Peak Book Essay

In the novel â€Å"Peak† written by Roland Smith are conveyed the important of themes adventure, friends and family and betrayal. The novel â€Å"Peak† is a story about a young boy who began climbing and tagging, but this all changes when he is caught and is sent to juvenile detention. But when he gets to choose his sentence to either go to Thailand with this real father or stay in jail, his life changes. Firstly one of the important themes in the novel is friends and family. Friendship and family plays a very important part in the story. Peak finds and makes many friends while traveling to Thailand and also climbing the mountains with his real dad Josh, The family back home in America also played a important theme in the text and peak soon finds out that his mum, step dad and two sisters really do care about him, This is shown in the book from ‘Rolf’s letter’ when Peak finally realized that Rolf cared about him and his family. This is shown through â€Å"you don’t get to pick your name or your parents† changed peaks thoughts on family because he knew that they care about him and love him forever and always. The Friendship and family theme plays a major part in the book by allowing the characters to feel accepted loved and form friendships forever. The novel Peak focuses on the theme of betrayal throughout the book. When Peak finally realised that his real dad was using him for his climbing business to promote it because peak was over the news and popular in the climbing world. Through this experience of betrayal Peak realised whom he really loved. Again â€Å"you don’t get to pick your name or your parents† relates to this moment in the story. Betrayal is a major theme in the novel through Peaks dad josh not loving him and using him to promote his climbing business â€Å"Peak experience†. Finally peak plays a big part of one of the themes adventure all through out the book. The theme adventure is focused on a lot through the novel. The theme adventure is shown when Peak started to climb the skyscraper and began tagging buildings. Peak’s adventure had a disadvantage when he is caught tagging a skyscraper. The theme of adventure is shown when peak travels and goes on adventures to climb the ice mountains. Adventure is an important aspect of this book and is shown is the text in many different ways but mainly touring and climbing. Overall the book â€Å"Peak† is a story with major themes involved that are important in the novel â€Å"Peak† because it brings the readers interest, understanding and many  thoughts going thoughts there head. In audition friends and family relate to being an important theme because it creates a good feeling all the way throughout the book but also allows sadness through the story line. Betrayal is also a very important theme because it addresses conflict and disagreement. Adventure in the novel is also shown all the way through the book; this shows courage, bravery and a very creative and fun Character.

