Accounting Practical Set Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accounting Practical Set - Assignment Example Even if there is profit in the income statement, investors need to look at the cash flow statement to measure actual cash balance of the company. This report will provide an analysis of the cash flow statement and income statement. It will consider why the cash balance has decreased even though a profit has been achieved. This report is based on the information provided by Mr Albert Clarence. The limitation of this project is that it is short time project. Thus detailed analysis will be short. Income Statement might be characterized as a financial statement that measures an organizations financial execution over a particular accounting period. Financial execution is evaluated by giving an outline of how the business acquires its incomes and costs through both working and non-working exercises. It likewise demonstrates the net profit or loss caused over a particular accounting period, normally over a fiscal year or fiscal quarter. Balance Sheet could be characterized as a financial articulation that compresses an organizations liabilities, assets and equity of the shareholders at a particular point in time. These three asset report sections give speculators a thought in respect to what the organization claims and owes, and the sum contributed by the shareholders. Cash flow statement could be characterized as an income or cost stream that changes a cash account over a given period. Cash inflows normally emerge from one of three exercises - financing, operations or contributing - despite the fact that this likewise happens as an after effect of gifts or donations on account of particular fund. Cash outflows result from costs or ventures. This holds valid for both business and any personal account. Accrual Accounting might be characterized as an accounting technique that measures the execution and position of an organization by perceiving various economic occasions paying little respect to

Phage Therapy to Treat Bacterial Infections

Phage Therapy to Treat Bacterial Infections Introduction Bateriophages The word bacteriophage, which is a name for bacterial viruses, means â€Å"eater of bacteria.† These viruses parasitize and kill bacteria. Pioneering work on the genetics of bacteriophages in the middle of the twentieth century formed the foundation of more recent research on tumor-causing viruses and other kinds of animal and plant viruses. In this way bacterial viruses have provided an important model system. A bacteriophage is a bacterial parasite. By itself, a phage can persist, but it cannot replicate except within a bacterial cell. Most phages possess genes encoding a variety of proteins. (Ringo John) Discovery and Significance Bacteriophages, viruses that infect or kill bacteria, were discovered by Frederick W. Twort in England in 1917 independently. Twort observed that bacterial colonies sometimes underwent lysis (dissolved and disappeared) and that this lytic effect could be transmitted from colony to colony. Even high dilutions of material from a lysed colony that had been passed through a bacterial filter could transmit the lytic effect. However, heating the filtrate destroyed its lytic property. From these observations Twort suggested that the lytic agent might be a virus. D’Herelle rediscovered the phenomenon in 1917 (hence the term Twort –d’Herelle phenomenon) and coined the word bacteriophge, which means â€Å"bacteria eater.† He considered the filterable agent to be an invisible microbe- for example, a virus- that was parasitic for bacteria. (Pelczar) Since the bacterial hosts of phages are easily cultivated under controlled conditions, demanding relatively little in terms of time, labor, and space compared with the maintenance of plant and animal hosts, bacteriophages have received considerable attention in viral research. Furthermore, since bacteriophages are the smallest and simplest biological entities known which are capable of self replication, they have been widely used in genetic research. Much has been learned about host parasite relationship from these studies, which have provided a better understanding of plant and animal infections with viral pathogens. Thus the bacterium-bacteriophage interaction has become the model system for the study of viral pathogenicity. (Pelczar) General characteristics Bacterial viruses are widely distributed in nature. Phages exists for most, if not all, bacteria. With the proper techniques these phages can be isoalated quit easily in the laboratory. Bacteriophages, like all viruses, are composed of a nucleic acid core surrounded by a protein coat. Bacterial viruses occurring different shapes, although many have a tail through which they inoculate the host cell with viral nucleic acid. There are two main types of bacterial viruses: lytic, or virulent, and temperate or avirulent. When lytic phages infect cells, the cells respond by producing large numbers of new viruses. That is, at the end of the incubation period the host cell bursts or lyses, releasing new phages to infect other host cells. This is called a lytic cycle. In the temperate type of infection, the result is not so readily apparent. The viral nucleic acid is carried and replicated in the host bacterial cells from one generation to another without any cell lysis. However, temperate phages may spontaneously become virulent at some subsequent generation and lyse the host cells. In addition, there are some filamentous phages which simply â€Å"leak† out of cells without killing them. Types of Bacteriophages There are two types of bacteriophages. Virulent phages and Temperate phages Virulent phages :- As a result of reproduction, virulent phages destroy their host. For example :- T pahges or T1-T7 group of phages infect E.coli bacteria. Temperate Phages :- temperate phages do not kill their host and take over its machinery. For example :- Lambda phage (Study.com) Fig -1 Fates of Phages Morphology and Structure The electron microscope has made it possible to determine the structural characteristics of bacterial viruses. All phages have a nucleic acid core covered by a protein coat, or capsid. The capsid is made up of microbiological subunits called capsomeres. The capsomere consists of a number of protein subunits or molecules called protomers. Figure 1 shows the fine structure and anatomy of a common morphological form of the bacteriophage, one with