Nations & Nationalism essays

Nations & Nationalism essays When discussing the concept of nation, there are two nuances of the word that come to mind. The first relates to politics and geography and explains the concept as a land separated by boundaries. The second is a much larger concept and describes more a people than a country. The second concept somewhat embraces the first and cover a larger number of people. Let's just briefly exemplify this and move on to refer to some of the textbooks and how they divide the concepts. If we are to consider the French nation, the geographical concept of nation strictly delimitates the French nation as belonging to the French state, that is, conscribed by the boundaries that have been traced with time and that are identified with the French territory. However, the French nation as seen in the second concept, is much larger: it takes into account the people of French nationality from Switzerland, from Belgium, those working at the science centers in Antarctica or those in diplomatic missions over the world. Let's have a more analytical look at the two concepts and for this, we can refer to Chapter 7, where a Siam geography lesson is presented. The lesson is rather simple, as it describes a discussion between an uncle and his two nephews, however, the definition of the nation that is revealed is quite profound. As the uncle puts it here, "continents are divided into nations. Many nations are all different. China is one big country; Siam is a small one". Just as the oceans and the continents, the nation is a geographical element that can form a description of the Earth. In fact, it is the smallest undividable element of the Earth's geography. This is a first definition that we receive for a nation. Just as the oceans and continents that are circumscribed by the boundaries of each other a nation is defined as such through its boundaries. Boundaries make a country like ...

Eyeteeth

Eyeteeth Eyeteeth Eyeteeth By Maeve Maddox In this morning’s paper, I read the following in a guest column written by a recent college graduate: I [won’t] deny knowing people who skipped college and ended up with the sorts of careers most grads would cut their eyeteeth for. The writer’s meaning was that â€Å"most grads† would envy the â€Å"sorts of careers† attained by some of the people â€Å"who skipped college.† This young writer has mixed up his â€Å"eyeteeth† expressions. The idiom he was reaching for is â€Å"to give one’s eye teeth for.† First, a definition of eyetooth: â€Å"a canine tooth, especially, of the upper jaw.† According to a note in the OED, eyeteeth probably derive their name from â€Å"the fact that the roots of the upper canines extend close to the floor of the eye socket.† Because the eyeteeth are the latest to emerge in the human child–the first set at about 16 months and the second set at about the age of 12 years–they have become a symbol of maturity and wisdom. I suspect that their usefulness in tearing meat makes them something to be valued as well. To say that a person is willing to â€Å"give his eyeteeth† in exchange for some benefit is to indicate the intensity of the person’s desire for that benefit: To get 25 percent of the market and knock off Ford? I’d give my eyeteeth. –Iacocca, Google eBook, 2011. I’d give my eyeteeth to see more of their work onstage. –Marya Hornbacher,  Minnesota Playlist There is an expression â€Å"to cut one’s eyeteeth.† Literally, it means to have your eyeteeth come in. Figuratively, it means to pass from babyhood to youth. It can also mean, â€Å"to acquire initial practice or experience in a particular sphere of activity.† For example: The new White House social secretary is Bess Clements Abell, a graduate in political science from the University of Kentucky, who cut eyeteeth on big-league politics as the daughter of a former governor and senator. [I] cut my eyeteeth in many a cover band and managed to continue drumming through good days and bad. –Steve Scarpelli, The Sun Kings More frequently, the idea of gaining experience prior to becoming a master at one’s craft is expressed as â€Å"to cut one’s teeth†: It has been 30 years since Edi Truell cut his teeth as a trainee with a Wall Street bank. Rookie prosecutors cut teeth on DUI, misdemeanor cases Students cut their teeth during rural clinical placement. Bottom line: to give one’s eyeteeth for: to exchange something precious for something even more precious to cut one’s eyeteeth: to gain experience Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Congratulations on or for?50 Synonyms for â€Å"Idea†Using "zeitgeist" Coherently

