Music theatre history Essay Example for Free

Music theatre history EssayMiss Saigon is the tenth-longest running Broadway musical in music theatre history, according to Hernandez (2009). Such was its success that it has toured all over the world since its opening day in April 1991 (Broadway Musical Home n. d. ). The plot of the play is simple profuse, a devil dog fell in love with a young Vietnamese call girl while in Vietnam, fate in the Vietnam war (Music household International n. d. ). He fathers her child but does not discover it until a few years later when he has another(prenominal) family from coming hind end to America (Music Theatre International n. d. ).In the play, he was forced to choose amongst his legal wife and the woman he loves (Music Theatre International n. d. ). The composer of the songs in the musical is Claude-Michel Schonberg, the lyricists are Alain Boubil and Richard Maltby Jr. and the librettists are Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boubil (Broadway Musical Home n. d. ). My run across O ver a decade ago, I was fortunate enough to watch a production of Miss Saigon on Broadway with the original upchucks. These casts were Hinton Battle, Barry K. Bernal, Liz Callaway, Kam Cheng, Willy Falk, Jonathan Pryce, Lea Salonga.I understand that Salonga and Pryce are Olivier and Tony award winners for their performances as Kim (the Vietnamese girl) and the Engineer (the pimp) for this musical. pole then, I was so overwhelmed by the production. I thought the cast was fantastic Salonga was so good, so very convincing as Kim. She had such a tendinous voice, constant and unwavering, so pleasant to listen to. I was perhaps 10 or 11 when I saw that original production on Broadway, and it was an astonish experience. At the time, I could not fully comprehend the seriousness of the issues being tackled in the script.I just knew I liked listening to the songs and I bought a CD to remember the play. When I was vacationing in Houston, Texas last February, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend to Miss Saigon again. I do not quite remember the Broadway actors who have played it, and to be honest, I have did not pay close attention, I simply wanted to see the reproduction of that Broadway play I remember from long ago. A quick search on Google tells me that this reproduction played at The Hobby Center for the performing Arts was directed by Bruce Lumpkin.Kim, is played by Melinda Chua, Chris (the Marine) is played by Eric Kunze and Joseph Anthony plays the Engineer (BWW News Desk 2010). Having listened to the original casts CD of the play, the new cast fell short of the vocal prowess I have come to love. As such, I was underwhelmed by the casting and their singing despite their respective accomplishments in their craft. Salonga was just too strong a performer for me and her voice was perfect, in my opinion. The songs Sun and Moon and Last Night of the World did not have the current charm they used to have with that reproductions performance.What I am thankful for for this reviewing is that I fully understand now what Miss Saigon is all almost. I remember the story from memory and I knew it had a tragic ending. However, this second watching of the film helped open my eyes to the grave issues involved in the play. First, it talked about the abhorrences that war can do, especially to the innocent. Kim was orphaned because of the war and being an orphan forced her to work in a nighttime rescript where all sorts of horror can be imagined. A third world country like Vietnam, would not miss the chance to serve the enemy for some good money. mavin particular scene that was intriguing for me was during the opening acts when the girls at the night club were competing to be Miss Saigon, the winner will be auctioned off to a Marine and the winner of such contest begged the Marine she was auctioned to to take her back to America, where she can live a better life. The Marine there refused. It shows how America is such the aspiration land for the third world country people. America that was their enemy in the war, who was killing their men in its continuous search for imperialism.Kim, in that night club met Chris, another Marine. Kim and Chris spent the night together, Chris was touched by the innocence of Kim and he tried to give her money so she can get away from the night club. Kim did not accept the money, even for her fee for spending a night with Chris. She was a virgin and she did not accept the money because, essentially she liked the experience and perhaps because she was developing feelings for Chris. Basically, Kim and Chris fell in love but Chris had to leave but before leaving he promised Kim that he will come back and marry her.This of course, did not happen because of a series of events that thwarted their love. Chris married another woman and before the play ended, he was forced to choose between Kim and his wife, he chose his wife. Kim committed suicide and such was the ending to this wonderful musical play. Such love story was poignant, evoking feelings of melancholy.References BWW News Desk. (2010). TUTS Announces Their MISS SAIGON Cast, Show Opens 2/9. BroadwayWorld. com Dallas.Retrieved 21 July 2010 from http//dallas.broadwayworld. com/article/TUTS_Announces_Their_MISS_SAIGON_Cast_Show_Opens_29_20100115 Broadway Musical Home. (n. d. ). Miss Saigon. Retrieved 21 July 2010 from http//www. broadwaymusicalhome. com/shows/misssaigon. htm Hernandez, E. (2009). Long Runs on Broadway. Playbill. com. Retrieved 21 July 2010 from http//www. playbill. com/celebritybuzz/article/75222-Long-Runs-on-Broadway Music Theater International. (n. d. ). Miss Saigon. Retrieved 21 July 2010 from http//www. mtishows. com/show_detail. asp? showid=000156

Project Management and Innovation Past and Future Essay Example for Free

go steady Management and world Past and Future EssayIt is unsurprising that development of substructure is often run as a vagabond. Yet, theoretically twain trade union movement steering and substructure studies have educated everywhere time as classifiablely separate disciplines. In this paper we get out an attempt to conceptualize the innovation bulge out vigilance and past as well as future of same. By doing so, we contribute to the nascent academic delve on the interplay in the midst of innovation and projection management.This paper is concerned with three topics and the interplay between them, namely Innovation, Research and Development (RD) and insure Management. The relate in these topics has exploded recently as they emerged both(prenominal) on the policy agenda and in the corporate strategies. The contribution of technological innovation to national scotch growth has been well established in the economic literature. In the last couple of decades, rising technologies, new industries, and new business models have powered signal gains in productivity and GDP growth.While originally there was a tendency to equate RD and innovation, contemporary understanding of innovation is much broader than purely RD. RD is ane component of innovation activities and knowledge creation among others. Innovation emerges as a pervasive and complex force, not only in the high-tech sectors in good economies, but also as a phenomenon existing in low-tech industry of development, or catching-up economies. Still, the link between RD and innovation is often at the consequence of the innovation studies.Presently, we argon witnessing projectification of the world as a growing fleck of specialists organise their work in projects rather than on on-going functional basis. The connection between RD and project management has a long history. Most tools of project management have been developed from the management of RD, often with military purposes (Lore ll, 1995). The most vivid casing of managing RD projects in the public sector is the PRINCE2 method (UK OGC, 2005).Due to the above mentioned difference between RD and innovation, RD projects should be distinguished from innovation projects too. Innovation is a non-linear suffice, not of necessity technology-led and may not necessarily result from formal RD investments. Innovation is the exploration and exploitation of new ideas and recombination of existing knowledge in the pursuit of sustained agonistic advantage. Besides, both innovation and RD projects by their disposition differ from conventional projects.Thus, there is a penury to examine the Innovation Project Management (IPM) as a distinctive area of managing innovation in projects, using the tools and methods of the project management. The Evolution of Project Management Theory The genesis of the ideas that led to the development of new(a) project management can arguably be traced back to the protestant reformation of the 15th century. The Protestants and later the Puritans introduced a physical body of ideas including reductionism, individualism and the protestant work ethic (PWE) that resonate strongly in the spirit of modern project management.Reductionism focuses on removing unnecessary elements of a process or ceremony and then breaking the process down into its smallest task or unit to understand how it works. Individualism assumes we are active, independent agents who can manage risks and create ideas. These ideas are made into real things by social actions contingent upon the accessibility of a language to describe them. The PWE focuses on the intrinsic value of work. Prior to the protestant reformation most people proverb work either as a necessary evil, or as a means to an end.For Protestants, serving God included participating in and workings hard at worldly activities as this was part of Gods purpose for each individual. From the perspective of the evolution of modern project management, these ideas were incorporated into devil key philosophies, Liberalism and Newtonianism. Liberalism included the ideas of capitalism (Adam Smith), the division of labour, and that an industrious lifestyle would lead to wealthy societies Newton saw the world as a harmonious chemical mechanism find outled by a universal law.Applying scientific observations to parts of the whole would allow understanding and insights to occur and eventually a complete understanding. LITERATURE reexamine In this paper we agreek to establish bridges between deuce distinctive disciplines project management and innovation management (innovation studies). Despite seemingly interrelated nature of both subjects, these two research domains have been developing relatively isolated from each other. Innovation StudiesInnovation studies are rooted in the seminal writing of Joseph Schumpeter in the 1920s-1930s (e. g. Schumpeter, 1934), whose ideas started to gain popularity in the 1960s, as the g eneral interest among policymakers and scholars in technological change, RD and innovation increased. The field formed as a distinctive academic discipline from the 1980s. Scholars like Richard Nelson, Chris Freeman, Bengt-Ake Lundvall, Keith Pavitt, Luc Soete, Giovanni Dosi, Jan Fagerberg, Bart Verspagen, Eric von Hippel and others have shaped and formed this discipline.The seminal publications in the area include, inter alia, Freeman (1982), Freeman and Soete (1997), Lundvall (1992), Nelson and Winter (1977, 1982), von Hippel (1988). Regarding the interpretation of innovation a general consensus has been achieved among innovation scholars who broadly understand this phenomenon as a transformation of knowledge into new products, processes and services. An in-depth review of the innovation literature is beyond the scope of this paper (refer to Fagerberg (2004) for such analysis).Our intention is to outline main directions of research. In a recent paper, Fagerberg and Verspagen (20 09) provide a comprehensive analysis of the cognitive and memorial tabletal characteristics of the appear field of innovation studies and consider its prospects and challenges. The authors trace evolution and dynamics of the field. Reflecting the complex nature of innovation, the field of innovation studies unites various academic disciplines. For examples, Fagerberg and Verspagen (2009) define four-spot main clusters of innovation scholars.They are Management (cluster 1), Schumpeter Crowd (cluster 2), Geography and Policy (cluster 3. 1), Periphery (cluster 3. 