Friday, November 29, 2019

Sexual images in Christina Rossettis Goblin Market Essay Example

Sexual images in Christina Rossettis Goblin Market Paper In reading Christina Rossettis Goblin Market, I was first impressed by the colourful imagery and exciting events that take place in Rossettis fantastic and mysterious creation. The adventures of Lizzie and Laura, and Lizzies ultimate act of heroism at saving her sister from becoming another victim of evil goblin men, was fun to skim through quickly and enjoy on a surface level. But when I read the poem again, I noticed some serious sexual undertones throughout the piece. The goblin men and what they represented, their dealings with the sisters, and the sacrifices their victims must ake all carry very sexual meanings and messages. In fact, I think many of the images in Goblin Market could be construed, in todays world, as a form of pornography. Ill go through various elements of the poem and explain how the representation of men the bonds of women can be interpreted as pornographic. Christina Rossetti invented the characters of the goblin men in order to explore many of the issues associated with feminism and gender roles in society. The goblin men directly represent what men want from women. Men want sexual innocence from women, the typical male fantasy of the willing virgin is laid out quite clearly. We will write a custom essay sample on Sexual images in Christina Rossettis Goblin Market specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sexual images in Christina Rossettis Goblin Market specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sexual images in Christina Rossettis Goblin Market specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In contemporary society men gawk over young looking pop icons such as Brittany Spears, and pornographic movies reenact school detention scenarios with women dressed as schoolgirls offering themselves to guidance counselors. The same is true in Goblin Market the men only want virginal young women, and once the fantasy has been lived out for them, they have no more use for the poor female victim, and throw her away. Laura no longer hears the cries of the goblins therefore she is no longer worthy of mens attention. Consequently after premarital loss of virginity, women, like Laura in the oem, feels stripped of her dignity and self-worth, and can no longer go on living the same way again. Other examples of Rossettis portrayal of the goblin men as sexual predators abound throughout the poem. One had a cats face/One whisked a tail/One tramped at a rats pace/One crawled like a snail. Such variety in describing each goblin seems to assert that such devious sexual predators can come in all shapes and sizes, and can easily fool their unsuspecting victims. Rossetti does the same late in the poem when describing the goblins courting of Lizzie: Snail-paced and in a hurry/Parrot-voiced and whistler This demonstrates that sexual predators can use many different methods in seducing a victim. The goblin men also seem to possess biblical qualities as well. Such as when Eve tempts Adam in the Garden of Eden, so do the goblin men try to tempt the virgin maidens with their own forbidden fruit. The men first seem perfectly nice and genuine, but when they are rebuffed they become violent and angry. This too can be said for many sexual predators. The rape scene with Lizzie later in the poem could be looked upon in a contemporary light as the violent outbursts of a scorned man bent on wicked and ainful revenge. Whether Rossetti intentionally depicted the goblin men as such chilling and horrible sexual predators is uncertain. However, it is clear that in Goblin Market, they are most definitely the villains. When the goblin men deal with the sisters, there are some very sexual ideas demonstrated. The objects of desire in the poem, the fruits, are described in an overtly sexual manner, by both the goblin men, and later the sisters themselves. Strong sexual suggestions are used in describing Lauras indulgence in the fruit, in her first encounter with the goblin men. Such sentences as She sucked and sucked and sucked the more. And, She sucked until her lips were sore. Of course like I have mentioned previously, the goblin men have use only for virgins and as part of the same stanza as the fruit sucking, They flung the emptied rinds away. The throwing away of the female victim is also tied into the fruit as the rinds describe the women who have lost their virginity. The fruit is described to be fresh and beautiful and unpecked the women are tempted with the fruit that is supposed to be a joy to eat. It sounds tempting and once had, Laura ants more, she searches for it but is non-existent to the goblins. It sounds much like the age-old story of young men coaxing women into sleeping with them with promises of being around the next day. Laura describes the fruit to her sister, What peaches with a velvet nap. Pellucid grapes without one seed. Which as I would decipher would refer to sex that is not in the intention of procreation. Although the poem has not been given a solid place or time, the activities of the sisters strike me as rural and pre-industrial which might refer to a time when in many cultures sex was strictly an activity to procreate. Like men offer love and passion, the goblin men offer incredible fruit the price however is virginity and the result is being unwanted. As shown in the poem, first by Jeanie and then by Laura, consequences of dealing with the goblin men are very grave, and also bear some very sexual connotations. Jeanie encountered the goblin men and then ached for them until her death. I believe Jeanies death to not be the important part of her story, although it may represent misogynistic genocide, as premarital sex can lead to death in some cultures. What I do believe to be mportant is Jeanies aging and her gravesite. Jeanie was described to have dwindled and grew gray. She became old and unwanted after a single act with the goblins. Age is definitely an important issue to discuss in the realm of women and therefore is mentioned in womens literature. Age used to be of importance for child bearing endurance, today it signifies beauty and the media attacks the self esteem of every women the minute she looks a day over sixteen, refer to any Calvin Klein advertisement. Even more interestingly there is a reference to Jeanies fertility, While to this day no grass will row, where she lies now. It is not hard to understand where this reference is coming from as much of the reason men demanded to marry virgins was to carry a blood line and a women who is not a virgin before marriage would be considered infertile or ruined. The goblins traded fruit for virginity, today virginity is sold as an idea in primetime television, movies, pornography and white wedding dresses. Sexual references come to a peak near the end of the poem during Lauras redemption. It has been read as a lesbian love scene, and acts as the pivotal point of Laura regaining her virginity. They way this part of the poem is written makes it the most erotic but this was where I had to stop and back track rereading very carefully. I reassured myself that these two characters Laura and Lizzie were in fact sisters. They had the sister bond, the female bond, which is reinforced at the very end, and now the bond of lovers. I think Rossetti ignored the incestual side of this love making and used it purely to empower women and display the strengthening of the female bond as well as the absence of men. The three bonds between women are now displayed sisters, friends nd lovers however I cannot ignore the crossover of the sister and lover bond as Rossetti surely must have considered this new addition, the topic of incest. Is the incestual relationship an awakening for both of the women, a chance to experiment and exercise sexual explorations in a harmless way before moving on to marry and have children? It may be just a metaphor that the bond between women is so strong as we read that Lizzie helps Laura regain her virginity. I cant help but see that this eroticism is also representing a male fantasy. Two sisters in the act of lovemaking can very well be read s pornographic if not taboo. Hue Hefner is dating twins, and many movies particularly those that have themes of sex refer to such scenarios. Christina Rossettis Goblin Market a childrens poem, tells a tale of exploration, loss of innocence and redemption through the story of goblin men who sell forbidden fruit. The imagery of the goblin men and their fruit has many sexual and biblical undertones. The story raises issues of the premarital loss of virginity, bonds between women including lesbian relationships and sexual exploration under the thumb f societys view of womens sexuality. The goblin men represent what men want, they offer forbidden fruit which is sweet yet devastating and the price is virginity. The consequence of encountering the goblin men is the loss of control and becoming unwanted. The story touches on many taboos, clearly portraying what men want and what bonds should exist between women. The eroticism of the poem produces images that can be construed as pornographic yet I will concluded that these images are issues that exist even today in our society between men and women, and relationships.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Lab Report for n-Butyl Bromide Preparation Essay Example