Capital Punishment Essay

â€Å"An eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind,† Mahatma Gandhi. When the murders of today are murdered by the government, is that not hypocrisy? Capital punishment is legal in 32 U.S. states. Capital punishment was a penalty for many felonies under English common law, and it was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence. Since 1976 lethal injection has been the primary method, although electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and by firing squad are still legal and practiced in some states. The death penalty is barbaric and unethical. Innocent lives are being taken away. U.S. tax payer’s money is thrown out the window. Capital punishment laws should be abolished in the entire United States. â€Å"Studies have consistently failed to demonstrate that executions deter people from committing crimes.† (Death Penalty Information Center) As we sit in a jury box playing God, deciding who must live and who must die, we hand out the death penalty to teach society a lesson. We step into the shoes of a God and pass an irreversible judgment to mask our pain or disdain. Why kill people who kill people to show killing is wrong? This is hypocrisy. In our judicial system, we do not rape rapists, make drunk drivers stand in front of a speeding car, or chop off the thieving hands of someone who steals. In Muslim practicing countries, the harsh punishment used to deter humans from stealing is to have the thieves hand cut off. This practice does not deter thievery and is considered barbaric and irrational in today’s American society. For some reasons unknown, we resort to a revenge mentality society when man kills man. A family who has lost a loved one due to a murder, will no t find closure from the killer’s death. They will find closure with acceptance and forgiveness in themselves. We cannot take away the life of another who may or may not be guilty of a crime. Consequently, innocent people have been convicted and executed. The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. Any error rate is completely unacceptable, when we are talking about life  and death. â€Å"Since 1973 the U.S. has released 144 prisoners from death row because they were found to be innocent of their crimes.† (Amnesty) Wrongful conviction causes range from eyewitness error, to government miscount, false confessions, informants, mishandled evidence, improper forensic evidence, and bad lawyering. Capital punishment is also discriminatory towards minorities, poor, and the mentally ill. â€Å"Africans make up about half of all homicide victims.† Glenn Ford, a black man, was released last month after 30 years on death row in Louisiana’s notorious Angola Prison for a crime he did not commit. As a result of his poverty, Ford was assigned two lawyers to represent him at his capital trial -the lead attorney was an oil and gas lawyer who had never tried a case – criminal or civil – to a jury. The second attorney had been out of law school for only two years and worked at an insurance defense firm. As often happens in capital cases, the prosecutors used their peremptory strikes to keep blacks off the jury. Despite a very weak case against him, Ford, defenseless before an all-white jury, was sentenced to death. (ACLU) Ford is just one of many people who were found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in capital and non-capital cases, but were actually not guilty at all. Once an inmate is executed, nothing can be done to make amends if a mistake has been made. Additionally, the death penalty is a huge cost to taxpayers. Sending someone to death row in the United States costs roughly $5 million, because the government takes the burden of paying for both sides. With appeals, and execution costs, death row is around $4 million more than an adult serving life in prison. The Constitution requires and long and complex judicial process for capital cases. The process is supposed to ensure that innocent men and woman aren’t wrongful executed, yet even with that the risk of executing an innocent person isn’t completely eliminated. Death penalty cases consume much additional prosecution and law enforcement staff time because much additional work must be done. Prosecutors must investigate and prepare aggravating evidence for presentation in the sentencing phase of the trial, respond to evidence, file many more motions, and spend significantly more time in court than they would in a non-death penalty case. In addition to these staff costs , prosecutors, like defense attorneys, hire experts and consultants, including consultants to assist with jury selection and witness  preparation. Sheriff’s departments must transport defendants and must provide additional courtroom security for lengthy death penalty trials, extra expenses that add up quickly. Indeed, a study of the federal system found that prosecution costs were 67 percent higher than defense costs in death penalty cases. The same study found that defense costs in death penalty cases were four times higher than in non-death penalty cases. (ACLU) Richard C. Dieter, MS, JD, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said the following on June 7, 2010, in his testimony before the Pennsylvania Senate Government Management and Cost Study Commission, â€Å"The death penalty is the most expensive part of the system on a per-offender basis. Millions are spent to achieve a single death sentence that, even if imposed, is unlikely to be carried out. Thus money that the police desperately need for more effective law enforcement may be wasted on the death penalty. Every stage of a capital case is more time-consuming and expensive than in a typical criminal case†¦ There is no reason the death penalty should be immune from reconsideration, along with other wastef ul, expensive programs that no longer make sense.† (Death Penalty Info) Thus the alternatives are more ethical, just, and less costly than capital punishment. By substituting a sentence of life without parole, we meet society’s needs of punishment and protection without running the risk of an irrevocable punishment. â€Å"Over two-thirds of the countries in the world – 141 – have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice.† (Amnesty) It is time for the United States of America to catch up with the rest of the world and abolish capital punishment forever. â€Å"Death Penalty Facts.† (n.d.): n. pag. Amnesty Usa. Amnesty International, May 2012. Web. 8 Sept. 2014. . â€Å"No Government Should Experiment with Human Life.† American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU, 2011. Web. 08 Sept. 2014. . â€Å"Testimony of Richard C. Dieter, Esq. Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center to the Illinois House of Representatives Addressing Innocence and.† _DPIC_. Death Penalty Information Center, 2014. Web. 08 Sept. 2014. .

