Literature-based discovery of diabetes

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known mediators of cellular damage in multiple diseases including diabetic complications. Despite its importance, no comprehensive database is currently available for the genes associated with ROS. Methods We present ROS- and diabetes-related targets (genes/proteins) collected from the biomedical literature through a text mining technology. A web-based literature mining tool, SciMiner, was applied to 54 biomedical papers indexed with diabetes and ROS by PubMed to identify relevant targets.Over-represented targets in the ROS-diabetes literature were obtained through comparisons against randomly selected literature. The expression levels of nine genes, selected from the top ranked ROS-diabetes set, were measured in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of diabetic and non-diabetic DBA/2J mice in order to evaluate the biological relevance of literature- derived targets in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Results SciMiner identified 1,026 ROS- and diabet es-related targets from the 54 biomedical papers (http://Jdrf. eurology. med. umich. edu/ROSDiabetes/ webcite). Fifty-three targets were significantly over-represented in the ROS-diabetes literature ompared to randomly selected literature. These over-represented targets included well-known members of the oxidative stress response including catalase, the NADPH oxidase family, and the superoxide dismutase family of proteins. Eight of the nine selected genes exhibited significant differential expression between diabetic and non-diabetic mice.For six genes, the direction of expression change in diabetes paralleled enhanced oxidative stress in the DRG. Conclusions Literature mining compiled ROS-diabetes related targets from the biomedical literature and led us to evaluate the biological relevance of selected targets in the athogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body does not produce or properly respond to insulin, a hormone required to convert ca rbohydrates into energy for daily life. According to the American Diabetes Association, 23. million children and adults, approximately 7. 8% of the population in the United States, have diabetes [1]. The cost of diabetes in 2007 was estimated to be $174 billion [1]. The micro- and macro-vascular complications of diabetes are the most common causes of renal tailure, blindness and amputations leading to significant morta y, morbidity poor quality of life; however, incomplete understanding of the causes of diabetic complications hinders the development of mechanism-based therapies.In vivo and in vitro experiments implicate a number of enzymatic and non-enzymatic metabolic pathways in the initiation and progression of diabetic complications [2] including: (1) increased polyol pathway activity leading to sorbitol and fructose accumulation, NAD(P)-redox imbalances and changes in signal transduction; (2) non- enzymatic glycation of proteins yielding â€Å"advanced glycation end-productsâ €  (AGES); (3) ctivation of protein kinase C (PKC), initiating a cascade of intracellular stress responses; and (4) increased hexosamine pathway flux [2,3].Only recently has a link among these pathways been established that provides a unified mechanism of tissue damage. Each of these pathways directly and indirectly leads to overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [23]. ROS are highly reactive ions or small molecules including oxygen ions, free radicals and peroxides, formed as natural byproducts of cellular energy metabolism. ROS are implicated in multiple cellular pathways such as mitogen-activated protein kinase MAPK) signaling, c-Jun amino-terminal kinase ONK), cell proliferation and apoptosis [4-6].Due to the highly reactive properties of ROS, excessive ROS may cause significant damage to proteins, DNA, RNA and lipids. All cells express enzymes capable of neutralizing ROS. In addition to the maintenance of antioxidant systems such as glutathione and thioredoxins, pri mary sensory neurons express two main detoxifying enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD) [7] and catalase [8]. SOD converts superoxide (02-) to H202, which is reduced to H20 by glutathione and catalase [8].SODI is the main form of SOD in the cytoplasm; SOD2 is located within the itochondria. In neurons, SODI activity represents approximately 90% of total SOD activity and SOD2 approximately 10% [9]. Under diabetic conditions, this protective mechanism is overwhelmed due to the substantial increase in ROS, leading to cellular damage and dysfunction [10]. The idea that increased ROS and oxidative stress contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications has led scientists to investigate different oxidative stress pathways [7,11].Inhibition of ROS or maintenance of euglycemia restores metabolic and vascular imbalances and blocks both the initiation and progression of omplications [1 2,13]. Despite the significant implications and extensive research into the role of ROS in diabetes, n o comprehensive database regarding ROS-related genes or proteins is currently available. In the present study, a comprehensive list of ROS- and diabetes-related targets (genes/proteins) was compiled from the biomedical literature through text mining technology.SciMiner, a web-based literature mining tool [14], was used to retrieve and process documents and identify targets from the text. SciMiner provides a convenient web-based platform for target-identification within the biomedical iterature, similar to other tools including EBIMed [1 5], ALI BABA [16], and Polysearch [1 7]; however, SciMiner is unique in that it searches tull text documents, suppo free-text PubMed query style, and allows the comparison of target lists from multiple queries.The ROS-diabetes targets collected by SciMiner were further tested against randomly selected non-ROS-diabetes literature to identify targets that are significantly over- represented in the ROS-diabetes literature. Functional enrichment analyses were performed on these targets to identify significantly over-represented biological unctions in terms of Gene Ontology (GO) terms and pathways. In order to confirm the biological relevance of the over-represented ROS-diabetes targets, the gene expression levels of nine selected targets were measured in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) from mice with and without diabetes.DRG contain primary sensory neurons that relay information from the periphery to the central nervous system (CNS) Unlike the CNS, DRG are not protected by a blood-nerve barrier, and are consequently vulnerable to metabolic and toxic injury [19]. We hypothesize that differential expression of identified targets in DRG would confirm heir involvement in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Defining ROS-diabetes literature To retrieve the list of biomedical literature associated with ROS and diabetes, PubMed was queried using (â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] AND â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]).This que ry yielded 54 articles as of April 27, 2009. SciMiner, a web-based literature mining tool [14], was used to retrieve and process the abstracts and available full text documents to identify targets (full text documents were available for approximately 40% of the 1 , 1 54 articles). SciMiner-identified targets, eported in the form of HGNC [HUGO (Human Genome Organization) Gene Nomenclature Committee] genes, were confirmed by manual review of the text. Comparison with human curated data (NCBI Gene2PubMed) The NCBI Gene database provides links between Gene and PubMed.The links are the result of (1) manual curation within the NCBI via literature analysis as part of generating a Gene record, (2) integration of information from other public databases, and (3) GeneRlF (Gene Reference Into Function) in which human experts provide a brief summary of gene functions and make the connections between citation PubMed) and Gene databases. For the 54 ROS-diabetes articles, gene-paper associations we re retrieved from the NCBI Gene database. Non-human genes were mapped to homologous human genes through the NCBI HomoloGene database.The retrieved genes were compared against the SciMiner derived targets. Any genes missed by SciMiner were added to the ROS-diabetes target set. Protein-protein interactions among ROS-diabetes targets To indirectly examine the association of literature derived targets (by SciMiner and NCBI Gene2PubMed) with ROS and diabetes, protein-protein interactions (PPIs) mong the targets were surveyed This was based on an assumption that targets are more likely to have PPIs with each other if they are truly associated within the same biological functions/pathways.A PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets was generated using the Michigan Molecular Interactions (MIMI, http://mimi. ncibi. org/ webcite) database [20] and compared against 100 PPI networks of randomly drawn sets (the same number of the ROS-diabetes target set) from HUGO. A standard Z-test and one sample T-test were used to calculate the statistical significance of the ROS- diabetes PPI network with respect to the random PPI networks.Functional enrichment analysis Literature derived ROS-diabetes targets (by SciMiner and NCBI Gene2PubMed) were subject to functional enrichment analyses to identify significantly over-represented biological functions in terms of Gene Ontology [21], pathways (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG, http://www. genome. ]p/kegg/ webcite) [22] and Reactome http://www. reactome. org/ webcite[23]). Fisher's exact test [24] was used to calculate the statistical significance of these biological functions with BenJamini-Hochberg (BH) adjusted p-value ; 0. 5 [25] as the cut-off. Over-represented ROS-diabetes targets Defining background corpora To identify a subset of targets that are highly over-represented within the ROS- diabetes targets, the frequency of each target (defined as the number of documents in which the target was identified divided by the n umber of total documents in the query) was compared against the frequencies in randomly selected background corpora.Depending on how the background set is defined, over-represented targets may vary widely; therefore, to maintain the background corpora close to the ROS and diabetes context, documents were selected from the same Journal, volume, and issue f the 54 ROS-diabetes documents, but were NOT indexed with â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] nor â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]. For example, one of the ROS-diabetes articles (PMID: 18227068), was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Volume 283, Issue 16. This issue contained 85 papers, 78 of which were not indexed with either â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] or â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH] indexed.One of these 78 papers was randomly selected as a background document. Three sets of 54 documents were selected using this approach and processed using SciMiner. Identified targets were con firmed by manual review for accuracy. Identifying significantly over-represented targets ROS-diabetes targets were tested for over-representation against targets identified from the three background sets. Fisher's exact test was used to determine if the frequency of each target in the ROS-diabetes target set was significantly different from that of the background sets. Any targets with a BH adjusted p-value < 0. 5 in at least two of the three comparisons were deemed to be an over-represented ROS- diabetes target. Functional enrichment analyses were performed on these over- represented ROS-diabetes targets as described above. Selecting targets tor real-time R A subset of targets were selected for RT-PCR from the top 10 over-represented ROS- diabetes targets excluding insulin and NADPH oxidase 5 (NOX5), which does not have a mouse ortholog. Nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOSI), the main generator of nitric oxide, ranked at the 1 5th position and was additionally selected for inclusion in th e test set.Differential gene expression by real-time RT-PCR Mice DBA/2J mice were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME). Mice were housed in a pathogen-free environment and cared for following the University of Michigan Committee on the Care and Use of Animals guidelines. Mice were fed AIN76A chow (Research Diets, New Brunswick, NJ). Male mice were used for this study. Induction of diabetes Two treatment groups were defined: control (n = 4) and diabetic (n = 4). Diabetes was induced at 13 weeks of age by low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) injections, 50 mg/kg/day for five consecutive days.All diabetic mice received LinBit sustained release insulin implants (LinShin, Toronto, Canada) at 8 weeks post-STZ treatment. Insulin implants were replaced every 4 weeks, at 12 and 16 weeks post-STZ treatment. At 20 weeks post-STZ treatment, mice were euthanized by sodium pentobarbital overdose and DRG were harvested as previously described [26]. Real-time RT-PCR The gene expression o f the selected nine literature-derived ROS-diabetes targets in DRG was measured using real-time RT-PCR in duplicate.The amount of mRNA isolated from each DRG was normalized to an endogenous reference [Tbp: TATA box binding protein; A cycle threshold (CT)]. Identification of ROS-diabetes targets A total of 1,021 unique targets were identified by SciMiner from the 1,154 ROS- diabetes papers defined by the query of (â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] AND â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]) and confirmed by manual review. Table 1 contains the op 10 most frequently mentioned targets in the ROS-diabetes papers. Insulin was the most frequently mentioned target, followed by superoxide dismutase 1 and catalase. Table 1 .Top 10 most frequent ROS-diabetes targets The NCBI Gene2PubMed database, containing expert-curated associations between the NCBI Gene and PubMed databases, revealed 90 unique genes associated with the 54 ROS-diabetes papers (Additional File 1). SciMiner identified 85 out of these 90 targets, indicating a 94% recall rate. Five targets missed by SciMiner were added to the initial ROS-diabetes target set to result in 1,026 unique targets (Additional File 2). Additional tile 1. The list ot 90 genes trom the NCBI Gene2PubMed database tor the ROS-Diabetes literature (1 , 1 54 papers).Format: XLS Size: 35KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 2. The list of 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 229KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets The PPI network among the ROS-diabetes targets was evaluated using MIMI interaction data. This was based on the assumption that targets commonly related to certain topic are more likely to have frequent interactions with each other.One hundred PPI networks were generated for comparison using the same number of genes (1,026) randomly selected from the complete HUGO gene set (2 5,254). The PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets was significantly different from the randomly generated networks indicating their strong association with the topic â€Å"ROS and Diabetes†. Table 2 demonstrates that the mean number of targets with any PPI interaction in the randomly generated target sets was 528. 