Animal Fable

And lastly, the Ilon Is Indeclslve and often regrets to his decision. Right after killing the bull, he realizes the bull's absence is huge and regrets about his decision. is anger giving way to softer feelings, he spoke aloud his sorrow at the death of Schanzabeh, whom he allowed to have been probably nnocent of the crimes laid to his charge, and to have fallen a victim to the calumnies and false accusations of his enemies† (p. 1 58) _ These three characteristics of the lion symbolize two aspects of leader Firstly, the lion symbolizes a big and strong leader. But more in-depth symbol is Caliph A1-Mansur, the leader at the time when this book was translated. Caliph A1-Mansur succeeded in revolution and seized power. With authority in his hands, he executed and assassinated many people for trivial reasons.Moreover, claiming to support an ideology of equality, he actually discriminated OF2 fable, was a Persian origin who naturalized as an Arabian and converted to Islam. Even thoug h he was an ‘Arabian' in a sense of a civilian, he was not a â€Å"pure Arabian† in a sense of ethnicity. Feeling more suppressed than Arab-Muslims, he had a strong dissatisfaction of the then authority. Thus, he compares the pure Arabians, who lived in a splendor of authorities obtained by coercive territorial expansion, to the lion, whose appearance is splendid but substance is in fact feeble.The animal fables are often used to educate young people. It is told to these days that Kalilah wa Dimna was used to teach lessons about morality and wisdom to even the princes of one kingdom. Although the fables are written with a purpose of giving lessons, more meanings, either literal or figurative, can be assigned when it is translated to another language. Kalilah wa Dimna shows figurative meanings hidden in the text as well, which shows public sentiments at the time. This is a valuable trait of literature since this shows something that cannot be achieved in another means.

Educational ideas of Aurobindo Essay

Sri Aurobindo developed an education system which is popularly known as integral education. Integral Education aims at bringing about change not merely in the society but primarily in the human behaviour or nature itself. According to him, the essence of education is the recognition of a child as a soul and developing its other faculties. He is of the view that the education must begin with as well as build on sound theoretical understanding of the child. Aurobindo’s idea of education is holistic in that all the five aspects of child’s activities namely the physical, the vital, the mental, the psychic and the spiritual are included in his proposed curriculum of a child. Spiritual values are also emphasized by him through integration of mind and body through practice of yoga and physical exercises.. Sri Aurobindo has enunciated three principles of teaching in his book â€Å"A system of National Education†. His principles of teaching are: 1. Nothing can be taught, 2. Self-pace learning, and 3. Teaching from near to far or known to unknown. According to Sri Aurobindo, the child should be led from near to far. That is all education should be built upon the day-to-day experience of the learners. On the role of a teacher he is of the view that a teacher is a true Yogi who acts as a philosopher and guide to the students. He nourishes the students as plants. According to Sri Aurobindo the duty of the teacher, â€Å"is to suggest and not to impose†. He does not actually train the pupil’s mind; he only shows how to perfect his instrument of knowledge and helps & encourages him in the process. He does not call for knowledge that is written. He only shows the student where it lies and how it can be habituated to rise to the surface. He therefore essentially subscribes to the idea of teachers as facilitators. There is no doubt on the relevance of Aurobindo’s ideas of education to the present scenario of education in our country. The principles of education reform articulated by Sri Aurobindo 100 years ago in his essays on A System of National Education have culminated in the methodology formulated by the National Council of Educational Research and Training, adopted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), and now being implemented nationally, known as the National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2005). The NCF document provides the framework for making syllabi, textbooks and teaching practices within the school education programs in India. This document and the principles of education that it expounds embody the most progressive, child-centered  educational ideas and strategies practiced today in many schools of the world, and illustrate the pervasive nature of the insights expressed by Sri Aurobindo a century ago. Their seminal ideas have become the norms of progressive education reform. For instance, Aurobindo’s ideas of child-centered pedagogy and teacher’s role of a facilitator are being advocated by the current educational reforms like NCF.

Importance of Management’s Budget

Budgeting is not really something that should be discussed, but rather something that every company should be using in order to properly evaluate its financial possibilities, as well as to plan ahead the company's financial spending and investments, corroborated with any financial liabilities. As analysts have pointed out, â€Å"a budget is simply (1) a tool to increase your consciousness of how and where you spend your money and (2) a guideline to help you spend your money on the things that are most important to you†1. These two components of a budgeting definition should be showing us why budgeting is so important and why everyone should be opting for it. So, budgeting greatly helps with two different components. One of them is the fact that it shows where the money is actually going. In other words, the company using a budgeting tool will know exactly the expenses it has assumed, as well as any investments it has committed to during a certain period of time. Further more, the budgeting tool is essential in determine projects which are actually essential for the company, in other words, projects which bring added value to the company. The logic behind this is quite simple: after determining how much you are actually willing to spend during an investment or financial period, you need to decide what you want to spend the money on. Budgeting helps here as well and, additionally, it shows you how you can actually carry out the other projects which do not fit on the initial list. Budgeting should be considered a long-term strategy, with all the implications this brings about. In this sense, we should point out towards the fact that budgeting shows a concern for the long-term evolution of the company, with the top management needing to consider in the budgeting scheme not only the present projects and those that may appear as a necessity in the short run, but also projects with a medium and long term implication, projects that could bring significant revenues in the future, but who need to be included into present budgeting schemes. Nevertheless, we may consider some of the negative implications that budgeting could bring about in the company. One of these refers to any long-term projects, where the initial evaluation did not lead to the expected result. We may have, in this sense, projects that have been included in budgeting schemes, projects for which money have been allocated and which, in time, do not achieve the expected results and returns. One may actually point out towards the fact that if these projects had been dealt with at their specific time, they would have probably been evaluated to their true potential. While such an evaluation may be true, this does not deny the fact that a large proportion of projects that have been included for the budgeting evaluation will have resulted in good returns for the company. Additionally, project which are not successful do not necessarily reflect a bad budgeting strategy, so they should not be considered an evaluation tool. Overall, we may point out towards the fact that a proper and well-worked budgeting strategy is bound to bring about a healthy and successful financial situation within the company. Further more, a budgeting policy will have reverberations among the overall strategy that the company is determined to apply.

Interpretation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Interpretation - Essay Example 99-117). To understand the relationship between cultural aspects in the global environment and the economic sector, this paper will analyze and interpret the Japanese culture and its influence on the global economics through a focus on the global sushi boom. Sushi is a Japanese food that consists of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients. Sushi is often combined with seafood, vegetables and fruits of various kinds. The food can either be prepared with a brown or white rice, but usually combined with raw seafood. The original sushi was first made in Japan along Mekong River, with the word sushi meaning, â€Å"sour testing† in Japanese dialect. Other than being food for the Japanese, sushi has hit the global market and can be treated as a case of culturally oriented food that is economically sold due to its orientation to a particular culture (Rumi, 2011, pp. 99-117). In 1960’s and 70’s, the global sushi boom hit the American market and quickly spread to many parts of the world. With the increased association of the food to the Japanese culture, most people who wished a test of the Japanese culture favored the sushi making the food a market viable product. Currently, there are sushi restaurants in most cities of Europe, Asia, Russia, India and in the Latin America. An increased number of Japanese restaurants overseas have in the past led to high profile media coverage of the success of the Japanese culture overseas in the country. However, with the glory of the success of the sushi, Japan has in the recent past attempted to certify genuine sushi overseas, a move that is seen by other nations as Japan attempt to create a â€Å"sushi police†. The development of sushi, which is a culturally oriented food to a global commodity, has given Japan pride and challenges with equal measure. In Japan, following the success of the product in 1960’s, they developed a popular

Netflix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Netflix - Essay Example The first part of this paper will analyse Netflix products, its competitors, the company’s competitive strategy as well as its value chain. Part two of the paper will evaluate how Netflix applied art and science through various information communication technologies to boost its operations. Netflix products Netflix has more than 33 million subscribers in 40 countries that can rent DVDs or download movies for a monthly fee through Netflix.com. The company also has mail delivery services where movie deliveries takes place through the US Postal services from distribution centers that are located in the major cities in the country. More so, the movies streaming reaches800 devices that include PCs, TVs, and mobile application (Nelson and Quick, 2012). This means that the company’s products and services are DVD vending, and selling physically and through the internet, mail delivery services and video demand services online. ... The other competitors Amazon prime, who freely ships on millions of items and rented eBooks. The problem that Amazon prime has is that customers are required to purchase an entire year of prime for $ 79; hence discouraging customers (Nelson and Quick, 2012). To add up the competitor list is HBO GO owned by Time Warner, who offers unlimited access via website login. In spite of HBO Go great web interface, it still tethers to the cable networks. Vudu, Wal-Mart partner has also joined the industry, adding up the competitor list and it allows subscribers to stream instantly on Walmart.com. What is Netflix competitive strategy? The main competitive strategy that Netflix uses to beat competitors is product differentiation. This is the case because the company offers old products (movies) in new modernized ways. For instance, the company still mixes the old mail delivery and online streaming in movie delivery, which helps it target diverse customers (Nelson and Quick, 2012). This is excepti onal because no other company in the industry uses the old mail delivery; hence creating a differentiation. This strategy not only creates a differentiation to the customers but also eases customer’s delivery of movies because most customers get the movies at the comfort of their homes through mail and still return them through the same mail. This convenience is a great attraction to customers who end up becoming loyal to Netflix. Netflix value chain analysis Every business should look forward to reducing logistical costs as well as perceptive sales, which eventually keep the company viable. Netflix has strategically organized its value chain because it is cable to accurately, forecast demand given that