Lab Report for n Lab Report for n-Butyl Bromide Preparation Paper Lab Report for n-Butyl Bromide Preparation Paper Add drop of water to aqueous solution that you plan to discard. Make SUre water dissolves then discard. Add ml MM HOSTS to remaining solution and shake. Again, remove the aqueous layer on bottom and discard. Add ml of water to solution and shake. Organic layer on bottom, transfer bottom layer to clean ml vial. Add saturated aqueous sodium bicarbonate a little at a time while stirring. Shake and allow layers to separate. Transfer lower alkyl halide layer in ml conical vial using pipette. Dry solution over anhydrous sodium sulfate. Distill dry solution using Hickman still. When distillation complete, weigh the vial and calculate percent yield. Determine the infrared spectrum of product using salt plate. Day 1: First I weighed an empty ml flask with lid = 15. Egg. Then I added the n-butyl alcohol into the flask and weighed that weight = 17. Egg. I can subtract the two values to determine the exact weight of n-butyl alcohol added 17. Egg-15. Egg = 1. Egg n-butyl alcohol. I then added 2. Ml of water and about 2. Egg of sodium bromide to the flask and put it in an ice bath. I slowly added sulfuric acid drop by drop to the solution. Then I removed the flask from the ice bath and placed it in the assembled reflux apparatus and began the heating process for 60 min. After the heating process was complete, I observed that the organic layer of the mixture turned bright red. I extracted the organic layer by removing and discarding the aqueous bottom layer using a pipette. To make sure I had no organic solution in the aqueous extract, I added a drop of water and it dissolved proving that my aqueous extract was just aqueous. I put the remaining solution in a clean ml vial and put it in the freezer. Day 2: After freezing the solution overnight, the organic layer turned a copper/brown color. I added ml of HOSTS to the vial and the two layers formed with the organic layer on top. Removed and discarded the aqueous solution using a pipette. I then added ml of H2O and two layers formed with the organic layer on the bottom. Using a pipette I transferred the bottom layer too clean ml vial. Then added ml of sodium bicarbonate a little at a time, shaking and venting frequently. After the layers separated I transferred the lower alkyl halide layer to dry ml vial and dried this solution with granular anhydrous sodium sulfate. Id not have enough alkyl halide layer left to distill, so I weighed it and then performed the IR spectrum with it. Mechanism of Product Synthesis: Results: As previously stated, I did not have enough ending product to perform the distillation so this is the mass of my product without distillation involved. Mass of final product: Mass of product + vial = 21. Egg Mass o f vial only = 20. Egg Mass of product, alkyl layer = 21. Egg-20. Egg The appearance of my product was clear Percent Yield = actual/theoretical x 100 Conclusion: = 0. Egg During this experiment, there were many chances for mistakes. With every extraction of one layer from another, product could have easily been left behind and discarded in the aqueous solution. The opposite could have occurred too. Some of the aqueous solution could have ended up in the ending product, which would have prevented accuracy in the weights. Both of these errors could explain why my percent yield is so low. Every time you transfer the product into another container you risk losing some of it behind in the process.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Obama being presidentelect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Obama being presidentelect - Essay Example The answer is twofold. Obama was elected because of a) changing times and attitudes and b) his position on Iraq war. We have to admit that our younger generation is not as biased as our older generations were when it comes to race. The youth especially in urban areas and big metropolitan cities have come in contact with people from so many countries that they do not even know if there could ever be just one skin color. They know very well that nationals of different countries have been contributing to the growth of the country and hence consider them as much an American citizen as any. This has had a major impact on Obama's campaign that was all about "change". Obama said from the very beginning that all he wanted was "change". And he as an African American was the very symbol of "Change". A white man in his place talking of change could never have been as effective as him. This is simply because to talk about change, it was important to also represent change and be a symbol of change. That is what people found in Barack Obama's racial background. Another very important thing was Obama's stand on war. ... We need to understand that most countries can fight their own wars and if they cannot, then USA must learn to choose its battles carefully. This is because over the last many years, we have lost hundreds of thousands of our men to senseless wars- to wars that were not even ours. Being a military person, I know how much our country means to us. But when a young person joins the army, he is doing that to protect the country and defend its interests. However over the past 20 years, we have fought wars that had little or nothing to do with United States directly. As the result of this, resentment has grown in people's minds and hearts. They may respect the military but they do not want to see their young boys die in battles that were not even their own. In other words, if a boy dies while fighting to defend his country, it is seen as an honor. But when the same person dies on foreign land, fighting a battle between two countries that he doesn't even belong to, people naturally resent it. This doesn't make them any less patriotic. They only want to see battles chosen carefully so their boys can fight for their own country and not lose their lives in a futile war. This is exactly what has happened during Iraq war. We have lost tens of hundreds of precious lives both in Afghanistan and Iraq. And these wars have been going for a long time now. People are tired of senseless killing and want to see their children come back home. Obama touched people's hearts and souls when he said he would end the war in Iraq and bring those young boys back. Imagine the relief so many mothers and families must have felt upon hearing this. Do you think that with such a claim, anyone else had even a remote chance of

