Daydreamer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Daydreamer - Essay Example I was happy about that, because I felt smarter, like I was a more rational person. Unfortunately, I started to realize that as logic and rationality were building up in my mind, imagination was flowing out. The day that I first really noticed that this was happening, I was at my cousins’ house. We were hanging out and telling ghost stories, just like we had a long time ago, when we were just kids and really believed all the stories we told. The day before, I had been trying to write a story. I stared at my computer screen, but I could not dredge up one single good idea from the depths my mind. I slapped the lid of my laptop shut with disgust and tried to think about other things, thinking that an idea would come floating into my head when I wasn’t reaching out for it so desperately. Now, at my cousins’ house, we were talking about all the ghosts we used to believe in. We talked like we all still believed, though. At least, my cousins did. They talked about all th e hauntings and the ways we used to scare ourselves like it was real. I kind of nodded and laughed along with them, not sure if we were playing a game for the sake of old-times, or if they really meant it. One of my cousins, Sam, brought up the story of Adrian, a ghost we used to think haunted our grandparents’ house. We used to convince ourselves that every little sound or shadow was Adrian. We even made a little spinner, like a spinner from a board game, with a tack and a cardboard arrow that we could flick to make it twirl around and point to words we’d written on a piece of paper. â€Å"Yes / No / Maybe† were the words we’d scrawled in our big round kids’ handwriting. ... next to an open window, and all say together, â€Å"Adrian, Adrian, are you there?† If nothing happened (and nothing usually did), we would go off and play, and come back and check on the spinner to see if it had moved. If it was pointing to â€Å"yes,† we would start running around, giggling and screaming. The rare times when there was a breeze right at the time we said our little chant, and the spinner moved right before our eyes, we would completely freak out, no matter which of the words it was pointing to. â€Å"Yes† meant â€Å"yes,† and â€Å"maybe† meant yes, but he was being coy with us. â€Å"No† naturally meant there was some other ghost hanging around; perhaps a more sinister one than Adrian. That day we sat at the kitchen table, drinking Cokes and laughing about what silly kids we used to be, but when my cousins talked about Adrian, it was with total seriousness. â€Å"Remember the time he pulled the blankets down on my bed?â₠¬  Sam asked. â€Å"Oh yeah!† said Dana. â€Å"Or when he knocked down that statue of a brass cat that Grandma used to have on the shelf?† I couldn’t stand it anymore. Were they serious? â€Å"Guys,† I said. â€Å"You know Adrian wasn’t real, right? You know that that statue could have fallen down for a lot of different reasons, and you probably half-dreamed your blankets being pulled off when they really just fell. Tell me you don’t still believe in Adrian.† â€Å"No way!† Dana shook her head. â€Å"There’s no way that statue could have just fallen down by itself. It was way back on the shelf. And I know Sam wasn’t dreaming about the blankets. Tell the story, Sam.† Sam stared at me like he thought I had lost my mind. â€Å"I was sleeping at Grandma’s house one night, and I woke up and couldn’t move. I felt this presence in the room with

International Business Country Analysis - South Korea Essay

International Business Country Analysis - South Korea - Essay Example After the Korean War (1950-1953), South Korea rose from devastation to become one of the world’s largest economies in the 1990s. South Korea occupies the southern half of the Korea Peninsula, which extends about 1,000 km (about 620 mi) southward from northeastern China. The total area of South Korea is 99,268 sq km (38,328 sq mi), including about 3,000 islands. South Korea is a mountainous country. Lowlands, located primarily in the west and southeast, constitute only 30 percent of the total land area. South Korea can be divided into three general regions: an eastern region of high mountain ranges and narrow coastal plains; a western region of broad coastal plains, river basins, and rolling hills; and a southern region, where a maze of mountains and valleys in the west contrasts with the broad basin of the Nakdong River in the southeast. Historically, Korea was strongly influenced by Chinese culture and acted as a conduit of culture from China to Japan. Koreans adapted many Chinese art forms with innovation and skill, creating distinctively Korean forms. For many centuries, metalwork, sculpture, painting, and ceramics flourished throughout the Korea Peninsula. Buddhism provided one of the most significant sources for artistic expression. Confucianism, also prominent, emphasized the importance of literature and calligraphy, as well as portrait and landscape painting. Koreans began to incorporate Western forms after Korea opened itself to the Western world in the late 1800s. During the period of Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), indigenous traditions were strongly discouraged. Since then, however, Koreans have made a concerted effort to keep their cultural traditions alive. Koreans possess a deep appreciation for their cultural heritage. The government encourages the traditional arts, as well as modern forms, through funding and education programs as well as sponsorship of a national

Distinct Serum Protein Pattern in Paranoid Schizophrena

Distinct Serum Protein Pattern in Paranoid Schizophrena A DISTINCT SERUM PROTEIN PATTERN IN PATIENTS WITH PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA[A1] N. A. Timofeyeva1,3, I. V. Alekseeva1,3, S. A. Ivanova2,4, G. G. Simutkin2, A. V. Semke2, I. S. Losenkov2, N. A. Bokhan2, O. S. Fedorova1,3, A. A. Chernonosov1,3* 1 Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine SB RAS, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia 2 Mental Health Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia 3 Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia       4 National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, Russia ABSTRACT The proteomic approach, namely, a combination of 2D gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry, is a powerful tool that allows researchers to identify proteins that are differentially expressed in disease states. Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness, whose aetiology is still unclear; therefore, information about differences in serum protein patterns may improve the understanding of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The goal of this study was to use the proteomic approach to identify altered protein levels in the serum samples from patients with schizophrenia. For this study, blood was collected from 10 patients with paranoid schizophrenia and 10 healthy volunteers. We uncovered major changes in the expression of such proteins as apolipoproteins of classes A4 and C3, transthyretin (TTR), and serum amyloid A1. Furthermore, an increase in expression was found only for apolipoprotein A4, whereas the expression of apolipoprotein C3, TTR, and serum amyloid A1 was decreased. The observed differences in the expression of serum proteins (TTR and serum amyloid) are in good agreement with the results obtained by other research groups during analyses of cerebrospinal fluid or post-mortem brain tissues by other methods. Keywords: psychiatric disorder, schizophrenia, [A2]  proteomics, 2D electrophoresis, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, biomarker, serum. Introduction Although in recent years, great progress has been made in reducing mortality and in the treatment of common illnesses such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, the mortality caused by mental disorders remains unchanged [1]. Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness, whose aetiology is still unclear. Schizophrenia is characterised by hallucinations, delusions (positive psychotic symptoms), affective problems [A3](negative psychotic symptoms), and cognitive dysfunction [2]. A number of hypotheses have been proposed about the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, for example, aberrations [A4]  in the pathways of transmission of neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin [3, 4] or pathological changes in embryonic neurogenesis owing to variations in gene neuregulin-1 [5], as well as oxidative-stress-mediated cell damage due to lowered levels of antioxidant defence enzymes in patients with schizophrenia[A5] [6]. Such pathogenesis may be caused by a dysfunction of some enzymes (proteins) as well as changes of their quantity in the blood of these patients. At the same time, there is no information about differences in serum protein patterns that can be used for typing of psychopathologies among individuals at risk of developing psychiatric disorders [7]. Diagnosis and nosology rely on symptoms and accumulated clinical observations, and thus far, have been based mostly on interviews with patients and on patients subjective complaints [8]. Moreover, current medications still have substantial adverse effects and/or require weeks for therapeutic effects to manifest themselves; not all patients respond to current pharmacotherapy [9]. In sum, an insufficient understanding of psychiatric disorders at the molecular level and the lack of disease-specific changes in serum protein patterns prevent optimisation of diagnosis and treatment of such complex psychiatric disorders as schizophrenia  [A6]. The proteomic approach, namely, the combination of 2D gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), allows researchers to reliably identify proteins isolated from human bodily fluids [10, 11]. Our exploratory study [12] showed that 2D gel electrophoresis is suitable for isolation of proteins from blood of patients with mental disorders. Therefore  [A7], in the present work, clinical blood samples from patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were tested to identify quantitative differences in the proteomic profile of serum. Results and Discussion In this study, we examined blood serum of healthy people and patients with paranoid schizophrenia to search for quantitative and/or qualitative differences in proteins associated with this mental disorder. The use of 2D gel electrophoresis enables researchers to simultaneously isolate more than 300 protein spots on one gel containing 150  µg of protein for subsequent MALDI-TOF MS/MS analysis [10, 11]. We analysed differences in serum protein patterns by comparing the gels between the patients and healthy controls. The analysis [A8]  of protein patterns in serum was focused on those protein spots that differed in 2D gels between the patients and healthy controls. Such protein spots were analysed by means of the Gel-Pro Analyzer software and normalised to the sum of three proteins (a, b, Ñ ; for details, see Materials and Methods). These three proteins are isoforms of apolipoprotein L (ApoL) [18]. As a result, 15 protein spots were isolated and identified by peptide mass fin gerprinting and MS/MS analysis. The list of proteins identified in the NCBI database is shown in table [A9]1. Some proteins haptoglobin, transthyretin (TTR), and apolipoprotein C3 shown in table 1 are present in more than one spot on a gel and have different pI values. Perhaps this phenomenon is due to various post-translational modifications or partial processing. It was found that only the serum level of ApoA4 was increased (1.8-fold) as compared to the control group (figure 1a). Our findings support other [A10]  reports on altered protein levels in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in schizophrenia [19, 20].   Ã‚   The decrease in the serum concentration relative to the control group was observed for ApoC3 and for ApoC2 in patients with schizophrenia (figure 1b). This downregulation was on average from 1.8- to 3-fold for ApoC3, and smaller for ApoC2: only 1.25-fold. These proteins are synthesised in the liver and are components of very low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs). Apolipoprotein C2 activates extrahepatic lipoprotein lipase, whereas apolipoprotein C3 can inhibit lipoprotein lipase Fig. 1 Examples of proteins with differential expression in human serum are presented in the enlarged sections of the 2DE profile. a) Apo A4; b) Apo C3 and C2; c) serum amyloid A1; d) transthyretin (the protein is present in two spots because of post-translational modifications). Sch: schizophrenia. and activate LCAT [21, 22]. Previously, it was found that the expression of apolipoproteins is altered in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other psychiatric disorders [23]. The authors found that low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) and VLDLs are the most prominent factors differentiating depressed patients from healthy controls, and that plasma unsaturated lipid concentrations are elevated in the depressed group. Thus, there is growing evidence that deregulated lipid homeostasis may play a common role in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Other proteins with a decreased concentration are serum amyloid A1 and TTR (figure 1c and 1d). Inflammatory amyloid A1 is among the so-called acute phase proteins, which have both direct and indirect bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic properties. According to the classical theory of inflammation, in the acute phase of inflammation, the serum concentration of amyloid A1 increases 100- to 1000-fold [24], whereas in our study, we observed a 2.3-fold decrease in the serum concentration of this protein in patients with schizophrenia. Perhaps this result  [A11] is due to decreased immunity in Table 1. The list of proteins from human serum analysed by 2DE and identified by MALDI-MS/MS after in-gel digestion with trypsin. Protein NCBI database no. Protein ID pI MW (kDa) Score (individuals/ significant) Fold Change (+/-)* Sch vs control 1 gi157831596 ÃŽÂ ±2-antitrypsin 5.37 44.3 48/45 -1.32  ± 0.2 2 gi338305 SP 40 5.74 36.7 17/10 -1.31  ± 0.09 3 gi3337390 Haptoglobin 6.14 38.2 35/29 +1.22  ± 0.13 4 gi114318993 Transthyretin (dimer) 5.16 20.2 120/84 -1.68  ± 0.25 5 gi11957960 Apolipoprotein A4 5.28 28.9 43/32 +1.84  ± 0.16 6 gi223976 Haptoglobin hp2ÃŽÂ ± 6.23 41.7 39/20 -1.38  ± 0.17 7 gi296653 Haptoglobin hp2ÃŽÂ ± 6.23 41.5 18/10 -1.42  ± 0.11 8 gi296653 Haptoglobin hp2ÃŽÂ ± 6.25 41.5 39/15 -1.56  ± 0.24 9 gi4507725 Transthyretin 5.52 15.9 75/52 -1.06  ± 0.13 10 gi4507725 Transthyretin 5.52 15.9 65/60 -1.45  ± 0.23 11 gi4557323 Apolipoprotein C3 5.23 10.8 112/70 -1.85  ± 0.21 12 gi4557323 Apolipoprotein C3 5.23 10.8 115/68 -3.28  ± 0.16 13 gi4557323 Apolipoprotein C2 5.42 11.2 104/78 -1.25  ± 0.08 14 gi40316910 Serum amyloid A1 6.28 13.5 134/90 -2.34  ± 0.09 15 gi19626079 Albumin fragment 6.20 22.4 56/40 -2.06  ± 0.32 The fold change is equal to SPi/SPcontrol, where i is the identification number of a