National Science Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellowship Essay -- Medical E

National Science Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellowship Biotin is an essential vitamin for humans; it must be included in infant formulas and in fluids for intravenous nutrition. Even though it is a necessary component of our diet, we do not yet know the mechanism by which biotin, also known as vitamin H, is synthesized in the body from dethiobiotin. The enzyme that accomplishes this conversion has been termed biotin synthase. This enzyme catalyzes the insertion of sulfur at nonactivated positions of dethiobiotin, between carbons C1 and C4, to generate biotin. This mechanism is of interest because it appears to involve uncommon chemistry and because of the commercial value of the product. Biotin is sold as a pharmaceutical and as a food and cosmetic additive. This water soluble vitamin is essential for the growth and well-being of animals and humans, and it is used in the formation of fats the utilization of carbon dioxide. Prof. Richard H. Holm's bioinorganic chemistry class sparked my interest in the understanding of enzyme mechanisms as model systems for the design of more selective drugs and better synthetic catalysts that allow us to run reactions with good yield, little waste, and inexpensively. Having worked for two years with Prof. JoAnne Stubbe on the mechanism of nucleotide reduction in E. coli by ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase, I have come to appreciate the positive effects of an understanding of this mechanism in the synthesis of more efficient drugs for the treatment of cancer and viral diseases. Increased knowledge of the biotin biosynthase mechanism should allow us to produce biotin more efficiently, and the knowledge gained from this mechanism could be applied to similar enzymes. Despite recent advan... ...should aid me in designing more successful experiments. Works Cited 1. Sanyal, I., G. Cohen, and D.H. Flint. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 3625-3631. 2. Birch, O.M., M. Fuhrmann, and N.M. Shaw. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 19158-19165. 3. Sanyal, I., K.J. Gibson, and D.H. Flint. (1996) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 326, 48-56. 4. MÃ ©jean, A., B. Tse Sum Bui, D. Florentin, O. Ploux, Y. Izumi, and A. Marquet. (1995) Eur. J. Biochem. 217, 1231-1237. 5. Frappier, F., M. Jouany, A. Marquet, A. Olesker, and J.C. Tabet. (1982) J. Org. Chem. 1982, 2257-2261. 6. Parry, R.J. (1983) Tetrahedron 39, 1215-1238. 7. Parry, R.J. and M.G. Kunitani. (1979) Methods Enzymol. 62, 353-370. 8. Trainor, D.A., R.J. Parry, and A. Gitterman. (1980) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 102, 1467-1468. 9. Baldet, P., H. Gerbling, S. Axiotis, and R. Douce. (1993) Eur. J. Biochem. 217, 479-485.

Describe the Various Phases of Economic Cycle, Which a Country Might Experience and Explain the Possible Causes of Such Cycles.

