MGMT 331 Week #6 Paper Essay Example

MGMT 331: Week #6 Paper Essay MGMT 331: Week #6 Paper Name: Institution: MGMT 331: Week #6 Paper We will write a custom essay sample on MGMT 331: Week #6 Paper specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on MGMT 331: Week #6 Paper specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on MGMT 331: Week #6 Paper specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Leader rewards and punishment behavior help leaders rally their followers around their causes or objectives. Rewards issued appropriately (at the right time and for the right reason) help motivate workers and followers. These rewards can be special recognition for a follower’s effort and exemplary work or pay increments for commendable work. On the other hand, punishment is used to stop undesirable behavior within followers. Punishment works by making the offender cease the subject behavior and by working as a deterrent against such behavior within the other workers or followers. It is important to understand how rewards and punishments work to implement them successfully. Using rewards and punishment effectively can help leaders motivate and drive their followers. In an organization, this drive would help increase productivity, and this would benefit the organization. One interesting thing in the text was the concept of contingent rewards and punishments. The basic idea in the concept is that the issuance of a punishment or a reward must be reliant on the recipient’s actions. This means that when issuing a punishment or reward, a leader must clearly explain why the follower received the said punishment. This way, the worker will know what is needed of them so they can get more rewards or avoid further punishment (Howell Costley, 2006). Another interesting idea in the text is that of consistent monitoring of worker’s progress and behavior. This goes hand in hand with the concept of contingent punishment. Leaders need to monitor their followers constantly so that they can be able to track progression and regression. This will then determine the issuance of rewards and punishment. The third interesting issue in the chapter is the idea of looking at a leader’s use of rewards and punishments as a â€Å"process of social exchange between the leader and the followers† (Howell Costley, 2006, p. 171). By controlling the rewards, the leader has something that the workers want. On the other hand, good performance by the workers is something that the leader wants. This creates an unwritten contract between the two parties where each provides what the other desires (Howell Costley, 2006). The interesting thing about the concept of contingent rewards and punishment is the idea that a punishment or a reward is ineffective if the follower does not clearly understand the reason it was given. It is important for a leader to make sure that followers are sure about their reason for being punished. In a leadership position, I would make sure that communication between my workers and me is excellent so that punishments and rewards can have the desired effect. This would also help create a good understanding between my workers and me. The idea of constant monitoring is compelling because it explains why most organizations have ineffective reward and punishment systems. The main concept in this case is that the constant monitoring helps leaders be sure about the workers who deserve rewards and those who need to be punished. Few organizations monitor their workers constantly meaning they fail to note progress or regress. As a leader, I would make sure that the work done by my fol lowers is constantly monitored noting down improvements, successes and failures. This way, workers are not wrongly punished or rewarded. The idea of looking at rewards and punishments as part of a social exchange is interesting in that most people do not share this perspective. Most organizations see rewards and punishments as part of a carrot-stick approach. As a leader, I would ensure that my followers understand that the use of rewards and punishment is of mutual benefit and that neither party is exploiting the other, as is the case in carrot stick situations. The use of contingent punishment and rewards is seen in military structures where promotions and demotions are directly related to performance and effort. This helps soldiers understand that there is an obvious correlation between the two. Soldiers will then know what they need to do to be rewarded and what they should not do to avoid punishment. Military systems also use constant monitoring to help with the issuance of rewards and punishments. Soldiers are always in direct contact with their superior officers and this gives the superior officers a chance to monitor the soldiers. This way, the right soldiers are always promoted or demoted. Motorola’s past chairperson, Robert Galvin, exercised the use of rewards and punishments as a form of social exchange. Workers could earn bonuses of up to 41percent for achieving set targets. These high bonuses made the workers added effort worthwhile. The relationship between the leadership and the workers became mutually dependent as both benefited from each other. References Howell, J. P., Costley, D. L. (2006). Understanding behaviors for effective leadership. New Jersey: Prentice hall. When How Becomes What Name: Course: Date: When How Becomes What One of the most fundamental beliefs and principles of Hideo Sasaki is that of the need for different professionals within the design, architecture, and landscape to collaborate and work together. Sasaki advocates the idea of integration