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Financial markets and institutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial markets and institutions - Essay Example Any commodity market might be considered to be financial market if trader’s intention is not the immediate consumption of the commodity but as a means of delaying or accelerating consumption over time. Markets work by placing many interested sellers in one place, thus making them easier to find for potential buyers. An economy which relies primarily on connections between buyers and sellers to allot capital is known as a market economy. Financial markets are affected by forces of supply and demand, and allot capital over time through a price device such as the interest rate. Financial market could mean: organizations that facilitate the transaction in financial products, (for example, Stock exchanges facilitate the trade in stocks, bonds and warrants) and the coming together of buyers and sellers to trade financial products such as stocks and shares including: the use of stock exchanges; directly between buyers and sellers. There are different types of financial markets: capital market which provide finance through issuance of shares and bonds, commodity market which facilitate the trading of commodities, money market which arrange short term debt financing and investment, derivatives markets that provide instruments for the management of financial risk, insurance markets, which facilitate to cover of various risks and foreign exchange market which facilitate the trading of foreign exchange (Wikipedia, 2006). When looking at a financial institution it might seem to be a mediator between investors and customers. A financial institution might be considered as an agent that provides financial services for its customers. Financial institutions generally fall under financial rule from a government authority. The types of financial institutions include banks, building societies, credit unions, stock brokerages, and similar businesses. Financial institutions give service

Monday, November 18, 2019

Importance of Community Engagement for Children in the State of Assignment

Importance of Community Engagement for Children in the State of Indiana - Assignment Example This paper is a presentation of a journal of an activity I undertook on environmental protection in the State of Indiana. The journal will seek to explain what I did in the activity, the organization I worked with in the activity, how the activity is related with the course, specifically ethics and social responsibility as they relate to environmental issues, and how I feel about the activity. The activity involved planting trees in an activity dubbed â€Å"A tree for a child.† My participation in the initiative was in two phases. First, I participated in raising funds. In doing this, I involved my family members and friends to assist me to raise funds towards supporting the venture. I managed to collect $ 850 that went towards purchasing some trees and some went to the support kitty that supports these children to vocational school or university. Second, I took part in tree planting. Being in America, I had to travel to Indonesia to participate in tree planting. I managed to plant 10 trees, which translates to helping 10 children go to school and assured of food security. A Tree for A Child is a social and environmental initiative whose aim is to alleviate poverty by protecting the environment, which in turn provides food security to the underprivileged children in the society. The program, which is coordinated by ATFAC, an Indonesian, based organization aims at creating awareness to students, corporate and the community at large on the importance of the environmental protection and the education of the underprivileged children. (ATFAC, n.d). The organization welcomes participation from all over the world since, through the initiative, talented underprivileged children get scholarships, food, and medical attention. Environmental degradation is one of the major threats facing humankind in this error. According to Murray (2006), environmental degradation can be understood as depletion or destruction of potentially renewable resources like soil forests of wildlife. Its effects are felt more through carbon emissions and food shortage in the entire world.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The Suggestibility of Child Witnesses

