Killer Whale (Orca) Facts

With their striking black and white markings and prevalence at marine parks, the killer whale, also known as the orca or Orcinus orca, is probably one of the most easily-recognized cetacean species. The largest of the dolphin species, orcas live in oceans and seas around the world and can grow to 32 feet long and weigh up to six tons. The name killer whale originated with whalers, who called the species whale killer because of its tendency to prey on whales along with other species such as pinnipeds and fish. Over time, perhaps because of the whales tenacity and ferocity in hunting, the name was switched to killer whale. Fast Facts: Killer Whales (Orcas) Scientific Name: Orcinus orcaCommon Name(s): Killer whale, orca, blackfish, grampusBasic Animal Group:  Mammal  Ã‚  Size:16–26 feetWeight: 3–6 tonsLifespan: 29–60 yearsDiet:  CarnivoreHabitat:  All oceans and most seas with a preference for northern latitudesPopulation:  50,000Conservation  Status:  Data Deficient Description Killer whales, or orcas, are the largest member of the Delphinidae—the family of cetaceans known as the dolphins. Dolphins are a type of toothed whale, and members of the Delphinidae family share several characteristics—they have cone-shaped teeth, streamlined bodies, a pronounced beak (which is less pronounced in orcas), and one blowhole, rather than the two blowholes found in baleen whales. Male killer whales can grow to a maximum length of 32 feet, while females can grow to 27 feet in length. Males weigh up to six tons while females can weigh as little as three tons. An identifying characteristic of killer whales is their tall, dark dorsal fin, which is much larger in males—a males dorsal fin can reach a height of six feet, while a females dorsal fin can reach a maximum height of about three feet. Males also have larger pectoral fins and tail flukes. All killer whales have teeth on both their top and bottom jaws—48 to 52 teeth in total. These teeth can be up to 4 inches long. Although toothed whales have teeth, they dont chew their food—they use their teeth for capturing and tearing food. Young killers whales get their first teeth at 2 to 4 months of age. Researchers identify individual killer whales by the size and shape of their dorsal fins, the shape of the saddle-shaped, light patch behind the dorsal fin, and marks or scars on their dorsal fins or bodies. Identifying and cataloging whales based on natural markings and characteristics is a type of research called photo-identification. Photo-identification allows researchers to learn about the life histories, distribution, and behavior of individual whales, and more about species behavior and abundance as a whole.   wildestanimal/Getty Images Habitat and Range Killer whales are often described as the most cosmopolitan of all cetaceans. They can be found in all oceans of the world, and not just in the open ocean—near shore, at the entrance to rivers, in semi-enclosed seas, near the equator, and in polar regions covered with ice. In the United States, orcas are most commonly found in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Diet Killer whales are at the top of the food chain and have very diverse diets, feasting on fish, penguins, and marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales, employing teeth that can be four inches long. They are known to grab seals right off the ice. They also eat fish, squid, and seabirds. Gerard Soury/Getty Images Behavior Killer whales may work in pods to hunt their prey and have a number of interesting techniques to hunt prey, which includes working together to create waves to wash seals off ice floes and sliding onto beaches to capture prey. Killer whales use a variety of sounds for communicating, socializing and finding prey. These sounds include clicks, pulsed calls, and whistles. Their sounds are in the range of 0.1 kHz to about 40 kHz. Clicks are primarily used for echolocation, although they may also be used for communication. The pulsed calls of killer whales sound like squeaks and squawks and appear to be used for communication and socialization. They can produce sounds very rapidly—at a rate of up to 5,000 clicks per second. You can hear killer whale calls here on the Discovery of Sound in the Sea website. Different populations of killer whales make different vocalizations, and different pods within these populations may even have their own ​dialect. Some researchers can distinguish individual pods, and even matrilines (the line of relationship that can be traced from one mother to her offspring), just by their ​calls. Danita Delimont/Getty Images Reproduction and Offspring Killer whales reproduce slowly: Mothers give birth to a single baby about every three to 10 years, and pregnancy lasts for 17 months. Babies nurse for up to two years. Adult orcas generally help mothers to care for their young. While young orcas may separate from their birth pod as adults, many stay with the same pod throughout their lives. Male and female orcas. Kerstin Meyer / Getty Images Threats Orcas, like other cetaceans, are threatened by a range of human activities including noise, hunting, and habitat disturbance. Other threats faced by killer whales include pollution (orcas can carry chemicals such as PCBs, DDTs and flame retardants that can affect the immune and reproductive systems), ship strikes, reduction of prey due to overfishing, and loss of habitat, entanglement, ship strikes, irresponsible whale watching, and noise in the habitat, which can affect the ability to communicate and find prey. Conservation Status The International Union for Conservation of Nature had, for years, described orcas a conservation dependent. They changed that assessment to data deficient in 2008 to recognize the probability that different species of killer whales experience different levels of threat. Species Killer whales were long considered one species—Orcinus orca, but now it appears that there are several species (or at least, subspecies—researchers are still figuring this out) of orcas. As researchers learn more about orcas, they have proposed separating the whales into different species or subspecies based on genetics, diet, size, vocalizations, location and physical appearance. In the Southern Hemisphere, proposed species include those referred to as Type A (Antarctic), large type B (pack ice killer whale), small Type B (Gerlache killer whale), Type C (Ross Sea killer whale), and Type D (Subantarctic killer whale). In the Northern Hemisphere, proposed types include resident killer whales, Biggs (transient) killer whales, offshore killer whales, and Type 1 and 2 Eastern North Atlantic killer whales.   Determining species of killer whales is important not only in gaining information about the whales but in protecting them—it is difficult to determine the abundance of killer whales without even knowing how many species there are. Killer Whales and Humans According to Whale and Dolphin Conservation, there were 45 killer whales in captivity as of April 2013. Due to protection in the U.S. and restrictions on trade, most parks now obtain their killer whales from captive breeding programs. This practice has even been controversial enough that SeaWorld stated in 2016 that it would stop breeding orcas.  While the viewing of captive orcas has likely inspired thousands of budding marine biologists and helped scientists learn more about the species, it is a controversial practice due to the potential effects on the whales health and ability to socialize naturally. Sources â€Å"Orcas: Killer Whales Are the Larges Dolphin Species.†Ã‚  Orcas (Killer Whales): Facts and Information, 25 Mar. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/o/orca/.NOAA. â€Å"Killer Whale.†Ã‚  NOAA Fisheries, www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/killer-whale.â€Å"Orca.†Ã‚  National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Orca.

Relationship Between Organizational Culture And Its Impact...

Postner and Munson (1979), identified values as being the things that matter to us or what we consider to be the right thing and Sullivan, Sullivan and Buffton (2002) suggest that it is our values that drives our behaviour, inform our decision making and actions. Rokeach (1973) made a differentiation between personal and social values. Personal values relate to our personal goals e.g. inner harmony whereas social values reflect our goals for society e.g. equality, being treated with dignity and respect. Davies et al (2007) identified that values together with our assumptions, attitudes and beliefs is what defines cultures. The evidence linking values and culture to quality improvements and quality care is conflicting. In a study examining†¦show more content†¦A common thread in their work is factors that affect motivation and needs that must be satisfied. Postner and Munson (1979) believed that understanding values was a pre-requisite of understanding motivation. Sullivan, Sullivan and Buffton (2002) similarly identified values as being a key driver of motivation and recognised that by achieving an overlap between individual and organisational values a sense of meaningfulness can be attached to work roles. The importance of empowering staff to make autonomous decisions within an organisations values framework and providing recognition for work has been identified as motivating components that support staff to find meaningfulness and fulfilment at work (Pink, 2009). Branson (2008) highlighted the importance of aligning individual and organisation values. This alignment can drive the development of an organisational culture that is framed by what it values e.g. patient safety, clinical effectiveness and patient experience. How well our values align with organisational values can influence how we feel which in turn affects our attitudes and how we behave (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman and Johnson, 2005). When values are aligned and where staff find meaningfulness in their work, evidence suggests that they are more committed and engaged (Kahn,

