Cynthia Morris Essay

There is a quote that says: Mothers are angels who teach their children how to fly. Indeed my mother was an angel who in my younger years I thought was sent here to torture me especially when I wanted to hang out with my friends instead of doing chores or homework. My mother was the pillar of strength, love, and compassion. Mothers may be misunderstood but that doesn’t mean they don’t care or know better. My earliest memories of my mother, was her pretty face, beautiful smile, and small frame. To me she was the most beautiful woman on earth and nothing compared to her. Even though she was unlike the celebrity moms who wore designer clothes and ate in fancy restaurants, my mother was very real. My mother was a very small, petite woman who you did not want to cross. I loved the way she combed her hair. I loved the way she would play with my hair or rub my legs after a track meet even when I smelled like sweat. On the incidents that my siblings and I crossed my mother her big brown eyes would squint with disapproval. But I came to love that about her. When those brown eyes started to squint it meant you had done something wrong. Even though there were seven children my mother never played favorites. But rather, made appoint to be fair and equal with all of her children. Whenever I admitted to making a mistake, Mom would not hesitate to point it out to me, and punish me if needed. At times I detested it but over time I came to realize that Mom did that because she had my best interests at heart. She was never one to hold grudges for long. Like most mothers, my mother was very protective of me that often times I resented her for being so. I did not understand why she had to constantly ask about my whereabouts: Who I was with and where I was going. It never occurred to me that this was an essential part of being a mother. A mother cares and worries for her children. My mother taught me that getting reprimanded did not mean she loved me less. On the contrary, she showed me that when she scolded me, it meant she cared and worried about me. Mother certainly had her own flaws but I came to accept, in fact love every bit of them. When she called me non-stop, it was because she missed me or needed something or I had made her angry about something. Some may have called it nagging, I call it loving. For a person to wear her heart on her sleeves is a vulnerable thing, my mother was never vulnerable. In fact she was very strong. She never backed off in a fight especially if she knew she was right but she also knew how to compromise too. But compromising for her did not mean that you were wrong. Compromising was just another way of getting things done – later. When I started school, mom was my ally. To me, school was a world were ghosts and bad guys lurked. Instead of laughing at my fears, my mother showed me instead how great school was. My first day of school, she prepared my favorite snacks and walked me to school. Instead of leaving me at the gate, she walked me to the door, knelt down and told me: â€Å"Don’t worry, everything will be ok†. Although these words are pretty naà ¯ve, to a child on her first day of school, these words were more than enough for me. I went to school that day knowing that Mom was there for me and I learned to enjoy school. I made a few friends and introduced them to my mother who was more than happy to give us cookies and milk for snacks. Although my mother was a stay at home mom, she taught us how important an education was. Mother also taught us the value of relationships. This was evident in her relationship with my Dad. She was married to him for over 40 years before she passed and that for me was not just a manifestation of an enduring love for a person but of trust and fidelity as well. I am hoping that I can do the same in my relationship. Being married to the same person for over 40 years is not a mean feat. It takes a lot of patience and understanding to do this every day. Our generation today does not seem to realize the importance of maintaining a relationship. I, on the other hand, would want to be like my mother. I want to have a long lasting relationship with my partner just like my mother did with my father. I know my mother is not perfect. She had flaws too. But for me, those flaws were tiny imperfections that made her all the more lovable and perfect. Those flaws just made her humanity more evident. My mother was and now is an angel who taught me to fly and dream.

Psychology Vocab Essay

Anal stage: the stage at which children advocate erotic pleasure with the elimination process Archetype: an inherited idea, based on the experiences of one’s ancestors, which shapes one’s perception of the world Altered states of consciousness: conscious level, preconscious level, and unconscious level Amnesia: a loss of memory that may occur after a blow to the head or as a result of brain damage Biofeedback: the process of learning to control bodily states with the help of machines monitoring the states to be controlled Bipolar: a disorder in which a person’s mood inappropriately alternates between feelings of mania and depression Client centered therapy: an approach developed by Carl Rogers that reflects the belief that the client and therapist are partners in therapy Conditioning: a type of learning that involves stimulus response connections in which the response is conditional to the stimulus Central nervous system: Spinal cord and the brain Classical conditioning: a learning procedure in which associations are made between a natural stimulus and a neutral stimulus Collective unconscious: the part of the mind that inherited instincts, urges, and memories common to all people Consciousness: an individual’s state of awareness, including a person’s feelings, sensations, ideas, and perceptions Compulsion: an apparently irresistible urge to repeat an act or engage in ritualistic behavior such as hand washing Cross- sectional study: research method in which data is collected from groups of participants of different ages and compares so that conclusions can be drawn about differences due to age CS (Conditioned stimulus): a once neutral event that elicits a given response after a period of training in which it has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus CR (conditioned response): a response by the conditioned stimulus; it is similar to the unconditioned response, but not identical in magnitude or amount Defense mechanism: Certain specific means by which the ego unconsciously protects itself against unpleasant impulses or circumstances Dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality): a person exhibits two or more personality states, each with its own patterns of thinking and behaving Dependent variable: changes in relation to the independent variable Discrimination: the ability to respond differently to similar but distinct stimuli. 2. The unequal treatment of individuals on the basis of their race, ethnic group, age, gender, or membership in another category rather than on the basis of individual characteristics Depression: a psychological disorder characterized by extreme sadness, an inability to concentrate, and feelings of helplessness and dejection Superego: the part of the personality that is the source of conscience and contracts the socially undesirable impulses of the id Dopamine: Involved in learning, emotional, arousal, and movement Eidetic memory: the ability to remember with great accuracy visual information on the basis of short term exposure Extinction: in classical conditioning, the gradual disappearance of a conditional response because the reinforcement is withheld or because the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus Endocrine system: a chemical communication system using hormones, by which messages are sent through the blood stream, EEG (electroencephalograph): a machine used to record the electoral activity of large portions of the brain Extravert: an outgoing, active person who directs his or her energies and interests toward other people and things Electroshock therapy: also called (ECT), an electrical shock is sent through the brain to try to reduce symptoms of mental disturbance Ego: the part of the personality that is in touch with reality and strives to meet the demands of the id and the superego in socially acceptable ways Free association: a Freudian technique used to examine the unconscious; the patients instructed to say whatever comes into his or her mind Formal operations: the person is able to solve abstract problems Fixed ratio schedule: a pattern of reinforcement in which a specific number of correct responses is required before reinforcement can be obtained Fixed interval schedule: a pattern of reinforcement in which a specific amount of time must elapse before a response will elicit reinforcement Functional fixedness: a mental set characterized by the inability to imagine new functions for familiar objects Genital Stage: Freud’s fifth and final psychosexual stage during which an individual’s sexual satisfaction depends as much on giving pleasure as on receiving it Hypothalamus: regulates the autonomic nervous system Hallucinations: perceptions that have no direct external cause Hypothesis: an assumption or prediction about behavior that is tested through scientific research Identity crisis: A period of inner conflict during which adolescents worry intensely about who they are Id: in psychoanalytic theory, that part of the unconscious personality that contains our needs, drives, and