seven PI concentrations in plasma of HIV positive persons that participated in a run time of nine minutes.  Therefore, the assay may be used for determining PI concentrations in semen, lymphocytes, and cerebrospinal fluid (5). A fast and highly-sensitive LC-MS-MS method was developed that could analyze five protease inhibitors (amprenavir, indinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir, and saquinavir) in one run using an internal standard.   Sample sizes were small (ng/ml) and run times were approximately 5 minutes.   Recoveries for all five PIs were between 87% and 92%(11). Tipranavir is part of a class of non-peptidic PIs that works against both â€Å"wild-type virus and variants resistant to current PIs†(6).  It also has a high genetic barrier.  Tipranavir is prescribed in a 500-mg dose taken in combination with 200 mg of ritonavir twice daily as part of antiretroviral therapy for patients with HIV-1 strains that are resistant to multiple PIs (6). Fig. 3. Tipranavir chemical structure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An HPLC-UV method has been validated and is currently applied when monitoring tipranavir (TPV) plasma levels in HIV patients.  Samples were prepared for solid phase extraction (SPE) by conditioning the cartridges with 0.1% phosphoric acid, pH 7.  TPV stock solutions with a concentration of 5 mg/ml were diluted from with 50% methanol. Samples were spiked with TPV at 1.875, 7.5, 18.75, 37.5, 60, and 75  µg/ml in triplicate. QC samples were diluted with blank plasma and phosphate buffer to 5.625, 22.5, and 67.5  µg/ml.  Clozapine was used as the internal standard (6).  5-ml aliquots of blood samples were obtained from HIV infected patients.  The plasma obtained from centrifugation was heated at 60 ° C for one hour in a water bath. TPV in plasma was measured at a UV absorbance of 201 nm with a retention time of 32.2 minutes. Its internal standard, clozapine (CLZ) has a retention time of 8.3 minutes (6). Figure 4 below shows the chromatogram of TPV, its internal standard, and all other PIs and NNRTIs  present.   Figure 5 shows TPV and its internal standard CLZ only. Fig. 4. Chromatogram of plasma control sample of TVP (22.5 mg/ml) spiked with internal standard and all PIs and NNRTIs. Fig. 5. Chromatogram of calibration sample of TVP (37.5 mg/ml) spiked with internal standard CLZ. Isocratic HPLC methods combined with the use of UV and fluorescence detection produces more sensitivity. Amprenavir is a fluorescent compound.   Its internal standard PR25 can also be seen under fluorescence (see figure 6). Fig. 6.   Blank plasma with 100 ng/ml amprenavir and 1000 ng/ml of PR25 seen under fluorescence. In conclusion, much progress has been made in the development of protease inhibitors and other antiretroviral therapy. HPLC with UV detection has been the most commonly used method of analysis.   It is rapid, simple, and highly sensitive.   LC-MS-MS has been noted at the developmental method of choice for clinical and pre-clinical pharmacokinetic studies (13).   More compounds can be analyzed in less time.   Also, they can be used for methods using other human biological matrices. For the majority of protease inhibitors, all side effects are not known. In 2007, darunavir was the new HIV protease inhibitor with eleven other antiretroviral agents on the market.   They can affect patients that have diabetes, liver problems, and hemophilia; their conditions can worsen as a result of taking PIs. Only a patient’s health care provider can determine the best treatment option REFERENCES Nagel, Rob. 2007. Protease Inhibitors. UXL Encyclopedia of Science; [cited 2008 May 8], Available from http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SciRC?ste=1&docnum=cv2644301082. Health Hotline:   HIV and Genital Herpes [cited 2008 May8]; Available from http://www.ebony.com. â€Å"HPLC Assay for Common Protease Inhibitors Developed.†Antiviral Weekly; [cited 2008 May 07; Available from http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SciRC?ste=1&docNum=A60069570. Aarnoutse, Rob E., Verweij-van Wissen, Corrien P.W.G.M., van Ewijk-Beneken Kolmer, Eleonora, W.J., Wuis, Eveline, W., Koopmans, Peter P., Hekster, Yechiel A., and Burger, David, M. 2001. International Interlaboratory Quality Control Program for Measurement of Antiretroviral Drugs in Plasma; Antimicrobial Agents and Chemo 46(3): 884-886. Dickinson, Laura, Robinson, Lesley, Tjia, John, Khoo, and Saye, Back, David. 