Famine, Affluence and Morality by Peter Singer Essay Example Essay Example

Famine, Affluence and Morality by Peter Singer Essay Example Paper Famine, Affluence and Morality by Peter Singer Essay Introduction Peter Singer, in his famous essay â€Å"Famine, Affluence and Morality,† argues that suffering and pain are bad and we should do all we can to stop them. This point, discussed through the whole essay, directs to his much-debated arrangement that we are justified in killing a harshly disabled infant because the consequences of letting the baby live are more expensive than letting the baby die. Singer widens this view to include animals. According to his opinion, our moral responsibility should force us to stay away from eating hamburgers because every time we do it we add more to a cycle of suffering. Consequently, this cycle is not only of animals, but also of humans, for the food used to nourish the animals we eat is more than sufficient to finish hunger in many less developed countries. Singer is considered to be a utilitarian. He argues that the consequences of our actins should resolve our ethical decisions.While reading his essay, we spontaneously come to the question: Ho w can a better alternative world be achieved – politically, economically, militarily, socially? Some massive failures of development strategies in recent decades offer hard lessons about our limited grip on these vexing questions, and the difficulty of formulating feasible answers. Because these questions are vast and interlinked, and because the answers are matters of vision as well as prudence, the need for a systematic orientation of our practical thinking and action has never been greater. We will evaluate one important attempt to provide such an orientation – that of the moral philosopher Peter Singer and state that utilitarian view point is important in sustaining moral society.Singer’s commitment to social activism is admirable and rare amongst philosophers. Singer’s approach neglects the ways in which the scale of societies and their complex interdependence in today’s world significantly reshape what is practically feasible and morally requ ired of us. In the paper, we will discuss that a different theoretical orientation for development and politics is needed – a political philosophy not a dangerously individualist practical ethics. I will show that this theoretical orientation enables us to identify a range of actions and actors necessary to reduce mass poverty, argued by Singer.Singer is famous for his extremely demanding view about what we, the relatively rich, ought to do and sacrifice to help the poor. His article â€Å"Famine, Affluence and Morality,† written in 1972, stated this view with the help of a resonant analogy: Singer asked readers to imagine that, on the way to giving a lecture, he walks past a shallow pond, and witnesses a child in danger of drowning. He can easily wade in and rescue the child, but he may dirty or even ruin his clothes, and fail to make the lecture. Singer rightly points out that it would be morally monstrous to allow these minor considerations to count against taking a ction to save the child’s life. Then he generalizes from this ethical case to the situation of relatively wealthy people, especially in developed countries, vis-à  -vis people starving or dying of preventable diseases in developing countries. We do nothing or almost nothing, while thousands die. Yet it is seriously wrong to fail to give aid when the costs to oneself are not of â€Å"moral significance† or even of â€Å"comparable moral importance† (Singer 212).When we think about it, Singer points out, very few things are as morally important as saving life. On his account, this is demonstrated both by eliciting our intuitions (with thought experiments) and by utilitarian reasoning (moral action involves minimizing suffering and maximizing well-being). Either mode of reasoning makes most of our material acquisitions or new experiences (say, enjoying an opera or a concert) seem like luxuries of little or no moral significance. In a more recent article Singer con cludes: â€Å"The formula is simple: whatever money you’re spending on luxuries, not necessities, should be given away† (Singer 215).Singer acknowledges that widespread and deep altruism from such relatively rich people is profoundly unlikely. But he still insists that â€Å"we should at least know that we are failing to live a morally decent life- above all because this knowledge is likely to motivate us to donate more than we do at present† (Singer 216). Singer is even willing to be sparing in his blame: given the present â€Å"standard . of normal behavior† of American citizens, he â€Å"wouldn’t go out of his way to chastise† those who donate only 10 percent of their income (O’Neill 17).Who should the rich select as recipients of this (obligatory) charity? Only two considerations count for Singer: the relative extent of poor people’s need, and â€Å"the degree of certainty that our assistance will get to the right person, and will really help that person† (Singer 216). Singer is clearly a cosmopolitan, emphatically rejecting shared membership in a nation or a state as grounds for choosing to give to one person rather than another. He insists that â€Å"in important respects, the tie of nationality is more like the tie of race than it is like the tie of family or friend† (Singer 217) His reasoning, in short, is that â€Å"human life would not be as good† without intimate ties, and any attempt to eradicate them would require abhorrent levels of coercion. National or patriotic ties, on the other hand, neither are necessary to the well-being of all of us nor are they intransigent. Thus these ties cannot be justified from an impartial perspective. Citizens and governments that