Cell Biology and Biotechniques

The review of the literature by Assadi et al. (2016) highlights how biophysical technology has been efficiently utilized in addressing research questions and finding effective results in clinical investigation. This research study mainly utilized the method of flow cytometry and transfection technique apart from real time PCR and immunoflourescence microscopy to detect fatty acid metabolism-immune nexus (FAMIN) in Chrohn’s disease risk gene LACC1 (Laccase domain containing 1) encoded protein in human tissues. This method of fatty acid metabolism was decided because genetic variation in the LACC1 gene increased the risk of Chrohn’s disease. The main of this research was to elucidate the biological function of LACC1 gene and determine the characterization of the gene expression in human tissue and cells. The research question for the study was how characteristics expression of LACC1 gene can increase risk of Crohn’s disease (Assadi et al. 2016). The FAMIN protein encoded by the LACC1 gene control all the defense mechanism of human body and the research was important to gain additional insights into how FAMIN characterization and LACC1 gene expression may create risk of Crohn’s disease. The transfection technique was used by maintaining human cell line THP-1 in suitable medium and the cells were incubated wit phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) to induce macrophage differentiation. For transfection experiment the HeLa cell line was transfected with empty vectors and LACC1 vector constructs. Western blotting was done on this cell and expression level was calculated. As transfection technique lead to unexpected morphologies and abnormalities in target cells, it helped in studying the expression of gene.   On the other hand, immunofluoroscence staining was used to calculate the number of peroxisomes and several antibodies were used both for immunofluorescence staining and western blot (Assadi et al. 2016).Hence, trans fection technique was applied in this research to study macrophage differentiation and gene expression of LACC1 gene. A research which considers the efficiency and cytotoxic effect of tranfection methodology lead to better results, whereas highly cytotoxic approaches lead to unwanted effects and unknown changes in gene expression which may affect the results (Goehring et al. 2014).   Flow cytometry is the biophysical technology done by means of laser and used to analyze the characteristics of particle in a fluid stream by passing through electronic detection device. .   Flow cytometry technique is widely used in the cell tracking, cell viability and infection studies and to conduct functional analysis in cell signaling gene expression studies (Givan 2013). In the research study by Assadi et al. (2016), flow cytometry of human blood derived cell and granulocytes and erythrocytes were isolated from the cell and stained using monoclonal antibodies. The FAMIN cells labeled with antibodies and data analyzed with flow cytometer and flow analysis software. This technique helped in the characterization of FAMIN expression in THP-1 cells. The result indicated the FAMIN expression was not detected in untreated cells, however PMA induced differentiation was seen during THP-1 (positive) cell lines. Hence the result of the study finally showed that LACC1 gene codes for macr ophage immune-metabolic function and polymorphic variation influences risk of Crohn’s disease (Assadi et al. 2016). Considering the clinical use of flow cytometry in research studies, the main advantage of flow cytometry is its ability to characterize immunophenotyping deviation in cells and detect diagnosis of hematopoietic disorders like leukemia. It has led to new methods for assessing hematologic malignancy and MRD. It is cost-effective and quick method for disease detection and diagnosis. However the limitation of the method is that it cannot easily detect sarcoma and carcinomas as they tend to stick (Woo et al. 2014). The main principle of fluorescence and fluorescence microscopic techniques was used to analyze therapeutic effectiveness in Crohn’s disease. In patients with Crohn’s disease, the antibody to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) binds to the membrane bound TNF and suppresses immune response in person. Hence, the researcher used fluorescent antibodies for TNF imaging studies. Despite using TNF therapy, patient show little improvement in their clinical symptoms and it also in creases the risk of side-effects like allergic reaction and skin disorders. The main limitation in treatment was that clinician cannot predict the response to anti-TNF therapy in patients. With this problem in treatment of patients with Crohn’s disease, the research question for the study was to see how fluorescence antibodies to TNF can help in studying response to anti-TNF therapy (Atreya et al. 2014).   Therefore, the use of different techniques like transfection, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry helped in studying variation in expression of Crohn’s disease risk gene and increased understanding of Crohn’s disease risk gene. Higher LACC1 expression was seen in spleen and lymph nodes in this research study. Hence application of this technique helped in gaining better understanding of LACC1 function in regulating immune-mediated function and diseases. These tools can be exploited in the future for several diagnostic studies. Assadi, G., Vesterlund, L., Bonfiglio, F., Mazzurana, L., Cordeddu, L., Schepis, D., Mjà ¶sberg, J., Ruhrmann, S., Fabbri, A., Vukojevic, V. and Percipalle, P., 2016. Functional Analyses of the Crohn’s Disease Risk Gene LACC1.  PloS one,  11(12), p.e0168276. Atreya, R., Neumann, H., Neufert, C., Waldner, M.J., Billmeier, U., Zopf, Y., Willma, M., App, C., Mà ¼nster, T., Kessler, H. and Maas, S., 2014. In vivo imaging using fluorescent antibodies to tumor necrosis factor predicts therapeutic response in Crohn's disease.  Nature medicine,  20(3), pp.313-318. Givan, A.L., 2013.  Flow cytometry: first principles. John Wiley & Sons. Goehring, A., Lee, C.H., Wang, K.H., Michel, J.C., Claxton, D.P., Baconguis, I., Althoff, T., Fischer, S., Garcia, K.C. and Gouaux, E., 2014. Screening and large-scale expression of membrane proteins in mammalian cells for structural studies.  Nature protocols,  9(11), pp.2574-2585. Woo, J., Baumann, A. and Arguello, V., 2014. Recent advancements of flow cytometry: new applications in hematology and oncology.  Expert review of molecular diagnostics,  14(1), pp.67-81.