Improving the efficiency of light distribution in PON for service Article

Improving the efficiency of light distribution in PON for service delivery in Fiber to the Home (FTTH) environments - Article Example This is true in wide area networks (WANs) that provide connectivity between cities and in metropolitan area networks (MANs) that connect telco operators’ nodes within cities. However, most local loop or the â€Å"last mile† that serve residential, small business or enterprise users, have not benefited from this. The local subscriber lines for telephone and Internet are still using twisted copper pairs while cable television subscribers are still using copper coaxial cable [1]. With the increasing users’ demands for services such as Internet applications, VoIP, interactive games, high-definition television (HDTV) and video on demand (VOD), the â€Å"last mile† connection has become a bandwidth bottleneck. Developments in xDSL and cable TV technologies has in some extent addressed this problem but still not enough to meet the continuously increasing bandwidth demand. A more effective solution is gradually being put in place especially in urban areas by extending the fiber to the user. This technology is called by many names depending on the termination mode – fiber to the home (FTTH), fiber to the curb (FTTC) or fiber to the building (FTTB). All of these FTTx solutions may utilize the Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) distribution technology. This system utilizes bandwidth allocation algorithms to allow efficient sharing of limited upstream channel bandwidth [2]. Different methods of implementing this will be discussed in this art icle. An EPON system is a point-to-multipoint fiber optical network with no active elements in the transmission path from the source, an optical line terminal (OLT), to the destination, an optical network unit (ONU). It can use different multipoint topologies, such as bus, ring, and tree. The most typical architecture is based on a tree topology and consists of an OLT, a 1:N passive star coupler (or splitter/combiner), and multiple ONU. The OLT

Write a journal article summary 2 pages summarizing the research Essay

Write a journal article summary 2 pages summarizing the research article using guidelines for journal article summary - Essay Example Psychological benefits of exercise include an individual acquiring an internal locus of control, an increase in confidence, self-control, perception and sexual satisfaction while it decreases anxiety, hostility, tension and depression. Researchers have studied the relationship between self-concept and exercise with the view of determining if exercise improves self-concept in the recent past; this field of research is still growing and more research needs to be done to prove the connection. Thus, the research detailed in the article focuses on the psychological effect of exercise on male and female students. The research study used 22 participants of which 14 were male and 8 were female. The participants were university students who voluntarily offered to participate in the study. The study used two instruments for data collection: the Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSSP) and Berscheid, Walster and Bohrnstedt Body Image Questionnaire (BIQ). The PSSP assesses self-perception within the physical domain, and it contained four subdomain scales consisting of six items that were to be contrasted with two descriptions, e.g., people with unattractive or attractive bodies. The BIQ instrument is a questionnaire that was used to assess the participant’s satisfaction with body parts (Asci, 2002). The procedure of the research involved random assigning of the 22 participants to experimental and control groups that were equated by gender. The experimental group consisted of 11 participants, and the control group had the remaining number of participants. The experimental group participated in 10-week long step dance sessions that lasted 50 minutes in three days of the week. Their session was broken down to 10 minutes of warm-up, 25 minutes of step dance, 10 minutes of floor exercises and 5 minutes of cool-down, of which the heart rate of each participant was checked after each session. The control group did not participate in any physical activity for the

Financial Accounting Exxon Shell Case Essay Example for Free

Financial Accounting Exxon Shell Case Essay Objective: Understanding the effect of inventory valuation assumptions on financial statements. Assignment summary: You are taking the role of a security analyst who recently started following the Oil and Gas industry. The analyst has a task to draw a comparison of several financial indicators for two industry leaders: Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, based on their income statements and balance sheets (attached at the end of this document) as well as the information from the notes to the financial statements summarized below. The two companies appear to be quite similar and are similar in size based on total assets. A private investor notes, however, that some financial ratios appear to be different. Your task is to guide an investor through the basic steps that will help them understand the effect of inventory valuation assumptions on the financial ratios. The following information is based on Exxon’s and Shell’s 2011 Annual Reports. Exxon Mobil Background information. Exxon Mobil Corporation was incorporated in the State of New Jersey in 1882. Divisions and affiliated companies of ExxonMobil operate or market products in the United States and most other countries of the world. Their principal business is energy, involving exploration for, and production of, crude oil and natural gas, manufacture of petroleum products and transportation and sale of crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum products. NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Inventories. Crude oil, products, and merchandise inventories are carried at the lower of current market value or cost (generally determined under the last-in, first-out method – LIFO). Inventory costs include expenditures and other charges (including depreciation) directly and indirectly incurred in bringing the inventory to its existing condition and location. Selling expenses and general and administrative expenses are reported as period costs and excluded from inventory cost. Inventories of materials and supplies are valued at cost or less (i.e., lower of cost or market). The aggregate replacement cost of inventories was estimated to exceed their LIFO carrying values by $25.6 billion and $21.3 billion at December 31, 2011, and 2010, respectively (Convert LIFO to FIFO).