9 (approximately 52% of 1,026 targets), while the number of targets with any PPI interaction in the ROS- iabetes target was 983 (96%).The number of targets interacting with each other was also significantly different between the random networks (mean = 155. 4) and the ROS-diabetes network (mean = 879). Figure 1 illustrates the distributions of these measurements from the 100 random networks with the ROS-diabetes set depicted as a red vertical line. It is obvious that the PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets is significantly different from the random networks. Table 2. Summary of 100 randomly generated PPI networks thumbnailFigure 1 . Histograms of randomly gene rated PPI networks.The histograms llustrate the distributions of 100 randomly generated networks, while the red line indicates the ROS-diabetes targets. The network of the ROS-diabetes targets is significantly different from the 100 randomly generated networks, indicating the overlap of ROS-diabetes targets with respect to the topic â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species and Diabetes†. Functional enrichment analyses of the ROS-diabetes targets Functional enrichment analyses of the 1,026 ROS-diabetes targets were performed to identify over-represented biological functions of the ROS-diabetes targets.After BenJamini-Hochberg correction, a total of 189 molecular functions, 450 biological rocesses, 73 cellular components and 341 pathways were significantly enriched in the ROS-diabetes targets when compared against all the HUGO genes (see Additional Files 3, 4, 5 and 6 for the full lists). Table 3 lists the top 3 most over-represented GO terms and pathways ranked by p-values of Fisher's ex act test: e. g. , apoptosis, oxidoreductase activity and insulin signaling pathway. Additional file 3. The enriched Molecular Functions Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 91 KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 4. The nriched Biological Processes Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 95KB Download file This tile can be viewed wit Microsott Excel Vieweropen Data Additional tile enriched Cellular Components Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 61 KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 6. The enriched pathways in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 104KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Table 3. Enriched functions of 1,026 ROS-diabetes targets Identification of over-represented ROS-diabetes targets To identify th e ROS-diabetes targets highly over-represented in ROS-diabetes literature, three sets of background corpora of the same size (n = 1 , 1 54 documents) were generated using the same Journal, volume and issue approach. The overlap among the three background sets in terms of documents and identified targets are illustrated in Figure 2.Approximately 90% of the selected background documents were unique to the individual set, while 50% of the identified targets were identified in at least one of the three background document sets. The frequencies of the identified targets were compared among the background sets for significant differences. None of the targets had a BH adjusted p-value ; 0. 05, indicating no significant difference among the targets from the three different background sets (See Additional File 7). thumbnailFigure 2. Venn diagrams of document compositions and identified targets of the randomly generated background sets.Approximately 90% of the selected background documents we re unique to individual set (A), while 50% of the identified targets were identified in at least one of the three background document sets (B). Additional file 7. Comparisons of target frequencies among three background sets. Format: XLS Size: 22KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Comparisons of the ROS-diabetes targets against these background sets revealed 53 highly over- represented ROS-diabetes targets as listed in Table 4.These 53 targets were significant (p-value ; 0. 05) against all three background sets and significant following BenJamini-Hochberg multiple testing correction (BH adjusted p-value ; 0. 05) against at least two of the three background sets. SODI was the most over-represented in he ROS-diabetes targets. Table 4. 53 targets over-represented in ROS-diabetes literature Functional enrichment analyses of the over-represented ROS-diabetes targets Functional enrichment analyses of the 53 ROS-diabetes targets were performed to identify over- represented biological functions.Following BenJamini-Hochberg correction, a total of 65 molecular functions, 209 biological processes, 26 cellular components and 108 pathways were significantly over-represented when compared against all the HUGO genes (see Additional Files 8, 9, 10 and 11 for the full lists). Table 5 shows the top 3 ost significantly over-represented GO terms and pathways ranked by p-values of Fisher's exact test. GO terms related to oxidative stress such as â€Å"superoxide metabolic process†, â€Å"superoxide release†, â€Å"electron carrier activity† and â€Å"mitochondrion† were highly over-represented 53 ROS-diabetes targets Additional file 8.The enriched Molecular Functions Gene Ontology Terms in the Over- represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 46KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 9. The enriched Biological Processes Gene Ontology Terms in the Over-represented 53 ROS- Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 95KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 10. The enriched Cellular Components Gene Ontology Terms in the Over-represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 66KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 1 1 . The enriched pathways in the Over-represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 75KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Table 5. Enriched functions of the 53 over-represented targets in diabetes Gene expression change in iabetes Two groups of DBA/2J mice exhibited significantly different levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (%GHb). The mean ? ± SEM were 6. 2 ? ± 0. for the non-diabetic control group and for 14. 0 ? ± 0. 8 for the diabetic group (p-value < 0. 001), indicative of prolonged hyperglycemia in the diabetic group [26]. DRG were harvested from these animals for gene expression assays. Nine genes were selected from the top ranked ROS-diabetes targets: superoxide dismutase 1 (Sodl), catalase (Cat), xanthine dehydrogenase (Xdh), protein kinase C alpha (Prkca), neutrophil cytosolic factor 1 Ncfl), nitric oxide synthase 3 (Nos3), superoxide dismutase 2 (Sod2), cytochrome b-245 alpha (Cyba), and nitric oxide synthase 1 (Nosl).Eight genes exhibited differential expression between diabetic and non-diabetic mice (p-value < 0. 05) as shown in Figure 3. Cat, Sodl, Sod2, Prkca, and NOSI expression levels were decreased, while Ncfl , Xdh, and Cyba expression levels were increased in diabetes. thumbnailFigure 3. Gene expression levels of selected ROS-diabetes targets in DRG examined by real-time RT-PCR. Expression levels are relative to Tbp, an internal control (error bar = SEM) (*, p < 0. 05; **, p < 0. 01; ***, p < 0. 01). Eight (Cat, Sodl, Ncfl , Xdh, Sod2, Cyba, Prkca, and Nosl) out of the nine selected ROS-diabetes genes were sign ificantly regulated by diabetes. Discussion Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are products of normal energy metabolism and play important roles in many other biological processes such as the immune response and signaling cascades [4-6]. As mediators of cellular damage, ROS are implicated in pathogenesis of multiple diseases including diabetic complications [27-30].With the aid of literature mining technology, we collected 1 ,026 possible ROS-related targets from a set of biomedical literature indexed with both ROS and diabetes. Fifty-three targets were significantly over-represented in the ROS-diabetes papers when compared against three background sets. Depending on how the background set is defined, the over-represented targets may vary widely. An ideal background set would be the entire PubMed set; however, this is not possible due to limited access to tull texts and intense data processing.An alternative method wou d be to use only abstracts in PubMed, but this may not fully represen t the literature. Using only the abstracts, our target identification method resulted in 21 (39%) of the 53 key ROS- iabetes targets (Additional File 12), suggesting the benefit of rich information in full text documents. In the present study, background documents were randomly selected from the same Journal, volume, and issue of the 54 ROS-diabetes documents, which were not indexed with â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] nor â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH].This approach maintained the background corpora not far from the ROS and diabetes context. Additional file 12. The Key 53 ROS-Diabetes Targets Identifiable Using Only the Abstracts. Format: XLS Size: 23KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data The gene expression evels of nine targets selected from the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets were measured in diabetic and non-diabetic DRG. Our laboratory is particularly interested in deciphering the underlying mechanisms of diab etic neuropathy, a major complication of diabetes.Data published by our laboratory both in vitro and in vivo confirm the negative impact of oxidative stress in complication-prone neuron tissues like DRG In an effort to obtain diabetic neuropathy specific targets, SciMiner was employed to further analyze a subset of the ROS-diabetes papers (data not shown). Nerve growth factor (NGF) was identified as the most over- epresented target in this subset when compared to the full ROS-diabetes set; however, NGF did not have statistical significance (BH adjusted p-value = 0. 06). The relatively small numbers of papers and associated targets may have contributed to this non-significance.Therefore, the candidate targets for gene expression validation were selected from among the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets derived from the full ROS-diabetes corpus. Among the tested genes, the expression levels of Cat, Sodl , Sod2, Prkca, and NOSI were decreased, while the expression levels of Ncfl , Xdh, and Cyba were increased nder diabetic conditions. Cat, Sodl , and Sod2 are responsible for protecting cells from oxidative stress by destroying superoxides and hydrogen peroxides [8-11]. Decreased expression of these genes may result in oxidative stress [32].Increased expression of Cyba and Ncfl , subunits of superoxide-generating nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase complex [30], also supports enhanced oxidative stress. Xdh and its inter-convertible form, Xanthine oxidase (Xod), showed increased activity in various rat tissues under oxidative stress conditions ith diabetes [33], and also showed increased expression in diabetic DRG in the current study. Unlike the above concordant genes, protein kinase C and nitric oxide synthases did not exhibit predicted expression changes in diabetes.Protein kinase C activates NADPH oxidase, further promoting oxidative stress in the cell [34,35]. Decreased expression of Prkca in our diabetic DRG is not parallel with expression levels of other enzymes expected to increase oxidative stress. Between the two nitric oxide synthases tested in the present study, NOSI (neuronal) expression was significantly decreased (p-value < 0. 01) in diabetes, while Nos3 (endothelial) expression was not significant (p-value = 0. 06). The neuronal NOSI is expected to play a major role in producing nitric oxide, another type of highly reactive free radical.Thus, with some exceptions, the majority of the differentially expressed genes in DRG show parallel results to the known activities of these targets in diabetes, suggesting enhanced oxidative stress in the diabetic DRG. Assessment of antioxidant enzyme expression in diabetes has yielded a variety of results [36-40] depending upon the duration of diabetes, the tissue studied and other factors. In diabetic mice and rats, it is commonly reported that superoxide dismutases are down-regulated [37-40], where data regarding catalase are variable [36,40].PKC is activated i n diabetes, but most papers that examined mRNA demonstrated that its expression is largely unchanged [41]. Among the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets, SODI was the most over- represented and was differentially expressed under diabetic and non-diabetic conditions. To the best of our knowledge, no published study has investigated the role of SODI in the onset and/or progression of diabetic neuropathy. Mutations of SODI have long been associated with the inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) [42] and the theory of oxidative stress-based aging [43].Early reports indicate that knockout of the SODI gene does not affect nervous system development [44], although recovery following injury is slow and incomplete [45,46]. With respect to diabetes, SODI KO accelerates the development of diabetic nephropathy [47] and cataract formation [48]. Thus, examining the SODI KO mouse as a model of diabetic neuropathy would be a reasonable follow-up study. One limitation of the cur rent approach using literature mining technology is incorrect r missed identification of the mentioned targets within the literature.Based on a performance evaluation using a standard text set BioCreAtlvE (Critical Assessment of Information Extraction systems in Biology) version 2 [49], SciMiner achieved 87. 1% recall (percentage identification of targets in the given text), 71. 3% precision (percentage accuracy of identified target) and 75. 8% F-measure (harmonious average of recall and precision = (2 x recall x precision)/(recall + precision)) before manual revision [14]. In order to improve the accuracy of SciMiner's results, each target was anually reviewed and corrected by checking the sentences in which each target was identified.Approximately, 120 targets (†10% of the initially identified targets from the ROS-diabetes papers) were removed during the manual review process. The overall accuracy is expected to improve through the review process; however, the review process did not address targets missed by SciMiner, since we did not thoroughly review individual papers. Instead, 5 missed targets, whose associations with ROS-diabetes literature were available in the NCBI Gene2PubMed database, were added to the final ROS-diabetes target list (Additional File 2).