Night Creature Crescent Moon Chapter 1 Free Essays

A life spent fulfilling a vow to a dead man is really no life at all, but I’d loved Simon Malone, and I’d promised. I’m a zoologist by trade, a cryptozoologist by choice. If I’d followed my training, I’d be holed up in a zoo or worse, studying giraffes and pygmy goats. We will write a custom essay sample on Night Creature: Crescent Moon Chapter 1 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Instead, I trace rumors of mythical animals and try to prove they exist. A frustrating exercise. There’s a reason no one’s captured a Bigfoot They don’t want to be found, and they’re a lot better at hiding than anyone on earth is at seeking. Or at least that’s my theory, and I’m sticking to it Most cryptozoologists attempt to find undiscovered species or evolutionary wonders – real animals, nothing paranormal about them – but not me. Nope. I’d made that vow. Foolish, but when a woman loves a man the way that I loved Simon, she does foolish things, especially when he’s dying in her arms. So I follow every legend, every folk tale, every scrap of information, trying to uncover something mythical and prove it real. Though I’ve never believed in magic, my husband did, and the only thing I’ve ever believed in was him. I was having very little luck with my quest until the night the phone rang at 3:00 A.M. Insomnia and a very empty checking account made me answer it despite the hour. â€Å"Hello?† â€Å"Dr. Malone?† The voice was male, a bit shaky, old or perhaps ill. â€Å"Not yet† I needed to find a cryptid – translation: unknown animal – prove its existence, write a thesis. Then I could attach those lovely letters – Ph.D. – at the end of my name. But since the whole vow incident, I’d been too busy chasing lake monsters and Sasquatch clones to spend time finding a new breed of anything. â€Å"Is this Diana Malone?† â€Å"Yes. Who’s this?† â€Å"Frank Tallient† The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why. â€Å"Have we met?† â€Å"No. I got your number from Rick Canfield.† Swell. The last guy who’d said those immortal words, â€Å"You’re fired.† Rick was a lawyer who’d gone on a fishing trip with a bunch of other lawyers near Lake of the Woods, Minnesota. In the middle of the night he’d seen something in the lake. Something slick and black and very, very big. Being a lawyer, he was smart enough to know he shouldn’t tell the others he’d lost his mind. Not yet. Instead, he’d gone home, searched the Internet, and made some phone calls, trying to find someone to help him discover if what he’d seen had been real or imagined. He’d found me. â€Å"Rick thought you’d be free to help me,† Tallient continued. I was free all right Unemployed. Again. A common occurrence in my life. I was very good at looking for things, not so good at actually finding them. However, I was one of the few cryptozoologists willing to travel on a whim for cash. I wasn’t associated with a university – not anymore. Not since Simon had gone over the edge, tarnishing both his reputation and my own. I depended on the kindness of strangers – hell, let’s be honest and just call them strange – to fund my expeditions. Until tonight, I’d been fresh out of both. â€Å"Since you didn’t locate Nessie – † Tallient began. â€Å"Nessie’s the Loch Ness Monster. I was searching for Woody.† Which was the name Rick had bestowed on the thing. ; People have no originality when naming lake beasts, always opting for some variation of the body of water they supposedly resided in. Typically, the moment I’d arrived at Lake of the Woods with my cameras and recorders whatever Rick might have seen had gone poof. If it had ever been there in the first place. In my expert opinion, an obscenely large muskie was responsible for the tales, not a supernatural lake monster, but I hadn’t been able to prove that, either. â€Å"I have a job for you,† Tallient continued. ‘I’m listening.† I had no choice. Though my parents were incredibly wealthy, they thought I was nuts and had stopped speaking to me the instant I married Simon. After all, what could a handsome, brilliant, up-and-coming zoologist from Liverpool see in a not-very-pretty, far too sturdy grad student unless it was her parents’ millions? He already had a green card. That Simon had told them exactly what they could do with their money had only made me love him more. In truth, I fit into Simon’s world better than I’d ever fit in my own. I stood five-foot-ten in my bare feet; on a good day I weighed a hundred and seventy. I liked the out-of-doors – didn’t mind dirt or sun, wind or rain. I’d joined the Girl Scouts just so I could camp. I’d done pretty much anything and everything I could think of to emphasize my differences from the never-too-rich, never-too-thin lifestyle of my mother. â€Å"Can you access the Internet?† Tallient asked. â€Å"Hold on.† I tapped my laptop, which sprang from asleep to awake much quicker than I ever did. â€Å"OK.† Tallient recited a www-dot address. An instant later, a newspaper article spilled across my screen. † ‘Man Found Dead in a Swamp,'† I read. â€Å"Not unusual.† Swamps were notorious dumping grounds for bodies. If the muck didn’t take them, the alligators would. â€Å"Keep going.† â€Å"Throat torn. Feral dogs. Huh.† I accessed the next page. â€Å"Child missing. Coyotes. No body. Seems straightforward.† â€Å"Not really.† Tallient recited a second address, and I read some more. â€Å"Wolf sightings.† My heart increased in tempo. Wolves had been Simon’s specialty; they’d turned into his obsession. Now they were mine. â€Å"Where is this?† I demanded. â€Å"New Orleans.† If possible, my heart beat even faster. Once red wolves had roamed the Southeast from the Atlantic to the Gulf and west to Texas. They’d been sighted as far norm as Missouri and Pennsylvania. But in 1980 the red wolf had been declared extinct in the wild. In 1987 they’d been reintroduced, but only in North Carolina. So†¦ â€Å"There aren’t any wolves in Louisiana,† I said. â€Å"Precisely.† â€Å"There’s a legend, though†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I struggled to remember it. â€Å"Honey Island Swamp monster.† ‘I doubt that Bigfoot-like footprints found thirty years ago have any relationship to death, disappearance, and wolves where they aren’t supposed to be.† He had a point. â€Å"Could be an ABC,† I ventured. The acronym stood for â€Å"Alien Big Cat† – a cryptozoological label given to reports of out-of-place felines. Black panthers in Wisconsin. A jaguar in Maine. Happens a lot more than you’d think. Most of the tune ABCs were explained away as exotic animals released into the woods when they became too hard to handle or too big to fit in an apartment Funny thing was, no one ever found them. If they were pets, wouldn’t they be easy to catch? Wouldn’t their bones, or even their collars, turn up after a truly wild animal killed them? Wouldn’t there be at least one record of an ABC being hit by a truck on the interstate? But there wasn’t. â€Å"This is a wolf, not a cat,† Tallient said. I was impressed with his knowledge of cryptoterminology but too caught up in the mystery unfolding before my eyes to compliment him on it â€Å"Same principle,† I murmured. â€Å"Could be someone dumped a wolf in the swamp. Nothing special about it† Except wolves weren’t vicious. They didn’t attack people. Unless they were starving, wolf-dog hybrids, or rabid. None of which were a good thing. â€Å"There’ve been whispers of wolves in and around New Orleans for years,† he continued. â€Å"How many years?† â€Å"At least a hundred.† â€Å"What?† Tallient chuckled. â€Å"I thought you’d enjoy that. The disturbances don’t seem to occur in any particular month, or even a common season. But they always happen during the same lunar phase.† â€Å"Full moon,† I guessed. No matter what the skeptics say, full moons drive people and animals wacko. Ask anyone who’s ever worked in an emergency room, psych ward, or county zoo. â€Å"Not full,† Tallient said. â€Å"Crescent† I glanced at the thin, silver, smiling moon visible from my window. â€Å"What was the date on those articles?† ‘†¢May.† I frowned. Five months ago. â€Å"Since then?† â€Å"Nothing.† â€Å"Could be because the bodies weren’t found.† â€Å"Exactly. Things that hunt under a certain phase of the moon do so every month. They can’t help themselves.† I wasn’t sure about â€Å"things,† but I was sure about animals. They were nothing if not creatures of habit. â€Å"A body was found yesterday,† Tallient continued. â€Å"Hasn’t hit the papers yet.† I looked at the moon again. Guess I was right â€Å"What’s your interest in this?† I asked. â€Å"Cryptozoology fascinates me. I’d love to go on an expedition, but I’m†¦ not well.† I stood. My feet literally itched. I bounced on my toes as excitement threatened to make me jump at this chance. I had to remember What seemed too good to be true often was. â€Å"You want to pay me to find a wolf where a wolf isn’t supposed to be. Once I do, then what?† â€Å"Trap it and call me.† Not an unusual request in my line of work. The people who hired me usually did so in the hopes that they would become famous by revealing some mythical creature to the world, and they wanted to be the ones to do the revealing. I had no problem with that as long as the disclosure took place. All I wanted was to prove Simon hadn’t been crazy. â€Å"I can do that,† I agreed. â€Å"You do realize this isn’t just a wolf ?† I hoped not, but my hopes weren’t often realized. â€Å"They call it a loup-garou,† Tallient continued. â€Å"That’s French for – â€Å" â€Å"Werewolf.† The rush of adrenaline made me dizzy. Though I took jobs searching for any paranormal entity – beggars couldn’t be choosers – the true focus of my quest should have been a lycanthrope. As Simon’s had been. The only problem was, I just couldn’t believe. Even though my maiden name was O’Malley and my father’s family hailed from the land of leprechauns and fairies, in Boston, where I grew up, the only fanciful thing was the city’s rabid belief in a curse on the BoSox. In my youth there’d been no nonsense allowed – no Santa, no tooth fairy – I had to fight to read fiction. Which might explain why I fell so in love with a man who dreamed of magic. I glanced around our apartment near the campus of the University of Chicago. I hadn’t moved a book, hadn’t given away his clothes, hadn’t realized until just this moment how pathetic that was. ‘I find it strange,† Tallient continued, â€Å"that odd things happen under a crescent moon in the Crescent City, don’t you?† I found it more than strange. I found it irresistible. â€Å"Are you interested?† Why did he bother to ask? He had to have heard how Simon had died. He had to know Dr. Malone’s sterling reputation had wound up in tatters. Tallient might not be aware that I’d vowed to make everyone who’d scorned Simon eat their words, but he had to suspect it considering what I’d been doing in the four years since my husband had died. My gaze fell on the only picture I had of Simon – knee-deep in a Canadian lake, sum, scholarly, blond, and brilliant – his grin still made me yearn. My stomach flopped as it did every time I remembered he was gone forever. But his hopes, his dreams, his work, lived on in me. â€Å"I’ll be on a plane in the morning.† How to cite Night Creature: Crescent Moon Chapter 1, Essay examples