instincts, as well as repressed material Independent variable: experimenters change or alter so they can observe its effects Imprinting: inherited tendencies or responses that are displayed by newborn animals when they encounter new stimuli in their environment Introvert: a reserved, withdrawn person who is more preoccupied with his or her inner thoughts and feelings than in what is going on around him or her Imitation: The third way of learning Latency Stage: the fourth stage of Freud’s psychosexual development at which sexual desires are pushed into the background and the child becomes involved in exploring the world and learning new skills Long term memory: the storage of information over extended periods of time Longitudinal study: research method in which data is collected about a group of participants over a number of years to assess how certain characteristics change or remain the same during development Lithium carbonate: a chemical used to counteract mood swings of bipolar disorder Maturation: the internally programmed growth of a child Meditation: the focusing of attention to clear one’s mind and produce relaxation Modeling: the process of learning behavior through observation and imitation of others Mnemonic devices: techniques of memorizing information by forming vivid associations or images, which facilitate recall and decrease forgetting Negative reinforcement: increasing the strength of a given response by removing or preventing a painful stimulus when the response occurs Neurosis: One of the most commonly used diagnostic distinctions Oral Stage: Freud’s first stage of psychosexual development, in which infant’s associate erotic pleasure with the mouth Object permanence: Child’s realization that an object exists even when he or she cannot see or touch it Operant conditioning: a form of learning in which a certain action is reinforced or punished, resulting in corresponding increases or decreases in the likelihood that similar actions will occur again Obsession: a recurring thought or image that seems to be beyond control OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder): an anxiety disorder consisting of obsessions and compulsions Oedipus complex: seems more like a literary conceit that a thesis worthy of a scientifically minded psychologist Psychosexual stages: 1. Oral stage, 2.anal stage, 3.phallic stage, 4.latancy stage, 5.ganital stage Psychosocial stages: 1. Trust vs. mistrust, 2. Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt, 3.initiative vs. guilt, 4. Industry vs. inferiority, 5. Identity vs. role confusion, 6. Intimacy vs. isolation, 7. Generativity vs. stagnation, 8. Ego integrity vs. Despair Pre-operational stage: emerges when the child begins to use mental images symbols to understand things Pituitary gland: â€Å"master gland† Psychosis: One of the most commonly used diagnostic distinctions Projective test: an unstructured test of personality in which a person is asked to respond freely, giving his or her own interpretation of various ambiguous stimuli Phallic stage: Freud’s third psychosexual stage, children associate sexual pleasure with their genitals Psychology: the scientific, systematic study of behaviors and mental processes Psychiatry: a branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders Psychotherapy: a general term for the application of psychological principles and techniques for any treatment used by therapists to help troubled individuals overcome their problems and disorders Positive reinforce: a stimulus that increases the likelihood that a response will occur again Psychoanalysis: a form of therapy aimed at making patients aware of their unconscious motives so that they can gain control over their behavior and free themselves of self-defeating patterns Reli ability: the ability of a test to give the same results under similar conditions REM sleep: a stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements, a high level of brain activity, a deep relaxation of the muscles, and dreaming Reinforcement schedule: an important factor in operant conditioning Random sample: One way to avoid a nonrepresentative sample Rorschach inkblot cards: 10 cards with inkblot designs and a system for interpreting responses Self –actualization: the humanist term for realizing one’s unique potential Shaping: technique of operant conditioning in which the desired behavior is â€Å"molded† by first rewarding any act similar to that behavior and then requiring ever-closer approximations to the desired behavior before giving the reward Short term memory: memory that is limited in capacity to about seven items and in duration by the subject active rehearsal Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after some time has passed Selective attention: Focusing on only one detail of many Schizophrenia: a group of severe psychotic disorders characterized by confused and disconnected thoughts, emotions, behavior, and perceptions Separation anxiety: whenever the child is suddenly separated from the mother Superego: the part of the personality that is the source of conscience and contracts the socially undesirable impulses of the id Sensorimotor: the infant uses schemas that primarily involve his body and sensations Surrogate mothers: substitute mothers TAT (Thematic Apperception Test): This test consists of a series of pictures Thalamus: major relay station of the brain Unconscious: the part of the mind that holds mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories of which we are unaware but that strongly influences conscious behaviors UCR (Unconditioned response): an organism, automatic or natural reaction to a stimulus UCS (unconditioned stimulus): an event that elicits a certain predictable response without previous training Variable- ratio schedule: a pattern of reinforcement in which a specific amount of time must elapse before a response will elicit reinforcement Variable- interval schedule: a pattern of reinforcement in which changing amounts of time must elapse before a response will obtain reinforcement Validity: the ability of a test to measure what it is intended to measure Theorists Carl Jung: (1875-1961) believed that people try to develop their potential as well as handle their instinctual urges. He distinguished between personal unconscious and the collective unconscious Alfred Adler: (1870-1937) believed that the driving force in people’s lives is a desire to overcome their feelings of inferiority Sigmund Freud: (1856-1939) believed that our conscious experiences are only the tip of the iceberg, that beneath the surface are primitive biological urges that are in conflict with the requirements of society and morality Erick Erickson: (1902-1994) believed that the need for social approval is just as important as a child’s sexual and aggressive urges Abraham Maslow: (1908-1970) tried to base his theory of personality on studies of healthy, creative, self actualizing people who fully utilize their talents and potential rather than on studies of disturbed individuals Carl Rogers: (1902-1987) believed that many people suffer from a conflict between wh at they value in themselves and what they believe that other people value in them John B. Watson 🙠 1878-1958) psychology should concern itself only with the observable facts of behavior. Said that all behavior is the result of conditioning and occurs because the appropriate stimulus is present in the environment Ivan Pavlov: (1849 -1936) charted another new course for psychological investigation. Demonstrated that a neutral stimulus can cause a formerly unrelated response B.F. Skinner 🙠 1904-1990) introduced the concept of reinforcement. Attempted to show how his laboratory techniques might be applied to society as a whole Albert Bandura: people direct their own behavior by their choice of models. Harry Harlow: (1905- 1981) studied the relationship between mother and child in a species closer to humans, the rhesus monkeys Galen: Identified four personality characteristics called melancholic, sanguine, choleric, and phlegmatic Alfred Binet: Karen Horney: (1885-1952) stressed the importance of basic anxiety. She believes that if a child is raised in an atmosphere of love and security, that child could avoid Freud’s psychosexual parent child conflict b Lawrence Kohlberg: His studies show how important being able to see other people’s points of view is to social development in general and to moral development of moral reasoning Jean Piaget: Discovered that knowledge builds as children grow. Children develop logic and think differently at different ages Lorenz Konrad: (1903- 1989) became a pioneer in the field of animal learning. He discovered that baby geese become attached to their mothers in a sudden, virtually permanent learning process called imprinting Stanley Milgram: conducted the most famous investigation of obedience in 1963. Wanted to determine whether participants would administer painful shocks to others merely because an authority figure had instructed them to do so James Marcia: main contribution is in clarifying the sources and nature of the adolescent identity crisis Philip Zimbardo: made the Zimbardo experiment Solomon Asch: designed what has become a classic experiment to test conformity to pressure from one’s peers Hermann Rorschach: made the inkblot test   Wilhelm Wundt: he proposed that psychological experience is composed of compounds, much like the ones found in chemistry Phillipe Pinel: Father of scientific psychiatry   Dorothea Dix: Chief spokesperson for reform

