Hybrid Vehicles Essay Example for Free

Hybrid Vehicles Essay The 21st century is considered as the time for more advance development and innovation of the human society. Prior to this era, mankind has already been busy with making ground-breaking design to significantly improve how people live their lives. However, due to changing times, these actions have resulted to some consequences that initiated changes for the better and for the worse. Some of the changes that have transpired in the past nine years since the commencement of the 21st century are the occurrence of global warming and the recently devastating global financial crisis. Evidently, these problems have been caused by humans but they are aware that these crises exist. Because of their realization, many learned as well as ordinary individuals have drafted solutions on how to mitigate the effects and even eradicate the problems at hand. In relation to the growing threat of climate change and fiscal recession, experts have devised a simple apparatus that would address these two problems. This wonder solution is the hybrid vehicle. Nowadays, it is common knowledge that global warming is mainly caused by the emission of harmful gases in the earth’s atmosphere. More so, the increase in oil prices has been one of the major factors for the decline of the US economy. Through the hybrid automobile, these alarming causes can be directly dealt with if this type of automobile will be utilized for public transportation. By doing this, the production of carbon emissions can be greatly reduced, fares would significantly decline and use of gas would be lessened thus helping millions of commuters to save money and at the same time the environment. A hybrid vehicle is a specific kind of automobile that has â€Å"two or more major sources of propulsion power. † This vehicle is usually made out of a â€Å"conventional gasoline and electric motor. † These two parts are the source of power for a hybrid which means that gas and electricity or any other renewable energy such as â€Å"hydrogen, propane, CNG and solar energy† are simultaneously used to run the vehicle. As a result, fuel â€Å"efficiency, increase in horse power, longer driving range and reduced greenhouse gas emissions† can all be accomplished by one single machine (What-is-what. com, 2007). In comparison with regular and other green cars available in the market, the hybrid vehicle is more beneficial to use. Hybrid vehicles can only accumulate an â€Å"average of 33 to 60 miles per gallon during city driving and 27 to 68 miles per gallon in highway driving. † According to the Environmental Protection Agency, these numbers are way better than the performance of other types of vehicles. This only shows that by using hybrid vehicles, users can definitely reduce their gas expenses. In a year, this type of vehicle can consume only $600 to $700 worth of gas which is lower to the average cost of $2000 annually using ordinary vehicles. Also, a hybrid is only low maintenance due to the fact that it utilizes less gas which results to less strain on the engine. Furthermore, the battery is another major part of the hybrid that supplies energy to the motor. This power source can be regularly drained and recharged but need not to worry about its durability because it was made to withstand various problems. Also, most manufacturers offer warranty just in case it wears out (Green Living Answers, 2009). In contrast with electric cars, a hybrid has smaller batteries which do not require constant charging. In addition, using electric cars can cause some drawbacks such as â€Å"availability of charging stations, lack of range, low top speed, and lack of acceleration† (Halt, 2009). Moreover, there are numerous initiatives pioneered by the government and business establishment in order to provided monetary incentives and perks to hybrid users. First, the â€Å"Federal Tax Credits for Advanced Vehicles† which entails â€Å"new tax credits for advanced vehicle technologies ranging from $250 to $3,400 depending on the vehicles level of fuel economy improvement. † Second incentive is giving out discounts for auto insurances on hybrid vehicles. Third, hotel discounts are given to users of hybrid vehicles (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2007). Given all these facts, it is apparent that hybrid vehicles can bring positive changes to the current global situation. By employing this innovation on a large scale, revolutionary transformation can immediately be seen and felt by the public. In this case, the looming threat of climate change and oil price hike can be alleviated by using Hybrid vehicles for mass transportation. References Green Living Answers. (2009). Hybrid Cars vs Regular Cars. Retrieved May 4, 2009, from http://www. greenlivinganswers. com/hybrid-vehicles/hybrid-cars-vs-regular-cars Halt, G. (2009, March 19). Electric Cars Vs Hybrids. Retrieved May 4, 2009, from http://ezinearticles. com/? Electric-Cars-Vs-Hybridsid=2120736 What-is-what. com. (2007, November 2). What is a Hybrid Vehicle? Retrieved May 4, 2009, from http://what-is-what. com/what_is/hybrid_vehicle. html Union of Concerned Scientists. (2007). State and Federal Hybrid Incentives. Retrieved May 4, 2009, from http://go. ucsusa. org/hybridcenter/incentives. cfm

Criminology Essays Fingerprints Science Crime

Criminology Essays Fingerprints Science Crime Fingerprints Science Crime â€Å"Discuss the importance of fingerprints within forensic science citing appropriate examples† Fingerprints have always been a form of identification. This is probably the reason why fingerprints have supplanted most methods of identifying criminals that deny ever being arrested or even committing the crime. Identifying fingerprints has become a science and it also stands out to many other forensic sciences ( www.onin.com). The science of fingerprints, has helped many goverments around the world, presenting them with correct discovery of criminals (www.onin.com). There are millions of people on this planet and never have 2 fingerprints been found that are alike within humans and automated computer comparisons (www.onin.com). No 2 humans have the same finger, palm or footprint. These parts of the human body have ridges that are constantly broken up by endings or forks, these are called characteristics (www.south-wales.police.uk). Every person has unique distributions of the characteristics that build up in womb and through out life in general, these characteristics stay the same for a time after death too so it makes identifying a body possible (www.south-wales.police.uk). People have often tried to alter their fingerprints with different methods like cutting their fingerprints, burning