Everyman-a Medieval Play Review

Everyman is a play which was written to express the importance of morality, to whoever read it or experienced it being performed on stage. Some scholars say that it was written sometime in the late 1400’s, while others insist that it is a translation of a Flemish work called â€Å"Elckerlijc†, which was written by Peter van Diest in 1495. Everyman is an allegory play which is heavily based upon Christian religious perspectives; also it is resoundingly similar to the Christian belief of the resurrection of Christ, and his ascension into Heaven, after the crucifixion.The first act of Everyman, opens with a prologue which takes on the form of a messenger, telling the audience about the fate which is to come to Everyman. The messenger goes on to tell the audience that eventually God will call upon all of humanity to stand before him, and give account of their works which they had wrought in life. The next part of the play is God calling upon Death, to go and bring Everyman to stand before him. God commands Death to go and bring Everyman before him, so that he may give account of his own misdeeds that he has wrought in life. So Death goes and finds Everyman, and tells him that his time has come.Everyman then attempts to bribe Death with a thousand pounds, but Death refuses. However, he states that he will allow Everyman to bring someone with him, so that he does not have to face his judgment alone. Everyman first goes to Fellowship, whom represents friends and companions; and asks him to accompany him to go and stand before the judgment God. Fellowship, whom had promised to stand besides Everyman through whatever may come; tells Everyman that he will not go with him to the grave, because he fears Death and the judgment of God. Everyman is heartbroken, but then goes on to the next in line.Everyman then goes to Kindred and Cousin, which are supposed to represent family and kin; but they too tell him that they will not accompany him on his way to the grav e. Thirdly, Everyman turns to Goods, which represents material possessions; nonetheless she also states that she will not go with Everyman to his final judgment. Everyman is very concerned by this point, and so he turns to Good Deeds for companionship. Good Deeds states that she will go with Everyman to face his judgment with him; but unfortunately she lacks the strength for such a journey, because Everyman as neglected her throughout his life. Good Deeds tells Everyman that he must then go before her sister, Knowledge; for she will know the way in which Good Deeds may regain strength. Upon meeting Knowledge, she tells Everyman that he must go before Confession; and there Everyman confesses his sins. Afterward, Confession gives Everyman a â€Å"jewel† called Penance; which cleanses Everyman of his sins, so that he may stand before God and not be in jeopardy of damnation. With his confession behind him, Good Deeds regains his strength, and is ready to accompany Everyman to the grave.Knowledge then tells Everyman to gather together his attributes of life: Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five Wits; so that they too may accompany him to his reckoning with God. But when Everyman gathers them together, they tell him that they will not go with him to the grave; essentially because they are all characteristics of youth, which are all now fleeting from him, as he has the end of life. With that, Knowledge, and Good Deeds accompany Everyman to his final reckoning with God.There enters the character Angel; Knowledge then attests to Angel that Everyman was a good and just person, and in the end, he confessed his sins before God. Then Everyman and Good Deeds go down into the grave, and thus make their way to stand before God in the final judgment of Everyman. Fundamentally, this play ends with the character, Doctor, stating that all accept Good Deeds and Knowledge will all flee from a person, when they go before God for their final judgment. *** Issues in Raised in Key Resources There are several key issues which were raised by the scholars that wrote the major resources which I used to write this report.This play has received a moderate amount of popularity over the past near 500 years; and now today there are some scholars and researchers whom are exceptionally critical, both positively and negatively, of the details as to how it was written. One criticism of note would have to be one which was voiced by Thomas F van Laan. In referring to the general premise of Everyman, he contends of the writer that â€Å"His speech is essentially negative; he focuses solely on the inevitability of death and the destructiveness of sin†.Simply put, Mr. van Laan is stating that at first, the sole purpose of this work appears to emphasize specifically on death and how mankind should feel only sorrow for anything that they do, which goes against the teachings of Christianity. Another criticism of this work which Mr. van Laan refers to is the point in t he beginning when God first speaks. Mr. Van Laan states: â€Å"Gods