2) and Industrial Economics (cluster 4). For the purposes of our analysis we shall have a closer go steady at the Management cluster, since it is here where the connection between innovation and Project Management can be found. In fact Management is the smallest cluster within the entire network of innovation scholars, consisting of only 22 scholars, mainly sociologists and management scholars, with a geographical bias t owards the USA.This small number of scholars (22) is in sharp line of business with the wallopinggest clusters ? Geography and Policy (298 scholars) or Schumpeter Crowd (309). In terms of publication preferences, apart from Research Policy, the favorite journal for innovation scholars, members of Management cluster see management journals as the most relevant publishing outlets, particularly Journal of Product Innovation Management, Management Science and Strategic Management Journal. Fagerberg and Verspagen (2009, p. 29) see a strong link between innovation and management and provide a following description Management is to some extent a cross-disciplinary field by default and firm-level innovation falls naturally within its portfolio. . So between innovation studies and management there clearly is some common ground. Project Management The project management as a human activity has a long history e. g. construction of Egyptian pyramids in 2000 BC may be regarded as a project act ivity. However, the start for the modern Project Management era, as a distinctive research area, was in the 1950s.Maylor (2005) determines three major(ip) stages of the PM historical development. Before the 1950s, the PM as such was not make loved. In the 1950s, tools and techniques were developed to support the management of complex projects. The dominant thinking was establish on one best way approach, based on numerical methods. The third stage, from the 1990s onwards is characterized by the changing environment in which projects realize place. It is to a greater extent and more realized that a project management approach should be contingent upon its context.It is also noted that a shift is observed over time in development of project management from focus on sole project management to the broader management of projects and strategic project management (Fangel, 1993 Morris, 1994 Bryde, 2003). Reflecting these changes in the managerial practices, the body of academic literatur e on PM has evolved and burgeoned. International Journal of Project Management and Project Management Journals became the flagship publication outlets for PM scholars and practitioners.A large number of (managerial) handbooks outlining the methods and techniques of PM have been published, e. g. Andersen et al (2004), Bruijn et al (2004) Kerzner (2005), Maylor (2005), Meredith and Mantel (2006), Muller (2009), Roberts (2007), Turner (1999), Turner and Turner (2008). Despite a growing number of publications, there is no unified theoretical basis and there is no unified theory of project management, due to its multidisciplinary nature (Smyth and Morris, 2007). Project management has a more apply nature than other management disciplines.Although the PM has formed as a distinct research field, there is no universal, chiefly evaluate definition of a project and project management. Turner (1999) develops a generic definition of a project A project is an endeavor in which human, financi al and material resources are organized in a novel way to undertake a unique scope of work, of given itemation, which constraints of cost and time, so as to achieve beneficial change defined by quantitative and qualitative objectives.There have been several attempts to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art research in PM and outline its trends and future directions (e. g. , PMI, 2004 Betts and Lansley, 1995 Themistocleous and Wearne, 2003 C in the buffford et al, 2006 Kloppenberg and Opfer, 2002). In a recent article, Kwak and Anbari (2009) review relevant academic journals and identify eight allied disciplines, in which PM is being applied and developed. These disciplines include such areas as Operation Management, Organizational Behavior, Information engineering, Engineering and Construction, schema/Integration, Project Finance and Accounting, and Quality and Management. Notably, one of these eight allied disciplines is Technology Application / Innovation / New Product Deve lopment / Research and Development. The authors found that only 11% of journal publications on the subject of project management fell under the Innovation heading. Yet, chief(prenominal)ly, this area showed sustained upward interest, and hence the number of publications, since the 1960s.Overall, Kwak and Anbari (2009) conclude that the mainstream PM research proceeds largely in the Strategy / Integration / Portfolio Management / Value of PM / Marketing direction (30% of all publications examined by the authors). PM AND INNOVATION THE PAST Projects in one form or another have been undertaken for millennia, but it was only in the latter part of the 20th century people started talking about project management. earliest endeavors were seen as acts of worship, engineering or nation building.And the people controlling the endeavors saw themselves as members of groups focused on specific callings such as generals, priests and architects. There is an important distinction to be drawn here between projects a temporary Endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result and the transaction of project management or at least modern project management. For a discipline to be considered a profession a number of attributes are generally considered necessary these are Practitioners are required to meet formal educational and entry requirements, autonomy over the terms and conditions of practice, a enactment of ethics, a commitment to service ideals, a monopoly over a discrete body of knowledge and related expertnesss. Within this context, project management is best considered an emerging profession that has developed during the last 30 to 40 years. Over this period project management associations around the world have developed a generally consistent view of the processes involved in project management, encoded these views into Bodies of Knowledge (BoKs), described competent behaviors and are now certifying knowledgeable and/or competent Project Manage rs.Certainly, if modern project management does not qualify as a fully fledged profession at this point in time, it will evolve into one fairly quickly. The Evolution of Project Management Tools The central theme running through the various project management concepts is that project management is an endogenic process that has at its core, the balancing of the iron triangle of time, cost and output. All three facets must be present for a management process to be considered project management. The evolution of cost and scope control into relatively precise processes occurred during the 14th and 18th Centuries respectively.Time management lacked effective measurement and control until the egression of critical path scheduling in the 1960s. The branch of management that gave rise to the development of the Critical Path Method of scheduling was Operational Research (OR). OR is an interdisciplinary science which uses methods such as mathematical modeling and statistics to assist decisi on making in complex real-world situations. It is distinguished by its ability to experience at and improve an entire system, rather than concentrating on specific processes which was the focus of Taylors scientific management.The growth of OR was facilitated by the increasing availability and power of computers which were needed to carry out the large numbers of calculations typically required to analyze a system. pic Figure 1. The Iron Triangle The first project to add science to the process of time control was undertaken by Kelley and Walker to develop the Critical Path Method (CPM) for E. I. du Pont de Numours. In 1956/57 Kelly and Walker started developing the algorithms that became CPM. The program they developed was trialled on plant shutdowns in 1957 And the first paper on critical path scheduling was published in 1959.The critical come across to approve this project was held on the 7th May 1957 in Newark, Delaware, where DuPont and Remington Rand jointly committed US$226, 400 to fund the project. The foundations of modern project management were laid in 1957 but it took another 12 years before Dr Martin Barnes first described the iron triangle of time, cost and output in a course he developed for his UK clients in 1969 called Time and Money in Contract Control. PM AND INNOVATION THE FUTURE Defining PM for FutureThe biggest challenge cladding project management is answering the question what is a project? Until this question can be answered unambiguously the foundation of project management cannot be defined. on-line(prenominal) definitions such as the PMBOKs a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result can apply to the bake of a cake as easily as the construction of a multi story building. They are both temporary endeavors to create a unique topic but in all probability the baking of a cake is not a project.The traditional view of projects embedded in the various BoKs is derived from both the management theories underpinning modern project management and the industrial base of early project management practitioners (construction / defense / engineering). The BoKs tend to treat projects as naturally occurring entities that need to be managed. This is an easy enough assumption when focusing on a building or a battle ship. There is a physical bearing that occupies a defined space that needs creating in a defined timeframe to a defined scope.This view assumes project exists and project management is about transforming the raw materials of the project into a finished and useful form. Consequently it is the presence of the project itself that defines project management. The PMBOKs version is The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. However, if we cannot barely define a project, there is no basis for project management and consequently no foundation for a useable theory of project management.Researchers and academics are starti ng to reverse the idea that a project is necessary for project management to exist and suggest it is the application of project management to an campaign that creates a project. Some of the ideas being discussed include Projects as Temporary Knowledge Organizations (TKOs). This school of thought focuses on the idea that the primary instrument of project management is the project team and the recognition that predictability is not a reality of project management.Some key ideas include o The concept of the project team as a complex adaptive system (or organism), living on the edge of chaos responding and adapting to its surroundings (ie the projects stakeholders) offers one new set of insights. o The idea of Nonlinearity suggests that you can do the same thing several times over and get completely different results. Small differences may lead to big changes whilst big variations may have minimal effect. This idea questions the validity of detailed programming attempting to predict t he path of a project (the butterfly effect, restrain by strange attractors). The concept of Complex Responsive Processes of Relating (CRPR) puts emphasis on the interaction among people and the essentially responsive and participative nature of the human processes of organizing and relating. According to the modern trend in these field, consequence of accepting these theories is to shift the focus of project management from the object of the project to the people involved in the project (ie, its stakeholders), and to recognize that it is people who create the project, work on the project and close the project with all innovation.Consequently the purpose of most if not all project control documents such as schedules and cost plans shift from being an attempt to control the future this is impossible to a process for communicating with and influencing stakeholders to encourage and guide their social occasion in the project. Notwithstanding the advantages of project management, it wo uld be unreasonable to expect all innovation to be carried out through projects. In fact, many ideas are generated by employees in a company on a regular basis, not only within project teams.Thus, there is certainly a room for functional, on-going organization of innovation process. Even more so, in certain situations project management can be detrimental to innovation. Aggeri and Segrestin (2007) show that the recent project development methods in automotive industry can induce negative effects on collective learning processes and these effects have managerial implications for innovative developments. Argument for Managing Innovation in Projects The origins of project management in the manufacturing and construction ndustries determine an engineering perspective, viewing a project as a task-focused entity, proceeding in a linear or similar way from the point of initiation to implementation. This view prevailed until comparatively recently. This view is seemingly in stark contrast w ith the nature of innovation. It is progressively being acknowledged that the innovation is a complex non-linear process. The earliest view on innovation process as a pipeline model (whereby a given input is transformed to a specific output) has been largely abandoned.Presently, however, project management is increasingly recognised as a key generic skill for business management (Fangel, 1993), rather than a planning-oriented technique or an application of engineering sciences and optimization theory, in which project management has its roots (Soderlund, 2004). The management by projects has emerged as general mode