a head and a tail. Fig. 2 Diagrammatic representation of coliphage Bacterial viruses may be grouped into six morphological types This type has a hexagonal head, a rigid tail with a contractile sheath, and tail fibers. This type has a hexagonal head similar to A. However, it lacks a contractile sheath, its tail is flexible, and it may or may not have tail fibers. This type is characterized by a hexagonal head and a tail shorter than the head. The tail has no contractile sheath and may or may not have tail fibers. This type has a head made up of large capsomeres, but has no tail. This type has a head made up of small capsomeres, but has no tail. This type is filamentous. Types A, B, and C Show a morphology unique to bacteriophages. The morphological types in groups D and E are found in plant and animal viruses as well. The filamentous form of group F is found in some plant viruses. Fig – 3 Types of Bacteriophages Phage Structure Most phages occur in one of two structural forms, having either cubic or helical symmetry. In overall appearance, cubic phages are regular solids or, more specifically, polyhedral; helical phages are rod-shaped. Polyhedral phages are icosahedral in shape. (The icosahedrons is a regular polyhedron with 20 triangular facets and 12 vertices.) This means that the capsid has 20 facets, each of which is an equilateral triangle; these facets come together to form the 12 corners. In the simplest capsid, there is a capsomere at each of the 12 vertices; this capsomere, which is surrounded by five other capsomeres, is termed as a penton. For example, the φX174 exhibits the simple capsid. In larger and more complex capsids, the triangular facets are subdivided into a progressively larger number of equilateral triangles. Thus a capsid maybe composed of capsomeres but it is still based on the simple icosahedrons model. The elongated heads of some tailed phages are derivatives of the icosahedrons. For example the head of the T2 and T4 phages is an icosahedron elongated by one or two extra bands of hexons. Rod-shaped viruses have their capsomeres arranged helically and not in stacked rings. An example is the Bacteriophages M13. Some bacteriophages, such as the T-even coliphages (T2, T4 and T6), have very complex structures, including a head and a tail. They are said to have binal symmetry because each virion has both an icosahedral head and a hollow helical tail. Phage Nucleic Acids Different morphological types of phages are also characterized by having different nucleic acid types. All tailed phages contain double-stranded DNA. The phages with large capsomeres and the filamentous ones have single-stranded DNA. Group E phages have single-stranded RNA. The DNAs of phages are circular under certain conditions. The DNA of phage φX174 is circular both in the virion and in the host cell. The DNA of phage lambda is linear in the virion, but on entering the host cell the cohesive ends join to form a circle. Infection of bacteria by phages Most bacteria are susceptible to attack by bacteriophages. A phage consists of a nucleic acid â€Å"chromosome† (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a coat of protein molecules. Phage types are identified not by species names but by symbols – for example, phageT4, phage lambda, and so forth. During infection, phage attaches to a bacterium and injects its genetic material into the bacterial cytoplasm. The phage genetic information then takes over the machinery of the bacterial cell by turning off the synthesis of bacterial components and redirecting the bacterial synthetic machinery to make phage components. Newly made phage heads are individually stuffed with replicates of the phage chromosome. Ultimately, many phage descendants are made and are released when the bacterial cell wall breaks open. This breaking open process is called lysis. The population of phage progeny is called the phage lysate. Commercial production of Phages In D’Herelle’s laboratory against various bacterial infections five phage preparations were produced. That phage preparations are Bacte-coli-phage, Bacte-rhino-phage, Bacte-intesti phage, Bacte-pyo-phage and Bacte-staphy phage. In the United States therapeutic phages were also produced. Seven phage product for human use produced by the Eli Lilly company in the 1940s including preparations against Staphylococci, Sreptococci, E.coli, and other bacterial pathogen. These preparations contains phage-lysed, bacteriologically sterile broth cultures of the targeted bacteria. These preparations were used against various infections including wounds, vaginitis, acute and chronic infections of the upper respiratory tract, abscesses and mastoid infections. In most of the Western World commercial production of therapeutic phages ceased because of controversy. But in Eastern Europe and in the former Soviet Union the use of phages continued therapeutically together with or instead of antibiotics. (Sulakvelidze.,et.al,2001) Phage therapy Pharmacokinetics Pharmacology is the study of drug’s impact on the body and body’s impact on the drugs. These two concepts are known as pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. In the concept of body, while considering anti microbial as drugs which includes both normal body tissues and the numerous symbiotic micro-organisms. Here we consider only pharmacokinetic aspect of phage therapy pharmacology. Pharmacokinectics describes drug’s potential that are sufficient to achieve primary pharmacodynamic effects. This description is distinguished into absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion components. Drug movement into the blood is absorption, drug movement into other body tissues is distribution, modification of drugs within the body is metabolism, and movement of drugs out of the body is excretion. These four pharmacokinetic aspects have the effect of both reducing and increasing drug densities. In the case of absorption and distribution, drug densities declines due to drug dilution and at the same time drug density increases in specific body compartments. Metabolism results phage inactivation due to phage interaction with immune systems or â€Å"activation† such as phage in situ replication. Excretion can reduce of drug densities in the body, it can also increased drug densities in bladder with therapeutic benefits. The success of phage therapy depends on generation of sufficient phage densities in the vicinity of the target bacteria to cause