spot. Symbols - and + mean a decrease and increase, respectively. Sch: schizophrenia. patients with psychiatric disorders or to the presence of comorbidities. In addition, [A12]  it is possible that a decrease in serum amyloid A1 concentration is related to downregulation of antioxidant-defence enzymes in patients with schizophrenia [6] because high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) inhibit oxidative modification of LDLs via the activity of their associated enzymes and apolipoproteins [25]. If HDLs become so-called dysfunctional HDLs because of accumulation of oxidants derived from an inflammatory reaction, such HDLs inhibit the HDL-associated antioxidant enzymes and reduce the ability of apolipoproteins A1 to promote ABCA-1-mediated cholesterol efflux [25]. In the literature, there are data on a strong positive relation between cholesterol levels and pathophysiological features of mood disorders. The link between mental health (brain) and cholesterol is believed to be based on hypothetical neuron-associated mechanisms. Cholesterol is an integral component of the plasma m embrane of neurons and is present in myelin. Furthermore, cholesterol performs crucial functions in the development, stability, and workings of the synapse [26]. Overall, aberrations in cholesterol in a psychiatric illness may substantially affect the mood via synaptic stability and lowered serotonergic activity. In the case of TTR, we observed a decrease in the serum concentration of its dimer and one of monomeric forms (protein 10 in Table 1) among the patients with schizophrenia (~1.7-fold and ~1.5-fold, respectively), whereas the serum level of another TTR monomeric form was found to be unchanged relative to the control group (protein 9 in Table 1). TTR is a liver-derived secretory protein and is the major serum carrier of thyroid hormones: thyroxine and tri-iodothyronine. TTR is also involved in the transport of retinol via an interaction with retinol-binding proteins. Several studies were conducted in an attempt to identify disease biomarkers that could advance the understanding of the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. In some of these studies, a link between TTR and schizophrenia was found [27, 28]. In ref. [28], it was estimated that 3% of TTR in ventricular cerebrospinal fluid [A13]  and 10% of TTR in lumbar cerebrospinal fluid are derived from blood. To assess the involvement of blood TTR in the changes observed in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with schizophrenia, those authors also studied serum TTR levels in the same people (simultaneously with cerebrospinal fluid collection) by an ELISA. They observed a significant moderate decrease in TTR concentration in serum samples of patients with schizophrenia compared to co ntrols. Nevertheless, there was no association between cerebrospinal-fluid and serum TTR levels in the same individuals, indicating that the protein levels of TTR are regulated by different systems in serum and in cerebrospinal fluid. Conclusion In the present study, we identified differentially expressed proteins in the serum from patients with schizophrenia by proteomic analysis. We showed differential expression of such proteins as TTR, serum amyloid A1, and apolipoproteins of classes A4 and C3. Furthermore the increase in the expression was found only for apolipoprotein A4, whereas the expression of apolipoprotein C3, TTR, and serum amyloid A1 was decreased. Such alterations of the expression of these proteins may indicate problems with regulation, for example, in the synthesis. On the other hand, the altered protein expression may simply reflect the pathophysiological status of patients with schizophrenia, where these proteins could be candidates for biomarkers.   Nevertheless, to confirm the significance of the altered levels of these proteins in the pathogenesis [A14]  of schizophrenia, and to determine their suitability as biomarkers of schizophrenia, further research is needed. Competing interests. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to the contents of this article. Funding. This research was made possible in part by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (14-15-00480, with the exception of the work corresponding to MALDI-TOF MS/MS analysis) and Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations (the part of work corresponding to MALDI-TOF MS/MS analysis). References Kessler RC, Demler O, Frank RG, Olfson M. 2005 Prevalence and treatment of mental disorders 1990 to 2003. N. Engl. J. Med. 352, 2515-2523. J. van Os, S. Kapur Schizophrenia. Lancet (Lond. Engl.), 374 (2009), pp. 635-645 H. Moore, A.R. West, A.A. Grace. The regulation of forebrain dopamine transmission: relevance to the pathophysiology and psychopathology of schizophrenia. Biol. Psychiatry, 46 (1999), pp. 40-55. M.A. Geyer, F.X. Vollenweider. Serotonin research: contributions to understanding psychoses. Trends Pharmacol. Sci., 29 (2008), pp. 445-453. E. Bramon, E. Dempster, S. Frangou, M. Shaikh, M. Walshe, F.M. Filbey, C. McDonald, P. Sham, D.A. Collier, R. Murray. Neuregulin-1 and the P300 waveform-a preliminary association study using a psychosis endophenotype. Schizophr. Res., 103 (2008), pp. 178-185 P.K. Ranjekar, A. Hinge, M.V. Hegde, M. Ghate, A. Kale, S. Sitasawad, U.V. Wagh, V.B. Debsikdar, S.P. Mahadik. Decreased antioxidant enzymes and membrane essential polyunsaturated fatty acids in schizophrenic and bipolar mood disorder patients. Psychiatry Res., 121 (2003), pp. 109-122. Ivanova SA, Fedorenko OYu, Smirnova LP, Semke AV. 2013 Biomarker discovery and development of pharmacogenetic approaches to personalized therapy of patients with schizophrenia. Siberian vestnik of psychiatry and narcology. 12-16. Turck CW, Maccarrone G, Sayan-Ayata E, Jacob AM. 2005 The quest for brain disorder biomarkers. J. Med. Invest. 52, 231-235. Bystritsky A. 2006 Treatment-resistant anxiety disorders. Mol. Psychiatry. 11, 805-814. Davalieva K, Kostovska IM, Dwork AJ. 2016 Proteomic research in schizophrenia. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 16, (doi: 10.3389). Guest PC, Guest FL, Martins-de Souza D. 2016 Making sence of blood-based proteomics and metabolomics in psychiatric research. Int.J. of Neuropsychopharmacology. 719-728. Alekseeva IV, Timofeeva NA, Chernonosov AA, Ivanova SA, Bokhan NA, Fedorova OS. 2013 Use of two-dimensional electrophoresis for proteomic studies of serum from patients with mental disorders. Vestnik of Novosibirsk State University. Series: Biology, Clinical Medicine. 11, 56-60. PeÃ…Â ¡iĆ¡ I, Dihazi GH, Mà ¼ller GA, Jahn O, Hoffmann M, Eltoweissy M, Koziolek M, Dihazi H. 2011 Short-term increase of glucose concentration in PDS results in extensive removal and high glycation level of vital proteins during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. 26, 2674-83. Giuliano S, Agresta AM, De Palma A, Viglio S, Mauri P, Fumagalli M, et al. 2014 Proteomic Analysis of Lymphoblastoid Cells from Nasu-Hakola Patients: A Step Forward in Our Understanding of This Neurodegenerative Disorder. PLoS ONE. 9(12): e110073. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110073). Candiano G, Bruschi M, Musante L, Santucci L, Ghiggeri GM. 2004 Blue silver: a very sensitive colloidal Coomassie G-250 staining for proteome analysis. Electrophoresis. 25, 1327-1333. Brauner JM, Groemer TW, Stroebel A, Grosse-Holz S, Oberstein T, Wiltfang J, Kornhuber J, Maler JM. 2014 Spot quantification in two dimensional gel electrophoresis image analysis: comparison of different approaches and presentation of a novel compound fitting algorithm. BMC Bioinformatics. 