of organizing for all forms of enterprise (Turner 2003). This new conceptualization of project management enables to embrace the non-linear nature of innovation.Even a creative and non-linear nature of innovation is often characterized as an organizational or management process, rather than spontaneous improvisation. Davila et al. (2006) state, Innovation, like many busi ness functions, is a management process that requires specific tools, rules, and discipline. Hence, a project, with its defined objective, scope, budget and limitations, can be an appropriate setting of innovation. The other closely linked element in the new world of project management with innovation is embracing uncertainty. Writing on paper cannot control the futureSchedules do not control time cost plans do not control costs. Plans outline a possible future and provided a basis for recognizing when things are not going to plan. For innovation project management to succeed, both project and senior management are going to need to embrace uncertainty and learn skills to manage it rather than expecting predictability and inevitably being disappointed by the variability of reality as it unfolds. Challenges of Empirical Studies Scarcity and unreliability, or even lack of data poses a big challenge in research in both innovation and project management. A macro-level research n PM is ob structed by the lack of data on the number of projects, carried out by firms and public institutions, and their characteristics. Problems stem from the definition of a project and the non-disclosure policy of most companies. In such circumstances, PM research has tended to rely on case-studies or on small-scale tailor-made surveys. There is a widely acknowledged lack of large-scale empirical research in PM (Kloppenborg and Opfer, 2002 Soderlund, 2004). It is claimed that the Independent Project abstract (IPA) is the market leader in quantitative analysis of project management systems, i. . in project evaluation and project system benchmarking (IPA, 2007). All IPA analyses and research are based on proprietary databases. As of mid-2009, IPAs databases contain more than 11,000 projects of all sizes ($20,000 to $25 billion) executed across the world. Each year, approximately 1,000 projects are added with design from the many different industries served by IPA. Each project in our dat abases is characterized by over 2,000 project attributes, including technology, project scope, project type, project costs, year of authorization, and geographical reparation (IPA 2009).All information contained in the IPA databases is carefully protected and kept as confidential proprietary data (IPA, 2009). Due to the issues of confidentiality, access for academic researchers is restricted. In the innovation field, academic community has been increasingly using several sources of data, such as granted patents, tailor-made surveys, as well as other data provided by national statistical offices. European research on innovation uses several instruments to obtain data on innovation indicators and to assess national innovation performance.The two main instruments are the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) and the European Innovation Scorecard (EIS). As of 2009, five successful CIS surveys have been carried out CIS1 (1992), CIS2 (1996), CIS3 (2001), CIS4 (2004) and CIS 2006. Each new ro und was characterized by an improved questionnaire, in line with the evolution of understanding of the phenomenon of innovation. The more recent surveys embraced understanding of innovation in a broader sense, and for example, paid more attention to service innovations.Further, it is expected that the future surveys will also include management techniques, organizational change, environmental benefits, and design and marketing issues. We argue that, taken into love the growing relevance of innovation projects, a clearer and explicit wording should be used in CIS questionnaire for determining whether innovation is organized and carried out in projects or functionally. CONCLUSIONS Innovation studies and project management as distinctive disciplines have been developing in a relative isolation from each other.The analysis in innovation studies domain has rarely explored the mechanisms and patterns of innovation in projects in contrast to traditional (functional or hierarchical) organi zation. However, since innovation management in companies is increasingly organized in projects, it is of last-place importance to directly address the interplay between innovation management and project management. In this paper, based on the relevant literature and insights from practice, we conceptually examined the relationships between these two research areas aiming at bridging the gap between them.It is widely acknowledged within the discipline of innovation studies that there is a high percentage of failure of innovation initiatives, in other words, failure is inevitable when managing innovation. The key skill set of the competent project manager will be identifying and managing stakeholder expectations using tools such as the Stakeholder circle to help identify the projects key stakeholders. Innovation is perceived as a luxury, not as a necessity. Therefore, it is of high precedency to manage innovation effectively and efficiently with constrained budgets.

Streptococcus Lactis: Structure and Applications

strep Lactis Structure and ApplicationsThe following paper describes the bacteria Lacto coccus lactis previously referred to as Streptococcus lactis. Lactococcus lactis is applyd in the making of dairy products. The most common of these products are milk, cheese, and yogurt. Researchers are similarly looking at the potential of Lactococcus lactis to be used in conjunction with vaccines. I chose to write about this microbe because of the much uses and interesting facts. Lactococcus lactis has served humanity in the past presently it remains useful in many ways and has the potential to be even a greater asset in the future.Lactococcus LactisIntroductionLactococcus lactis (L. lactis), is a lactic cutting bacteria (LAB) that is nonpathogenic and Gram-positive. The genus Lactococcus is closely cogitate to the genus Streptococcus and is used extensively in the fermenting of milk. It is also the best-characterized lactic acid bacterium (Bolotin, Wincker, Mauger, Jaillon, Malarme, Wei ssenbach, Ehrlich, Sorokin, 2001). By nature, L. lactis inhabits a function connected to make and physical surfaces and the gastrointestinal tract of the animal. On plant surfaces, it is inactive but it is believed to reproduce in the gastrointestinal tract after being sw onlyowed (Bolotin et al., 2001). In comparison, researchers have termed what they song a domesticated species of L. lactis. This species is used in the making of dairy products such(prenominal) as cheese, buttermilk, and yogurt. It also serves a different function that is identified by the use of technology such as fast growth and rapid production of lactic acid in milk (Bolotin et al., 2001).Cell MorphologyStreptococcus lies to a lower place the Domain Bacteria. The term strepto means chained and the term coccus means round, therefore streptococcus cells are spherical and occur in pairs or handcuffs that can be short or long in length (Breed, Murray, Smith, 1957, p. 508). Up until 1985, L. lactis was origin ally classified under the genus Streptococcus (MicrobeWiki, n.d.). They are non-motile, do not produce spores and have a fermentative metabolism (Bacteria Genomes, n.d.). They also have no pigment however, in some strains a brick-red or yellow pigment whitethorn occur under certain environments (Breed et al., 1957, p. 508). A fermentable carbohydrate or polyhydroxy alcohol is essential for suitable growth in artificial media (Breed et al., 1957, p. 508). The average coccus is small about 1 m in diameter (Engelkirk Engelkirk, 2011), which may vary from rough to smooth to mucoid (Breed et al., 1957, pps. 508-509). Carbohydrate fermentation is homofermentative with dextro rotator lactic acid as the main end result. Carbon dioxide is produced in very small amounts or not at all from sugar fermentation (Breed et al., 1957, p. 509). With respect to their nutrition, all streptococci are particular and and require a number of the B vitamins and amino acids for growth (Breed et al., 1957, p . 509). Species have their own nutritional requirements. Streptococcus is generally fix wherever natural substances that contain sugars are accumulated. They occur regularly within the mouth and intestines of humans and animals, in dairy and other food products, and in plant juices that are fermenting (Breed et al., 1957, p. 509).Genome PropertiesThe genome of L. lactis is a circular chromosome with 2,365,589 base pair, where 86% of the genome code for protein, 1.4% for RNA, and 12.6% for noncoding region. 64.2% of the genes code for known functional proteins and 20.1% of the genes for known protein with unknown function. The remaining 15.7% of the genes are nameless proteins that may be unique to the Lactococcus (MicrobeWiki, n.d.). According to Todar, (2011), the subspecies of L. lactis are used extensively as models in lactic acid bacteria research. One subspecies, Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris is characterized by the laboratory strains LM0230 and MG1363, and it is best pref erred for the making of hard cheeses. The other subspecies, Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis is considered the workhorse strain and is represented by IL1403 (Todar, 2011). This subspecies is best preferred for the making of soft cheeses. Todar (2011) also suggests that beginning in 2001, these strains have been sequenced. In other words, there is a better understanding of how these bacteria are associated with their function.Finally, the ability to compare genomes has led to more knowledge of how the variety of Lactococcus strains adapt to their environments. This ability to compare has also lead to unanticipated findings. It has been suggested that this bacterium can perform aerobic respiration and can change horizontal gene transmission by the process of transformation (Todar, 2011). With that, it is possible that Lactococcus lactis can be used to improve minuscule things such as flavor, texture, and saving of 10 million pounds of cheese that is produced annually (Todar, 2011).It is important to be able to examine and decipher the characteristics of bacteria in order to provide data for realization and classification (Engelkirk Engelkirk, 2011).Unique PropertiesAs previously mentioned, Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis) is one of the most important micro-organisms in the dairy industry (Bacteria Genomes, n.d.). It is essential in the evolution and production of products by this industry. When L. lactis is added to milk, the bacterium uses enzymes to produce energy molecules (called ATP) from lactose. The byproduct of ATP energy production is lactic acid (Bacteria Genomes, n.d.). This lactic acid that is produced by the bacterium causes the milk to clog and separate to produce curds, which is then used for cheese and whey (Bacteria Genomes, n.d.). The specific types of dairy that use L. lactis for its manufacturing include the cheeses Cheddar, Colby, Camembert, Roquefort, Brie, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and other dairy products such as butter, buttermilk, sour cream, and kefir (Todar, 2011). It is also accepted as a source of vegetable fermentation for pickled cucumbers and sauerkraut and for other fermented liquids such as beer and wine.L. lactis has also been considered for the development of delivering vaccines. The bacterium can be genetically engineered to produce proteins from pathogenic species on their cell surfaces (Todar, 2011). This is done by injecting an animal with a modified strain of the bacterium by way of a nasal spray. An immune response to the strain is obtained which provides an eventual immunity to the pathogen (Todar, 2011).Because L. lactis is non-pathogenic and non-colonizing it is a promising candidate for delivering biologically active proteins by mucosal routes. In a report by Chinese researchers it is described that recombinant L. lactis is applicable for the development of live mucosal vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV) (Zhang, Zhong, Huan, 2011). In a lab test mice were given an oral immunization and it induced both mucosal and systemic immune responses against HBV at the same magnitude. These results indicated that the lactococci-derived vaccines could be attractive candidates as alternative HBV vaccines for preventing hepatitis B (Zhang, Zhong, Huan, 2011). The increased research of L. lactis would be beneficial to people in underdeveloped countries and where sickness and other diseases is high.In conclusion, the bacterium Lactococcus lactis appears versatile. The true research suggests that, with more exploration, L. lactis can be used to improve the quality of dairy products as well as the health of individuals by way of vaccines.