the skin with acid but that doesn’t work because, superficial skin damage is repaired by the body so the same ridges come back with the new skin that forms (www.south-wales.police.uk). Fingerprints are formed by our skin and our skin is made out of two layers, dermis and epidermis (www.south-wales.police.uk). The epidermis is a thin layer and it is a protective cover of the dermis which is the thicker layer of skin that contains sweat and sebaceous glands (www.south-wales.police.uk). Now a sweat gland, consists of salt, water and urea and the sebaceous gland releases oils on the skin surface (www.south-wales.police.uk). When we come in contact with something, we leave a mark because of the products that are produced by the glands, resulting in a fingerprint mark (www.south-wales.police.uk). When our fingers are dirty or even oily, then our fingerprints can be visible (www.south-wales.police.uk). When going to a crime scene, you often stumble upon fingerprints. Fingerprints, are very valuable evidence when identifying a suspect. If the prints are in sequence, you can very easily identify the hand or finger of origin. Unfortunately, fingerprints collected at a crime scene are rarely in sequence and customarily incomplete as a consequence, it is very difficult to define which hand left the print. So these types of fingerprints are called latent fingerprints (www.south-wales.police.uk). Now latent fingerprints can be left on all surfaces including skin and there are different ways to detect and make them visible like different powders, alternate lights and lasers (www.south-wales.police.uk). There are more types of prints like visible prints, that are also referred to as patent prints and these prints are apparent to the naked eye because they are normally found in blood or something that would make a mold of the print (www.virtualsciencefair.org). When a finger comes in contact with dirt, ink or grease and then the finger touches a smooth surface then there is a visible impression of the ridge (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Another type of prints are called impressed prints or plastic prints, these prints are basically an indentation that is left in a soft surface like wax, paint or clay, they are visible prints that you can look at and photograph (www.virtualsciencefair.org). There are different patterned fingerprints, one of these is called Arches (www.virtualsciencefair.org). 5 % of fingerprint patterns are arches, the ridges of the skin go from side to side without making a backward turn (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Normally, there is no delta in an arch outline but where there a delta, no re-curving ridge must interfere among the core and delta points (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Even with in patterns, there are pattern, there are four kinds of arch patterns: plain arches, radial arches, ulnar arches and tented arches (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Plain arches have an smooth run of ridges from one area to the other of the outline, no â€Å"major up thrusts† and the ridges go into on one part of the impression, and run out the other with a increase or wave in the middle (www.virtualsciencefair.org). The ridges of radial arches incline towards the thumb; they have one delta and no re-curving ridges (www.virtualsciencefair.org). On ulnar arches, the ridges incline towards the small finger, they also have one delta and no re-curving ridges (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Tented arches have an angle, an up thrust, or two of the three basic characteristics of the loop. They don’t flow the same way that plain arches do and above all have â€Å"significant up thrusts† in the ridges near the middle that position themselves on both sides of a spine towards which the bordering ridges meet and come out to form tents (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Another fingerprint pattern are the Loops, they occur in about 60-70 % of the fingerprint patterns encountered (www.virtualsciencefair.org). The ridge enters on either side of the impression, re-curve, and touches or crosses the line that forms from the delta to the core and finishes on or in the course of the side where the ridge or ridges entered (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Each loop outline has one delta and one core and has a ridge count (www.virtualsciencefair.org). â€Å" Radial loops are named after the radius, a bone in the forearm that joins the hand on the same side as the thumb† (www.virtualsciencefair.org). The run of the pattern in radial loops runs in the route of the radius (toward the thumb) (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Radial loops are not very frequent and on most occasions radial loops will be found on the index fingers (www.virtualsciencefair.org). â€Å"Ulnar loops are named after the ulna, a bone in the forearm† (www.virtualsciencefair.org). â€Å"The ulna is on the same side as the little finger and the flow of the pattern in a ulnar loop runs in the direction of the ulna (toward the little finger)† (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Whorls are found in about 25-35 % of fingerprint patterns dealt with (www.virtualsciencefair.org). â€Å"In a whorl, some of the ridges make a turn through at least one circuit† (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Any fingerprint outline that has 2 or more deltas is considered a whorl pattern (www.virtualsciencefair.org). There are four types of whorl patterns, Plain whorls that have of one or more ridges which make a complete circuit with two deltas, and causes an imaginary line drawn and at least one re-curving ridge within the inner outline area is cut or touched (www.virtualsciencefair.org).