The Suggestibility of Child Witnesses Karpinski and Scullins (2009) study tests whether theory of mind and executive functioning affects childrens inclination to adopt the view asserted by misleading questions under pressured interviews. In addition, effects of age ranging from three to five as a factor of suggestibility was investigated. The procedures required 80 preschoolers, over four sessions, to witness a video and live show prior to a theory of mind test, performance on executive function tasks and a Video Suggestibility Scale for Children (VSSC) to rank them based on assents to misleading questions (Yield), changing of answer after feedback (Shift) and total affirmative answers given after feedback in Shift (Yield 2). The results showed that children performed better in theory of mind and executive tasks functions with increasing age, making them less suggestible. This suggests that older children, by understanding the theory of mind, comprehending that the interviewer might have an existing false belief, and thu s avoids assenting. Through the VSSC, lower Yield 2 scores correlated with poorer executive functioning, which was observed in younger children. Additionally, pressure from the interviewer has shown a higher suggestibility in children. However, the study only studied children from ages three to five, limiting the age group to a smaller range and did not include older children into the study. Moreover, executive functions and theory of mind are not the sole factors of individual differences in children that play a part in suggestibility. Allwood, C. M., Granhag, P. A., Jonsson, A. (2006). Child witnesses metamemory realism. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 47(6), 461-470. The study conducted was to determine the degree of acceptance of confidence judgments to childrens answers regarding a video about a kidnapping event. This was investigated using a sample of 80 children, from 11 to 12 years old. Four confidence scales, the numeric scale, picture scale, line scale and written scale were used. Frequency judgments of the children were also acquired. Prior training was provided to ensure that the children understood the probability scale. Results were that participants show overconfidence over all four confidence scales after calibration. No significant effect was found whether any of the confidence scales had affected the confidence judgment. However, a significant difference was found by comparing genders, with girls being better calibrated that boys to confidence scales, and the girls had a significantly lower frequency judgment than boys. However, both genders had a higher frequency judgment than the number of questions they actually had answered cor rectly. Lastly, by comparing the results obtained from adults who watched the same video in another study by Allwood et al. (2003), it showed that children were more overconfident than adults. However, this comparison to another study cannot promise that the conditions undertook were exactly the same. The study should extend its age range of children to younger children, who are still developing, though it is not known whether they would comprehend the different confidence scales to render it effective to children that age. Warren, A. R., McGough, L. S. (1996). Research on childrens suggestibility: Implications for the investigative interview. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 23(2), 269-303. This review contains consolidated result from various researches to report the best conditions under which childrens recount of experiences would be reliable to use in court. This targets eliminating the possibility of childrens suggestibility. By using the role of the interviewer, the timing of the interview and the process, it emphasizes on points which interviewers should take note of. Specifically, interviewers should not hold any bias, nor ask misleading questions. This should also be coupled with a non-biased response and building ground rules such as the acceptance of unsure as a response. Repetition of questions are not encouraged, though it may require several sessions before details are noted. As for interviews, delays would result in more errors in recalling, especially in children. Video recorded interviews are welcomed, serving as evidence in court for reliability and a source for children to remember previous interviews. For the interview process, guidelines do include the necessity of building rapport with the child and allow free-recall of events, as they give higher accuracy of memory. One method widely encouraged is the cognitive interview. Though anatomically correct dolls are not endorsed, age-appropriate language can be used to encourage the child to indicate abused body parts. Lastly, the interview should be done in stress free environment. Though these information would greatly help interviewers, the best formula is to allow states to train specialists in interviewing children or building specific protocol for other interviewers to follow. 4. Quas, J. A., Goodman, G. S., Ghetti, S. Redlich, A. D. (2000). Questioning the child witness: What can we conclude from the research thus far? Trauma, Violence and Abuse, 1(3), 223-249. The study review conducted a summary of researches and their association to investigating child witnesses. First, the articles reported differences in development between younger and older children. It was found that younger children are more suggestible due to poorer recall. However, preschoolers are proficient in script memory, although it is limited to repeated events. Also, though children can recall memory, they have difficulty putting the memory into a logical structure. This is limited by their source memory. The relationship between stress and memory has not been significantly proven, but children who are more distressed may have a lower recall due to a third factor, such as attention. Trauma, especially repeated ones, are not found to hinder memory. Another idea to factor in is general knowledge, where knowledge consistent to what the child knows is encoded in memory easily. Next, suggestibility was discussed. It was revealed that free-recall allows children to give accurate memories, given that no false information was given prior to recall. However, when false information was given repeatedly, childrens suggestibility increased. Thirdly, individual differences in children was reviewed. It concluded that other than age, internal characteristics of the child can affect the quality of the information elicited. Suggestibility has been related to dual representation, source memory and imaginativeness of the child. Though much has been concluded from previous studies, there are certain areas which have not been researched or little research have been done on those areas. 5. Lyon, T. D., Saywitz, K. J. (2006). From post-mortem to preventive medicine: Next steps for research on child witness. Journal of Social Issues, 62(4), 833-861. The current paper looks into future researches that can be done regarding the suggestibility of child witnesses. It proposes to researchers not to only keep abreast of current researches but also develop new models. The study agrees source monitoring training can be conducted to decrease suggestibility in younger children. Due to reluctance of some children to admit to abuse, research can look into factors affecting such victims and methods to allay the symptoms. Also, researches should encompass older children, other than preschoolers. Moreover, laboratory results should be brought out into the field to test its validity. Through combination of field and laboratory work, methods can be refined to bring about better policies. Additionally, recantation, an important topic in child witnesses, is a subject yet to be researched. Similarly, sequencing of recall in children and the extent of display or description of emotions when interviewed can be researched. A lucrative area can be to d iscover methods to allow both therapy and legal proceedings to coexist simultaneously without increasing suggestibility. Lastly, the paper suggests that instead of looking to sexual abuse cases, researchers should acknowledge that there are large proportions of non-sexual cases that can be looked into. However, authors should note that these researches must be applied to the field in order to be rendered effective. It requires policymakers and researchers to come together to allow such cooperation. Through such partnerships, interview processes can be improved to reduce suggestibility.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Dinosaur Extinction Essay examples -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A number of different theories have been assessed throughout the course of this research to attempt to reach a conclusion as to the reason behind the extinction of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Although all arguments are credible, and supportive with educated information and data, the most conclusive theory of all is The Alvarez Asteroid Impact theory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alvarez, a researcher at the University of California, discovered a pencil thin layer of Iridium around the rocks in Gubbio, Italy. (New Scientist, 1) Iridium is an element found in meteorites and asteroids. In 1980 it was proven that the layer if Iridium was evidence of a huge comet or meteorite that crashed into the earth sixty five million years ago. The normal amount of Iridium an area is to have is 0.001 on an average. The layer of Iridium found in Gubbio Italy was 0.003. Thirty times the average amount in parts per million. (New Scientist, 1) The theory of the Alvarez Asteroid states that the strength of this comet is at 10,000 times the explosive power of the global nuclear arsenal. The Alvarez Asteroid theory is the leading explanation as to why the amazing dinosaur creatures died millions of years ago, along with many other animals of the Earth's Crustaceous Period.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The extinction of the Tyrannosaurus Rex was obviously due to the same reason. Every other living species was killed sixty five million years ago. Although it is believed that the asteroid theory is the cause of extinction of the Crustaceous Period, we cannot be positive. The environmental effects of this problem were that the dinosaurs living during this period perished from the earth and their extinction remains a mystery to us to this day. All we can do to reenact what happened is use the technology we have in the twenty first century to find more evidence to see what went wrong so long ago. By discovering things like what happened to the Tyrannosaurus Rex we can use this information to prevent an event such as a mass extinction from happening a second time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although it is impossible to rewrite history, we still have to be careful to prevent a catastrophe like the asteroid said to have hit the earth sixty five million years ago. If there is ever a scare of an asteroid as big as the Alvarez Asteroid, one way of preventin... ...d at least seven tons and were over forty feet long. The T-Rex was the largest meat-eating dinosaur. The teeth of the T-Rex are thick and sharp for the killing of its prey. The T-Rex was also very fast; in fact it could outrun any species of dinosaur if it was hungry enough. Scientists have also found that the Tyrannosaurus was also very smart, it would outwit any prey if it needed a snack, even the Gigantosaurus the only dinosaur that is bigger than the T-Rex wasn't smarter than the king. (Highlights, 22)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Tyrannosaurus Rex was a very smart and interesting dinosaur and it is unfortunate that we will never be able to see one. The extinction of dinosaurs was brought on by the Alvarez Theory. It is great to know what actually happened to them now, and also know how to prevent such an occurrence from happening again. If our country uses the technology it has available it will be possible to find out more about the mass extinction of the Crustaceous Period. As the years pass technology becomes more advanced and we will eventually know everything there is to know about what happened sixty five million years ago.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Monday, November 11, 2019