accord priority to compatriots, while people in foreign lands are in far more urgent and desperate need, are committing a sin that comes close to discriminating on the basis of race (Keane 85).Singer intends the problem of distance to challenge all moral thinkers irrespective of their theoretical commitments. This is why he uses the phrase â€Å"comparable moral worth† (Singer 211) to describe the different kinds of helping actions, rather than speaking more straightforwardly to the converted in terms of maximising the interest-satisfaction of sentient beings. He wants to challenge virtue ethicists, deontologists and contractarians as well as consequentialists. His target is all who have both the impartial intuition that people matter as much wherever they are, and the partialist intuition in favor of preferential treatment for kin, loved ones, colleagues, friends, neighbors, co-nationals etc. (Keane 86-87).Reading and following Singer’s ideas, we should be extremely wary of his perfunctory and categorical claims – that we should give up indulgences such as expensive clothes, restaurants, beach resorts, and house redecoration (O’Neill 19). Indeed, in the South Af rican case, manufacturing exports, tourism, and other service industries are among the few successful mechanisms that have kept people from falling further into grinding poverty. If many citizens of developed countries gave up their luxuries, three central planks of the country’s development strategy would collapse. Among other disastrous consequences would be the crippling of governmental and NGO ability to curb the rate of HIV/AIDS infection and help those suffering from the disease (Kurten 218-25).Singer’s work, and much of the criticism of it, has focused mainly on practical ethics. Nonetheless, Singer’s critics demonstrates the importance of Singer’s work to more mainstream moral philosophy, not least because that work is grounded in his views on important meta ethical and normative questions. Singer rejects intuition as a basis for moral theory and claim to rely instead on self-evident principles, for example the principle that sentience has moral v alue, the principle of equal consideration for equal interests, and the principle that the morally right response to value is to promote it (Rawls 36).Many people find Singer’s conclusions in practical ethics deeply, even offensively, counterintuitive. In particular, his conclusion that newborn human infants may in some cases be killed has met not so much with disagreement as with revulsion. However, the important fact from Singer’s viewpoint is that this conclusion is derived from a well supported theory. In Singer’s view, if the theory is a good one, and it has been applied fairly, then we should accept the conclusion. Therefore, the revulsion that people may feel at contemplating this conclusion is beside the point. Many people, including a great many moral philosophers, would say that Singer has this backwards: the revulsion ought to be taken seriously as a sign that Singer’s argument has gone wrong somewhere (Kurten 226-28).Thus, if we understand â⠂¬Å"intuition† to mean something like â€Å"pretheoretical moral judgment,† we have the question: What role should our intuitions play in moral theory?Singer believes that moral reasons are desire-dependent. In Singer’s view, some moral principles are self-evident; moral theory should draw out the implications of these moral principles, on the understanding that our intuitions about cases cannot correct the dictates of those principles. Only this way can we overcome the various biases and erroneous assumptions that contribute to our intuitions about particular cases (Kurten 229).To understand Singer’s importance, both to philosophy and to the world beyond philosophy, it must be understood that Singer is something of an oddity: an academic philosopher who has become famous for his philosophical work. Regardless of his argumentative points, he is widely known among the general public for his uncompromising defense of controversial moral views. His arguments that some human beings do not have a right to life have sparked public protests in several countries. This remarkable reach that Singer has achieved inspires Dale Jamieson to write, â€Å"Singer is good at what he does. His books change people’s lives†. That Singer’s books have changed lives is also a measure of his most important contribution to contemporary moral philosophy: he has consistently emphasized, and demonstrated, its relevance to real moral problems. In Singer’s hands, moral philosophy is not just theory; it is an exhortation about what to do (Keane 92-94).Of course, Singer is not unique in his commitment to the practical relevance of moral philosophy. Thus, we might want to classify Singer with the many philosophers currently working in applied fields like medical ethics, environmental ethics, or business ethics. However, Singer is distinctly important in two ways. First, no contemporary philosopher has been as influential in applied ethics as Singer has. Doubtless, this is due not only to his striking conclusions but also to his accessible and decisive style of arguing for them. Second, while some philosophers work in more than one applied field, the breadth of Singer’s contributions to moral philosophy is remarkable, and continues to include work in moral theory as well as work in applied ethics (Kurten 233). Singer has proved the importance of thinking about others first in sustaining moral society. Perhaps this breadth can be accounted for by Singer’s firm commitment to utilitarianism, which provides him with a philosophical platform from which to address a wide variety of moral problems. Famine, Affluence and Morality by Peter Singer Essay Thank you for reading this Sample!