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

Mugwumps - Essay Example There were massive amounts of government corruption during the Grant administration and the resulting problems drove a wedge in the Republican Party, the Mugwumps supported Democratic reform candidates such as Grover Cleveland. According to Gerald W. McFarland, â€Å"Between 1870 and 1896, the Mugwumps, most of whom were members of the Republican party’s reform faction, frequently engaged in protests against â€Å"unsuitable† party candidates† (McFarland 40). These protests helped bolster the chances of those candidates running on a reform platform and partially assisted in the election of Grover Cleveland. However, the decision to go against ones political party was not taken lightly, as Allan Peskin writes, â€Å"To be a Republican or to be a Democrat-these were not lightly-made decisions but were shaped by self-interest, ethnicity, and, above all, history, most notably the polarizing trauma of the Civil War† (Peskin 703). As a result of the election fraud and other types of corruption that caused the backlash and mugwumps to begin their attempts at reform. The infamous Tammany Society was extremely influential during this time period as well, primarily in New York which following the Civil War had an inordinate amount of influence on national elections and politics. This was in no small part due the large influx of immigrants through Ellis Island. According to Peter Argersinger, â€Å"The highly competitive political system of the late nineteenth century, as Samuel T. McSeveny has written, â€Å"led to repeated charges, countercharges, and denials of corruption, coercion, bribery, and fraud-allegations that have been echoed by subsequent political biographers and historians. Taken at face value, these outcries would lead one to believe that the two parties alternated in cheating their opponents out of deserved victories† (Argersinger 669) It is no small wonder then that so many individuals

A Logistics Managers Position with the Firm Essay

A Logistics Managers Position with the Firm - Essay Example Throughout the internships summer experiences, I learned that international shipping is more than just filling out paperwork. There’s a lot to learn when it comes to the actual physical work that is involved, the ships that carry the goods, and the high risk of shipping over the ocean rather than by air. Just wearing a tie or nice trousers looks good, but it’s also good to be able to say I loaded the container. I know about commercial ships and ocean travel. In other words, I’ve gotten my hand's dirty learning from the bottom.  Just wearing a tie or nice trousers looks good, but it’s also good to be able to say I loaded the container. I know about commercial ships and ocean travel. In other words, I’ve gotten my hand's dirty learning from the bottom up. My references will confirm that I’m disciplined, energetic, and a quick-learner and feel pretty good about myself gave the economy and hold plentiful knowledge about the position I m applying for. If you have an opening and by going through my professional details you think that I can justify the responsibilities of the concerned job, I would welcome an interview at your convenience.

The Legal and Ethical Impacts That Managed Care Practices Have on Research Paper - 1

The Legal and Ethical Impacts That Managed Care Practices Have on Quality and Access to Patient Care in USA - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that managed care practices have caused legal and ethical effects that have made the quality of care and access to patient care a problem. Managed care institutions have to work within the limits of the available resources. Because the cost of healthcare is high, healthcare practitioners give limited health care to patients. Only the very sick and those who have a great need for care are given priority. Physicians are trapped by monetary incentives that make them compromise decision making between patients’ needs and their own remuneration. There are poor guidelines that make needy patients lack access to procedures or appropriate medication for their specific medical needs. The cost of healthcare has become the motivation of the managed care practices as Kongtvedt points out. The problem with the managed care practices is the cost consciousness that is emphasized. The high cost of healthcare has led managed care practices to reduce the number of referra ls to a specialist. Less costly medication is prescribed to cut on cost. The physicians are restricted on the number of tests and procedures they can request. Cost consciousness could lead to misdiagnosis for lack of tests or inappropriate medication because of giving available less costly treatment. Cost consciousness causes the quality and access to quality care to be reduced. The growth of managed care in the United States has caused various ethical concerns. The concerns emerge from the practices and policies that cause certain deficiencies. Many people lack insurance, others are partly insured while a small fraction of citizens has comprehensive insurance cover. The cost of health is constantly increasing and very few can be able to purchase a comprehensive insurance cover.

Organic Livestock Marketing Cooperative Assignment

Organic Livestock Marketing Cooperative - Assignment Example OLYMCO is driven by the mission to become the largest marketer of organic beef and lamb in the UK. The key to achieving this mission lies in the desire to provide the customer with value in terms of the quality of the product coupled with highly competitive prices and to ensure complete transparency in their operations. "We exist to attract and retain customers". Statistics of the market and competition have been collected. A detailed survey of customer preferences and loyalty drivers was also carried out (Section 9.6). This information will help enhance growth and sustain profitability and growth. Red meat is a primary food market in which sales have recorded marginal growth (DEFRA, 2006); values have risen, as consumers have been willing to trade up to more convenient cuts (Cooper, 2006). "The Organic Market Report 2006 reveals the biggest increase in sales to be in organic meat and poultry. In 2005, the farm gate value of organic meat and poultry was an estimated 129m, a 59% increase on 2004" (Watts, 2006). The demand is projected to grow in the near future especially as healthier and more reasonably priced product becomes available, the fear of the 'mad-cow' disease abates and with threats of avian flu reducing sales of poultry (Poultry World, 2006).This is despite predictions to the contrary a couple of years earlier (see Buss, 2004). Although British retailers are under pressure to source more organic foods indigenously, it is found that imported organic meats comprise almost 20% of total sales volume (Research and Markets).The balance between supply and demand remains t ight (Davies, 2006). Apart from the retail trade, there is high demand for organic meats from food processors and the catering sector. There is also rising demand from restaurants, schools, hospitals and government organisations (Research and Markets). 4.1 Market Demographics The profile of OLYMCO's customer consists of the following geographic, demographic, and behaviour factors. Geographic: The immediate target is the populace residing within the UK - a population of nearly 61 million. Of this, roughly 25 percent are vegans and others who do not eat one or the other type of meat. The boundaries of the country define the geographical area to be covered. Demographic: All people over 20 years old, representing over 70 percent of the total population. Customers belonging to the A and AB categories, i.e. having an annual household income above 25,000. Behavioural Factors: From the results of the consumer survey conducted, the customers are: Willing to pay a premium for higher quality, tastier meats, Tend to patronize higher-quality restaurants, and are Cognizant about their health 4.2 Customer