The economic cycle is a fundamental economic understanding of the phases that an economy may experience during certain climates. This can be understood by the basic economic cycle diagram, which shows the different periods combined with a line representing trend growth. Governments ideally wish for uniform growth, close to or on the trend line, this is where the economy is continually expanding and growing at a rate which the government perceives to be sustainable. For example, the UK aim for 2. 5% trend growth, however due to the economic cycle we can understand that it rarely stays at one point for a long period of time. When the actual growth line is above trend rate, this is known as a positive output gap and when the actual growth line is below trend, a negative output gap. A boom period is a period on the economic cycle whereby the curve surpasses trend growth; this represents substantial economic growth and is represented by a peak in the economic cycle. Recessionary periods are stages in the economic cycle when growth falls, this occurs most commonly after a boom period and will lead to the next ‘trough’ in the economic cycle, or bust. Bust is whereby the economy is suffering a low point, they are at their lowest in terms of economic growth, operating much below the trend rate and is seen as a trough in the economic cycle. A recovery can be seen on the economic cycle diagram by the encroachment of actual growth to trend growth, and is therefore where the economy is growing gradually and ‘recovering’ from the bust period they have just suffered. The economy is likely to experience a boom period often in times when supply side policies exceed their time lag and their productivity can be seen. Or perhaps in the short term through a boost in demand side policies, such as a decrease in interest rates to encourage consumer spending, however such demand side policies are short-lived due to the accompanied inflation and therefore are unlikely to be the sole cause of a boom period. Similar to the causes of a boom period are the causes of a recovery, this can be induced by the government’s willingness to encourage spending or potentially increase labour productivity via methods such as training and education. Similarly to this, a recession can be combatted and forced into recovery by both monetary and fiscal policy. Monetary policy would focus on decreasing the money supply in order to stimulate the economy whereas fiscal supply focuses on government spending and tax. A reduce in taxes such as income tax would work in theory to get people back to work and therefore push out the PPB to potentially develop economic growth. As previously mentioned, it is possible for the government to stimulate aggregate demand using monetary policy, via a reduction in interest rates, however this does not come without its own problems, it leads to potential speculation of increasing price levels and inflation. However recessions and potential busts can be created in many numerous different ways, one of which previously just mentioned in terms of speculation. Speculative bubbles work via the communication of the consumer, for example, the Housing market was massively published and conversed about to rise dramatically over the coming years. This forced people to purchase houses there and then in the hope that they will be provided with a better price now than they would in the future, due to speculation they were correct in doing so. Such speculation skyrockets demand and with it too comes price levels, this is a common cause of a recessionary period. In addition to this demand-side shocks such as the credit crunch of 2008 in the USA, result in massive contractions of AD. Such demand side shocks come unpredictably in the economy, and thus make it very difficult for the government to prepare adequately for. Such negative demand shocks are expressed in the diagram below, whereby the shift from AD1 to AD2 can be seen. Supply side shocks are also uncontrollable and come normally with little preparation time for an economy, for example, due to the BP oil crisis of 2009, prices rose massively as BP prepared to lose millions of gallons of wealthy resources in the form of oil. On the other hand, a positive supply side shock could potentially be experiencing now, as a result of the Libyan crisis, negotiations are underway between the UK government and the Libyan government to set up and oil partnership. This could affect the supply of oil massively, and potential be a positive for the economy. Climatic Factors must also be mentioned with reference to the economic cycle, and often result in the further diminishing of the world’s smaller economies. For example the wildfires in Canada resulted in the global price of grain being bolstered largely, and therefore has the potential to put the economy into a recessionary period as one of their large exports suffered a major loss. Political Factors should also be mentioned when discussing the progress of an economic cycle, for example to make the appearance of a certain government positive, prior to an election they may attempt to boost employment in the UK. This is a last ditch effort from the politicians in order to sway the votes of their citizens. However, these jobs could be short-lived and are often not sustainable, therefore do more harm to the economy than good. To conclude, there are many causes of the economic cycle, some positive and some negative, however it depends on potential government preparation and intervention to prevent damage exceeding what it needs to, and recessionary periods to be continued for long periods of time. Economies must be well equipped to deal with unexpected occurrences in order to prevent long term suffering of economic growth.

Sophronia Lui

Sophronia Lui Hong Kong, 1973 Sophronia Liu came to the United States. Lui earned her bachelor’s degree in English, and French and master’s degree in English from the University of South Dokata. She currently lives in Minneapolis St. Paul, where she is an organizer and educational consultant with the Asian-American community. So Tai – Fai This young man was a dirty, profane, and lazy. So Tai-Fai always caused trouble to his peers and to his missionary sisters at his Hong Kong school.He clearly wasn’t meant to be educated, and teachers were wasting their time and money on him. So why waste time on him? Sophronia Lui watches him every day in horror as his future breaks and falls. So Tai- Fai at age 14 the maximum age for sixth graders. In the sixth grade he failed almost all his tests and his classes. He failed 3 out of 14 subjects including, English, Grammar, Arithmetic, and Chinese Dictation.Horrible kid with a bad attitude, he passed notes in class made i nappropriate jesters toward his sixth grade teacher Sister Marie, and he was put in timeouts for being late. Sophronia Lui’s classmate So Tai-Fai dare-devilish attitude was always a burden in her class. He shows up late and in a mess, his hair in tangles, dirt on his face, and in a worn out dirty shirt. Sister Marie their sixth grade English teacher always asked him â€Å"why are you so dirty all the time, doesn’t tour mother flat iron your shirt? † â€Å"What about insecticide? So Tai- Fai sometimes joked around and classmates thought it was a joke that he was consuming insecticide that he got from his dads farm, which took his life during the school year. He died on his way to the hospital, his parents sad and devastated on his side. So Tai-Fai was the oldest son out of three children. His dad was a vegetable farmer, and his mother worked in a local factory. So Tai-Fai helped out with his dad in the vegetable fields with crops in Wong Juk-hang, by the sea. Sa dly, So Tai-Fai made it to the sixth grade.