Enders Game Book Report free essay sample

To Lead In the novel Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, the main character Ender is put up against one of the toughest challenges on his life. He becomes aware of his challenge when he becomes a little older, yet before that, little did he know that he will have to save the world. Ender in Enders Game is portrayed as a natural leader and fighter who is a killer at heart and can use his understanding of the enemy and natural skill to kill to destroy them. However, once he understands his enemy, he also feels compassion for his enemy. And because of this compassion, he hates himself for destroying his enemy. At the beginning of the story, Ender lives with one mean older sibling named Peter who always bullies him. He also lives with a loving older sister named Valentine, and because he has two older siblings, he was considered a third. We will write a custom essay sample on Enders Game Book Report or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Ender and Peter were both competing to go to battle school in space, where they would learn to fight and destroy the buggers who want to destroy Earth. However, Ender was the only one to get accepted since Peter was too ruthless. Once in battle school Ender does very well for the time he was there and was promoted quickly. Soon, he was in Command school at a record young age. He does simulations of battles with the buggers and wins every single one of them. In the end he found out that the simulations were real and he had destroyed all the buggers but one, to whom he promised to let live in a safe place on a planet far away. Ender is characterized by his reactions in three key situations: When he is at home with his sister, in battle at the battle school, and with his enemies. In the beginning, Ender is living on Earth with his father, mother, brother, and sister. His brother treats him like he is an alien just because he was the third born child so he would pick on him, call him names, and even beat him up. Yet even though he could be mean too, his compassion for his sister kept him from becoming a monster like Peter. Ender never wanted to be a killer like Peter, but no matter what he told himself or where he was, he was actually a killer at heart. This is shown when Ender was playing a game on his computer. While he was playing the game, he kept dieing over and over again because he had no choice in the game. Nevertheless, after he got frustrated, he bore into the Giants eye in the game until it died. This shows that no matter how hard he tries he will always have the want to kill. This is shown when it said, I am a murderer even when I play, Peter would be proud of me. Not only was Ender a killer at heart, but also a natural leader in battle school. Ender started off as a launchy in battle school and got no respect. But soon, he was being promoted at an extreme rate. By the time his launchy friends became parts of armies, he was already a commander of an army. Ender was surrounded by kids twice his size since he was promoted so early. At first, it was very hard for him because he was so small. Soon though, he was at the top of the ranks with respect from all of the kids in the school, no matter how big or small. Ender learned quickly and perfectly, he could get almost anyone to follow him. Enders great leadership can be seen in this quote, The soldiers knew by now that Ender could be brutal in the way he talked to groups, but when he worked with an individual he was always patient, explaining as often as necessary, making suggestions quietly, listening to questions and problems and explanations. A final defining incident was between Ender and the Buggers. Ender was always being promoted, and after only a few years he was in command school where he would learn to command an army. He went through so called simulations of how fights with buggers would be which turned out to be real in the end. By the time he found out that they were real, he had already killed every single bugger on the bugger planet, all but one. He found this one baby queen bugger when the humans began to colonize the bugger planet. When he found it he understood the bugger race and promised to let it live on some remote planet. Once all the buggers were cleared off the planet and buildings were built Ender became the Minister of Colonization in the colony at a still young age. He was a great leader and learned quickly. This is revealed when Ender just arrived in the colony, it said He worked hard on the new world. He quickly understood the differences between military and civilian leadership, and governed by persuasion rather then fiat, and by working as hard as anyone at the tasks involved in setting up a self-sustaining economy. Ultimately, Ender in Enders Game was personified as a natural leader who can find a way to handle any situation. In our world today, a person as naturally talented and young as Ender could be an attribute yet also a problem. He is an attribute because he could become a great leader in our society today, such as a president. However, he is a problem because someone as young and skilled in leading armies as Ender could be persuaded into working for the wrong people. People like Ender would be valued in my world and would be considered a hero. In his own words, Ender said I am really a killer at heart, truly