bacterial removal from the body at some adequate rate. Sufficient densities of phage will increase either to in situ replication which is a active treatment, or a consequence of what can be described as pharmacologically conventional dosing, is called passive treatment. (Abedon et al,2011) Potential benefits Phage therapy offers a possible alternative to conventional antibiotic treatments for bacterial infections. Phages are very specific to target one or a few strains of bacteria. Traditional antibiotics kill both harmful bacteria and useful bacteria such as those facilitating food digestion. The specificity of phages might reduce the chance that useful bacteria are killed when fighting on infection. Phages have ability to travel to a required site including brain. (Wikipedia.org) Phages are natural antimicrobial agents to fight bacterial infections in humans, in animals or in crops of agricultural importance. Phages have hygiene measure in hospitals and in food production facilities. (Brussow Harald) Alternatives to antibiotics Phage is a viable alternative to antibiotics. The collapse of antibiotics and emergence of harmful and drug resistant bacteria, phage therapy starts again and is being reintroduced. Phage therapy has many potential applications in human medicine, veterinary science and agriculture. Specificity – Phages are more specific than antibiotics, means one phage will only attack and eat one particular bacteria and no other. Each infection needs a particular phage to treat it. To improve the chances of success phage mixtures are applied or samples can be taken and an appropriate phage identified and grown. Phages can be chosen to be indirectly harmless not only to the host organism, but also to other beneficial bacteria, such as gut flora, thus reduce the chances of infections. Phage therapy give rise to few side effects. Phages replicates inside the patient, a smaller effective dose may not even be necessary. Currently phages are used therapeutically to treat bacterial infections that do not respond to conventional antibiotics particularly in Russia and Georgia. (Prof. Kieth) Need to study Phages As we saw research on phages and a lack of knowledge on phage biology affects on clinical failure. The emergence of antibiotics wiped out further research on medical use of phages. After many years, a new problem of bacterial resistance to use of antibiotic has arisen. Bacteria become resistant to drug used in modern medicine by adapting themselves. Problems created in treating patients in hospitals due to the emergence of modified pathogens such as S.aureus, P. aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Time required to produce new antibiotic is much larger than the time of bacterial adaptation. Therapeutic Uses of Phages and Antibiotics Conclusion For phage therapy multidrug resistant bacteria have opened a second window. (Carlton,1999) Phage therapy is the therapeutic use of lytic phages to treat bacterial infections. It is an alternative to antibiotics developed for clinical use. Phages are more specific than antibiotics that are in clinical use. This therapy is harmless to eukaryotic hosts undergoing therapy and should not affect normal beneficial flora of the host. Theoretically a single small dose is effective. Specificity is the disadvantage because specific phage will only kill a bacterium if it is a match to the specific subspecies. Thus, to improve the chances of success, phage mixture may be applied or clinical samples can be taken and suitable phage identified and grown. In the country of Georgia phages are used to treat bacterial infections therapeutically. (Todar Kenneth)

Inner Evil Revealed in Film and BBC Productions of Shakespeare’s Richar

Inner Evil Revealed in Film and BBC Productions of Shakespeare’s Richard III   Ã‚  Ã‚   All the passions of the irascible rise from the passions of the concupiscible appetite and terminate in them. For instance, anger rises from sadness, and, having wrought vengeance, terminates in joy. --   St. Thomas Aquinas   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Richard III, Shakespeare creates evil personified.   The wicked protagonist conspires against kin, plots political takeovers, woos widows, sets assassins against children, and relishes each nefarious act.   We watch Richard's bravado with wicked glee and delight in each boasting comment sent our direction.   Once the bad guy becomes seductive, even amusing, in his blatant cruelty, the playwright must intervene to counterbalance his own brilliant wit.   But how can this devil Richard be brought to his knees with the appropriate high style demanded by the script's momentum?   Shakespeare leaves us the briefest of stage direction: "Alarum. Enter Richard and Richmond; they fight; Richard is slain" (V.v.).   Once "the bloody dog is dead," Richmond prays for "smooth-faced peace" (V.v.2,33).   So soon after Richard's tormented dream of accusing ghosts, this closing scene enforces a mood described by Robert Ornstein as "one of somber reflection, not of joyous celebration" (263).   However, the interpretive liberties taken by three twentieth-century filmmakers establish elaborated messages about the horrors of bloodshed, the inevitability of power struggles, and the mythmaking of villains.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The 1982 BBC production takes the audience through a series of reactions: the bloodthirst for revenge, the prayer for redemption, and the vision of hellish destruction.   We watch Richard circled by soldiers, baited like a bea... ...thin this structure, his body will pull him downward with the mocking demands of its physical being" (35).   Structurally, the gargoyles often function as gutter drains, spewing forth wastewater to protect the aesthetics of the church.   Similarly, Richard epitomizes our hatreds and cruelties, reminding us of the evil inside; whether he cleanses our sins through his death depends on the director's approach to redemption and transference. Works Cited Eccles, Mark.   "Richard III on Stage and Screen." Richard III.   New York: Signet Classic, 1988.   265-78. Hallett, Charles A. and Elaine S. Hallett.   The Revenger's Madness.   Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1980.   (Epigraph) Ornstein, Richard.   "Richard III."   Richard III.   New York: Signet Classic, 1988.   239-264. Spivack, Charlotte.   The Comedy of Evil on Shakespeare's Stage.   London: Associated UPs, 1978.