Macbeth: The True Nature of Man :: essays research papers

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the author tries to show the true nature of man by using the play’s main character, Macbeth, as an example. He is overly ambitious, courageous, and self-doubting. Throughout the play, Shakespeare displays these characteristics to the audience through Macbeth to show the true nature of man. At the end of the play, these characteristics ultimately lead to Macbeth’s downfall. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is described as being â€Å"valiant†. He is a skilled warrior, who is loyal to his king and his country. Almost single-handedly, he wins the war for Scotland. He defeats many of the enemy soldiers, including a traitor, all in the name of his king. But, when three witches encounter Macbeth and his friend Banquo, Macbeth’s ambition begins to grow. They tell Macbeth that he will be Thane of Cawdor and King. Soon after, Macbeth meets with King Duncan. He informs Macbeth that he is the new Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is astonished, and from then on he is obsessed with being king. His ambition begins to become ruthless when Duncan proclaims that his son Malcolm is the Prince of Cumberland, and therefore, the heir to the throne: â€Å"The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step/On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, /For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;/Let not light see my black and deep desires:/The eye wink at the hand ; yet let that be/Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.† (I,iv,48-53) At this moment, Macbeth, realizing that they stand in the way of the witches’ prophecies, decides that both Duncan and Malcolm need to die for him to be king. As soon as Macbeth kills Duncan, he enters into a world of evil. Later in the play, Macbeth’s ambition becomes increasingly ruthless. He kills his best friend Banquo, and almost kills Banquo’s son, Fleance, because he believes they would stand in the way of his reign. The witches told Banquo â€Å"Thou shall get kings, though thou be none.† (I,iii,67) This means that Banquo himself would not be a king, but that his successors would be. Macbeth tries to prevent this by killing Banquo and his son Fleance. Even though Macbeth can be called a tyrant and a murderer, he is nonetheless, very courageous. In the beginning of the play, he fights very bravely for his king and country.

Will Smith

Will Smith is one of the greatest actors, singers and rappers of our time. Even from his youth to his adulthood, he has become one of the most influential people of America. He has become a gifted and talented actor, demanding millions of dollars for his parts in number one hits movies at the box office. With his charm, his talent, and his generosity he will be a household name remembered for years to come. Williard C. Smith, Jr. known as Will grew up in a middle class area in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, called Winnfied located in the Overbrook section of West Philadelphia.Will Smith is the youngest of four children born to Caroline and Willard Smith, Sr. Will Smith’s heritage is both African American and Native America. He attended a Baptist church near his home with his family. As a young boy, Will loved to sing and rap. He was a talented little boy who loved to be in the spotlight. As a young boy, he was given the name Prince, because he always talked his way out of tr ouble and because of his charming looks. He was a very smart child growing up. Will was one of those kids everyone wanted to be like and be around.He was close to parents; unfortunately they divorced when Will was young. Will was then raised by his mother, Caroline and three other siblings. He attended the prestigious Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia. He was later transferred to Overbrook High School, where he graduated. His good SAT scores didn’t satisfy him to get into a college he wanted to enroll. His plans were to study computer engineering. Therefore, he pursued music. He then met Jeffrey A. Townes at a party that he attended and they soon began performing together.They were known as â€Å"DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince. † He was the first hip-hop artist to be nominated for an Academy Award. He won a Grammy Award for the song â€Å"Summertime† during his rap career and received the first ever Grammy Award for Bes t Performance for the song â€Å"Parents Just Don’t Understand† in 1989. In 1990, Will Smith was almost near bankruptcy, and that was when Benny medina and NBC had an idea for a sitcom based on his life in Beverley Hills. NBC television network signed Will to a contract on the hit sitcom, â€Å"Fresh Prince of Bel-Air†.It was this sitcom that prepared him for his acting career. The sitcom lasted six years; during that time, he ventured into movies. Starring in his first movie,†Six Degrees of Separation† in 1993. After that movie, he was offered major roles in Independence Day, in which he played a fearless and confident fighter pilot. He was also starred in Men in Black, where he played the confident agent J. From then on he has gained lead in many successes including Men In Black II, Bad Boys II, I Robot, and Hitch.Will met his first wife, Sheree Smith at a taping of â€Å"A Different World† in 1992. They had one son together, Willard Smith, III (Trey), he was born on November 11, 1992. Will and Sheree divorced in 1995. Will Smith then met his second wife, Jada Pinkett in 1995 when she tried out for the role of his girlfriend on â€Å"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. † They have two kids together, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, he was born July 8, 1998, and a daughter, Willow Camille Reign Smith born October 30, 2000.