Primal Fear Reflection

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The Huntely Power Station In New Zealand - Essay Example interviews with relevant experts and engineers at the Huntly Power Station and review of literature such as online resources, magazine articles, newspapers, books and pamphlets. This report has been able to establish the effects of hydro electricity and wind turbines used in the generation of electricity. The report has compared the two means of electricity generation and focused on their impacts. The results of the research that was conducted in regard to the research questions have also been discussed in great detail so as to find the better option between hydro electricity and wind turbines. This report has majorly focused on the Huntly Power Station. The report has also given recommendations about the use of hydro electricity versus wind turbines. This report is focused on the problem of hydro electricity versus wind turbines in the Waikato. Analysts have noted that the energy demands in New Zealand are growing at an average rate of about 2% per annum (Martin, 1991). New Zealand thus needs a great deal of new electricity generation options to cater for the ever growing electricity needs. This is especially true considering the growing concerns about the negative effects that electricity generation has on the environment and climate (Reilly, 2008). Many people have therefore supported the use of sustainable and renewable sources in the generation of electricity (Bradley, 2007). In the Waikato region, the question of hydro electricity versus wind turbines has elicited numerous debates. There are those who feel that hydro electricity generation is better than the use of wind turbines while others feel that wind turbines are better that hydro electricity in the generation of electric power (Ministry of Economic Development, 2007). This report will discuss the results of research conducted to ascertain the viability, sustainability and renewability of hydro electricity versus wind turbines in the Waikato. This topic is important because it seeks to find out the

The New Central Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words - 1

The New Central Planning - Essay Example Pitched to a general audience, "The Federal Reserve and the Financial Crisis" is part of the chairman's praiseworthy effort to increase Fed transparency.  The first two lectures cover the origins and history of the Fed. Mr. Bernanke identifies three primary functions of central banks: to conduct monetary policy (i.e., controlling of the supply of money by setting interest rates); to serve as lenders of last resort (i.e., providing liquidity for important institutions to stave off financial crises); and to regulate the financial system (i.e., limiting the risks that banks and other players in financial markets may take). Yet he hardly discusses the quantity of money in circulation or the Feds effect on it. The omission reflects the fact that Mr. Bernanke has dramatically altered the nature of central banking. Under his management, the Fed now tries to determine to which sectors the economy's savings flow, and monetary policy has become solely about setting interest rates.  To his credit, Mr. Bernanke considers the merits of the classical gold standard, in which the dollar was fully redeemable for a specific quantity of gold. He believes that its gains in long-run price stability were more than counterbalanced by the short-run economic fluctuations it caused. But as University of Georgia economist George Selgin pointed out after the lectures were delivered, the chairmans argument against the gold standard suffers from some severe weaknesses. For starters, it ignores the path-breaking research of Christina Romer, former chairman of President Obamas Council of Economic Advisers, which demonstrated that the frequency and severity of recessions werent significantly greater before the Feds creation in 1913 than after World War II. This casts doubt on the ability of the Fed with its fiat money to tame the business cycle any better than did the gold standard without the Feds intrusions.

Kelloggs Special K Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Kelloggs Special K - Essay Example The company was established at the Battle Creek Toast Corn Flake Company in 1906. It was founded by Will Keith Kellogg to illustrate the increase in his wealth from his work with the brother John Harvey Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. The wealth had been created out of sale of Kellogg's Toasted Corn flakes on a huge scale. This led to the renaming of the company into Kellogg Company in 1922 (Kellogg Company, 2011). The strength of the company lies in its world-class innovation abilities. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS The internal analysis of Kellogg Company is that it focuses on business. Its senior management is aimed at becoming the leader in food retailing industry worldwide. To achieve this, they are empowering their employees and building their brand supported by the integrated focus strategy and operating principles. The foundation of its business lies in its values, its people and its societal commitments. Its core competencies are the skills among the employees that provide th e advantage to the company consisting of the resources available. Kellogg's has far reaching; well defined and clear competences to enable them beat a world’s best. The competences are; it is strategic, functional, and has a corporate ability. It has a flexible structure of organization that fits in the demands and needs of the locals. Kellogg has been developing its image through creating a customer values, customer service efficiency and proper channels of distribution. The Marketing Mix â€Å"Marketing Mix is a well established framework that helps marketers to plan their approach to each market† (Smith. & Chaffey, 2005). Marketing mix of Kellogg’s which is mainly concerned with cereal products, being the major producer of cereal in the world. Consumer wants are fulfilled through the products sold. The current world has consumers that are much more concerned with their health; they tend to buy food products that are healthier especially for their children. Ke llogg’s K special has a range of products that meet the customer demands that are currently higher than expected. They have products that are low in fat, have no preservatives and they have no artificial flavors. There packaging is attractive to children because their mail target is children. Kellogg's supplier power lies under its customers. It poses mainly medium power when purchasing from suppliers. Wheat varies in price because of its extensive force and the cost is passed onto customers of Kellogg’s. Michael Porter’s Five Forces theory states that an industry is influenced by five forces, which are Barriers to Entry, Supplier Power, Buyer Power, Degree of Rivalry and Threat of Substitutes (Kurtz et al., 2009). Kelloggs is not an exception at all and the effect of the forces is evident in its financial as well as managerial reports. Kellogg's product lines are cereals, crackers, cookies, snacks, frozen foods and water. The benefits that a consumer gets are h ealthy products that are standard in nature. The products are manufactured in over 17 countries and are marketed in more than 190 countries according to their annual reports for 2009. The highest consumers are the North America with a 67% margin followed by Europe at 20% then Latin America and Asia Pacific at 8% and 5% respectively. Buyers of Kellogg's products are mostly supermarkets and