15, 181-193. Perkins DN, Pappin DJ, Creasy DM, Cottrell JS. 1999 Probability-based protein identification by searching sequence databases using mass spectrometry data. Electrophoresis. 20, 3551-3567. Lepedda AJ, Nieddu G, Zinellu E, De Muro P, Piredda F, Guarino A, Spirito R, Carta F, Turrini F, Formato M. 2013 Proteomic analysis of plasma-purified VLDL, LDL, and HDL fractions from atherosclerotic patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy: identification of serum amyloid A as a potential marker. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2013, 1-11. Aphkhazava D, Nieves E, Callaway M, Olszewski W, Rotzschke O, Santambrogio L. 2013 Protein expression profiles of human lymph and plasma mapped by 2D-DIGE and 1D SDS-PAGE coupled with nanoLC-ESI-MS/MS bottom-up proteomics. J Proteomics. 78, 172-187. Wan CLa Y, Zhu H, Jiang L, Chen Y, Feng G, Li H, Sang H, Hao X, Zhang G, He L. 2007 Abnormal changes of plasma acute phase proteins in schizophrenia and the relation between schizophrenia and haptoglobin (Hp) gene.Amino Acids Amino Acids 1, 101-108. Eckel RH. 1989 Lipoprotein lipase: a multifunctional enzyme relevant to common metabolic diseases. N.Eng.J.Med. 320, 1060-1068. Wang HEckel RH. 2009 Lipoprotein lipase: from gene to obesity. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab. 297, 271-288. Zheng P, Gao HC, Li Q, Shao WH, Zhang ML, Cheng K, Yang de Y, Fan SH, Chen L, Fang L, Xie P. 2012 Plasma metabonomics as a novel diagnostic approach for major depressive disorder. J. Proteome Res. 11, 1741-8. doi: 10.1021/pr2010082. Baumann  H. 1994 The acute phase response. J. Gauldie: Immunologie Today. 2, 74-80. Vohnout, B., de Gaetano, G., Donati, M. B. and Iacoviello, L. (2011) The Relationship between Dyslipidemia and Inflammation, in Nutritional and Metabolic Bases of Cardiovascular Disease (eds M. Mancini, J. M. Ordovas, G. Riccardi, P. Rubba and P. Strazzullo), Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK. doi: 10.1002/9781444318456.ch26 Chattopadhyay A, Paila YD. 2007 Lipid-protein interactions, regulation and dysfunction of brain cholesterol. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 16, 627-33. Wan C, Yang Y, Li H, La Y, Zhu H, Jiang L, Chen Y, Feng G, He L. 2006 Dysregulation of retinoid transporters expression in body fluids of schizophrenia patients. J. Proteome Res. 5, 3213-3216. Huang JT, Leweke FM, Oxley D, Wang L, Harris N, Koethe D, Gerth CW, Nolden BM, Gross S, Schreiber D, Reed B, Bahn S. 2006 Disease biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with first-onset psychosis. PLoS Med. 3, (e428). [A1]Dear Author, Please dont forget to update the title in all supporting documents and correspondence. It often happens that after the language editing, coauthors make additions to the manuscript; also, some of the corrections are rejected. As a result, the manuscript that is submitted to the journal may contain 5-10 new errors. My advice is to send me the manuscript for a quick check on the day of the submission to the journal. I can use the automatic compare documents function of Word to find all new changes and to correct them quickly. I will also issue a certificate after this final check, and you can insert the sentence (optional) The English language was corrected and certified by shevchuk-editing.com. into Acknowledgments. [A2]Please do not include keywords that other researchers are unlikely to use when searching for articles. [A3]Affective disorders are depression and bipolar disorder. [A4]Please be careful with the words abnormal and abnormality when referring to a persons health status because they may be insulting to patients. [A5]Please note that this is a more polite form. [A6]Please avoid creating unusual abbreviations and single-word abbreviations because they make a text harder to read (well-known abbreviations such as DNA and official gene symbols are OK). The only valid reason for creating an abbreviation is the following: a long multiword expression (4 or more long words) that occurs more than 4 times in the text. Even in this case, it is better to avoid abbreviating. It is easy to write in abbreviations but it is difficult to decipher such a text. [A7]Please avoid creating long sentences because they are hard to read. [A8]Please note that the word study usually means the whole manuscript. [A9]The typical format is Table [A10]Please keep in mind that the word previous is redundant in this context because all published studies are previous. It is OK to say previous when you discuss your own earlier studies. [A11]Please dont use the words which or this as a substitute for the whole sentence or a statement. This usage is vague and confusing because some people will think that this or which refers to the last word, not the whole statement. Therefore, it is better to use a descriptive phrase instead. [A12]Its not a good idea to start a sentence with such words as and, but, also, or, so in a formal text. [A13]Please dont create abbreviations at the end of the article, after the full form was already used many times. [A14]= mechanism

The Theme of Failure as Presented in Das Boot :: Das Boot Essays

The Theme of Failure as Presented in Das Boot      Ã‚  "When 'Das Boot' was first released in the United States, its running time was 145 minutes, and it won huge audiences and no less that six Oscar nominations-unheard of for a foreign film." The genius of Wolfgang Petersen's "Das Boot" is that to Americans it is considered a foreign film indeed; not only in the sense that the film is from Germany, but because the film offers a unique perspective of World War Two, the German perspective. This point of view allows American audiences to walk away from theaters and be impacted by themes which are common in the cinematic industry. However, because the film is the story of a German submarine, the effect is different than anything American audiences have previously experienced. One of these themes is failure. "Das Boot" presents German forces as being able to overcome failure in a victorious manner, while the Allies are shown to be a rather unsuccessful military force.    The Captain of the U-boat serves as a symbol for German warfare. He is first introduced in his full uniform, immediately it is known this man is a figure of authority. In the film's chaotic opening scene, he is one of the few sober soldiers at the bar, illustrating that he is in control at all times. While many are frightened when he pushes the boat twice beyond the recommended depth to test its sturdiness, no one challenges his decision. He is stern, powerful, and respected. As Roger Ebert writes about a scene later in the film: "He's capable of shouting 'I demand proper reports!' even as the boat seems to be breaking up." On several occasions while under attack from depth charges, only the veteran Captain's knowledge is the only thing which keeps the sailors of U-96 from the grave. Because the Captain serves as a human link to Germany's war effort, his characterization shows Germany's relative success in the war. When the Captain is triumphant, so too is Germany.    Under no circumstances can the men onboard the U-96 fail. They are literally trapped in the boat, and all mistakes quickly lead to the same fatal end. Whether the Captain mistakenly surfaces and has the periscope spotted by an enemy ship, or Johan abandons his post in the engine room, the consequence each time is disastrous. Every sailor on the boat depends on one another to perform his duties satisfactorily.