Economic Factors Essays

Economic Factors Essays Economic Factors Essay Economic Factors Essay Turkey has many market drivers that make it an ideal location currently for property investment. Here we look at some of the reasons why Turkey is one of the world’s hottest investment property locations. * Excellent capital growth projections of around 25% per annum Land prices in Turkey have risen in recent years and, in many cases, doubled. In 2005 to 2006, property prices have risen by 25–40%. Recent research shows that by comparison investments made since 1994 have yielded the following average returns: * Stock market 18% (gross) * Turkish property 568% (net) * Pension plans significant loss (net) (Source: invest-in-turkey. co. uk) * In the opinion of ‘A place in the Sun’ in the October 2004 edition of their magazine, price increases in beach areas are expected to rise initially by 50% and then over the next two to three years by 100%. Taking an average of 25% capital growth, a property purchased at GBP 60,000 with sustained g rowth over five years will have a market value of GBP 183,105, entailing a huge 305% return on investment. Turkey is just entering the EU process Turkey is currently at the very start of the long road to possible EU inclusion, meaning there are still another 5-10 years before prices rise substantially. Prior to EU membership, there are many factors yet to be discussed and many of Turkey’s issues that need to be corrected before incorporation will be seriously considered. However Turkey has some strong backers for its entry and when it does get accepted into the EU, it is reasonable to expect the price of property to rise greatly in line with a huge surge in tourism. Many investors are purchasing in Turkey with EU inclusion as a major driving force, while looking to take advantage of the current low property prices and growing rental market. Turkey is at the brink of a property boom With so many indicators, many of which are outlined on this page, its clear to see that Turkey is at the beginning of a property boom. A boom period generally indicates a time when demand for property outstrips supply. This is currently the situation in Turkey especially in the major investment areas such as Bodrum, Istanbul and Dalaman. Turkish economy is very strong with 5. 5% GDP growth in 2005 The Turkish economy is currently very strong and undergoing much growth. After an average growth of only 2. 8 % for ten years from 1993 to 2002, Turkey was able to achieve a growth rate of 5. % in 2003 and a substantially higher rate in 2004. Turkey now has the 22nd largest economy in the world. Excellent value front line properties with high capital growth potential What is really attracting interest from international property investors is the current value for money of properties in Turkey. The Turkish market still offers excellent quality properties at prices that most other locations o f a similar calibre could not offer 10 years ago. These prices, combined with the outstanding expected growth and powered by strong market drivers, offer property investors a unique opportunity. Over 25 million tourists visit Turkey each year and boost the property market A major indication of the current state of any property market is the tourist trade. In Turkey the tourist market is expanding massively as the country gains more exposure in the international press. The possibility of it becoming an EU member country is slowly beginning to take hold. Current demand for Turkey is reflected in the 25 million tourists it attracts per annum. This translates into solid rental yields by buy-to-let investors who purchase in the best tourist locations. Golf tourism evolving in Antalya, making golf investments more valuable Golf has been a strong market driver in many successful property markets around the world for many years. Spain has used golf to generate a very strong secondary season with thousands of golfers flocking to its shores to play golf during a time when they can’t play their sport at home. With golf being so popular around the world many developments are now being constructed around or near golfing facilities. Turkey and namely Antalya is no different. Turkey offers a modern infrastructure Many emerging markets have limited infrastructure and this is always a roblem that can stunt development. However Turkey has a solid and modern infrastructure that is rapidly growing in line with its economy, tourism and property markets. Turkey is considered to be a highly dynamic country by the World Trade Organisation Turkey is a dynamic and emerging country equipped with a network of well-developed infrastructure and a g lobally competitive work force. Its unique position at the crossroads of the world trade routes and its proximity to the developing energy producing areas in the Caspian and Central Asia are factors that further raise its economic potential for the coming years. Turkey is also home to a thriving tourist industry and a fast growing property market, attracting huge international interest. Property prices are on the increase Land prices in Turkey are said to have doubled over the last 2 years. â€Å"A property that cost ? 35,000 in 2004 but starts from about ? 