Egyptian Art and Architecture Essay -- Egypt Paintings Sculptures Buil

Egyptian Art and Architecture Egyptian Art and Architecture, the buildings, paintings, sculpture, and allied arts of ancient Egypt, from prehistoric times to its conquest by the Romans in 30 bc. Egypt had the longest unified history of any civilization in the ancient Mediterranean, extending with few interruptions from about 3000 bc to the 4th century ad. The nature of the country, fertilized and united by the Nile, and its semi-isolation from outside cultural influences, produced an artistic style that changed little during this long period. Art in all its forms was devoted principally to the service of the pharaoh, who was considered a god on Earth, to the state, and to religion. From early times a belief in a life after death dictated that the dead be buried with material goods to their ensure well-being for eternity. The regular patterns of nature—the annual flooding of the Nile, the cycle of the seasons, and the progress of the Sun that brought day and night—were considered gifts from the gods to the people of Egypt. Egyptian thought, morality, and culture were rooted in a deep respect for order and balance. Change and novelty were not considered important in themselves; thus the style and representational conventions in Egyptian art that were established early in the development of that civilization continued virtually unchanged for more than 3,000 years. To the modern eye the Egyptian artistic idiom may seem stiff and static; its underlying intention, however, was not to create an image of things as they appear in reality, but rather to capture the essence of a person, animal, or object for eternity. II PREDYNASTIC PERIOD The early prehistoric dwellers on the Nile inhabited the terraces or plateaux left by the river as it cut its bed. Tools and implements left by these early inhabitants of Egypt show their gradual development from seminomadic hunter-gatherers to settled agriculturists. By 4000 bc the civilization of Egypt was in its earliest formative stages; the Predynastic period, which lasted until about 3100 bc, had begun. Evidence of organized settlements dating from this period has been found, and artefacts produced are mainly associated with burials. Objects were put into the grave with the body for the use of the spirit in the next life; thus a great quantity of such personal goods as pottery, tools, and weapons has been preserve... ...from earlier monuments. An interest in perceptive portraiture begun in the 25th Dynasty was continued, sometimes with splendid results. The 26th Dynasty ended with the invasion by the Persian Empire and, except for brief periods, Egypt was never again completely free from foreign domination. The conquest of the country by Alexander the Great in 332 bc and by the Romans in 30 bc brought Egypt into the Classical world, but the ancient artistic traditions persisted. Alexander and his successors were depicted on the walls of temples as Egyptian kings in an Egyptian style of relief carving. Temples were built in the Ptolemaic period (the dynasty founded by Alexander) and in the Roman period that echoed traditional Egyptian styles in architecture. Egyptian art also exerted a powerful influence on the cultures of the invaders. Early Greek artists acknowledged a debt to Egypt in the development of their own styles. The Romans so loved Egyptian art that they carried off to their homeland countless examples and even had imitations of Egyptian sculpture carved by Roman artists. The influence of Egyptian art and the fascination with Egyptian antiquity have persisted to the present day.

A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat Essay

Eating disorders are a world-wide problem. There are many types of eating disorders. There are programs out there to help people with eating disorders. With so many types we must understand the differences by looking at each type, how it affects teenagers, and what influence the media has on this issue. Eating disorders come in many different types. One of these is anorexia. Anorexia is a serious disease which causes a severe lack of eating. The proper name is anorexia nervosa.Anorexia nervosa causes people to lose more weight than is considered healthy for their age and height. Persons with this disorder may have an intense fear of weight gain, even when they are underweight. They may diet or exercise too much or use other ways to lose weight. Their self-esteem is usually overly related to body image. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001401/) Anorexia nervosa has many warning signs that can tell someone if they have a problem. Someone may refuse to eat certain foods/food categories and deny their hunger all together. A person may develop â€Å"food rituals† in which they arrange foods in a certain way, excessively chew, eat in a certain order, etc†¦ One may withdraw themselves from their friends, family, or society. They may frequently make a comment about being â€Å"fat† or â€Å"overweight† despite their weight loss. (http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/anorexia-nervosa) Another type of eating disorder is bulimia nervosa. Bulimia is an illness in which a person binges on food or has regular episodes of overeating and feels a loss of control. The person then uses different methods — such as vomiting or abusing laxatives — to prevent weight gain. Many (but not all) people with bulimia also have anorexia nervosa. The purging of food usually  brings a sense of relief. ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001381/) One form of an eating disorder is binge eating. Binge eating is an eating disorder in which a person eats a much larger amount of food in a shorter period of time than he or she normally would. During binge eating, the person also feels a loss of control. Some causes of binge eating include genes, such as having close relatives who also have an eating disorder. Depression or other emotions, such as feeling upset or stressed. Unhealthy dieting, such as not eating enough nutritious food or skipping meals. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0003749/) Some symptoms of binge eating are, eating large amounts of food in a short period, for example, every 2 hours. A person is not able to control overeating, for example is unable to stop eating or control the amount of food. A person may keep eating even when full (gorging) or until uncomfortably full. Sometimes a person feels guilty, disgusted, ashamed, or depressed after eating so much. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0003749/) Some treatment can be done for people with a binge eating problem. The goals are to lessen and then be able to stop the bingeing incidents. Be able to get to and stay at a healthy weight. Get treated for any emotional problems, including overcoming feelings and managing situations that trigger binge eating. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0003749/)