UK Post-War Welfare Settlements

Compare and contrast the trends in the ‘settling' & ‘unsettling' of the political, economic & social settlements for the UK social policies relating to health care and social housing. (Approx 2 pages) Explain and illustrate the broad nature of the UK post-war welfare settlements (namely political, economic, social & organizational) and their reconstruction in the 1980s and 1990s. In what ways has the discourse of management affected the above two areas of social policy (i. e. health care & social housing). In the United Kingdom, after the destruction weathered by the British populace during World War II and the subsequent poverty weathered by so many of the British peoples, the argument for the right of universal public services or the creation of an all-encompassing welfare state became popular. The idea that all British citizens had the innate right to accessible roads and a clean and healthy environment was extended to education, social housing, and to health services. Even then, however, there was some disagreement within Parliament about extending such social welfare programs to all, namely that of â€Å"cost. Selectivity is often presented as being more efficient: less money is spent to better effect. There are problems with selective services,† because â€Å"recipients have to be identified, the services can be administratively complex and expensive to run, and there are often boundary problems caused by trying to include some people while excluding others. Selective services sometimes fail to reach people in need,† and to limit the elitism that had so often marked policies in the past, universalism was adopted as the ethos of all social policy programs in the United Kingdom. Thus, unlike the solidarity system of social policy adopted in France, which attempts to provide care via mutually shred social obligations, the United Kingdom created what could be called ‘unsettling' challenge to its former institutional system of social welfare. It created a new system, one in which need was accepted as a normal part of all British citizens social live. (â€Å"Social Policy,† 2005) This guarantee of minimum standards included a minimum income for all Britans. (â€Å"The Welfare State, 2005) The United Kingdom became a unitary state in which central government substantially directed most government activities of social welfare policy, rather than leaving the enforcement of these policies to private industry. (â€Å"Social Policy in the United Kingdom,† 2005) Welfare such as universal health care for all citizens was provided for the population as a whole, in the same way as public services like roads, and the school system was rendered more accessible to all, as students who distinguished themselves received government support for their educations. In an institutional system, welfare is not just for the poor: it is for everyone. † The Beveridge Report of 1942 proposed a system of National Insurance, based on three cornerstones, of equal family allowances, a national health service, and the goal of full employment-this created a new idea of natural human rights than had existed before in England, and settled the question of what constituted innate human rights for the next decades, until the event of Thatcherism in the 1980's. (â€Å"Social Policy in the United Kingdom,† 2005) Eventually, the Beveridge Report â€Å"became a major propaganda weapon, with both major parties committed to its introduction,† because of its popularity. During the war, the coalition government had already committed itself to full employment through free universal secondary education, and the introduction of family allowances, and the right to public housing for all in the form of such innovations council flats as part of the war effort, but unlike the United States social welfare policies during World War II, the British government made a commitment to retaining this philosophy and these formal institutions even after the end of conflict. â€Å"Social Policy in the United Kingdom,† 2005) After World War II, all references to the working classes were removed from British laws. â€Å"The replacement of the housing stock, particularly through clearances, became council housing's main role, with mass building. The subsidies favoured industrial, high-rise building, though this was often more expensive than the alternatives. Quantity was more important than quality. (Housing and Urban Policy,† 2005) When the Labour Government was elected in 1945 it introduced three key acts: the 1946 National Insurance Act, which implemented the Beveridge scheme for social security and old-age pensions, the National Health Service Act 1946; and the 1948 National Assistance Act, which abolished the Poor Law while making provision for welfare services such as housing. † (â€Å"Social Policy in the United Kingdom,† 2005) Thus, the United Kingdom became a unitary state in which central government substantially directed most government activity. However, during the 1980's and 1990's, the rise of Thatcherism began to bring a new ethos to the land. In terms of social housing policy, for example, â€Å"the growth of owner-occupation in Britain† based on tax advantages became more common in the 1980s and 1990s. The Building Societie once founded on a social, co-operative and non-profit making basis, became banks during these decades, abandoning the original â€Å"mutualist tradition† on which they had been founded. â€Å"Housing and Urban Policy,† 2005) In terms of health care, in the 1980s, Enthoven, an American economist, made an influential criticism of National Health Services' organization. Enthoven argued that the NHS was â€Å"inefficient, riddled with perverse incentives and resistance to change,† and in the need of capitalist styles of management. â€Å"The reforms which followed were based in the belief that the NHS would be more efficient if it was organised on something more like market principles. Enthoven argued for a split between purchaser and provider, so that Health Authorities could exercise more effective control over costs and production. The NHS administration was broken up into quasi-autonomous trusts from which authorities bought services. The role of Regional Health Authorities was taken over by eight regional offices of the NHS management executive. † (â€Å"Health Care,† 2005) The United Kingdom to this day retains the mangerial innovations (or setbacks) depending on one's point of view of the Thatcher era. Thatcher was unable to institute some politically unpopular and reactionary ideas, such as a poll tax, during the decline of her power, but the privitization of health care and housing continued, as did such policies as asking for students to pay for more of their post-secondary educations, and limiting social welfare policies within the United Kingdom. The welfare system in the United Kingdom remains universalist in theory, but less and less universalist in practice after the ending decades of the 20th century required the government to make cutting costs and competing in the global marketplace the bywords of political rhetoric and policy. UK