The Level of Audit fees - current issue in Auditing with special Essay

The Level of Audit fees - current issue in Auditing with special emphasis to FTSE 100 Companies in UK - Essay Example In UK, the â€Å"Big Four audit firms namely Ernst & Young , Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and KPMG are acting as auditors for almost all the FTSE 100 companies and has major lion share of audit fees of about 99% in the FTSE 350. The reason why FTSE companies prefer the Big Four as it offers two major service elements namely high profile audit services together with the insurance coverage against reputational risk and catastrophes. It is to be noted that in UK, the top ten accounting firms are earning an income of above ? 1.5 billion annually as audit fees. (Oxera 2006: i). As per Francis (2006), there is direct correlation between share prices of US companies and the level of non-audit service fees paid to auditors as the shares of those companies, which pay higher NAS (Non Audit Services) have been observed to be poignantly lower. As per Basioudis et al. (2008) research study which was conducted among UK companies in 2003 found that high NAS fees and exorbitant a udit fees badly affect going companies revealing analysis for financially impacted companies in UK. Through UK market data study of 1999-2006, Holland and Lane (2009) found that shareholders are of the opinion that auditor’s independence will be at stake due to high level of both audit and NAS fees. (Beattie, Fearnley and Hines 2009:6). A research study carried over by POB over the NAS fees charged by the Big Four audit forms for the period between 2003 and 2008 reveal that there had been a steep fall in NAS fees from their clients as it came to just 17% in 2008 from that of 25% in 2003. However, the fee income earned for non-audit customers increased to 59% of total income in 2008 from that of 49% of total income in 2003. (Beattie, Fearnley and Hines 2009:7). Deloitte (2009) research... According to the research findings in UK, the level of audit fees is seemed to be higher as there is a high market concentration, especially in the FTSE 100 sector. Through UK market data study of 1999-2006, Holland and Lane found that shareholders are of the opinion that auditor’s independence will be at stake due to high level of both audit and NAS fees. However, the research study carried out by Srinidhi & Gul, Abbott et al. and Carcello et al., the quality of audit is gauged by the quantum of audit fees paid to an auditor of a company. Higher audit engagement effort is reflected by high levels of audit fees and would always result in better audit quality. In case of risk prone companies, the auditor has to incur insurance cost which in turn result in an increase in the audit fees. Further, the level of audit fees might have increased substantially due to changes in the general economic scenarios and due to change in regulations and rules pertaining to audit. Further, the a uditor independence will be at jeopardy if he has been awarded with substantial non-audit work also like consultancy services, accounting services, internal audit, corporate transactions, internal audit, regulatory compliances, merger and acquisitions, advise on restructuring and advise on taxation. It is to be noted that higher audit fees always result in supporting the corporate frauds.Researchers have pointed out that Arthur Andersen have received $27 million for their audit services in addition to $29 million for non-audit services from Enron in 2000.

Should abortion be allowed or not Research Paper

Should abortion be allowed or not - Research Paper Example Abortions are medical processes that actually improve the lives of the women who request for them; due to the brutal nature of this process, it is easy to understand that women who are not in desperate straits will not seek to procure an abortion. The reality is that, for a long time, women were seen as possessions of the men they were related to. The men had the right to do with their women as they wished; and this included denying them medical procedures for flippant reasons (Joachim 21). This standard still remains in many Middle Eastern nations. Refusing to legalize abortion basically amounts to preserving the outdated cultural practice of controlling the bodies of women on a massive scale. It is a fact that the majority of women who seek abortions are those with no financial security. Their partners, if involved in their lives in more ways than one, refuse to use birth control methods such as condoms but still demand sexual intimacy. The women may even be subjected to physical violence if they refuse to cooperate with their partners. For women in such circumstances, having an abortion is the only way they can prevent them from further sinking into poverty due to an extra mouth to feed. There are numerous cases that have been documented in media channels where expectant mothers died because hospitals either refused completely refused to terminate their pregnancies to save their lives or their spouses refused to give permission for the lives of their girlfriends and wives to be saved at the expense of the pregnancy (Flavin 18). The reality is that legalizing abortion is something that will consign such occurrences to the past; as the expectant mother is given the sole right to determine whether or not she wishes to keep the baby growing within her. Abortion, in many cases, actually saves the lives of the women who have it done in more ways than one. It saves them from having to contend with extreme financial

Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 5

Finance - Essay Example The financial services authority is formed by the agreement and sponsored by the members of UK financial services industry.   The Treasury assigns the FSA Board, consisting of a Chairman, 1 CEO, 3 M.D.’s, and 9 non-managerial administrators also together with 1 superior non-managerial member and the assistant Chairman. The Board of administrators is accountable for the policy creations while, the routine policies, employee management and routine decisions are executed by the non-managerial officers. As of current situation, the financial service corporations operational in United Kingdom are motivated to attain the progressively more grand revenues and growth objectives aligned with a milieu of elevated fiscal risks, regulated policies, acts and intensive market strain. The elevated demands of the retail consumer and hopes are budding in the countenance of rising private prosperity, more personal financial support of annuity and the healthcare and the yearning for ever more available and customary tailored fiscal products and services. As per the business cycle, the intense competition has clutched industrial margins as well as the corporations are enforced to trim down the expenses and emphasize on identifying the sources to enhance the eminence of client’s preference and services. The market progression in the UK is elevating the fiscal risks due to the introduction of more complex products. The Financial service authority has the official form of a business restricted by the agreement. FSA was integrated on the June 7, 1985 with title of â€Å"The Securities and Investments Board Ltd† (SIB) at the establishment of the UK’s â€Å"Chancellor of the Exchequer†, who is the singular affiliate of the corporation and assigned definite constitutional authoritarian powers to it under the UK’s legislation act â€Å"Financial Services Act 1986.† Post the succession monetary scandals in the 1990’s with consequential in the disintegration of the â€Å"Barings Bank†,

Benjamin Cardozo Leaders program Essay Example for Free

Benjamin Cardozo Leaders program Essay The final spot in the University of Buffalo’s graduating class of 2011 should be offered to me because I embody the values of hard work, dedication, determination, and self-discipline that are essential in succeeding as a college student and later as a professional in my field. I have always had plans for a successful future in younger years I had thoughts of pursuing the medical field, like my sister, but have since decided that being successful means following my own interests and dreams. I have been fascinated with how things work for as long as I can remember; automotive design holds a special attraction for me. During my junior year of high school I came to the realization that adulthood and the ‘real world’ are fast approaching, and got serious about outlining my plans for the future. Now, as a graduating senior, I am on the verge of proving to everyone else what I have always known I am going to make something BIG out of myself. After careful and diligent examination of my personal interests and values, I have decided that my optimum career choice is to be a self employed mechanical engineer. In this profession I will be able to exploit my passion for how things work, while designing my own creations and being self employed will allow me to reach my full potential, limited only by my dream, drive, and education. Knowing that the quality of my education is essential to achieving my lifetime aspiration will continue to provide me with a hunger for the acquisition of the knowledge and experience of my professors and future student colleagues. I plan to embellish my studies of mechanical engineering with a second concentration in business management, to culminate in an M. B. A. which I believe will help me acquire the knowledge necessary to run a profitable and successful business. It is my true dream to do for the world of mechanical engineering what Bill Gates did for computing and what Sam Walton did for discount retail to become an industrial giant through knowledge, drive, and a passion for doing what I love. The University of Buffalo needs me on campus because of my experience in leadership, through the Benjamin Cardozo Leaders program, my strong work ethic as evidenced by my current employment, and my passion for mechanical engineering. I pledge to use this spot to the best of my ability to simultaneously increase my academic knowledge and to uphold the positive public image that the University of Buffalo portrays. My background in athletics, as well as my high school and employment experience have all increased my people skills, and I plan to hone them even further in collaborating with fellow students and being involved in mentoring programs that import to teenagers how important goals, drive, and education are in the accomplishment of great things. I believe strongly that this college will help me accomplish great things, and it is my intent to accomplish great things while I am there.