Extended Project Dissertation Regenerative Medicine Essay Example

Extended Project Dissertation Regenerative Medicine Essay With the continued research going on into this new, potential way of curing many diseases that 20 years go we would never have thought could have been cured, can it do the same for the neurological condition, multiple sclerosis? And how effective is it in doing so? Many reports have come out of stem cells being effective in mice to cure the disease but with the many controversial points that come with the use of stem cells would alternative, existing methods be a better way of treating it? Are the instrumentation drugs of today more effective in treating the condition and are they a more realistic thing to be using? Also is it actually a good thing if we are finding new cures to all of these diseases? With he worlds population rapidly rising and resources running out to feed everybody and supply them all with energy, would it be better if we continued as we are and stopped playing God? These are the issues that will be discussing in this essay. Introduction and Research What is multiple sclerosis? An abnormal condition of a part, organ, or system of an organism resulting FRR mom various causes, such as infection, inflammation,environmental factors, or genetic defect, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs, symptoms, or both. Is the definition of a disease in an online free dictionary[l] and they effect peoples lives in in many ways, nearly all of them being bad and detrimental to both society, families and the world. They can be passed on by direct transf er of bacteria, viruses and other germs. We will write a custom essay sample on Extended Project Dissertation Regenerative Medicine specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Extended Project Dissertation Regenerative Medicine specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Extended Project Dissertation Regenerative Medicine specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer However they can be passed on by sex, either in the form of sexually transmitted diseases or by genetically passing down to offspring during fertilization. A disease that is linked to being both hereditary and environmental is the unrepresentative disease, Multiple Sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that affects the nervous system of the body, specifically in the brain and spinal cord Every river cell in the body is surrounded by a protective layer known as the myelin sheath which enables electrical impulses that travel around the body to reach their destination hundreds of times quicker than it would without one. If a person has Multiple Scleroses, MS, then this myelin is broken down partly and therefore messages are not sent to the brain or spinal cord as efficiently. This results in a sufferer or MS to experience potential symptoms such as: loss of vision, in one eye usually, uncontrollable muscle spasms and muscle stiffness, difficulties in balance and co-ordination and people find they often suffer room tiredness and fatigue. There are two main types of Multiple sclerosis that sufferers get. The first, relapsing remitting MS, occurs in approximately eight out of ten people that are diagnosed with MS are diagnosed with this form. Somebody with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis will have periods without suffering any of the symptoms usually associated with the disease, then they will suffer periods where the symptoms are severe and the patient may become partially blind or be unable to move. However, this period will pass and the sufferer will go back to almost normal again without showing any signs or having the disease. This period may last weeks, months or even years and this is why diagnosing this type of MS is so hard to do because of how irregular it is it can be mistaken for a number of temporary conditions and people dont report when they experience symptoms because they have had them before and was k. After 15 years of so, about half of people that have got relapsing remitting MS will go on to develop secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. This is much like the first form and people may still experience relapses but the symptoms will worsen over time and they may not fully recover from their relapse. Primary progressive MS is the least common type of sclerosis. This is where there are no periods of remission and symptoms just worsen over time with no break periods. Treatments for multiple sclerosis: Currently there is no cure for Multiple sclerosis but there are a number of treatments that can help Relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis can be treated with drugs called disease modifying drugs, these are not a cure for the disease but instead can reduce the severity of the symptoms in a sufferer and can reduce the number of relapses they have. However they are not suitable for all sufferers of Multiple Sclerosis. There are currently 10 licensed Dams (disease modifying drugs) [3] these are: Bugaboo (trinitrotoluene) oral tablet taken once a day. Available if patient has had at least two relapses in the past two years. Avenue (interferon beta-I a) -? Injection available if patient has had two relapses in the past two years. Beefeater (interferon beta-I b) available if patient has had two relapses in the past years, it is injected. Capstone (glitterati acetate) -? another injection available after two relapses in the same period of time. Octavia (beta interferon-I b) injection if patient has has 2 relapses in 2 years. Galilean (fondling) -? available if patient is still experiences despite treatment with one of the beta interferon. It is an oral tablet taken once a day. Elementary (lumberman) available for treating the active relapsing remitting form of multiple sclerosis. It is given to patient via a drip once a year. Pleurisy (vociferation beta la) injection for people living in Scotland for sufferers that have had 2 relapses in 2 years. Rebuff (beta interferon- 1 a) another injection available for patients suffering 2 relapses in the past 2 years. Deciders (timidity fumigate) used to treat active elapsing remitting MS. Approved by the NASH and became available in autumn 2014. It is a oral tablet that should be taken twice a day. Disability (nutritional) available if you have had 2 relapses in one year or if severity of relapses has increased once another DIM has been taken, given by drip monthly. There are also a wide range of other treatments available to treat multiple sclerosis. Physiotherapy can be used to make day to day living with MS more bearable and steroids can be given to patients to speed up recovery times from relapses. Causes of Multiple Sclerosis: Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune condition. This means that the bodys defense against harmful diseases (the immune system) is affected in some way and that causes the immune system to change from attacking foreign viruses to attacking healthy body tissue- in multiple sclerosis this is the healthy Myelin that surrounds nerve cells in the body. The myelin is broken down by the bodys own immune system, nervous impulses are less efficient in traveling to the bodys Central Nervous System. As a result of this, in the places where the myelin on the myelin sheath has been thinned or destroyed, a hard region or scar is left in its place, often referred to as a sclerosis. Where there is multiple Of these hardened scars on different places On the brain or spinal cord is where the autoimmune disease gets its name from- Multiple Sclerosis. The causes of Multiple sclerosis are currently unknown; however scientists believe the main causes of the disease are a combination of genetic and environmental factors and are putting the pieces of this complicated puzzle together [4]. Genetic factors- genes are pieces of genetic information that code for the production of proteins, molecules that are essential for many of the bodies vital functions. Occasionally come genes may be faulty ND produce defective proteins. This is the cause of many of the diseases we see today however this isnt what is believed to occur in multiple sclerosis. It is thought that individuals that are affected by MS have slight variations, called polymorphism, which are healthy genes that fit badly when combined together in DNA and thus cause healthy cells around it to be altered, especially cells involved in the bodys immune system. This bad combination of genes is then passed down through the generations by normal mechanism of inheritance and therefore there is a strong link of multiple sclerosis being hared within families. There are a few genes that have been identified to make people more likely to get MS, in particular the HAL (also known as major historiographys complex, as containing the most MS susceptible gene. These proteins are found on the surface of all body cells. They act as a messenger to the immune system telling the body whether a cell is foreign or part of the body and whether it should be attacked or not. These proteins are usually healthy and therefore there must be another reason for them being altered to become defective. Scientists believe this is down to environmental actors. One theory is that a virus that is usually lying dormant in the body may disturb the immune system and therefore cause the disease to develop. There is probably on one MS virus but actually a combination of a common virus such as measles that acts as a trigger for MS. This trigger activates white blood cells (lymphocytes) in the bloodstream, which enter the brain by making the brains defense mechanisms (I. . The blood/brain barrier) vulnerable. Once inside the brain, these cells activate other elements of the immune system in such a way that they attack and destroy myelin. It is also Hough that vitamin D, the vitamin we get from sunlight, is linked to the disease. There has been a correlation between people that receive low levels of vitamin D have a higher chance of developing MS. A number of studies have i ndicated that smoking is also linked to the development of Multiple Sclerosis. It is not clear why this happens however it has been theorized that chemicals in cigarettes may have some sort of effect on the immune system and may alter it. Smoking effect on the progression of multiple sclerosis is also being investigated as it could be the fact that smoking leads to the regression of the disease being quicker and it may cause relapses to be more often and more severe. It is estimated that around 100,000 people in the UK are suffering with Multiple sclerosis at this present time, with 2. Million Cases Of MS in the world. Every week in the United States there are 200 people diagnosed with MS so this is a disease that has worldwide influence and is a major problem worldwide however it is incurable, this needs to change. Although the disease is not fatal in itself, some complications that can arise from severe MS, such as pneumonia, can be. This means that in order to reduce the numbers of people and families offering with this terrible disease we as a race need to find a new way of treating it. This might be achieved through regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine: Regenerative medicine is the process by which scientists are able to restore normal bodily functions by repairing or replacing damaged or malfunctioning cells and tissues in cells[5] and although it is in its early stages of development, it is bringing huge advances in the field of medicine as it could provide the cure for many different diseases such as Multiple sclerosis, dementia, strokes, heart disease and many types of cancer. For example, the guardian reported a recent trial on 18 people suffering with two different types of muscular degeneration, the leading causes of blindness in adults and children in the world, Stardusts muscular dystrophy and dry atrophic age- related muscular degeneration[6]. The patients had embryonic stem cell therapy on their eyes and were cured of sight loss without any side effects. Whatever sources of potential bias the guardian may have, being a politically left leaning newspaper, the point still remains, stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine has and will continue to provide a big source of hope n the fight against many different deadly diseases. Regenerative medicine mainly comes in the form Of stem cell treatment, allowing scientists to use undifferentiated cells and turn them into any cell in the body to serve any function. This is a huge breakthrough in science and medicine as it enables anything to be made, it solves the problem of organ storage or a lack of organ donors, as hearts and lungs can just be grown in a lab and transplanted into the patient that requires them. Stem cell Research: In the early 1 sass, European researchers discovered that various types of load cells all came from a particular stem cells, however it was not until 1 963 that the particular type of self-renewing cells was first described in mice bone marrow cells by Canadian researchers Ernest A McCullough and James E Till [7]. Since that time there has been continued efforts to grow and differentiate adult animal and human stem cells in a lab. This was made a lot easier in the 1 sass and sass where there was an introduction of techniques for targeting and altering genetic material and methods for growing human cells in the laboratory. These advances really opened the doors for human tem cell research. The breakthrough came in 1998 when James Thompson, from the