EU economic relation with MERCOSUR Essay

Introduction MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) was established in 1991 as a customs union and common market between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Chile and Bolivia later joined as associate Mercosur members. Since mid-2000, they have been engaged in negotiations with the EU to establish a free trade area covering both regions. History in the Making On May 28, 2004, EU and MERCOSUR trade representatives convened in Guadalajara, Mexico to continue an ongoing negotiation process. MERCOSUR holds a comparative advantage in a wide range of agricultural produce, which composes more than half of its total exports, while Europe is particularly strong in industrial and capital markets, such as automobiles, telecommunications and banking. Their complementary economies seem ideally suited for engaging in free trade, with each component of the bloc specializing in their specific fields of strength. However, import quotas and tariffs, intended to protect MERCOSUR members’ infant industries as well as high cost European farmers, present mountainous obstacles to the realization of any free trade agreement. At the May 28 summit, both sides tentatively agreed to open their markets to foreign competition. The EU and MERCOSUR have each shown a willingness to make difficult concessions in order to see their negotiations come to fruition. The Border is Closed The European Union’s protectionist agriculture regulations insulate locally grown produce from foreign competition. Cultivatable land, a precious and scarce commodity on the continent, is extraordinarily expensive. Hence the European Parliament instituted subsidies, import quotas and tariffs to keep the region†s relatively inefficient agro-industry afloat by regulating prices on the European market. These policies have effectively kept MERCOSUR products out of the European market as the EU refused to negotiate on opening its markets up to foreign competition by the raising of its quotas and the lowering of its tariffs. However, European negotiations have recently made important concessions aimed at expediting the process. The EU Common Agricultural Policy of 2003, which significantly reduced Europe’s farm subsidies, coupled with an increase in import quotas and a lowering of tariffs, have strengthened MERCOSUR’s confidence in the positive outcome of trade talks. Europe’s reluctant acquiescence to MERCOSUR’s demands is an attempt to pursue a strategy aimed at obtaining greater access to South American markets where European industries and sectors (such as automobile, telecommunication, banking and computer production) have excelled in the past and appear to have an even more prosperous future. Like its European counterpart, MERCOSUR has traditionally been averse to granting greater access to these markets, defending its protectionist policies with an infant industry argument. These industries are too small, it maintains, to compete in the world market, and therefore opening its borders at this time could destroy domestic firms. However, the South American Common Market has recognized the significance of Europe’s offer, and in return, has allowed for ever greater access to its telecommunication and banking industries. Partners in Decay There is a downside to the growing ties between Europe and MERCOSUR. Europe’s courting of MERCOSUR is at best undermining the fabric that binds the fragile G20 together. G20 members fear that the EU-MERCOSUR agreement could provide unfair access to markets, which would be illegal according to the World Trade Organization (WTO) standards. According to these, Most Favored Nation Status (MFN) cannot be reserved for specific countries, but must be shared among all applicable WTO members. According to some G20 members, including China, India, South Africa and Brazil, the European Union’s decision to engage in trade talks with MERCOSUR is a stratagem to undermine the G20, an organization that could potentially cause serious problems for both the EU and the United States. Restructuring the Map An accord between the two giant trading blocs has the potential to upset and shift the balance of power in the global trade arena, not only affecting the G20 but also challenging US economic hegemony in the Western Hemisphere. A â€Å"leading light in the Cairns group of agricultural exporters† and a founding member of the G20, Brazil’s political clout in the international community is growing exponentially. Its ability to command greater respect in political and economic agreements has persuaded the EU to offer greater concessions to MERCOSUR and is forcing the United States to reformulate its position on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). There is no doubt that Brazil is using the EU-MERCOSUR trade agreement, and the commercial bonanza it should bring, as a weapon to increase its bargaining power in forthcoming FTAA talks with Washington concerning farm subsidies. The election of two left-leaning presidents in Brazil and Argentina, as well as a shift away from a Western Hemisphere trade pact toward a more amicable courtship with Europe, reflects a fundamental change in Brazilian and Argentine politics as well as in their strategy in dealing with the US. Neither government wants to be considered, as Brazilian President Lula stated during his presidential campaign, an â€Å"annexation† of the United States. In 2004, worries over progress in negotiations deepened as the co-chairmanship of the FTAA rotated to the United States and Brazil. Unfortunately, the inability to compromise by the proposed trading bloc’s two major powers has stalled progress on the realization of such an agreement. It also has persuaded a newly confirmed pessimist MERCOSUR to look across the Atlantic for an opportunity to further its global thrust and self-interests. The United States’s reluctance to discuss any reductions in farm subsidies during recent FTAA trade rounds has hindered the chances of signing a Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement by 2005, the projected year for it to be announced. Meanwhile, Europe has slipped into the foreground, prepared to equal or even replace the United States as the dominant trading power on the South American continent. The United States’s hegemonic status in the Americas is in peril. To maintain a semblance of the status-quo, Washington will have to concede to demands for a slash in farm subsidies if it wishes to reignite the negotiation process, or at least keep it alive, and to maintain itself as the predominant regional superpower, the US will be forced to compromise. The EU-MERCOSUR free trade agreement without a question is a threat to the United States’s dominance in the region. Europe’s belated decision to open its agricultural markets to foreign competition leaves Washington in a precarious position at the negotiating table with its Latin American counterparts. Previously, the EU and the US held the same line regarding agricultural subsidies; both argued that the subject should be addressed at future WTO trade rounds rather than through bilateral trade agreements. If it now wishes to remain competitive with Europe in the South American market, Washington will have to address the issue of the subsidies and import quotas that up to now have plagued many of the Latin American countries. With the EU now retreating from its long held protectionist position, the US can no longer expect to walk away from negotiations with a victory in hand which places Latin America in a dependent position in the FTAA. Scraping Bottom: US-Latin American Relations There is no question that US-Latin America relations are at their lowest point in a generation. Clearly, when it has come to leadership and a strong moral stance regarding US policy initiatives towards Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti, Secretary of State Powell has provided no leadership and certainly no vision. By default, such leadership fell into the hands of Otto Reich and a small band of venomous rightwing ideologies headed by Otto Reich, Roger Noriega and Dan Fisk, who held their places because Powell allowed them to be imposed on him. As a career propagandist and huckster-ideologue, Otto Reich built his professional existence on disseminating public disinformation along with a capacity for extremist politics that have done incalculable damage to the maintenance of a balanced and responsible regional policy. Almost single-handedly, he has bent and distorted US-Latin American relations and has produced a level of odium that cannot be easily recalled in the recent chapters of the bilateral relationship between the two hemispheres. His legacy hardly serves that word, filled as it has been with vulgar rhetoric, meretricious analysis, Rasputin-like conspiracies, and an inability to distinguish responsible behavior from that of a low quality goon. He, together with his fellow alumni from former Senator Helms’s tawdry regional policy-making workshop at the Senate’s foreign relations committee, the State of Department’s Roger Noriega and Dan Fisk, have gone a long way to pollute US hemispheric ties so fundamentally that it will take a generation to undo. From a Caribbean, Andean or South American standpoint, the EU-MERCOSUR pact strengthens their respective chances for a fairer and freer FTAA agreement. The United States can no longer treat its hemispheric partners as subsidiaries of a holding company which it controls now that Europe has presented itself as a viable second option for a binding trade relationship. Living in an era of increasingly free global trade, the EU-MERCOSUR pact could be a refreshing change from a history of largely self-serving and US-dominated agreements. The trade agreement between the European Union and MERCOSUR could come to rival the Free Trade Area of the Americas as a major hemispheric economic force, even if both are achieved. As the United States’s soft power continues to decline in the region, Europe’s global stock looks increasingly more appealing. If the US wishes to maintain its traditional position astride the Western Hemisphere, it must learn from its European counterparts how to stop talking down and start talking to Latin America. Internet References: REDES / Friends of the Earth Uruguay: http://www.redes.org.uy/ L`Observatori de las Transnacionales (LO’T), research group focusing on Spanish TNCs in Latin-America. Contact: David Llistar david.llistar@debtwatch.org Red Mexicana de Accion Frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC): http://www.rmalc.org.mx/ Transnational Institute (TNI): http://www.tni.org/altreg/index.htm Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO): http://www.corporateeurope.org/ Alianza Chilena Por Un Comercio Justo y Responsable (ACJR): http://www.comerciojusto.cl/index.htm Asociacion Latinoamercana de Organizaciones de Promocion (ALOP): http://www.alop.or.cr/

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Why Was the Irish Revolution of 1919-21?