Sodium Thiosulphate Coursework Essay Example for Free

Sodium Thiosulphate Coursework Essay We must produce a piece of coursework investigating the rates of reaction, and the effect different changes have on them. The rate of reaction is the rate of loss of a reactant or the rate of formation of a product during a chemical reaction. It is measured by dividing 1 by the time taken for the reaction to take place. There is five factors which affect the rate of a reaction, according to the collision theory of reacting particles: temperature, concentration (of solution), pressure (in gases), surface are (of solid reactants), and catalysts. I have chosen to investigate the effect temperature and concentration have on a reaction. This is because they are the most practical to investigate it would take longer to prepare a solid in powdered and unpowdered form, and it is difficult to get accurate readings due to the inevitabilities of human errors, and as gas is mostly colourless it is difficult to gauge a reaction changing the pressure, and if a substance is added to give the gas colour, it may influence the outcome of the experiment. Similarly the use of a catalyst complicates things, and if used incorrectly could alter the outcome of the experiment. Experiment 1 Changing the concentration 5 cm3 of HCl (at concentration 1 mol./dm3) and 15 cm3 of sodium thiosulphate (at varying concentrations 10 to 35 g/dm3) are poured out into two measuring cylinders and then poured into a conical flask, which is placed on top of a board marked with letter X. The stopwatch will now be started. When the mixture has turned sufficiently cloudy so that the letter X can no longer be seen the stopwatch will be stopped and the time will be recorded. The experiment is repeated with all the concentrations. The whole procedure is then repeated. Experiment 2 Changing the temperature 5 cm of HCl (at concentration 1 mol./dm3) and 15 cm of sodium thiosulphate (at varying concentrations 10 to 35 g/dm3) are poured out into two measuring cylinders. A beaker is half filled with hot water from a tap. The water is placed on top of a Bunsen on a blue flame and the two measuring placed inside the water bath. The water is heated to the necessary temperature (30?C to 70?C) then the two measuring cylinders are taken out and the contents of both are poured into a conical cylinder. The time it takes for the X to disappear is timed and recorded. The experiment is repeated using all the temperatures. The entire procedure is the repeated. Repeat results and averages will be taken to improve the credibility of the findings, and present solid grounding for the final conclusion. The repeat results will help to iron out any anomalies and the average will give a good summary of the results of the experiment. However if one set of results is entirely different to the other, a third experiment will be performed to replace the anomalous set of results. Safety A pair of goggles will be worn during the heating part of the experiment in order to protect the eyes. An apron will also be worn to protect the skin and clothing. When handling hot beakers and measuring cylinders a pair of tongs will be used. A gauze and heatproof mat will be used while heating to avoid any damage to the equipment. Fair Test In order for my findings to be valid the experiment must be a fair one. I will use the same standard each time for judging when the X has disappeared. I will make sure that the measuring cylinders for the HCl and thiosulphate will not be mixed up. The amount of HCl will be 5 cm3 each time, and the amount of thiosulphate will be fixed at 15 cm3. During the heating stage of the experiment, a blue flame will be used throughout. Also the same Bunsen burner and gas tap will be used to maintain continuity. All of these precautions will make my final results more reliable and keep anomalies at a minimum so thus make the entire investigation more successful. Prediction I predict that as the temperature is increased the rate of reaction will increase. I also predict that as the concentration of the sodium thiosulphate increases the rate of reaction will increase. This means that both graphs drawn up in my analysis will have positive correlation, and will probably be curved as the increase in rate of reaction will not be exactly the same as the concentrationtemperature is increased. This can be justified by relating to the collision theory. When the temperature is increased the particles will have more energy and thus move faster. Therefore they will collide more often and with more energy. Particles with more energy are more likely to overcome the activation energy barrier to reaction and thus react successfully. If solutions of reacting particles are made more concentrated there are more particles per unit volume. Collisions between reacting particles are therefore more likely to occur. All this can be understood better with full understanding of t he collision theory itself: For a reaction to occur particles have to collide with each other. Only a small percent result in a reaction. This is due to the energy barrier to overcome. Only particles with enough energy to overcome the barrier will react after colliding. The minimum energy that a particle must have to overcome the barrier is called the activation energy, or Ea. The size of this activation energy is different for different reactions. If the frequency of collisions is increased the rate of reaction will increase. However the percent of successful collisions remains the same. An increase in the frequency of collisions can be achieved by increasing the concentration, pressure, or surface area. Concentration If the concentration of a solution is increased there are more reactant particles per unit volume. This increases the probability of reactant particles colliding with each other. Pressure If the pressure is increased the particles in the gas are pushed closer. This increases the concentration and thus the rate of reaction. Surface Area If a solid is powdered then there is a greater surface area available for a reaction, compared to the same mass of unpowdered solid. Only particles on the surface of the solid will be able to undergo collisions with the particles in a solution or gas. The particles in a gas undergo random collisions in which energy is transferred between the colliding particles. As a result there will be particles with differing energies. Maxwell-Boltzmann energy distribution curves show the distribution of the energies of the particles in a gas. The main points to note about the curves are: 1. There are no particles with zero energy. 2. The curve does not touch the x-axis at the higher end, because there will always be some particles with very high energies. 3. The area under the curve is equal to the total number of particles in the system. 4. The peak of the curve indicates the most probable energy. The activation energy for a given reaction can be marked on the distribution curve. Only particles with energy equal or greater than the activation energy can react when a collision occurs. Although Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution curves are for the particles in a gas, the same distributions can be used for the particles in a liquid or solid. Effects of a temperature change The graph below shows Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution graphs for a fixed mass of gas at two temperatures T1 and T2, where T2 is roughly 10?C higher than T1. The total area under the curve remains the same, since there is no change in the number of particles present. A small increase in temperature causes significant changes to the distribution energies. At the higher temperature: 1. The peak is at a higher energy. 2. The peak is lower. 3. The peak is broader. 4. There is a large increase in the number of particles with higher energies. It is the final change that results increase in rate, even with a relatively small increase in temperature. A small increase in temperature greatly increases the number of particles with energy greater than the activation energy. The shaded areas on the energy distribution curves show this. Effect of a catalyst A catalyst works by providing an alternative reaction pathway that has lower activation energy. A catalyst does not alter the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Because a catalyst provides a reaction route of lower activation energy, however, a greater proportion of particles will have energy greater than the activation energy. Analysis In this experiment I have found that as the temperature and concentration is increased the time taken for the reaction to take place decreases. This means the rate of reaction increasers as it takes less time for a reaction to take place, so more take place per second. In the temperature experiment the time taken for a reaction to take place decreased by roughly 10 to 15 seconds for every 10?C increase in temperature, with the one anomaly being the 30?C reading. There is also a trend in the increase in rate of reaction as the temperature increases. The difference is always more or less 0.02 s-1, with the same exception. Using the graphs, with lines of best fit, I can draw a conclusion from my experiment. Firstly I can see that with the time graphs (that plot temperature and concentration against time taken for the reaction to take place) the graphs have negative correlation in both cases, meaning that as the temperatureconcentration increased the time taken for the reaction to take place decreases. The time graph for the temperature experiment has a much steeper curve than the one for the concentration experiment, meaning that the decrease in time taken for the reaction was far more rapid. Naturally, the above means that the both the graphs plotting rate against temperature and concentration have positive correlation as the temperature and concentration are increased so does the rate of reaction. This is because when the temperature is increased the particles will have more energy and thus move faster. Therefore they will collide more often and with more energy. Particles with more energy are more likely to overcome the activation energy barrier to reaction and thus react successfully, and when solutions of reacting particles are made more concentrated there are more particles per unit volume. Collisions between reacting particles are therefore more likely to occur. The graph for concentration shows that when the concentrations were relatively low (10, 15, 20 g/dm3), the increase of rate x1000 was also fairly small (increasing from 4.47 to 6.71 to 9.47). There was then a gradual increase in the difference, and between 30 and 35 g/dm3 the rate more than doubled from 17.90 to 37.56s-1. This shows that there are far more collisions at a concentration of 35 g/dm3 than at 30 g/dm3. The graph plotting time against the rate of reaction x1000 shows that the difference of rate between increasing temperatures (excluding the anomaly of 30?C) was pretty much regular, increasing in steps of 6-10 (9.17 to 15.37 to 24.28 to 31.67). However, once again there is a giant gap in the last temperature increase at 60?C the RoR x1000 is 31.67 s-1, and at 70?C it is 57.03 s-1. For this to fully make sense it is necessary to recap the collision theory briefly: For a reaction to occur particles have to collide with each other. Only a small percent result in a reaction. This is due to the energy barrier to overcome. Only particles with enough energy to overcome the barrier will react after colliding. The minimum energy that a particle must have to overcome the barrier is called the activation energy, or Ea. The size of this activation energy is different for different reactions. If the  frequency of collisions is increased the rate of reaction will increase. However the percent of successful collisions remains the same. An increase in the frequency of collisions can be achieved by increasing the concentration, pressure, or surface area.