Orphaned And Vulnerable Children In Africa Education Essay

Orphaned And Vulnerable Children In Africa training EssayIntroductionDuring the course Education Development in Diverse Societies we learned ab prohibited the main upbringingal theories and separate (inter)disciplinary approaches to study preparational issues in developing countries. We analysed readingal reforms and innovations from an interdisciplinary and multilevel perspective, and examined their theoretical basis, the practical implications, the strengths and weaknesses, and how they respond to the learning needs of children with a diverse background.1In this paper I w unbalanced apply the knowledge and understanding that I gained by writing about the impact of the human immunodeficiency virus/ promote pestilential on sanctioned education for children at risk.2The assistance plaguey has become a global crisis currently threatening the broods of millions of volume and devastating entire societies. Education systems have an essendial role to play in weight-lifting this epidemic, because of their capacity to accomplish very full-grown numbers of young people with disembodied spirit-saving information and skills. A completed native education can reduce the risk of human immunodeficiency virus transmitting for young people and in fact, fundamental education has such a powerful preventative effect, that it has been described as the social vaccine (Boler Carroll 2003). As the epidemic gathers pace, however, it poses increasing risks to education itself, threatening to stop children from enrolling, teachers from teaching and indoctrinates from functioning. This threatens the Right to Education, and the objective of Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to achieve primary cosmopolitan education. Particularly, orphans and insecure children (OVCs), face a lot of challenges in the provision of reference education.3In this paper, I therefore focus on the impact of the human immunodeficiency virus/ aid epidemic on basic education for orphans and vulnerable children in Sub Saharan Africa in order to improve and increase their access to quality education, skills breeding and other social services. Since I am going to conduct research in Zambia on a relate topic, I focus particularly on the impact of HIV/ expect epidemic on basic education in Zambia. The research questions of this paper therefore state What is the impact of the HIV/ aid epidemic on basic education for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) in Zambia? What can be d hotshot to increase their access, progression and educational outcomes?Part genius of this paper deals with the more than general literature about HIV/ support in Sub Saharan Africa. This includes the impact of HIV/ back up, leading to many antithetic educational consequences. In part two I focus on Zambia as a case study, whereby I explain the HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome epidemic in Zambia, the impact it has on OVCs and the educational system. Part three discusses the possibilities of redressing the harmful consequences within the educational system, whereby I focus on connection schoolings. In conclusion, I answer the research question and I will give recommendations for further research.The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Sub Saharan AfricaTwo-thirds of all people infected with HIV/AIDS live in Sub Saharan Africa, although this region includes little more than 10% of the worlds population (UNAIDS 2008 Foster Williamson 2000 275 Barnett Whiteside 2006 210-19). HIV/AIDS has ca employ immense human suffering in the continent. The close to obvious effect of this crisis has been illness and death, but the impact of the epidemic has certainly not been confined to the wellness welkin. Households, schools, workplaces and economies have as well been badly affect. Since the beginning of the epidemic more than 15 million Africans have died from AIDS (UNAIDS 2008). In the previous year 2008, an estimated 1.4 million adults and children died as a result of AIDS in Sub Saharan Africa (UNAIDS 2008). Besides, a growing number of children in Sub Saharan Africa have been orphaned by AIDS (Robson Sylvester 2007 260). However, detailed information on the numbers of children directly affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic is very limited in most countries in Sub Saharan Africa (Bennell 2005 468). A major part of the problem is that it is often difficult to establish whether a child, p atomic number 18nt or cargonr is ill or has died as a result of an AIDS-related disease.Another complicating factor is that there is no standard definition of an orphan. Definitions of orphans vary across different cultures and studies. In general, an orphan delinquent(p) to AIDS is defined as a child who has illogical at least one pargonnt dead from AIDS or AIDS related diseases. However, UNICEF and UNAIDS have a more specific definition. They define an orphan as a child under 15 years of age a hotshot orphan has lost one p arnt, while a double orphan has lost both parents (Foster Williamson 2000 Brennell 2005 Barnett Whiteside 2006 213). For the purpose of this paper, and in line with working definitions in Zambia, an orphan is defined as a child below the age of 18 who has lost one or both parents (Robson Sylvester 2007 262).The toll of HIV/AIDS on households can be very severe. Although the whole population is affected by HIV/AIDS, it are often the brusqueest areas of society that are most exposed to the epidemic and for whom the consequences are most severe. In many cases, the presence of AIDS causes the household to break up, as parents die and children are sent to relatives for care and upbringing.Although the HIV/AIDS epidemic has affected many aspects of social and economic development, this paper focuses on the affect on educational development. The relationship surrounded by AIDS and the education sector is circular as the epidemic worsens, the education sector is damaged, which in turn is likely to increas e the incidence of HIV transmission. There are numerous slipway in which AIDS can affect education, but equally there are many ways in which education can help the fight against AIDS and gene rank hope (Kelly 1999 6-7).4The extent to which schools and other educational institutions are able to continue functioning will influence how well societies eventually recover from the epidemic. Or as the director of UNAIDS, Peter Piot, explained it Without education, AIDS will continue its rampant spread. With AIDS out of control, education will be out of reach (World aver et al. 2002).OVCs are less likely to have proper schooling. The death of a prime-age adult in a household will reduce a childs attendance at school (World Bank 1997 225 in Barnett Whiteside 2006 220).5The household may be less able to pay for schooling. An orphaned child may have to make full on household or income-earning work. Sick adults may have reduced expectations of the returns of investing in childrens education as they do not expect to live long enough to recoup the investment. When a child goes to another household after his or his parents death, the obstacles become greater as the child is not their let (Barnett Whiteside 2006 220).Finally, a reason why it is important to focus on children is that the impact of HIV/AIDS will linger for decades after the epidemic begins to wane (Foster Williamson 2000 275). However, for a diversity of reasons, little attention has been paid to the situation and experience of individual children affected by HIV/AIDS. Nevertheless, greater understanding of the impact of HIV/AIDS on childrens education is essential in the design and evaluation of programmes to support children living under difficult conditions.HIV/AIDS epidemic in ZambiaZambia, in southern Africa, has been severely affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and can be seen as the mirror of Sub Saharan Africa. Statistics emphasize that one in five adults is infected with HIV (Kayanta 2004 in Robso n Sylvester 2007 259-60). Additionally, more than 70% of the population lives in poverty (CSO 2003 in Robson Sylvester 2007 260). However, the land is active to implement the convening of the Rights of the Child (CRC), to achieve the EFA and the MDGs, by eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, to promote gender equality and empower women and to achieve universal primary education.6Besides, the country adopted a number of poverty step-down objectives (Ministry of Foreign personal matters 2008 19).Almost 50% of Zambias population is under 15 years old, 71% of children live in poverty, and one in four children are orphaned. In other words, the HIV epidemic has devastated the country and it is estimated that by 2010 there will be 1,328,000 AIDS orphans (UNAIDS 2008). These children are vulnerable to neglect, sexual abuse and early marriages, forced child labour and can have serious health and nutrition problems. As a result OVCs are less likely to have access to school and to complete quality basic education. Social protection measures put in place by the government are hampered by inadequate resources, and OVCs lack of awareness of their businesss.The impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the Zambian education systemThe AIDS epidemic affects the supply of and demands for education in a variety of ways, especially in a high HIV prevalence country like Zambia (Bennell 2005 467). HIV/AIDS has multiple effects on education through ten different mechanisms reduction in demand, reduction in supply, reduction in availability of resources, adjustments in response to the special needs of an increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children, adaptation to new interactions both within schools and between schools and communities, broadcast modification, altered roles that have to be adopted by teachers and the education system, the ways in which schools and the education system are organised, the planning and management of the system, and donor support for education (Kelly 1999 1).More and more research is carried out on the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Zambia. However, little research has been undertaken in basic schools themselves, to examine the experiences of poverty and AIDS-affected children. Therefore, Robson and Sylvester emphasize that it is timely to explore the perceptions of education personnel and students regarding the adequacy of responses within the educational sector and to identify the unmet needs (Robson Sylvester 2007 262).Impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on education for pupilsThere are three groups of schoolchildren whose lives are most directly affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and whose education is, therefore, potentially at maximum risk children who are HIV positive, children living in households with sick family members, and children whose parents or caretakers have died of HIV/AIDS. The scope to which the education of these children is negatively affected depends deeply on the level of physical and emotional support they get from the extended family, the school, the participation and the local government (Bennell 2005 468).However, like I explained in the introduction, it is difficult to indicate the number of directly affected children by the epidemic. Besides, schools rarely keep accurate and up-to-date records on the number of affected children and their parents. Nonetheless, we do know that the number of children that is HIV positive because the mother passed