Immigration and Immigration Policy Today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Immigration and Immigration Policy Today - Essay Example A recent report shows that more than 700 million adults from around the globe would like to migrate to a developed country. Predominantly, there are two driving factors in the immigration process; push factors and pull factors. Push factors refer primarily to the motive for emigration from the country of origin. In the case of economic migration (usually labour migration), differentials in wage rates are prominent. If the value of wages in the new country surpasses the value of wages in one's native country, he or she may choose to migrate as long as the travel costs are not too high. Particularly in the 19th century, economic expansion of the U.S. increased immigrant flow, and in effect, nearly 20% of the population was foreign born versus today's values of 10%, making up a significant amount of the labour force. Poor individuals from less developed countries can have far higher standards of living in developed countries than in their originating countries. The cost of emigration, which includes both the explicit costs, the ticket price, and the implicit cost, lost work time and loss of community ties, also play a major role in the pull of emigrants away from their native country. American immigration or Immigration to U.S. ... ligion, economic benefits, job growth, settlement patterns, environmental impact, and impact on upward social mobility, levels of criminality, nationalities, political loyalties, moral values, and work habits. As of 2006, the United States accepts more legal immigrants as permanent residents than any other country in the world. In 2006, the number of immigrants totalled 37.5 million. Immigration to the U.S. is one of the hot topics being discussed and debated upon around the globe these days, especially amongst the Third World countries. In order to get clearer picture of the whole situation and to look at it from an immigrant's point of view, I conducted a series of interviews with people coming from different ethnic backgrounds, age group and walks of life. Following are the exclusive accounts of different people and their view point on USA's immigration: Omar Rizvi, 15, student of Pleasant Valley High School is an American national with Asian background and has been living in the United States for over 13 years now. Here is what he had to say about our topic: Q. What are immigration reasons according to your understandings Explain with reasons under which circumstances its inevitable keeping the USA in mind. R. To escape war, poverty and to have better opportunities in life. Q. Is the current immigration policy catering to all creeds and cultures R. No Q. What factors and under currents should influence USA's immigration policy R. I have no idea. Q. Is the man in charge of immigration into and out of the USA most suitable for the job Explain why or why not. R. No, because he does not see all aspects of the issue properly. Q. How would you classify immigration As a plight to greener pastures Solution or living in a fool's paradise Justify your

Industrialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Industrialization - Essay Example The foundation of all Marxist leads to the analysis of political parties that formed in the early years in the British history. According to Marxists, the foundation of the Major political parties in Britain was based on the economic status of the society by then. The major aim of the political parties was to address the major issues affecting the life of the common people in the society. Politics of one class of people were being fought by all means and it was all aimed at ensuring equity in the places of work. There came to the formation of the Marxists in the early years. This brought the major political parties we have today in Britain. These are the; Tory Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Party (Daub 2005). The three major parties have not been seen to antagonize with the Marxist thesis rather they conform it. Marx revealed the driving forces of history in order to facilitate the making of history. In the course of the struggle between the classes, some acquire or lose coh esion and confidence. Thus political parties act as a weapon in the struggle between classes. In his argument Marx argued that there was a rising tension and disagreement between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. According to Marx, the proletariats were being exploited by the capitalists who were the bourgeoisie. The exploitation being experienced by the proletariat was based on the wealth that was being created and being enjoyed by the bourgeoisie. This major source of the tension being experienced by the two groups was on the economic exploitation where the working had little share of what they produced. The materials produced in the factories could be sold at a price higher than the workers’ wages. This meant that the workers who were mainly the proletariat could work in the factories but could not afford to build the items they produced due to the low wages (Barry 2005). The antagonism that Marx described was based on the wealth superiority. The oppressors wanted to ac quire all the wealth that was being made by the proletariats. This was the major cause of the tension between the two groups. Riots would arise as the oppressed advocated for the equal treatment of the two groups. There arose a revolution aimed at overthrowing the oppressors together with their supporters (Milkovinch 2010). According to Marx, he believed that capitalism was the destructor of the peace between the two major groups. He went on to describe in depth how the wealth being enjoyed by the bourgeoisies was a result of the hard work of the proletariat who were the main workers in the factories. In his observation, Marx argued that this antagonism would lead to a revolution that could be aimed at the oppressors who were the bourgeoisies. The rising competition among the two groups makes the commercial crisis get to a bad state. The increased rioting has been attributed to the oppression by the bourgeoisie (Daub 2005). Marx states that the exploitation of this group of people w ould lead to intensified resentment causing more hatred. A revolution would arise that would lead to the overthrow of the capitalists and their external supporters. However the situation that Marx described seems to have faded today. This is because there are groups that strongly advocate for the equal treatment of all classes of people in the society. There are some who stage their claims and strongly defend the working class calling for meaningful wages. The issue of one group dominating and