Literature Review of biopsychosocial model of back pain

Literature Review of biopsychosocial model of back pain The bio psychosocial model is now widely accepted for the diagnosis and the management of multifaceted nature of pain. The bio psychosocial model of pain presents an integrated view of biological, psychological and socio cultural factors, which could occur in pain (Jull and Sterling 2009). Seventy-five percentages of individuals in the western world during their lifetime affected with acute or chronic low back pain, which leads to major cause of disability (Kirk et al.2005). Low back pain must be considered as a bio-psycho-social syndrome that consequently requires a multidisciplinary bio-psycho-social treatment approach. (Negrini et al .2008, p.55). The result of a dynamic interaction between psychological, social and patho- physiological factors of chronic pain makes difficulty for the individual patient to determine the pre-eminent factor in his experience of chronic pain, which emphases the importance of bio-psycho-social treatment approach (Kirk et al. 2005). European guidelines also recommend the bio-psycho-social treatment approach for the treatment of chronic low back pain (Balague et al .2007). 1.1 Rationale behind investigating this topic. In clinical area of practice, low back pain is a common health problem for both healthcare professionals and patients, which reflect the thought to find out the role of bio psychosocial perspective in assessment, diagnosis and treatment of chronic low back pain. This would lead us to better understanding of low back pain and pain in general. The aim of this assignment is to critically evaluate the available evidence regarding biopsychosocial model in relation to chronic low back pain. It will also reflect on clinical practice, taking into account the principles of evidence based practice. 2.0Literature review A literature search was carried out using the Science direct, Pub Med, Medline, Ovid, Cochrane and Google Scholar was undertaken for relevant studies in the last 5years and then extended into 10 years .the initial search did not yield enough evidence for assignment aim. The keyword search included :bio psychosocial approach, chronic low back pain, psychosocial factors, mood disorders and combination of key word also used. The search was limited to studies published in English and conducted in human beings. The strength of evidence was established using the Sacketsc hierarchy of evidence (1997) (Please see appendix 1). Each of the papers were analysed for validity and rigour according to the framework given by (Rees 1997, cited in Taylor 2009). (Please see appendix 2). Case history to relate to bio psychosocial model into clinical practise. Mrs smith 35 year old mother of one child, a health professional has been suffering from chronic back pain since 2006 to2008, who feels so depressed as she has some family problems (son was sick with heart problem) and problems with her manager at work (never agreeing with shift adaptation to look after the child). She went to see her GP and complete medical assessment was negative, started on analgesics .The conflict existed, which lead her into severe depression. In 2009 she went see a psychotherapist. The manger agreed with her job flexibility to look after the child, by the time childs condition improved lead her to less frequent and less intense episodes of pain. Like many other patients the patient had never considered the possibility of psychological or social factors for two years, which could contribute to her chronic pain. Mrs smith she was told by psychotherapist that any biological reason together with psychosocial concerns can exacerbate the experience of pain and she realized the contributing psychosocial factors to her pain gradually. As she was a health care professional she started to use coping mechanism effectively with the help of psychotherapist, which helped her to control her stress with subsequent less intense episodes of pain. In the light of the above case, one of the reasons that her medical treatment had failed to respond is because of the underlying psychosocial factors have been left un-addressed. The health care professionals should understand and exploit the bio psychosocial approach to the management of chronic pain will provide effective treatment modality for patients. The bio psychosocial model relates to chronic low back pain: Evidence from studies A systematic review of randomised controlled trials conducted by George (2008) ,to evaluate the effectiveness bio psychosocial approach for the management of chronic back pain .The study also aimed to evaluate the role of individual physiotherapist in bio psychosocial approach for treating for chronic back pain The result of the review was supporting bio psychosocial approach .The sample studies were 9 randomised control studies, where individual physiotherapist has major role in intervention. George (2008,p.4) The result demonstrated significance p The NNT odds ratio reported also showed clinical significance for the result. Compared results of different studies established generalisability and consistency (lack of heterogeneity) of study findings. The included studies were experimental studies and systematic review of experimental studies where intervention provided by individual physiotherapist with minimal support from other health professionals. These studies were concentrated only to chronic back pain treated with psychosocial interventions in adults. The inclusion criteria for selected studies for the review was specific to question set for review, which contributed to get a reliable and accurate result from the review. The selected studies were scoring high to moderate quality on PEDro(physiotherapy evidence data base) appraisal tool, which can provide quality data to support the validity of the result. The interventions carried out in these studies differ from basic physical therapy treatment, which highlights importance of the capability of individual physiotherapist. The generalisability of these finding needs to consider as all care settings does not have trained physiotherapist who can provide interventions to achieve bio psychosocial approach in chronic back pain management. The search strategy identified 99 potential sample studies and the final sample was only 9 randomised control studies after filtration through the inclusion criteria. There is potential chance of bias through objectivity as because there is chance for choice of articles to support the authors viewpoint. . The review gives the strong evidence for the bio psychosocial approach for the management of chronic back pain. The similarity or homogeneity of studies involve d in this review broadening the applicability of bio psychosocial approach by an individual physiotherapist who has appropriate knowledge and capability to carry out the interventions The study reported that individual physiotherapist who manages the bio psychosocial approach for the treatment of chronic back pain is effective as multidisciplinary management of chronic back pain .As it sounds cost effective and may more feasible for patient because of one to one interaction further research must be essential the to promote individual physiotherapy approach. .Waxman et al. (2008) conducted an observational study to examine the impact of psychosocial factors in chronic back pain patients and their relationship satisfaction. The observed sample included was24 men and 30women(N=54) with chronic low back pain who were married or cohabitating and were recruited through chronic pain clinic. The finding from the study reported that depression and negative partner response have significant impact on relationship satisfaction among chronic back pain patients. Table:2 Standardized regression (Path) Coefficients of mediational models with psychosocial variables as mediators of pain and relationship for total sample (Waxman et al. 2008,p.438) The total effect of pain on relationship satisfaction was significant,B=-.32p The association between pain and depression was significant=.63p Indirect effect of pain on relationship satisfaction through depression was significant =-.21,p The relation between pain and negative responses was significant=.38,p The indirect effect of pain on relationship satisfaction through negative response was significant indirect effect =-.20p From this significant evidence reveals that negative response by partner is also a mediator of pain and relationship satisfaction The study reported significant evidence to reveal the relation between various components in bio psychosocial model which include pain(bio),relationship satisfaction(social) depression(psycho) perceived negative response(psychosocial) . (SeeApeedix:5) Reflecting the study back to the case of Mrs smith Its not clear about her partners involvement in her treatment, but she was showing signs and symptoms of depression which might contributed to the chronic nature of pain. The study result underscores the importance of partner involvement in patients pain assessment and treatment the study. In clinical practise there is a need to promote education programme for partners of patients with chronic back pain as part of treatment plan to achieve bio psychosocial approach. When reflecting this finding to clinical practise which explain the reason why the widow or patients who lives alone are more vulnerable candidates for the chronic nature of the pain. These finding consistent with previous following study results .Future research need to consider to compare self reported data from both patients and partners to know the response and behaviours that related to pain. The ethical consideration was done on study as the study was approved by the local IRB, and written consent was obtain from patients as a proof or willingness also promotes the strength of the study. The reliable tools used for data collection was rigor to the study. The recruitment method for sample selection was based on self selection which can contribute to selection bias, which can affect the rigor of the study. The patients who has greater pain and psychological symptoms may not take initiative to participate in the study. The results in this study were based on self-reported outcomes from the questionnaires that were sent to the patients, which makes the data subjective and are most likely to be true and contribute to the rigor of the study, can promote the rigor of the study. The study also reported that the approximate time for completion of questionnaires was 45 minutes. The reliability of data can affect because of length of time especially these patient who are with pain and psychological symptoms. The study is ranked as class 3c on the hierarchy of evidence considering the design and methods employed in the study. The evidence reaffirms the bio psychosocial model for assessment and treatment of chronic back pain. Tang et al. (2008) conducted an experimental study to examine effects of mood on pain responses and pain tolerance in chronic back pain patients. The recruited sample was 55 patients suffering from chronic back pain aged between18-65.The patients were randomly allocated into three groups ,depressed group:18,neutral group19 elated group:18.The the participants were asked to perform a baseline task (reading magazine) to establish a baseline for mood and pain ratings. An artificial mood was induced to participants (musical mood induction)and followed by pain provoking task(holding a heavy bag) to assess the pain rating and tolerance. The study result proved that the participants with depressive mood showed high pain ratings and lower pain tolerance at rest, but happy mood induction resulted in lower pain ratings and higher pain tolerance. The table:3 shows that depressive mood positively correlated with increase in pain ratings(Tang et al. 2008,p.399) The participants were manipulated to examine the effect of artificially induced mood on artificially induced pain which may affects the reliability result when it apply into real mood and pain of chronic back pain patients. Even though researcher adapted a pre-determined mood change criteria to judge the effectiveness of mood on the participants during the study. This can contributed to rigour to study and it can promotes the reliability of the result. The sample population was aged between 18-65,tolerence of induced mood and pain may not be same between these age groups .The difference in sex also can affect the mood and pain tolerance. The Researcher failed to mention about the method of randomisation to overcome confounding factors. Blinding not performed and can affects the performance bias The study design was experimental designwhich comes under level 1a in hierarchy. This study also proved that music therapy is effective to improve pain and pain tolerance in chronic back pain patients. It agrees with (Guetin 2005),music therapy is a effective complementary treatment in chronic back pain associated anxiety-depression and behavioural consequences. Future research needs to consider for evaluating the effectiveness music therapy as part of multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Bio psychosocial approach for assessment helps to identify the matching treatment for patients based on their characteristics and refine the focus of treatments and achieve effective outcome. Even though there are weaknesses for this study it proved that mood can influence the pain. The result is consistent with Waxman et al.(2008 ) discussed in previous study. These studies highlights the importance of cognitive behavioural therapy in bio psychosocial rehabilitation for chronic back pain patients NICE(2009). Mitchell et al. (2009) conducted a cross sectional study to evaluate the role of personal bio psychosocial factors on low back pain, in nursing students. The results proved that modifiable life style, psychological, physical factors were relates to low back pain in nursing students. One hundred and seventy undergraduate nursing students from two university nursing schools of western Australia were enrolled for this study. The study compared three groups of students (no LBP group, mild LBP group significant LBP group) and reported that students with significant low back pain were more physically active compared to no low back pain group group. The DASS total score and stress subscale score were higher in significant low back pain group compared to NO LBP group .The study also reported that social measures did not influence their pain intensity. The study result mentioned that the social measures including household income and smoking did not affect the significant low back pain patients. This cannot be generalized into general population types, as it conducted on healthy university sample may not be much influenced by social factors. There are contrasting findings which mention the relation between low back pain and social measures(Shiri et al.2009) Study gives the evidence for sufficient statistical power and ethical consideration. The researcher used triangulation in data collection, which overcome the limitations of a single method of collecting data and hence increased the validity of the results. The results of this study were based on self-reported (questionnaire) outcomes that were collected from patients. It can contribute to validity of the results, because they are more subjective and most likely true. The inclusion criteria on sample selection was appropriate to focus bio psychosocial approach in chronic back pain patients, as the criteria excluded patients with inflammatory disorders ,neurological or metastasis disease, pregnancy or less than 6 months postpartum. The study was conducted as cross sectional study which classified in to class 3c on level of evidence.,and researcher failed to include other factors like fear avoidance and genetic factors. This study was carried out in the Australia and their socio cultural factors and life style may differ from United Kingdom , decreasing the accuracy of reproducing these results to UK practice.Even though study result is consistent with other studies conduced in united kingdom . In the area of practice physical and psychosocial factors has important role on experiencing low back pain among healthcare professionals and potential candidates, which reflects the necessity of education related to stress management such as relaxation techniques and meditation and mandatory manual handling training. Job stress and fear related to pain are mediators to inability to return to work Gheldof et al.