the virus on to her child is relatively small, since over 90 per cent of these children die before they are old enough to attend school. It is therefore estimated that a small number of schoolchildren is infected or has AIDS related sicknesses (Brennell 2005 469). This is alike the reason why fatality rate rates at primary schools are low.It is commonly believed that the education of children who are most directly affected by the epidemic is adversely affected in a number of ways . The main argument is that given very difficult home situations, both orphans and children in AIDS-affected households are often forced to drop out of school altogether with little likelihood of ever returning to school (Brennell 2005 473).The growth in the number of orphans and other directly affected children is taxing the grapple strategies of families and society at large. In many cases, the extended family find it extremely difficult to cope economically and psychologically with the numbers it is required to absorb. Few orphans and other children in AIDS-affected households are able to pay their school or training fees. Many others have to care for others in the homes where they live. Many have to work to support themselves or younger siblings dependent on them (Kelly 2000 57 in Brennell 2005 473).Pupils whose parents die or are ill often drop out of school due to different factors such as, economic stresses on households, changes in the family structure, responsibilities to look after the sick, the elderly or siblings and loss of parental supervision (Foster Williamson 2000 278,81). The way school attendance, motion and school completion are effected generally depends on levels of risks and vulnerability due to social, economic and cultural circumstances (Robson Sylvester 2007 265). It is important to mention that the financial institutionalise on families, for example when parents die, prevents many children from attending school despite the provision of free basic education because of the extra school costs, like textbooks, contribution to school funds and exami population costs (Brennell 2005 475 Barnett Whiteside 2006 220).Other reasons for children to drop out of school or to perform badly are that poor children are frequently ill because of poor living conditions, which seriously affects their education. Besides, AIDS-related grunges and discrimination increase the chance that children are not going to school (Foster Williamson 2000 281-82 Bennell 2005 473). Children, especially whose parents are known or guess to have died of HIV/AIDS face the risk of being stigmatised or discriminated. This can also result in bullying of these children. Stigma and discrimination in schools violates the principles of inclusive education and education for all (Robson Sylvester 2007 266).Research in Zambia showed that the number of children attending primary school is decreasing. The decline in school participation rates was thought to result from poverty, inability to pay the rising costs of schooling, and increasing parental disillusion with the low quality of education. This is linked to HIV/AIDS and its affects on poverty, levels of employment, and the quality of school provision (Kelly 2000 12 in Barnett Whiteside 2006 220). Noteworthy is that proportionately more orphans than non-orphans were not attending school according to this research.Although it is important to focus on enrolment rates and participation, it is also impo rtant to pay attention to the quality of learning as well. Children, for example, might be hungry, or are otiose to narrow due to tensions or anxiety at home. Vulnerable children tend to be more malnourished or to have received insufficient health care. This negatively affects school enrolment, attendance and performance (Robson Sylvester 2007 266 Barnett Whiteside 2006 221). Orphans and other vulnerable children often have to do a lot of household tasks before and after school. This indicates that obstacles to school work are strongly connected with poverty and its related tensions. Besides, the curriculum of the school often not adapts to the vocational, emotional and life skills needs of HIV/AIDS affected-pupils.Whats more, HIV/AIDS has resulted in increasing teacher absenteeism and a significant decline in the number of teachers. This affects the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and diverted resources away from schools. The stay teachers face problems because th e burden on their shoulders increases since they have to manage progressively larger class sizes with poor resources (Kelly 1999 3 Carr-Hill 2002 in Robson Sylvester 2007 261, 265 Barnett Whiteside 2006 220). Sometimes pupils are also sent home because of a lack of teachers. All together, this affects the quality of teaching and learning for the pupils.Overall, we can say that poor pupils attending and performance is the result of a ten thousand of factors including irregular attendance and generally poor quality of schooling (Brennell 2005 475). Studies also show that HIV/AIDS should not be excessively blamed for problems achieving linguistic universal Primary Education. Problems with school enrolment, attendance and completion are also related to poverty or problems inherent to the school system, such as the quality of education (Barnett Whiteside 2006 222).Redressing the harmful consequences within the educational systemIn Zambia most of the initiatives within the education s ector in relation to tackling HIV/AIDS and poverty are situated within educational reform programmes, such as the Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme (BESSIP). The aim of this programme is to increase and improve the access, quality of basic education by the year 2015 (Ministry of Foreign affairs 2008 19). Besides, the Ministry of Education made the goal of equitable access to relevant education a accountability for all Zambians and it removed the school fees in 2003 (Robson Sylvester 2007 260). HIV/AIDS prevention strategies tend to focus mainly on preventive association-based initiatives to improve access to health education. However, there are various barriers to learning and participation. This is linked to the fact that many teachers lack the knowledge or the skills to implement effective HIV/AIDS and life skills programmes (Obura Sinclear 2005 in Robson Sylvester 2007 260).Therefore, the challenge for the Zambian Ministry of Education (MoE) and the internation al alliance is not only to provide the right to basic education, but also strengthen schools as inclusive and supportive communities. For the pupils, this might focus on provision of alternative and more opportunities for participation and learning, access to health, life skills, suitable counselling and support in order to cope with the harmful consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For teachers, it is important to concentrate on professional development opportunities in order to support the management of large scale and curriculum development e.g. in the areas of life skills and vocational skills (Robson Sylvester 2007 259-60).In Zambia, federation schools have a significant position in redressing the harmful consequences of HIV/AIDS within the education system. union schools try to differentiate the learning needs of OVCs by designing and delivering a relevant and meaningful curriculum that assist these children to develop income-generating skills, personal, health, emotiona l and social skills, and critical learning skills (Kelly 1999 4). Most community school use the four-year curriculum Skills, Participation, Access and Relevant Knowledge (SPRAK). This curriculum offers pupils a fast track to official stratum 7 examinations (Chondoka 2004 Robson Sylvester 2007 267).In the following part of this paper I will first explain the main features of community schools in Zambia. Secondly, I will discuss why community schools and especially the visible radiation curriculum could be a solution for the educational development of OVCs affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.Community shallowsOne of the main characteristics of the Zambian education system is the central role played by community schools. Community schools emerged as a response to the unmet demand for school places among the poor and other marginalised groups in Zambia who are not in formal schools (USAID 2006 in Robson Sylvester 2007 262 Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2008 52). In many instances, these schools are run by parents and volunteer teachers, though increasingly they receive support from the government, non-governmental organisations, faith based organizations or private initiatives. In other words, there is an enormous variation between community schools, more than between government schools or private schools, in how they are supported and managed (Destefano 2006). Besides, the school buildings and provisions vary greatly. A large number of these schools have wattle-and-daub constructions and temporary provisions (Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2008 52, 56).7Classrooms and water and sanitation facilities are often of poor quality. Teaching and learning materials are generally inadequate. Pupils often sit on the floor. Uniforms are often not a school requirement. Finally, the vast majority of teachers are unqualified (Chondoka 2006 7). Adversely, reasons why these community schools increase in popularity are that community schools are less expensive, close to home, less d emanding in entry requirements and are managed by local communities. Most community schools serve children aged between 9-16 years who are either drop-outs or who have never been to school.The concept of a community school was not entirely new to Zambia. The European missionaries had already established similar schools and called them village schools or bush schools (Chondoka 2006). Around 1995, more community schools began to come out of the closet in areas without government schools, where parents could not meet the expense of the high school fees that were charged, where the distance to the nearest government school was to far or where the government schools were considered overcrowded. Since 1998, the Zambian government officially recognises community schools. The Zambian government acknowledges the positive effect of community schools in redressing the harmful consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Since 1998, the number of community schools has hypertrophied exponentially, a lthough the school fees for government schools were banned in 2002 with the introduction of free basic education. However, it is important to mention that in general, community schools are relatively small. In 2000, they accounted for 17% of the basic schools and 8% of the pupils in basic schools in 2006 these figures had increased to 34% and 16%, respectively (Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2008 54-55). In 2005 the MoE distributed 30% of their budget to community schools (Robson Sylvester 2007 262). This made it possible for community schools to receive school grants, textbooks, professional guidance and sometimes a government funded teacher. However, most community schools started without prior information of the MoE and are severely underfunded. While the majority of the community schools receive an inadequate amount of MoE support, many other schools not even receive a school grant. in spite of the fact that the MoE supports community schools, its practical interest seems to be s omewhat limited. Actual support depends on the specific policy