Information Processing Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Information Processing Theory - Essay Example It became vogue in the 1950s when high-speed computers started developing. (Information-Processing Theory, n.d. a) This paper shall try to give a broad overview of Information Processing Theory. But with thousands or perhaps millions of researches, books, and articles published, anyone wishing to find complete information would realize that what this paper has provided is only the tip of the iceberg. There are different but similar forms of information processing theories. Nevertheless, they originated from the works of cognitive psychology, primarily through the works of David Rumelhart & James McClelland and their Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) (History of Cognitive Psychology, 1997) Their PDP model has the following components, and it can be seen later how this fits very well into the Modern Information Processing Theory: (Rumelhart, Hinton, and McClelland, 1986) As stated earlier, information processing theories developed because in the 1950s computers came under increased development. Researchers like Herbert Simoun at that time really thought and properly demonstrated that human intelligence can be simulated using computers. From this, various models of information processing theory have been proposed, primarily in the work on memory (Information-processing theory, n.d. b). â€Å"This theory identifies three important concepts: information processing needs, information processing capability, and the fit between the two to obtain optimal performance. Organizations need quality information to cope with environmental uncertainty and improve their decision making. Environmental uncertainty stems from the complexity of the environment and dynamism, or the frequency of changes to various environmental variables.† (Premkumar, G., Ramamurthy, K., & Saunders, C. S., 2005). Apparently, this has also developed from the original information processing theories. However, this is applied to

How Salt can be separated from a Solution of Water Essay

How Salt can be separated from a Solution of Water - Essay Example How Salt can be separated from a Solution of Water It was concluded that sodium chloride disintegrates in water to sodium and chlorine ions that are surrounded by polar water molecules. This allows dehydration of the compound NaCl†¢2H2O to form crystals of salts. The compound salt has many usages from the different fields of science, agriculture, industries and domestically as a food additive. Salt, which is a naturally occurring mineral and having the principal component as sodium chloride, has many uses both industrially and domestically. NaCl is a common salt, and it has an ionic compound formed as a result of gaining and sharing of electrons by sodium ions and chloride ions. The salt is responsible for the sea water salinity and in organisms that are multicellular, the salt forms the extracellular fluid required in cell activities. The salt was anciently used as a form of currency in some of the cultures as a result of its cost especially when salt trade was of importance in the Mediterranean times. Domestically, the salt id edible is it adds taste to almost all meals consumed in the human diet. Additionally, the salt is used as a food preservative and as a condiment. Lastly, the salt is used industrially in extractions of different types of compounds like chlorine and sodium in chemical synthesis. This report explains the method in which a dissolved salt, NaCl can be separated from water using the solar method process. The process of evaporation is involved since water will be get rid of leaving behind the salt.

International student's pros and cons in America Research Paper

International student's pros and cons in America - Research Paper Example Primarily, it is the opportunity to interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Interrelating with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds broadens the horizon of foreign students. Intercultural communication enhances the learning process for international students, especially as regards different cultures. This experience makes them more open-minded and appreciative of other cultural traditions. Being an international student also brings about broader knowledge of religion, gender, race, sexual norms, and others (Choudaha 6). America is one of the most diverse regions in the world and international students here have the special opportunity to expose themselves to new cultures, languages, and ideas that they can share to everyone at home. Basically speaking, there are numerous benefits for international students in America. There are numerous ways for these international students to learn from their new social, cultural, and educational environment, like dual-degree courses, short-term study abroad programs, and workshops. Many international students admit that their experiences studying abroad are not just motivating and interesting, but also life-changing and revolutionizing (Harper & Quaye 15). However, these positive aspects of being an international student in America are usually overshadowed by the major challenges that foreign students have to confront in order to succeed academically. In summary, several advantages of studying in America include becoming more broad-minded and appreciative of differences and uncertainty, gaining knowledge of various cultures, and acquiring proficiency in a second language. Furthermore, according to Harper and Quaye (2009), students desire to study in America because they understand the importance of experiencing culturally diverse environments to widen their own perspectives and become cross-culturally knowledgeable and experienced, and to enhance

Reducing mongoose in Hawaii Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reducing mongoose in Hawaii - Essay Example address the issue through mobilizing collective efforts by the public as well as the government agents responsible of wildlife conservation and management into resolving the issue. There is the need to have the endangered species of animals and plants (threatened by mongoose) saved while still conserving the mongoose because the retaliation efforts by the citizens present another threat to the mongoose species. This paper therefore proposes the creation of management/conservation zones for the mongoose in Hawaii, which would help through protecting them from human beings while at the same time reducing their detrimental effects towards human beings. The position of this paper that conserving the mongoose through conservancy zones would present an amicable solution to the current issue is because the solution has proven with other species on endangered species of wildlife. By keeping the species out of unauthorized interaction with human beings would allow them to breed to the capacity that the ecosystem would naturally support while reducing their risk of threatening existence of other species of animals and plants as claimed. Adaptive management has therefore been shown to be a paramount area of study in the 21st century especially with the increase in human populations and the resultant interference with natural ecosystem. The study is therefore not only interesting but also informative and presents an opportunity for people to devise practical solutions to emerging issues such as the one at hand. Hays, W. S., & Conant, S. (2007). Biology and impacts of Pacific Island invasive species. 1. A worldwide review of effects of the small Indian mongoose, Herpestes javanicus (Carnivora: Herpestidae). Pacific Science, 61(1),

Compensation Plan Outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Compensation Plan Outline - Essay Example Hence, companies try to adopt different compensation plans as per prevailing industry standards, work environment and employee expectations. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., under the brand name ‘Wal-Mart’ is an American multinational retail corporation. Being one of the largest retailers in the world, it runs chains of departmental stores and discount stores with large discounts. It can be declared as the world’s biggest private employer with 2.2 million associates worldwide. Hence, they ought to have a well planned compensation plan so as to motivate each associate to give their best. The competitive compensation package of Wal-Mart touched $5.2 billion last year in the United States. The employee wages are classified and structured depending on experience, skill set, problem-solving abilities and job accountability. Every associate is qualified to receive a ‘performance bonus’, based on the performance of their stores. A full - time employee is eligible to re ceive bonuses up to $1,800 at Wal-Mart per year. Also, the company is known to reward hourly associates and assistant managers who have completed 20 years of service in the company, thus motivating employees to give their long term service to the company. It is vital for a company to develop a broad minded outlook while making compensation plans for its employees. It is essential to consider health benefits and various saving plans for the associates apart from their regular weekly / monthly wages. These health benefits include the spouse and all children of the associates, hence taking care of the employee and his family. They also provide varied coverage, ranging from $5 per month to $8 per month depending on the region of work. Wal-Mart provides various ‘Profit share plans’ and ‘Stock purchase plans’ to help their employees earn money in a faster way (â€Å"Wages and Benefits†, 2007). However, Wal-Mart’s compensation strategy has been widel y debated and severely criticized for its low worker’s compensation, which is believed to be influential in its ability to sustain its low prices. There is no doubt that the low product prices greatly benefit Wal-Mart’s consumers, especially from lower to middle class families. Wal-Mart’s strategy has been observed to focus on opening stores in ‘lower income’ areas. This indicates the company’s intention to minimize on worker compensation, along with other factors such as retail and merchandizing. The opening of Wal-Mart stores in a new locality is seen to lower the general wages on an average by 0.5 – 0.8% per worker in the merchandizing sector and by 0.8 – 0.9% for grocery workers (Bernstein, Bivens and Dube, 2006). The compensation plan has been slammed for charges that female employees are paid less than their male counterparts despite their achievement of greater performance ratings. The compensation plan at Wal-Mart is str uctured in such a way that hourly jobs are paid less while management positions are paid better. The process of promotion is defined in such a manner that an employee must complete a ‘Management Training Program’ in order to be appraised to the position of an Assistant Manager. It has been noticed that the other big retailers are found to pay more wages compared to that of Wal-Mart. There have been reports of employee grievances that show wage increments of as low as 20

Luther Against the Peasants forum 11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Luther Against the Peasants forum 11 - Essay Example e peasants turned to violence and instigated the German peasant war that caused massive destruction of property and loss of lives, Luther justifiably became angry and rebuked the peasants the best way he could. He adopted the harsh stance since it was the only way of he could express his feelings about the violence. Additionally, his close relationship with the peasants led the prince to believe that he masterminded the revolution. The harsh stance was therefore a personal way of distancing himself from the revolution. This stance does not change my views of Luther. As explained earlier, my experience of Martin Luther is that he loves peace and diplomacy. Luther often represented the weak in the society. The weak and vulnerable population in a society lacked any military strength with which to engage in revolutions. As such, in case of any armed revolution, his people would always suffer massive losses. As a result, Luther often encouraged peaceful ways of resolving issues. The same was the case with the peasants since he had encouraged them to seek peaceful ways of resolving their concerns. He therefore rebuked the peasants for disobeying his