Post-War Welfare Settlements Compare and contrast the trends in the ‘settling' & ‘unsettling' of the political, economic & social settlements for the UK social policies relating to health care and social housing. (Approx 2 pages) Explain and illustrate the broad nature of the UK post-war welfare settlements (namely political, economic, social & organizational) and their reconstruction in the 1980s and 1990s. In what ways has the discourse of management affected the above two areas of social policy (i. e. health care & social housing). In the United Kingdom, after the destruction weathered by the British populace during World War II and the subsequent poverty weathered by so many of the British peoples, the argument for the right of universal public services or the creation of an all-encompassing welfare state became popular. The idea that all British citizens had the innate right to accessible roads and a clean and healthy environment was extended to education, social housing, and to health services. Even then, however, there was some disagreement within Parliament about extending such social welfare programs to all, namely that of â€Å"cost. Selectivity is often presented as being more efficient: less money is spent to better effect. There are problems with selective services,† because â€Å"recipients have to be identified, the services can be administratively complex and expensive to run, and there are often boundary problems caused by trying to include some people while excluding others. Selective services sometimes fail to reach people in need,† and to limit the elitism that had so often marked policies in the past, universalism was adopted as the ethos of all social policy programs in the United Kingdom. Thus, unlike the solidarity system of social policy adopted in France, which attempts to provide care via mutually shred social obligations, the United Kingdom created what could be called ‘unsettling' challenge to its former institutional system of social welfare. It created a new system, one in which need was accepted as a normal part of all British citizens social live. (â€Å"Social Policy,† 2005) This guarantee of minimum standards included a minimum income for all Britans. (â€Å"The Welfare State, 2005) The United Kingdom became a unitary state in which central government substantially directed most government activities of social welfare policy, rather than leaving the enforcement of these policies to private industry. (â€Å"Social Policy in the United Kingdom,† 2005) Welfare such as universal health care for all citizens was provided for the population as a whole, in the same way as public services like roads, and the school system was rendered more accessible to all, as students who distinguished themselves received government support for their educations. In an institutional system, welfare is not just for the poor: it is for everyone. † The Beveridge Report of 1942 proposed a system of National Insurance, based on three cornerstones, of equal family allowances, a national health service, and the goal of full employment-this created a new idea of natural human rights than had existed before in England, and settled the question of what constituted innate human rights for the next decades, until the event of Thatcherism in the 1980's. (â€Å"Social Policy in the United Kingdom,† 2005) Eventually, the Beveridge Report â€Å"became a major propaganda weapon, with both major parties committed to its introduction,† because of its popularity. During the war, the coalition government had already committed itself to full employment through free universal secondary education, and the introduction of family allowances, and the right to public housing for all in the form of such innovations council flats as part of the war effort, but unlike the United States social welfare policies during World War II, the British government made a commitment to retaining this philosophy and these formal institutions even after the end of conflict. â€Å"Social Policy in the United Kingdom,† 2005) After World War II, all references to the working classes were removed from British laws. â€Å"The replacement of the housing stock, particularly through clearances, became council housing's main role, with mass building. The subsidies favoured industrial, high-rise building, though this was often more expensive than the alternatives. Quantity was more important than quality. (Housing and Urban Policy,† 2005) When the Labour Government was elected in 1945 it introduced three key acts: the 1946 National Insurance Act, which implemented the Beveridge scheme for social security and old-age pensions, the National Health Service Act 1946; and the 1948 National Assistance Act, which abolished the Poor Law while making provision for welfare services such as housing. † (â€Å"Social Policy in the United Kingdom,† 2005) Thus, the United Kingdom became a unitary state in which central government substantially directed most government activity. However, during the 1980's and 1990's, the rise of Thatcherism began to bring a new ethos to the land. In terms of social housing policy, for example, â€Å"the growth of owner-occupation in Britain† based on tax advantages became more common in the 1980s and 1990s. The Building Societie once founded on a social, co-operative and non-profit making basis, became banks during these decades, abandoning the original â€Å"mutualist tradition† on which they had been founded. â€Å"Housing and Urban Policy,† 2005) In terms of health care, in the 1980s, Enthoven, an American economist, made an influential criticism of National Health Services' organization. Enthoven argued that the NHS was â€Å"inefficient, riddled with perverse incentives and resistance to change,† and in the need of capitalist styles of management. â€Å"The reforms which followed were based in the belief that the NHS would be more efficient if it was organised on something more like market principles. Enthoven argued for a split between purchaser and provider, so that Health Authorities could exercise more effective control over costs and production. The NHS administration was broken up into quasi-autonomous trusts from which authorities bought services. The role of Regional Health Authorities was taken over by eight regional offices of the NHS management executive. † (â€Å"Health Care,† 2005) The United Kingdom to this day retains the mangerial innovations (or setbacks) depending on one's point of view of the Thatcher era. Thatcher was unable to institute some politically unpopular and reactionary ideas, such as a poll tax, during the decline of her power, but the privitization of health care and housing continued, as did such policies as asking for students to pay for more of their post-secondary educations, and limiting social welfare policies within the United Kingdom. The welfare system in the United Kingdom remains universalist in theory, but less and less universalist in practice after the ending decades of the 20th century required the government to make cutting costs and competing in the global marketplace the bywords of political rhetoric and policy.