Why is Mcdonalds such a successful company? Emphasis on India China

Why is Mcdonalds such a successful company? Emphasis on India China 1. Introduction In the present day we all lead a very hectic lifestyle cramping our lives with endless things to do and accomplish. Gone are the days when meals were cooked and served in households three times a day, instead, the youth live on pre-cooked micro waved meals and fast food. We want food and we want it fast. This was essence for the rise of Mcdonalds From humble beginnings in 1954, when Raymond Kroc who was a salesman had a vision of getting the best food in the shorted possible time to people across America was the birth of the fast-food chain that we know as McDonalds. What he did as a pioneer in the fast food industry is akin to the accomplishment of Henry Ford in the automobile industry. The same concepts of Henry Ford were applied of ensuring timeliness, proper disclipine and production efficiency were utilized. In this instance, to French fries, milkshakes and Hamburgers. Today, McDonalds is a brand that is recognized in every corner of the world. A testament to the accomplishment of this fast-food chain is the endorsement by the economist in the world who compare the official exchange rate with that of the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) as the Big Mac Index to gauge if the currency is undervalued or overvalued. In this globalised world, how is that McDonalds managed to reach the heights that it has today with 30,000 outlets in 120 different countries spread across the globe in so many different societies with different cultures, different tastes and different economies. What are the factors that have allowed the managers in McDonalds to succeed in these countries? This paper is an attempt to address these issues. 2. International Business (Multi National Corporations) Today the world is a globalised world and increasingly becoming like a single market place. The barriers of international trade are considerably reduced. Businesses are forced to develop effective management teams and policies that can operate in different national environments. â€Å"Globalization is necessary for success and survival in the worldwide market; however, global competition is not easy† (Bateman Scott, 2004). At the onset of the twenty first century, the list of fortune 500 companies century are increasingly companies that are global (Global Capitalism, 2005) and McDonalds is part of this group. This trend gives rise to an important question in a service organisation about service quality how can multinational firms in the service industry obtain a competitive advantage over local industries and succeed? With over 30,000 restaurants operating in 120 countries and with over 1m employees McDonalds is a truly global success. But, what has made the company successful during one of the toughest economic environments for decades? The past 18 months have been a very testing time for companies across the globe. Many have succumbed to the economic turmoil caused in the US housing markets, many have changed their strategy going forward and many have changed their senior management however, McDonalds has seen an astonishing growth in its sales over the past few months. From the study of McDonalds, we identify three key factors: Embracing globalisation Adapting to local culture 3. Strong company core values (culture) The first factor globalization, has allowed between different parts of the world to come closer together, provides opportunities of exchange and expands the consumer base. Among the factors that have allowed these organisations to succeed in the global market place has been their ability to harness the cross-cultural issues and the benefit that a diversity brings to the organisation. The final factor is strong company core values that it disseminates across all aspects of its business across the globe. McDonald Corporations uses these factors to conduct business around the world. 3. Research and Findings (Primary Secondary) To any society, food is an important cultural ingredient. â€Å"Food is the oldest global carrier of culture.† (Britannica 2007). People believe that we become what we eat and impact our behaviour. Changes in its preparation has the potential to alter the traditional beliefs of people, so how could McDonalds succeed even in such an environment? In todays intensely competitive marketplace for fast food services, maintaining a competitive advantage puts a heavy premium on having a highly committed or competent workforce. â€Å"Increasingly it is being recognized that competitive advantage can be obtained with a high quality workforce that enables organisations to compete on the basis of market responsiveness, product and service quality, differentiated products and technological innovation†. (Chew, I. Horwitz, F. Case study findings). The Fast food industry like other service industries has many characteristics. When taken in context of India and China, the following are the main ones; Liberalisation of the economies of China and India Vast population Changing consumer behaviour Highly competitive environment Strong traditional food culture. Looking at these individually, the liberalisation of trade and investment in China and India has allowed for the proliferation of many international fast-food outlets in these countries. As these countries enjoy economic prosperity, a large working population means that the per capita and household disposable incomes have grown. More and more woman now work in these countries hence the fast-food/take-away and home delivery markets have grown phenomenally in India and China. Gone are the days when McDonalds enjoyed competitive advantage simply because of their unique product line. Besides the national restaurants, there are other western fast-food organisations like Burger King and KFC that pose tough competition to McDonalds by offering similar product lines. 3.1 Critical Success Factors Interview sessions were held on a number of consumers across various regions of Hong Kong. Some critical factors of success of McDonald were identified. Product line Lower Prices Sales Promotion Service Quality Adapting to Local taste Convenient Location Seating space Cleanliness The survey results gave the following results that are depicted on the chart below: If one were to look at a threshold of 80%, we find that convenient location, lower prices, service quality, cleanliness and adapting to local taste are the critical factors that consumers rate when walking into a fast food outlet and McDonalds rates high on them. 3.2 SWOT Analysis Porter (1985) suggested that the manner in which a firm puts its strategies into practice will define the sphere that it operates in be it cost leadership, differentiation or focus strategy. According to him, competitive advantage stems from not just one activity that the time does but from many discrete activities. These could be the marketing, designing, delivering or even supporting its product or services. A SWOT analysis is a good starting place in order to identify potential competitive advantages. If a quick SWOT analysis is done on McDonalds the results can be summarised as follows; 3.3 McDonald as an Employer Employees perceptions about McDonalds could be demonstrated by Hewitts â€Å"2009 Best Employers China Study†, according to which, McDonalds(China)company Ltd. has been regarded as the 3rd best employers in China. Hewitt is one of most widespread professional studies which have most impact force and influence. McDonalds figure shows a Employees engagement of 75%, which is about 26% above the average. In general, employees in â€Å"The Best† such as McDonalds speak more positively about the company (Say), more willing to serve the company (Stay) and contribute more to the company (Strive). Engagement Behaviours The Best Employers including McDonalds also shows lower turnover rate than the rest across all levels. Employees Turnover Rate Leaders of McDonalds drive a strong message that employees are highly valued assets of the organization. Employees hold strong positive perceptions of their leaders with respect to range of organizational relationships Employee View of Senior Management  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The BestTheRest I see strong evidence of effective leadership from senior management  Ã‚  Ã‚  68% 46% Our senior leaders remove barriers to create effective cross-department teams  Ã‚  68% 49% Our senior leaders develop relationships at all levels within the organization  Ã‚  70% 51% Our senior leaders requires continuous improvement from all parts of the organization  77% 57% Our senior leaders create excitement about changes  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  76% 56% Our senior leaders fill me with excitement for the future of this organization  Ã‚  Ã‚  66% 44% Our senior leaders treat employees as this organizations most valued assets  Ã‚  Ã‚  69% 47% Our senior leaders consistently demonstrate the organizations values in all behaviors and actions73% 51% 3.4 Position of McDonalds When we analyse the competing fast-food chains in China, we find that till the end of 2008, KFC opened over 2300 restaurants in China, while McDonalds only has 1100 restaurants. In a questionnaire which investigatesâ€Å" The Most Impressive Restaurant in Guangzhou† shows that Mcdonalds with a proportion of 23.5% is leading other fast-food restaurants including KFC and some other local restaurants. Proportion of Impression of Fast-food restaurants in Guangzhou Research also reflects that McDonalds major consumers are young people aged between 15 and 25. By calculating we can infer that this group of people goes to McDonalds every 2.82 weeks with 60% of them going there because of the fashion image given by McDonalds while 33.3% of them go there because of its conveniences. However, convenience is cited by 53.5% for people aged between 25 and 40 as the reason for going to McDonalds. Proportion of different aged people take a meal at McDonalds at different frequencies consumer aged between 15-25 Consumer aged between 25-40 Motive of consumption During the survey, questions were asked about which promotion method most influences the interviewee the main source that people use to acquire information being 1) TV advertising and 2) friends. These are 74% and 65% respectively. Mean while, when asked about the impact of advertising,75.5% of interviewee express that they are frequently attracted by TV advertising which are quite innovate. 24.5% of interviewees say that they are occasionally interested but no one has ever been attracted nor seen the TV advertising. (diagram) Consumers sensitivity of TV advertising 4. Analysis In spite of being an American firm that is built around the Hamburger model, McDonalds has become a part of the lives of people in Asia. Consumers in countries like China, India, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, where the staple diet is mostly rice or noodles have still embraced this fast food chain. It has even managed to penetrate in India, where cows are considered sacred. 4.1 Globalisation and Glocalisation There have been widespread campaigns about the ill-effects of globlasition there are a few that are pro-globalisation and postulate that globalisation enhances culture rather than adulterate it. Where it not for globalisation, it would have been unlikely that McDonalds would have had developed as a brand. â€Å"Researchers have coined a term, glocalisation, to refer to the interactions between local influences and actors and global forces† (Smith Guarnizo, 1999). Large multinational firms, particularly in the services sector, have taken steps to adapt to local values, traditions and cultures. In some instances, there have been large scale protests when a multinational firms sets up its operation overseas. McDonalds had to bear the brunt of protests when it first started in India. Radley Balko (2003), states that â€Å"In most communities, the McDonalds has conformed to the local culture not the other way around. The McDonalds corporation notes that most of its overseas franchises are locally owned, and thus make efforts to buy from local communities. McDonalds also alters its regional menus to conform to local taste.†. For example, in India, the non-vegetarian menu includes chicken and fish items only. Beef is not on the menu in India because are considered sacred. 4.2 Contribution of Culture to their Success People bring an organisation alive. Using a more diverse description, fish feels the need for water only when it is not in it. Culture is like what water is to fish. It sustains us. We live and breathe through it. â€Å"McDonalds commitment to diversity is established on the foundational belief that diversity is not just a moral and ethical issue, but also a business issue† (McDonalds, 2005). Due to the sheer number of outlets in 120 different countries, McDonalds has no choice but to embrace diversity. What is means is that almost every culture, every ethencity is represented in McDonalds. Internal management policies dictate that local suppliers are promoted. This is an extension of their policy on diversity. the use of local suppliers and based on their policies of diversity. When the individual outlets are examined, at the managerial level, there exists a task/occupational sub- culture.†A task culture is job or project oriented culture and emphasis is placed on completing a specific task†. Coles, M. et al.,(1999). The members have strong recognition for the skills of one another and respect each other. They need each other for the organisational success. Culture is itself not visible, but is made visible by actions or if one does something weird and people will come up and tell you that it is not the done thing. McDonalds realizes that having diversity as an asset greatly enhances the profitability of the company. Diversity is a direct reflection of a companys interpersonal relationships. McDonalds leadership encourages diversity through their policies and programs. McDonalds proven success with leveraging the advantages of diversity can be attributed to their core value of ethics. When I characterise the people of McDonalds on the basis of Herzbergs Motivation hygiene theory, Mullins,L.J.(2002), it is easy to appreciate and seems readily applicable. However when looking at it deeper, certain factors emerge questionable Money is a complicated motivator, it satisfies peoples need in a variety of ways, a set of people in McDonalds, money was important as they needed to fulfil their basic physiological need, there were others who needed money to throw parties (a social need) and the customer relations manager wanted it to buy a house (esteem need). People cut right through the way in which th ey prioritised money. 4.3 Management Practices There is a saying, â€Å"You can take the horse to the water but you cannot make it drink.† It will drink only if it so desires. People will also do what they want to do unless motivated, whether on the shop floor or in the ivory tower. This can be done intrinsically or by external stimulus. Watson (1997) mentioned that â€Å"McDonalds focuses on standardization of its products, as consistency and predictability are important keys to the companys worldwide appeal. It was also indicated that one key to McDonalds success was the constant push to speed up production without sacrificing consistency. McDonalds had created a system that depends upon standardized procedures in everything from sandwich assembly to advanced management training at Hamburger University†. In the 600-page â€Å"Operations and Training Manual† production guide, McDonalds ensured that nothing is left to chance; photo layouts showed where the sauces should be placed on the bun, and the exact thickness of sliced pickles was specified. All equipment at McDonalds restaurants must be purchased from approved suppliers, and the architectural design of both interior and exterior is carefully controlled. It can be said that McDonalds preaches uniformity and consistency with the fervency of a relig ion. 4.4 Core Values bind across cultures A growing belief that one of the major sources of potential competitive advantage for businesses is the effective management and development of people. For example, Sparrow et al covered in their study over 2000 organisations across the globe and their report concluded that â€Å"an organizations people provide the only realistic basis for achieving a sustainable competitive advantage†. A good example of the manner of dissipation of the core values is in the form of bonding at the shop floor. For example, the employees of McDonalds are collectively called the crew of the restaurant. This is the term used at all McDonalds restaurants. It means the same in every country and every outlet of McDonalds all belong to the same family. McDonalds senior team put the companys resilience down to an on-going investment to its customers including improving the restaurant experience and expanding its menu. The company has also maintained a massive commitment to its people and their training, which includes making apprenticeships available to all eligible employees and a cohesive and comprehension management, leadership and coaching programme. David Fairhurst, Senior Vice President People at McDonalds UK said: â€Å"In these challenging economic times, it is more important than ever for employers to invest in their staff.† Carole Williams, Corporate Training Manager for McDonalds UK, said a key component of its success is through strong leadership and communication. 4.5 Managing the Customer Experience In our personal lives, most of us would like to believe that the more someone knows us, the more that person will like us. As the old saying goes, to know me is to love me. Interestingly enough, this is also the essence of customer service. Without product differentiation, its the service that that will develop customer loyalty. Crainer (1995) in his book â€Å"The Real Power of Brands† identified McDonalds as a brilliant international exercise in uniformity. He wrote, â€Å"Wherever you go in Europe or the world, a McDonalds restaurant appears very similar and its products are uncanny reproductions of each other. It is homogeneous, uniform and highly successful. That is a McDonalds formula.† Crainer also mentioned that â€Å"McDonalds restaurants are clean; the food is consistent; the service is good. In effect, the very uniformity of the brand is the crucial differentiating factor.† In today competitive environment, customer service is not merely a means to drive sales. McDonalds has created a a niche for itself by raising the bar of competition by providing customers a unique experience. They have accomplished this is through their employees. As the competitive bar goes up, they ensure that the quality of their employees goes up too. Adapted from Mulins .J â€Å"Employee Relations and business performance† 5. Lessons Learnt In addressing the issues relating to developing effective international management teams it appears that the following areas should be considered: Identifying the nature and implications of national cultural differences within the team. Establishing a basis for building understanding and awareness of cultural differences and how they may be managed. Formulating a framework for developing a high performing team which takes account of cultural differences and leverages the diversity present in an international team. It is useful to identify clear framework for analysing and understanding national cultural differences. Such frameworks have been developed by researchers and consultants such as Hofstede and Trompenaars. While the respective merits and drawbacks of different frameworks are widely discussed and are rather helpful in illustrating the major issues which need to be considered. 6. Conclusion In conclusion, there are no simple answers on how management and management practice drive organisation success. Of all the resources available, in the International arena, the human resource is clearly the most significant, but also the most difficult to manage. The models mentioned earlier are only the basic strategies, though the final mix will vary from situation to situation. The key to competitiveness for Mcdonalds is quality and quality depends more on the commitment of individuals; more on the way these individuals behave; their team spirit than on the passive execution of orders received. People create the future through what they do and dont do. More importantly through what they can and cannot do. The value of companies stems from the people who work there, the skills they possess and their potential to transform.