The Contemporary World

In the contemporary world, globalization refers to the increased interactions and integration between the people, companies and the governments or states on an international scale. Recently, globalization has grown rapidly attributable to greater improvements in the transport and telecommunication sector across the world. Majorly, globalization is subdivided into political, economic and cultural aspects. Moreover, increased interaction between the people and the national states has led to a vast growth of the international trade, improved cultures and generation of more innovative ideas.According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), major facets of globalization include capital and investments, trade and transactions, as well as dissemination of information and movement or migration of people. As an economic process, globalization implicates the interaction of people on the aspect of economic resources, goods, and services with the use of modern technology. Conversely, globalization is a subject to major environmental challenges which includes global warming, cross-border land, air and water pollution as a result of increased human economic activities across the globe. However, globalization as a current issue has experienced numerous changes of late. It is imperative to note that change is inevitable and the period between now and 2020 is speculated to bring forth greater changes in the subject of globalization. The increased modern technological advancements in transport and communication sectors are likely to impart both positive and negative changes in the interaction of people and integration of states on matters pertaining to the world economic activities. Technical predictions of expected global changes are herein discussed below. The first change in globalization is the global networking. Currently, extensive research and innovation in telecommunication have led to the discovery of internet which is known to link people through the World Wide Web platform hence has led to improved communication infrastructure. This has simplified the interaction of people and integration of nations across the globe by reducing the cost of communication and business transactions. Moreover, the use of smartphones, computers and other electronic devices to access the internet has made enormous changes on globalization. Such devices are designed with certain functionality software which is capable of selecting useful information that can be shared. With the internet enabled electronic devices, one is able to connect with anybody from anywhere around the world at his or her conveniences. Economically, exchange of goods and services has been made convenient. Business transactions have been more simplified and can as well be done online at an economical cost globally. The government and states are also able to integrate and reap the potential benefit for the citizens by improving their living standards by maintaining healthy relationships that promote the economic growth of both states. Additional significant change, subject to globalization is on safe marine and air transport, which has drastically reduced the inadequacy of resources. Sea transport has promoted the transportation of goods and people on the oceans and seas whereas air transport has been set to convey goods and people over the air. This has simplified the transportation of goods and services as well as safe traveling of people across the world. In the transport sector, technological invention stands out as the mother of innovation in airplanes, electric trains, and ship vessels basically used to transport goods and people. The supply of goods and services to effect businesses across the globe through air, water bodies and modern roads has progressively become more convenient. Increased use of flights has impressively improved the export and import goods for business transactions, which has in return increased the country's GDP.Air transport has led to the rapid delivery of both perishables i.e. agricultural produce (horticultural products) and non-perishable goods within the shortest period of time globally. With the contemporary increase in airline transport, more airports are likely to be established so as to meet the mounting demand of the usage of the aircraft. More passenger and cargo airplanes are also speculated to increase in the near future so as to meet the growing demand. Bulky goods have also been transported with ease by the use of heavy long-distance trucks. Additional innovations in the transport sector are still expected foster more changes with an aim of reducing the global distance and making the world a global village.Globalization is expected to rapidly hasten a change in the production of the labor markets. This is due to an extensive role it plays in the economic domain which includes outsourcing, mechanization, and finding of jobs in abroad countries. However, it shuns a threat of insecurity as a result of cyber-crimes which has adversely infringed the rights of intellectual property worldwide. Moreover, it exposes people to the risk of losing their jobs as a result of technological advancements which renders some of the task done by people computerized. The introduction and use of artificial intelligence gadgets such as robots used in manufacturing industries have indicated that globalization is facing a change from the labor intensive to capital intensive market. This is likely to cause adverse effects on the jobless people who will struggle to live a life. Also, it will result in a drop in the world's GDP index due to the elimination of human labor. Politically, globalization has been the pillar behind, cooperation and international cohesion as a result of the global integration of countries. It has brought together the cultures of all states, an imperative desire for peace. Furthermore, it has also led to the formation of global political organizations such as the United Nations and the International human relations. The global organizations have promoted respect and dignity people's lives globally, an indication of unity. International culture has shrined the world thus allowing people across the globe to discover new cultural practices through traveling for exposures to some international arts, religious cultures, music, televisions and more cultural perspectives. However, globalization is also believed to further ethical concerns, which results to the creation of worldwide awareness for condemning the social human injustices, and building notions pertaining the rights and responsibilities of persons towards each another on the international realm.To conclude, globalization is contributing largely to promoting the social, political, cultural and economic interaction of people businesses and integration of nations across the globe. The improved world-wide interaction has led to growth and development of most state economies through international trade which has inflated the GDP of such nations. Globalization has facilitated easy transfer of goods and services for economic purposes. Changes encountered in the globalization of late includes the use of modern technology which has significantly improved the communication and transport sectors in the world. The use of technology has eliminated global barriers. Increased use of internet has positively improved the connectivity of people across the entire world. Moreover, goods and people have also been safely transported safely both in water bodies and air as a result of technological inventions in the contemporary world. Besides, globalization is also faced with environmental challenges like global warming and pollution due to adverse human economic activities. However, it is imperative to note that by 2020, the world will be more shrined and access to goods and services, and other needs across the world will be made more convenient.