(2005) The high prevalence rate of low back pain highlights the importance of targeting prevention interventions among healthcare professionals and patients. The case study of patient discussed has not had much benefit from the conventional treatment pattern and showed clear evidence of personnel and psychological factors that can contribute to pain. The understanding of bio psychosocial factors helps to find out cause diagnosis treatment and prevention of chronic back pain Suprina (2003) conducted a case study to discuss the efficacy of bio psychosocial model. The sample for this study was a 32-year-old woman who suffers from chronic back pain for almost ten years and study reported that bio psychosocial model helps the women for successful reduction of symptoms. This study also proves that single practitioner can plan bio psychosocial model for the treatment of chronic back pain. The researcher reports that the treatment can be more effective when implementing one person integration model than multidisciplinary approach as it has easy access to patient also saves money and time. This study classified under level 3d as this is a study of only one individual. There is chance of performance bias as the subject blinding done in this study . Even though it is individual case study it agrees with widely accepted bio psychosocial model. The study reveals that all health professional should consider individual patient as one with complex behaviours and emotions and not just organism with physiological changes .The researcher who conducted this st udy in United states is supporting the one-person integration model, practicability of this one- person integration model in United kingdoms clinical practise is questionable because the way of clinical practise may vary in different countries. The current trouble within heath care system in European countries is relegate mainly to biomedical perspective and not considering psychosocial aspects because of time constrict and inadequate training. Mauksch (2005) compared the current state of bio psychosocial approach to a dormant seed, which is sitting on the shelf, which need to be watered with bio psychosocial education by health care professionals and placed in an environment fertile with bio psychosocial practise. The knowledge about bio psychosocial approach helps healthcare professionals for better assessment and treatment of patients, which also agrees with case study discussed. Currie and Wang (2004) examined prevalence and correlation between major depression and chronic back pain. The data collected from 118,533 household residents from Canadian community health survey .The study result showed that low back pain is significant factor as a predictor for major depression (Fig:1). Individuals with severe pain intensity represented highest risk of major depression(odds ratio,1.61;95%confidence interval L:1.34-1.97;p Fig1:Prevalence of major depression(MD)in persons with chronic back pain stratified by pain severity . Currie and Wang (2004,p.55) The study also proved that individuals with chronic back pain and major depression were younger and they were more likely to be single and younger. The personal factors play an important role for contribution to low back pain which agrees with Mitchell et al. (2009). The episode of depression were measured by WHOS fully structured diagnostic interview, Composite International Diagnostic Interview -Short Form for depression. Which produce internal validity to the study.(scott et.al.(2000), The study mentioned that this is the largest sample size(118,533 residents)ever used in population -based study of chronic pain and depression. This sample size from national population health survey gives power to the study and promotes the reliability and generalisability of the results. The sample included in the study was aged from 12 years .As age, gender and cultural factors have an influence on level of perceived pain and influence of depression,these are important factors to consider to avoid selection bias and to make the study rigorous. The researcher used multi staged stratified random sampling procedure in the study would have added rigor to the study. The population for this study was from Canadian community health survey. As we discussed cultural factors and personal factors has influence in experiencing pain and depression in individual, reflection of the results into United Kingdom population may be not accurate. Even though study result is consistent with other studies conduced in United Kingdom The study was conducted as cross sectional study which classified in to class 3c on level of evidence Mrs smith case report also illustrates signs and symptoms of depression, which could contribute to her chronic back pain. She was lacking multidisciplinary  Ã‚   bio psychosocial rehabilitation in her treatment. Multidisciplinary  Ã‚   bio psychosocial rehabilitation with functional restoration reduces pain and improves function in patients with chronic low back pain(Lang et al.2003,P.270), (Demoulin et al.2010). Woby et al.(2007)aimed a study to determine the relation between cognitive factors and level of pain and disability in chronic back pain and reports that pain intensity and disability strongly related to cognitive factors . The sample selected for the study was 183 C L B P(chronic low back pain) patients with onset of back pain>3 months who had been referred to an physiotherapy rehabilitation programme which underpinned by cognitive-behavioural principles and revealed that higher levels of functional self -efficacy (b=0.40;p The researcher used triangulation in data collection, which overcome the limitations of a single method of collecting data and hence increased the validity of the results. As all data collected by self reported measures the validity of data can be affected by social desirability .The selection bias in sample selection needs to be considered because patients selected for study was from rehabilitation programme, who had been referred to cognitive behavioural based intervention. It indicates that sample may be already affected with psychosocial factors, which can affect the validity of the result. The results suggest that psychosocial factors should consider as integral facet for treatments for chronic low back pain. The cause of chronic pain in case Mrs smith should have been identified by the team involved in her care than trying to alleviate her suffering through the conventional treatment like pain killers.  The pathway in fig:2 explaining Mrs smith painful experience, disability and its recovery, which also agrees with the Woby et al.(2007)study results. Mauksch (2005) reported that average visiting length between physician and patient is highly stressed for 15 minutes in primary care system in European countries, which may possibly happened with Mrs smith case, which emphasis the need of the adequate structured training to all healthcare professionals to practise bio psychosocial model with in limited time. Fig2: Revised fear-avoidance model incorporating the mediational role of functional self-efficacy (Woby et al.2007,p.716). The health care professionals should understand that the psychosocial factors are very important prognostic factors in the prediction of chronic pain and disability. 2.3 Bio psychosocial model can promote patient satisfaction -evidence from study Margalit et al.(2004) conducted a experimental study to find out the effect of bio psychosocial approach for patient satisfaction in their care. The study confirms that bio psychosocial model approach can reduce the heath care expenditures and can promote patients satisfaction.( Table:2,appendix:6). The study sample was 44 general practitioners randomly selected from 523 practitioners who works with North Israel district. Again researcher used randomisation to allocate teaching methods, which gives rigour to the study. In this study he compared pre teaching effect and post teaching effect of two teaching interventions with two groups of general practitioners. The first method (didactic) consisted with reading assignments and lectures. The second method consist (interactive) consisted with role-play and group discussions. The result reported that the interactive teaching method elicited higher patient satisfaction. Finestone et al. (2008) included a set of suggestion for physician to introduce bio psychosocial model in his study. Fig:4(Appendix:3). There are limitations to this study. The method of randomisation is not mentioned on this study. The researcher highlighted the reasons for dropouts of patients from study but not mentioned anything about intention to treat analysis. Even though recruited sample were consented, the researcher did not request approval from institutional review board. There is chance of bias through hawthrown effect because subjects known that they are video taping for the study. It is worth mentioning that the study is conducted in Israel and application of the results to UK clinical practise needs to consider as their teaching method may differ. This study highlights the importance of interactive assessment to achieve bio psychosocial model treatment. Future researches are needed to support this study result and apply to UK clinical practise. 3.0 Conclusion: The systematic review conducted by George (2008) reported after that bio psychosocial approach for assessment and treatment of chronic back pain can make the successful reduction of symptoms . This study result also agrees with Suprina (2003) and Margalit et al.(2004) which reported that the approach can reduce the health care expenditures and can promote patients satisfaction .these studied also proved that single trained practitioner can achieve bio psychosocial model for the assessment and treatment of chronic back pain. Tang et al. (2008) , Currie and Wang (2004) and Waxman et al .(2008)also reported the same fact which explains the relation between depression and pain intensity. Depression can significantly leads to higher pain ratings and higher pain ratings can also leads to severe depression. The studies also proved that psychosocial factors like fear avoidance behaviour, stress ,negative responses by a partner and cognitive factors are contributing to chronic back pain. The cross sectional study conducted by Mitchell et al.(2008) reported that modifiable personal factors like lifestyle,physical sctvity can contribute to low back pain. After extrapolating the results and considering the nature of the studies, the findings suggest that bio psychosocial factors have important contribution to low back pain. One of these factors could trigger the other and vice versa. In practice, it is difficult, rather impossible, to dissociate one factor from the other, which emphases the importance of bio-psycho-social treatment approach. References . . . Balaguà ©, F., Mannion, A., Pellisà © , F. and Cedraschi, C. 2007 Clinical update: low back pain. The Lancet, 369(9563), pp.726-728. Breen, A., Austin, H., Campion-Smith, C., Carr, E. and Mann, E. 2007 You feel so hopeless: A qualitative study of GP management of acute back pain. European Journal of Pain, 11(1), pp.21-29. Currie, S. and Wrang, J. (2004) Chronic back pain and major depression in the general Canadian population. Pain, 107(1), pp.54-60. Demoulin, C., Grosdent, S., Capron, L., Tomasella, M., Somville, P., Crielaard, J. M. and Vanderthommen, M. (2010) Effectiveness of a semi-intensive multidisciplinary outpatient rehabilitation program in chronic low back pain. Joint Bone Spine, 77(1), pp.58-63 Egwu, M. and Nwuga, V. (2008) Relationship between low back pain and life-stressing events among Nigerian and Caucasian patients. Physiotherapy, 94(2), pp.678-688. Finestone, H., Alfeeli , A. and Fisher, W. (2008) Stress-induceed physiologic changes as a basis for the Bio psychosocial model of chronic musculokeletal pain. Clinical Journal of pain, 24(9), pp.767-775. Guà ©tin, S., Portet , F., Picot , M. C., Pommià ©, C., Messaoudi, M., Djabelkir, L., Olsen , A. L., Cano , M. M., Lecourt, E. and Touchon, J. (2009) Effect of music therapy among hospitalized patients with chronic low back pain: a controlled, randomized trial. Ann Phys Rehabil Med, 53(1), pp.3-14. Gheldof, E., Vinck, J., Vlaeyen, J., Hidding, A. and Crombez, G. (2005) The differential role of pain, work characteristics and pain-related fear in explaining back pain and sick leave in occupational settings. Pain, 113(1,2), pp.71-81. Johnston , V., Jimmieson , N., Jull, G. and Souvlis, Tina . (2009) Contribution of individual, workplace, psychosocial ;and physiological factors to neck pain in female office workers. European Journal of Pain, 13(9), pp.985-991. Jull, G. and Sterling, M. (2009) Bring back biopsychosocial model for neck pain disorders. Manual therapy, 14(2), pp.117-118. Kirka, L., Underwoodb, M., Chappellc, L., Martins-Mendezd, M. and Thomas , P. (2005) The effect of osteopathy in the treatment of chronic low back pain-a feasibility study. International journal of osteopathic medicine, 8(1), pp.5-11. Lang, E., Liebig, K., Kastner, S., Neundà ¶rfer, B., Heuschmann, P. and (2003) Multidisciplinary rehabilitation versus usual care for chronic low back pain in the community: effects on quality of life. The Spine Journal, 3(4), pp.270-276. Margalit, A. P. A., Glick, S. M., Benbassat, Jochanan and Cohen, A. (2004) Effect of a bio psychosocial approach on patient satisfaction and patterns of care. Journal of general internal medicine, 19(5), pp.485-491. Mauksch.Larry (2005) But first,training in biopsychosocial care :A Commentary on The Bio psychosocial Model Is Shrink Wrapped ,on the Shelf, Ready to be used ,but waiting for a new process of care. Families Systems, Health, 23(4), pp.448-449. Mitchell, T., Osullivan, P., Smith, A., Burnett, A., Straker, L., Thornton, J. and Rudd, C. (2009) Bio psychosocial factors are associated with low back pain in female nursing students: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46(5), pp.678-688. Negrini, S., Fusco, C., Atanasio, S., Romano , M. and Zaina , F. (2008) Low back pain :State of art. European journal of pain supplements, 2(1), pp.52-56. NICE. (2009)