of different disciplines. This involves the professionals having an open mind about architecture and design. Professionals are not only involved in planning and following the requirements and guidelines of their profession, but they should also think critically and have an open inquiry involving different people with diverse ideas. Architecture does not only involve putting up structures, but it also involves examining other aspects of architecture, which many professionals tend to forget. This includes examining and recognizing the importance of maintaining the surrounding community’s culture and history, as well as the social context. Professionals should also ensure that they take care of the economic and geographical context of the surround ing regions. This will ensure that they capture the important factors that matter to the community, and that people do not just recognize them for the structures they put up, some of which may not benefit the community in any way. When how becomes what involves recognizing the important elements of life, which, in addition to professional and up-to-date structures, also recognize the elements of humanity. As much as people admire tall and complex buildings and designs, they also want to feel a part of the process. They want to feel that they have contributed something towards the completion of the project. They recognize the efforts of the professionals, when part of their culture and the geographical elements of their surroundings make up part of the professional work. They feel that they own part of the structures, and that their culture is worth recognizing. In addition, communities want buildings that will recognize their abilities. They will have more appreciation and recognition for designs and structures that embody their economic contexts. People have different perspectives of issues when they have an open mind. Moreover, the interdisciplinary approach encourages the sharing of ideas and it is essential during the brainstorming process. Professionals from different disciplines are able to assess each other’s work critically, correct each other, and give advice and recommendations. This helps in developing wholesome designs, which serve different purposes. It leads to the creation and development of structures, which are different from the usual designs of the practice. This brings out something new, unique, and original to the industry. This has revolutionized the different industries in the field of design. It would not be possible to leave legacies without the implementation of such ideas. The integration of different disciplines in design has led to changes in the industry. This has included changes in architecture, and landscape design. There has been an increasing concern regarding different issues such environmental concerns and this has led to the development and design of products that are environmentally friendly. It has led to the incorporation of technology. Digital technology in design has made work easier and it has eased some of the processes in design work. In addition, it has led to increased collaboration among different professionals because it has eased the communication process. This integration has led to increased awareness of the issues affecting the community, and this has contributed to the designers looking for different ways to enhance and make people’s lives better. People are able to learn more from each other and from other regions. Their sources of knowledge are not just confined to their areas of practice and learning, but they are also forced to look beyond their countries and learn from other regions.

Racial Targeting essays

Racial Targeting essays The practice of targeting individuals for police investigation based on their race alone in the last few years has been an increasingly prominent issue in American society. Numerous magazines, newspapers, and journals have explored the issue of race-motivated police actions. Recently, the ABA Journal did a study of New Jersey and Pennsylvania traffic stops from 1998 to 2001, concluding that black drivers were more likely to be pulled over and arrested than whites. The study also delves into the legal ramifications of the 1996 United States Supreme Court ruling in the Whren v. United States case, which held that police officers subjective motivation for stopping a motorist on the highway was irrelevant as long as a probable cause was present - such as a traffic violation existed for making the stop. The Whren court decision validated the pretext stop, which occurs when police officers ostensibly stop motorists for traffic violations but are in fact motivated by the desire to obt ain evidence of other crimes. Police officers, however, argue that racial profiling is common sense and is sensible, statistically based tool that enables them to focus their energies efficiently for providing protection against crime to law a-biding citizen. In Taylor and Whitney, a study investigating the existence of an empirical basis for racial profiling and crime, they concluded that society must acknowledge the statistics behind crime rates in order to understand the concept of racial profiling; such information is available in annual crime reports. Statistics are facts and numbers which cannot be disputed and provide the experiential basis for racial profiling. The FBI Bulletin also addressed the necessity to consider statistics in addressing the issue of racial profiling. However, unlike Taylor and Whitney who argue for the use of statistics to support racial profiling, the FBI Bulletin promotes the usage of statistics in order to red...