Ethics of Kant and the Categorical Imperative Essay

What is a categorical imperative? A categorical imperative is a moral obligation which is absolute and necessary in any moral situation and isn’t reliant on a singular person’s desires or wills. For Kant, categorical imperatives are the foundation for morality because they invoke â€Å"pure† reasons for our moral actions and decisions since each rational being reasons to act outside of their own personal desires or will which may cloud judgments or impose a biased verdict of the situation. Kant explains this by distinguishing two different kinds of imperatives; categorical and hypothetical. Obviously Kant is interested in categorical imperatives and uses this distinction to show the difference between them so that categorical imperatives come out stronger. As stated before, categorical imperatives according to Kant are moral obligations which are absolute and necessary in any moral situation and isn’t reliant on a particular person’s desires or purpose. He also says that categorical imperatives (obligations) are such if they are of a commanding or imposing nature. For example â€Å"Don’t murder! † is a categorical imperative which is binding to every rational person and forces a person to act of good will. Hypothetical imperatives on the other hand are obligations in which there is an end result of your action which is in turn a result of your personal desires our thoughts. An example of a hypothetical imperative is the statement â€Å"If you want to stay out of jail, then don’t murder†. Here, there is no sense of authority behind it; it doesn’t have any weight or value behind it. He further distinguishes that there are different types of imperatives which make us act or think the way that we do in a question of morality. These distinctions are imperatives of skill, imperatives of prudence, and imperatives of morality. Kant does recognize the imperatives of skill and prudence even though he doesn’t believe them to be intrinsically â€Å"good† or â€Å"of good will†. Imperatives of skill call for action and are a means to an end in which the end that the person is seeking isn’t the end result of happiness but something else. An example of this would be the duty to not smoke cigarettes in order to live a healthy lifestyle. Here, your end goal is to live a healthy lifestyle in order to avoid conditions associated with smoking. Imperatives of prudence also calls for action and is a means to an end but with the end result being a product of the person hoping to achieve happiness. For example, the duty to be polite and respectful so that others will do the same unto you and in turn you will be happy. Here, you are hoping to achieve the end of being happy by acting in a polite and respectful way. Imperatives of morality for Kant are totally different from those of prudence and skill. These duties do not have a specific means to an end but instead they represent a way of determining what to do because of what is morally right. These imperatives are the ones in which they are categorical since a rational being is one in which you are exposed to a situation in which you must determine what the right thing to do is and being a rational being, you choose the action which has good will which in turn means you are acting my duty due to respect and understanding of morality in general. For example the duty to not physically harm another person doesn’t have a specific end that will satisfy yourself but it is the morally right thing to do if you are a rational person who respects the wellbeing of yourself as well as others. How does he arrive at the conclusion that The Categorical Imperative is the â€Å"purest† way to reason your morals? He reasons that the only thing that is unconditionally good is the good will and that good will is an act of duty. For Kant, acting from your duty means not acting by your own desires and wills but for respect of morality in general. Looking at the Categorical Imperative versus other moral theories, the Categorical Imperative is the only one in which a person’s desires or inclinations aren’t needed to make a moral decision (versus Aristotle’s view that a person’s skill and acting prudently is what contributes to moral decisions). Therefore; the only thing that is unconditionally good is to act according to The Categorical Imperative. From this, Kant is saying that the amount of value placed on morals of any action or decision depends on moral duty and moral law. For Kant, if a person acts from a good will then they are acting by moral duty and if a moral decision is binding to every person capable of having a rational thought, then they are acting by moral law. Since both are required for a â€Å"pure rational reason†, then The Categorical Imperative is the only moral law which allows us to meet these requirements of allowing us to act from good will and to also be binding to every person. Even though Kant does seem to be making his point, he has many flaws in his reasoning. One problem is that he doesn’t look at the big picture; he seems to say that if we are to make a moral decision then it should be based on being intrinsically good so that you are able to universalize it which is a good thought however he doesn’t look at situations case by case. He doesn’t believe that there are any exceptions to his theory about categorical imperatives, he believes that it is morally right to act in a certain way for one situation, then you should act that way in all situations and also if it is wrong to act a certain way then it is wrong to act that way in any situation you are in. An example of this is say your best friend is very sick in the hospital and is feeling down. None of his/her friends seems to be coming to visit so your friend’s mom asks you to go and visit but then she adds that she will pay you twenty dollars if you go and do it. So you go and visit your friend which cheers them up. A few weeks later when they are out of the hospital, your friend’s dad accidentally tells your friend that you were paid by their mother to go visit. Your friend is infuriated and confronts you about the situation. Here is the dilemma: do you tell your friend that you were going to visit them anyway and the money was a bonus or do you lie and say that you never took the money in order to save your friend from hurt feelings and a damaged friendship? In this situation Kant would have you tell the truth because lying in general is immoral so if it is immoral in one situation, it is immoral in all situations no matter the circumstances. Another problem with Kant’s theory is that it creates contradictories since there is no room for exceptions even though some duties conflict with each other. An example I will use to show is this from the Bible in Numbers 10:4-6: â€Å"Who will give us meat to eat? † they said. â€Å"Think of the fish