Disadvantages of Globalization Essay Example for Free

Disadvantages of Globalization Essay 1. ABSTRACT It is debated that sustainable development has not worked well within the globalist environment and continues to seem unpromising for our future. If there is not some sort of new outside of the box idea followed by drastic action which takes place, this society faces grave environmental dangers as every new year comes. This essay will critically assess the statement mentioned above and will go in depth to try to explain how negative impacts can be stopped and this essay will put forth ideas regarding how capitalism and environmentalism can reconcile. 2. INTRODUCTION 2.1. BackgroundGlobalization is a concern today as it is attributed to massive social problems in developing nations. The deterioration of the environment i.e. the destruction of the rain forests, oceans, rivers, and lakes is directly related to overwriting and non-regulation of local environmental laws by corporations in developing countries. Also within the global society, economic inequality, especially poverty and exploitation of underdeveloped nations, are major social problems due to developed policies between international economic institutions of the International Monetary Fund and the Word Bank, international corporations, and national governments. These policies can be so harmful to economies that they contribute to horrors such as world hunger, disease, and human trafficking to name a few. Government intervention by regulation, taxation, and redistributing wealth then distorts natural laws of supply and demand. Some economies may suffer disadvantaged at first, but society is better off when the free market is allowed to control itself. 2.2. Purpose of the ReportThis report is aimed to give in detaied undertandign of what does globalization it, how it developed and what negative impacts on human life. While there are many positive aspects of globalization, its negative effects are overwhelming and far reaching. In fact the effects of the same behave like slow poison which is why it becomes more important to recognize and stop the negatives. 2.3. Statement of the problemBefore understanding the reasons behind why this phenomenon has brought with it so many problems, we need to have a look at  the instruments by which globalization is being promoted and enhanced. The most important and predominant instruments influencing this process are the multinational corporations and the new revolution of information technology. 3. METHODOLOGY While preparing this report, mostly the book resources of Yeditepe University Knowledge Center applied. there were numbers of books to search about the subject. This report will start with briefly defining globalization. then it will follow by its negative impacts in terms of both its economic, human and nature impacts. 4. FINDINGS 4.1. GlobalizationThere are various definitions for the word globalization, but depending on the perspective it is seen in, this phenomenon ramifies itself in different shade colors between white and black. To put ourselves in the appropriate context, it is important to understand what the word globalization means. Globalization in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional things or phenomena into global ones. It can also be used to describe a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together. This process is a combination of economic, technological, socio-cultural and political forces. Globalization is also used to refer to another term called economic globalization and this term, refers to the Integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of technology.(Robertson, 1992) During the death of each minute consumed and the passing of each day, societies have identified a certain shrinking of the world that has been more real with the strengthening of larger and stronger bonds between parallel worlds called countries. It is interesting to see that this phenomenon is not only visible because of the human being evolution, but also because of the rapid transformations in communication, transportation, and computer technology, that have permitted these parallel worlds to explore and be exposed to other ways of living and cultures (Roberts, 1999). In a broader perspective, this situation could be seen as a beneficial situation due to the fact, that opening up to new cultures, means the breaking of paradigms in the solving of problems. The difficulty nagging in everyones minds is, in the dissolution of those paradigms, are the  societies going to lose their identities which indicate in the way they live life and differ themselves from others? Its a question that has been more and more obvious in the passing of each day and that have started revolutions in pursue of preventing cultural distortion because many countries, in fact, feel threatened by other cultures and consequently, are acting out to preserve themselves the best way possible. 4.2. Globalization and culture Globalization represents a challenge to cultures and local languages. Globalization needs to be pursued with tolerance and respect for the cultures that we come across. Being hastily judgmental could lead to marginalizing many local cultures. Scientific and economic superiority of the US and the flow of information technology assist in imposing certain languages in particular English as a second language in some developing and developed countries, and as a first language in some others and this could have a significant impact on cultures resulting in the dilution if not wiping out traditions, customs, and values of many societies and marginalizes their cultures (Appadurai, 1996). 4.2.1. Cultural imperialism People are scared of cultural imperialism, which describes the idea that one day the whole world will be one big culture and that the blending of cultures will eliminate the existence of the weaker ones and fusion the habits and customs of the stronger ones. In order for this to happen, there must be an eradication of many different cultures around the world, but in a personal perspective, the idea of cultural imperialism is not possible (Appadurai, 1996). Even if all the weakest cultures adopted important habits, people would still prefer some of the things their culture proportions. 4.2.2. McDonalds More than half of the Colombians would never prefer a Mc Donald lunch over a real good sancocho trifà ¡sico and the American culture has a higher possibility to choose the other way around, due to the fact that a lot of people can only afford to eat at Mc Donalds because of its low prices in their country. This is why in a way it is clear that even if cultural imperialism were to happen, the cultures of the world would never be able to come together to form just one. Besides, there is no secret that  globalization is an uneven process, due to the fact that there is an unequal distribution of benefits and losses and this is another argument that demonstrates that many cultures differ(Peterson, 1999). This imbalance, also leads to the separation between the rich countries, and the poor ones causing them to be more against the beliefs of the rich countries, and more protective of their own. Positive cultural understanding of the market is a way to facilitate any marketing program development and resumes in a higher success for the manager that applies this, but some managers confuse themselves believing that marketing influences culture completely (Appadurai, 1996). In a way, this is true but this does not mean it changes it even though product acceptance is affected by culturally based attitudes towards change. There are a few things to take into consideration when thinking that culture is in constant change with marketing. There is a term called corporate culture, which describes the whole collection of assumptions, practices and norms that people in an organization adopt over time. This means that employees have to buy into them, eventually getting to the point where they take them for granted and passes them on. (Bauman, 1998) This term is interesting because all of the companies have their own internal culture that is always bargaining with the culture of its home country and many managers confuse themselves trying to change their national cultures for that of their company without any success, thinking in that idea that market can change culture. Experts in organization behavior say it is difficult to alter any kind of culture independent if it is a national culture or a corporate one, but the corporate culture is more flexible in terms of the way they do things internally and that a manager must understand this in order to obtain success. 4.3. Globalization and developing countries Globalization has serious effects on many developing countries:a. The irresponsible behavior of some multinational corporations toward the environment of developing countries (using these countries as a safe haven) participating in this phenomenon could cause much harm to the latter. Due to lenient policing, expired products are dangerously marketed and natural surroundings are carelessly  abused. So globalization in this context changes the world to become a global pillage instead of being a global village. Besides due to lack of supervisory governmental bodies, such behaviour could also lead to Global Warming -the consequences of which will not be limited only to the marginalized nations (Cosgrove-Sacks, 1999). b. The real test to globalization is through its success in reducing the gap between the rich and the poor at local, national and global levels. However the widening gap between the East and the West at international level, and between haves and have-nots at national level is another serious aspect of globalization (Peterson, 1999). c. Globalization has forced many countries in various parts of this world to regulate to a lower league the most fundamental needs of their peoples. The equitable distribution of food, adequate health care facilities, and the quality of education are no longer priority concerns the political agendas of the governments in these countries (Roberts, 1999). All these indicate that poor societies in the third world not only remain far away from benefiting from globalization, but also they continue to suffer from its calamities, pitfalls and misfortunes. It then contributes to laying the foundation of injustices and social inequalities, and moreover preventing the growth of new markets in these countries because they are unable to compete with the advanced markets. Globalization can also be bad for countries that arent very good at producing things and are too impoverished. Their industries may need protection against multinational firms so that their local industries can develop and get big enough to fund research and development and exploit economies of scale. Globalization means the world becoming one big marketplace with as few trade barriers as possible, so obviously weaker companies would be wiped out by stronger ones, which might be based in a few rich countries. So great income inequality can result. However, it is generally agreed that globalization has more pros than it has cons. 4.4. Globalization and morals The immoral character of globalization is becoming even more serious and its negative impacts in this context have different aspects. Globalization has internationalized crimes. Drug trafficking and the trafficking of women and children have become much more difficult to control because of their international character. Not only crimes are globalized, but also diseases such as AIDS. Pornography too accounts for the poisoning of young minds and counter productive usage of technology. This has lead to increase in crimes against women and beginning of unhealthy trends in society(Perlas, 1999). 4.5. Globalization and international politics By increasing interdependence among countries, globalization would give economically strong and advanced countries a strong hold on international politics. However this power could be misused by superpowers which could possibly challenge international legitimacy through marginalizing the role of the United Nations and ignoring the international law (Baylis, 2001). 4.6. Globalization and societal structuresThe free economy and the development of technology have negative impact on labourers. As known, twenty percent of the world population is producing the needs of all population in this world, while most of the rest 80% are unable to find a suitable source of income. This is serious because underprivileged people are expected to revolt against their bad conditions (Perlas, 1999). This is possible with the growing decline of states power to the favor of private sectors, on one hand, and to the growing decrease of the governmental expenditures on social and public services such as heath, education etc., on the other. In this, globalization is a source of social instability and class disparity. 4.6.1. Inequalities within society It is difficult to fully understand inequalities within society without fully understanding that in our capitalist societies, nothing happens unless it is profitable and that profit is usually achieved through the struggle of others surrounding it.  The leading corporate empires and some of the richest people in our worlds history have achieved their successes through the blood, sweat and tears of the unnamable workers that have helped in the past, and are helping them today (Bauman, 1998). The following essay will critically assess the usefulness of the blame globalism approach as to why there exist so many inequalities in our society, and this essay will also touch upon alternative points of view that steer away from capitalism as the main problem (Peterson, 1999). Inequality in society is quite extensive and it continues to grow. Different ways exist when portraying inequality and where it is rooted from, some views are fact based logic and some are more opinion based. Most of the time our initial views of what inequality is and where it seems to exist most, comes from the infomercials we see where images of poor children in third world countries strike across our televisions. Outside the western hemisphere of the world in the poorer countries there certainly is a visible inequality when compared to life here at home, but this has been the case for so many years (Perlas, 1999). One of the major modern inequalities creating a history of its own for people in the future to look back upon is how our own capitalist society continues to divide the rich and the poor at a fast rate and a greater division as every year passes. 