university of Wisconsin in Madison, successfully removed embryonic cells from a fertility clinic and cultivated them in a lab, this launched stem cell research into the limelight. Since then there has been plenty of further research that suggests that these embryonic stem cells can specialist into any cell in the human body which, if mastered, could open up a whole new world of new medicine that could change millions of peoples lives. As stem cells were only brought into the public attention in 1 998, the technology is still elatedly new and still in its youth. There have been no clinical trials of stem cell treatments as of yet however; adult stem cells are already being used in treatments for over one hundred conditions including leukemia, Hunters syndrome and heart disease. So stem cells are the answer to all of humanities works yes? Unfortunately that is not that case as this new technology does not come with many controversial parts with many people opposing to this potentially lifesaving new technology, the main point of controversy is the use Of embryonic stem cells and the ethical considerations behind that. In this document I will be discussing the main treatments of multiple sclerosis and relating it back to the question of is Regenerative Medicine the most effective way of treating Multiple Sclerosis? O I will evaluating whether other methods of treating multiple sclerosis is more effective than stem cell research then I will be coming to a conclusion at the end of the essay. Discussion Effectiveness of Stem Cell Treatment: The first issue to talk about is whether stem cells are an effective method of treating any disease and then to focus down on the specific disease we are looking at. There is no doubt that the discovery of these undifferentia ted, unspecified cells is a hugely promising unearthing, however are they a truly effective way of treatment? Do they actually do all the things that scientists promise they can do? And are they sustainable? Firstly, lets look at the plus sides of stem cells, what they can do that is beneficial to the body and what they can do to aid the recovery of a disease or illness. Diseases such as cancer or conditions such as birth defects are thought to occur because of problems in the differentiation process, an understanding of the development that appends in normal cells and stem cells will help scientists treat the developmental errors that can occur. This will help in two fields because we will know more about the development of cancers and birth defects as well as discovering more about how stem cells differentiate (to make or become different in the process of growth or development), and this will help us be able to use stem cells more effectively in turn at treating these problems, working in a positive feedback model. The next advantage of stem cells, according to website explore stem cells is that there is another potential application of cell based therapies [8]. This is when stem cells are used to grow specific cells and then are bound together using a mould to create a completely new organ or tissue. This is a huge advantage to stem cells as currently when a patient needs to new organ they get one transplanted from an organ donor. At this current time there is nowhere near the required amount of organ donors to supply the needs of people needing an organ transplant and with this new regenerative technique instead of waiting for a new organ to be donated, a new organ can be grown from scratch to fit into your body. This will dramatically reduce the amount of people dying whilst being on the waiting lists for an organ transplant. Stem cells can benefit those suffering from Parkinson disease, type 1 diabetes, arthritis, burn victims and people with cardiovascular diseases (the biggest killing disease in the UK- BBC) using this method of treatment. Stem cells also have the potential to reverse the effects of diseases. Stem cells are directed into differentiating into specific cell types, they can be fed into the body, providing a renewable resource of replacement cells for the patient. For example, people with heart ease can have stem cells differentiated into heart muscle cells to replace cells damaged by the disease, in Parkinson disease damaged brain cells can be reversed by replacing them with new healthy brain cells, reversing the effect of the disease. An even more exciting prospect is to address genetic defects that are present from birth by restoring function and health with the introduction of normal healthy cells that do not have these defects. Burn victims will, instead of suffering large amounts of pain from their injuries and instead of having to wait for donor tissues, they can have new healthy skin ells implanted onto the patient. Scientists are hoping to do this by growing skin cells in a lab from a very small piece of skin by triggering stem cells to differentiate outside the body so that large burn areas can be covered by a relatively small amount of initial skin cells. The final major benefit to stem cells research is that is provides a huge role in the pharmaceutical industry and is involved heavily in drug development. Any new drugs that are being tested for human consumption can be tested on human stem cells before they are released for their safety. This could be the case with a new anti- amour drug for example, and if the conditions that the drugs are tested in are in the correct conditions then the results could end up being very accurate and the drugs could be shown to be safe for human use and will help to treat people with life threatening diseases. The advantages of stem cells are well documented and for people with serious conditions could be a source Of major hope that one day they could be the cure for them. O it would seem as though stem cells are completely fine, effective and the answer to all of our prayers. This is not the case however, stem cell therapy is till a very controversial topic, and this is nearly all down the disadvantages that come about with stem cells. Firstly it is where stem cells are collected from. Many stem cells are collected from embryos to form embryonic stem cells; these are a very good type of stem cell to use as embryos are full of unspecified cells as eventually these will turn into a new baby human being. However, if embryonic stem cells are used then effectively there is no chance that the embryo will develop into a new-born and an abortion will take place. For many people this raises the argument of at what point does an embryo come a human and therefore has the same rights as every other person? If that point comes about at fertilization or during the embryonic stage then what occurs to extract stem cells out of these early life forms is effectively murder and therefore should not happen. Embryos are not the only place stem cells can be extracted from however, umbilical cords that are disposed of and bone marrow can be a plentiful source also however according to one source found[9], religious groups Religious groups claim that because embryonic stem cell research requires the subsequent destruction of the embryos used, it is a form of abortion. They sustain that creating embryos for the sole purpose of commercial use, followed by their disposal is morally unacceptable, and strongly oppose the area of study while adult and cord stem cells are readily available instead. Perhaps the biggest risk with this new area of research is the unknown. The introduction of stem cells into the body is permanent and this means there may be some long term side effects that we do not know about at the moment that might become clearer later along in the process. These are bad because we would not be able to reverse the effects of these side effects, A French study ten years ago found that spiniest of genetically altered bone marrow transplants developed leukemia years after their allegedly successful transplants had cured their severe combined immunodeficiency. Some research on rats in California found a way of successfully curing paralysis, however some small cysts appeared in the area near where the stem cells were injected. However harmless these were to rats, the effect of this to humans is still questionable. Other side effects that could be because of stem cell research include growth of strange objects such as teeth bones and hair on unusual areas, if this was done using embryonic stem cells these continue to grow wrought the patients life. Around 20% of rats injected with embryonic stem cells later die of some kind of cancerous tumor. This could be completely by chance but this high statistic is enough for large groups of people to doubt whether regenerative medicine is the right way to go in medicine. Another major cause for concern in stem cells is that in some cases it is known for differentiated stem cells to be rejected by the host body. A report published in nature in 2011 showed that when a specific type Of stem cell, induced plenteous stem cells (epics), used to treat diseases, found hat epics could face rejection by the immune system, even when injected into the same person who donated the cells. This immune response could destroy the transplants, rendering them ineffective as treatments. Although a different report published in 201 3 by Nature seemed to show that these epics were effective in being transferred in genetically identical mice and not triggering a strong immune response. This contrasting information shows just how unpredictable stem cell research is and that it may not be the best way to treat diseases. In conclusion then think that on balance using generative methods in treating diseases in general are a very effective way Of doing things however it is not a completely safe and iris free process as in my opinion still think that for it to be the best method stem cell therapy can be it still needs more research on the long term effects of the process, but from early indications it is looking promising barring a few studies. However what about in our specific disease? How does a using stem cell therapy affect the multiple sclerosis disease? Is it as effective at treating it as the other conditions already mentioned? At present there are no treatments that pacifically target the abnormal immune responses in MS. Current approaches, such as interferon, capstone, or immune suppressants all act in a non-specific manner blocking immune responses against the myelin sheath. While these approaches are useful for reducing the severity of disease, they do not repair the damage to nervous system tissue that has already occurred and therefore they cannot cure multiple sclerosis. However stem cells provide a different way Of treating the disease. Instead Of protecting the myelin sheath they allow it to be destroyed however it is replaced by stem cells that re externally differentiated in a lab before injected into the spinal cord or in the blood stream ready to be transferred to the brain. It is either this repair method used or, according to the MS society website, the nerve cell can be prevented from being damaged. This is called imperfection and is an active area of research involving adult stem cells from the bone marrow called mechanical stem cells. These stem cells are taken from human umbilical cords [1 1] that are donated after normal healthy births so this avoids the debate over the controversial topic of where the stem cells are oaken from. These stem cells are then screened for infectious diseases, with only about 1 in 10 umbilical cords passing screening tests. The advantages of this treatment are that anybody can be treated using these stem cells as they do not need to be matched with their genome, the stem cells are easily extracted and there is a large supply of them, and these HI-?CIT mechanical stem cells are a lot more robust then other types leading to a higher success rate. So that type of stem cell treatment by the stem cell institute seems relatively effective in terms of protecting the myelin sheath from the autoimmune response brought about by MS. However this is not the only study I found that seems to show that Multiple sclerosis can be cured by regenerative medicine. Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSR) have identified a set of compounds that may be used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) in a new way. Unlike existing MS therapies that suppress the immune system, the compounds boost a population of progenitor cells that can in turn repair MS-damaged nerve fibers. [1 2]. In this report, it is shown that a previous drug penetration, that was used to treat Parkinson disease, as been shown to increase numbers of electioneered (cells that make the myelin sheath and wrap it around the nerve fiber) in the nerve sharply, and thus increasing the amount of myelin produced. To do this scientists screen over 1 0,000 diverse compounds to see if any could potentially cause OPS cells to differentiate, and the already tested drug penetration seemed to do that already. However, not all studies show this trend however, a journal on PLOPS one[1 3] shows that a new type of stem cell, neural stem cells (NCSC), does not have a major influence on the clinical course of room-induced EYE. Improving the efficiency at which NCSC home to inflammatory sites may enhance their therapeutic potential in this model of CONS autoimmunity Meaning that the new type of stem cell does not have any effect on the number of electioneered cells being produced to repair the myelin sheath, and thus showing that regenerative medicine isnt always effective.