Aviation safety and human factors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Aviation safety and human factors - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the aviation industry is one of the most important industries in today’s times. Aviation safety is the responsibility of not just one person or one group it encompasses everyone from the manufacturers to the pilots and even to fliers. Therefore, one might say that one of the major factors controlling safety in the sky is human factors. Research has shown that 50% of all aviation mishaps are caused by human factors. One of the most important human factors in aviation is that of decision making and communication. One of the most important controllers of safety is the pilot. Even minor mistakes such missing a problem indication, misreading signs or making judgmental errors made by the pilot could lead to crashes and accidents. Improper decision making on the part of the pilots could be because of improper sleep, lack of concentration and fatigue.   According to a study in China lack of proper aviation safety training in Chinese p ilots was a major cause of aviation accidents that took place between 1999-2002. This lead to crashes owing to reasons such as overrunning, engine strike, ground object impact and mountain collision, all of which were caused by human factors. NASA Aviation Safety reporting system reported that between 1976 and 1983 35000 aviation accidents were caused by conflicts among aircrafts. This primarily happens through human factors such as failure to control traffic in the skies and failure to send signals to the pilots in time.

Should there be a death penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Should there be a death penalty - Essay Example He goes to work as Sam’s lawyer so he can be with him through his final appeals. Sam is a very bad man. He has killed several people. He is a terrible racist and was a member of the KKK. Despite all of this, the book does a wonderful job showing us his humanity. Even though he has killed, the irony of the story is the fact that he didn’t kill the girl they are executing him for. This book caused me to view inmates on death row as humans, not just criminals. The scary thing about the book is that even though I feel Sam was a horrible person, I question the rights of the state to take his life. If it really is about protecting society, then let him stay in jail forever. The book also helped me see how there might bee mistakes made along the way that would send an innocent person to the death chamber. It is true that Sam was guilty of many crimes, but not guilty of the crime for which he was executed. I found myself wondering how often this happened in America and other places where criminals are executed. I came away from the book feeling that no one should be executed because the likelihood of making a mistake was too

Developments in european & pacific rim trade Essay

Developments in european & pacific rim trade - Essay Example However we there can be several exceptions to this first rule - which is the first article of the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) - such as for example giving developing countries special access to a market or raising barriers against products being produced unfairly in other countries. The second part is the National treatment: treating foreigners and locals equally meaning that locally-produced goods should be treated equally when compared to imported goods once the imported goods have entered the national market. The same thing has also to be applied for services, trademarks, copyrights and patents. The second principle of WTO favors the lowering of trade barriers meaning customs duties and tariffs and measures such as import bans or quotas that restrict quantities selectively. Since the creation of the GATT, there have been eight rounds of trade negotiations to progressively abolish these barriers, the undergoing ninth round being the Doha Development Agenda. The predictability of international trade will guarantee a continuous stability. Therefore WTO encourages its members not only to lower trade barriers but also not to raise new barriers. When a country opens its market for products or services, it is considered as binding its commitment. However a country can change its bindings but only after a round of negotiation. With this principle WTO insists on the point that the organization i... WTO allows tariffs and some form of protectionism. Its true aim is to establish an environment with the help of specific rules to favor fair trade. These rules are for example the rule of most favored nation, national treatment or rules on dumping and subsidies. Encouraging development and economic reform Finally, WTO's last principle encourages development through flexibility for developing countries to implement WTO rules and special assistance and trade concessions in favor of these developing countries. (World Trade Organization, Principles of the Trading System) However as much as we can consider these principles being the best ground for efficient and fair trade, the reality is otherwise as we can see through the example of the Multi Fibre Agreement On January 1st, 2005, the Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) expired. The MFA was a measure taken regarding the world trade of textiles and garment from 1974 to 2004 which imposed quotas on the amount that developing countries could export to developed countries. The WTO admitted that the MFA was a special regime outside the GATT rules and that WTO members have committed to remove those quotas by 1st January 2005 When the quotas from a country like China was reached, importers turned to less competitive suppliers located in countries that had spare export quotas and whose only advantage was low wage. Today, the less competitive developing countries are not called as back up because countries willing to import textile can only be supplied by one and only exporter, the most competitive: China. The importance of China in the textile market has not its boundaries set within developing countries. Since the beginning of 2005,