A Recurring Theme in the Letter of James is that of Doubleness' People Essay

A Recurring Theme in the Letter of James is that of Doubleness' People Say One Thing and Do Another - Essay Example In verse eleven, he stresses this point by saying that a fountain does not shed sweet and bitter water at the same since this is a powerful contradiction. Nor can a fig tree bear olive berries (McCartney, 2009, p.243). In (James 2:14-17), he stresses that faith without actions is death. For instance, if a brother is cold, ill-dressed and lacks food and you say to him ‘go well eat and keep warm, you have not actually helped him because you have not provided to him his actual needs. Thus, this is faith without actions and should not be seen among Christians. Just as the body without the spirit is dead, faith without works is also dead (James 2:26). James, therefore, earnestly and unconditionally discourages the act of double-mindedness among Christians. He encourages Christians to put what they say into actions or in other words that Christians should practice their actions (Batten, 2009, p.145). Circumstances and Background of the Letter Some Christian scholars claim that the le tter of James was authored by James the Just, who served Jesus Christ and the Lord as a slave. The postulation also describes James to be the brother to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is, however, denied by some other group of scholars who argue that the letter is pseudonymous. Although the book is named after James, it was actually written long after his death. This was written, as they say, by a Christian member of the early church James led before being stoned to death in the ‘60s. The book is purported to have been written and named after James in order to honor and respect him for his works (Johnson, 1995, p. 163). The author of this book could not be one of the disciples of Jesus Christ since one of them was called James, the Zebedee’s son, who was martyred in the year 44 CE. The epistle was not written by then, thus, he could not have been the author. The other was James the son of Alphaeus who was not particularly prominent in the record of the scriptures. This dis ciple was unusually outspoken and, thus, could he have written the book of James, he would have indicated that he was among the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. There is a strong evidence that the book was written by James the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ to whom the resurrected Jesus had appeared to in a special way (Mathew 13:55; Galatians 1:19, 2:9). This James was also remarkably prominent to the disciples of Jesus and popular among them (Acts 21:15-25). According to the teaching of the book with the Symmachian sect, it is questioned as to whether the teachings of James were heretical (McCartney, 2009, p.265). The greatest portion of the scholars of the Bible has a belief that the book of James was authored by James, who was the brother to Jesus the Lord. However, scholars like Jerome do not marry the idea and think that the book was written by James son of Alpheus (Mathew 10:3). The view of Jerome is widely supported by the catholic believers to date. The protestant c ommunity strongly deems that the writer of the book of James is James the brother to the Lord (Mathew 13:55). The Jews of Jerusalem once valued James so much and enthroned him at Jerusalem (Acts 25:11). James is recorded to have supported some of the Mosaic Law, and this might have led him to write that letter which was in conflict with the epistles of Paul (Acts