† â€Å"Central pocket loop whorls have at least one re-curving ridge or an obstruction at right angles to the line of flow, with two deltas, between which when an imaginary line is drawn, no re-curving ridge within the pattern area is cut or touched† (www.virtualsciencefair.org). â€Å"Central pocket loop whorl ridges make one complete circuit which may be spiral, oval, circular or any variant of a circle† (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Double loop whorls are made of two separate and individual loop formations with two different and distinct shoulders for each core, two deltas and one or more ridges which make, a complete circuit (www.virtualsciencefair.org). â€Å"Among the two at least one re-curving ridge within the inner pattern area is cut when an imaginary line is drawn† (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Accidental whorls are made of two dissimilar types of patterns with the exclusion of the plain arch, they have two or more deltas or a pattern which have some of the requirements for two or more different types (www.virtualsciencefair.org). Crime scene fingerprints need to be matched with fingerprints already in a file, if the suspect has never been convicted, then his fingerprints will not have been recorded so they cant compare them (www.south-wales.police.uk). For this reason, when a suspect is charged, they get fingerprinted and if there are 16 points of similarity with the prints at the crime scene it can be presented in court as evidence (www.south-wales.police.uk). Serious issues of fingerprint fraud have started to come to light; many people have been facing jail time because they have told them that their fingerprints have been found at a crime scene. In 2004 Brandon Mayfield was wrongly accused for the terrorist act in Madrid. They told him that his fingerprints were found on a explosives bag that was used to bomb a train in Madrid which resulted in the loss of 191 lives (www.news.bbc.co.uk). This news was shocking since the prime suspect hadn’t left the country in 10 years and that he had never visited Spain (www.news.bbc.co.uk). The suspect was at the time 38 years old and served 8 years in the military army (www.news.bbc.co.uk). He lived in Portland Oregon U.S.A (www.news.bbc.co.uk). He had never been arrested until the day the F.B.I showed up at his house and took him away (www.news.bbc.co.uk). At the end of this, it was proven that the fingerprint did not belong to Mayfield but to an Algerian man said to have been linked to al-Qaeda (www.news.bbc.co.uk). Fingerprints within forensic science is very important even thought there is a very big debate on whether or not it is the right way to go about crime scenes. We have seen the different types of fingerprints, what they are made from, we have gone through a case where fingerprints where not substantial evidence and put an innocent man in prison for a while. So with this I conclude that fingerprints are important the art of fingerprints just needs to be perfect so that the real criminals get what they deserve. References Hodierne, R. (2004) Military lawyers defend civil liberties [on line]. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4066775.stm [Accessed on 15 November 2007] Available from: http://www.south-wales.police.uk/fe/master.asp?n1=8n2=253n3=1028 [Accessed on 13 November 2007] Moore, G. History of fingerprints [on line]. Available from: http://www.onin.com/fp/fphistory.html [Accessed 15 November 2007] Available from: http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/2004/fren4j0/public_html/types_prints.htm [Accessed 12 November 2007] Inderjit Singh, P.K. Chattopadhyay and R.K. Garg.(1995). Forensic Science International Volume 152, Issues 2-3, 10 September 2005, Pages 205-208

Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Drugs

Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Drugs Characteristics and risk factors of Cardiovascular Drugs induced Adverse Drug Reactions: Hospital based Active Surveillance Study. Abstract: Background: Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) is one of the major drug-related problems in hospitalized patients. Several studies report the incidence various from 10 50% of all hospital admissions due to ADRs and no recent data available on the safety of cardiovascular drug from India. Aim: This study aims 1). To estimate incidence and characteristics of ADRs due to cardiovascular drugs in patients admitted in cardiology unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital. 2) To identify the risk factors for ADRs in hospitalized patients treated with cardiovascular drugs. Methods: A prospective active surveillance study was carried out in the cardiology department of a south Indian tertiary care teaching hospital for eight months. Population averaged Poisson regression [Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE)] models was used to estimate the adjusted relative risk associated with ADR. Results: The overall incidence of cardiovascular drug induced ADRs was 31.8%. A total of 757 patients treated cardiovascular medications. Of which 241 patients (31.8%) including 122 (16.1%) females and 119 (15.7%) males reported at least one ADR. Aspirin produced the highest number of ADRs (150; 38.7%) followed by Heparin (45; 11.6%), Atorvastatin (24; 6.2%) and Ramipril (24; 6.2%). The causality assessment reveals that 85.3% of ADRs were probable in nature. GEE was used to estimate the adjusted relative risk of each covariate associated with ADRs. The predictors of ADRs identified were: female gender, age > 60 years, multiple drug therapy (p= 0.0231) and concurrent diseases like diabetes, drugs like Heparin (RR-2.90, 95% CI 2.22-3.8) and Enalapril (RR-1.95, 95% CI 1.34-2.83). Conclusion: The incidence of cardiovascular ADRs was 31.8%. The most common drugs causing ADRs were the anti- platelet and anticoagulant class of drugs. Female gender, age > 60 years, multiple drug therapy, concurrent illness and certain drugs like heparin were identified as potential predictors for adverse reactions. Keywords: adverse drug reactions, hospitalized patients, cardiovascular drugs, pharmacovigilance, Risk factors Key Messages: This study reports the risk factors for adverse reactions to cardiovascular drugs from an Indian clinical setting. The incidence of cardiovascular drugs induced ADRs was 31.8%, which is higher than many reported studies. Anti-platelet and anticoagulant drugs were commonly associated with ADRs in the study population. Introduction: Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) is one of the major drug-related problems in hospitalized patients. ADRs are one of the major drug-related problems, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality and healthcare costs.[1-3]The WHO defines an ADR as a response to a drug that is noxious and unintended and occurs at doses normally used in man for the prophylaxis, diagnosis or therapy of disease, or for modification of physiological function.[4] The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) has increased in recent years and it has been estimated that CVDs are the most common cause of death.[5] Reports on drug related problems including adverse drug reactions associated with cardiovascular pharmacotherapy are available.[6-10]Studies report that cardiovascular drugs may account for 10 to 50% of all hospital admissions due to ADRs.[11-13] There are reports of serious adverse drug events with cardiovascular drugs.[14]Continuous monitoring of ADRs are important in patients treated with cardiovascular drugs since, these patients who need multiple drug therapies to treat their comorbid conditions and other related risks[15] Various methods are used to detect ADRs in hospitalized patients.