of the particular district boards (Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2008 54, 56).Community schools can be found in both rural an urban areas. A recent study shows that the main reason determining the posture of rural community schools is distance to the nearest government school (Chondoka 2006 7). In urban areas, these schools are set up in locations with large concentrations of children who are unable to get access to a man school due to costs or other factors (Destefano 2006).Pupils in community schools usually belong to the poorest and most vulnerable social strata (Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2008 54). Less than one third of community school families live in stable structures, compared to 46% of public schools families (Destefano 2006). Most community schools are attended by a relatively large number of orphans. In 2005, about one in three pupils in community schools had lost his or her mother. In government schools thi s ratio is one in five. Most of the orphans lack sufficient parental support. According to a study in important Province, many orphans not succeed to come to school regularly, while many of them are to hungry to concentrate in class when they do come (Chondoka 2006 9). repayable to their restricted size, many of the community schools make use of multi-grade teaching, especially in rural areas. Instead of using the normal curriculum, they most of the times use the SPARK curriculum, which provides primary education in four years. The SPARK curriculum has been designed to meet the particular needs of community school children, who are usually fourth-year (between 9 and 16 years) and who are often directly hit by the HIV/AIDS epidmic. It follows the government curriculum and focuses on the relevant topics within English, Mathematics, environmental Science, Social Studies, Physical Education and Zambian languages, with a life skills component integrated through all the subject areas. T he SPARK curriculum places health education, with a strong focus on AIDS/HIV prevention, at the heart of the primary circle. It prioritizes literacy, numeracy and life skills which are recognized as having to serve a nation in crisis due to the young people who will have to survive and assume early responsibility of heading a family due to HIV/AIDS (Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2008 56).As this part of the paper tried to make clear, community schools are able to reach the most vulnerable and marginalized groups within Zambia, such as orphans. By using the SPRARK curriculum, that assist these children to develop knowledge and skills, it is possible to adapt to the needs of OVCs who face a lot of challenges because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, it also clear that there is an enormous variation between community schools. It is therefore important that the MoE not only recognises the community school, but also that the MoE support is more fairly distributed between the different (ty pes) of community schools. After all, it is important to work together with the different types of school to achieve EFA goals and the MDGs and to guarantee that all children have the right to education.ConclusionOne of the most dramatic impacts of HIV/AIDS epidemic is the threat they constitute to the well-being of children and young people. The already high prevalence of poverty, joined with the possible impacts of the AIDS epidemic can have long-term educational, emotional and social consequences (Khin-Sand Lwin et al 2001 Kanyata 2004 UNICEF-Zambia 2004 in Robson Sylvester 2007 268). It is estimated that the majority of children having lost one or both parents due to AIDS is living in Sub Saharan Africa. Children affected by HIV, as well as children living with HIV, often suffer from stigma and discrimination. The opportunity of these children to continue their education successfully may be reduced if their impoverished family or caretakers cannot pay the fees or the extra sch ool costs.By bounteous a case study of the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on basic education for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Zambia, this paper showed that relationship between the epidemic and the education sector is circular. There are various ways in which the epidemic effects the education for OVCs, but there are also several ways in which education can generate hope for these children. Schools, teachers and the Zambian government therefore need to be made more reactive to the needs of OVCs. Providing education to these children is not only a human rights imperative, it is also vital to break the vicious cycle of poverty and to promote security and public health. Basic education should, therefore, be free and target support to meet essential schooling costs (provision of lunches, books and pencils, examination fees). Besides, basic education should be provided for devoid children as part of a wide-ranging package of support and it could help prevent absence or d ropout (Brennell 2005 487).To my opinion the Skills, Participation, Access and Relevant Knowledge (SPARK) curriculum, which is used at most community schools, is a step forward to overcome most obstacles to achievement of education. SPARK is a special curriculum that was written for community schools. This four-year curriculum follows the government curriculum with a life skills component integrated through all subject areas and offers pupils a fast track to official grade 7 examinations. However, more drastic curriculum and pedagogical review and teacher professional development are necessary to improve the quality and relevance of the educational experience. This also requires further research of what pupils are learning, and differentiated responses to their particular needs (Robson Sylvester 2007 269).LiteratureBarnett, T. and Whiteside, A.2006 AIDS in the Twenty-First Century. Disease and Globalisation. New York Palgrave MacMillan.Bennell, P.2005 The impact of the AIDS epidemi c on the schooling of orphans and other directly affected children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Development Studies 41 (3) 467-488.Boler, T. and Carroll, K.2003 Addressing the educational needs of orphans and vulnerable children. UK running(a) group on HIV/AIDS and Education. Policy Research issue 2.Chondoka, Y. A. and Subulwa, C.2004 Evaluation of the SPARK curriculum in community schools in Zambia 2002-2004, Lusaka University of ZambiaChondoka, Y. A.2006 office staff analysis of Community Schools in Central Province of Zambia. Lusaka, University of Zambia.Destefano, J.2006 Meeting EFA Zambia Community Schools. Lusaka USAID.Foster, G. and Williamson, J.2000 A review of current literature of the impact of HIV/AIDS on children in sub-Saharan Africa AIDS 14 (3)275-284.Kelly, M. J.1999 What HIV/AIDS Can Do to Education, and What Education Can Do to HIV/AIDS? School of Education, University of Zambia Lusaka.Ministry of Foreign Affairs (the Netherlands),2008 Primary Education Zam bia. IOB Impact Evaluation. No. 312 April 2008.Robson, S. and Sylvester, K. B.Orphaned and vulnerable children in Zambia the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on basic education for children at risk. Educational Research 49 (3) 259-272.Skinner, D. et al.Defining orphaned and vulnerable children. Cape Town HRSC Publishers.UNAIDSReport on the global AIDS epidemichttp//www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/GlobalReport/2008/(last viewed on 2 January 2010)World Bank/ UNESCO/ UNAIDS2002 In turning the tide against HIV/AIDS, education is key. Press release(October 18).http//portal.unesco.org/es/ev.php-URL_ID=7195URL_DO=DO_TOPICURL_SECTION=201.html(last viewed on 2 January 2010)

System PIR Detector

System PIR DetectorIn my design i would be aim an alarm clay which would have three possible forms of sensing in range to prevent crime and for protection, having a combination of a systems that burn be calld to prevent a home and the industrial areas as well ,which would be able to detect, motion, smoke and heat along to protect the home and do social occasion of arduino in order to implement the working of the systems.2.1 Proximity Sensor These are demodulator that can on on that point make detect objects or obstructions on their path or way without physical contact, they often emit electron beam and detects or notice changes in the field or environment, pro joystickquity detector targets or demand different sensors, a capacitive or a photoelectric sensor or an inductive proximity sensor can also be apply which might require a metal target , feel at capacitive proximity sensor the object in enquiry changes the dielectric constant in the midst of the two plates deep down a orbit in some(a) cases which is relatively close to water, because sudden changes in capacitance of objects some eras takes relatively long time to tag on range within the 50Hertz,a normal capacitive proximity sensor do have round 10-12mm sensing range and about 30 mm in diameter, in most cases setting the output of a proximity sensor is quite difficult, hence proximity sensor designers always add hysteresis, excitation voltage etc.most capacitance proximity sensor can make measurements in 100u sec with resolution of 10,probes put into use in capacitive proximity sensor have either flat disc or rectangular sensing element, the main advantage of capacitive proximity sensor is that they are mostly unaffected by containers, allowing them to be replaced by optical devices.2.2 Passive infrared sensor (PIR).In most pledge systems ,motion is undeniable to be detected in a monitored environment, in most cases the happenive infrared motion sensor is preferred to detect changes a nd upon detection motion sensors loosely transmit a notification or indication to the systems host then an intrusion or activation of an alarm system to perform various trading operations ,in order to monitor a large space with only one or two sensing element ,most PIR sensor is designed with numerous optical components (mirror or lenses) then each component of such compound optics focuses the infrared beam from objects within a respective sub-volume of the monitored space into an image appearing over the sensor then monitored sub-volume can be interleaved with non-monitored sub-volumes and then radiation producing target ( humanity) passing from the sub-volume to sub-volume causes a target radiation or background radiation /target radiation pattern in detector for humans the pattern leads to a change in the IR radiation in detector .For PIR sensor there is the deprivation to shrivel false alarms and then minimizing processing requirement ,the PIR sensor apply a minimal numbe r of detector could generate false alarm from time to time ,definitely a radiation of wavelength outside the ask micron band as a result false alarm would triggered in order to reduce false alarms from triggering ,optical filters could be added as detector windows to screen out white light and IR light then coating for mirrors and additives for lenses would be added to prevent pore of white and near infrared light on detectors hence reducing the chances of motion ,PIR sensor producing false alarms when detectors include pairs of as sized elements of opposing polarities, Non rivet out of band radiation is equally incident on two elements ,then causing requests from equal and blow elements to roughly cancel one an another(prenominal) ,equal elements of opposite polarity reduce false alarms from shock and temperature change, there are chances that PIR sensors can