Comparing Plan Columbia and the Merida Initiative

The purpose of this paper will be to make a comparison between the Colombian drug cartels at the turn of the century with the mexican cartels today. The object of this comparison will be to determine the effectiveness of large scale millitary intervention against drug cartels. I will assess weather this comparison is not only justified but in any way usefull in understanding how fight a well funded well armed non-state enemy. This is a response to public comments by high ranking United States officials making this comparison (most notably secretary of state Hillary Clinton) while pledging a significant amount of American resources to such an effort. I will also attempt to answer all of the various questions that are begged by this nature of action. Most people do not realize the sheer lucrativeness of the drug trafficking business especially on an industrial scale. â€Å"The (Mexican) cartels have built a network of dealers in 231 U. S. cities from coast to coast, taking in about $39 billion in sales annually, according to the U.  S. Justice Department. † (*1) To put that into perspective, In 2009 Canada's total annual military expenditure was just over half (21 billion USD) of the total annual profit of the Mexican drug cartels in the United States. (*2) Comparing Columbia and Mexico The 1st thing that is obvious when making this comparison is the fact that Mexico is over twice the size of Columbia both in land mass and in population. In terms of governance Columbia was in a state of profound political instability from as early as the 1940's while Mexico enjoyed a relatively stable PRI government following he Mexican civil war. Geographically the two countries have nothing in common but their proximity to each other. Mexico is a largely flat terrain that poses no real problems to transportation and offers little in the way of cover. By Contrast Columbia has a large mountainous area covered in tropical forests, the majority of the drug production takes place is these remote areas. From a governmental standpoint, the Colombian government is largely decentralized compared to the federal structure in Mexico. Due to the federal government and the larger tax base the Mexican government has some extra capacity when it comes to overall resources available before assistance. As far as the method in which the governments of these two countries approach dealing with traffickers is quite diffrent, Mexico has up until very recently preferred to use it's police forces to deal with drug traffickers while Colombian governments have preferred to use their military as a police force, which is more common in most Latin American countries. The Mexican Cartels There are essentially two major Cartel groups within Mexico that fight each other for a large piece of the drug trade. The first is made up of the Tijuana cartel and the Gulf cartel make up the first major group and operates primarily out of North of East Mexico. A group known as â€Å"The Federation† is made up of of many smaller cartels and â€Å"is led by representatives of the Sinaloa, Juarez and Valencia cartels†. (*3 p. 4) members of this group as scattered all throughout the rest of Mexico. Even though these groups are concentrated in certain areas there isn't a place in Mexico that is off limits to any of these groups. All of these groups operate independently and it is not uncommon for alliances to be fickle between drug traffickers. None of the Mexican drug trafficking organizations are known to have any political allegiances or stated long term goal other then to make money and control as much turf as possible in order to achieve that end while minimizing the damage to the people of their own groups. The Mexican cartels were not always as violent as they are today, the fall of the PRI along with a strengthening of the Mexican police force is said to have resulted in the upswing in violence. Another contributing factor the recent escalation in violence is that since the fall of Major Columbian cartels (replaced mostly by smaller scale operations) Mexico and it's drug trade began to have to fill the void that was left in the US market for a period of time, greatly strengthening their financial base and ability to purchase weapons and to employ a larger number of foot soldiers from poor communities (usually with family ties to promote increased loyalty to said group and a deeper anchor within the local community). Florida was actually the main entry point for drugs during the early 80's but the strengthening of the American navy and coastguard geared towards stopping smuggling led to Mexico becoming the transit point it is today. It is most important that though Mexican troops have been used largely due to the ineffective and corruption of the police department I would not classify it as a war. The army is simply there to do carry out the actions of a police force because he regular police for cannot be trusted. There is no way for either side to declare a complete victory. It is my opinion that even if every drug trafficker in Mexico dropped dead this morning there would be a new group forming to take it's place by nightfall and it wouldn't take them long to gain momentum capital and weapons. Likewise a drug gang can never truly triumph against the state without any political agenda. The majority of the murders are between rival gangs, though there have been many police officers and politicians killed the battle is essentially between the cartel groups and each other not with the state. The increased military strength is simply a self defence response. I would argue that if the Mexican cartels were 1 hegemonic group you would probably see at least a 10 fold drop in violent crime. Columbia at the hight of the culumbian drug trade You cant tell the story of the Columbia drug trade without talking about Pablo Escobar. In 1989 Forbes magazine estimated that was the 7th richest man the world with personal assets estimated at over 25 Billion dollars. This however is not what made him a unique, he was known as an extremely charitable man by many of the poor people in Columbia giving them land, housing, employment and even building football fields, building a lot of good will among the people something that you find little evidence of on the side of the Mexican cartels. The Medellin cartel he was a part of is thought to have controlled about 80% of the cocaine market in the early 1990's and was the most prominent of the Colombian cartels at the turn of the century. This cartel was rivalled by the Cali cartel who emerged largely due to weakening of their rivals the Medellin cartel. The biggest difference between Columbia at the turn of the century and the situation in Mexico today is the existence of the various guerrilla groups that existed in Columbia, many of which are still in existence. The lines are often blurred between these guerrilla groups and the drug traffickers themselves. The standard arrangement between these guerrillas and drug traffickers was essentially protection of traffickers' production and processing areas in exchange for a handsome percentage of the profits. The profitability on investment on cocaine grown in Columbia being about 200$ for every 1$ invested, there was more then enough capital to go around. The wars between these various guerrilla groups enveloped Columbia in a civil war since eginning in the 1960's, this was far before Columbia drug trafficking organizations began to collaborate with the leftist guerrillas. By comparison Mexican cartels have no real political allegiances, their allegiance is to the dollar and the dollar alone. The fact that the terrain in Columbia is so difficult and access to remote areas is much more easy to control, these various groups are able to hold territory much more effectively then the Drug Cartels in Me xico. The aspect of some of these guerrilla groups that really begins to attract the United State's attention for obvious reasons is their leftist/socialist ideology. The oldest and most notable of these groups is FARC or â€Å"The revolutionary armed forces of Columbia†. This group has been fighting the Colombian national army as well as â€Å"right wing paramilitaries†. At first glance the conflict between these two groups seems to be one for control over the Colombian drug trade and various areas of Columbia where drugs are produced. A closer look reveals a much more sinister reality. There are a number of noticeable irregularities in the accounts of the violence. Over the course of my reasearch I kept hearing certain terms to describe the columbian drug war that you dont hear when you read on the mexican drug war. Many mentions of human rights abuses as well as massacres with large numbers of innocent people being killed, you hear of much violence in mexico but are always termed â€Å"drug related murders† implying that those killed were afiliated in organized crime. When you take a closer look at the ‘right wing guerrillas', first of all it's just about imposible to find a video of any of their leaders with any kind of mission statement or anything of the sort, second you cannot find any documentation anywhere of any known ally. Now, you tell me how does a heavily armed paramilitary group, even with drug money, take part in over 30 years of civil war including alleged armed conflict against the US millitary, without any support from any government or even any other criminal organization? If everything where as it appears at 1st glance it results in a paradox, how does major international drug trafficking organization not even have ONE known ally/accomplice? It just doesn't make any sense purely on a business level. If you look up any of the Mexican cartels as well as FARC you can find known allies. Additionally, why is there a right wing guerrilla group for decades with a right wing government in power? Finally, Why is one side of the guerrillas (FARC) involved in negotiations