Art Influenced Art Through the Ages essays

Art Influenced Art Through the Ages essays Throughout the Roman, Medieval, and Renaissance civilization, art has been used to express the entire range of human feelings and spiritual beliefs. Art was a pleasure in itself, according to humanist ideas. So the essential question was asked: What was the relationship between the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance in art? The answer is pure and simple. The relationship between the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance in art is that art through these ages built off, inspired, and influenced on one another. Primarily, it should be known who influenced the art of the Roman Empire. It starts with Rome conquering and taking over many countries. These included Carthage, Gaul, Egypt, and Britain. And Rome, being like the great melting pot of ancient times, it slowly adopted their traditions, such as the countries religion and art. The Greeks and the Egyptians, for example, were employed by the Romans to produce art for them, and they used their own methods to do it. Rome probably had the most art influenced by other civilizations, because of the large amount of cultures it contained under the empire. So thus, with Rome, began the great movement of art being influenced by earlier art through history. Next, come the Early Middle Ages. Things looked bleak for art in the seventh and eighth centuries in the Middle Ages. There was a general artistic decline in these times, which probably contributed to this time being known as the Dark Ages. Most of the art for the Early Middle Ages was provided by barbarian invaders. The art of the barbarians contained mostly animals transformed into abstract, and decorative designs. The light at the end of the tunnel for art during the Early Middle Ages was Charlemagnes launch of the cultural rebirth program known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The Carolingnian period brought together different artistic expressions such as the Roman, ...