On December 6 1921 the Anglo-Irish treaty was drafted and signed by representatives of both the Irish and British Governments. After centuries of bitter feuding involving both sides the British Government was for the first time to offer the Irish independence. In this essay I seek to outline how the Irish revolution of 1919 and 1921 was successful in achieving Irish independence. Richard English says, â€Å"There had never been any chance of a formal military victory†¦ nor in practice of the British recognising an Irish republic. [1] If English is right to say this then how did the Irish manage to gain independence when the odds were stacked against them both militarily and politically? I believe that independence was reached for a number of reasons to be discussed in more detail later. These factors can be divided into the two crucial areas of political and military. Politically, there was a list of British failures including the negative publicity attracted by the revolution at home, pressure from America and the Government of Ireland Act. Failures only exacerbated by political achievements on the Irish side.Such as De Valera’s trip to the U. S to canvass American support for the revolution plus the establishment of Dail Eireann and its de facto courts. The next section of the essay will be based on the military issues. Was the revolution’s success down to Britain’s failures or Ireland’s triumph of military tactics? Military mistakes were made on the British side which nullified the fact that they had a vastly superior army. The harsh reprisals in nationalist territories for example stoked tensions unnecessarily. A large part of the revolutions success could be attributed to the military strengths of the IRA.With Michael Collins at the head the IRA was extremely strong tactically and used guerrilla warfare to great effect. The also had a mass intelligence system to rival any according to figures like Thomas Bowden for instanc e. Although some historians such as Peter Hart try to unravel the legend of Michael Collins and believe he did not have quite as big a role in the war as many would later claim. Political In order for the revolution to work the IRA had to defeat Britain politically and in a propaganda war as well as militarily.It has to be noted that as far back as 1916 the Irish public had no interest in a revolting. The men who took part in the Easter Rising were looked upon as villains in the immediate aftermath not heroes. It was political failure that allowed such a dramatic swing in public opinion to take place. The harsh treatment of the rebels was the turning point in Irish popular opinion. It formed the motivation for many who joined the IRA during the revolution becoming a superb propaganda tool for the republican cause. With each execution of the men who took part in Ireland the fury grew.A student in the University College of Dublin Barry once studied remarked, â€Å"I never experienced anything like this surging fury with the news produced in everyone. †[2] Later in the interview the student claims that there was notable rejoice when three Englishmen were shot for every Irishman hung. Primary quotes like this go some way to showing the feelings of resentment caused through Britain’s political own goals that multiplied the supporters of an armed revolution in a matter of days. It was not only public opinion in Ireland that was affected by the mistakes of the British administration.Public opinion in Britain throughout the revolution had reached a low. Many normal British citizens were horrified by what they saw as atrocities going on in their name. A sketch of opinion at the time can be viewed in a report of the Labour commission to Ireland in 1921. The report claims that the results of a government policy of reprisals on the people manifests in three main ways they are health economic and spirit. The report states, â€Å"months of oppression, coercio n, and physical violence cannot but have far reaching effects upon the people who suffer under them. The Labour party believed at the time that British Government policy was to the detriment of the economy both in Ireland and in Britain. While the armed forces â€Å"provocative behaviour† was only creating â€Å"a new bitterness of spirit† among the people. Perhaps a concluding line from the document may sum up the thoughts and fears of many in Britain. â€Å"Things are being done in the name of Britain which must make her name stink in the nostrils of the whole world†[3] A crucial failure of British policy was the Government of Ireland Act passed in 1920.The Act was to create two subordinate parliaments one in Belfast and one in Dublin. The Belfast Parliament comprised of the same six counties that would later make up Northern Ireland. The Act was ignored in the twenty six counties but the Dail was powerless to prevent its operation in the North. Ronan Fanning believes that the Act later caused the British to give away more independence than previously hoped by the very fact it had Ireland divided into separate legislative bodies never an intention of the Act. Britain continually faced U. S pressure to solve the Irish question.Lloyd George faced constant pressure from U. S president Woodrow Wilson. It is said in Hopkinson’s book that Wilson told him until the Irish question was resolved it was bound to not only affect the relations between England and the U. S but inevitably effect the relationship of England with her colonies as well. [4] It would be wrong for one to say the Irish revolution of 1919-1921 in achieving Irish independence was all down to Britain’s failure politically. For one to do claim would do a great injustice to many strengths the Irish displayed politically before independence was achieved.Three factors to be considered here are the rise of Sinn Fein, De Valera’s canvassing of U. S support and the creation of the Dail parliament and Courts. The rise of Sinn Fein led to a radicalisation of the masses which had previously not existed in Ireland before this the majority were happy with Home Rule now it was all or nothing. When discussing this many historians would say that the rise Sinn Fein was as much if not more a consequence of Britain’s failings more than any great genius on behalf of Sinn Fein. A school