4.7. Globalization materializing human nature Globalization has also popularized a consumer culture among people due to the flow of goods and products. Since the desire to consume more and more can never really be satisfied, the consumer becomes addicted to shopping to a point where the spiritual, moral and intellectual dimensions of his/her personality do not grow or develop. These are actually due to the business corporations, which produce the wide array of consumer goods and the media which advertise them. In fact this trend has also resulted in higher levels of dissatisfaction despite improved lifestyles due to never-ending wants (Bauman, 1998). 4.7.1. Gender issue Gender is essential to modern globalization in manufacturing because it has been discuss at a variety of joint degrees to see if assembly-line workers are to influence global factory regimes and  improve the quality of their jobs. This knowledge is made a power by workers in that they are able to build effective networks of resistance and resistance centers on issues of human rights, labor rights, gender identities, and indigenous identities (Brysk, 2004). Economic oppression caused by the globalization of markets and industries keeps women poor. Around the world, women are paid less than men even when they have similar jobs to male counterparts. Often women are demoted to lower paid positions and then unable to advance. When companies such as factories are privatized, women are the fist to be let go because employers assume that their income is an appendage the income earned by the male head of household. Single, unemployed mothers are one of the largest groups of potential trafficking victims (Brysk, 2004). All of these issues force women into the gray, semi-legal economy, or even worse, the black market in an effort to support themselves and their families. Increased globalization is what causes this oppression for women through trade, travel and the movements of money both legal and illegal become faster and much less able to be regulated and trafficking is made easier due to these factors. 4.7.2. Human rights violation The effect of globalization on state-based human rights violations depends on the type of state and its history. Countries that are newly democratizing with weak institutions and elite-controlled economies, such as Russia, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, the growth of global markets and economic flows tends to weaken coercive forces but increase crime, police abuse, and corruption (Brysk, 2004). Global mobility and information flows generally lead to ethnic mobilization, which may promote self-rule in more open states but mostly it produces abuses in defense of dominant-group control. Alternatively, the same forces have produced slow institutional openings by single-party states, like China and Mexico (Brysk, 2004). In much of Africa, globalization has increased the power void, by both empowering and providing intervention, which displace old governments without combining new ones. Some of the most horrifying abuses of human rights happened in the international civil wars of Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Congo (Brysk, 2004). 4.8. Globalization and prosperity Globalization poses serious questions about  peace and prosperity: Could the implementation of free market principle globally enhance international peace and security or prevents wars, as globalists argue? Prosperity, welfare and economic progress which market economy is expected to achieve could enhance or create some opportunities for political stability; but it does not necessarily ensure peace or social stability (Brueggemann, 2006). It is true that market economy has contributed to social and political stability in liberal states and to peace among them, but it does the opposite in many developing countries. Asian economic crisis of 1997 is a case in point. The free market forces allowed manipulators to control stock markets and to transfer large amount of money just to maximize their profits, while they were destroying the economies of many Asian countries (Baylis and Smith, 2001). Indeed these activities have destroyed the social structures of those societies, and furthermore, created what might be called potential social unrests in the region. That is why globalization in its current formula does not necessarily ensure social and political stability. 4.9. Globalization and Environment Capitalism is mainly about the overall accumulation of wealth based upon the consumption of our planets natural resources and these resources are becoming more and more strictly limited. We as one face the universal environmental problem existing that we are consuming roughly twenty-five percent more than the Earth can give us each year. Our planet needs these natural resources such as trees for example that continue to give our planets ecosystem clean air and water that we all need to survive daily. 4.9.1. Pollution We are exceeding the amount of pollution that our environment can handle. Waste products that give off carbon dioxide emissions into the air are now much more than our planet is able to absorb and deal with without having serious affects for both our planets health and our own. These carbon dioxide emissions are also the leading cause of our climate change referred to as global warming. Even though international agreements exist to prevent global warming by affectively fighting it, there truly needs to be than just marketing principles to achieve overall compliance from everyone (Cosgrove-Sacks, 1999). There has to be set in stone  principles that turn standard to every leading employer that threats the environmental crisis, and they need to feel as if they cannot just continue doing what they are doing by paying a fine here and there. There are many developing nations still needing to grow economically themselves but in order for them to achieve their goals, the richer countries such as ours here in the western hemisphere, we will need to reduce the usages of natural resources in order to balance things out efficiently (Cosgrove-Sacks, 1999). This is highly unlikely to happen as we continue to use more and more resources each and every year that passes now. If everyone in the world lived like we do over here, we would need around five planets to simply provide the necessary natural resources needed to survive. 4.9.2. Environmental technologies Technology that is more efficient and cleaner will not necessarily solve the environmental issues at hand either. Even though these new innovations seem to be the ideology that if we do things cleaner than everything will be okay, this is not the answer to the question of sustainability. Many areas of the world that were or still are leading polluters have began to go about their work more efficiently by adapting cleaner technology but it still does not change the fact countries such as the United States consume far more material goods and end up using more of the planets limited natural resources (Roberts, 1999). There is always another issue behind another and it becomes very difficult to address everything at once successfully. However, without a solution to these problems our planets climate will continue to die (Peterson, 1999). The only way for globalism to move forward successfully would be for it to make a change from exploiting out natural resources such as air and water and to protect them as common wealth trusts of humanities. They could belong to everybody and we would have the power to limit the use of scarce resources, charge rent, and pay dividends to everyone. Continuous economical growth can occur as long it becomes environmentally friendly with efficient technologies being adopted and if the economies steer away from producing material goods and begin to move towards services, sustainable prosperity is  what this is known as. Sustainable prosperity as the global use of resources and methods of dealing with wastes would not exceed the planets capacity to regenerate and absorb. True prosperity can only come if the income disparity between the rich and poor shortens (Brueggemann, 2006). 4.10. Globalization and poverty Wealth is created through labor. This labor comes from the people who are not getting rich from the company of which they are working for. Workers dedicate hours of labor work and most of their lives working with a companys means of production such as machinery and building things. The company owners themselves are not out there building a house, driving a bus, or selling vacuums, yet they are getting practically all of the profit and do not do the hard work themselves. They simple own the means of production. This unfair sort of money pyramid is the bases of pretty much all major money leading companies and it is the system that creates rich and poor and continues to do so much more all the time (Bauman, 1998). 4.10.1. InequalitiesOnce this basic realization is understood, it is easier to see how inequalities within the oppressed classes relate to this as well. For poor people in places like Africa and similar circumstances countries, their struggle is mainly a result of the capitalists not caring about them, because there is no profit to be made out of their labour. What worsens the views and opinions people have on capitalists even more is not that they are exploiting the poor, but it is that they are not exploited them at all. These poor people are irrelevant to capitalist production and therefore capitalists truly do not care if they live or die, eat or starve, the capitalists simple are not concerned. In fact in some cases, capitalists would most likely love if the poor would just die out, so then they could stop pretending to care (Perlas, 1999). Bosses have used all sorts of divisions in the past to attempt to increase the inequalities and drive down working conditions. However, through the years there has been an increasing amount of workers coming together to fight these inequalities. There once existed a time when racism, sexism, and youth wages played more than just a small factor in working wages, but in  fact made up most of the inequalities within our society. With so much success as time progresses, workers continue to unite to challenge globalists (Peterson, 1999). With progressions of equality such as these in our capitalist society, there are certainly other views that do not blame globalism for all the poor in the world, in fact some may even say hat globalism helps people instead of causing societal negativities. 4.10.2. Decrease in living standards of people These types of little scenarios make up the theory of equal opportunity. Poorer families not having the education, health care, or typical social skills which are created by being raised in a decent home, are at a lesser advantage than others whom were raised in a middle class family (Robertson, 1992). This makes it clear to see how people and families remain poor over decades and through generation and as the prices of things climb, these people get even more left behind. It is not necessarily the fault of capitalism, just the result of many, many growing up situations being the same. However, when people then begin to bite onto this theory and give globalism the benefit of the doubt in situations, people then turn around and say it was globalism in the first place long back many years ago that caused that family to be poor. Then as decades passed, these poor families never got out of the downward slope of things and globalism started it all (Brysk, 2004). It is not a simple task to pin point exactly where inequality was derived from in the beginning, it is easier to see where it still exists now. For every positive thing brought to light regarding globalizm, there seems to be an opposing view whether fact of opinion that then blames it again. Globalizm and inequalities in society continue to move around as one, even if possibly they were never one in the beginning and globalisms original intention was never to create a gap as large as the one is today between the rich and poor (Brysk, 2004). 5. CONCLUSION The affects of globalization can be endless. States in the US can see impacts both good and harmful due to manufacturing of export goods. Economically, globalization can be positive when it benefits commerce and can contribute to an increase in the standard of living. Also, when developing nations being to grow wealthier is can lead to social prosperity. On the other hand globalization can be seen as a negative. When it acts as  corporate imperialism, the global issues of environment, gender, and human rights are abused. This is due to the growth of markets, internationally, where economic movements tend to aid the deterioration of protective forces which increase crime levels, and abuse of policies. Depending on how globalization is approached it can negatively or positively affect socializations, but one thing s for sure: it brings change. 6. REFERENCES Appadurai, Arjun, Modernity at large : cultural dimensions of globalization, Minneapolis, Minn. : University of Minnesota Press, 1996Bauman, Zygmunt, Globalization : the human consequences, New York : Columbia University Press, 1998Baylis, John and Smith, Steve, The globalization of world politics : an introduction to international relations, Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2001Brueggemann, William G. The Practice of Macro Social Work. Thompson Brooks/Cole, Canada. 2006. Brysk., Alison. Globalization and Human Rights. University of California Press, Ltd. 2002. Globalization and Gender Inequalities: Advancing the Status of Women Worldwide. The Zontian. 2004. Volume 83, number 4. Cosgrove-Sacks, Carol, The European Union and developing countries : the challenges of globalization, New York : St. Martins Press, 1999Perlas, Nicanor, Shaping globalization : civil society, cultural power, and threefolding, Quezon City, Philippines : Center for Alternative Development Initiatives, 1999Peterson, Robert Dean. Social problems : globalization in the twenty-first century, Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall, 1999Roberts, J. Timmons and Hite, Amy, From modernization to globalization : perspectives on development and social change, Malden, Mass. : Blackwell, 1999Robertson, Roland. Globalization : social theory and global culture, London : Sage, 1992