Essay --

Introduction The Berlin Plus Agreement was signed on 16th December 2002 by Javier Solana, the European Union High Representative for the Common and Security Policy and George Robertson, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The main purpose is to enhance a bilateral cooperation on international security. The first mission held through the Berlin Plus agreement was promoted by the EU in Macedonia and Bosnia (2003). Named Concordia it provided concrete evidence of the importance of the Berlin Plus to be effective in order to safeguard Europe. After Concordia, a small but successful operation, the Berlin Plus Agreement was once again used for a military mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. EUFOR Althea was launched on 2nd December 2004 and has been going on until nowadays. Nevertheless these were the only missions undertaken within the framework of the Berlin Plus Agreement. Europe Common Foreign Security Policy (CFDP) was created in response to the lack of means from the EU during the Balkan Wars in the early 1990's. The Berlin Plus Agreement is a treaty created to legitimize the use of NATO means and expertise by the EU. Nevertheless politics had a huge impact in the effectiveness of the Berlin Plus Agreement. Before the creation of CSDP in the St Malo Act in 1998 – held during the Washington Summit - political tensions between Turkey and Cyprus/ Greece which had been going on since 1981 reached a climax after Greece became part of the then European Community (EC). Restrictions arouse between the EU and Turkey, their relationship worsened. The tension resulted from the EU recognition of Cyprus independence, whereas Turkey refused to legitimize it. The outcomes of these tensions were to jeopardize t... ...hree months) and a mission that would mean dealing with a real threat to national security. Furthermore the question about France ends up being very central in the CSDP question since France is the state that most pressures the EU to take part in military missions. Would CSDP exist if France was not there to pilot missions? Many European officials take the Foreign Policy of the EU for granted. The EU has been successful in the three missions engaged independently from NATO. Furthermore the main distinctiveness of the EU is its civilian comprehensive approach. Therefore this should be the main engagement of the EU. Even though the EU needs to have some security and defence protection for its borders, it should bear in mind that NATO exists to protect and defend its Member States and nothing less. Therefore NATO should not be ignored by the EU when CSDP is engaged.

Is Medical Testing On Animals Ethical :: essays research papers

Every year, nearly one hundred million animals die in research laboratories at the hands of curious scientists who perform outdated and inaccurate tests that prove no benefit to humans or animals. I believe vivisection, medical testing on animals, should be banned.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before these animals die they are routinely burned, scalded, poisoned, starved, given electric shocks, and deliberately inflicted with deadly diseases. Their eyes are surgically removed, and their brains and spinal cords are damaged; this is completed without any kind of anesthesia. Despite all of this cruelty, not a single disease has been cured through vivisection in this century. The overall cancer rate has risen in the past forty years, and a fatal heart attack strikes a person every forty-five seconds. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that seventy to eighty percent of the common diseases killing Americans can be prevented by a responsible lifestyle and diet. Drug testing on animals is not accurate and has no advantage to animals or people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Animals including dogs, cats, mice, pigs, monkeys, horses, deer, and cattle are commonly used for these senseless experimentations. The other remaining misfortunate animals come from places a little closer to you and me. Some of them come from animal shelters, some from the “free to a good home'; ads in the newspaper, or, even worse, some have been stolen directly from their own yard. Imagine your pet being crammed into a cage with ten other animals waiting to die in these cruel and heartless experiments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The current system of drug testing places consumers in a dangerous predicament. For example, some drugs passed safe in animal experiments but proved tragic consequences in humans. Conversely, many drugs that are beneficial to humans are dangerous or even fatal to animals. This is obvious proof that testing on animals is unreliable, but sadistic tests still go on every day.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If animal experimentation was eliminated, it could save up to 6.8 billion dollars. This money could be used for medical assistance programs for low-income individuals, helping the many Americans who can not afford insurance, rather than killing animals or making them sick.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There will be nearly 275 thousand animals dead this time tomorrow that were not dead right now.