[16] Analyzing the adverse reaction data in relation to the presence of risk factors provide the link between the ADRs and the associated factors. Such analysis might help to identify patients who are at increased risk for the adverse reaction and therefore employing suitable monitoring and the preventive procedure is possible.[17] Reports are available on the risk factors for adverse reactions.[18-20] Studies have shown that the cardiovascular drugs are most common cause of ADRs.[6,21]A university hospital-based studies report 49 % ADRs are due to commonly used cardiovascular drugs (nitrates, digoxin, propranolol, heparin, warfarin, anti-hypertensive and anti-arrhythmic drugs)[22] A number of studies are available on the adverse effects of cardiovascular drugs. In the Indian context data on adverse effects of the cardiovascular drugs is not available. Therefore, the current study was planned to evaluate ADRs due to cardiovascular drugs in hospitalized patients. This study aims 1). To estimate incidence and characteristics of ADRs due to cardiovascular drugs in patients admitted in cardiology unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital. 2) To identify the risk factors for ADRs in hospitalized patients treated with cardiovascular drugs. Subjects and Methods: A prospective active surveillance study was carried out in the department of cardiology of a tertiary care teaching hospital for eight months (Feb to Sep 2009). The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the institutional ethical committee. All patients admitted to the cardiovascular units were monitored and evaluated for cardiovascular drugs induced adverse reactions. Patients who were previously treated or newly prescribed with cardiovascular drugs were monitored and followed for detecting and recording of ADRs. Adverse drug reactions were identified by conducting a daily patient charts review, patient interview, and consultations with treating physicians. In the suspected cases, past medical/medication history of patients were collected. In addition to patients medication history, information on co-morbidities was also collected. We used the WHO criteria for defining ADRs.[4] For every identified patient with ADR, two patients without ADRs were enrolled as matched controls. The information pertaining to the suspected ADRs was collected and documented in a specially designed ADR computerized documentation database for further assessment.[23] An ADR alert card was distributed to those patients who experienced severe adverse reactions to prevent further re-exposure of the suspected drug. All ADRs were reviewed and assessed by the research team. The documented ADRs were evaluated and characterized respect to patient demographics, nature of the reactions, drugs and organ system involved and outcome of the reactions. Using standard approach, the Causality, severity, preventability and the presences of predisposing factors of the reactions were assessed and reported. Patients age and sex were considered for the analysis. ADRs were classified as either Type A or Type B according to the system introduced by Rawlins and Thompson.[24] The suspected drugs were classified according to Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification based on WHO-ATC Index 2009.[25]Using WHO Adverse Reaction Terminology documented ADRs were further classified into various organ system classes.[26] Management strategies employed for the ADRs were categorized as drug withdrawal, dose reduction, additional treatment for ADR and no change in a regimen without any additional treatment. Patient outcomes were reported as fatal, fully recovered, recovering and unknown. The causality of suspected ADRs was assessed using Naranjos ADR probability scale and classified into certain, probable, possible and unlikely to be drug induced depending upon the level of association.[27] The preventability of ADRs was analyzed and categorized into definitely preventable, probably preventable and not preventable using the modified criteria of Schumock and Thornton by Lau et al.[28]Using the criterion developed by Hartwig et al., for severity assessment, we assessed the suspected ADRs and classified into mild, moderate and severe reactions.[29] The onset of ADRs was assessed and classified into sub-acute, latent and acute groups.[4] Predisposing/risk factors Many patient-related factors predispose the occurrence of ADRs. The patient related factors like age, gender, multiple and inter-current disease states, and polypharmacy are considered as significant risk factor for developing ADR.[30] Patients age was categorized into 6 groups (less than 20 years, 21-30 years, 31-40 years, 41-50 years, 51-60 years, more than 60 years). Polypharmacy was categorized as minor (2-3 drugs), moderate (4-5 drugs) or major (5 drugs) based on the classification by Veehof et al.[31] Gender of the patient was also considered as a one of the predispose factor for the development of ADRs. Multiple disease state ( > 2 coded diseases) of the patient at the time of reaction also include in the analysis. The overall incidence of ADRs was calculated using the total number of in-patient episodes which resulted in ADRs in relation to the total number of in-patients followed during the study period. The length of hospital stay for each patient was collected from Hospital Patient Administrative System (HPAS) and used to compare the Length of Stay (LOS) between patients with and without ADRs. Additional hospital stay due to ADRs was assessed using the nature and clinical features of ADRs, discussion with treating medical staffs and assessment of patients medical records. Statistical analysis Descriptive statistics was used summarize the patient demographic and clinical characteristics like gender, diagnosis, a number of drug dispensed, the frequency of ADR, drugs involved, organ system involved and severity of ADRs. Mean with 95% confidence interval was used to summarize age and LOS. Chi-square test was used to find the association between age group, gender, the LOS with and without ADRs. Relative risk was used to measure the strength of association. The data were hierarchically arranged, to count the multiple ADR episodes which can occur with multiple admissions. Population averaged Poisson regression (GEE) was used to estimate the adjusted relative risk of each covariate associated with ADR.