Current Diagnostic Methods for Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Current Diagnostic Methods for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Abstract: Detection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is essential for diagnosis and monitoring of the infection. There are several different types of diagnostic tools available that are based on detection of HIV-specific antibodies, virus antigen, or nucleic acid. Sensitivities and specificities of assays utilized for HIV detection have improved. Newer HIV testing technologies such as third-generation enzyme immunoassay (EIA) which detect HIV-specific IgG and IgM antibodies, fourth-generation EIA which detect both anti-HIV antibodies and HIV p24 antigen, and nucleic acid-based tests (NATs) for HIV RNA, have significantly decreased the window period. This review study provides an overview of current technologies for the detection and monitoring of HIV infection and recent advances in the field of HIV diagnosis. Keywords: HIV diagnosis; HIV antibody test; human immunodeficiency virus; Immunoassay; Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Introduction: Diagnosis of HIV infection contributes to evaluating the progression of disease, monitoring the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART), and prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. The diagnosis of HIV is associated with decrease in risky behaviors, reduced HIV transmission, and improved survival linked to increased case detection, earlier care and treatment. HIV-negative persons can also protect themselves from HIV when making sexual decisions by engaging in safer sex behaviors and sometimes, taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Early diagnosis of HIV infection provides an opportunity for risk reduction counseling and preventing further transmission of the disease, while late diagnosis of HIV infection is detrimental to infected patients and to the public health, and is associated with an increased rate of morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Since the start of the epidemic, it is estimated that 78 million people have become infected with HIV and 35 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses. In 2015, 2.1 million people became newly infected, 36.7 million people were living with HIV and 1.1 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses. New HIV infections have fallen by 6% since 2010. Sub-Saharan Africa, which bears the heaviest burden of HIV/AIDS worldwide, accounts for 65% of all new HIV infections. Other regions significantly affected by HIV/AIDS include Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Table 1) [9]. The present study aims to conduct a narrative review to summarize and discuss the current diagnostic methods for HIV and recent developments. We start with a brief overview of HIV infection, follow by a description on the development of virological and immunological markers following HIV infection. Thereafter, we introduce current algorithms for laboratory HIV testing with different kind of current diagnostics techniques including various generations of enzyme immunoassays, rapid or point-of-care tests, and qualitative/quantitative PCR assays. Overview of HIV Infection: HIV-1 causes chronic infection which is usually characterized by progressive immune deficiency, a long period of clinical latency, and appearance of opportunistic infections [1, 2]. Characteristics of HIV include infection and viral replication in T lymphocyte expressing CD4 antigen. Qualitative defects in CD4 cell response and a gradual decline in their numbers increase the risk of opportunistic infections like Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, and neoplasms such as Kaposis sarcoma and lymphoma [3-5]. HIV infection can disrupt functions of blood monocytes, tissue macrophages, and B lymphocytes, and also increase the potential of encapsulated bacteria for developing infections [6, 7]. Direct invasion of CD4 cells in the peripheral and central nervous systems can cause meningitis, peripheral neuropathy, and dementia [8]. The prognosis is variable between people infected with HIV-1. In adults, the average time between HIV exposure to AIDS stage is 10-11 years, but a remarkable proportion of individuals (~20%) progresses rapidly to AIDS within 5 years after HIV exposure. On the other hand, it is estimated that 12% of infected individuals will remain free of AIDS for 20 years [10]. Prophylaxis and in particular antiretroviral therapy (ART) significantly enhanced the overall prognosis of HIV disease against opportunistic infections [11]. The most common route of HIV infection is sexual transmission at the genital mucosa via direct contact with infected body fluids, such as blood, semen, and vaginal secretions. Infection may also occur via inoculation of infected blood, transfusion of infected blood products, transplantation of infected tissues, from an infected mother to her infant during pregnancy, or by reuse of contaminated needles [12]. The probability of transmission after a single exposure with an uncontrolled HIV source has been estimated to be 1/150 with needle sharing, 1/300 with occupational percutaneous exposure, 1/300-1/1000 with receptive anal intercourse, 1/500-1/1250 with receptive vaginal intercourse, 1/1000-1/3000 with insertive vaginal intercourse, and 1/3000 with insertive anal intercourse. The average risk is 12-50% for congenital (mother-to-child) transmission, 12% for breast-feeding, 90% for a contaminated blood transfusion, and 0.1-1.0% for nosocomial transmission [13]. The risk of HIV transmission during early or acute HIV infection appears to be greater than during chronic infection (251). Available data suggest that the viral load is an important predictor of the risk of heterosexual transmission, and patients with levels less than 1500 copies of HIV-1 RNA per milliliter are at lower risk of HIV transmission, whereas the probability of transmission is increased dramatically with increasing vira l loads (250). Laboratory markers for HIV-1 infection: Several immunological and virological blood markers can be monitored during the course of HIV infection. These markers appear highly consistent between different individuals in a chronological order and allows classification of HIV infection into distinct laboratory stages including eclipse period, seroconversion window period, acute HIV infection, and established HIV infection (Figure 1) [14, 15]. Shortly after exposure to HIV-1, no viral markers are consistently detectable in plasma, but low levels of HIV-1 RNA can be found intermittently [16]. This period is called the eclipse phase. About 10 days after infection, HIV-1 RNA becomes detectable by NAT in plasma and quantities rise to very high levels [17], which subsequently decline rapidly until reaching a set point, a stable level that may persist for years. This stable level of HIV RNA represents an equilibrium between HIV and host immune responses and is an important indicator of subsequent disease progression, and potential transmission of HIV. It has been shown that the higher HIV-1 RNA plasma level is associated with faster progression to AIDS [18]. The set point plasma HIV-1 RNA level can be a helpful clinical tool for determining the timing of initiation of antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected patients. For instance, patients with high set point levels can be started on aggressive antiretroviral therapy and patient s with low set point levels can be monitored without initiating therapy [19]. HIV-1 p24 antigen is expressed and quantities rise to levels that can be measured by fourth-generation immunoassays within 17 days after infection (typical range 13-28 days) [15, 20]. Due to high titers of p24 antigen present in the sera of acutely infected patients during the interval prior to seroconversion, p24 Ag assay can be utilized to diagnose the primary HIV-1 infection [21]. Nevertheless, detection of p24 antigen is transient because, as antibodies begin to develop, they bind to the p24 antigen and form immune complexes that interfere with p24 Ag assay [22, 23]. The time interval between infection with HIV and the first detection of antibodies is known as the serological window period. The detection of HIV-specific antibodies indicates the end of the window period and the individual is known as seropositive [24]. The length of the window period depends on the design and the sensitivity of the immunoassay. Expression of IgM antibodies can be detected by immunoassays within 10 to 13 days after the appearance of viral RNA, 3 to 5 days after detection of p24 antigen, and peak between the 4th and the 5th week [15, 20, 25, 26]. Thereafter, the emergence of IgG antibodies occurs at about 3-4 weeks after infection and persist throughout the course of HIV infection [21]. Nevertheless, the immune responses are highly dependent on the ability of the individuals immune system to produce the antibodies. Approximately, 50% of patients within 3-4 weeks and about 100% of them within 6 months have detectable antibodies, although there are reports indicating that a small percentage of patients may require up to 6 months for the appearance of antibodies [27]. Laboratory HIV testing algorithms: Since 1989, the diagnostic algorithm for HIV testing recommended by CDC and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) relied on the confirmation of a repeatedly reactive HIV immunoassay with the more specific HIV-1 antibody test, either the HIV-1 Western blot or HIV-1 indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). The Western blot was previously considered to be the gold standard for the diagnosis of HIV infection by Clinicians [29, 30]. It should be noted that both the Western blot and IFA are first-generation assays that detect only IgG antibodies against HIV proteins. Retrospective testing of specimens from high-risk individuals pointed that antibody testing alone may miss a significant percentage of HIV infections detectable by virologic tests such as HIV antigen and nucleic acid assays. In 2013, the CDC and the APHL released new guidelines on HIV testing that have led to the earlier diagnosis of HIV infection when compared with the previous diagnostic algorithm. The new recommended algorithm starts with a fourth-generation HIV-1/2 Ag/Ab immunoassay to screen for HIV infection that detects both HIV-1/2 antibodies and the HIV-1 antigen. When the result of initial immunoassay is nonreactive, further testing is not required for samples. Instead, testing with an HIV-1/HIV-2 antibody differentiation test is needed when the sample is reactive on the screening fourth-generation assay. Reactive results with the initial fourth-generation assay and the HIV-1/HIV-2 antibody differentiation immunoassay should be considered as reactive for HIV-1 antibodies, HIV-2 antibodies, or HIV antibodies, undifferentiated. Reactive results with the initial fourth-generation assay and nonreactive or indeterminate on the HIV-1/HIV-2 antibody differentiation immunoassay should be tested with an FDA-approved HIV-1 NAT to differentiate early HIV infection from a false-positive screening result [28] (Figure 2). HIV diagnostic tests: Serological diagnostic assays: Enzyme Immunoassays (EIA):Significant advances in the development of HIV immunoassays have been created since the discovery of HIV in 1983. Based on different design principles, HIV immunoassays are generally classified into generations. The earliest immunoassays (first-generation) are indirect EIAs that used coated viral lysate antigens derived from cell culture on a solid phase for antibody capture and an indirect format that detected antibody utilizing an enzyme-conjugated antihuman IgG [36]. Antibody can be detected within 8-10 weeks postinfection by first generation immunoassay. These assays have 99% sensitivity and 95-98% specificity for HIV infection. Second-generation immunoassays use synthetic peptide or recombinant protein antigens alone or in combination with viral lysates to bind HIV antibodies, and they use an indirect immunoassay format that employs conjugated antihuman IgG, which binds to IgG with high affinity, to detect IgG antibodies [37]. Utilizing recombinant anti gens in the second-generation assays improves sensitivity for HIV-1, HIV-1 group O, and HIV-2, allowing earlier detection of IgG antibodies. The sensitivity and specificity of second-generation assays have been reported to be ˃99.5% and ˃99%, respectively. First and second generation immunoassays can only detect IgG antibody to HIV. The window period was decreased to 4 to 6 weeks postinfection by second-generation assays. Third generation immunoassays also utilize synthetic peptide or recombinant antigens to bind HIV antibodies, but in an immunometric antigen sandwich format; HIV antibodies in the specimen bind to HIV antigens on the assay substrate and to antigens conjugated to indicator molecules. This allows detection of both IgM and IgG antibodies which leads to increase in sensitivity and specificity of the test. Lower sample dilutions and the ability to detect IgM antibodies (which are expressed before IgG antibodies) further decrease the window period to 2-3 weeks postinfection [38]. The reported sensitivity and specificity of third-generation assays is ˃99.5%. Combination or fourth-generation tests use synthetic peptide or recombinant protein antigens in the same antigen sandwich format as third-generation assays for the detection of IgM and IgG antibodies, and also monoclonal antibodies for the detection of p24 antigen [39]. Inclusion of p24 antigen capture allows the detection of HIV-1 infection before seroconversion and further decreases the window period. Most fourth-generation antigen/antibody immunoassays (termed combo assays) do not distinguish antibody reactivity from antigen reactivity [39]. Recent published data has shown that the fourth-generation assay was able to establish HIV infection in more than 80% of patients who tested NAAT positive but either nonreactive or indeterminate by other tests like Western blot, first to third generation immunoassays, and rapid tests [40-42]. Delaney et al. found that the fourth-generation immunoassay are able to detect HIV infection 1-3 weeks earlier than the first, second, and third generation immunoassay which cannot detect p24 antigen. The results of their study revealed that the median duration of the eclipse period was 11.5 days and 99% of specimens from HIV-infected patients could be reactive with Ag/Ab combination tests within 45 days of exposure. Moreover, for detection of antibodies by the IgG/IgM-sensitive and other plasma screening assays, 50 days or longer were required and after 3 month of exposure, infection could be detected by all tests. Several studies have reported sensitivities of 100% for fourth-generation immunoassay, whereas other surveys reported transient sensitivities range from 62-89% when assessed against HIV RNA assays. This decreased sensitivity can be attributed to the presence of a second diagnostic window. This situation is rare but it can happen. Second diagnostic window period lies between the p24 antigen detection and the anti-HIV antibody detection, and is associated with reduction in the p24 antigen and antigen/antibody complexes levels, as well as a delay in HIV-specific antibody development which totally may affect the sensitivity of fourth-generation immunoassays. So, it is possible that many acute HIV infections have been missed using fourth-generation assays. Despite negative results from a fourth-generation immunoassay in high-risk populations with suspected acute HIV infection, it is needed to repeat the test on new blood samples obtained several days later, as well as testing for HIV anti body alone, p24 antigen or use of an HIV RNA assay. In 2015, an improved version of immunoassay, BioPlex 2200 HIV Ag-Ab screening test system, received FDA approval in HIV screening which detects both HIV antibody and the HIV-1 p24 antigen by providing separate results for each analyte. This test also provides separate results for HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies, so there is no need for a HIV-1/2 differentiation assay for antibody reactive samples. It was reported that the sensitivity and specificity of BioPlex 2200 HIV Ag-Ab assay were 100 and 99.5%, respectively [43]. HIV Confirmatory Tests:Screening tests must be highly sensitive to produce few false-negative results, whereas confirmatory assays are characterized with high specificity to produce few false-positive results [44]. If the result of a screening test is repeatedly reactive, this has to be confirmed by (at least) one confirmatory assay. Western blot or indirect IFA traditionally have been employed as confirmatory assay due to their higher specificity. The probability that both ELISA and Western blot would give false-positive results is extremely low (