of thought shared by historians including Hopkinson and Dangerfield.Dangerfield was of the belief that by not implementing Home Rule the rise of a more radical politics was unavoidable. â€Å"The point is that when the concept of Home Rule vanished†¦ Nationalist Ireland drifted into a position were only republican and revolutionary leadership became possible. †[5] Once this process had begun it was simply irreversible. Whereas Hopkinson would state that the British Government had a misplaced optimism involving Sinn Fein. They tried to suppress them by ma king many arrests which all led to propaganda victories for the party.Who could now claim they were unjustly victimised. â€Å"Like many other British politician both before and since, they believed that a few extremists were the problem and that usual order would be restored once they were dealt with. †[6] By trying to introduce conscription in Ireland Britain only managed to give Sinn Fein another boost. Townshend asserts, â€Å"In resistance to conscription, the Sinn Fein leadership found for the first time a national political issue which could mobilise the mass of the people. †[7] Not all of Sinn Fein’s rise can be blamed on the British according to Peter Hart.The party he argued was strengthened by female involvement and the support of first time female voters. De Valera’s visit to the Treaty of Versailles may not have laid to the American backed independence hoped but was beneficial in other areas. Yet despite this there was support for his cause i n America. According to Ferriter, De Valera managed to raise something in the region of $6 million between January 1920 and October 1921 a figure higher than that raised in Ireland. Ferriter asserts that to call Irish Nationalism a mass movement in the U. S by 1920 was no exaggeration.Perhaps the central political success by Ireland before eventually achieving independence was the creation of Dail Eireann on January 21 1919. An illegal parliament based in Dublin separate from British control. The Dail followed the path of which Ronan Fanning called â€Å"Sinn Fein’s unilateral solution to the age old problem of the constitutional relationship between Britain and Ireland was to deny that there was any legitimate connection. †[8] Thus it made sense that the Dail’s first law was to break with Britain. Townshend was complimentary in speaking of the decision to set up Dail Eireann. Their (nationalists) action in assembling on 21 January 1919 as Dail Eireann, the Parl iament of Ireland was in itself revolutionary. †[9] At the beginning Britain simply ignored this new parliament. They shared the same beliefs Stephen Gwynn echoed in 1921. â€Å"When the decision was taken to constitute the Irish members into an Irish parliament people were inclined to laugh. †[10] Gwynn later claimed that the fact the British Government did not initially interfere merely added unreality to the whole proceedings. Yet many believe that when Britain did interfere in 1919 in banning the Dail more harm than good came as a consequence.Arthur Mitchell says the banning of the Dail was not its end but really its making driving it underground was generally to its advantage. The fact that Dail Eireann created its own judicial system greatly undermined British rule. Ferriter points out positives and negatives of these courts. It was said, â€Å"The promptness and efficiency of the courts impressed even most unionists. †[11] Although at times reality bit as Ferriter tells us how figures such as Cathal Brugha the minister of defence had little time for courts they were a distraction from war.Military Despite all the ramifications of each side’s political manoeuvres it is highly unlikely of course the Irish revolution would ever have taken place were it not for what happened militarily. Similar to political, military could also be divided into both Britain’s failures and Irish success. How did the IRA gain a truce when they were fighting the military might of the British Empire? If English’s point earlier in the essay is to be considered the IRA could never have gained a formal military victory.Could it be a case that the British overestimated the IRA’s staying power? For the IRA’s key leader Michael Collins himself believed the IRA was close to breaking point. The British policy of reprisals was in itself a military disaster. Augustein puts the point across that, â€Å"The actual and alleged bad behav iour of the crown forces was an extremely persuasive force which caused and justified a violent response by the IRA in the eyes of men and women on all sides. †[12] Thomas Bowden is of the view that reprisals were advocated at the very top level of British intelligence.Sir Henry Wilson, chief of the Imperial General Staff was a known sponsor of these methods declaring â€Å"shoot all Irish leaders by roster. †[13] On May 21 1921, General McCready sent a memo stating, â€Å"Defeat the IRA by the summer or pullout† It is possible the general did not want to get bogged down in a guerrilla conflict in unfamiliar terrain. Though historians like Townshend believe McCready was giving too much credit to the IRA who would soon fall. While others including Hart have the view that the IRA’s organisation was such McCready was right to issue the memo.In order to achieve independence the IRA had to have been strong militarily. Much of this is put at the door of historia ns to Michael Collins held by many as a master of tactician and great exponent of guerrilla warfare. Collins is chiefly judged in history as the main man behind the revolution. One such historian is Dangerfield who complements Collins highly. â€Å"Neither Richard Mulcahy, the volunteers chief of staff, nor the Minister of defence come close to Collins, with his administrative genius, his enormous energy, his warm blooded presence, his cold and concerted purpose. [14] Strong praise for a man Peter Hart claims never held a gun post 1916. For Collins was based in Dublin mainly undertaking intelligence duties. ———————– [1] English, p29 [2] Augustein [3] Labour, pp54-56 [4] Hopkinson, p33 [5] Dangerfield, p246 [6] Hopkinson, p31 [7] Townshend, p318 [8] Fanning pp1-2 [9] Townshend, p328 [10] Gwynn, p62 [11] Ferriter, p202 [12] Augustein, ‘Motivation’ [13] Bowden, p119 [14] Dangerfield, p313