The Relationship between Poetry and Music in Whitmans Life and Work

The Relationship between Poetry and Music in Whitmans Life and Work Music and especially Italian opera had a significant impact upon the poetic style and life of Walt Whitman. Fond of music and fascinated with opera performances, Whitman wanted to spread the idea of the beauty of music to the masses.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship between Poetry and Music in Whitman’s Life and Work specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The opera performances have become a source of pleasure and inspiration for the poet. Whitman was amused with opera as a multi-layered canvas combining the features of drama, music, dance and poetry and tried to use opera allusions and singing voice for extending the traditional frames of poetry. The phrases ‘I see’ and ‘I hear’ are interchangeable throughout the text of Whitman’s poems and appeal to the readers’ imagination for intensifying the effect produced by other language means and stylistic devices use d in his works. The poems â€Å"Song of Myself† and â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† which were included into Whitman’s collection of poems Leaves of Grass demonstrate the impact of music and opera upon the poetic style, images and rhythmic contour of Whitman’s poetry. Authenticity of Whitman’s poems The collection of poems Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman represents the result of the poet’s searches for himself and his contribution to authenticity of American poetry. As it was cited in the book by Skaggs Overtones of Opera in American Literature from Whitman to Wharton, commenting on his works published in Leaves of Grass, Whitman admitted that he needed to find himself and his niche in American literature so that to create those poems first published in 1855 (Skaggs 13). Whitman acknowledged the influence of Emerson, another outstanding American poet who promoted the idea of authenticity of American poetry and supported Whitman in finding hi s unique style.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Under the influence of Emerson’s aesthetics, the traditional American democratic ideals, including those of democratic equality, diversity and self-reliance, have become the central themes of Whitman’s poems (Loving 355). In â€Å"A Backward Glance O’er Travel’d Roads†, one of works included into the 1889 edition of Leaves of Grass, Whitman admitted that contributing to authenticity of American poetry was his primary inclination in selecting the themes and motives for this collection of poems: â€Å"I would sing, and leave out or put in, quite solely with reference to America and today† (Skaggs 13). It is significant that treating his works as songs of democracy, Whitman indicates not only content of his poems, but also their form and rhythmical contour. Whereas Emerson’s ae sthetics had a significant impact upon the selection and molding of Whitman’s ideals, the musical rhythms and particularly Italian opera influenced the poet’s meter-making methods. Bringing the beauty of music to the masses Faithful to the ideals of American democracy in his works and personal life, Whitman highly appreciated the music and was aimed at bringing its beauty to the masses in his poems. Whitman rejected the stereotype that only the wealthy elite can understand the aesthetic value of music and emphasized the role of music in public education and civic life. The poet admitted that making music a regular branch of studies at schools could have a positive impact upon the minds and habits of American youth. Developing his ideas, Whitman pointed out at the vital role of music in establishing the national identity of American people: â€Å"The subtlest spirit of a nation is expressed through its music – and the music acts reciprocally upon the nation†™s very soul† (Skaggs 14). In Whitman’s opinion, music and songs can help a nation to express their concerns and feelings. First, Whitman differentiated the music of feeling and the music of art. Later on, in the process of evolution of his views, he concluded that music can become a spiritualizing force for a democratic society and an art form for expressing the democratic ideals in his poetry. These changes can be explained with the inner conflict in Whitman’s soul. He was always fond of music, but when Italian opera first came to New York in 1825, most journalists criticized it for its falsity, and Whitman inevitably undergone the influence of this prevailing negative opinion.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship between Poetry and Music in Whitman’s Life and Work specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The critics claimed that opera singers sounded unnatural expressing their pas sion or revenge in songs because people do not sing in real life. However, after closer acquaintance with opera, Whitman was fascinated with its beauty and spiritualizing force and decided to spread its beauty to the masses by interpreting opera in his poems. Opera as a source of inspiration and vocational necessity Though Whitman was fond of music in general and appreciated various musical genres, his discovery of opera allowed him to apply its musical forms in poetry. The spiritualizing force of opera was helpful for expressing human feelings and describing their experiences. Whitman’s acquaintance with opera started as vocational necessity. As a journalist, he had to attend and review numerous opera performances. Thus, this vocational necessity allowed Whitman to hear and see the best of European and American opera singers. First, Whitman like most of his compatriots did not appreciate the beauty of opera because of his outdated musical tastes. However, his journalist prac tice which coincided with the golden years of opera in America fostered the evolution of his tastes and made opera not only Whitman’s favorite form of art, but an important device which the poet implemented in composing his later works. There is evidence that Whitman continued looking for the opportunities to attend opera performances even during the years of the Civil War (Skaggs 16). Moreover, even after his journalist career was over, the poet sought for opera experiences which remained the source of his amusement and inspiration. There is historical evidence that the personality of an outstanding opera singer of the period Marietta Alboni and her proclamation of the principles of Aural beauty and nonchalance in opera art influenced Whitman’s style significantly (Schmidgall 52). The years of Whitman’s fascination for opera coincided with the years of his work on the poems which later were published in the collection of poems Leaves of Grass. Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For this reason, the influence of opera upon Whitman’s writing style can be identified in the interplay of images, rhythmical contour and stylistic devices of the poems included into the book, such as â€Å"Song of Myself† and â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm†, for example. Singing voice in â€Å"Song of Myself† Aimed at spreading the democratic ideals and the beauty of music to the masses, in translating the power of opera to the wide audience in his poems, Whitman found the opportunities for poetic self-expression and including the singing voice into his works for enhancing their aesthetic value. It should be noted that opera as an art form is a hybrid genre which incorporates the features of not only music, but also drama, dance and poetry. Opera as a multi-layered canvas attracted Whitman’s attention with the variety of opportunities for poetic self-expression. As a poet, Whitman lacked the methods which can be used in music and dance and decided to incorporate a singing voice into his poetry which allowed him to overcome the inadequacy of words and turned out to be a breath of fresh air into American poetry. The poem â€Å"Song of Myself† can be regarded as Whitman’s aesthetic confession in which he proclaims his main goals for using opera allusions and touching upon the democratic ideals in his works. The opening of the poem resembles poet’s sociopolitical identification and proclamation of his philosophical and aesthetic principles (Williams 49). An important principle of Whitman’s poetry is celebration of the power of human voice which is connected to the body and can go beyond the primary meanings of words. In the poem â€Å"Song of Myself†, Whitman proclaims: â€Å"I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul† (Skaggs 19). The singer disappears and these are only his pure voice and its sound that are left to for the audience. Thus, incorporating opera allusions into his works and translating his personal perception of opera into a singing voice, Whitman extended the traditional frames of poetry and intended to reach the invisible dimensions of reality in his songs which would be impossible without using a stylistic device which allowed using the text of a poem as a multi-layered canvas. The readers of the poems by Whitman are expected to see more than the surface of his words. â€Å"My voice goes after what my eyes cannot reach† (Skaggs 19). In general, in his poem â€Å"Song of Myself† Whitman explained his understanding of the role of a singing voice in enhancing the aesthetic value of his works and improving their inner working for communicating the democratic ideals and the idea of the beauty of music to the intended audience. In the poem under consideration, Whitman manipulates the language material, paying special attention to the connection between the speech and the corresponding vision of poetic reality. Starting from th e poet’s personal amusement, Whitman’s fascination of opera grew into his desire to share his impression with this splendid form of art with his audience and translate certain fragments of opera performances in his poems for making them understandable for wide audiences. Thus, the poems by Whitman were expected to become a bridge between the opera as a form of art and masses whose musical tastes were unprepared for perceiving the opera performances and appreciating their beauty and aesthetic value. On the other hand, the role of opera allusions in Whitman’s poems was not limited to fostering love of music in masses. The singing voice was also significant for enriching the meaning of Whitman’s poems and adding special appeals to his works so that to allow readers to see much more than is actually said by words. Along with devices and multi-layered canvas, Whitman borrowed his extraordinary rhythmical patterns from opera. For example, a well-known literatur e critic Malcolm Cowley in his introduction to the collection of poems Leaves of Grass, admitted that the structure of Whitman’ poem â€Å"Song of Myself† was rather psychological than logical (Thomas 212). This work is more than a mere poem in terms of its rhythm and tone, and is closer to the form of rhapsody. As opposed to his predecessors and even to his own poems written earlier, Whitman used wavelike flow for â€Å"Song of Myself†. Analyzing the tone of the poem which changes its tempos, raising at the moments of climax and falling in other episodes, it can be stated that the rhythmical contour of the poem resembles a musical progression as opposed to the traditional geometrical figure used by other poets. Thus, the rhythmical contour becomes an influential factor affecting the readers’ perception of Whitman’s poems which should be taken into consideration for evaluating not only the imp[act of opera forms upon the poet’s heritage, but also the aesthetic value of Whitman’s poems in general. Hearing and seeing in â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† The poem â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† is another example which illustrates the influence of Italian opera upon the images, language style and contours of Whitman’s works. The singing voice was an effective method use by Whitman in his poems for enriching the meaning of words by influencing the readers’ perception of the language materials. T he poetic representations of singing and seeing are interrelated and mutually dependent in Whitman’s poetry because even the phrases ‘I see’ and ‘I sing’ give way to one another, as it can be observed throughout the texts of Whitman’s poems (Skaggs 29). The experiences of ‘seeing’, ‘hearing’ and ‘feeling’ are interlaced in the text of the poem â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† at the intersection of the sounds of nat ure and the author’s opera experiences. Even admiring the sounds of nature in this poem, Whitman draws upon opera for expressing the depth of his feelings and evoking the intended emotional reactions in his readers. Praising the music of storm at the beginning of the poem, in the line 75, Whitman mentions ‘Italia’s peerless compositions’ and emphasizes the role of opera singers in awakening of his soul. This approach allows communicating the author’s idea of the beauty of opera performances and the ability of this art to reveal the deepest emotions and the strongest human feelings. Whitman recalls his personal associations between the sounds of storm, episodes from opera performances and the feelings expressed by the opera heroes and heroines on the stage. Describing his opera experiences, Whitman uses the phrases ‘I see’ and ‘I hear’ which not only demonstrate the multi-layered canvas used in operas, but also appeal to rea ders’ senses for enhancing the effects produced by the language materials. Coming across the phrases ‘I see’ and ‘I hear’ in the text of the poem, the readers are expected to use their imagination for perceiving the images created by the author and hearing the sounds of nature and the singing voice for receiving the poet’s messages at their fullest. In the line 94, Whitman mentions Alboni and compares her to ‘sister of loftiest gods’ (Skaggs 30). This simile and opera allusion demonstrate the author’s fascination of opera performances in general and the specific impact of Alboni’s personal talent upon Whitman’s aesthetic taste and poetic style. Whitman paid special attention to the sound composition of this poem uniting the sounds of the sea and opera into the poetic whole and expresses his claim in the phrases â€Å"Give me to hold all sounds (I madly struggling cry,)/ Fill me with all the voices of the univ erse† (Skaggs 29). The poet creates the links between the processes in the world of nature and the motives of the opera performances, associating the sea storm with the plot lines of passion in love, the tragedy of suicide and the outrage of revenge. It should be noted that the initial title of the poem was â€Å"Proud Music of the Sea-Storm† which was later revised by the author by omitting the word sea which according to the systems of Whitman’s poetic concepts, symbolizes the cosmic life processes (Skaggs 30). Taking into account the fact that his personal interpretation of symbolic meaning of the concept of sea can be not understood by some readers, the pet deleted the word sea so that not to limit the readers’ imagination in decoding the meaning of the word storm, its sounds and processes. The lines â€Å"Poems bridging the way from Life to Death, vaguely wafted in night air, uncaught, unwritten† express Whitman’s primary concern in crea ting the sound effects of the storm and communicating his ideas to the readers (Skaggs 30). Thus, the opera allusions, sound whole and the singing voice used in â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† intensify the impression produced by the poem upon the readers by involving their imagination for translating the author’s symbols and understanding his philosophical ideas. Conclusion In general, it can be concluded that love of music and fascination of opera experiences played an important role in Whitman’s personal life and development of his poetic aesthetics. The instances of opera allusions and a singing voice can be detected in Whitman’s poems â€Å"Song of Myself† and â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† which allowed the poet to extend the traditional frames of poetry and intensify the effect produced by the actual language material of his poems, making readers look beyond the surface of the words and using their imagination for not only reading, b ut also hearting the sounds and seeing the images created by the poet. Loving, Jerome. Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999. Google Books. Web. Schmidgall, Gary. Walt Whitman: A Gay Life. New York: Dutton Press, 1997. Print. Skaggs, Carmen. Overtones of Opera in American Literature from Whitman to Wharton. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2010. Google Books. Web. Thomas M. Alexander. John Deweys theory of art, experience, and nature: the horizons of feeling. Albany: State University of New York Press. 1978. Google Books. Web. Williams, Charles. On Whitman. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. Print.