My Trip To Egypt

My Trip To Egypt It was my grandmothers 70th Birthday in May this year and my Mum, my sister Sophie and my Mums three sisters decided to have a girly long weekend in Dorset during the May half term. Consequently, my Dad and I had most of the week on our own. My Dad came up with a few options of places to go ranging from Paris to Rome but also suggested going to Cairo. As I have always wanted to go to Cairo and see ancient Egypt, I thought that this was a brilliant idea and a fabulous gift from my Dad and I readily agreed to the trip. It was a five hour flight to Cairo and my Mum drove us to the nearest underground station for us to reach Heathrow airport in time for our early morning flight of course the anticipation was killing me as and I desperately wanted to see what an Arab country was like, especially one with all the mysteries of the ancient world that I imagined Egypt to have. We enjoyed the flight I enjoy my Dads company as he is such a good story teller and of course, he had been to Egypt about 20 years before so was telling me about all the things I could expect I couldnt wait! When we stepped off the airplane, the first thing I could feel was the intense heat that was thrown against my face and it seemed to suck the moisture from not only my face but seemed to reach right into my mouth and towel dry my tongue I knew then that I was in a desert country. When we stepped off of the tarmac into the custom hall, the first culture shock hit me and I have never seen so many guns pointing at me as if I was public enemy number one, although on the other hand, it seemed like I was the prime minister arriving! My Dad had arranged for us to be met by a personal driver, and he treated us like visiting royalty, escorting us to the car, looking after our luggage and settling us in for the journey. Although we arent used to that kind of service at home (well apart from my Mum!!), for comfortably-off Westerners with our standard of living this was probably just an average means of transport. I was really interested in seeing Cairo as we drove to our hotel and while it was not immediately as spectacular compared to some of the cities I have visited, it seemed a fairly average city with a lot of slums, colourful graffiti, stray dogs but balanced with some fairly modern buildings too. On the next day my Dad and I decided to visit the market, which was called the Khan E Khali Bazaar and which had a range of shops and stalls that I had never seen before with most of the goods on offer being so cheap that I felt that I could virtually buy the whole bazaar. I bought a lot of souvenirs right away as this was one of the aims of my visit I am a great shopper and collector, especially on holiday, and this visit was going to be no exception! The market was based near the citys main Egyptian museum, is one of the major areas of Cairo and which houses all the mummies and Egyptian artefacts, which are of course key to defining the history of Egypt. The sun was scorching and I felt as if I was inside an oven, but suffering the heat was worth it we ended up spending most of the morning in the colourful, bustling market, taking refuge in the little tea-rooms and of course buying about three shopping bags of a wide range of goodies to take home, for example I bought an old Egypt ian coin which in this country would be worth a lot of money because it is an ancient artefact. The texture of the coin was very rough; I made me think of all the hands it must have been through. I also allowed my imagination to wander and dream about the very strong sun in the sky, beating down on the coin; how many hardworking slaves in Ancient Egypt had stood where I stood now with the sun beating down on them as they toiled in the heat and the dust all those centuries ago, battling with famine and the anxiety of not knowing if theyd see another day? The smells of anywhere new is always something that lodges in your memory and this was no different; we visited a perfume shop that had a whole range of intoxicating perfumed oils and lotions and we bought a full set of different liquids all in their own intricately made glass bottles to take back home to my Mum and Sister. There were so many different spices and perfumes and I just know that when I smell any of these intoxicating aromas, or the smell of meat mixed with the aroma of jasmine and various herbs of the Arabic world, this will remind me of various soap shops that we walked past. Also, I think that the smell of raw meat reminds me of walking past open meat stalls in various supermarkets, such as, Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys I will be instantly transported back to that busy market! We had a really full and interesting day but eventually decided to head back to the hotel and take an afternoon nap so that we would be in the best shape to be ready for a lovely dinner in the hotel in the evening. After a long and relaxing sleep, the next morning, we decided to visit what is called the Gem of Egypt and the world famous pyramids. There were many more pyramids than I expected as there are actually three major ones and three smaller ones. The one I liked best was one known as the step pyramid as this was a major landmark in history for the Egyptians. I cannot imagine how long it would have taken to construct these Wonders of the World. Again my mind wandered back to the Egypt of 3000 years ago when I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be part of the many thousands of poor slaves who were forced to build these massive constructions; I was finding difficult just to stand or walk in this intense heat how hard would it be to pull massive stone blocks into place, or using rope and tackle having to pull the stones up and into their place and then to have these monuments to hard labour stand for thousands of years the whole scene and where it stood in history was mind bl owing. Another equally impressive installation sitting serenely nearby was of course the Sphinx which dominates the pyramids with its beauty and its uniqueness. To see and touch the Sphinx had been one of my life long ambitions and of course, I had to buy a memento a small replica of the beautiful monument, although this souvenir had been painted. Although this is not currently the case, whos to say it wasnt originally painted? At the end of this long, hot and sweaty day making tiring journeys to, from and inside the pyramids, I desperately needed a shower and then we had a relaxing meal and after dinner drink by the moonlit pool (although did have to battle the treacherous nightlife in the form of mosquitoes!), we repeated our pattern of fairly early night and off to bed. Lying in bed of an evening, I heard various different noises of the Arabic world, my imagination was very much alive this holiday due to the lack of internet, television and video games, I had a lot of time to think and reflect on what might have gone on in the surroundings around me. I acted out many scenes in my head, filled with various battles and mysterious tales that have been centred in and around Ancient Egypt. We were very tired the next day and so we decided to take it easy and decided against some trips from the hotel. We woke up lazily at around eleven in the morning, because of the exhausting past two days. After a scrumptious breakfast, we went to the swimming pool which was a clear as a diamond with lovely clean as water. The pool was neither too hot nor too cold but just perfect and the water was of the same quality as in England with no dirt. We swam for about half the day and then made our way to the restaurant again for lunch, this time a buffet laid out perfectly with such a vast selection of delicious food that I felt quite confused as to what I should have for lunch. In the afternoon, we decided to visit the mosque of the Emperor which was so beautiful with all carvings of the Quran and people praying it almost felt like you were in Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, everything was just so authentic. I think when you are faced with a completely different religion or culture, t here are very stark differences and on the surface, you feel that there are no similarities; this is especially true with the differences between Christianity and Islam. However, it is only when you study the religions in depth that you come to realise that there are some things that are very similar or in fact the same. During my visit to the mosque I also learnt some Arabic (for numbers) which sounded like a language made by God. Later on in the evening, we had a real contrast to the holy experiences of the day when we went to watch a typical Arab belly dance with a woman dressed in an Arabian dress showing her bare stomach. It was like a dance exhibition for a king, and she had thousands of pounds worth of jewellery all over her. The dance lasted for about thirty minutes and it was performed while we ate some typical Arab fare for dinner. Finally, we went back to our hotel and because we already had had dinner, went straight to bed. All so quickly, I reached the last day of our fantastic visit to this wonderful country with such diversity, such rich culture and rich smells and tastes. Our flight was quite late at night so during our last day we visited the world renowned Egyptian museum, which contained wonderful artefacts. One artefact which startled me the most was the picture of Tutankhamen, one of the great rulers of Egypt, which was full of rich colours and was truly a work of a great artist. I never imagined that the people of so long ago would have had such refined and great skills, especially artistic and also construction work. The museum was really fascinating and I felt honoured to have witnessed so many treasures. We finally made our way to the airport and even though I didnt want to go home, we had to our flights were booked and so we could not stay longer. The airport had the same high security situation with the guards holding guns on display. I will never forget this trip and the only thing that would have made it even better was if I had my mum and sister with me too.

The Case for Torture :: Michael Levin Ethics

I seek to provide an analysis on Michael Levin's article on "The Case for Torture." This article mainly articulates that the use of torture is necessary in order to safeguard the lives of the many innocents and is justifiable. In his given example, he argues that the mass murder of millions of innocent people by a terrorist justifies the use of torture to stop such an extreme barbaric act. Indeed this is a question of moral on the action of inflicting pain. Take a look at the scenario of a war. We will never say that it is immoral to let out soldiers kill or inflict pain on the enemies in a war because we know that it is the only way to safeguard our nation's sovereignty and the lives of our people. The motives are very clear as mentioned. Thus it is justifiable to let our soldiers kill those who intended to harm the lives of our citizens. When a terrorist has clearly intended to harm the lives of millions, why is it not justified then, to inflict pain on the terrorist, with the mot ive of wanting to protect the lives of many more innocent people? Surely it is! Take a look at this argument: Constitution seeks to protect the interest of one's rights. To torture a person is to breach that protection of interest. Therefore, Torture is unconstitutional. Torturing is however, unconstitutional only when the motives behind it are deemed reasonably immoral. We should then of course not inflict pain mainly just to force the other party to confess the truth to a matter if he does not wish to. But what if the truth will then lead to the location of say, a timed-bomb, which will then be diffused in time to prevent an entire office block to collapse, bringing with it a thousand or more lives? Should the constitution then continue to protect the terrorist against such torture? The author said that millions of lives outweigh constitutionality. Surely it is not justiable for a constitution to uphold the rights of a terrorist, but at the expense of the thousands that, t oo, holds the right to live never asked to be placed in such danger. Again, the moral of one's action must be reviewed in such cases. On a personal note, I feel that to sacrifice one that is convicted, in exchanged for the many innocents, is a permissible one.

Egypt :: essays research papers

Egyptian Art: Old, Middle and New Kingdoms Art historians, Egyptologists, and archeologists have made fascinating discoveries about the artifacts, pharaohs, and culture of Egypt since the discovery in 1799 of the Rosetta Stone. It led to the decoding of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Pharaonic names, dates, places, and events could then be reliably organized for linear presentation of ancient Egypt’s long 4,000 year history. Egyptian innovations in burial architecture, mummification, picture language, and huge monument building had both amazed and puzzled scholars for nearly 1,500 years. Pyramid building, obelisk lifting and colossal statue carving reveal a sophistication and simplicity which are at once both attractive and intriguing. This paper will review several specific aspects of Egyptian art ranging from 4000 to 30 B.C.E. First will be, a brief discussion of Egyptian history, kings, geography and art. They will be followed by an examination of invention and innovation. Next, the decoding of hieroglyphics will be reviewed and followed by an overview of ancient Egyptian fascination with the afterlife. Finally, the major discovery in 1922 of King Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings and its exquisite treasures will be offered. The Old Kingdom, from about 4000 to 2280 B.C., was the age of the great pyramids such as Cheops (wonder of the ancient world), Chefren, and Mycerinus. Also on the Giza plateau is the largest freestanding statue in Egypt, the Sphinx. The Sphinx was a sculpture of a lion’s body with the face of Chefren. The statue is sixty-five feet high and about 240 feet in length, making it the largest freestanding statue in Egypt. The Nile River was key in the development of these Ancient Egyptian cities the Nile would flood in the summer which fertilized the crops and making the desert lush and fertile. Its most important role was it supplied clay for bricks and pottery for transporting water. The Nile was even an asset to the prehistorics. The Egyptians developed their agricultural economy from prehistoric communities such as Hierakonpolis. Menes, the first recorded king of early Egypt, had an architect named Imhotep. Imhotep built and constructed many types of pyramids such as the mastaba , step, bent, and smooth-sided. The next era of the Egyptian kingdom is known as the Middle Kingdom. This kingdom lasted from about 2065 to 1785 B.C. In this era, the city of Thebes was built. Thebes was known as the most influential city of the ancient world.