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The History and Business of Making Lump Charcoal

The History and Business of Making Lump Charcoal Charcoal is a formless mass of carbon and can be made from most carbonaceous materials. It is one of the oldest of man-made fuels and has been prepared under the ground for a thousand years. Charcoal in lump form is still a major source of energy throughout the world and unfortunately, is one of the main causes of deforestation in the World. Historical Charcoal Production Wood charcoal production dates back to ancient human prehistory when  stacks of wood logs on their ends were formed into a pyramidal pile. Openings were created at the bottom of the pile and attached to a central flue for circulating air. The whole woodpile was either constructed in an earth covered pit or covered with clay above ground. A wood fire was started at the flue base and gradually smoldered and spread up and out. Ancient charcoal pits, under average conditions, yielded about 60 percent of the total wood by volume, but only 25% by weight, of charcoal product. Even by the seventeenth century, advances in technology yielded nearly 90 percent efficiency and was a skill that took years to learn and a major investment in kilns and retorts which had long replaced the pit method. Current Charcoal Production Much like the old process, the modern commercial charcoal process is to heat wood with little or no air present which takes special but simple equipment. In the United States, wood is the primary material used for charcoal and is generally procured in the form of residue from sawmills - slabs and edgings. Sawmills love to find users of this material because of environmental problems with burning and disposal of mill wastes. Where there are sawmills, there is an available raw product. The United States Forest Service has estimated that there are nearly 2,000 charcoal-producing units in the United States, including brick kilns, concrete and masonry block kilns, sheet steel kilns, and retorts (a steel metal building). The state of Missouri produces a significant portion of this national charcoal product (they have until recently had less stringent environmental regulations) and 98 percent of all charcoal is produced in the eastern United States. While charcoal can be made from any number of natural materials, hardwoods such as hickory, oak, maple, and fruit-woods are favored. They have unique aromas and tend to produce a better grade of charcoal. Better grades of charcoal come from raw materials with low sulfur content. The uses of charcoal may surprise you. Besides being the fuel that cooks steaks, hot dogs, and hamburgers on a Sunday picnic, charcoal is used in many other processes. It is used in certain metallurgical purifying treatments and as a filter to remove organic compounds such as chlorine, gasoline, pesticides, and other toxic chemicals from water and air. Activated charcoal, which has a super absorptive surface, is growing in use as a purifier. It is used in purifying and refining metals and in the gas masks that were used during the Gulf War. NutraSweet  uses activated charcoal to transform their product into a powder. Activated charcoal is used as an antidote for many types of poisons and is touted as an effective anti-flatulent. Lump Charcoal as a Business Most charcoal manufacturers sell their product as a briquette. This market has been dominated by several companies to include Kingsford, Royal Oak, and major grocery market brands. These companies may or may not make lump charcoal which is an alternate product that has some advantages and has potential as a small start-up business. Some new and exciting grill technologies actually require charcoal in lump form. An entrepreneur hoping to survive in the charcoal industry will require originality and very good and aggressive marketing. Many small companies have survived but most have not made it big. Theyve found that their potential in the niche charcoal market is by making natural hardwood lump charcoal. Innovative ideas like developing a product in a bag that has a fuse, which when lit will ignite the charcoal. This quick light product combined with an easy-to-use paraffin coated container filled with natural charcoal has been a modest success in some local markets. A major hurdle is creating an appealing package. Technical problems with storage make for unappealing packages and can affect sales. You may find your bag on the bottom shelf in the back of the store because of a plain package. You may also have a problem finding distributors that handle small volumes. There is also the potential for other products. Wood charcoal has a low sulfur content, unlike coal or petroleum products. This wood charcoal can be used where other forms of carbon cannot. Developing a specialty activated charcoal for filtration of consumables like air and water is possible. This low sulfur charcoal product would be sold to a large manufacturer of activated carbon like Calgon Carbon of Pittsburgh, PA. Starting a Charcoal Business In addition to the raw material, you will have to have an area suitable for heating the material while allowing only a minimal amount of air circulation. This may be a brick kiln or you may opt for a type of metal building called a retort. You can expect to pay up to several hundred thousand dollars for one of these. You also must develop a sorting and crushing operation. The wood that has been cooked is smaller than its original size by about one-third. It must be broken down into marketable pieces. This would have to be done by a customized piece of equipment made by a made-to-order machine shop. There is no reasonable cost estimate here - youve got to do a lot of leg work. Then you have to bag or package the carbon. Bagging machines are readily available from bagging equipment supply companies. Charcoal presents somewhat of a bagging problem due to a large variance in the sizes of the piece. These problems are not impossible to correct and a bagging line could cost you as much as $100 thousand. You can get less expensive ones. The best strategy for making a business success in lump charcoal is to keep the market local or regional. You might link up with a grill or outdoor oven company and combine your marketing efforts. Advertise the product as superior, natural charcoal that has advantages over briquettes. Many people are not aware that charcoal is available in this all-natural form. Advantages of Lump Charcoal Lump charcoal is an all-natural, 100 percent hardwood product with no additives.Natural charcoal heats faster than briquettes, so food can be cooked over natural charcoal within 5 to 7 minutes after lighting.Lump charcoal can be lit without lighter fluid and with just a match and some newspaper - this means no off-flavors.One pound of hardwood charcoal produces the equivalent heat of two pounds of briquette charcoal. Disadvantages of Lump Charcoal Although lump charcoal is growing in popularity, consumer demand still lags behind formed charcoal briquettes.Even though lump charcoal is a more efficient heat producer, its current price is nearly twice that of briquettes.Lump charcoal is bulkier, has odd shapes, and crushes more easily. It tends to become dusty and flakes off.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Request for Scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Request for - Scholarship Essay Example Earning for the sake of well-being of my children is the dire necessity now for this divorced mother of four children. After marriage, I was a stay at home mother without the responsibility for earning. After the bitter experience of divorce, though it was a great blow in my personal life, I began to find jobs, was employed twice, and on both the occasions was laid off. I am placed at the precarious stage of my life and I am unable to take admission to any medical course without financial assistance. At the same time, I am determined to do the course to eventually get myself qualified as a Sonographer to start with and then do a course in MRI. I have been advised by my well-wishers that if I am able to do this course from a reputed medical institution like yours that will stand me in good stead for my future career opportunities. Taking into consideration my family condition, my earnest desire to enter the health field that provides immense challenges to serve humankind, and to fulfill my long-term career goals, I request you to grant me a scholarship that will cover up the entire tuition fees and other related expenses. I shall remain ever grateful for this magnanimous act by the management of Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts. I request you treat mine as a very special

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Platelet Expression of COX1, IL1 and IL10 Research Proposal

Platelet Expression of COX1, IL1 and IL10 - Research Proposal Example Platelets are approximately 20% of the diameter of the red blood cells. They have proteins on their surfaces that enable them to stick to break in blood vessels. Their count is 150,000-350,000 per every microliter of blood (Andre, 2014). Each megakaryocyte produces an average of 1000-3000 platelets in a lifetime. An un-activated platelet is biconvex and disc-shaped, about 1-3 micrometers. In human beings, the average lifespan of a platelet is 7-10 days; however, the lifespan of an individual platelet is determined by the internal apoptotic regulating pathway (Machlus and Italiano, 2013). Platelets are formed from the cytoplasm of the megakaryocytes which are found in the bone-marrow. The megakaryocytes are approximately 75 micrometers in diameter. The megakaryocytes become polyploidy by endomitosis to assemble and release the platelets. They then mature, where the majority of the cytoplasm is packaged into proplatelets and the nucleus extruded. The platelets form at the tip of the proplatelets (Machlus and Italiano, 2013). The platelet formation is divided into two phases; one where the megakaryocyte mature ad when the megakaryocyte generate the platelets. The whole process takes place approximately in 5 days. During the first phase, the megakaryocyte matures and develops and it requires specific megakaryocyte growth factors. The megakaryocyte’s cytoplasm nuclear proliferates and enlarges as the megakaryocyte is filled with cytoskeletal proteins, platelet-specific granules and a sufficient membrane that completes the platelet assembly. The second phase is short and the megakaryocyte generates platelets by remodeling their cytoplasm into pro-platelets and later into pre-platelets that undergo fission and generate discoid platelets. The second phase may just take place in hours. Cytokines are antibody proteins that are mediators between the cells. Most of the cytokines are