we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic! Here we are wasting away, stripped of everything; there is nothing but manna for us to look at! † Here, the Israelites are complaining about their new source of food which God provided for them, because it isn’t tasty and that is the only thing they have to eat. The Israelites are contradicting their new found freedom by wishing for the food they had back in Egypt when they were enslaved under the Pharaoh. Should they be thankful for their newfound freedom even though they have bad food or should they desire the good food they had while they were enslaved? This is a contradiction. Kant seems to only focus on the motives for our actions in moral situations versus the actual outcomes of our actions (which is kind of the point in acting or not acting in a dutiful way). There are many times in which we have good intentions for a situation but what ends up being the outcome of those intentions are abysmal. For example, consider a family member is terminally ill and is in constant pain on a daily basis. There is no hope of a cure or for the pain to diminish; your family member must endure the pain until the illness kills them. What if your family member asked you to aid in their plan to commit suicide in order to escape their pain? Say you come to the decision to help them after deciding it is the morally right thing to do. Without thinking of the outcome of the situation, you are soon found guilty of a felony charge of aiding in a suicide. Even though you had good intentions, the outcome of a person dying with the help of another person clearly outweighs the good and the outcome of the act is just as important as the decision itself. Overall, morality is too complex and full of exceptions to situations so that specific decision procedures won’t work. Kant believes that morality necessitates that we do the morally right thing because it is right, and for no other reason. He also believes that we should account ourselves to the same standards we would require of everyone else so that we aren’t placing exceptions for our own benefit. We must use our reason to come to our own conclusions about good will and ignore our predispositions even if they tend to point in the right direction. An action or decision is only intrinsically worthy because of your ought to do it, because of your obligation to do it. I think what Kant was trying to aim at was the importance of a person’s character (acting the right way even when you may not want to). Only the actions done from our obligations have any value. They have value because we will them from our obligations not because of the goal we try and achieve or the outcome we intend to happen. We have obligations to each other and our actions are right when we are correctly motivated in the face of every obstacle keeping us from those obligations. It isn’t easy being unbiased by our predispositions or desires, but predispositions and desires are often conflicting with what is right. Works Cited The Holy Bible: King James Version. Dallas, TX: Brown Books Publishing, 2004. Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Cambridge University Press. 2012. Print.

Anthropology of Tattoos

Scarred across her back are raised bumps forming intricate designs of lines and angles, a reminder of who she is and where she is from. She thinks back on the ceremony in which she was marked with the painful scarification. She remembered feeling a sense of calm as the village artist pierced her back with a small arrowhead, stretching the skin away from the body and swiftly but skillfully cutting a slit in her back. He repeated this several times as a ceremonial pot was filled with gathering soot from the burning fire. After the artist finished his tedious design, he rubbed soot from the pot bottom deep into the slits, planting the bacteria that would infect the skin, raising the scars into their meaningful design. She felt accomplished that she withstood the agonizing pain while other members of her clan could not. Her newly inherited body art signified the birth of her first son, and left her with a renewed sense of beauty. This is the way of life common to people indigenous to the motherland of Africa. Scarification, however, is not the only form of body art that is used. Body painting, tattooing, and branding are all similar forms of body art, which can be found in Africa and other cultures throughout the world. The word â€Å"tattoo† comes from the Tahitian word â€Å"tattau†, which means â€Å"to mark†. Tattoos have evolved from being symbols of punishment that were given to identify criminals and slaves in the early ninth-century Chinese culture, into a pop-culture trend of using he skin as â€Å"a way of describing the exotic uncivilized other† within ourselves (Schildkrout 2004:324). For centuries, the body has been used as a â€Å"visible way of defining individual identity and cultural difference† (Schildkrout 2004:319). This cultural difference becomes apparent when studying the evolution of body art over time, especially when focusing on the differences between the Western and Non-Western cultures. People have been adorning their body with tattoos and piercing for centuries, but until recently, the thought of tattoos in ancient Egypt had been pushed aside. It has now been discovered that, without a doubt, tattoos did exist in that time period. Although miniscule, a group of enormously important tattooed mummies serve to help prove this point (Bianchi 1988:21). The first mummy to be discovered was one f a woman named Amunet, whose mummy was found in an excellent state of preservation, â€Å"most likely due to the fact that she served as a priestess of the goddess Harthor at Thebes during Dynasty XI†(Bianchi 1988:22). The tattoos on her body were comprised of a pattern of dots and dashes in an elliptical shape on her lower abdomen. The thighs and arms adorned the identical parallel lines of the aforementioned pattern. Two more women mummies, who were discovered and believed to be from the same time period, also had similar tattoos on their lower abdomen (Bianchi 1988:22). This group of woman represents an exclusive group of Egyptians who received tattoos in that time period, because there is no other evidence that shows tattoos to be a part of the Egyptian culture until the time of the Middle Kingdom. These abstract patterns associated with ritualistic tattooing survived into the New Kingdom. The Egyptians, more then likely, borrowed a form of tattooing from the Nubian civilization. Unlike the Nubians, whose purpose for tattooing is unknown, â€Å"the Egyptians appear to have regarded the tattoo as one of several vehicles by which the procreative powers of the deceased could be revived† (Bianchi 1988:27). Substantiation proposes that only women were associated with the decorating of their bodies and the ritualistic activities that went along with it. The art of tattooing began