Writing Persuasive or Argumentative Essays :: Writing an Essay

Everyone needs to know how to write a persuasive essay. It's actually not as difficult as it seems. Give yourself time. Trying to cram an entire 5 paragraph persuasive essay within 100 minutes is not a good idea. Allow yourself enough time to brainstorm, write, and proofread. Put as much effort into your paper as you can in the time period you are given, including the steps below. Brainstorm. Writing a persuasive essay is very much like writing an ordinary paper. Of course, before you begin, you have to come up with a good solid view, a foundation which you can base your entire paper on. It's best if you pick a topic which you strongly believe in. That way, you can defend your ideas better and make your paper sound a lot more convincing. The case that you are making needs to have enough depth and be worthy of support. You might want to consider opposing viewpoints to make it easier for you to realize how opposing people think. First Paragraph. This has to be your paragraph that draws attention to your essay. Start with something like: [What is a good pet? Although there are many different kinds of pets to choose from, I think that the feline cat is the best choice of a pet. A cat is an excellent choice of pet because it is easy to handle, doesn't cause trouble, and is friendly.] Start out with something that draws the reader's attention. Then, state clearly what you are going to pick (in this case, a cat). Finally, list your reasons. Start off your essay by stating your views. Don't get too specific. Leave the details for later. Just lay out your main idea and opinion. Your first sentence should be a thesis sentence, and have the basic ideas that encompasses all that you will say in the rest of the essay. You will need a paragraph supporting your idea, and a paragraph for people who oppose your idea. E.G. Cats are good pets because they don't lubricate all over the house. A sentence for the people who oppose your idea is: Even though cats bite a lot, you can control this by training it. See how you can get an answer to an opposition. This is needed. Make body paragraphs. At minimum, write three paragraphs for the body of the essay. Each paragraph should cover a main point to back up your argument and idea.

“On The Rainy River” Analysis Essay

The short story â€Å"On the Rainy River† is an integral chapter in the memoir The Things They Carried written by William Timothy O’Brien. The short story is written through the perspective of O’Brien in present day and as a young man faced with a draft notice for the Vietnam War. In â€Å"On the Rainy River,† O’Brien portrays the importance of bravery of individuals in the society through the use of symbolism, powerful tone, reflective point of view, narrative devices, and through the reoccurring theme of courage. In the short story, O’Brien uses symbolism to depict the religious aspect of the Rainy River, a watercourse which segregates the land of Minnesota and Canada, a divide that tested O’Brien’s bravery to either enlist in or flee the Vietnam War. O’Brien states that â€Å"the Rainy River . . . separated one life from another [;] . . . the cold [sprayed] against [his] face . . . [as] [they] . . . passed into Canadi an waters, across that dotted line between two different worlds . . .† (1012). The Rainy River symbolizes the rebirth of O’Brien into a new world; water epitomizes the purity and renewal of a new identity. This symbol adds great significance to the anecdote because it portrays the man vs. self-conflict of O’Brien; he has to choose a life of fearing the U.S government in exile, or a life of hostility and bloodshed in a war that he does not support. The author’s use of symbolism allows the reader to construe the variation in O’Brien’s point of view as he flees to the land of Canada to evade the drafting: that in fear, he gains the courage and strength to return to the U.S and face the inevitable war. Susan Farrell communicates in â€Å"The Vietnam in Me† that â€Å"[e]ven though the young narrator believed the war was morally wrong, he was unable to defy the traditions and expectations he had been raised with [;] [h]e was afraid of what people would say about him should he flee the draft, and he could not . . . leave behind everything he knew and loved.† The narrator considers that he is reared to take responsibility and is expected of his family and the society to do the right thing: join the war; even though he does not support the battle, O’Brien feels pressured by the fear of shame and embarrassment of not enlisting. Although the symbolism of the story reflects the author’s self-conflict, tone also enhances the significance of the decision he has to make. O’Brien  creates the tone of fear in the short story; he reflects on his cowardice and dreads the fate of his life if he were caught. O’Brien expresses that there are instances in which he is overwhelmed by fear: He stays up at night envisaging being chased by the border patrol and helicopters; he sweats while envisioning himself fleeing through the woods and being thrown to the ground by police. He feels dizzy with sorrow, guilt, and regret for parting the country and not enlisting into the war; he is troubled by the lack of sleep and the sickness that consumes him. (1009) The tone is created by the character’s personal emotions towards his life decisions and his dread upon the events that are foreseeable. The tone deepens the meaning of courage because it allows for a reflection on what could have contributed to the fear and how the character’s courage would ultimately overcome it. The tone of fear supplemented to the importance of O’Brien’s decision to escape the Vietnam War; he is acting out of fear—he, â€Å"was no soldier . . . [he] hated dirt . . . and mosquitos . . . [t]he sight of blood made [him] queasy, and [he] . . . didn’t know a rifle from a slingshot.† (O’Brien 1003). Bobbie Ann Mason observes that, â€Å"[t]he litany reifies the sense of constancy the men experienced: constant conditions, constant fear and apprehension, constant movement, and constant burdens† (Mason). Mason recognizes that the narrator’s use of a long and repetitious list of complaints and problems enables the reader to perceive the burden that he feels. The tone presented in this story allows for depth and apprehension that heightens the an xiety for future events. The point of view in the short story is presented in first person; by using first person narration, the author is enabled to express his internal emotion throughout the story. O’Brien perceives that â€Å"[c]ertain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons [; he] saw no unity of purpose, no consensus on matters of philosophy or history or law . . . facts were shrouded in uncertainty . . . [w]as it a civil war [,] a war of national liberation or simple aggression† (1002). O’Brien expresses his personal views on the war: there is no purpose for it to occur or for him to engage in the battle. Tegmark states in â€Å"The Perspectives of Other Characters† that â€Å"[there is] relative importance . . . [of] the perspective of . . . [Tim O’Brien as] the protagonist . . . and that of what I call [primary]  narrat[ion] [;] in . . .†The Things They Carried†. . . O’Brien functions as [a] focalizer, constituting the main perspective from which the reader perceives the story.† Tim O’Brien is the protagonist and the primary narrator; he is able to contribute to the story as the main perspective which allows him to provide memories and anecdotes, thus deepening the plot. The first person account gives the narrative credibility because the protagonist is telling the story; he can recall past events that relate to the occurrence or contemplate on what may ensue next. The narrator experienced the emotional battle and retreat to Canada first-hand; in turn, this interesting relationship gives the reader a direct account of the topic. O’Brien writes that â€Å"[he] felt something break open in [his] chest . . . [b]ut it was real, [he] know[s] that much, it was a physical rupture- a cracking-leaking-popping feeling† (1006). O’Brien speaks directly to the reader presenting the reader an emotional perception. His narration provides a contemplative and insightful voice while relating events that have happened; he describes what is learned from the experience and how it has affected his life. The use of flashbacks is prominent throughout the short story; O’Brien switches between the past and present tense throughout the story to narr ate his memoir. By using flashbacks, shifts and reflective moments are created. O’Brien states that he remembers that when walking out of his house in the year 1968 to leave for Canada, he carefully observed all of his familiar possessions that he would leave behind, including his life (1006). This scene reveals the use of flashback and enhances the meaning of his separation from the life he had known; he feels expressively attached to his home country. This man vs. self-conflict of whether to stay or go lingers when he sees the chrome toaster, the telephone, and the bright sunshine that sparkled in the room. O’Brien uses recollections throughout the story to incorporate former events that contribute meaning and sentiment. Susan Farrell states that â€Å"[t]he [short story] alternates between present-day [narration and the scenes] that take place during [1968] . . . [the] flashbacks . . . explain how [O’Brien] arrived at [his] present circumstances.† The author uses flashbacks throughout the story to allow the reader to visualize the shifts in his voice and the change in his views between the past and the present. O’Brien creates pathos towards the protagonist by expressing the hardships of his decision of leaving his life  in the United States for a life of hiding in Canada. O’Brien mentions remembering â€Å". . . self-pity . . . driving aimlessly around town . . . feeling sorry for [himself] . . . paralyzed . . . [feeling] guilt [and] sorrow† (1003-4). O’Brien references his emotional pressure to gain the readers’ sympathy by stating â€Å"[a]nd so [he] sat in the bow of the boat and cried . . . [i]t was loud now . . . [l]oud, hard crying† (1016). He provides his audience the capability to commiserate by giving the reader a view into his distressed core. Werlock states that O’Brien was â€Å". . . faced with [a] choice and imagining a host of people, real and imaginary, on both shores encouraging him one way or the other, the fear of shame holds him back from jumping overboard and swimming to Canada . . . O’Brien cries in the boat over his future . . .† The reader sympathizes with the protagonist because he is afraid of what people might think of him; the reader is placed in his shoes and realizes that O’Brien is in a painful position. O’Brien presents the themes of courage and cowardice throughout the short story. O’Brien states that â€Å"[it] was a kind of schizophrenia . . . [a] moral split . . . [he] couldn’t make up [his] mind . . . [he] feared the war . . . exile . . . walking away from [his] whole history. . . losing the respect of [his] parents . . . the law. . . ridicule and censure† (1005). Bloom states that â€Å"[w]hen the narrator writes, ‘This is one story I’ve never told before,’ it suggests [that] [r]eaders come to learn that the narrator’s reluctance may stem from what he perceives as revealing weakness: his emotional breakdown, his lack of courage actually to desert, and a fear of his family and friends learning of his weakness.† O’Brien portrays the theme of courage and cowardice to reflect on his decision to either enter or flee the Vietnam War. He was split between choosing a life of war or fear. Because of his fear of shame and humiliation of his friends and family, cowardice consumes him and he is unable to will himself across the Rainy River into Canada. His cowardice is a vital part of the story because it conjures internal conflict, hallucinations, fear, pathos, and emotion throughout the story. The theme of shame is existent throughout the short story. In the beginning of the narrative, O’Brien reveals that he has never told this story before because of the shame and embarrassment that he would have felt if he had. O’Brien states â€Å"[what] it came down to, stupidly, was a  sense of shame [,] [h]ot, stupid shame . . . [he] was ashamed of his conscience . . . [of] doing the right thing† (1009-10). O’Brien dreads the indignity and humiliation of his friends, family, and people of great importance if he does not enlist into the war: He states that when he visualizes people of relativity and of importance on the sides of the river urging him toward one shore or the other he feels himself redden. He could not risk the disdain, ignominy, or derision and that he would go to war because he was ashamed not to. (1016) Werlock avers that â€Å"[w]hen Berdahl takes O’Brien fishing on the Rainy River, . . . he is confronted with the decision between one life or the other . . . the fear of shame holds him back.† The importance of the role of shame develops throughout the story; it is the motivating factor that prevents O’Brien from leaving to Canada. Shame held him back because he did not want his family to feel that he was a raised to become a coward. The author uses shame to enhance the emotional depth of the story; the shame compels the reader to recognize the struggle of his situation. In the end, O’Brien overcomes the barrier of shame and acquires the courage to return to the United States to fight in the Vietnam War. In the short story â€Å"On the Rainy River,† William Timothy O’Brien explores the importance of courage and shame when he evades his draft notice for the Vietnam War by fleeing to Canada. Throughout the story, the reader gains a sense of emotional perspective for what draftees distress and anticipate through O’Brien’s use of symbolism, tone, point of view, flashback, and the themes of courage and shame. O’Brien’s decision to be reborn into a new world is reflectively symbolized by the Rainy River and a penetrating tone of fear provides apprehension and unease upon the reader. The use of the first person point of view and the narrative devices of flashbacks and pathos allows O’Brien to recall the past and to provide emotion. O’Brien overcomes his fear of shame which ultimately enables him to gain his courage and fight in the Vietnam War. Works Cited Bloom, Harold, ed. â€Å"The Things They Carried.† The Things They Carried, Bloom’s Guides. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2004. Bloom’s Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 25 Sept. 2014. Farrell, Susan. â€Å"O’Brien, Tim.† Critical Companion to Tim O’Brien: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2011. Bloom’s Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 28 Sept. 2014 Farrell, Susan. â€Å"‘The Vietnam in Me’.† Critical Companion to Tim O’Brien: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2011. Bloom’s Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 25 Sept. 2014. O’Brien, Tim. â€Å"On The Rainy River.† Literature Grade 10. Ed. Janet Allen. Evanston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2010. 999-1016. Print. Tegmark, Mats. â€Å"The Perspectives of Other Characters.† In the Shoes of a Soldier: Communication in Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam Narratives (Uppsala University, 1998): pp. 245–71. Quoted as â€Å"The Perspectives of Other Characters† in Bloom, Harold, ed. The Things They Carried, Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2011. Bloomâ⠂¬â„¢s Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 27 Sept. 2014. Werlock, Abby H. P. â€Å"‘On the Rainy River’.† The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009.Bloom’s Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.