Biography of John Gibbon, Heart-Lung Machine Inventor

Biography of John Gibbon, Heart-Lung Machine Inventor John Heysham Gibbon Jr. (Sept. 29,  1903–Feb. 5, 1973) was an American surgeon who was widely known for creating the first heart-lung machine. He proved the efficacy of the concept in 1935 when he used an external pump as an  artificial heart  during an operation on a cat. Eighteen years later, he performed the first successful open-heart operation on a human using his  heart-lung machine. Fast Facts: John Heysham Gibbon Known For: Inventor of the heart-lung machineBorn: Sept. 29,  1903 in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaParents: John Heysham Gibbon Sr., Marjorie YoungDied: Feb. 5, 1973 in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaEducation: Princeton University, Jefferson Medical CollegeAwards and Honors: Distinguished Service Award from International College of Surgery, fellowship from Royal College of Surgeons, Gairdner Foundation International Award from University of TorontoSpouse: Mary HopkinsonChildren: Mary, John, Alice, and Marjorie Early Life of John Gibbon Gibbon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 29, 1903, the second of four children of surgeon John Heysham Gibbon Sr. and Marjorie Young. He earned his B.A. from  Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1923 and his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1927. He completed his internship at Pennsylvania Hospital in 1929. The following year, he went to Harvard Medical School as a research fellow in surgery. Gibbon was a sixth-generation physician. One of his great-uncles, Brig. Gen. John Gibbon, is memorialized by a monument to his bravery on the Union side in the Battle of Gettysburg, while another uncle was a brigade surgeon for the Confederacy in the same battle. In 1931 Gibbon married Mary Hopkinson, a surgical researcher who was an assistant in his work. They had four children: Mary, John, Alice, and Marjorie. Early Experiments It was the loss of a young patient in 1931, who died despite emergency surgery for a blood clot in her lungs, that first stirred Gibbons interest in developing an artificial device for bypassing the heart and lungs and allowing for more effective heart surgery techniques. Gibbon believed that if doctors could keep blood oxygenated during lung procedures, many other patients could be saved. While he was dissuaded by all with whom he broached the subject, Gibbon, who had a talent for engineering as well as medicine, independently continued his experiments and tests. In 1935, he used a prototype heart-lung bypass machine that took over cardiac and respiratory functions of a cat, keeping it alive for 26 minutes. Gibbons World War II Army service in the China-Burma-India Theater temporarily interrupted his research, but after the war he began a new series of experiments with dogs. For his research to proceed to humans, though, he would need help on three fronts, from doctors and engineers. Help Arrives In 1945, American cardiothoracic surgeon Clarence Dennis built a modified Gibbon pump that permitted a complete bypass of the heart and lungs during surgery. The machine, however, was hard to clean, caused infections, and never reached human testing. Then came Swedish physician Viking Olov Bjork, who invented an improved oxygenator with multiple rotating screen discs over which a film of blood was injected. Oxygen was passed over the discs, providing sufficient oxygenation for an adult human. After Gibbon returned from military service and restarted his research, he met Thomas J. Watson, CEO of International Business Machines (IBM), which was establishing itself as a premier computer research, development, and manufacturing firm. Watson, who was trained as an engineer, expressed interest in Gibbons heart-lung-machine project, and Gibbon explained his ideas in detail. Shortly thereafter, a team of IBM engineers arrived at Jefferson Medical College to work with Gibbon. By 1949, they had a working machine- the Model I- that Gibbon could try on humans. The first patient, a 15-month-old girl with severe heart failure, didnt survive the procedure. An autopsy later revealed that she had an unknown congenital heart defect. By the time Gibbon identified a second likely patient, the IBM team had developed the Model II. It used a refined method of cascading blood down a thin sheet of film to oxygenate it rather than the whirling technique, which could potentially damage blood corpuscles. Using the new method, 12 dogs were kept alive for more than an hour during heart operations, paving the way for the next step. Success in Humans It was time for another try, this time on humans.  On May 6, 1953, Cecelia Bavolek became the first person to successfully undergo open-heart bypass surgery with the Model II totally supporting her heart and lung functions during the procedure. The operation closed a serious defect between the upper chambers of the 18-year-olds heart. Bavolek was connected to the device for 45 minutes. For 26 of those minutes, her body totally depended upon the machine’s artificial cardiac and respiratory functions. It was the first successful intracardiac surgery of its kind performed on a human patient. By 1956 IBM, well on its way to dominating the fledgling computer industry, was eliminating many of its non-core programs. The engineering team was withdrawn from Philadelphia- but not before producing the Model III- and the huge field of biomedical devices was left to other companies, such as Medtronic and  Hewlett-Packard. That same year, Gibbon became the Samuel D. Gross professor of surgery and head of the surgery department at Jefferson Medical College and Hospital, positions he would hold until 1967. Death Gibbon, perhaps ironically, suffered from heart trouble in his later years. He had his first heart attack  in July 1972 and died of another massive heart attack while playing tennis on Feb. 5, 1973. Legacy Gibbons heart-lung machine undoubtedly saved countless lives. He is also remembered for writing a standard textbook on chest surgery and for teaching and mentoring countless physicians. Upon his death, the Jefferson Medical College renamed its newest building after him. Over his career, he was a visiting or consulting surgeon at several hospitals and medical schools. His awards included the Distinguished Service Award from the International College of Surgery (1959), an honorary fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons in England (1959), the Gairdner Foundation International Award from the University of Toronto (1960), honorary Sc.D. degrees from  Princeton University  (1961) and the University of Pennsylvania (1965), and the Research Achievement Award from the American Heart Association (1965). Sources Dr. John H. Gibbon Jr. and Jeffersons Heart-Lung Machine: Commemoration of the Worlds First Successful Bypass Surgery. Thomas Jefferson University.John Heysham Gibbon Biography. Engineering and Technology History Wiki.John Heysham Gibbon, 1903-1973: American Surgeon. Encyclopedia.com