2005. Simultaneous determination of HIV protease inhibitors amprenavir, atazanavir, indinavir, lopinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir and saquinavir in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; J of Chrom. B 829:82-90. Colombo, S., Beguin, A., Marzolini, C., Telenti, A., Biollaz, J., and Decosterd, L.A. 2006.   Determination of the novel non-peptidic HIV-protease inhibitor tipranavir by HPLC-UV after solid-phase extraction; J of Chrom. B 832:138-143. Rezk, Naser L., Tidwell, Richard R., and Kashuba, Angela D.M. 2004.   High-performance liquid chromatography assay for the quantification of HIV protease inhibitors and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in human plasma; J of Chrom. B 805:241-247. Shelton, Mark J.,Hewitt, Ross G., Adams, John, Dela-Coletta, Andrew, Cox, Steven, and Morse, Gene D. 2003. Pharmacokinetics of Ritonavir and Delavirdine in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients; Antimicrobial Agents and Chemo 47(5): 1694-1699. Zhang, Kanyin E., Wu, Ellen, Patick, Amy K., Kerr, Bradley, Zorbas, Mark, Lankford, Angela, Kobayashi, Takuo, Maeda, Yuki, Shetty, Bhasker, and Webber, Stephanie. 2001.Circulating Metabolites of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus protease Inhibitor Nelfinavir in Humans:   Structural Identification, Levels in Plasma, and Antiviral Activities; Antimicrobial Agents and Chemo 45(4): 1086-1093. Carey, Vincent J., Pahwa, Savita, and Weinberg, Adriana. 2005.   Reliability of CD4 Quantitation in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Children:   Implications for Definition of Immunologic Response to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy; Clinical and Diagnostic Lab Immunology 12(5): 640-643. Chi, Jingduan, Jayewardene, Anura L., Stone, Judith A., Motoya, Toshiro, and Aweeka, Francesca. 2002.   Simultaneous determination of five HIV protease inhibitors nelfinavir, indinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir and amprenavir in human plasma by LC/MS/MS; J of Pharm and Biomedical Analysis 30:675-684. Verbesselt, R., Van Wijngaerden, E., and de Hoon, J. 2007. Simultaneous determination of 8 HIV protease inhibitors in human plasma by isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography with combined use of UV and fluorescence detection: Amprenavir, indinavir, atazanavir, ritonavir, lopinavir, saquinavir, nelfinavir and M8-nelfinavir metabolite; J of Chrom. B 845:51-60. Frerichs, Valerie A., DiFrancesco, Robin, and Morse, Gene D. 2003. Determination of protease inhibitors using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; J of Chrom, B 787:393-403. Gangl, Eric, Utkin, Ilya, Gerber, Nicholas, and Vouros, Paul. 2002. Structural elucidation of metabolites of ritonavir and indinavir by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; J. of Chrom. A 974:91-101. Turner, Michele L., Reed-Walker, Kedria, King, Jennifer R., and Acosta, Edward P. 2003. Simultaneous determination of nine antiretroviral compounds in human plasma using liquid chromatography; J. of Chrom. B 784:331-341. 2008. Kaletra. [Cited 2008 May 16], Available from http://www.heartandsoul.com. D’Avolio, Antonio, Siccardi, Marco, Sciandra, Mauro, Lorena, Baietto, Bonora, Stefano, Trentini, Laura, and Di Perri, Giovanni.2007. HPLC-MS method for the simultaneous quantification of the new HIV protease inhibitor darunavir, and 11 other antiretroviral agents in plasma of HIV-infected patients; J. of Chrom. B 859:234-240. Colombo, S., Guignard, N., Marzolini, C., Telenti, A., Biollaz, J., and Decosterd, L.A. 2004. Determination of the new HIV-protease inhibitor atazanavir by liquid chromatography after solid-phase extraction; J. of Chrom. B 810:25-34. Weller, Dennis R., Brundage, Richard C., Balfour, Jr., Henry H., and Vezina, Heather E. An isocratic liquid chromatography method for determining HIV non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and protease inhibitor concentrations in human plasma; J. of Chrom. B 848:369-373. Sarasa-Nacenta, Maria, Lopez-Pua, Yolanda, Mallolas, Josep, Blanco, Jose’ Luis, Gatell, Jose’ M., and Carne’, Xavier. Simultaneous determination of the HIV-protease inhibitors indinavir, amprenavir, ritonavir, saquinavir and nelfinavir in human plasma by reversed-phase high- performance liquid chromatography; J, of Chrom. B 757:325-332.