The View on Relationships Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The View on Relationships - Essay Example And those are party or bar and sexual activity. Let me just clarify what sexual activity is in hook ups, it may be as simple as making out to sexual intercourse. There are several studies that focus on how the hook up culture impacts the sexual behavior of adolescents. Findings vary from hook up culture being prevalent in colleges, like a sort of baptismal ritual of college freshmen as this is more commonly found in freshmen, to the culture being limited in a certain group of people (Wade & Heldman, pp. 128-145; Regnerus & Uecker, ch.4). But what is common in the studies is that the hook up culture is a reversal of script with regards to building a romantic relationship. Before, a relationship starts with dating. Two interested people date each with the hopes of establishing a connection. With this script, the relationship is built on intimacy and emotional attachment. With the hook up culture, it starts with the hook up, usually based on physical or sexual relations. There are no ob ligations for both parties to continue on with building a relationship although both parties may be interested in dating afterwards. This shows how impersonal the hook up culture is. There is no intimate connection that is created between the involved parties. What happens is they hook up, and they part the next day. They may not see each other, talk to each other, or send email or SMS. It was a simple hook up and there is nothing more to it. But if they meet again, and still interested in each other they may go home together and have sex. It was as easy as that. But this setup actually makes things more complicated. Because of its impersonal nature, it degrades the value of relationships. And of the people involved in the hook up. It is even more dangerous for women than men since social values still place greater value on how a woman should be subordinate or should act in a proper or traditional manner compared to men. If a woman hooks up with several men, even if she is not neces sarily sleeping around with them, she may still be perceived as promiscuous, or worst she may be called a bitch or a whore. Men are more immune to these perceptions although there are still men who attract negative criticism when they hook up with several women. They may be perceived as men who cannot be trusted to be in a relationship. Because of these results, the hook up culture does not seem to be very attractive. Who wants to be called a bitch or a whore or a playboy with no concept of intimacy or love? It can destroy one’s self-esteem. And this is exactly what happens to the women and men involved in hook up cultures. Since there is no intimacy involved within the hook up culture, it demoralizes relationship and sex. There are three things that people usually look for in sex, meaningfulness, empowerment and pleasure. But the hook up culture distorts it. According to Wade and Heldman’s study (pp.140 – 144), the men and women they interviewed felt that their hook up sex was meaningless. Since there was no connection whatsoever, the sex was merely an action. It does not symbolize anything aside from the act of having sex. Those who were involved in the hook up culture wanted to have meaning when they have sex with someone. It doesn’t necessarily mean love. What they were looking for was some kind of bond that they can share. A connection wherein they can they are

Marketing Planning and Strategy LASA2 (Marketing Plan)2 Assignment

Marketing Planning and Strategy LASA2 (Marketing Plan)2 - Assignment Example On the other hand, the company enjoys other opportunities which it has been able to make good use of to make BMW among the most powerful market share holders in the world. In analyzing both the strengths and weaknesses within the marketing strategy of the company, proposals are made on the possible ideal practices that would improve the quality of products and expand the market of the companys products. BMW is among the leading producers of cars of premium standards within the automotive industry. The company is distinguished from the rest by its unique design, luxurious and high quality approach of its products (Curnow, 2007). The company has been subjected to a healthy competition from other market actors, especially in the form of low-price substitutes, which is the biggest threat to the company’s products. However, BMW has often demonstrated strength in the financial results hence retaining much of its shares in the market. This paper aims at analyzing the BMW marketing strategy, the strengths and weaknesses of such practices in its quest to maintain relevance in the flooded automotive market (Evans, 2008). In addition to this, the paper proposes the probable changes that could enhance the efficiency of the company as far as adapting to the current market dynamicity is concerned, as evident through the current mix in the market. BMW is one of the most coveted and strong manufacturers of cars in the world. The company boasts of a strong financial performance as compared to its competitors, which has undoubtedly enhanced the loyalty level among its customers (Papasolomou and Kitchen, 2011). It is on this basis that the company has been often ranked as one of the companies with high customer satisfaction indexes in the world. While many large manufacturers of cars struggle with the unstable market, which has led to fall in the sales, profit and market shares, BMW continues to enjoy expansion and growth in its motor production (Gabrielsson, Gabrielsson and