60,000 shows that prices have increased by as much as 30% in some areas but the build quality is of a high standard and, relatively speaking,  property in Turkey  remains a bargain. † (The Times Online February 2005). No capital gains tax Turkey also offers some tax incentives that are of high interest to property investors, such as its regulations regarding capital gains tax. If you sell your property after four years, there is no capital gains tax. Property that is sold before the period is over will be charged at the standard rate of income tax (between 15% and 35%), calculated on the difference between the buying and selling price. General economic overview The Turkish economy is composed of a mix of industry and commerce. Along with a traditional agriculture sector that still accounts for more than 35% of employment, it has a strong and rapidly growing private sector. However, the State still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. The largest industrial sector is textiles and clothing, which accounts for one-third of industrial employment; it faces stiff competition in international markets with the end of the global quota system. However, other sectors, notably the automotive and electronics industries, are rising in importance within Turkeys export mix. In 2004 GDP growth reached 9%. Inflation fell to 7. 7% in 2005 a 30-year low. Turkey offers a very competitive cost of living. This is another driving factor for tourists and those looking to re-locate. Money still goes much further in the warmer Turkish environment. A beer will cost you about â‚ ¬0. 60 and a meal in a restaurant starts at about â‚ ¬8. 00. (2005 Turkish Embassy information). INFORMATION ON TURKEY Turkish economy which is the 17th largest economy in the world, according to World Bank rankings with a GDP of US$800 billion. Turkeys dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that still accounts for about 25% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, and while the state remains a major participant in basic industry, banking, transport and communication, this role has been diminishing as Turkeys privatization program continues. Turkey is becoming increasingly appealing to foreign investors backed by positive macroeconomic trends and successive rounds of structural reforms realized in the past few years. General facts about Turkey Economy After a deep economic crisis in 2001, the Turkish economy entered into a rapid recovery period and grew 6. % annually on average and almost 50% cumulatively, from 2002 to 2007. Structural reforms, prudent macroeconomic policies, political stabilization and favourable conditions in international markets played an important role in this high growth performance. With the starting of the EU membership negotiation process on 3rd  of October, the EU perspective has strengthened and this contributed a more positive economic and political environment i n Turkey. This process also meant more harmonization with the EU laws and regulations that could boost further FDI flows to Turkey in the following years. The growth was expected to continue as long as Turkey remained strictly tied to the IMF-backed economic program but after twenty-seven straight quarters of positive growth, the Turkish economy contracted in Q4 2008. In September 2009, the Turkish government revised down its economic growth forecast to a 6% contraction for 2009 and 3. 5% growth in 2010. As of 2008, GDP amounted to roughly US$800 billion, making Turkey the 17th  largest economy in the world, according to World Bank rankings. The stock value of FDI stood at more than $180 billion at year-end 2009. Privatization sales are currently approaching $39 billion. Oil began to flow through the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline in May 2006, marking a major milestone that will bring up to 1 million barrels per day from the Caspian to market. Several gas pipelines also are being planned to help move Central Asian gas to Europe via Turkey. Financial markets and banking system also weathered the 2009 global financial crisis and did not suffer significant declines due to banking and structural reforms implemented during the countrys own financial crisis in 2001. Economic fundamentals are sound, but the Turkish economy has been facing more negative economic indicators in 2010 as the global economic slowdown continues to curb demand for Turkish exports. On the 1st  of January 2005, 6 digits (zeros) were dropped from the Turkish Lira (TL) denominations. Together with the TL, Kurus (Kr), which is a hundredth of TL 1, has become in use again. Income Distribution of income is relatively skewed with more than half of all income earned by the richest 20% of Turkish households. This distribution is more uneven in urban areas than in rural areas. One of the reasons for this inequality is the unemployment problem. As in many countries, creating jobs for a fast growing population is a major problem. Demography The population of Turkey is 72 million. Compared to other countries, Turkeys population is relatively young where about 37 million people are under the age of 35 and 40% are under the age of fifteen. The household number is around 17 million and the local civilian work force is about 25 million. The birth rate and the rate of population increase are high compared to many European countries. These factors make Turkey a promising market for many product and service sectors. Istanbul As Turkey’s major commercial center, Istanbul is home to half of Turkey’s top 500 companies and all of the country’s major media and advertising groups. It’s logistic and business links to the Black Sea and Central Asia, easy international access via air, sea, rail and road which make it easier to roll out a product from Istanbul to other parts of Turkey, are among the factors which make Istanbul one of the most promising cities in the world. Turkey Trade, Exports and Imports After experiencing an  economic  boom during 2002-2007, Turkey’s economy took a beating in 2008, following the global financial meltdown. One of the major issues that the country is facing is the declining exports to European