Postmodernism and Andy Warhol Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Postmodernism and Andy Warhol - Essay Example The essay "Postmodernism and Andy Warhol" analyzes postmodernism and Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol began to revolutionize his artistic stance as well, transforming from a plain commercial illustrator to a world-class artist that he has been known for. The last decades towards the end of the twentieth century saw a great increase in the mass consumption of goods and services, starting from the post-war 1950’s to the 1970’s. This ushered in a new period generally dubbed as the postmodern era. Postmodernism draws its ideals from a set of critical and strategic practices utilizing forms and concepts such as difference, repetition, and hyper reality to undermine other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress, and the univocity of meaning. The term was first used to exemplify the experimental movements in architecture, the western arts, and cultural development at large. This highlights the shift within society, from individuals as producers to individuals as consu mers. Postmodernists argue that there is no such thing as certainty, and thus, stress is sited on the significance of individualism. It is noted that with the advent of new technologies and media in the last decades of the 20th century, â€Å"the death of emotions† had facilitated a culture that is based on fragmented subjectivity. It is in this revolution of capitalist culture that Andy Warhol had founded his art on. His artworks were based on the absorption of images in its own, thus, the replica is not seen as indifferent to the reference.

International Political Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Political Economy - Essay Example This paper stresses that the spread of globalization today is not viewed as simply an invasion into the markets of nation-states but as also an encroachment of the political stability experienced by sovereign states. Globalization has brought with it the erosion of state sovereignty such as the change of their monetary policy leaving them at the mercy of the global economy. Although the development of regional organizations and international agencies is on the rise to ‘protect’ the privileges and sovereignty of nation-states, they are also under the control of a political power and its actions are highly influenced by it. This is a major problem in the International Political Economy since some nation-states are retaliating from opening their markets for globalization in the feat of losing control of their democracy, morals and governance as demonstrated by countries in the Middle East. This report makes a conclusion that the challenge of globalization is a difficult one since it grows on a daily basis, the best remedy that the International Political Economy can try to implement is to make sure that global political influence is limited. the International Political Economy faces a lot of challenges most of which are minor , and can be easily remedied with the implementation of regulations on a global level the realization of a purely independent and free International Political Economy is not far not is it close because it has to overcome all of its challenges first.

Strategic Management (Marks & Spancer Case) Essay

Strategic Management (Marks & Spancer Case) - Essay Example It is able to source quality products from centralized buying office and later transfers the same to its stores. In each and every store, analogues procedures are being followed and hence, the independence of managers was constrained. In the past, various CEOs concentrated on quality of merchandise, supplier control and layout of stores. During the 11-year tenure of Sir Richard Greenbury as Chairman cum CEO, M&S enjoyed twice the market share as compared to any other retailers in the industry and witnessed the growth successively as they were no major changes to its style of operations or functioning. However, in 1998, M&S strategy met a great disaster as it performance was far below than normal for many successive years. Its lost its major chunk of customer’s base due to its competitors ability to source very competitive merchandises from low-cost nations and there had been cut-throat competition from retailers like Gap, Oasis, Next, Matalam and Asda. Due to poor performance, Sir Richard Greenbury was shown exit doors in 1999. In 2000, Luc Van de Velde appointed himself as Chairman cum CEO, and he earnestly attempted to turnaround the M&S Plc in his short span tenure that prolonged up to 2004. With aim of focusing on UK market, Velde appointed a head for UK retail and segmented the customers of the company employing the store within a store perception. He successfully entered into a joint venture with designer George Davies. In 2003, he introduced the Simply food notion and started to open stand alone food stores in 2003 in UK. Velde era made a turnaround of M&S Plc between 2000 and 2004 but also M&S encountered successive takeover attempts by the Arcadia Group. Another innovation that Luc Van de Velde brought was the introduction loyalty cards which gave the customers reward points that can be used during their future purchases at M&S stores. However, in the year 2004, M&S witnessed a deep decline in their sales, lost major of its market share to its c ompetitors, mainly due to over-emphasis on Per Una. Rose Stuart succeeded Luc Van de Velde in 2004, and he followed a strategy of under promising but excess delivering in terms of targets set. In 2008, Rose was re-designated as Chairman cum CEO when UK was facing utter economic crisis. Since then, the scenery did not improve in 2009 also, Rose and his marketing director were to forego ? 1 million package bonus of M&S shares and in 2010, Rose relinquished his position as chairman and functioned as CEO of the company. Introduce the theory or concept to be used in analysing the assignment This paper tries to explore about competitive strategy on which M&S might accomplish competitive advantage in the market. As per Michael Porter, an organisation could achieve the competitive advantage by adhering to three various generic strategies like focus, overall cost leadership and differentiation. As per Cliff Bowman and Richard D’ Aveni, market-facing generic strategies are having compe titive advantages, which is accomplished by offering customers with what they exactly need or want more efficiently and effectively than its competitors. (Cousins & Coskett 2007:275) In UK, M&S was the number-one retailer, but it failed to comprehend or to recognise the transforming social fashions and tastes in the