[32,33] Further compound symmetry was used to account for the within-subject correlation. All analysis was performed using SPSS for window 15 (SPSS Inc., South Asia, Bangalore). The significance level was set at P Results: A total of 757 patients (431 men and 326 women) using cardiovascular medications were intensively monitored. The mean age of the study population was 57.21  ± 14.22 years (18 -92 years). The average length of hospital stay was 10.6  ± 5.8 days. Overall, the incidence of ADRs was 31.84%. Two hundred and fourteen patients including 122 females and 119 males reported at least one ADR. Maximum of six ADRs were reported from one patient. Compared to males, females developed more of ADRs was observed more in females when (p 0.0001). The length of stay was increased due to ADR for a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 28 days. The frequency of different age groups in patients with and without ADRs is presented in table-1. The main diagnosis of the study population is listed in table-1. Age group of less than 20 years is excluded because of lower sample size. Age group of more than 60 years had more ADRs compared to other age groups. Cardiovascular risk factors of a patient with and without ADR are shown in table-2. The most frequent system-organ class affected by ADRs was Platelet, bleeding clotting disorders (188, 48.89%), followed by metabolic and nutritional disorders (53, 13.66%) and gastrointestinal system disorders (50, 12.89%) (Table-3). The most common strategy for management of ADRs was drug withdrawal (94.3%) and dose alteration (5.4%) (Table-4). The mean length of hospital stay was 13.3 and 6.5 days for patients with and without ADR respectively. The length of stay was found to be longer in patients with ADR. Aspirin produced the highest number of reactions (150; 38.7%) followed by heparin (45; 11.6%), Atorvastatin (24; 6.2%) and Ramipril (24; 6.2%) (Table -3) with Platelet, bleeding clotting disorders (188, 48.89%). The most frequently reported reaction was bleeding (186; 47.9%) followed by gastric ulcer (52, 13.4%) (Table-3). The causality assessment of ADRs revealed that 85.31% of ADRs were classified as probable, followed by 7.99% as definite and 6.7% as possible. 64.4 % patients recovered from the ADRs and 35.6 % were recovering at the time of discharge (Table-4). The GEE analysis shows that the female, alcoholics, smokers and patients those taking more than 7 drugs had a higher risk for developing an ADR. (Table-2). Statistical analyses also revealed that patient taking Heparin (RR 2.90, 95% CI 2.22-3.80, Enalapril (RR 1.95, 95% CI 1.34-2.83), warfarin (RR 1.69, 95% CI 1.33-2.54) had a significantly increased probability of developing of ADRs (Table-5). Discussion: ADRs can significantly increase patients mortality or morbidity and consequently higher healthcare expenditure.[34] The study findings reveal that developing an ADRs in hospitalized patients substantially contribute to patients morbidity, further increasing the disease burden and cost of managing ADRs. The incidence of ADRs (31.8%) found in this study was twice higher than a previously reported systematic review of international studies (15.1%).[2] The present study showed that females experienced a higher incidence of ADRs (9.87%) when compared to males (7.23%) which are similar to the findings of previously published studies.[1,35-37]Several reasons have been put forth for this observed difference. Men and women have a different pharmacodynamic response to various drugs; which may consider as one of the factors for women to develop more number of ADRs. But in a study reported by Jose., on comparable Indian population male patients were found to have more ADRs than female population .[38] The incidence of ADRs was higher in the elderly patients (31.19%; age > 60 Years) compare to other age groups. (à Ã¢â‚¬ ¡2= 23.03, df-5, p 0.0001); this finding is similar to the results of Mohebbi et al.[19] Studies have shown that the incidence of ADRs may increase with increasing age. Again, due to multiple comorbid conditions and receive multiple drug therapy the elderly patients tend to have a higher risk for developing an ADR. In addition, older individuals undergo changes in drug responsiveness and disposition.[39] It appears that elderly patients need more attention to prevent the occurrence of ADRs. In this study, the incidence of Aspirin-induced ADRs was 38.7% (n=150); which was the highest rate compared to other cardiovascular drugs in this study. However, High rates of ADRs with streptokinase have been reported previously.[40]Studies reported a rate of amiodarone-induced ADRs as 16%, whereas in the current study it was too low at 0.5%.[41] This might be due to the lower use of amiodarone in the current study subjects. In a study conducted by Wiffen et al., investigating ADRs induced by all groups of drugs, warfarin was among the top three drugs causing ADRs.[42] In our study, the rate of ADRs attributed to warfarin was just 3.6%, whereas heparin-induced bleeding was the second highest ADR in this study population (45, 11.6%). In this study, we found central nervous and gastrointestinal systems are the most frequently affected organ system classes by ADRs. These findings were similar to the findings of a study conducted in Iran.[13]The incidence of preventable ADRs in this study (6.9%) is comparably lower than those detected in other studies.[34]This might be probably due to intensive monitoring of CCU patients in our study. The rate of serious ADRs (22.2%) detected in this study tend to be higher than other studies.[14] Population averaged Poisson regression (GEE) model showed that factors like gender and age of more than 60 years, multiple drug therapy and the presence of co-morbidity were risk factors for experiencing ADRs. The average duration of drug usage was found to be longer in patients without ADR. It appears that most of the ADRs have been noted shortly after initiating cardiovascular drugs and the incidence of ADRs in this study population was not related to the duration of usage. Similar to findings of many other studies, increasing the number of drugs led to increased frequency of ADRs. Conclusion The finding of this study indicates that cardiovascular drugs cause serious and frequent adverse reactions. The incidence of cardiovascular ADRs was 31.84%. The most common drugs causing ADRs were the anti-platelet and anticoagulant class of drugs. Female gender, age more than 60 years and use of more than 7 drugs was found to be the risk factors for developing ADRs. The identified incidence was higher than many reported studies. The current study identified the common ADRs and their predictors. Patients with identified predictors for adverse drug reactions can be intensively monitored and necessary preventive measures can be initiated if signs of reactions are observed.