with the grouping of bluish or black dots and/or dashes forming abstract geometric patterns; that system of body art lasted for over two thousand years in ancient Egypt. Just like other ideas and goods, the idea of tattooing began to travel to several different societies, and has evolved into extremely different forms of art all over the world. In northeastern Zambia, the Tabwa â€Å"once covered themselves from head to foot with scarification† (Roberts 1988:41). The women of the Tabwa began receiving elaborate marks on their face, chest, and backs when they were young girls; it sometimes was continued at other points in a woman’s life (Roberts 1988:43) such as courting rituals and for woman wishing to bear a child. Male sculptors would trace designs and make incisions on the lesser intimate parts of the body; they left the rest for the women to do. ‘Tabwa women used razors to slit skin [that had been] plucked up with a fishhook or arrowhead. These incisions were then rubbed with soot from a pot bottom, an irritant that produced the desired raised cicatrices† (Roberts 1988:44). There were several reasons that this tradition was done, different to every age and gender in the tribe. Young women went through this process in order to achieve a state of perfection, which was required for those wanting to marry and have children (Roberts 1988:45). Scarification is a form of body art that was used in several tribes because according to their customs â€Å"beauty is not physically innate, but rather a function of the girl’s inscriptions† (Roberts 1988:45). Not only the Tabwa, scarification was used in such tribes as the Ga’anda and the Tiv; all the tribes have distinctly different purposes for doing this, but the process and effect of the body are the same. Another form of body art is body painting, which the people of the Southeast Nuba begin at a young age; but the meanings, and time frame from when they begin decorating the body are very different between males and females. The males paint themselves from the ages of 12 to 27 (Faris 1988:31). Typically, they only paint during the down time after the harvest season and before the next years planting begins. This is the time that the males are less involved in mandatory and productive activities; they spend their supplementary time with festive activities such as dance and sport participation. The restrictions placed on the men by their age, most importantly deal with the color that they use on their body—for example â€Å" only the older age groups are eligible to use the greatest elaboration in color, including the deep black and yellow [colors, that are] prohibited to younger grades†(Faris 1988:32). The change in elaboration allowed on the body does not coincide with any physiological changes, rather, it corresponds with changes â€Å"in productive status or sport† (Faris 1988:32). As they move up in grades from young laborers that answer to the elders, to mature men that own their own property, farm and family, their elaborate painting ability increases. The elders though, do not decorate their bodies; rather, they delegate and lead rituals for the younger men and enforce the rules of allowed color use. Therefore, the male body painting shows their progression thru ones life stages. The women of Southeast Nuba, â€Å"from the age of six years, until consummation of marriage, oil and ochre [their bodies] daily, in colors [that are] appropriate to their patri-clan section† (Faris 1988:34). After childbirth, they may continue to wear some oil and ochre on their shoulders. The personal body art of women is strictly related to the physiological changes that occur as a women goes through life, and are fixed around body scarification as a way of showing her changes. A woman’s scarification is so important, that â€Å"if a husband refuses to pay for a scarring specialist, a woman may seek a lover who will do so, and her first marriage will end† (Faris 1988:35). Unlike the males elaborate body art, a woman’s body art is simple, but it accumulates over her life-span and is very standardized, while a male’s body art is constantly changing. Body painting, tattooing and scarification thus far had been tools used by individuals to beautify their body and elevate their status within their tribe; this is not the case with all societies. In several other cultures, tattoos have been used in a form of branding, which is quite the opposite. Though tattooing and branding are â€Å"similar in that both involve the insertion of pigments under the skin to create permanent marks†, branding is implemented in order to lower an individuals status, to punish for crimes committed, to identify slaves, but most importantly, to eliminate personal identity (Schildkrout 2004:323). â€Å"The immutable alteration of human skin by branding needs to be considered in relation to, but ought not be confused with, tattooing† (Bianchi 1988:27). Two recent studies originating in South Africa elaborate on this subject, reporting on the political influence of tattooing â€Å"as a means of social control† (Schildkrout 2004:330). They site examples from Zambia in which a medical practitioner travels around to villages â€Å"in which witch craft accusations have been common†¦to inoculate people against people against witch craft† (Schildkrout 2004:331). The villagers would â€Å"submit to bodily inspections†, they were then treated â€Å"by getting numbers tattooed on their arms† (Schildkrout 2004:331). This is disturbingly reminiscent of Nazi concentration camps when an unfathomable number of Jewish people lost their personal identities and became known as only a number in the system to be disposed of. This â€Å"symbolic denial of personhood† served as a system â€Å"of control and surveillance† (Schildkrout 2004:323). This system of control was also imposed by â€Å"authoritarian regimes† in Southeast Asia (Schildkrout 2004:323). The Zhou and Ming Dynasties branded criminals as a form of punishment with â€Å"extensive, often full-body tattoos, with elaborate pictorial imagery as well as written inscriptions† (Schildkrout 2004:324) portraying their crime. This form of tattooing is definitely contrary to traditional methods. Similarly in Brazil, branding was used to mark convicts by the penal authorities. Penal tattoos derived their power from subjugation of the marked convicts. The humiliation of being visibly branded was a significant component of the convict’s punishment. In an act of resistance, those that had been branded â€Å"were known to reclaim their bodies by writing over the inscriptions or by displaying them in new social situations† (Schildkrout 2004:324). The branded, therefore, became the empowered, restoring the function of the tattoo to being personally-motivated. This personal motivation is perhaps most notable in Western cultures, specifically North America. In America, the Native Americans used body painting in many ways, usually connected