Ethics & defined Essay

Ethics is commonly defined as the rules or standards governing the conduct of people. Gender is the social dimension of being male or female. Most people acquired gender identity by the age of three. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities. No nation can be expected to wage war with one hand tied behind its back, but ethical issues of most profound nature are raised anytime. Once the actuality of possibility of war becomes the context within which we live, men and women are forced into set roles. Gender serves as a medium or vector for war’s presence in our innermost social settings. This essay will discuss these ethical issues in war and their link to gender. Discrimination is one of the ethical issues in war. Women have always participated to some extent in combat, but several recent wars have seen them fighting on the front lines. While the roles of female ex-combatants vary widely the women seem to share one unfortunate characteristic, limited access to benefits when peace and demobilisation come. This is also true for girls abducted for sexual services and the families of ex-combatants in the receiving community. These groups are often neglected during mobilisation and reintegration; or at best women, girls, and boys may receive equal benefits but are treated as a homogenous group which prevents specific needs being addressed. (Goldstein, 2001 pg207-212) Sexual violence especially on women especially rape has its own brand of shame to recent wars. From conflicts in Bosnia, Peru and Rwanda women have been singled out for rape, imprisonment, torture and execution. Systematic rape is often used as a weapon of ethnic cleansing. More than 20, 000 Muslim girls and women have been raped in Bosnia since fighting began in 1992. Impregnated girls have been forced to bear the enemy’s child. (Human Rights Watch, 2000 pg12) Sexual violence of women erodes the fabric of community in a way that few weapons can. Rape’s damage can be devastating because of strong communal reaction to the violation and pain stamped on entire families. The harm inflicted in such cases in a woman by a rapist is an attack on her family and culture, as in many societies women are viewed as repositories of a community’s cultural and spiritual values. (UN, 2005 pg8) In addition to rape, girls and women are also subject to forced prostitution and trafficking during times of war sometimes with complicity of governments and military authorities. During World War II, women were abducted, imprisoned and forced to satisfy the sexual needs of occupying forces and many Asian women were also involved in prostitution during the Vietnam War. The trend continues in today’s conflicts. Nearly 80 percent of the 53 million people displaced by wars today are women and children. Refugee families frequently cite rape as the key factor influencing in their decision to seek refuge. (Alison, 2007pg78-83) The high risk of inflection with sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, accompanies all sexual violence against women and girls. The movement of refugees and marauding military units and the breakdown of health services and public education worsen the impact of diseases and chances for treatment. The exchange of sex for protection during the civil war in Uganda in the 1980’s was a contributing factor to the country’s high rate of AIDS. (UN, 2005 pg131) Women suffer a double victimisation, in that they were compelled against their will to join the armed forces and today they are victimised by society for having played a combative role in the conflict. They are treated with hostility suspicion for ‘breaching’ both gender and sex roles. These women are largely excluded from disarmament and reintegration programmes of Sierra Leones peace process which favour men and boys. This especially occurs in Sierra Leone. (Human Rights Watch, 2000 pg7) Men and boys are also victims of gender based sexual violence during war. Women are raped as a way to humiliate the men they are related to, who are often forced to watch the assault. In societies where ethnicity is inherited through the male line, ‘enemy’ women are raped and forced to bear children. Sexual violation of children has devastating effects. The experience of captivity and sexual destroys a girl’s sense of home and security, of self worth and power of the possibility of safe interpersonal relationships, indeed of any future at all. Men tend to greatly underreport experiences of sexual violence. They may have doubts about their sexuality and fear infertility. (Carpenter, 2003 pg 661-694) A war is only just if it is fought for a good reason. A country that wishes to use military force must demonstrate that there is a just cause for doing so. Just war theory is the most influential perspective on ethics of war and peace. For a war to be just there must be a just cause, right intention, proper authority and public declaration, proper authority and public declaration, a last resort, probability of success, and proportionality. Pacifism is also an ethical issue in war. Pacifism rejects war in favour of peace. It is not violence in all its forms that the most challenging