Define and give examples of downwards, upwards and horizontal Essay

Define and give examples of downwards, upwards and horizontal organizational communication. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different forms of c - Essay Example Downward communication is the most studied form of communication in the business organization. As Downward communication is the most widespread form in organizations as those at the top have the facilities and status for instigating communication. They also have a greater require doing so and are definitely less inhibited about taking such action. at times written messages are issued by top executives to all levels of the organization. though this presents the kind of deformation that takes place when oral messages are sent down the line, employees are conditioned to believe that communications must come through their immediate supervisors. while they don't, employees quickly instigate to lose respect for the supervisors (Jeanette W. Gilsdorf; 1998). If you choose to communicate directly, there is the problem assuring that you do not alienate the layers between yourself and the person you are communicating with. You must also be careful of what you say so as not to countermand or cause confusion from what more immediate supervisors have said (Ferrell, March 10, 1998). Several writers, like Marshall McLuhan in The Medium Is the Massage, have explained how media influence the receiver's perceptions of the message. Douglas Brush asserts, "A ten-minute videotape of a chief executive officer announcing a new corporate policy imparts hundreds of times more information than an audiotape of that same message, which contains hundreds of times more information than a printed text of the message." (Brush, pp. 10-11). Downward communication moves from superior to subordinate, whether from the chairman to all employees of the company or from one superior to one subordinate. It is the main form of communication in corporations. More media carry more messages down the management chart than take them upward or horizontally combined. That is not to say that formal communications in the business organization are typically downward or even vertical. Most are horizontal. However most formal ones are downward, as one writer notes: "It is obvious that the bulk of communication in most organizations is downward--directing, instructing, explaining, and the like. The passing on of orders, policies, and plans is the backbone of managerial communication." (Jose R. Goris, Bobby C. Vaught, John D. Pettit Jr, 2000) Katz and Kahn list five purposes of downward communication: 1. Specific task directive: job instructions. 2. Information designed to produce understanding of the task and its relations to other organizational tasks: job rationale. 3. Information about organizational procedures and

Ancient greek art paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ancient greek art paper - Essay Example These figures are seen throughout the Aegean period. This is a clear indication that these figures were adored mainly among people of Crete and Greece (van, Schaik, 11). Interestingly, one of the well-known marble figures is mainly musicians; one who is a harp player, and another one who is a pipe holder. These are dated around 2500 BCE. These are considered the earliest extant musicians in the Aegean. Majority of the figures during this period were mostly women ranging from simple adjustment of stone to developed figures resembling human beings. Some of these figures had natural proportions while some were idealized (van, Schaik, 19). It is important to note that high number of these figures during Spedos type depicted uniformity and proportion, a clear indication that they were planned with a compass. Additionally, through scientific analysis it is evident that the surfaces of these figures were painted with mineral based pigments-azurite for blue ores or cinnabar for red. The figure in the Appendix shows a male seated on a high-backed chair playing a stringed instrument to assist him as he sings. Painted information that originally inflated the figure has currently been eroded into a plain white marble (van, Schaik, 22). Despite this, the information is still legible and engaging. What is interesting about this figure is its elegant wedge shape. The marble figure tilts back his head drawing his lips frontward. This enables one think or imagine words that he is likely to singing. Additionally, his ears are prominent. This enables him to hear his own music (van, Schaik, 26). The arm muscles and vigilantly articulated fingers suggest his capability as a musician; he releases his right thumb, maybe to sound a note on a string. The back of the musician’s head was painted maybe to show a close fitting cap. It is evident that he holds the front of the harp by use of his hands, and placing it on his leg and shoulder in