with ethnic identity, social roles or marital status (Rubin 1988:179). The Natives also used the body as a canvas in ritualistic ceremonies, on warriors going into battle and for the beautification of their women. When the Europeans discovered America, they brought with them slaves from Africa and they introduced branding of the slaves into the American culture. After the civil war, when the slaves had been freed, branding was still embedded in American culture through groups of people including gang members and convicts. Though â€Å"branding is often associated with involuntary marking and the denial of personhood†, it has also â€Å"been adopted in contemporary Western body culture as an assertion of group identity, for example in college fraternities† (Schildkrout 2004:323). Tattoos were also prevalent in other parts of America, including Alaska. Among the Eskimos â€Å"[t]he function of these art forms [was] – essentially manifesting one’s place or role within the hierarchy of hunting life† (Gritton 1988:190). With the introduction and adaptation of the western civilization in Alaskan culture, â€Å"the marks of a hunter or hunter’s wife served no purpose in their new lives and were understandably abandoned† (Gritton 1988:190). The function of body art and tattooing has been Americanized, evolving from its native origins to incorporate self expression. This self expression has mushroomed from a manor of identifying oneself to a way of gaining attention through shock value. Though ever-changing, all forms of body art mentioned play enormous roles in the lives of people. Certain non-Western cultures are based around the ability to use skin as a visible way of defining status or bettering their self-image, in order to attract companions. So the artists who are allowed to perform the act of adorning bodies with different designs are regarded as having a very important place in the society. They are â€Å"scarring specialist† (Faris 1988:35), â€Å"body artists† (Drewal 1988:84), but most importantly, they are known as â€Å"[the] one-who-creates- art† (Drewal 1988:84). In the non-Native American culture, however, the general attitude towards tattoo artist in present-day American culture is less than appreciative. Extreme critics even characterize tattooist as opportunist, exclusively seeking monetary gain (Sanders 1988:229). â€Å"The tattooist interest in artistry and control is often in conflict with his profit orientation†, revealing the major flaw within the American society (Sanders 1988:229). This is the major difference in western and non-western cultures. Body tattoos in western society are an object to be purchased. Americans obtain tattoos in the same manner that they acquire a new Louis Vuitton handbag. They purchase them as accessories, which is in stark contrast to the non-western cultures, who acquire tattoos as an essential ritual in their society. With this is mind, the process in which American’s purchases body art seems slightly ridiculous. Tattoo artists often complain of the unwillingness of customers to spend the quoted amount of money for â€Å"a tattoo [they] are going to wear for the rest of [their] life† (Sanders 1988:229). It is more acceptable in American culture to invest in short term materialistic purchases, therefore the legitimate tattoo artists are constantly being monitored and regimented under strict laws imposed by the government. Despite the absurdity of the purchasing process, the reasoning that propels the American society to obtain tattoos is just as flawed. Some reasons people give to explain permanently marking their skin include, â€Å"they were drunk, it’s a macho thing, to fit in with a crowd or even worse, for no reason at all† (DeMello 1995:42). Western society seems to have a complete disregard for the spiritual origins of body art. Tattoo artist are even witness to clients’ apathy, avoiding â€Å"working on people who are obviously under the influence of alcohol† (Sanders 1988:225). Where once there was a ceremonious celebration deeply rooted in spiritualism, in American society the only ritualistic ceremony is the receiving of a piece of paper on how to care for the recently acquired body art. This apathetic attitude of Americans is perhaps derived from the renouncing majority of the population. This bias stems from â€Å"very early ‘regulations’ [including] Moses’ remarks in Leviticus 19:28 forbidding any cuttings in the flesh or the printing of any marks† (Armstrong 2005:39). Since tattoos â€Å"were not sanctioned by the church† the profile for the tattooed archetype became unconventional (Schildkrout 2004:325). Christian belief has been adapted to the masses, forcing those who are tattooed into rebellion. The majority of people adopting body art include â€Å"bikers, convicts, and other ‘low lives’† (DeMello 1995:40). In Western society â€Å"the idea that the unmarked body as a sign of God’s work was linked to the Protestant reformation† and â€Å"the idea that body markings were a sign of savagery goes back even earlier† ( Schildkrout 2004:324). This is ironic considering tattoos in earlier cultures signified positions of high status. Perhaps the only entity that ties these drastic cultures together is the desire to increase their inherited beauty. â€Å"If the body is – metaphorically – a site of inscription to various degrees for various theorist, then cosmetic surgery can be seen, at one level, as an example of the literal and explicit enactment of this process of inscription† ( Schildkrout 2004:320), which is also seen in the aforementioned tribes with the rituals of scarification. DeMello also agrees that along with tattooing and piericing, that cosmetic surgery is seen as a form of â€Å"body modification† (DeMello 1995:37). â€Å"Not only does the tattooed skin negotiate between the individual and society and between different social groups, but also mediates relations between persons and spirits, the human and the divine† (Schildkrout 2004:321). Body art is a tradition that extends throughout the barriers of the world and although the forms in which they are found may be different, the idea of using your body as a canvas is universal. Although recently, several anthropologists agreed and have begun to examine body art more closely, looking at it â€Å"as a microcosm of society† (Schildkrout 2004:328), Roberts still believes that â€Å"there can be no ultimate explanation of symbolism† (Roberts 1988:51). He claims that â€Å"the blazes on trees in the Ndembu forest will remain many years after their purpose and meaning are forgotten. So it is with other inscriptions† (Roberts 1988:51). This is exemplified in the woman who endured the agonizing pain of her scarification to instigate a new chapter in her life. Nevertheless, soon after her body is placed into the ground, her skin will no longer be a visible indication of who she once was. She will become a memory and her body will no longer be used as a canvas.