countries. Turkey’s trade, exports and imports  were hit badly in the year 2008, when the trade deficit stood at -31%. Turkey has diversified its  economy  in the 2000s, following an active participation in exports to Europe and other Asian countries. The Turkish industry of late has started looking beyond the Middle East, but still lags behind its European counterparts. The industrial share of the Gross National Product (GNP) stood at 30% as of 2Q2009. Turkey’s major export products include clothes, electronics, automobiles and agricultural products. Other major products exported from Turkey include iron and steel, mineral fuels and oil, precious stones and tobacco. On the other hand, the major import  commodities  for Turkey include electrical equipment, mechanical appliances, optical instruments, iron and steel, and pharmaceutical products. Turkey’s major import partners are the USA, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland and the UK. Oil exports from Turkey in 2008 stood at 141,700 b/d, with oil imports at 783,800 b/d in the same period. The total exports amounted to $111 billion in 2009, which fell from its 2008 estimates of $140. 7 billion. The total  importsamounted to $134. 2 billion, according to the 2009 estimates, which again fell from the 2008 estimates of $193. 9 billion. Turkey Trade, Exports and Imports: Alternatives Turkey has started to explore alternative markets to counter the effects of the  financial  crisis. Exports to countries in Africa and Central Asia have increased tremendously. Trade with the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) has jumped by more than 50% in 2008. FDI from the Middle East countries increased to almost $2 billion in 2008. Exports to Iraq increased by 75% in 1Q2009, and  trade  relations with Africa are expected to strengthen in 2010. Turkey  (Turkish:  Turkiye), known officially as the  Republic of Turkey  (  Turkiye Cumhuriyeti  (help ·info)), is a  Eurasian  country  that stretches across the  Anatolian  peninsula in  western Asia  and  Thrace  in the  Balkan  region of  southeastern Europe. Turkey is one of the six independent  Turkic states. Turkey is bordered by eight countries:  Bulgaria  to the northwest;  Greece  to the west;  Georgia  to the northeast;Armenia,  Azerbaijan  (the  exclave  of  Nakhchivan) and  Iran  to the east; and  Iraq  and  Syria  to the southeast. The  Mediterranean Sea  andCyprus  are to the south; the  Aegean Sea  to the west; and the  Black Sea  is to the north. The  Sea of Marmara, the  Bosphorus  and theDardanelles  (which together form the  Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between  Eastern Thrace  and  Anatolia; they also separateEurope  and  Asia. [6]  Turkeys location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of significant geostrategic importance. [7][8] The predominant religion by number of people is  Islamabout 97% of the population, the second by number of people is  Christianity0,6%, according to the  World Christian Encyclopedia. 9]  The countrys official language is  Turkish, whereas  Kurdish  and  Zazaki  languages are spoken by  Kurds  and  Zazas, who comprise 18% of the population. [10] Turks  began migrating into the area now called Turkey (land of the Turks) in the eleventh century. The process was greatly accelerated by the Seljuk victory over the  Byzantine Empire  at the  Battle of Manzikert[11]. Several small  beyliks  and the  Seljuk Sultanate of Rum  ruled Anatolia until the  Mongol Empires invasion. Starting from the thirteenth century, the  Ottoman beylik  united Anatolia and created an empire encompassing much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. After the  Ottoman Empire  collapsed following its defeat inWorld War I, parts of it were occupied by the victorious  Allies. A cadre of young military officers, led by  Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, organized a successful resistance to the Allies; in 1923, they would establish the modern Republic of Turkey with Ataturk as its first president. Turkey is a  democratic,  secular,  unitary,  constitutional republic, with an ancient cultural heritage. Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the  West  through membership in organizations such as the  Council of Europe,  NATO,  OECD,  OSCE  and the  G-20 major economies. Turkey began  full membership negotiations  with the  European Union  in 2005, having been an  associate member  of theEuropean Economic Community  since 1963 and having reached a  customs union agreement  in 1995. Turkey has also fostered close cultural, political, economic and industrial relations with the  Middle East, the  Turkic states  of  Central Asia  and the  African  countries through membership in organizations such as the  Organisation of the Islamic Conference  and the  Economic Cooperation Organization. Given its strategic location, large economy and army, Turkey is classified as a  regional power. [12][13]