Design Airline System

Design Airline System The aim of the project is to design and implement a Web-based on-line Airline Reservation System. The project will be implemented using 3-tier architecture; JSP, JavaServlets, MySQL database and the Apache Tomcat server. The primary goal of this project is to allow passengers to add, edit and delete flight bookings. When the passenger visits the site for the first time, the passenger can register their details as part of the flight booking process. In addition, the passenger will be given login details when they register in case they need to make changes to their existing bookings or make new bookings in the future. The airport staff will also have login details. Passengers will be able to check-in via the self-service check-in; also airport staff can provide full-service check-in. In addition, a list can be created showing passengers with overweight luggage for business and economy class as well as a combined list of both classes. Existing Systems Research has been made into existing automated system Airline System used by Malaysia Airlines, the system is known as Kommas. KOMMAS is used by Malaysia Airlines for ticket reservation and is a DOS-based system. Based on my research the Kommas system has been used for more than 25 years and has been upgraded 4 times till date. The system is still been use for reservation and check-in for passengers. The same system is use international to do reservations; the Kommas system has a number of features including checking the departure time and day to specific place. The system has an advantage of showing flights that are offered by other carriers in Malaysia and overseas. When making reservations, the user will enter key details required to make a booking and then if the customer is happy with the available flight, the user can make a booking. After making a booking, the system checks if the seat and flight has been confirmed. The system can also indicates how many seats are left if the customer will like to make more booking. If there are no seats left a pop-up screen is displayed saying flight or seat cannot be confirm. After a receiving confirmation, the passenger can than pay for ticket and when payment is confirm can choose to print the ticket, delivered and dont like to pay immediately the user can reserve the seat for the customer for a later date. The system will give the user reference number to key-in into the system later. The customer has a deadline to collect the ticket two weeks before departure, and if the ticket is not collected and paid for before the two weeks the system will automatically cancel the reservation and make seat available for others to reserve. There is no deposit required for reservations. For customers who like to change their flights departure date or time, the system-user has to key in the customers reference number and then change the details; they can also cancel their flight if they wish. The passengers information will be stored in the system database for the next six months. After this time the system will automatically delete the passengers information. This system also allows passengers to arrange special requirements such as vegetarian food. Passengers can also choose specific seats they prefer. Reservation department does the booking; however, the ticketing department also can also access it and make reservations for passengers. Reservation and Ticketing departments are linked together and can access the same database. KOMMAS have a specific code for system users. Users that make reservations and ticketing have the highest privileges to use the system. For managing level, they can only access the system and check the report of passengers and flights reservation information. At administration level users can amend departure time and flights. System down had downtime in the past. In that case, all the ticketing reservations were done manually. The system also has a backup facility to back up the information of all flights and passenger information. This prevents the damage of database due to virus or physical damage. Hence the chances of data loss are impossible. On the other hand, this system has some problems. It cant produce reports according to the requirements. The interface is similar to DOS and hence is not very attractive with basic intelligent. This also makes the KOMMAS system not user-friendly. Users have to memorize various codes to make reservations, view reports, check on flights etc. Information about a passenger is not displayed in a easy to read way. In terms of security issues, the system lacks password protection to access the system users access the system by using an access code given to them. Why Airline Reservation System is needed? An Airline Reservation System is subjected to many benefits some of which are listed below: †¢ Increase in Sales of Tickets With Airline Reservation System it allows airline operators to track passengers purchasing preferences and with this special flight packages to existing passengers can be promoted or even lastminute deals can be made available at cheaper price. Knowing the Passengers reservations patterns can be used to determine the marketable flights which means they can provide more flights and services to fulfill the high demand. Besides, ARS is also capable in increasing passenger satisfaction and loyalty by providing good services and fast reservation. †¢ Reduce in Cost and Time Conventional paper reservation records have a lot of drawbacks: they could be incomplete, misplaced, torn, lost or worn. They also require several storage spaces as well as requiring extensive administrative time from user. With the implementation of Airline Reservation System, it can back-up which will prevent data lost and decrease in time and cost. It can increase the speed of processing, making reservation and searching. Hence, it provides passengers satisfaction. Daily or monthly sales report can be generated automatically from the data stored in the system. Time is not wasted trying to generate report manually. †¢ More Organized Information Flight ticket reservation help organize information better on a centralized database where all information can be retrieve and managed. Users can view, add and edit data as they wish without any problem. Business and Technical Option This table below set out the Business and Technical options that could be implemented to provide advance functionality for the system, this option will be assessed against the functional requirement specification that will be developed. Business Option Technical Option Customer Survey Discounted flight Multiple Booking Payment Option Ticket Collection Email Confirmation Hotel deals Live Web help desk Email Reminder Upgrade Option RITM Biometric Scanner WAP Page Session Management Oracle/Mysql Java/ C++ JDBC/Apache Tomcat Business Option Survey at the end of the customer reservation to improve service Discounted Flight ticket at the last 3 hrs to fill the rest of the space on the plane. Multiple Booking, for more than I destination at once especially when checking in. Option to pay by PayPal, all credit cards and debit cards. Option to pick ticket at airport. Email confirmation also accepted at check-in desk. Hotel deals should be offered when making flight reservations. 24 hour helpline for booking queries and online help. Reminder emails with flight detail and check in . Option to upgrade seat and luggage. Technical Option Remote IT Management, for system upgrades and fixes any software problems Biometric scanner to scan passport for identification. WAP Page for customers who like to check-in on their mobile phone. We have used session management to keep track of user profile, and when a user logs in/logs out. Session Management Within a session, information is stored about user (if any) logged in. External Interface Requirements Hardware Interfaces No special hardware is required for this product User Interfaces: The primary user interface will consists of a series of JSP pages linked by means of hyperlinks. Software Interfaces: Java servlets [2]All user interaction will be by the means of Java Servlets. These will be a small java applications running on the server side of a web application. Any webpages produced by servlets will look the same as ordinary HTML webpages, because servlets use the same HTTP communications standard that ordinary static web pages use to communicate with the clients web browser. Servlets are compiled to bytecode and can loaded dynamically. To execute a servlet, it requires a servlet engine running on the Web server through requests and responses. A client program accesses a Web server and makes a request. This request is processed by the servlet engine running on the Web serve. A response is generated and the servlet sends a response in HTTP format to the client. The main advantages of servlets are that they are faster than CGI scripts because of the different process model. Because servlets are based on Java, developers have access to special API. Because of this, it has all the advantages of Java including the ease of development and platform independene. Fourthly, servlets can access any of the large set of APIs built for Java such as database access, e-mail, directory servers, CORBA etc. JSP [3] JSPs is a solution to problems that CGI programs and early Servlet applications had. Rendering the HTML via System.out.println() is too inflexible for a lot of web applications, because changes to the HTML would require recompilation. JSPs solve this problem by embedding Java in HTML instead of HTML in Java. Hence any HTML changes would not require a recompilation of the HTML file. One of the problems with JSP is that the code can be difficult to debug. Most Web servers internally convert JSPs into servlets and then compile this auto-generated code. If a JSP contains syntactic or other errors, this will fail the compilation and a long list of useless compiler errors referring to the auto-generated code is created. Because JSP are based on Java technology it is easy to integrate both technologies. [4] ASP is a similar technology from Microsoft. However, JSPs are written in Java so it is more powerful and easier to use. Related to the reasons for choosing Java, it is portable to other operating systems and non-Microsoft Web servers. [5] ASP is a proprietary product from Microsoft. Although ASP is really a framework into which various languages can plug, most people consider it implies using VB Script language (JavaScript can also be used out-of-the-box). One of the biggest advantages is that it is only supported on Microsofts IIS platform. PHP started off as a simple scripting language for adding basic dynamic content to websites, it has grown to become one of the most used web programming languages into a major project. PHP works very well on all of the Unix-like, Linux and Windows platforms. Since PHP pages work well on all of those platforms, a particular strength is that it can be used to develop websites on a desktop system and then deployed on industrial-strength and secure servers such as those found commonly only running Unix or Linux. The PHP drawbacks include the inability to insist that variables be declared before use; underdeveloped library mechanism and occasional linguistic quirks. One of the problems if PHP is used in comparison to JSP is that it ties very well together with MySQL database. The problem is that to interact with the MySQL database specific PHP commands exist. Hence when a database change occurs, all database interaction code in PHP must be changed making it very inflexible. CSS [6] Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a stylesheet language. It is to control the formatting of elements of a document written in a markup language such as HTML and XHTML, but the language can be applied to any kind of XML document, including SVG and XUL. It is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content (written in HTML or a similar markup language) from document presentation (written in CSS). This separation improves content accessibility, provide more flexibility and control in the specification of presentation characteristics and reduce complexity and repetition in the structural content. HTML [7] HTML is a markup language for web pages. It allows web developers to describe the structure of text-based information in a document by denoting certain text as headings, paragraphs, lists and so on with forms, images, and other objects. HTML is written in the form of labels called elements. HTML can also be used to control the formatting of certain elements and can include embedded scripting languages. JavaScript [8] JavaScript can generate HTML dynamically on the client, but only handles situations where the dynamic information is based on the clients environment. With the exception of cookies, HTTP and form submission data is not available to JavaScript. And because JavaScript is executed on the client side, it cannot access server-side resources such as databases. Apache Tomcat server [9] Apache Tomcat is an application server from the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). Tomcat implements the Java Servlet and the JavaServer Pages (JSP) specifications from Sun Microsystems, providing an environment for Java code to run in cooperation with a web server. In addition, it offers tools for configuration and management but can also be configured by editing configuration files. It also has its own HTTP server to run web applications built using JSP and Java servlets. MySQL [10] MySQL is a multithreaded, multi-user SQL database management system with over 10 million installations according to MySQL AB. MySQL runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. [11] In comparison to PostgreSQL, MySQL is much more widely used and therefore there is a greater community to help with any problems as well as more books and resources on MySQL. Furthermore, MySQL is a fast database, while PostgreSQL is aimed to be a fully-featured database. If you do not need all the features of PostgreSQL then it is better to use MySQL. [12] Compared against Oracle, it is very expensive especially for small to medium sized companies who may not have the budget. Since this database is very complex, it also requires a very knowledgeable DBA to maintain the database. MySQL on the other hand is a lot easier and does not require this level of knowledge. Proposed Methodology There are several ways to implement this project but I have decided to go with the Waterfall model because it safe and fitted with the development of this project much better than an iterative approach e.g. Rapid Application Development (RAD) method. [22]Laynetwork 2007 says â€Å"project are candidates for the (RAD) it development methodology different from the waterfall approach but a methodology nonetheless and on emphasizes reuse† [18]Naval Postgraduate School (2002) suggested the RAD method is best use when working in groups because every member of the team can take different part of the project to work on. For this reason I have decided to use this technique. The waterfall model is a software development model in which development is seen as flowing steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases of requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing (validation). The main steps in the technique are: Requirements specification This aims at capturing those tasks for success of a development project Design This aims at designing which technologies will be used and what components are needed Implementation This is fleshing out the design in the above section Integration This is plugging all the parts together Testing This ensures all bugs are ironed out. To implement the methodology, my project plan has been design in this structure of waterfall. Design Description Scheme of the system The below diagram fig: 6.1.1 is a mock up of how the pages will connect using JSP after researching into existing system use Malaysia Airline and critical reviewing the available program in the market and decided which program to use it give me a better understanding how this system should look. Note: this is subject to changes if any additional functionality is added. Fig. 6.1.1 USE CASE Model This Concept and features of this Airline System is going to be very similar to the one researched which is use by Malaysia Airline called Kommas as seen in Fig: 6.2.1 Below are the lists of features: A passenger can add, edit, delete a flight which represents a booking A passenger can register his details such as name, contact number, e-mail. If the passenger is using the site for the first time then the passenger details will be stored as part of the flight booking process. A passenger and airport staff can login to the system. A passenger can do a self-service check-in. An airport staff can do a full-service check-in. An airport staff can produce a list of all passengers with overweight luggage. An airport staff can produce a list of economy or business class passengers with overweight luggage. The system functionality is described in more detail using UML . An airline has many employees, but an employee only works for 1 airlines. An airline has got 2 classes, but either class can belong to many airlines. An airline can have many flights, but a flight only belongs to 1 airline. A passenger can have many flights, but a flight can only belong to 1 passenger. All of the above requirement are define all the in the USE Case model and Static Model but some of the not so obvious or important relationship could be added at a later stage of the development, that why we have a business and technical option. To make sure we meet the system requirement first. iv. Functional Overview 1. Inputs: ââ€"  Information regarding schedule of all the flights that will be running in coming two months has to be given initially. ââ€"  Details of the passengers given by him at the time of booking/ registration information. ââ€"  Registration details for membership of club. ââ€"  all the querying inputs. 2. Reports and outputs: ââ€"  In case of booking, booking details will be displayed. ââ€"  Results of queries such as flight timings, ticket status, availability of seats, etc. will be displayed in appropriate format. ââ€"  Monthly reports will be generated for flights giving statistics on traffic between two cities. On this basis flights can be rescheduled appropriately. 3. Processing of various types of transactions: User Transactions Passenger Getting the reservation in desired flight Current ticket status Cancellation of ticket Self Check in Other quires like flight timings, ticket availability Airport Staff Booking and cancellation of tickets List of passengers boarding a flight economic or business class or both and also with overweight luggage Etc Option: they could be more users with different permission to the system. But at this stage we have just names it Airport Staff with all the right. Project Plan Gantt Chart The Purpose of the project plan is to define the scope, approach and create a high-level plan for the project. This ensure the project stay on target and meets all of its deadlines, to review the progress on the project plan to date and revise it as needed based upon the information known at this stage of the implementation project life cycle. The first part of the project is to produce the system prototype and interim report which has just been done, the plan has been divided-up the tasks into ten different stages from project interim and planning until presentation. The first task is Project initiation and planning which started on 12 Oct. 2007. Due to the deadline, shouldnt spend no more than three weeks to finish the first task. After that will start reviewing literature for my research focusing on existing system to give me a better understanding how the Airline system works at this stage will also try to make contact with a Local Airline office. The third part of this project will starts after the submitting of interim report and the prototype should start to prepare the development, at this stage decision to which software application is best for the system and a final decision would be made to complete this project. The analysis and design is a very crucial part of the project. First will have to analyze the requirement for this project and then start to design Data Flow Diagram and ER Diagram. Those context diagrams may consume a lot of time. The Design and Analysis is anticipated to finish on Tue 25/12/07. At this stage there should be a design a prototype of the Airline system and should be reviewed with my tutor and take on any feedback, and analyze any problem that comes up and take on suggestion. Expected to spend 21 days to complete this task. After completing the review session the next task will be to update the plan and requirements, should have a final update for the plan and project requirement. This plan should meet all requirements in developing a successful database CASE tool. This is expected to take five days to complete. And the next task is the System Design which is Database and Software Architecture. This should be the main design, at the stage should have collected all the information and resources needed so this should be the final draft to put up for testing. This is expected to last fourteen days. The next task is Prototype Review of major modules in this task is to make sure everything is inline with the agreed prototype and that the entire system requirement has been implemented. It is expected to be completed by Tue, 25/03/08 After the implementation phase, the next phase is testing by constructing a Test Data and Test Plan. Will create an acceptance test-data and if any problems occur should begin system debugging. This is expected to be completed by Thu, 17/04/08 The following task is Final Report and Testing Evaluation. Will write-up the system design system testing and system evaluation. It very important to stay focus on the Final Report as well as System Completion even towards the end of project development to prepare a well written and high quality final report. 8 The final task in my project plan is presentation at the time of writing this plan which may change believe we may not be having any more presentation after this initial one. Project Milestones The milestones table below its mainly divided into ten major phases, which the first phase should be completed by 10 October 2007 while the second phases are expected to be completed by 05 Dec. 2007 including the review presentation. And the other tasks and the completion date for each task is stated as the table below No. Tasks Milestone/Date Completed 1 Project Initiation and Planning Wed 24/10/07 2 Literature Review (Research) Wed 05/12/07 3 Analysis and Design Tue 25/12/07 4 Prototype and Report Wed 23/01/08 5. Review on Preview Project Work Mon 18/02/08 6. System Design ( Database Software Architechit) Fri 07/03/08 7. Prototype Review of major Modules Tue 25/03/08 8. Test Plan Test Data Thu 17/04/08 9. Final Draft Testing Evaluation Mon 05/05/08 10. Presentation Thu 15/05/08 Table 8.0: Project Milestones Reference [1] Johnson, M.S.J.,   R. Rosebrugh and R.J. Wood, 1997.   Entity relationship models and sketches, submitted to  Mathematical Structures in Computer Science, July, 1997, 18pp. [2] http://www.jcorporate.com/html/products/Architecture/java_tech.html [3] http://www.adtmag.com/java/article.aspx?id=354 [4] http://www.apl.jhu.edu/~hall/java/Servlet-Tutorial/Servlet-Tutorial-Overview.html [5]http://training.gbdirect.co.uk/courses/php/comparison_php_versus_perl_vs_asp_jsp_vs_vbscript_web_scripting.html [6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascading_Style_Sheets [7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML [8] http://www.apl.jhu.edu/~hall/java/Servlet-Tutorial/Servlet-Tutorial-Overview.html [9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Tomcat [10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySQL [11] http://www.databasejournal.com/features/mysql/article.php/3288951 [12] http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/oracle/115560 [13] Welcome to Malaysia Airlines†, Malaysia Airlines (2003), http://www.mas.com.my, Date Accessed: 26/11/2007 [14] Welcome to Air Asia†, AirAsia.com (2003), http://www.airasia.com/general.php?p=pmainl=en Date Accessed: 5th January 2008 [15] Computerized Reservation System: Analysis and Impact Assessment†, NBTA Aviation Committee (2004), http://www.nbta.org/newsroom/documents/CRS_04_Summary.pdf Date Accessed: 16th January 2004 [16]â€Å"Travel Time†, Travel Time, Inc. (1995 2004), http://www.traveltime.com/ Date Accessed: 14th January 2004 [17] â€Å"Introduction to Apollo Airline Reservation System†, Digital Education (1998) http://www.digitaledu.com/courses/social/SLAR01.html, Date Accessed: 11th January 2004 [18] â€Å"Case Study: Airline Reservation System†, Naval Postgraduate School (2002) http://www.cs.nps.navy.mil/people/faculty/mantak/AirlineReservationSystem/ Date Accessed: 10th January 2004 [19] â€Å"eBay Travel -Airline Tickets†, eBay Inc. (2004), http://pages.ebay.com/travel/index.html?ssPageName=MOPS5:HTR01 [20] A Sophisticated Airline Reservation System†, AxsRes (2003) http://www.eds.ch/fileadmin/countries/eds_ch/portfolio/air_transportation/obaxsRes.pdf Date Accessed: 1