kind of pacifism objects to: rather is the specific kind and degree of violence that wars involves which the pacifists objects to. They object to killing in general and particular mass killing for political reasons, which is part and parcel of the war time experience. Most women are generally pacifists as compared to males. People are pacifists for one or some of these reasons: religious faith, non-religious belief in the sanctity of life and practical belief that war is wasteful and ineffective. Pacifism cannot be national policy as it only works when no one wants to attack your country or if the nation with whom you are in dispute is also committed to pacifism. Because most societies regard going to war as fulfilling a citizens’ ethical duty, they honour those who give their lives in war. If there is believe in war governed by ethics we should only honour those who give their lives in a just war and who followed the rules of war. It should be wrong to honour dead soldiers who killed the enemy or wounded or raped enemy women. (Harris and King, 1989 pg78) (Goldstein 2001) defines war as lethal inter group violence and feminism as an ideology opposing male domination and promoting gender equality. Cross cultural consistency of gender wars is pervasive and not universal. Women have fought in wars but are portrayed as exceptions to the gender rule that men are warriors. Gender exclusion from combat is by policy choice not by physical ability, women can and do fight. There is no support for arguments regarding predisposition to aggression and little support for the hypothesised link between testosterone and aggression. Gender is portrayed as a weapon to humiliate a military opponent or to discredit peace activism and political dissent from military policy. A recent example is, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfield’s remark about â€Å"media mood swings† in regard to criticism of the war in Iraqi, a reference clearly intended to evoke the archetype of the â€Å"irrational† menstrual/menopausal women. Rape in war as well as military homophobia underlies exclusion of policies aimed at sexual minorities. Neither men nor women benefit from war at the expense of the other, both genders lose in war. Neither genetics per se, nor hormones (males or female) nor male bonding nor women’s innate pacifism explain gendered war roles. (Suzzane, 2002 Pg 407). The interdependence between war and gender is obscure. However it is clear that it is not soldiers who make war but societies that make war. War does not happen without women’s knowledge cooperation, and participation, however few or many actually take up arms and engage in battle. War is based on a dominatory approach to relationships in which the usual overriding aim is to get the better of or overcome the other who is framed as an opponent or competitor. Gender as we know it, which positions men as dominant and characterises them as aggressive and heroic, is fundamental to the culture of domination of which war is an expression. The human resources of moral sensibility and decency have been buried or seriously depleted. The impetus towards peace that is so necessary in ending of violence conflict is diminished by the discouragement of half the population from active participation. A gendered perspective of human security enables a more advanced understanding of the perspectives of those involved in conflict including victims’ perpetrators and decision makers.(Zeigler and Gilbert, 2006) References Alison, M. (2007) Wartime Sexual Violence: Women’s human rights and questions of masculinity, Review of International Studies Pg 75-90 Carpenter, R. C, â€Å"Women and Children First†: gender norms and humanitarian evacuation in the Balkans, International Organization 5, 7, 4, 2003, Pg 661-694 Cohn, C â€Å"Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defence Intellectuals, Signs, Vol. 12, No. 4 1987 Pg 687-78 NO1101 Harris, A and King, Y (eds) Rocking the ship of state: Towards a feminist peace politics, Bovider, C. O West view press 1989. Human Rights Watch (HRW) 2000: Rape as a weapon of Ethnic cleansing HRW, March 1. Jousha S. Goldstein (2001) War and Gender: How Gender shapes the war system and vice versa. Cambridge University Press Pg 201-213. Moser N, and Clark F (eds), victims, Perpetrators or Actors: Gender, Armed Conflict and Political Violence; London Zed Books 2001, V. 64. Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women’s studies & Gender Issues. Rosemarie Skaing (1999) Women at War: Gender issues of Americans in combat: McFarland and Company: North Carolina and London ‘Symposium on war and Gender, (2003) (Reviews of Goldstein’s Book) Perspectives on policies, 1, 2, 330-347 The state of World’s Children 1996. UNICEF United Nations (2005): Africa Renewal â€Å"Sexual Violence, an ‘invisible war crime’ Warren, J and Cady, L (1994) Feminism and Peace: Seeing connections’ Hypatia special Issue on Feminism and peace Pg 7-14. HQ1101. World Bank (2002) Addressing Gender Issues in Demobilisation and Reintegration Programs, Africa Region Working Paper Series 33 Zeigler, S and Gilbert, G (2006) The Gendered Dimensions of Conflicts Aftermath; A