with the Colombian government and not the other? Even if they were to sign a peace treaty they would still be at war. The conclusion that asking these questions leads you to is that the Paramilitary groups were actually an unofficial extension of the Colombian armed forces that traces it's roots back it's formation during the cold war where they were trained by US army officers in ‘tactics of counterinsurgency' at the School of the Americas, these tactics are said to specifically target the civilian population without the support of which the guerrillas cannot continue to function. This groups true purpose is to combat communist guerrillas by what ever means necessary. Statistics show that these right wing paramilitaries are responsible for 80's of the ‘political killings' in Colombia, which upon closer examination seem more like like acts of widespread political repression of the Colombian people spanning almost a half a century and crossing the line of human rights abuse with regularity virtually without any opposition from anyone internationally, opposed only domestically by FARC. Accounts from former Colombian army officers allege that the national Colombian armed forces maintained contact regularly with right wing paramilitary groups and directed them to many of the areas where they are accused of committing human rights atrocities. (*9) It has been alleged that the right wing paramilitaries acting in concert with the Colombian national army tried to remove the rural population from certain areas altogether forcing them to become urban refuges and further isolating the FARC forces. In 2005 Columbia had the 3rd largest internal refuge population in the world. Not only that but the paramilitaries are responsible for just as much if not more of the Colombian drug trade then FARC making ‘Plan Columbia' truely appear to be a futile action according to it's officially stated goals. Assessment of â€Å"Plan Columbia† 1998-2010 (lessons learned) Assessing the success of plan Columbia really depends on what you consider to be a success. If you consider the primary objective of the operation to be to simply return control of certain areas of Columbia back to the Colombian government then it would be considered a success. However, if the primary objective was to irradiate the drug trade recent statistics show that though production of cocaine in Columbia did take a severe hit in the early 2000's it has been on the Rise again since 2006. What this confirms is that the drug trade there has not ceased but in fact evolved to meet the challenges of a changed environment. Drug trafficking organizations today are still operating but simply doing it in a more discrete manner their predecessors. Another example of the evolution that ‘Plan Columbia' sparked is the guerrillas branching out to other sympathetic paramilitaries and paramilitary terrorist groups. Members of FARC have reportedly instituted the help of various allies IRA including the since the increased military pressure. An article in British newspaper The Telegraph (*8) highlights how the increased military presence in the countryside as well as an increase in the Colombian urban population has forced FARC forces to urbanize the way in which they conduct warfare. The article highlights significant advancements made by FARC in both explosives as well as counter intelligence and urban warfare. FARC is currently considered the most well armed well trained and well funded guerrilla group in the world. The destruction of crops which was on paper, the primary objective of ‘Plan Columbia' is something that is very temporary, unless you were to actually salt the earth there is nothing to prevent anybody from planting a new crop in the same place. The united states has increased the amount of toxic defoliant that is spays on Colombia and it's citizens every year of ‘Plan Columbia'. Many have made the comparison to agent orange in Vietnam. Many health problems have already been reported with relationship to the defoliant chemical and there are concerns that this chemical is starting to poison some the amazon basin and subsequently effecting other Latin American countries to the south. This defoliant kills all crops including the ones, many of the poorest peasants who grow bananas simply for subsistence have their whole crops destroyed on a regular basis. Some have raised the issue that perhaps this alone constitutes a grave human rights violation. A foreign power spraying toxic chemicals on the population of another is something that is unheard of in the past. The most inditing fact to the type of military action undertaken is most obviously that it has been a commitment that the United States has not been able pull back on after over 6 years no decrease in spending in this area is expected. Not only that but now that the Colombian drug traffickers have evolved we're seeing a resurgence in drug activity in the country. No matter how you look at it ‘Plan Colombia' was almost a complete failure, Colombian left wing guerrillas persist, drug use in the US has never been higher, cocaine production in Columbia is increasing. The only ay in which this operation is a success is that the overall violence seems to have died down and that in the paramilitary groups, which the US created in the 1st place have been disbanded and are no longer committing horrendous atrocities against innocent people for the sole purpose of turning public opinion against FARC. It might be viewed in that instance as a success, I was about half way into my research before I heard/read anything to do with FARC's side of the story. Venezuela, Ecuador and Cuba are the only counties to formally voice support for FARC. (*10) Evaluating the Merida Innitiative One the important things to know about the Merida initiative is that the entirety of the money (400 million to start) approved by the US congress all went to American companies, to train police, to build helicopters, not one dollar of the funding of this operation ends up in non-American hands. It is expected, as was the care with ‘Plan Columbia' that the United states will exclusively employ private American defence contractors to do all the work on the ground. The reason for this is not strong enough to justify the use and possible loss of American soldiers. Also use of American soldiers to fight an urban drug war such as the one in Mexico and might cause a PR nightmare if US Soldiers are viewed as firing on Mexican population, which the drug members of the cartels can hide in plain sight, unlike the Colombian guerrillas they are not in uniform. My investigation into ‘Plan Colombia' led me to the conclusion that the comparison made by the US secretary of defence between Colombia at the turn of the century and the Mexican drug war today to be a very poor and unjustified one. As previously stated I contend that the situation in Colombia was actually a war where as the Mexican situation is simply a police ineffectiveness issue. While the comparison between the who conflicts themselves is unjustified both ‘Plan Columbia' and ‘The Merida initiative' officially have a primary goal to reduce the outflow of drugs into the united states and can still be compared in that instance. The comparison is one that mostly highlights the extreme ineffectiveness not only in terms of result but in terms of cost of this kind of policy. It essentially doesn't solve any of the problems of drug trafficking. The demand in the US for drugs is the real source of this problem. Persistent Problems (police, penal system,banking) A continuing problem that has been acknowledged but not dealt with in any meaningful way in the fact that poor farmers who have been driven into poverty by the international agricultural business (and it's dominance by the west) have no better feasible options then to grow the plants that are converted into drugs. In ‘Plan Columbia' the Colombian government instituted a program to offer coca growers money to grow alternative crops, offering them a sum in the range of 2 million pesos a year (about 950$). *7) Many coca farmers argue is not enough to live. When growing coca (rather then crops such as plantains and Pineapples) not only is the crop worth more but the drug traffickers come right to their doors to pick up the ‘coca paste' they convert the plants to. When growing the crops they are being encouraged to grow they have to transport these tons of produce on â€Å"vehicles they don't have, on roads that don't exist to sell to markets both internal and external† that they don't have access to and to compete with an international aggro business . † (*7- 5:51) It' simply not a sound development plan. less then 20% of the Plan Columbia budget is allocated towards this end) instead the budget is spent on air fumigation spaying defoliant on coca cultures. Secondly the way that the penal system is set up just about everywhere in the world makes the incarceration of major drug lords almost completely futile, they still maintain control over their organization and administer it from prison. The leaders of the Tijuana and Gulf cartels made the agreement to unite while they were both in prison (*3 p. 4), consolidating their power against the rest of the cartels in the â€Å"The Federation†. There is also a persistent (though easilly remedied) problem that the Mexican prisons themselves are not able keep powerful people in there. In the last year alone over 250 prison inmates have been broken out of prison by cartels, most recently 191 were released from from a prison in Tamaulipas by the Los Zetas cartel. This creates even more problems on other fronts, it makes it alot harder to extract information from prisoners then it is in the united states. If an inmate believes it's only a matter of time before he gets out he has no reasons to co-operate in any way, no real threat to guard against. Finally, probably the most important continuing problem is money laundering, this allows for drug operations to run smoothly by giving it a seemingly legitimate flow of cash to use for Bribes, buying up legitimate real estate and other things. Without being able to access the real money of drug kingpins makes it hard to do them any real damage that wont easily be recovered from in a very short time. Many large US banks are complicit in this activity and it is a massive source of capital for them. An article from the Bloomberg press highlights the involvment of American banks such as Wachovia Corp. Bank of America and Wells Fargo's direct complicity in money laundering operations for the mexican cartels. â€Å"Wachovia admitted it didn’t do enough to spot illicit funds in handling 378. 