Report on the Film “Black Cat, White Cat” by Emir Custurica Essay

have chosen to watch and report on the film â€Å"Black Cat, White Cat† by Emir Custurica for several reasons. Firstly, Custurica is a globally famous filmmaker, known in the US for his â€Å"Arizona Dream†. Secondly, Custurica does pay much attention to matters of culture in his films, so his works are very informative. Thirdly the characters of â€Å"Black Cat, White Cat† belong to different peoples and cultures, including Serbians, Gypsies and Bulgarians. So the film tells enough about cultural and cross-cultural communications. Produced in 1998, the film is a kind of romantic comedy telling a story of several young people in search of their love in the world of gangsters and smugglers. One of those smugglers named Matko Destanov owes money to a gangster named Dadan. Dadan is eager to find a husband for Afrodita – his midget sister and he proposes to settle the debt by marriage of Matko’s son Zare with his sister. However, Zare is in love with another girl named Ida, and Afrodita dreams o another man. After numerous funny and dangerous adventures all of the young people find their happiness, and Dadan finds himself in manure both in metaphorical and ordinary sense. The film is very ironic and easy to watch as a family comedy. As I have already noticed, the film tells much about cultural communications. Firstly these are family and friendship. The characters seem to be very family-oriented and â€Å"beautiful friendship† is one of the core motifs of the story. Young people dream of a family and stable relationships, older people desire to make their children happy as Zare’s grandfather and even such a savage man as Dadan wishes to do the will of his parents even though through violence. Personal relations are basic forces driving the characters in life, business and even crime. They rely upon help of their pals and relatives in virtually every action they take, thusly playing a tricky party game – each for own purposes but considering the will of the others. This can be illustrated by relations of Zare with his grandfather. Zare loves his grandfather and helps him to escape from hospital to return to his bacchanalian lifestyle, and the thankful grandfather gives all his money to Zare. Such approach to personal relations is full of traditionalism and is pretty different from the present situation in this country. Another cultural aspect, which might seem rather evil in this country is attitude of characters towards law. Throughout the film it may seem that there is no law and legal formalities at all. Customers are easily bribed, medical personnel is unable to control the patients, gangsters behave as actual rulers and an official solemnizing a marriages passively does everything what he is ordered to do, even knowing that marriage between Zare and Afrodita is forcible. However, the characters actually do not feel any discomfort from absence of formalities. Law is replaced by aforementioned personal relations, and perhaps they would feel unhappy from presence of legal obligations rather from absence of such obligations. There are many interesting minor cultural details in the film such as marriage customs, costumes, language features and other which, being combined together, create a fascinating impression of involvement in other culture. Films like â€Å"Black Cat, White Cat† cause spectators to become interested in strange lifestyles and habits forming an idea of global cultural diversity.

Yakka Tech Pty Ltd

This case tells us about the Information technology service firm (Yakka Tech Pty. Ltd. ) This firm provides I. T services throughout Australia and New Zealand. Basically, this firm install and upgrades enterprise software systems and related hardware on the client’s sites. To provide all these services it employees 1500 people. It has customer service division that consist of four customer contact centres serving clients within each region. Each customer service centre consists of half- dozen departments representing functional specialisations and a single department consist of more than two dozen employees. Over last five years time period Yakka tech’s customer service business has nearly doubled. But this growth not only brought positive aspects to the company, rather brought various negative consequences such as, increased customer complaints regarding poor customer services, in-enthusiastic response from the employees, conflict between employees of various departments, increased number of employee’s resignation. This not only increased the labour costs but it also showed direct impact in terms of productivity of the employees. Due to these negative consequences Yakka tech decided to increase the pay rate and keep the employees. Moreover, they also offered a share of profit with employees if they work more than two years for the company. This reduced the resignation of the employees, whatsoever, customers complaints did not end. Q1) What Symptom (s) in this case suggests that something has gone wrong? It is a fact that something went wrong, due to which this I. T service provider was unable to live up through customer’s expectation. As the business grows, it is likely that the work pressure will be more. Proper management is required to make work pressure less. Moreover, a proper channel of communication from the time of query has been made by the customer and ticket has been issued till the time it has been solved should flow. And rather than closing the ticket and re-issuing another ticket to same customer with same problem it would be effective to make a record of customer with same ticket number that could be used as future reference if some complaints or queries would be used by same customer again. Re-issuing of ticket again and again to same customer and different way of handeling same problem by same company would definitely make customer unsatisfied and ould cause more time. This is one of the symptoms that shows the initial mistake of Yakka tech. Similarly, Being I. T service provider, it should have had individual account of customer with their unique reference code that describes the type of system they are operation in their organisation. So that once customer give their refrence any employee with related department gets the ca se history of what had been done by previous colleague and what needs to be done further more. This would make it lot easier for the employees to understand the customer’s problem and solve query quicker. This is the second symptom that created customer dissatisfaction and longer time to tackle with some problem that created blockage in several departments that over loaded the work. Moreover, when the query had to deal with more than one department of the division it always created customer complaints. This was one of the major symptoms of customer’s dis satisfaction and yakka tech’s internal employee conflict. Since, every single employee were unaware of how the customer was dealt by previous employee, every single time each employee had to deal with each customer form the beginning. This would create frustration for the client. Due to work pressure and number of call waiting there was no proper communication between employees of different department. Yakka tech should had tried to figure out possible reasons for employee resignation. In many cases pay rate is not only the reason for employee’s resignation. On the other hand company’s first priority should be to deal with customer. Customers were not satisfied by the way they were served. Hence Yakka should have take a better step by talking with employees. Supervisor and managers to try identify what kind of problem they are going through to serve the customer. Another symptom that shows something went wrong was, due to lack of communication between management and employees of different division. Where employees felt they had to do what they were employed for. Same time they had to listen to number for frustrated customers and job was becoming monotonus. At this stage there should have been some role from management to step in have a meeting with employees make them cheer up and assure them to make some flexible way of working. Due to lack of such approach, despite the pay rate was increased the customer were still not satisfied and employees were working just for the sake of high payment. These were some of the symptoms that suggest something has gone wrong in Yakk tech Pty. Ltd. 2. What are the main causes of these symptoms? 2. 1 Customer complains regarding poor quality service. Unhappy customers are bad news for any company. Every single complaint from a client is a manifestation of dissatisfaction because of poor quality service. Customer complains should be considered as a major factor as it will serve as a feed back of the company IT systems infrastructure(managing customer complains). Yakka Tech’s customer service business has doubled over the past five years yet the management was not focused towards the existing complains process and how it should be handled. Customer complains of Yakka Tech need to be defined and clarify the company’s policies to establish procedures in order to satisfy their clients. The clients’ requirements need to be synchronized with the company’s resources is one of the important element in complaint handling. The complains should be addressed at the earliest and in a fair approach rather than having a defensive manner of dealing the problems. Developing a structured customer complaint management can prevent this problem. 2. 2 High employee turn over The number of employee resignation in YakkaTech contact centers has risen above industry average until eighteen months ago. It resulted in increase in labour cost due to recruiting and training of new technical staff and caused low productivity of new staves. There should be good relationship between employee satisfaction, employee turnover and customer satisfaction(better employees). Employee turnover will be high in a company if the work environment is not up to the standard, which is exactly what happened in YakkaTech and that resulted in negative effects between the relationship of the company and its customers. The management needs to understand the reasons for high employee turn over and need to take necessary steps to overcome it. Lower productivity of employees can be reduced if the employee turnover is lesser as new employees are the main reason for lower productivity. Some of the reasons for high employee turnover are poor management, low employee compensation and not considering employees quality of life. 2. 3 Poor customer service training. according to the result of an employee survey as well as informal comments since then many of the YakkaTech employees said that they find their job monotonous and have the filings for disconnection from the work they do. This has resulted in failure on customer service skills and behaviors which cause in increase in responsibilities performed by a customer service staff. So the training that company gives to the new employees should emphasize to gain patience when dealing with customers problems and giving real effort to solve it. YakkaTech should design the training programme to achieve the predetermined objectives goals and needs of the organization. Improved communication skills, retention of customers, problem solving capabilities focus on customer satisfaction and maximum and effective use of the resource available. 2. 4 Conflicts. There have been few complaints about the ongoing conflicts with people in other departments and the stress of serving dissatisfied customers. The reasons for conflicts in YakkaTech may be because departments have different objectives and if their members cant find common values and goals they cannot cooperate which fail to coordinate team action effectively. Changes take place constantly in an organization and these changes can generate emotions and employees can more easily adopt to change if they are well prepared, included and supported. Task interdependence may be another important conflict in the firm that is conflict between individuals or groups that are dependant on one another. Lack of proper communication between different divisions can cause conflict. The management can develop different approaches that fit employees’ personalities and responsibilities. Some of the conflict management skills that YakkaTech can adopt are, getting feedback from employees about the different operations of the department, assessing the source of the conflict and different conflict management styles. 2. 5 Lack of team motivation. YakkaTech’s executive team decided to raise pay raise for its customer service staff to become among the highest in the industry. They assumed that high rate would improve morale and reduce turn over and reducing hiring costs and improving productivity. Increased pay rates failed to improve morals but it did reduce employee turn over in the firm. It clearly shows that there is lack of motivation by the management to maintain effective team work and employee retention. Interesting work, appreciation, pay, good working conditions, and job security are important factors in helping to motivate. (http://www. bpir. com/employee-motivation/menu-id-71/implementation. html). Work and personal life of an employee should be given importance in the company.