be improved upon to reject interferences and determination of motion direction and detecting a moving object in a mon itored space from a non-moving object characterized by non-constant radiation includes receiving a first frequency from the first passive PIR detector then receiving the second frequency from a second passive IR detector, hence the first and second frequencies not being equal ,this method involves outputting a signal are received simultaneously then signal indicate the presence of object is not output.The PIR (passive infrared Red) is a low cost PIR detector used for motion or human detection which can be a simple pyroelectric detector because the detector can be a significant part of the cost (5-10%) of a typical PIR motion sensor, most PIR motion sensor would only employ just one or two of such detectors ,normally the human consistence radiates infrared waves ranging between 8 to 12 micrometers, as a result should bothone move in any direction ,there go forth be a change in the quantity of infrared energy providing a low frequency and small amplitude signal, there are possibil ities that the equal signal can be amplified and decoded using microcontroller, ideally PIR sensor can detect changes in the quantity of infrared energy in small ranges of blank approximately 10-13 inches, in order to detect motions at larger distance, infrared radiation pass on have to be focused, the focusing is done with the use of a Fresnel lens in most cases usually divide the whole area into different zones hence any movement within the zones already divided into will certainly lead to a change in the infrared energy received by the sensor, Fresnel lenses depends on the range (distance) and stapleally coverage angle looking at volumetric lenses and certain then the PIR sensor unit will then decide whether the infrared light is from a warm moving body or not ,it is always a lot better when PIR sensor could have one or to a greater extent inner sensing elements so that with applicable electronics and Fresnel lens, it could sense direction from up to down and right to left an d show required output signal.2.2.1 Uses of PIR Sensor They are basically used for automatic security lightning say when human moves across its path or view or sensor for instance a floodlight is switched on automatically and left on for a fixed period of time say 90 seconds and can provide light when you arrive at home.2.2.2 Advantages of PIR PIR sensor does not require any form of maintenance, how perpetually should in case of any form of fault, it can be easily replaced so for optimum performance, it is advisable to remove any accumulated dust with low force out cleaners.2.2.3 Weakness of PIR sensor.PIR sensor do have its own limitation and these limitations in a way does let it work properly.PIR sensor would not detect stationery or slowly moving body or object in most cases the environment change in call of cooling off of a nearby wall could actually activate the sensitivity of a sensor and when someone walk straight pass or towards a PIR it would not detect them until close by, they are actually temperature crank and work optimally at ambient air temperature of around 16-21 degrees celcius,in most cases when the temperature raises is about 32 degrees ,the field of view narrows and the sensor becomes less sensitive and vice-versa should the temperature drop below 12 degrees, the field view widens up and smaller or more at a distance object might activate the sensor .2.3 MULTIPLE PIR SENSOR CIRCUITSituations or scenarios will arise that you would require to use one or more PIR sensor within a system, where one could be at the front and the other at the end or the rear, it is intimately not possible to join them together the output from more than one PIR sensor, in a case standardized this an AND gate logical system is deployed, in logic high voltage is shown by 1 and low voltage by 0 hence the output from a PIR sensor upon detecting motion shows 0 and is 1,the rest of the time, we want an output of 0 when either of the PIR sensor is output is 0,that can be shown in the trueness table below .PIR 1PIR 2PIR 1 PIR 2111100010000These truth table is exactly the same as that for an AND gate, basically a logic device that gives an output of 1 only when its two output are both 1, the basic symbol for an AND gate is below.In order to make use of the output signal from a PIR sensor we would need to invert it turn a 12v output to 0 v and a 0 v output into 12v,when motion is detected by a PIR sensor, the 0 v sensor signal is inverted to 12v signal .2.3.1 NAND GATELooking at putting two or more PIR sensor together in a turn, it is not required to put PIR sensor signals through an AND gate ,then through a NOT gate rather i would use a NAND gate, the truth table for it could be seen below .PIR 1PIR 2PIR 1 PIR 2110101011001Setting the signal of the sensor from two or more PIR sensor through a NAND gate will result to a 12v output unless both PIR sensor signal is 12v in a case where neither is detected in terms of motion then the out put is 0v that is what we need.The basic plat of an NAND gate can be seen below How NAND gate is physically connected to a PIR sensor in a circuit, AND gates could be gotten from compound circuits with the 4000 series applicable to the 12 volt DC system as shown below, the schematic diagram of a Quad 2 commentary NAND gate with break short 4 NAND gates, each collecting two inputs, that can be seen in the diagram below.The maximum output current from the 4000 series is about 4 to 10 mA, slightly enough to light an LED, hence we might require it to amplified through a transistor so that it can power light couple of ampere-second mA or perhaps energise a coil of a relay, below a schematic diagram showing how the PIR sensor output could be put through a NAND gate and the result amplified through a transistor (NPN).In conclusion as regards to motion detection,PIR sensor is the most sensitive and advanced option that i am aware of and their light options makes it ideal for security sy stems .2.4 ArduinoThe arduino platform is based on do things work using simple electronics, it is all about tinkering and creating something with the wit with its functions defined below.Just above is the diagram of the arduino card and what each element of the board does will be defined below as well.14 Digital IO (pins 0-13,) can be inputs or outputs as set in software 6 Analogue out (pins 0-5) are consecrated line of latitudeue input pins, these take parallel values (voltage readings) and turn it to numbers between 0 and 1023.3 Analogue out (pins 9, 10, 11) this is just 3 of the digital pins and can be reassigned to do one-dimensional output.The board could be powered through the USB port or from any power socket around, this arrangement could be changed with a jumper marked SV1 in the diagram, if the jumper is close together(predicate) to the USB plug then the board is powered from there but if the jumper is on 2 pins closest to the DC connector then it is powered from t here.2.5 Interaction Design The essence of interactive design is all about creativity, being able to express your own design in a form of experience to create something between humans and artifacts, making designs through an interactive process based on prototypes of ever increasing fidelity, there are chances that design in future could be extended to include phototypes in technology with reference to electronics, basically interacting with each other as long as humans have been a species, so having interactive design has been applied to development of different solutions, creating or exploring ideals between human and technology, it involves creating products and systems which users can interact with individually, in order to achieve the ideals that you would alike to realize within complex technology, systems making use of basic or simple electronics components like software packages and mobile devices, which can be applicable to several other devices and services, since interac tive design defines behaviour though some principles of cognitive psychology shows how alert the ground is for interactive design in terms of mental models and mapping etc and there are chances of creating human ready reckoner interaction (HCI),which is the methods of describing and testing the usability of communicating with interfaces, in most cases design are emphasized in users goals and experience, one of the essence of interactive design is to improve usability then the experience of the end product by rationality what is required to implement the design in question, after a system on has been designed by getting users involved on ordinary basics, only then will designers be able to optimize and properly substructureor the usability, it is quite an essence that the users that the designer is designing for is salutaryy aware of the system capabilities from the onset in order to contain expectations from users, interactive design makes use of various photo type techniques to check variety of areas of design, ideas could be grouped into three, testing the role of the artifact itself ,test of its implementation ,prototype could be physical or digital ,high or low fidelity .2.6 natural Computing In previous historic period making use of basic electronics makes dealing with engineers always kept systems designers from playing directly or indirectly with the medium, almost all tools require good understanding and was meant for engineers, physical computing involves putting together interactive physical components making use of software and hardware components and then having to get a respond the analog settings, could be reffered to as a framework to understand human relationship with the digital world, system using sensor and microcontroller to actualize analog input to a software system and to control several mechanical devices such as motors etc and variety of hardware applications, physical computing is used in various areas and applications making interesting link between the physical world and computer world, understanding the way or pattern in which humans communicate putting their expressions within their design, mini computers like the microcontroller have become cheap and easier allowing the making of better tools and the arduino making use of the physical computing and system designer getting to discern the elementary of electronics and get to know that you can construct phototypes with little investment .2.7 SERIAL COMMUNICATION.Looking at the arduino diagram below, the USB connection that is used by the IDE to pass across codes into the processor and exciting news is that the connection will be used by programmer to communicate with the arduino to send data back to the computer and receive commands from it.2.8 Bread board From the diagram below what a bread board looks like can be seen, it is just a plastic board filled up with holes and each contains spring loaded contact and component required leg could be put int o the holes, each hole is about 2.53 mm distance from each other and then all components have their own legs, though not all contact on the board are equally created, the top and bottom row are connected horizontally and are used to carry power across the board so when power is required, there is always a hole or gap in the middle as wide as a chip, showing the vertical line of holes so pin will not be short circuited ,the essence of the breadboard is to allow you to alter connections between components in the fastest and most practical and non noxious way possible.2.9 MICROCONTROLLERThe