Herpes Simplex Virus Antiviral Drug Resistance

Herpes Simplex Virus Antiviral Drug Resistance Omer Baskan The increasing drug resistance of the herpes simplex virus Abstract Herpes simplex infections remain very common worldwide, the development of new treatments is of vital importance, particularly for the severely immunocompromised individuals due to the increasing emergence of HSV resistant strains being reported. The standard treatment for HSV still remains highly effective, however there is an ever increasing risk that drug resistant HSV will become more prevalent due to the reliance on a limited group of drugs: acyclovir, foscarnet and cidofovir. This review aims to address the failure of previous studies conducted, which include the focus on treating acyclovir resistant HSV with foscarnet and cidofovir but not aiming to discover new compounds which might be used to treat HSV instead. A valuable source for new treatments is the abundance of natural compounds which exhibit antiviral properties. Several candidates are addressed and discussed in this review. Introduction A large family of DNA viruses commonly known as herpesviridae is largely known for causing diseases in humans as well as animals. The most prevalent forms of the virus family are known as HSV-1, HSV-2, Varicella zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus and Cytomegalovirus. All five mentioned members of the herpesvirus family (herpesviridae) are known to infect humans (Sandri-Goldin, 2006), in total there 8 herpesviruses which can infect humans, these include human herpesvirus 6 and 7, and finally Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (Carter Saunders, 2013). So far there are more than 130 herpesviruses which can affect a range of animals (Brown Newcomb, 2011). Herpesviruses are latent therefore they can remain in most people undetected, as the virus establishes itself in the ganglia of the peripheral nervous system (Stevens, 1975). It is reported that more than 90% of adults have been infected with the aforementioned species of the virus (Chayavichitsilp et al., 2009). Once an HSV infection occurs it will establish latency and can then multiply in large numbers as it has been reactivated, this then allows for the infection of a new host. In people who have a competent immune system the infection can be both painful and distressing but most importantly it is seldom life threatening. As a result the risks associated with herpes simplex are underestimated by people. However individuals with a HSV infection who also happen to have an impaired immune system can have life threatening symptoms which can result in death (Severson Tyring, 1999). The preferred treatment of choice is the use of acyclovir (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003) but due to its widespread use it has led to the emanation of HSV strains which are resistant to acyclovir (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003). Resistant strains were first reported in 1982 (Sibrack et al., 1982). Therefore, surveys were conducted which showed that there was a recurring low incidence rate of acyclovir resistant strains among i mmunocompetent patients which was 0.6% (Englund et al., 1990). However among patients who have an impaired immune system the acyclovir resistant strains which were recovered showed a frequency ranging from 3 to 6%, this figure then reaches 14% among patients who have received a bone marrow transplant (Englund et al., 1990). This review aims to deal with the features attributed with the emanation of acyclovir resistant HSV as well as the epidemiological features. Whilst addressing the severity of the emerging drug resistance strains of HSV and its impact on immunocompromised patients. This review will also aim to highlight potential natural compounds which are new candidates for the development of new antivirals to combat HSV, as well as many compounds which should have further investigation into its antiviral properties. Epidemiology It is rare for resistance to ACV to occur in immunocompetent patients but there have been reports that described that there is a below 1% occurrence of ACV resistance in the population (Nugier et al., 1992). Most acyclovir resistant HSV isolated from patients with competent immune systems have been detected because of repeatedly having genital herpes. The observed occurrence ranged from 3.5 to 8.6% (Fife et al., 1994). In most cases the course of antivirals remained unchanged, there was only three cases of genital herpes were use of acyclovir was unsuccessful due to HSV being resistant to acyclovir (Mouly et al., 1995). Acyclovir resistant among certain HSV infections is about 5% (Christophers et al., 1998), this is only among immunocompromised patients who are most at risk of contracting an acyclovir resistant HSV. Infections caused by HSV among bone