EHT Task

Guided Practice: a. Teacher follows the above procedure for each student working with each student both directly and indirectly. Teacher and aid will use both physical and verbal cues until student is able to work in pairs and then independently. E. Independent Student Practice: a. Teacher will begin pairing students together based on ability to follow through with â€Å"kick the ball†. B. Students will be monitored for safety implicate, sharing and taking turns as well as using correct technique. C.Students who are non-compliant with safety procedures will work independently with teacher or aid as they kick the ball and retrieve it. D. Wheel chair students will receive moral and physical support as required. F. Culminating or Closing Procedure/Activity/Event: a. Students will participate in a non-traditional game of kick the ball; students will utilize a three base plus home plate field (set up like baseball). Each student will receive a turn to kick the ball and maneuver the basses. Students enable to walk or run or who are in a wheelchair will be assisted around the course.Students will receive instruction, praise and reward for all efforts and achievements. Pedagogical Strategy (or Strategies): Teacher will be utilizing direct instruction, one-on-one instruction, small group instruction and independent teaching strategies. Differentiated Instruction: Accommodations have been implemented for physically challenged students. Small group Para-pro for student with CUP. Classroom aid for wheelchair bound student and additional coverage where needed throughout the lesson.Technology Integration: Technology deemed inappropriate for this lesson format as physical exercise is required. Student Assessment/Rubrics: Assessment: Per state guidelines students are only required to participate so attendance will be taken and submitted. An alternative assessment could be documented and kept in student records and could be in the format of a rubric. Students could be me asured as: Mastered, independent, guided, and physically assisted. This information could as well be kept in a teacher grade book used to monitor progress or regression.

Carrying a Heavy Load

Carrying a Heavy Load The word carry means to hold, contain, or support something and to take that something you are holding or supporting to another place. In many cases when people talk about carrying things they speak about physically carrying an object with some amount of weight from one place to another. Many times however people carry things with them throughout life that have no physical weight, weighing themselves down with the â€Å"heavy† burdens that life brings.Both Wideman and Obrien’s short stories exemplify a common theme of persevering through struggles and relieving oneself of the weight of life’s struggles. The soldiers in O’Brien’s short story â€Å"The Things They Carried† carry heavy physical loads necessary for them to survive out in war, but they also carry heavy emotional loads which will be with them for the rest of their lives if they are unable to let them go. Some things the men carry are universal, like a compress in case of fatal injuries and a two-pound poncho that can be used as a raincoat, groundsheet, or tent.Most of the men are common, low-ranking soldiers and carry a standard M-16 assault rifle and several magazines of ammunition. Several men carry grenade launchers. All men carry the figurative weight of memory and the literal weight of one another. They carry Vietnam itself, in the heavy weather and the dusty soil. The things they carry are also determined by their rank or specialty. Each mans physical burden consisted of weapons, cigarettes, C rations, and packets of Kool-Aid, and the more intangible things, such as fear and silent awe, that weigh these soldiers down.As leader, for example, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries the maps, the compasses, and the responsibility for his men’s lives. The medic, Rat Kiley, carries morphine, malaria tablets, and supplies for serious wounds, and the responsibility to save lives. The things they carry depend on several factors, including th e men’s priorities and their constitutions. Because the machine gunner Henry Dobbins is exceptionally large, for example, he carries extra rations; because he is superstitious, he carries his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck.Nervous Ted Lavender carries marijuana and tranquilizers to calm himself down, and the religious Kiowa carries an illustrated New Testament, a gift from his father. With the amount of space that the author gives to enumerating the weight of these objects, one might assume that these objects are what are really important to these soldiers, but in reality it is the incalculable weight of their burdens that truly weigh them down. The â€Å"things† of the title that O’Brien’s characters carry are both literal and figurative.While they all carry heavy physical loads, they also all carry heavy emotional loads, composed of grief, terror, love, and longing. Each man’s physical burden underscores his emotional burden. Henry Dobbins, for example, carries his girlfriend’s pantyhose and, with them, the longing for love and comfort. Similarly, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, of the Alpha Company, carries various reminders of his love for Martha, a girl from his college in New Jersey. Cross carries her letters in his backpack and her good-luck pebble in his mouth.He carries her photographs, including one of her playing volleyball, but closer to his heart still are his memories. Lavender, one of the soldiers in the story, gets shot on his way back from going to the bathroom. That night the soldiers sit in the darkness discussing the short span between life and death in an attempt to make sense of the situation. The morning after Lavender’s death, in the steady rain, Cross crouches in his foxhole and burns Martha’s letters and two photographs.By burning the physical reminders of Martha Cross believes that he will be able to forget about his past with her, and stop fantasizing about their future. O’Brien wrote â€Å"Besides, the letters were in his head. And even now, without photographs, Lieutenant Cross could see Martha playing volleyball in her white gym shorts and yellow T-shirt. He could see her moving in the rain. † Even without the pictures and the letters he was still carrying Martha. These emotional burdens are the heaviest because they are intangibles and therefore cannot be disposed of.Physical burdens are no more than that; if necessary they can be discarded. Emotional burdens, on the other hand, must be endured. O’Brien, speaking of cowardice in particular, says, â€Å"in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down. † The soldiers know there is no easy way to rid themselves of their fears because of their abstract nature, but they dream escapist dreams of flying away in a plane and â€Å"falling higher and higher,† free of weight.Jimmy Cross tries to rid himself of intangible burdens by di sposing of tangible ones that, to him, represent intangible qualities. He does this by burning his letters from Martha. He knows, though, that this simple act cannot rid him of his memories. â€Å"He realized it was only a gesture†¦ Besides, the letters were in his head. † His love for Martha is also represented by the small pebble, which she gave him, but the easily disposable pebble, which weighs merely an ounce, represents a much heavier emotional burden that he cannot rid himself of.Though in Wideman’s short story â€Å"Newborn Thrown in Trash and Dies† a tiny baby is cast down a rubbish chute with no tools to survive, no physical load except for her own weight, she carries a heavy emotional load and reflects on what her life might have been had she lived on each floor of the tenement building where her 19-year-old mother lives. In the first paragraph of the story Wideman quickly expresses the theme of carrying burdens. Wideman writes, â€Å"Your life rolled into a ball so dense, so super heavy it would drag the universe down to hell if this tiny tiny lump of whatever didn’t dissipate as quickly as its formed.Quicker. The weight of it is what you recall some infinitesimal fraction of when you stumble and crawl through your worst days on earth. † Here the newborn speaks about burdens and mishaps that come about in life. She explains to the reader that she will not be able to receive much of a life but that people would have nothing to live for if they did not forget about the struggles and problems that were flashed before their eyes before they were born into this world. The rest of the short story tells a complete play-by-play of the flash of life she had before she was brought into the world.Each floor represents another stage or point in her short life. The floors of this story disguise the days of life, and the newborn that will have no chance to experience them explains the days of life perfectly in these words; â€Å"I believe all floors are not equally interesting. Less reason to notice some then others. Equality would become boring, predictable. Though we may slight some and rattle on about others, that does not change the fact that each floor exists and the life on it is real, whether we pause to notice or not. †People cannot have a good day everyday or everyday would become boring and predictable. In many instances of life people are put into situations such as the war that the soldiers in â€Å"The Things They Carried†, that they have no control over, and that they could not even begin to explain to people for the mere fact that the situation that they are in no one should ever have to think about let alone experience. On the other end of the spectrum good days and good experiences are most often remembered and reminisced about for the rest of peoples lives, which they should be.The thing that people don’t realize is that very often people carry around the burden s of their pasts and the bad days that they have had which make the rest of their lives less enjoyable. After the war, the psychological burdens the men carried during the war will continue to define them. Those who survive will carry guilt, grief, and confusion, although the heavy backpack filled with tools to survive will be gone. In both stories the characters carried emotional burdens, the soldiers carried fear and hope as well as the newborn baby.The soldiers hoped to see another day, and were scared that the opportunity might not come. They had lived lives before the war and feared that they might never get the opportunity to live happily with their loved ones again so they carried belongings of their loved ones physically trying to keep their loved ones close and not forgotten. The same holds true with the newborn girl. She never gets the opportunity to experience her family, or to even establish a connection with anyone before she dies. Still she fantasizes about what it mig ht have been like, what might have happen.The emotional burdens of fear of death seem to be unbearable for the soldiers mainly because they know that they are losing the opportunity of life. The newborn however doesn’t seem bitter about dying, she feels sympathy for the mother who put her in the trash and accepts her life as being â€Å"how it is,† as she doesn’t know any better. All in all the characters of both the stories carry their emotional loads till death, or until they go back home which even then the psychological affects of the war will still haunt them until they learn to let them go.So as the newborn surrenders to her death she lets go of her emotional burdens floor by floor never looking back, so to should the soldiers realize that their days are numbered and tomorrow is never promised so just as Wideman wrote at the end of his second paragraphs about how people try to forget the flash of their life that occurs before they are born people should al so try to forget the bad days and the burdens of life as they happen and, â€Å"live your life as if it hasn’t happened before, as if the tape has not been punched full of holes, the die cast. †