HIV in Singapore

To extend the impact of our effort to curb the spread of HIV, we propose to continue and improve on our outreach effort targeted at the Chinese speaking Geylang crowd, and to initiate a campaign targeted at youths. The main objective of both efforts would be to encourage condom use and promote HIV testing as means to prevent the spread of HIV. On top of having both campaigns, we would like to propose making HIV testing more convenient by assisting with the implementation of a Mobile HIV Testing Van (MTV) service. Continuing and Improving Current Efforts to Reach Out to the Chinese Speaking Geylang Crowd 1. Printing more Pamphlets Having conducted an outreach event at Geylang, we found that the majority of our target audience read the educational pamphlet, and did so with a certain measure of contemplation – an indication of their rational riders being influenced by facts such as the ability to prolong one’s life if early treatment for HIV is sought, the benefits of condom usage and where the HIV test can be taken. Due to the limited number of pamphlets printed thus far, we foresee that more will be needed for future outreach events. Thus, we propose to have part of the budget allocated for this purpose. 2. Printing of Taglines Encouraging Condom Usage on Condom Covers. Redesigning the box used to contain condoms for distribution. Our group conceived a series of short, catchy taglines to encourage condom use. Condom covers with these taglines could be produced and distributed during outreach events. The taglines conceived were meant to direct our audience’s emotional elephants by evoking positive feelings about condom use – by asserting that love making can be equally pleasurable even when condoms are worn. To further engage our audience’s emotional elephants, we propose that an effort be made to conceive suitably ‘hard’ messages evoking anxiety and fear by highlighting the risks of doing away with condoms. Some of these ‘hard’ taglines could put across the message an underestimation of the one’s chances of contracting HIV is a contributing factor leading to HIV infection. By focusing attention on this ‘black swan’ in HIV being closer to home than it is often thought to be, our target audience may be encouraged to use condoms. These ‘hard’ messages could then be similarly printed on condom covers and distributed during outreach events together with those having ‘soft’ taglines, thus producing a carrot and stick effect that could further improve our effort to encourage condom usage. Also, the boxes used to store condoms could be changed to make it less obvious that it contains condoms, as it currently is. The purpose of doing so would be to encourage the taking up of these condoms, as regardless of whether those approached are seeking paid sex or not, they may nonetheless avoid accepting the condoms altogether because they do not wish to be seen in public as having done so, as evidenced when approaching some members of the public. To overcome such reluctance, the condoms (with the taglines printed on their covers) could be packed into larger rectangular top opening boxes such as those containing sweets (like how the sweet Ricola is packaged), with plain messages such ‘specially for you’ as that would serve to mask the true contents of the package. 3. Associating Condom Use and Regular HIV Testing with Responsible Behaviour In addition to distributing condoms and educational pamphlets, we propose to utilise the behaviour changing effects of social identity promotion to encourage condom usage and regular HIV testing. Posters juxtaposing images of Chinese males, representing all adult age groups, with condom use messages and them going for regular HIV testing could be printed and put up at places where our target audience often congregate – lanes leading to coffee shops and eateries along Geylang. These posters would portray these males as being socially responsible. As most would not wish to be labelled as irresponsible, the effects of projecting such an image could serve to encourage condom use and regular HIV testing. This effort to create such a social identity could be made more effective if a greater number of older volunteers (over 40s) are involved in such outreach events. These older volunteers could serve as leading lights of their age group and potentially relate better with our target audience, since both could see each other as peers. As there is a lack of volunteers belonging to this age group, we propose that an effort be made to seek such volunteers. One way we could do so would be to seek volunteers from grassroots organisations such as community clubs and public housing residents committees (RCs), since these bodies consist of people with an existing spirit of volunteerism and mainly belong to this age group. Extending our Impact to another Target Group – Youths/Young Adults Why Youths/Young Adults? It can be reasonably inferred from statistical data that youths (below 20) and young adults (20-30) are either becoming more sexually active or engaging in riskier sexual behaviour. The number of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) amongst youths rocketed by 118% between 2000 and 2008, while that of young adults increased by 67% during the same period1. Given these societal trends, this group seems increasing vulnerable to contracting HIV. Thus, we propose to mount a HIV prevention effort targeted at this group through similar means such as the promotion of condom use, regular HIV testing and creating a social identity to promote responsible sexual behaviour. 1. Going to Where Youths/Young Adults Are Instead of focusing on the Geylang red-light district, we propose establishing a presence at places where there’s a higher concentration of youths/young adults who are more likely to be sexually active and or engage in regrettable sexual behaviour. Some of these places would include entertainment nightspots such as clubs and pubs where the flow of alcohol and its adverse intoxicating effects are more keenly felt. 2. Distributing Educational Pamphlets and Condoms The content of the educational pamphlets targeted at the Chinese speaking Geylang crowd could be translated into English to cater to the younger set. The pamphlets could also include information, that would otherwise be absent in the Chinese-language version targeting the older crowd, directing our audience to social media sites (such as Facebook) where Action for Aids has a presence. We also propose modifying the taglines to be printed on condom covers, to appeal to the younger crowd. These taglines could include cheeky English language ones that the young can relate to. As with the Chinese speaking Geylang crowd, we propose to craft a social identity for the young who are sexually active, that would positively associate them with condom use and having regular HIV tests, by promoting their ‘clear’ HIV status as an asset. Assisting Action for Aids with the Implementation of a Mobile HIV Testing Van (MTV) Service Action for Aids (AFA) has plans to introduce a MTV service, to make HIV testing more convenient. Otherwise, AFA only has one test site at Kelantan Lane that may be out of the way. As the operational costs of such a van are high, and that the service will have to be chargeable, we propose committing part of our $1000 budget to subsidising these tests (the ones at AFA’s Anonymous Test Site cost $30) during the initial phase of the van’s operation, so as to allow the public to first acquaint themselves with the quality and safety of the service provided.