4 billion for Mexican-currency-exchange houses from 2004 to 2007. † (*1) To say they didn't â€Å"do enough to spot† 378 billion dollars entering their bank is laughable. There have reportedly been some efforts to pass more stringent anti-money laundering laws which have met some oppostion from the banking lobby for obvious reasons. The police force continues to be a significant problem, all the training in the world still isn't going to stop corruption, even if a relative victory is acheived and the army pulls out it would seem to me only to be a matter of time before things return to their previous state. Possible solutions In order to fix the problems associated with prisons I think a simple solution would be to transfer people associated to drug cartels to offshore or even just send them to the other side of the world somewhere a pay country X to keep them in isolation. Reducing their ability to communicate is key. Something that I think the world may sooner or later move towards provided the proper technology be available is to curb the drug trade is simply an irradiation of hand held currency. Cash is what funds all of these organizations. This is why they have to launder drug money, it's dirty, you cant buy jet planes and like with cash. If you eliminate cash, how can anyone buy drugs illegally? You cant have a large elligal operation which risks lives dailey if people can only barter for your drugs and every legitimate product is purchased through some form of debit entirely controlled by the government. In conclusion I beleive that the Merida innitiative will probably succeed to a small degree in curbing violence but not the drug trade itself. I think it will be a costly (perhaps everlasting) failure as long as people are beating a dead horse with tactics that are proven not work. The more troubling aspect of this whole research paper for me is the notion that gets brought up by several in various documentaries I watched in doing research of the American government attempted to make security policy which violates many individual freedoms with respect to terrorism all encompassing. If you can keep enforcing the notion that the drug is on the same wavelength as terrorism it gives you the right to treat all people involved in drugs (about 80% of Americans at least once in a lifetime) as people involved in terrorism and produce a progressive erosion of civil liberties which some already believe has gone to far with legislation such as The Patriot Act. Operations in mexico and Colombia set a precedent for the United States intervening (without request in the case of mexico) in domestic affairs of it's neighbours using military force. I would also argue that much of this action could be perceived as just another extension of the US military industrial complex in action. References http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-29/banks-financing-mexico-s-drug-cartels-admitted-in-wells-fargo-s-u-s-deal.html http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/reports/docs/Canadian%20Military%20Spending%202009.pdf http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34215.pdf http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/mexico/2010/12/jail-breaks-and-cartel-manpower-woes.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1559348/IRA-training-haunts-Colombias-guerrilla-war.html http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB166/index.htm

Business Ethics Essay

Ethics is a collection of moral principles and rules of conduct accepted by part or all of the members of a society. Ethics guides behaviour based on beliefs about what is right and wrong. The source of these beliefs may be tradition, religion, or reasoned judgments about what is best for the individual and society as a whole. Business Ethics is the group of rules of conduct applied specifically to business situations. Ethics is not the same as law. Many ethical beliefs are formally reinforced by law, but many are not. Until recently, it was legal to fire almost any employee for any reason, regardless of the length of his or her service. Often the terminated employees was denied any provision for a company pension. Today, this practice is inhibited by federal law. In practice, ethics is expressed and felt as a combination of pressures that direct one to take or not to take certain actions. Decisions must be acceptable to many different elements of society. First, they must be acceptable to the conscience of the decision maker. A manager may legitimately think, â€Å" I could legally take this action, and I could probably get others to accept it, but I ought not do it because it is not right.† Managers must consider the potential effects of their decisions on the people and companies directly involved with the business operation: customers, suppliers, competitors, employees, investors, and creditors. In addition, manager must consider- and try to control- the possible effects of their decisions on the community at large. It is only recently that business has become aware of how it affects individuals and the whole society. The lassez-faire business environment of the nineteenth century promoted the belief that almost any practice that increased profits was, in the long run, good for the country. The result was cutthroat competition, fraud, deceptive marketing, price and market manipulation, worthless and dangerous products, exploitation of workers, and other practices that today are considered unethical. At the same time that so many harmful business activities were being carried on, some companies did abide by the fundamentals of good business ethics. At the height of the ruthless development of the nineteenth century, many managers still believed in producing high-quality products, honestly sold at a fair price. They felt success could be built on hardwork, creativity, and genuine customer satisfaction. It is the belief that high ethical standards are in the long run good for profits that is stressed in business today. In spite of improvements, however, there is evidence that managing a business may involve, at every level, a compromise with an individual’s ethical standards. In 1975, a major survey asked 238 managers whether they felt â€Å" pressured to compromise their personal standards to attain the company goals. â€Å" About 50 percent of the top-level executives said they did. Ethical Issues Ethical issues are not confined to court cases. All business people face them daily, and they stem from a variety of sources. Although some types of issues arise infrequently, others occur regularly. Let’s take a closer look at several ethical issues. Fairness and Honesty Fairness and honesty in business are two important ethical concerns. Besides obeying all laws and regulations, business persons are expected to refrain from knowingly deceiving, misrepresenting, or intimidating others. Organizational Relationships A business person may be tempted to place his or her personal welfare above the welfare of others or the welfare of the organization. Relationship with customers and coworkers often create ethical problems– since confidential information is expected to be kept secret and all obligation should be honoured. Unethical behaviour in these areas includes taking credit for others’ ideas or work, not meeting one’s obligation in a mutual agreement, and pressuring others to behave unethically. Conflict of interest Conflict of interest results when a business person takes advantage of a situation for his or her own interest rather than for the employer’s interest. Such conflict may occur when payments and gifts make their way into business deals. A wise rule to remember is that anything given to a person that might unfairly influence that person’s business decision is a bribe, and all bribes are unethical. Communications Business communications, especially advertising, can present ethical questions. False and misleading advertising is illegal and unethical, and it can infuriate customers. Sponsors of advertisements aimed at children must be especially careful to avoid misleading messages. Advertisers of health-related products must also take precautions to guard against deception when using such descriptive terms as â€Å" low fat,† â€Å" fat-free,† and â€Å" light.