marrow transplant patients shows that patients that have received a bone marrow of either autologous or allogeneic origin have the same risk of developing an HSV infection. Resistance to acyclovir was detected only among allogeneic bone marrow transplant patients, this led to the discovery of the prevalence of resistance reaching 30% in patients who have had an allogeneic bone marrow transplant (Morfin et al., 2004). HSV strains that have been isolated from 3000 patients have been tested and have shown that half of them were immunocompetent whereas the other half had a immunocompromised system (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003). The resistance of acyclovir was 0.3% among immunocompetent and 4% among immunocompromised (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003). Concerning the certain type of immunosuppression present, the resistance has been detected as 2.8% among solid organ transplant patients, 3.5% among HIV infected patients and at 29% for allogeneic transplant patients (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003). These results show that the prevalence of acyclovir resistant HSV was stable in 2003 compared to previous studies published more than 10 years ago. This level of stability is same for both immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. As suggested by previous studies, resistance to acyclovir is a major concern for allogeneic bone marrow transplant patients. Mechanism of resistance Nucleoside analogues make up the majority of antiherpetic drugs in clinical use (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003). Acyclovir is a guanosine analogue, as is penciclovir. Cidofovir is a phosphonate molecule which is derived from cytidine and foscarnet has a very different structure, as it is analogous to a pyrophosphate. The mechanism of action for acyclovir and penciclovir involve two viral enzymes. These are thymidine kinase which is for the first phosphorylation of the activation step and DNA polymerase, which is used as a target for the triphosphate form. Only two phosphorylations are needed for cidofovir for it to obtain the active diphosphate molecule, with both being performed by cellular kinases. Foscarnet only acts directly on the viral DNA polymerase (Figure 1; De Clercq et al., 2001). There are three mechanisms which are involved in HSV resistance to acyclovir: an alteration of thymidine kinase substance specificity, an alteration of DNA polymerase activity and a loss of thymidine kinase activity (Larder et al., 1983). The viral gene encoding for thymidine kinase can have a mutation occur within them resulting in 95% of acyclovir resistance isolates presenting a thymidine kinase deficient phenotype (Hill et al., 1991). Recovery of thymidine kinase deficient, altered and positive virus in a single isolate can lead to a detection of resistance of susceptible viruses (Nugier et al., 1992). These mutations that can cause resistance, occur spontaneously during viral replication therefore viruses which are resistant can then be selected for antiviral treatment. Functional DNA polymerase is required for viral replication but not for thymidine kinase. Therefore, there is a higher probability of a viable acyclovir resistant virus being caused by a mutation in the thymidine kinase gene, than by a mutation which occurs in the DNA polymerase. Viral pathogenesis of mutant viruses depends on the resistance phenotype. However to DNA polymerase and thymidine kinase altered mutants, thymidine kinase deficient HSV is known to be impaired for pathogenesis in animal models (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003). Therefore they fail to reactivate from a latent form in explanted tissue ganglia (Kosz-Vnenchak et al., 1990). Thymidine kinase activity is not involved in the formation of latent infections but it is required for the virus to reactivate from latency (Efstathiou et al., 1989). After isolation of resistant HSV, the reactivations tend to be associated with the original, thymidine kinase positive and acyclovir sensitive strain (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003). Although, there are few reports checking reactivations due to the acyclovir resistant virus associated with the thymidine kinase altered virus (Kost et al., 1993) or thymidine kinase deficient virus (Morfin et al., 2000). Management of HSV infections with acyclovir resistance In order to manage an HSV infection which is resistant to acyclovir we currently have to use several antiviral drugs. Many of the acyclovir resistant HSV isolates tend to be resistant to penciclovir but this occurs rarely. Some isolates can be resistant to acyclovir but still be susceptible to penciclovir as there have been reported cases; mechanisms of resistance to acyclovir of these particular strains was most likely an altered thymidine kinase protein (Sutton Boyd, 1993) or it could have been that a mutation occurred in the viral DNA polymerase (Suzutani et al., 2003). The thymidine kinase protein allows for acyclovir to become active but only in cells which are infected with HSV (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003). Cidofovir and foscanet act directly on the viral DNA polymerase without the need of activation by viral thymidine kinase. The molecules cidofovir and foscarnet are both active on the HSV which is resistant to acyclovir, this is due to a mutation in the thymidine kinase gene (B lot et al., 2000), however in clinical practice the molecules cidofovir