Williamson Mortgage Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Williamson Mortgage Inc - Case Study Example The fact that the president has accepted to buy the mortgage at the market price that will prevail at that time exposes Jennifer to risk of losing if the interest rate at that time goes beyond 5.5%. An increase in the interest rate with even a 0.5% to 6.0% on the market prices will mean that Jennifer will have to sell the bonds and earn a profit but a decrease will mean the reverse. Jennifer may have to pay in to cater for the drop in rates. It is therefore the uncertainty of the market on aspects of risk on the interest rates that could affect Jennifer’s business prospects (Billingsley, Gitman & Joehnk, 2013). This uncertainty may either bring loss or profit to her business especially considering a rise or a fall in the future value of money, owing to affecting factors such as inflation as well as rates of interest. For the purposes of hedging this risk, Jennifer needs o consider the history of the market rates and their fluctuation levels, considering these, she should be in position to establish an average that can help her have the market fluctuations taken care of (Billingsley, Gitman & Joehnk, 2013). The interest rate that she offers to the cousin could also remain unaffected if it is placed among a margin that will prevent her from burning her capital. Considering the interest of the Treasury bond, she can also make the Treasury bond and consider the fluctuations and see if they can help her cover her interest and profit. The use of treasury bonds could provide an option for Jennifer to explore. The treasury bonds can help her raise the money to facilitate her mortgage business but the uncertainty of the markets too could affect them. Unless if the interest rate specified ensures that at that time Jennifer will remain in position to facilitate the mortgage to the cousin and still make, some profit on the interest then

Physician Assisted Suicide Should Be Legalized Essay

Physician Assisted Suicide Should Be Legalized - Essay Example Under such circumstances, some of these patients would decide to die rather than continue to live under these conditions. At this stage, in order to ease their ongoing pain, few of the patients request assistance from their physicians (Blank & Bonnicksen, 1994). The patients who ask for such favours do not fall into simple diagnostic categories. The spectrum of patients who has been asking for this favour is very wide and the range of physicians’ response is equivalent to nothing when compared. Yet each request can be compelling and their ongoing life is miserable. Few of the examples include a person who is suffering from AIDS from eight years and as a result, has lost his sight and also losing his memory; a mother with seven children suffering from ovarian cancer, who can no longer eat and has bedsores on her abdomen (Blank, Bonnicksen, 1994). These are the sort of cases for which the physician assisted suicide must become legal. Supportive argument Physician assisted suicid e is part of Euthanasia. In 1985, the Dutch Government Commission has defined this as the deliberate act in which the patient’s life is terminated on the request of the patient by a physician. The same government defines physician-assisted suicide as the act in which the patient takes the lethal drugs her or himself. According to the Oregon Death with Dignity Act 1994, physician-assisted suicide is defined as â€Å"the prescription of a lethal dose of medication for a person with a terminal illness (Dees, Dassen, Dekkers & Weel, 2010). In 1994, the state of Oregon, USA, has legalized the physician-assisted suicide. In this year, 0.12 % of the annual death rate was recorded by this process. In Belgium, when physician-assisted suicide was legalized in 2002, 0.3 % of the annual deaths were labelled under its title (Lachman, 2010). The above discussed statistics show that physician assisted suicide has not affected the overall death rate of the states. It can also be concluded t hat the process was used only in the dire situation for deserving patients. Other than this, in Physician Assisted suicide: Compassionate Liberation or Murder, Lachman (2010) states that the legalization of assisted death has shown significant improvements in the level of communication between the patient and the physicians and in palliative care training for the physicians. In order to reduce the influence of assisted suicide in the wrong direction, certain implications can be used such as raising the retirement age; this will help the older people to remain active for a longer period of time. This will also help the older people to continue with their contribution to the society and a fewer number of people will suffer from the long period of decline before death. Other than this, a considerable time must be given to the patient between the oral and the written request. In case, it is seen that the patient can turn down his request by the help of psychological counselling, it must be provided to him/her. Most importantly, the patient who is opting for physician assisted suicide must be the resident of the state. Any case from outside the state must not be catered. Due to such implications, it will be made sure that the suicide assistance is given only to the deserving patients. Counter argument At first, assisted suicide seems to be a

The troubled history of the Airbus A380 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

The troubled history of the Airbus A380 - Essay Example In addition, Soft Systems Methodology allows to identify analyze multiple levels of the problem with purpose of finding the most effective solutions that take into account relationships and dependencies that might not be clearly seen using the Hard Systems Methodology. The analysis and evaluation have shown that the role of systems and operations management is underestimated by Airbus management in the process of managing separate projects and overall business operations. In addition, effective systems and operations management strategies have not been integrated within the company well enough due to lack of organization, strong leadership and communication, among other factors. Business process reengineering, total quality management, Lean and Six Sigma approaches to improvement have been analyzed with the purpose of determining the most effective for Airbus to use. The