Assignment 11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Assignment 11 - Essay Example He argues that the emotions that the appearance creates to people determines their level of appreciation of that particular product. Whatever people see, they react by assigning meaning and value to the item or product. It is by this understanding that product manufacturers try to incorporate affective, behavioural, and cognitive aspects into a product. In the visceral aspects of a product design, the customer is more concerned with how much they like or dislike the product, their emotional response towards the same product, the product’s dichotomous description, whether it is safe or dangerous, pretty or ugly, good or bad. Norman relates these reactions to appearance of the product, and its effects on the customer on their cognitive and affect. The sight of the product, its texture, sound, or smell affects how a person appreciates that product. If the product is eye catching, the likelihood of a person preferring it to another product is high. Women are most likely to be infl uenced by the look and smell, when buying a product (Norman, 2004). Anaesthetics in philosophical terms refer to the nature of art, beauty, and taste with a bigger creation of beauty. It mostly focuses on sensory values and more concerned with judgement. When manufacturing a product, the manufacturer keeps in mind the beauty of such a product for attraction to the people. It is more logic and normal, in deed an expectation that a person is likely to be attracted to a beautiful item than a bad looking item. In justifying his ideas Norman, classified these as behavioural aspects of attraction. According to Norman, a company goes a long way in trying to improve its sales by improving on the image of its products. However, I do not agree with him wholly. The quality of a product is what brings more satisfaction to a customer than just its image. A good-looking product is likely to enjoy high sales over the first few days of its launch. When customers keep using the same product repeated ly, they get to understand the quality and satisfaction they get from the product. If the products are of low quality and with little satisfaction, consumers start avoiding the products. This way, sales start diminishing, as other superior brands, regardless of whether they have a good appearance or not. Thus, image is not everything in the long run, as quality and satisfaction will at the end of the day prevail. 2. Philosophers’ Tool Kit Logic versus Rhetoric The iPod has a fun game that a person can play with close friends. The game allows a person to imagine and guess the songs that would probably be on the most played playlist of the famous people. By imagining about the most famous people in the world, it makes them appear to be closer and make them more real. It is a fact that the game has been installed in the iPod, and perfectly serves its intended purpose of imagining worlds’ famous people and what they might be playing in their iPods, but it is rhetoric tryin g to make them appear closer. It is just a fantasy, may be a hoax that the people could be anywhere close in the region. This is just a game and there is no reality associated with the game, as people play it for fun only (Wittkower, 2008). Explanations It is factual that we live in a designed world, with everything that we use being a design by another person. The design takes the philosophical commitments of everyday life, and not random designs. Every design however took

Humanitarian logistics during the indian ocean tsunami in the andaman Essay

Humanitarian logistics during the indian ocean tsunami in the andaman and nicobar islands - Essay Example Placed within this supply chain is logistics – moving material from one place to another, which further comprises of inbound, outbound and/or reverse logistics (Figure 1). SUPPLIERS INBOUND LOGISTICS INTERNAL OPERATIONS OUTBOUND LOGISTICS RETAILERS /DISTRIBUTORS INTERNAL INTERFACES EXTERNAL INTERFACES From this profit-oriented point of view, logistics now finds itself on humanitarian grounds where a different war is waged and a different victory is aimed at – the victory of saving lives, minimizing destruction, and assuaging helplessness caused by disasters. Humanitarian logistics is an emerging field with functions similar to business logistics yet with different outcomes. Two main streams of humanitarian logistics can be distinguished: disaster relief and continuous aid work. The focus of disaster relief operations is to transport the immediate requirements of affected communities – first aid material, food, equipment and rescue personnel – where they are needed and to evacuate affected people to safe places rapidly (Barbarosoglu et al., 2002). Continuous aid is focused on re-building lives and re-establishing livelihoods and infrastructures. The Fritz Institute defines humanitarian relief logistics as â€Å"the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, cost-effective flow and storage of goods and materials, as well as related information, from the point of origin to the point of consumption for the purpose of alleviating the suffering of vulnerable people† (Thomas and Kopczak, 2005). Humanitarian logistics encompasses a range of activities including preparedness, planning, procurement, transport, warehousing, tracking and tracing, and customs clearance (Thomas and Kopczak, 2005).