and foscarnet are associated with high levels of toxicity. Managing a acyclovir resistant HSV infection can be further improved by decreasing immunosuppressive treatments for the patient (Collins Oliver, 1986). In vitro detection of resistance In vitro evaluation of HSV susceptibility to antiviral drugs is based on the determination of viral replication inhibition in the presence of increasing concentrations of antiviral drugs. There are three techniques which are available to reveal viral replication: plaque reduction assay which is the reference technique, dye uptake method (Langlois et al., 1986) and DNA hybridisation test (Swierkosz et al., 1987). The dye uptake method and DNA hybridisation test are known to be less time consuming as the reading cytopathic effect is automatable (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003). The concentration of antiviral drugs can be determined by the three techniques mentioned which can lead to viral replication inhibition by 50% (inhibitory concentration 50%, IC50). To discriminate between the resistant strains, IC50 thresholds must be defined for every single virus and antiviral drug set. The values are determined using the mean value obtained for susceptible viruses. These thresholds are arbitrary and the detection of resistance is coming from the evolution of IC50 values of sequential isolates from a patient. There has been a development of several screening techniques using a limited number of viral dilutions and antiviral drug concentrations (Danve et al., 2002). The phenotypic methods all require isolation of viral strains on the cell cultures. This is time consuming and can delay the adaptation of antiviral treatment according to in vitro susceptibility (Danve et al., 2002). Therefore genotypic tests are being developed in order to detect the resistant virus strains at a much shorter time delay (Morfin Thouvenot, 2003). The viral genes which are used to encode thymidine kinase and DNA polymerase are amplified by PCR and the products then produced by PCR can be then sequenced. The main area of concern lies in the fact that many nucleotide substitutions can be found and they must then be identified as the mutations which are responsible for resistance. This interpretation will made easier as more results on mutations detected in the resistant isolates are then collected for future comparison and analysis. Natural products with anti-herpes simplex virus activity A phenolic compound known as Caffeic acid which is shown below, is an effective substance in Plantago major (Figure 2; Bourne et al., 1999). It has been shown to exhibit strong activity against HSV-1 but decreased activity against HSV-2 (Mundinger Efferth, 2008). Reducing the number of hydroxyl groups from the phenolic compound has also shown to reduce activity against HSV-1 (Chiang et al., 2002). Curcumin (Figure 3A) which is shown below is another phenolic compound and is mainly present in the spice turmeric and was found to inhibit genes of HSV-1 by an unknown mechanism (Mundinger Efferth, 2008). It has also been previously shown that curcumin is slightly active against HSV-2 in vitro. An in vivo assay with the use of a mouse model of intravaginal HSV-2 infections showed that curcumin can provide significant protection (Mundinger Efferth, 2008). In a further experiment cineole (Figure 3B), exhibited very similar results to curcumin, whilst eugenol (Figure 3C) provided results in the mouse model which showed the most promise (Mundinger Efferth, 2008). This study was then repeated but this time with the use of guinea pigs to represent the course of HSV-2 infection. The use of guinea pigs allowed for a more accurate representation of the infection that could occur in humans. The results showed that eugenol was again highly effective (Mundinger Efferth, 2008). The use of eugenol resulted in fewer animals developing primary infections. Benencia and Courreges have confirmed the effectiveness of eugenol at preventing virus replication (Benencia Courrà ¨ges, 2000). Therefore, it was suggested that eugenol may damage the envelope proteins of the newly-synthesised virus particles (Serkedjieva Manolova, 1992). In the animal models, it was shown that capsaicin was effective against HSV. Although, it was noxious when it was applied to the mucous membranes and also caused an unpleasant burning sensation. Consequently, civamide (Figure 4) was tested in animal models as it is less noxious. When civamide was administered prior to the virus challenge it was shown to reduce primary infections, it was also to shown to reduce the effect of the infection after the virus challenge (Mundinger Efferth, 2008). Civamide was also shown to reduce the latent infection recurrence but only when it was used as a weekly treatment for suppressive maintenance therapy (Bourne et al., 1999). Propolis has long been seen as a natural product for antiviral treatments. Nine flavonoids were identified from propolis which were tested for their level of effectiveness against HSV (Amoros et al., 1992). From the group of substances which were tested, galangin and kaempferol (Figure 5) were shown to have the highest anti-HSV in vitro activity (Lyu et al., 2005). A monoterpene which is found in several essential oils named isoborneol (Figure 5), was found to exhibit interesting anti-HSV activity which warranted further investigation. The tests showed that isoborneol was quickly able to inactivate HSV with a 30 minute period of exposure, and it was also completely