micro controller are constantly used in automatically controlled products and devices, they fit into design well because of one of its advantages which is low power consumption, they bring relatively low power in mill watts and do have the ability to sleep when waiting for an input like pressing a discharge before it carrys out the operation so while sleeping it might be using just nanowatts,the micro controller allows you to integrate additional elements like read-write memory for data storage ,peripheral devices and input/output interfaces ,they also operate at very low speed compared to todays microprocessors.2.10 Driving Bigger LoadsThe pins of an arduino board will only power devices that use up to 20 milliamps, though that is quite small which barely light an LED, trying to drive some else with outlying(prenominal) much more power will definitely stop the systems from working and definitely burn out the processor, in order to drive larger oodles like coils etc, an external component that can switch such things ON and OFF by an arduino pin, a mosfet transistor will be required, which is an electronic switch that can be seen that the motor takes its power system having different power supply from the one used by arduino which is purely an advantage and the mosfet connected to pin 9 .2.11 Analogue Inputcircuit could be reffered to as quantized galvanic signal with a c ertain range and can generated by a sensor and received by a controller it changes constantly a definite manner in relation to a property, analogue signals produced by some sensors could be conditioned by converting higher-level standard signal which would be transmitted over wires to the receiving controller. Analogue inputs are converted to digital signals by the analogue to digital converter, in most cases located at the controller, in most cases limited to a small range of DC voltage. The three type of analogue input signals are current, resistance, voltages used in controls are within 1-5 volts and direct convert (VDC), 2-10 VDC as regards to current the 4-20 MA signal has become the industry standard convert signal for use with analogue and digital controllers, resistance are mostly associated with direct inputs from temperature sensing devices. A basic circuit diagram below is a typical example of analogue inputs configurations.The arduino can sense voltage out across to one or any of its pins and shows it through digital real functions, this is used by the arduino in lots of applications, in most cases we need to know exactly what the amount of voltage we are putting across, hence in order to determine the exact voltage across and we would need a different type of pin. The lower right part of the arduino board has 6 sets of pins marked analogue in. These set of pins would not only tell u the voltage applied to them or not but also its value making use of the analogue read function. Voltage applied to one of the set of pins can be read using the scale, the function returns a number between 0 and 1023 representing voltages between 0 and 5 volts, hence if a voltage of 2.5 volts is applied to pin 0. The analogue read (0) will return 512 etc, hence constructing a circuit using 10k or 4.7k resistor and putting the codes through. You find the lead blinking at the rate that depends on the amount of light that hits it.2.12 shudder Width Modulation Pulse width modulation of the power source or signal involves the modulation of its duty cycle to carry messages over a communication link or rather control the amount of power sent to a load,PWM makes use of square wave, whose pulse width is constantly modulated resulting in variation of average out value of the waveform, the best method to generate PWM signal is intersective method which requires a saw tooth or a triangle waveform which can be generated PWM signals e.g. micro controller, making use of a counter that increments periodically connected directly or indirectly to the clock of the circuit and sets back after the end of any period of PWM, there are three types of PWM signals -(leading edge modulation) the pulse lead edge can be held at the lead edge of the window and tail edge (trailing edge modulation) the pulse center may be fixed in the center of time window and both edges of the pulse moved to crusade or expand the width.-the tail edge can be fixed and lead edge modulated.PW M could be used to reduce the total amount of power delivered to a load without losses due to the fact that the average power delivered is proportional to modulation duty cycle, PWM are used in controlling electrical power supply to other system like speed control in electric motors, PWM is used in efficient voltage regulators by slip voltage to the load with required duty cycle In conclusion the PWM is a way of digitally encoding analog signal level the diagram below shows the three possible PWM signals, the first figure showing the PWM outputs at 10% duty cycle and the other figures showing the PWM outputs at 50% and 90% duty cycle respectively, hence the three PWM outputs encode three different analog signal values at 10%, 50% and 90% of the full strength, the supply is 7v and the duty cycle is 10%, a 0.7 v analog signal result.Below a simple Pulse Width Modulation circuit can be shown.References.http//www.reuk.co.uk/Multiple-PIR-Sensor-Circuits.htmhttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pa ssive_infrared_sensor3. http//www.sensors-transducers.machinedesign.com/guiedits/content/bdeee4/bdeee4_7.aspx 4. http//www.freepatentsonline.com/6163025.html5. http//www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Policy6. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interaction_design7. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_computing8. http//www.ddc-online.org/inout/inout_chapt01_analogin.aspx9. http//www.netrino.com/Embedded-Systems/How-To/PWM-Pulse-Width-Modulation10. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcontroller11. Arduino booklet (2002), Massimo banzi, Erica calogero, David Guartielles, Jeff Gray, Tom Igoe, David Mellis 12. Barr .Michael, embedded systems Programming, September 2001, pp. 103-104 13. Making things talk Practical Methods for Connecting Physical Objects by Tom Igoe (Paperback -September 28, 2007)14. Physical Computing sensing and controlling the physical world with computers by Tom Igoe, Dan O Sullivan. Thomson Course Technology, Boston, Massachusetts, May 2004

Diabetes an Epidemic in the African American Community Essay -- Biolog

Diabetes an Epidemic in the African American CommunityThe facts are clear The diabetes epidemic sweeping the U.S. is hitting the African American conjunction particularly hard, according to doctors. (2) Diabetes is defined as, A disease that affects the bodys ability to produce or respond to insulin, a hormone that allows blood glucose (blood sugar) to enter the cells of the body and be used for energy. (1) There are two types of diabetes type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, which usually begins during childhood or adolescence, Is a pattern characterized by high blood glucose levels caused by total lack of insulin. This occurs when the bodys immune system attacks the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas and destroys them.. (2) Type 2 Diabetes, most common figure of the disease, Usually occurring in middle age adults after the age of forty-five, is a condition characterized by high blood glucose levels caused by either lack of insulin or the bodys inability to use insulin efficiently. (2) National health surveys over the past 35 years show that the number of African Americans that oblige been diagnosed with diabetes is drastically increasing. In fact, it has been reported, place of 16 million Americans with diabetes, twenty-three million are African Americans. (3) There are clearly many implications on why diabetes is so rampant in the African American community, those of which lead be discussed in this report. In this report, I will exam aspects of the African American Culture, in order to determine whether those aspects have anything to do with the reasons why diabetes is higher in the African American community, more so than others. Have you ever heard in the Black culture somebody say t... ... amounts of oils and sugars in food, improper dieting and apathy towards treating the disease. Diabetes is a major disease in all ethnicities, particularly in African Americans and can be deadly if not treated properly. If the cycle of di abetes is to lessen, in the African American community, people have to take the approach to eat right and exercise, or else the diabetes will continue to run rampant throughout the community. Internet Sources1) http//www.diabetes.org/community/outreach/african_americans/diabetesin.jsp , a rich resourcefulness from the diabetes community outreach project 2) http//www.ndep.nih.gov/diabetes/control/4Steps.htm , a rich resource from the department of health and diabetes. 3 http//diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/africanamerican/index.htm, a rich resource on diabetes 4) http//66.102.126.72?Diabetes.htm, a rich resource on diabetes

Old Time Walk and Run :: Personal Narrative History Athletics Papers

Old Time Walk and RunAs I tantalise here at the first annual Bethlehem Six Day Extravaganza, I am amazed at the desire and energy these men and women have later five days of constant running. I would consider myself a good athlete, yet I would never be able to run such a long distance for six days straight. The amount of stamina needed to finish this race, to conquer the temperatures, distance, time, highs, and lows is incredible. These athletes have the support and admiration from so many pile here to cheer them through this last day of running. Cheering for every runner that passes on the quarter-mile track, I wonder, how did these races begin? It was at Washington State skating rink in 1874 where Edward Payson Weston attempted to successfully walk five hundred miles in six consecutive days. There were 6,000 spectators in attendance composed of all classes of confederation including the Mayor and the Chief of Police. It was almost necessary to alert the Newark police force and the militia to guard the soon to be prized and historic pedestrian. This was the third time that course of study that Weston was attempting such a feat. His first attempt was in 1861 where he tried to walk to the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. He started at the State House in capital of Massachusetts on February 22 and finally arrived on March 4. This distance totaled 453 miles in 208 hours, but he sadly missed the inauguration by half(a) a day. His career took off in 1867, and this began his professional career. He started this career by walking from Portland, Maine to Chicago, Illinois (1,326 miles) in twenty-five days. This earned him $10,000 as a reenforce for all of his hard work. This accomplishment came with recognition from everyone, the newspapers would write about Weston everyday and what he has done for the United States. This walk made Weston a household name. Weston move to walk on, breaking the world record in New York where he walked 100 miles in 221910. Yet, wi th all of his successes, he failed numerous quantify at feats that he worked hard to conquer. Soon to be named The father of modern pedestrianism, Weston was able to walk with the mayor during one of his six day walks. When Weston walked, he dressed to kill(p) in black velvet knee-breeches, with ruffled white shirt and black leather leggings reaching to the knee.