There should never be a strict liability element in a criminal law Essay

There should never be a strict liability element in a criminal law offence. There should never be punishment without fault. C - Essay Example Criminal liability is a stringent provision since the defendants are likely to be convicted even if they were truly unaware of one or the multiple factors that labelled their acts as criminal offense. The defendants therefore, may not be  culpable  or guilty, in actual sense, i.e. absence of criminal negligence, the minimum blameworthy status within  mens rea. Thus, one may argue that strict liability in a true sense is an inappropriate use of the criminal law which, owing to the grave implications that it have on a ‘wrongly’ convicted defendant, should be made permissible only for the regulating or governing serious crimes committed by the culpable miscreants. This article will critically examine various cases and analyse whether there should not be a strict liability element within a criminal law offence, and there should never be punishment without fault. Discussion What are strict liability laws and their applications: Strict liability laws enacted in the 19th century aimed at elevating the working conditions and establishing standard safety norms within factories. The necessity to ascertain mens reas against the factory owners was not easy which culminated in very few prosecutions. The strict liability offences were created so as to tackle the factory owners more effectively and to ensure that the rate of convictions increased. In the modern context, common strict liability offences today include the driving over the prescribed speed limit and selling of alcohol to underage persons. Although the contentious issue here pertains to the fact that a person’s state of mind with which he/she acts should be made extraneous to his/her criminal liability (as opposed to the notions of how to deal with a defendant should he be proven guilty) it however, does not represent the law. This aspect is particularly relevant in the case of ‘real crimes’ where defendants are generally not held as criminally liable, for their conduct, if they are innocent (Ashworth and Blake, 1997). In a large number of offences, however, a prosecuted may face convictions even though his behaviour was unintentional, was not aware, not reckless or negligent, as regards to a necessary element of the offence charged. In such cases, an individual is liable to face punishment though there may be a total lack or absence of any wrongdoing on his part, as per the elements in question, which come under strict liability laws (Lemon, 1979). The debate: These laws are applicable either in  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœregulatory offences’  that administer social behaviour, where the stigma associated with the convicted person is minimal. The laws are also applicable in cases where the society is concerned with the harm prevention and reduction, and wants to obtain high deterrent values for a certain offense. However, a closer look at the various cases will reveal that are chances that some of the imposition of strict liability may function unjustly in cer tain isolated cases. As for example, if we study the case Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Storkwain  we will find that a pharmacist sold drugs to a patient who had produced a medical prescription that was a forged (Pharmaceutical Soc