Wind - A Renewable Energy Source Essay example -- Alternative Energy R

Wind - A Renewable Energy Source Wind is called a renewable energy source because wind will continually be produced as long as the sun shines on the earth. The sun’s contribution to wind energy deals with converting air into heat or cool wind. Wind is produced by the irregular heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. On land, the warm air spreads and goes up in the sky, in the water, heavier and cooler air moves in to take the warm air’s place, thus providing local winds. This power source should be used more often in the United States for its safer standards regarding the environment and finance. To capture this wind, turbines are used to convert the renewable resource into electricity. The energy in motion or kinetic energy is then mechanically processed. Windmills are used in the United States amongst other countries in the world. They are used to heat water, refrigerate produce, dry crops, irrigate crops, heat buildings, and charge batteries for tractors on farms, etc. Most of today's windmills extract about 30 % of the wind's energy (www.earthsci.org). Windmills are just as efficient as coal; the difference between them is that air is less polluting than coal. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a 100 percent efficient power source. â€Å"For a completely efficient source of energy, the power plants have to run all day and all year without interruption† (www.eia.doe.gov). To do the fact that in order to convert electricity, windmills depend ...

The Scottsboro Trials Essay -- Racial Relations, Segregation

March 25, 1931, nine men hopped on to a freight train of no return (Uschan 10). Unjust, prejudice, and racist the Scottsboro Trials, were definitely not just another ordinary case. The Scottsboro Trials changed how America viewed segregation. The nine young men, who hopped onto that train that day, were innocent and harmless. The Scottsboro Trials revealed the unjust treatment that African Americans faced outside of the Harlem Renaissance and changed views on segregation. Boarding the train from Chattanooga to Memphis seems like an innocent thing to do (â€Å"UMKC† par. 2). For the Scottsboro boys, boarding that train was one of the worst things they could have done. Two dozen whites and black road the train that day, and within the first 2 hours a fist fight broke out between the two races. The blacks won the fight, and the white men were thrown off the train and ran to the station master and reported that they had been assaulted by a gang of blacks on the train. Alabama stopped the train and dozens of men showed up and surrounded the train with guns in their hands. They took the nine African Americans aboard the train and put them into the Scottsboro jail (UMKC par. 2-5). Two other people were on the train at that time too. Victoria Price and Ruby Bates were found on the train unexpectedly while the search men were looking for any more black citizens. The women identified themselves and then Ruby Bates told the search men â€Å"We’ve been raped. All those colored boys raped us.†(Uschan 14).This caused an uproar throughout America not because rape was a horrible crime, but because back then a white woman having sexual relations with a black man was considered one of the worst things a person could do. The act was considered so terr... ... thing of the past. Racism is a very harsh and dangerous thing to participate in. Being racist can cause a person’s life to be in danger and it can ruin their life too. Helping African Americans understand that these racist people are sick and will be punished is just one way we can help the fight against racism. And so, the Scottsboro Trials ended up being victorious. It changed how America felt about discrimination and segregation and opened up many opportunities for blacks. America has changed as a whole because of the Scottsboro Trials and racism is slowly fading away. Segregation has caused many hardships throughout history and finally, it ended partially because of the Scottsboro Trials. Soon, America will be a place where it is as if seclusion against African Americans never existed. African Americans are one of us and together we are America.

Lipids: Fatty Acid and Amp

The measurement of parameters such as oil and fat content help define product quality for many agricultural and food products. These values are widely used to determine energy content and to calculate the proportions of other food components. In addition oil and fat content significantly affect the texture, perceived quality and the flavour of products. (Whitney, Rolfes, Crowe, Cameron- Smith, & Walsh, 2011).An accurate and precise quantitative and qualitative analysis of lipids in food is important for accurate nutritional labelling, determination of wether food meets standard identity, and to ensure that the product meets manufacturing specifications (Nielsen, 2010). AOAC International (2007) state â€Å"the sample preparation for the lipid analysis depends on the type of food and the nature of the lipids in the food. â€Å" Several preparatory steps are common in lipid analysis. They act to aid extraction by removal of water, reduction of particle size, or separation of the lipi d from bound proteins or carbohydrates (Min &Ellefson, 2010).To analyse lipids it is necessary to first isolate them quantitatively from nonlipid components. Extraction of lipids from source materials, such as food, animal and plant tissues or microorganisms essay writer uk, should be carried out in a manner that avoids changes in the lipids or leads to formations of artefacts (Christie, 1993). It might be necessary to deactivate enzymes that might hydrolyse lipids via heat treatment. (Vain, & Nairn, & Reid, 1991). Precaution must be taken to minimise oxidation of lipids, especially those with polyunsaturated fatty acids.Use of antioxidants might prove beneficial when dealing with extractions of lipids with highly unsaturated fatty acids (Carapace &Garcia, 2000). Carapace et al, (2000) state the accuracy of direct solvent extraction methods greatly depends on the solubility of the lipids in the solvent used and the ability to separate the lipids from complexes with other macromolecu les. The lipid content in food determined by extraction with one solvent may be quite different from the content determined with another solvent of different polarity.Fisheries and Aquaculture department (1986) concluded that solvent extraction techniques are commonly used for the determination of fat content. However they tend to be slow, cumbersome, and require highly skilled personnel. In addition, many of the often-hazardous chemicals used are becoming increasingly unacceptable according to international environmental standards. Despite these issues, solvent extraction continues to be used as a reference measurement for quality control. Nielsen (1994) acknowledged the validity of the fat analysis of a food depends on sampling and the preservation of the sample before analysis.An ideal sample should be as close as possible to its intrinsic properties to the material from which it was taken. Pomeranz and Meloan (1994) states â€Å" a sample is considered satisfactory if the prope rties under investigation correspond to those of the bulk material within the limits of the test. â€Å" Min and Ellefson (2010) note organic solvent methods, which include Goldfish a continuous method, Soxhlet as a semicontinuous method and Folch as a discontinuous method are commonly used to determine the total lipid content of food.They also note the major uses of these methods include extracting the fat prior to GC analysis, quality control of formulated products, determination of fat content in product development, verifying when fat content is