analysis has shown that business process reengineering would be the most appropriate for Airbus approach because i t implies implementing radical changes within rather narrow time frames. Rapid changes, in their turn, show to be the most effective in attempts to radically improve organizational performance. It is recommended that Airbus uses business process reengineering approach for improving its systems and operations management. Furthermore, decision making and supporting systems, such as transaction processing systems, management information systems and decision support systems should be incorporated into organizational operations in order to align information systems and operations management of the company. Introduction Airbus is, as the company writes about itself, a technology-oriented organization that created its first jet in 1974 (Airbus.com, 2011). In 1991 the company started working an idea of creating a super-large passenger aircraft. The jet would become the largest airplane ever made. Consequently, the work on its creation was sure to be complex and demanding. However, it took t he company 14 years, since 1993 when Airbus started working of the development of the ‘super jumbo’, for the new aircraft to take off in full service in 2007 (Slack, Chambers and Johnstone, 2010). As Slack, Chambers and Johnstone (2010) report, it took the company so many years to, finally, complete the project, because of a number of problems within the organization. Most of them, such as weak organization of production processes, poor leadership or use of incompatible software by different departments, are related to of systems and operations management practices of Airbus. Therefore, the goal of the given report is to determine and analyze how systems and operations management concepts are used by the company and how systems and operations management is integrated into the business. Soft Systems Methodology will be used for analyzing the situation and making recommendations about how the Airbus information systems and operations management should be updated to suppor t and improve their business efficiency. Furthermore, people, technology and organisational issues involved in improving the operations at Airbus will be assessed and analyzed in order to clarify how in particular Airbus can improve its business processes through the update and improvement

Anti-inflammatory Function of Gut Macrophages

Anti-inflammatory Function of Gut Macrophages Colonic mucosa is a very peculiar immunological site daily exposed to a huge amount of harmless antigens. It is important for the immune system to be able to recognize this innocuous antigens from pathogens. Among all the immune cells, CX3CR1+ macrophages exploit this critical role. In this commentary on our recent publication on Immunobiology (Non-redundant role of the chemokine receptor CX3CR1 in the anti-inflammatory function of gut macrophages(1)we want to highlight the crucial and unique role of these macrophages in order to maintain homeostasis and avoid the rise of aberrant inflammation and tissue damage. The intestine is an exclusive tissue able to maintain balance between the immune system activation and the tolerance against the very huge amount of harmless antigens that are in contact with the intestinal lumen, including food antigens and microflora. It is fundamental for our health that our immune system is able to respond with a robust and appropriate response to potential dangerous antigens; but the same reaction against harmless antigens, like commensal bacteria or dietary proteins, could be very dangerous and could give rise to allergies or chronic inflammation that, in the end, can lead to tissue damage or cancer development. Many immune cells participate to the maintenance of the homeostasis in gut, with the role of understanding how an antigen is a potential danger for the organism and being silenced in response to commensal bacteria and food antigens. This complex landscape includes T and B lymphocytes, natural killer cells, innate lymphoid cells, eosinophils and mononuclear phagocytes: dendritic cells and macrophages. Among the latter, monocyte-derived macrophages, expressing the CX3CR1 receptor, constitute the most abundant population (2). The manuscript by Marelli et al., is focused on the role of CX3CR1+ macrophages in both steady state and acute colitis. In the last few years intensive research has been performed in order to clarify the role of these immune cells in the maintenance of homeostasis, but still, contrasting results have been reported regarding their role in the control of inflammatory response in the intestine (3,4). Considering this confused landscape, our paper aimed to clarify the role of CX3CR1+ cells in the development of acute colitis. By using mice lacking the receptor (CX3CR1GFP/GFP mice) we demonstrated that the absence of CX3CR1 on gut macrophages leads to a more severe degree of DSS-induced colitis, higher colon infiltration of inflammatory macrophages and Th17 lymphocytes and higher expression of inflammatory cytokines. Macrophages in the intestinal mucosa are considered mononuclear phagocytes that originate from a common myeloid progenitor which can differentiate also into dendritic cells (5). In contrast to others resident macrophages, they are continuously replenished from blood stream Ly6C+ monocytes, independently from the CX3CR1 receptor (6). This issue caused considerable misunderstanding in the past, generating the belief that these cells were dendritic cells (7,8). However, today it is recognized that Ly6Chi monocytes are recruited in the mucosa and there, in few days, they differentiate in mature macrophages, progressively