The Pioneers In Animation Animation Essay

The Pioneers In Animation Animation Essay Animation has its roots in traditional art. Its evolution over the years has been facilitated by not only artists but also visionaries and technically skilled experts. Presented below are the noteworthy pioneers and their creations that helped animation reach unprecedented heights as we see today. It was in 1895, three years after Emile Reynaud, inventor of the praxinoscope, an animation system using loops of 12 pictures, showed the first animated film in Theatre Optique system, devised by him, that two French brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumiere, presented the first authentic demonstration of what we now think of as cinema. Lumiere Brothers characters which were images of real people became a better alternative to the Emile Reynauds presentations of moving drawings. Georges Melies, a fantasy filmmaker- the maker of Voyage to the Moon (1902), was prided himself as stage-illusionist and used the medium of cinema as a natural extension of his magical arts with their transformations, and mysterious disappearances. Many of the visual tricks employed in his fantasy film Voyage to Moon were achieved by stopping the film, altering the image and photographing the new scene. This later became one of the basic techniques of 3-D animation films. Hence, arguably, George could be termed as the first filmmaker to use Stop Action {or Stop Motion}. Stuart Blackton, a Briton, is the pioneer in Chalk Animation. His work in Humorous Phases of Funny Faces, made in 1906, is based essentially on line animation. It is commonly known that the first animated work on standard picture film was Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906) by Blackton. It features a cartoonist drawing faces on a chalkboard, with the faces apparently coming to life. Blacktons process of drawing a picture, photographing it, rubbing a part of it out and then redrawing it was the most basic use of the stop-motion technique. Blackton, along with Albert E Smith, had employed stop motion photography to create wonderful effects in his 1907 live -action film The Haunted Hotel. He is credited with the making of the first stop motion puppet film The Humpty Dumpty. British film maker Arthur Melbourne Cooper also claimed having made the first ever puppet animated film. Cooper is also perhaps the maker of the worlds first animated commercial film using stop -motion photography in his film The Matches: An Appeal, a film of moving matchsticks produced way back in 1899. Coppers other notable creations were Cindrella (1912), Wooden Athletes (1912) and The Toymakers Dream (1913). Another pioneering effort in stop-motion techniques was that of Parisian caricaturist and film maker Emile Cohl who in his film Fantasmagorie, depicting the adventures of a little clown, drawn as a rudimentary stick figure, used some two thousand drawings which ran for under two minutes. Those animators who used the puppet model (the other method being clay model) as the basis of their 3D Animation were Giovanni Pastrone {The war and the Dream of Momi} and Wladyslaw Starewicz { The Magic Clock, Love in Black and White}. Starewicz had enormous passion for drawings and sculpture and was influenced by Emile Cohls 1908 film The Animated Matches. He later became known as Ladislas Starevich (after he moved over to Paris) and is till date acclaimed as the pioneering puppet animator because he created the first puppet-animated film -The Beautiful Lukanida (1912). His cast of insect characters appeared in a series of modern fables viz. The Cameramans Revenge, featuring tiny miracles as a grasshopper on a bicycle and a dragonfly ballet dancer. Other well known puppet films of Starevich were Town Rat, Country Rat and the Tale of Fox. Charlie Chaplin is one of the several Hollywood -inspired performers in Love in Black and White (1927) by Ladislas Starevich. The Mascot'(1934) sh owcased Starevichs live action story with toys. Quirino Cristiani from Argentina is the maker of possibly the first animated feature film -El Apà ³stol, in 1917. He also directed two other animated feature films, including 1931s Padeopilis the first to use synchronized sound. None of these, however, survive to the present day. German Lotte Reiniger and French/Hungarian Berthold Bartosch were the directors of the earliest-surviving animated feature, which used colour-tinted scenes, in their silhouette-animated Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). Jan Svankmejer brought to the cinema the theatrical skills of masks and puppets through his first film The Last Trick (1964) -he was clearly inspired by Ladislas Starevichs The Mascot, made nearly three decades earlier. Svankmejers films often combined animation with live action, as in Alice and his other feature film Faust (1994). Svankmejer is regarded as an undisputed renegade of animation art because he had a penchant for pixillating live actors or manipulating china dolls. Some of his macabre creations were joints of uncooked meat or as in Dimensions of Dialogue (1982) in which he formed two lumps of deathly-grey clay which form themselves into heads and then eat and regurgitate another! The heritage of Svankmajers animation films was the motivating factor behind many of the earliest puppet movies. The Russian animator Alexander Ptushko was yet another trend setter in 1930s. The New Gulliver made by him in 1935 includes scenes filmed in camera (unlike the usual method of creating through optical techniques in processing,) incorporating a live actor and some 3000 puppets. The other feature films made by Ptushko combining animation and live action were The Fisherman and the Little Fan (1937) and The Little Golden Key (1939). Yet another well known name in stop -motion animation was Hungarian born animator George Pal, maker of a classy film, The Ship of the Ether featuring the voyage of a ship made from blown glass. Pal worked in the biggest puppet -animation studio in Europe and created a series on fairy tale subjects and also produced short entertainment films for commercial sponsors such as Philips Radio, Unilever, and Horlicks. He is the creator of the theatrical shorts called Puppetoons from his studio in America. One of the most popular characters of Pal was a little black boy named Jasper who appeared in nearly twenty films such as Jasper Goes Fishing'(1943), Jasper and Beanstalk'(1945) and Jasper in a Jam'(1946).Those who followed Pal and made successful careers in puppet films were Joop Geesink and Ray Harryhausen. Some of the notable films made by them were Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, The Story of Rapunzel, and The Story of King Midas. Jiri Trnka, the Czech animator, was an illustrator beyond comparison who created what is known as Disneyfied characters in such folk tale films as Grandpa Planted a Beet'(1945) and The Animals and the Brigands'(1946). He later became the maker and operator of marionettes- animating the puppets. Arguably, The Emperors Nightingale was a masterpiece film made by Trnka based on Hans Anderson fairy tale. Trnks last film The Hand (1965) featured the central character with a typical impassive face and dressed to look like a pierrot. With an outsized head, a beaky nose and two large soulful eyes, he is clearly the comic tragedian. Trnkas creative heirs were Brestilav Pojar (Lion and Song) and the Japanese animator Kihachiro Kawamoto (Demon, A Poets Life, House of Flame). In recent times, the puppet animation scaled greater heights through the films made by BBC and the British and American television companies with makers like Jim Henson {Seasame Street and The Muppet Show}. Garry Anderson who made The Adventures of Twizzle and Torchy the Battery Boy is rated as a pioneer in puppet films on the television. Other successful puppet films of Anderson were Supercat (1961), Stingray (1964) and Thunderbirds (1965). There were many artists who advanced animation such as the brilliant American cartoonist Winsor McCay whose comic newspaper strip Little Nemo in Slumberland became an animated picture in 1911. Winsor was the man behind the creation of the interactive GERTIE, The Trained Dinosaur. Raoul Barre, whose film series The Animated Grouch Chasers featured a caricature album that came to life, was credited with several significant developments such as registration holes in animation paper, to stop the drawings from wobbling when filmed etc. J R Bray (creator of the comic character Colonel Heeza Liar) pioneered the technique of drawing the backgrounds on sheets of celluloid and placing them on top pf the animation drawings. This process was later refined by Earl Hurd (maker of Bobby Bump) by animating characters on celluloid sheets that were positioned over painted backgrounds. Some of the talents/ artists who dominated the early years of animation were as follows: Pat Sullivan (creator of Felix the Cat), his collaborator Otto Mesmer; Dave Fleischer (who made the series Out of the Inkwell) Paul Terry, the creator of Aesops Fables Walter Lantz- who made first Dinky Doodle and later Woody Woodpecker It is widely believed that Walt Disney, the genius who created Mickey Mouse, took animation to an entirely new level altogether. In 1928, with the premiere of Steamboat Willie, he became the first animator to add sound to his movie cartoons. Another milestone in Walt Disneys life was the first full length animated feature film, named Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs produced in 1937. Walt Disney, till date, is the synonym for the cartoon film. Flowers and Trees (1932) made by Disney Studios which won an academy award for this work was the first animation to use the full, three-color Technicolor method. Lou Benin made a version of Alice in Wonderland in 1948 using live and puppet players. Tim Burton is another pioneer in a negative sense, because he made the first ever horror animation film for children- Vincent. He also made the macabre film Frankenweenie in 1984 and became a Hollywood legend creating the new dark breed of Batman movies. Burtons A Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) was the first stop motion feature film to receive worldwide distribution. BBC and the Moscow based group of animators, Christmas Films have been known, in recent times, for producing finest puppet animation series. Jim Hensons glove-puppets achieved international fame with Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. Garry Anderson is considered yet another pioneer with his fantastic puppet animation shows on the television such as The Adventures of Twizzle, Torchy the Battery Boy, Super Cat Fireball XL5, Stingray and last but not the least Thunderbirds. Cosgrove Hall has the distinction of having achieved live movements animating his rubber moulded heads. His 3-D recreation of Toyland home of Enid Blytons Noddy and Okie Dokie is well known. American Willis O Brien is credited with pioneering work in clay animation. He made pre historic comedies through claymation such as Curious Pets of our Ancestors The Birth of Flivver'( both 1917) which featured dinosaur characters. He also created the special effects for Merian C Coopers classic fantasy King Kong-till date a powerful film for stunning animation sequences. OBriens work has been the inspiration for many, notably his protà ©gà © Ray Harryhousen who even surpassed his master in animation techniques. Might Joe Young (1949), The Animal World'(1956), The Beast 20,000 Fathoms'(1953), It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) boast of RayS memorable characters. Max Fleischer and his collaborator Roland Crandall are known for moving away from claymation and using cel-animation. Perhaps, it was Art Clokey who revived claymation with an innovative film based on stop-motion clay animation through his film Gumby (1955). The term Claymation was coined by Will Vinton who made Academy Award winning movies like Closed Mondays followed by Leo Tolstoys Martin the Cobbler, Washington Irwings Rip Van Winkle and Little Prince . Joan Gatz, who worked with Vinton and made claymation films A Claymation Christmas Celebration and the Academy Award winning film Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase'( 1992). Will Vintons classic creations included The Adventures of Mark Twain and Return of Oz. Vinton excelled himself through his advertising films in America which helped claymation to reach new heights of invention and sophistication. The renaissance in clay animation is due to the works of an animator from the age of 13, Peter Lord who has the reputation of having made his first animated film as a school boy. He has thus been involved with animation for more than three decades. Peter is credited with pioneering clay character- MORPH, a simple clay character developed by him when working with BBC that became a well known claymation character on television. It was a simple model yet displaying a personality and charm, a hallmark of Peters characters. Peter Lord and Sproxton focused on plasticine / clay animation, a medium rarely used in Europe. Peter along with Mr. David Sproxton, another pioneer in animation, founded Aardman Animations in 1976, named after a character in an early film of Peter. Peter and David were classmates in Working Grammer School for Boys. Over the years Peter and David, the cofounder of Aardman Studios, have produced many commercials, pop videos, childrens series and short films. Two of Peters own short films- Adam Wats Pig- have been nominated for Academy Awards. The other ground breaking films from Arrdman were Animated Conversations, Conversation Pieces, Confessions of a Foyer Girl and On Probation. The studio also specialised in giving human form to a variety of edible products such as singing sausage man, a fruit-and-vegetable man etc. Aardman have produced remarkable commercials using animation techniques -its characters like Douglas the Butterman for LURPAK are memorable. Peter has been working on a full length feature film with fellow Aardman animator, Nick Pick, son of a professional photographer and the most famous of the filmmakers who joined Aardman Studios. Nick Park completed A Grand Day Out for Aardman in 1989 featuring Wallace and Gromit which was nominated for Academy award-its sequel was The Wrong Tousers followed by A Close Shave which won Oscar and helped clay animation to scale unprecedented heights. Nick Park won his first Academy award for his fifth film in this series- Creature Comforts in 1990. Nick Park and Peter Lord produced the most ambitious project of Aardman Studios- Chicken Run in 2000. Chicken Run was perhaps the earliest of films that made significant use of computer animation techniques. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Peter, Aardman Animations has become the preferred destination to many talents in animation. Peter Peake who produced Pib and Pog, Richard Goleszowski who made Indent (Rex the Hunt series), Dinosaur and Dreams and Steve Box are the notable animators from Aardman. Peter Lord, along with Mr. Brian Sibley, has authored the much sought after book titled Cracking Animation- a book which is supposed to have opened up the vistas to the World of 3D Animation. Nick Park, in his forward to this book, has commended that Peter and David were the first animators he met with expert knowledge and technique in animation and this book is a pioneering publication to impart detailed information and insights into computer animation. Brian Sibley, as a writer and broadcaster, pioneered in publishing numerous books and programmes in arts and animation. His books include Shadowlands: The Story of C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman and The Disney Story. One of the pioneers in using computers and computer related technology in animation was an MIT student Ivan Sutherland who in 1951 created a computer drawing program, Sketchpad, further giving a boost to animation. Tron made in 1982 was a pioneering effort in computer animation. The rapid transition in the field of computer animation have seen innovative creators like Phil Tippet (Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Jurassic Park), Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings). Pixar Animation Studios has the distinction of having produced the first full length feature film animated totally on computers. While Pixar made marvels of computer animation like Toy Story (1995), followed by A Bugs Life and the super hit Finding Nemo, the rival Studio Dreamworks created Shrek series. Aardman also pioneered Pixillation, the modern technique of computer animation through their films Angry Kid. Certainly, the days ahead are going to witness breathtaking visuals and special effects as more and more technological innovations are pioneered by the large studios across the world.