Filipino Women Writers and Jose Garcia Villa Essay

Estrella D. Alfon (July 18, 1917 – December 28, 1983) was a well-known prolific Filipina author who wrote in English. Because of continued poor health, she could manage only an A. A. degree from the University of the Philippines. She then became a member of the U. P. writers club and earned and was given the privileged post of National Fellowship in Fiction post at the U. P. Creative Writing Center. She died in the year 1983 at the age of 66. Estrella Alfon was born in Cebu City in 1917. Unlike other writers of her time, she did not come from the intelligentsia. Her parents were shopkeepers in Cebu. [1] She attended college, and studied medicine. When she was mistakenly diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to a sanitarium, she resigned from her pre-medical education, and left with an Associate of Arts degree. Alfon has several children: Alan Rivera, Esmeralda â€Å"Mimi† Rivera, Brian Alfon, Estrella â€Å"Twinkie† Alfon, and Rita â€Å"Daday† Alfon (deceased). She has 10 grandchildren. Her youngest daughter, was a stewardess for Saudi Arabian Airlines, and was part of the Flight 163 crew on August 19, 1980, when an in-flight fire forced the aircraft to land in Riyadh. A delayed evacuation resulted in the death of everyone aboard the flight. Alfon died on December 28, 1983, following a heart attack suffered on-stage during Awards night of the Manila Film Festival. Professional She was a student in Cebu when she first published her short stories, in periodicals such as Graphic Weekly Magazine, Philippine Magazine, and the Sunday Tribune. She was a storywriter, playwright, and journalist. In spite of being a proud Cebuana, she wrote almost exclusively in English. She published her first story, â€Å"Grey Confetti†, in the Graphic in 1935. She was the only female member of the Veronicans, an avant garde group of writers in the 1930s led by Francisco Arcellana and H. R. Ocampo, she was also regarded as their muse. The Veronicans are recognized as the first group of Filipino writers to write almost exclusively in English and were formed prior to the World War II. She is also reportedly the most prolific Filipina writer prior to World War II. She was a regular contributor to Manila-based national magazines, she had several stories cited in Jose Garcia Villa’s annual honor rolls. Alfon was one writer who unashamedly drew from her own real-life experiences. In some stories, the first-person narrator is â€Å"Estrella† or â€Å"Esther. † She is not just a writer, but one who consciously refers to her act of writing the stories. In other stories, Alfon is still easily identifiable in her first-person reminiscences of the past: evacuation during the Japanese occupation; estrangement from a husband; life after the war. In the Espeleta stories, Alfon uses the editorial â€Å"we† to indicate that as a member of that community, she shares their feelings and responses towards the incidents in the story. But she sometimes slips back to being a first-person narrator. The impression is that although she shares the sentiments of her neighbors, she is still a distinct personality who detaches herself from the scene in order to understand it better. This device of separating herself as narrator from the other characters is contained within the larger strategy of ? distantiation? that of the writer from her strongly autobiographical material. – Thelma E. Arambulo| †| In the 1950s, her short story, â€Å"Fairy Tale for the City†, was condemned by the Catholic League of the Philippines as being â€Å"obscene†. [3] She was even brought to court on these charges. While many of her fellow writers did stand by her, many did not. These events hurt her deeply. [1] In spite of having only an A. A. degree, she was eventually appointed as a professor of Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines, Manila. She was a member of the U. P. Writers Club, she held the National Fellowship in Fiction post at the U. P. Creative Writing Center in 1979. [5] She would also serve on the Philippine Board of Tourism in the 1970s. Stories * Magnificence and Other Stories (1960) * Stories of Estrella Alfon (1994) (published posthumously) * Servant Girl (short story) * English Jose Garcia Villa Jose Garcia Villa (August 5, 1908 – February 7, 1997) was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story writer, and painter. He was awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for literature in 1973 as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad Aiken. He is known to have introduced the â€Å"reversed consonance rime scheme† in writing poetry, as well as the extensive use of punctuation marks—especiallycommas, which made him known as the Comma Poet. He used the penname Doveglion (derived from â€Å"Dove, Eagle, Lion†), based on the characters he derived from himself. These animals were also explored by another poet e. e. cummings in Doveglion, Adventures in Value, a poem dedicated to Villa. Villa was born on August 5, 1908, in Manila’s Singalong district. His parents were Simeon Villa (a personal physician of Emilio Aguinaldo, the founding President of the First Philippine Republic) and Guia Garcia (a wealthy landowner). He graduated from the University of the Philippines Integrated School and the University of the Philippines High School in 1925. Villa enrolled on a Pre-Medical course in the University of the Philippines, but then switched to Pre-Law course. However, he realized that his true passion was in the arts. Villa first tried painting, but then turned into creative writing after reading Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. Writing career Villa’s tart poetic style was considered too aggressive at that time. In 1929 he published Man Songs, a series of erotic poems, which the administrators in UP found too bold and was even fined Philippine peso for obscenity by the Manila Court of First Instance. In that same year, Villa won Best Story of the Year from Philippine Free Press magazine for Mir-I-Nisa. He also received P1,000 prize money, which he used to migrate to the United States. He enrolled at the University of New Mexico, wherein he was one of the founders of Clay, a mimeograph literary magazine. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and pursued post-graduate work at Columbia University. Villa had gradually caught the attention of the country’s literary circles, one of the few Asians to do so at that time. After the publication of Footnote to Youth in 1933, Villa switched from writing prose to poetry, and published only a handful of works until 1942. During the release of Have Come, Am Here in 1942, he introduced a new rhyming scheme called â€Å"reversed consonance† wherein, according to Villa: â€Å"The last sounded consonants of the last syllable, or the last principal consonant of a word, are reversed for the corresponding rhyme. Thus, a rhyme for near would be run; or rain, green, reign. † In 1949, Villa presented a poetic style he called â€Å"comma poems†, wherein commas are placed after every word. In the preface of Volume Two, he wrote: â€Å"The commas are an integral and essential part of the medium: regulating the poem’s verbal density and time movement: enabling each word to attain a fuller tonal value, and the line movement to become more measures. Villa worked as an associate editor for New Directions Publishing in New York City between 1949 to 1951, and then became director of poetry workshop at City College of New York from 1952 to 1960. He then left the literary scene and concentrated on teaching, first lecturing in The New School. The New School for Social Research from 1964 to 1973, as well as conducting poetry workshops in his apartment. Villa was also a cultural attache to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations from 1952 to 1963, and an adviser on cultural affairs to the President of the Philippines beginning 1968. Death On February 5, 1997, at the age of 88, Jose was found in a coma in his New York apartment and was rushed to St. Vincent Hospital in the Greenwich area. His death two days later was attributed to â€Å"cerebral stroke and multilobar pneumonia†. He was buried on February 10 in St. John’s Cemetery in New York, wearing a Barong Tagalog. Personal In 1946 Villa married Rosemarie Lamb, with whom he has two sons, Randy and Lance. They annulled ten years later. He also has three grandchildren. Works As an editor, Villa first published Philippine Short Stories: Best 25 Short Stories of 1928 in 1929, an anthology of Filipino short stories written in English literature English that were mostly published in the literary magazine Philippine Free Press for that year. It is the second anthology to have been published in the Philippines, after Philippine Love Stories by editor Paz Marquez-Benitez in 1927. His first collection of short stories that he has written were published under the title Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and Others in 1933; while in 1939, Villa publishedMany Voices, his first collection poems, followed by Poems by Doveglion in 1941. Other collections of poems include Have Come, Am Here (1942), Volume Two (194 in that year when he edited. The Doveglion Book of Philippine Poetry in English from 1910. Three years later, he released a follow-up for The Portable Villa entitled The Essential Villa. Villa, however, went under â€Å"self-exile† after the 1960s, even though he was nominated for several major literary awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. This was perhaps because of oppositions between his formalism (literature)formalist style and the advocates of proletarian literature who misjudged him as a petty bourgeois. Villa only â€Å"resurfaced† in 1993 with an anthology entitled Charlie Chan Is Dead, which was edited by Jessica Hagedorn Several reprints of Villa’s past works were done, including Appasionata: Poems in Praise of Love in 1979, A Parliament of Giraffes (a collection of Villa’s poems for young readers, with Tagalog language Tagalog translation provided by Larry Francia), and The Anchored Angel: Selected Writings by Villa that was edited by Eileen Tabios with a foreword provided by Hagedorn (both in 1999). Among his popular poems include When I Was No Bigger Than A Huge, an example of his â€Å"comma poems†, and The Emperor’s New Sonnet (a part of Have Come, Am Here) which is basically a blank sheet of paper. Paz Marquez Benitez She was Born in 1894 in Lucena City, Quezon. Marquez – Benitez authored the first Filipino modern English language short story, Dead Stars, published in the Philippine Herald in 1925. Born into the prominent Marquez family of Quezon province, she was among the first generation of Filipino people trained in the American education system which used English as the medium of instruction. She graduated high school in Tayabas High School now, Quezon National High School and college from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. â€Å"Marquez†Benitez. She was a member of the first freshman class of the University of the Philippines, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. Two years after graduation, she married UP College of Education Dean Francisco Benitez with whom she had four children. Marquez-Benitez later became a teacher at the University of the Philippines, who taught short-story writing and had become an influential figure to many Filipino writers in the English language, such as Loreto Paras-Sulit, Paz M. Latorena Arturo Belleza Rotor,Bienvenido N. Santos and Francisco Arcellana. The annually held Paz Marquez-Benitez Lectures in the Philippines honors her memory by focusing on the contribution of Filipino women writers to Philippine Literature in the English language. Though she only had one more published short story after â€Å"Dead Stars† entitled â€Å"A Night In The Hills†, she made her mark in Philippine literature because her work is considered the first modern Philippine short story. For Marquez-Benitez, writing was a lifelong occupation. In 1919 she founded â€Å"Woman’s Home Journal†, the first women’s magazine in the country. Also in the same year, she and other six women who were prominent members of Manila’s social elites, namely Clara Aragon, Concepcion Aragon, Francisca Tirona Benitez, Carolina Ocampo Palma, Mercedes Rivera, and Socorro Marquez Zaballero, founded the Philippine Women’s College now Philippine Women’s University. â€Å"Filipino Love Stories†, reportedly the first anthology of Philippine stories in English by Filipinos, was compiled in 1928 by Marquez-Benitez from the works of her students. When her husband died in 1951, she took over as editor of the Philippine Journal of Education at UP. She held the editorial post for over two decades. In 1995, her daughter, Virginia Benitez-Licuanan wrote her biography, â€Å"Paz Marquez-Benitez: One Woman’s Life, Letters, and Writings. â€Å"