loosing Ly6C and starting to express typical markers, such as F4/80, CD64, MHCII and CX3CR1 (6). As highlighted before, different authors investigated the role of CX3CR1+ gut macrophages with controversial outcomes. CX3CR1+ macrophages are supposed to maintain homeostasis in the gut (9). In accordance with this concept, our data revealed an exacerbated intestinal inflammation with a huge accumulation of macrophages in CX3CR1-KO mice. As reported also by different authors, (3,10) the natural consequence of the accumulation of macrophages is an increased production of cytokines, and hence a higher recruitment of immune cells in the colon, in particular T lymphocytes of the Th17 subset. On the contrary, other authors (4) suggested that the lack of the receptor impairs macrophages accumulation in the lamina propria. Moreover they suggested that the engagement of the receptor by its unique ligand (Fracktalkine/CX3CL1) resulted in an intensification of iNOS production, an inflammatory enzyme. Our data, instead, clearly demonstrate that the absence of the receptor increases the level of iNOS and of many other pro-inflammatory cytokines. This is a tissue-specific competence of the intestine, being colon ic resident macrophages an exemption from the rules. Indeed, in other tissues, the expression of CX3CR1 receptor is associated with a pro-inflammatory phenotype (11,12). In support of our data it is important to underline that, in the gut, CX3CR1 macrophages are fundamental to bring antigens and present them to DC in order to establish oral tolerance. When this mechanism is missing due to the lack of the receptor, the immune system is activated and this results in an acute inflammatory response (8). We have shown in Marelli et al. that if the CX3CR1 receptor is lacking, the ability of these cells to control inflammation is lost. Of note, CX3CR1-KO macrophages try counter-balance this aberrant situation by producing more IL-10, a major immune-suppressive and anti-inflammatory cytokine. In spite of this increase, IL-10 is not sufficient to control the inflammatory disease and mice have an exacerbated colitis. Overall, with our study we wanted to propose a definitive protective and anti-inflammatory role of CX3CR1+ macrophages during the processes of acute colitis; this concept may shed light also on the role of these cells in other pathological conditions of the gut associated with persistent inflammation. Our study established that macrophages expressing the functional CX3CR1 receptor have a non-redundant role in the control of aberrant intestinal inflammation, a harmful condition that may lead to tissue injury. CX3CR1 receptor expressed on intestinal macrophages is able to control colitis, avoiding the rise of aberrant inflammation. When the receptor is missing, the balance in the gut is broken, leading these cells to produce a huge amount of cytokines. Feeling the higher level of inflammation, CX3CR1 macrophages attempt to limit it by producing more IL-10, however this is not sufficient and the result is a higher accumulation of inflammatory Th17 lymphocytes and increased tissue injury.

Video Games Essay -- Technology Electronics Entertainment Essays

Video Games I. The Video or Computer Game Industry The now multi-billion dollar video game industry starting slowly. In 1972, Atari developed Pong, a simple tennis-like game played on the television screen. Pongwas followed by Space Invadersin 1978 (Griffiths 223). Since then, thousands of games are available over the Internet, on CDROM for personal computers, hand-held units, and television console units like Playstation, Nintento, and Sega. Further, the market has developed beyond just entertainment, now providing educational games that make learning fun. Commercially successful titles sell around 350,000 copies and a few go beyond sales of one million units (Sanchez-Crespo Dalmau 3). Top selling games like Myst (for PCs) and Final Fantasy (for consoles) have sold over six million units (Sanchez-Crespo Dalmau 3). II. Video Games and an Overview of How They Work Put simply, video games are interactive entertainment with sophisticated graphics and speed. They challenge the player’s mental agility, as in games like Myst and it’s sequel Riven (where players solve puzzles and obtain fragments of a story to complete the game) and/or hand-eye agility, like All-Star Baseball, Combat Flight Simulator, and Mortal Combat, typically at increasing levels of difficulty, with some games taking over 100 hours to complete. Although not all games involve opponents and competition, games that are played off-line (not connected to the Internet) allow players to interact with the â€Å"virtual† inhabitants of the game. Games that can be played on-line, facilitate multi-player interactivity and competition over the Internet. Once a video game is loaded, either from CDROM or downloaded from the Internet, the player can ente... ... Griffiths, Mark. â€Å"Computer Game Playing in Early Adolescence.† Youth and Society. (1997): 223-235. Funk, Jeanne B., et al. â€Å"Rating Electronic Games: Violence Is in the Eye of the Beholder.† Youth and Society. 30.2 (1999): 283-213. Peckham, Virginia. â€Å"Well-Connected.† Curriculum Administrator. 36.11 (2000): 26-32. 7 pp. 15 Nov. 2001 Perry, Tekla S. and Paul Wallich. â€Å"Video Games.† McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology 8th ed. 1997. Pooley, Eric. â€Å"Portrait of a Deadly Bond.† Time. 10 May 1999: 26-32. Quittner, Joshua. â€Å"Are Video Games Really So Bad?.† Time. 10 May 1999: 50-58. Seid, Nancy. â€Å"Why War Games Aren’t Child’s Play.† Parents. Nov 2000: 167-174. Tedeschi, Bob. â€Å"Information Overload.† Parents. Nov 2000: 167-174.