able to inhibit viral replication at very low concentrations. The presence of isoborneol allowed for the glycosylation of certain viral polypeptides to be inhibited, whilst the glycosylation of cellular proteins remained unchanged. Glycosylation was normal in the presence of isoborneol when copies of the viral proteins were introduced into the cellular genome (Armaka et al., 1999). These results seemingly indicate that isoborneol may be a promising new candidate for HSV treatment. Several sulphated polysaccharides have shown to possess anti-HSV activity, and many carrageenans which are mainly found in red seaweed have been shown to be active against HSV infections. In models of intravaginal HSV-2 infection, mice were shown to exhibit significant signs of protection against HSV infections (Bourne et al., 1999; Talarico et al., 2004), and they were also protected from infection in the abdominal cavity when carrageenan was administered after infection (Pujol et al., 2006). Conclusion Infections of HSV have a high occurrence globally therefore the number of infections is not expected to decrease significantly over the next couple of years. Due to the increasing number of immunocompromised patients and prolonged period of standardised treatment this can only exacerbate the problems caused by drug resistant HSV. The increasing use of acyclovir as the immediate antiviral drug of use to treat an HSV infection has increased the fear of the increasing numbers of acyclovir resistant infections, notably in prophylaxis treatments among transplant patients. However, studies that have been conducted have shown that acyclovir resistant HSV is largely a concern for severely immunocompromised patients, such as those patients who have received a bone marrow from an allogeneic origin. When an acyclovir resistant strain of HSV arises it is best to manage the infection with other antiviral drugs which have different mechanisms of action, the most useful two to use would be foscarnet or cidofovir. There is an urgent need for new treatment options to be developed as current treatment options do remain limited. There is the main use of acyclovir and then the subsequent use of foscarnet or cidofovir which is only used if acyclovir resistance is present. This shows that there is a limited amount of effective treatments available. Therefore, new treatments must be made available in order to avoid any future HSV epidemics. The antiviral potential of the natural products indicates that there is still a wide range of compounds which could be useful in the battle against drug resistant HSV, mainly HSV which is resistant to acyclovir; as it is the main major concern moving forward. Therefore, it is highly advised that research in this area continues so that an even larger amount of compounds can be identified in order to combat drug resistant HSV.

Waste Land Essay: Impact of Images on the Structure of The Waste Land

Impact of Images on the Structure of The Waste Land      Ã‚   Many of the images that give bounds to the structure of "The Waste Land" relate to the annual cycle of life with which ancient peoples closely bound up their own lives. Eliot himself points out the importance of the ancient cycle of life by acknowledging a "general indebtedness," as the anthologists' introduction to the poem points out, to Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough and especially the volumes Adonis, Attis, Osiris. These two volumes deal with ancient beliefs about cycles in the life of vegetation and with ceremonies meant to insure fertility. (Introduction 2146)    References to the vegetation myths are sprinkled throughout the poem. For instance, Stetson's friend asks, "That corpse you planted last year in your garden,/ Has it begun to sprout?" (lines 71-72) As a footnote to the text points out, this is a distortion of the ritual death of a fertility god who was reborn later in the year, symbolizing the death of plant life in winter and its rebirth later in spring. (note 8, 2149) The details of the rituals differed from culture to culture, as did the name of the god, but all stemmed from the response of a people to the dying and rebirth of plant life through the seasonal cycle. (Introduction 2146) The poem, in fact, begins with the regeneration of plant life in April, in which lilacs begin to sprout from the "dead land" and in which "dull roots" are revived with "spring rain." (lines 1-2, 3-4) Other references to the ritual death and rebirth of a fertility god can be found, for instance, in the fourth section, "Death by Water." In this section , the death of Phlebas the Phoenician is associated with a ritual at Alexandria in which a representation of ... ...e quest restores both the fertility of the land and the potency of the king.    Works Cited and Consulted: Abrams, M.H., et al. Footnotes to "The Waste Land" in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume 2. General Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993. Abrams, M.H., et al. Introduction to "The Waste Land" in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume 2. General Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993. Eliot, Thomas Stearns. Footnotes to "The Waste Land" in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume 2. General Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993. Eliot, Thomas Stearns. "The Waste Land" in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume 2. General Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993.