† Demand for Ethical Behaviour Businesses, governments, and the public are all paying more attention to business ethics. The Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA) of 1977 was enacted in response to disclosure that American corporations were paying bribes to high governmental officials in foreign countries. The bribes were used in an attempt to win contracts and sell products and services. In their defense, the companies argued that firms in other countries did the same thing; the American firms had to pay bribes or risk losing sales. Congress disagreed and passed the FCPA to outlaw the practice. Bribes and kickbacks have come under particularly close scrutiny lately. A kickback occurs when someome who has won a contract or made a sale through favourable treatement gives back part of the profits from the transaction to the party providing the favour. For example, a retailer hires a market researcher to find a good location for a new store. The retailer does not know that the researcher has previously agreed to recommend the property of a real estate developer. In return, the researcher will secretly receive a percentage of the first year’s rent on the property. A bribe is a payment made â€Å"up front’ to influence a transaction. Thus, a bribe occurs before a transaction and a kickback afterwards. Bribery is especially a problem in overseas dealings. Following a criminal investigation by the Justice Department, Lockheed Corporation pleaded guilty to charges of concealing payoffs to Japanese business and government officials. Lockheed was fined $647,000. In another instance, the Brunwick Corporation admitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had paid bribes to two Latin American countries to win contracts. The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company faced a 747-count federal indictment for giving kickbacks to beer retailers and distributors in exchange for their business. It later agreed to pay a $750,000 penalty. Most recently, General Dynamics, General Electric, and other large companies have been charged with defrauding the Pentagon. The illegal exploits of Ivan Boesky and other Wall Street traders sent shock waves through the Investment community in 1987. In December 1988, the Wall Street firm of Drexel Burham Lambert pleaded guilty to six felony counts of mail, wire, and security fraud and agreed to pay $650 million in fines and restitution. It subsequently filed for bankruptcy. Michael Milken, head of Drexel’s Beverly Hills junk bond office, agreed in 1990 to plead guilty to six felony counts and to pay $600 million in fines and restitution. Also in 1990, American Express publicly apologized for what it admitted was a â€Å"shameful† and â€Å"baseless† smear campaign against rival financier Edmund Safra. Among other things, the company had spread false rumours that Safra was connected to drug cartels. The company agreed to donate $8 million to charities selected by Safra. At about the same time, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal was exploding. Finally shut down by regulators in mid-1991, Luxembourg-based BCCI had been under suspicion since the 1970s. The collapse of BCCI, which operated in 73 countries, revealed fraud of historic proportion, involving bribery, corruption, money laundering, gun running, drug smuggling, terrorism, amd more than $5 billion in lost and stolen assets. COMPANY POLICIES AND BUSINESS ETHICS Within the workplace, an additional factor— the company itself– can influence ethical behaviour, if not always beliefs. As illegal and/or unethical activities by managers have caused more problems for companies, many firms have taken steps to encourage their employees to practise more ethical behaviour. The Strategies for Success â€Å" Succeeding with Ethical Business Behaviour offers some guidelines. Perhaps the single most significant thing a company can do to influence its employees is to demonstrate top management’s support for ethical behaviour. During a recent scandal at Rockwell International ‘s Rocky Flat plutonium plant, for example, executives’ unwillingness to acknowledge wrongdoing led to greater problems. If Rockwell executives had responded more openly, the company might not have lost its right to operate the Rocky Flats plant. To demonstrate their commitment to ethical business practices, many companies have adopted written codes of ethics that formally acknowledge the firm’s intent to conduct its business ethically. An excellent illustration of the power of business ethics occurred a few years ago at Johnson & Johnson. On two different occasions, several of the company’s Tylenol capsules were found to be laced with cyanide. Such a disaster would have ruined many companies. Managers at Johnson & Johnson, however, quickly recalled all of the Tylenol capsules still on retailer’s shelves and offered fortright and candid information whenever asked. The highly ethical practices exemplified by Johnson & Johnson allowed both the firm and the Tylenol brand to bounce back much more quickly than anyone thought possible. A lively current debate concerns the degree to which business ethics can be â€Å"taught â€Å" in schools. Not surprisingly, business schools have been important participants in such debates. But companies also need to educate their employees. More and more firms are taking this route by offering ethics training to their managers. Such training helps employees to assess situations in which they might have to make reasoned, ethical decisions. ETHICS AS A PRACTICAL MATTER A message from David R. Whitwam Chairman of the Board Whirpool corporation The question of ethics in business conduct has become one of the most serious challenges to the business community in modern times. At Whirpool, we share with millions of other Americans, a deep concern over recent relationships of unethical and othen illegal conduct on the part of some of this nation’s most prominant business people and corporation. The purpose of this message is not to pass judgement on any of these occurrence; each must and will be judged on its own merits by those charged with that responsibility. Rather this message is intended to place firmly on record the position of Whirpool Corporation regarding business ethics and the conduct of every Whirpool employee. It represents an irrevocable commitment to our customers and stockholders that our actions will be governed by the highest personal and professional standards in all activities relating to the operation of this business. Over the years, circumstances have prompted us to develop a number of specific policies dealing with such critical elements of ethical business practice as conflict of interest, gifts, political activities, entertainment, and substantiation of claims We aslo have a basic statement of ethics which places the ultimate responsibility for ethical behaviour precisely where it belongs in any organization†¦. on the shoulders of the person in charge: â€Å" No employee of this company will ever be called upon to do anything in the line of duty that is morally, ethically or legally wrong. Furthermore, if in the operation of this complex enterprise, an employee should come upon circumstances of which he or she cannot be personally proud, it should be that person’s duty to bring it to the attention of the top management if unable to correct the matter in any other way.† Every Whirpool manager carries the dual responsibility implicit in this policy statement, including the chairman of the board. Our written policies deals with nearly all facets of business experience. We review, revise and recommunicate them to our managers on a regular basis†¦. and we see that our managers carry on the communication throughout the company. But as a practical matter, there is no way to assure ethical behaviour with written policies and policies statements. In the final analysis, â€Å" ethical behaviour â€Å" must be an integral part of the organization, a way of life that is deeply ingrained in the collective corporate body. I believe this condition exists at Whirpool, and that it constitutes our greatest single assurance that htis company’s employees will conduct the affairs of this business in a manner consistent with the highest standards of ehtical behaviour. At Whirpool we have certain ways of doing things. They are commonly accepted practices, enforced not by edict, but rather by a mutual conviction that they will, in the long term, work in the best interest of our customers, our stockholders, the company and all its employees. In any business enterprise, ethical behaviour must be a tradition, a way of conducting one’s affairs that is passed on from generation to generation of employees at all levels of the organization. It is the responsibility of management , starting at the very top. to both set the examples by personall conduct and create an environment that not only encourages and rewards ethical behaviour, but which also makes anything less totally unacceptable. I believe this has been achieved at Whirpool. The men who founded this company back in 1911 were individually possessed of great integrity and honour. They forstered a tradition of ethical conduct in their business practices, and they perpetuated that tradition through careful selection of the people who would one day fall heir to leadership of the company. The system works. Time and time again I have witnessed its efficacy. It shows no hospitality whatsoever to those not willing to abide by its standards, and unerringly identifies and purges them. Unfortunately, the system is not automatically self-sustaining. It must be constantly reaffirmed by each new generation of leaders. In the position I now occupy, I view this as one of my most important responsibilities. As this company grows, and as the pressures upon it increase, maintaining our tradition of ethicial conduct become an increasingly difficult task. But I am confident it will be maintained, because it is necessary for continued growth, profitability and success. Sincerely, Remark: Business ethics: the study of moral behaviour, character, guiding beliefs, standards, or ideas that pervade a group, a community, a person; it deals with what is right and wrong, good and bad. The question of ethics- the branch of philosophy that deals with the â€Å" right† and â€Å" wrong† of human behaviour- has been connected with business since the beginning of commerce. In business, what determines the line between honest and dishonest methods? What is ethical business conduct? What is unethical business conduct? Answers to these questions may not be consistent because they depend upon the ethical standards of the person passing judgment, and the basic moral and beliefs of society. The guides to business ethics in our society derive primarily from religion and law. – Religious teaching spell out the requirements for moral responsibility. – Law provides codes for governing business behaviour.