words are wholly negative in force, implying only the difficulty to come, omitting any indication of hope for mankind†. Mr. an Laan is voicing this criticism on the opening section of the play, fundamentally about how he considers Gods words to be too negative in their approach. In expressing this condemnation, Mr. van Laan is adamant about his beliefs that God would probably not be so disconcerting in his approach to dealing with mankind. However not all that Mr. van Laan has to say about Everyman is negative in nature. He goes on to shed light on the allegory nature of the play, and how this lends credence to its being a unique, legitimate work of theater. He contends that â€Å"The first movement, is a falling action, which traces Everyman’s’ decline in fortune.This shatters the apparent serenity of his life, to the depth of his despair†¦fallowed by the second movement, a rising action, which carries him from this nadir unto his final salvation†¦which is symbolized by the words of the welcoming Angel†. It is my belief, that essentially what Mr. van Laan is stating, is that by using actual characters to personify the specific aspects of human nature; the persona of the play becomes a two-fold endeavor. Firstly, by the characters being literal representations of human qualities; they achieve a form of realism, which is normally only conveyed through the use of spoken dialog.Secondly, the movement’s themselves-transpiring from a state of utter despair, to a state of harmonious bliss; is not only characteristic of all great works of drama, but also of life itself. Throughout Mr. van Laan’s review of Everyman, he states his opinion that by the author using characters to represent the individual aspects of human identity; the play conveys a form of realism, which is distinctly unique. Next brings us to the arguments made by the researcher Roger A. Ladd. His belief is that this play was not written for the everyday person, but was in fact written to be a work which would have been performed for the â€Å"bourgeoisie†.His reasoning stems from research which had been done by scholar Dorothy Wertz; the same scholar who also believes that Everyman was probably written strictly to be performed for the elite rich. In her research, Mrs. Wertz points to the fact that â€Å"by simply examining the vocabulary and phrases used in the original piece, one can determine whom the play had been written for†. In that, she states that â€Å"the wording itself would have been too formal for ordinary citizens of the time period to ascertain†. However, unlike Mrs.Wertz, who believes that Everyman is specifically nothing more than a direct translation of Elckerlijc; Mr. Ladd assumes that it is an amalgamation of Elckerlijc and other English literary customs of the era. Mr. Ladd’s purported theory was reached in part, by investigating the traits of the character â€Å"Goods†, and comparing them with the English anti-mercantile satire traditions which were popular in the late-medieval period. An example of which being, that in the Germanic-Dutch based Elckerlijc, Goods is described as appearing as â€Å"Neglected, rusty . . heaped up, filthy†. However in Everyman as Mr. Ladd purports, Goods appears in a more English anti-mercantile manner as being â€Å"trussed and piled so high, and in chest I am locked so fast, also sacked in bags†. The Everyman description, falls in line with the late-medieval literary tradition of anti-mercantilism; which according to Mr. Ladd, comes as proof that Everyman could not have been strictly just an English translation of Elckerlijc. Another scholar whom is acquiescent in his research of Everyman is Lawrence V. Ryan. Mr.Ryan takes an approach, which seems to be more about discerning the religious implications of the play Everyman. The first point that Mr. Ryan makes is that †Without theology, the artistic merit may not be fully appreciated†¦that the theology involved is indispensable, not indefensible, and furthermore, that it gives the play its characters, structure, significance, and even its dramatic impressiveness†. One of the main points which all three scholars agree upon is that by being deserted by all those whom Everyman turns to for help; the audience develops a strong sense of pathos, for the plight of Everyman. Mr.Ryan suggests that the emergence of these false-friend characters â€Å"all appear in a climactic order, according to the increased danger of each as a distraction from one’s Maker†. Finally, Mr. Ryan gives his opinion about the reason why all the characters that abandon Everyman, as well as Everyman himself, are all men; and why the only characters that accompany him are women. In essence, the logic behind this as Mr. Ryan contends is that â€Å"All men are born into a state of sin†¦and that for dramatic suspense; the author chose to have the only redeeming characters be women†¦to show that women can counteract this dogma†.Personal Reaction to â€Å"Everyman† My personal opinion of this particular play is one of high appreciation. Unlike some of the reviews of scholars which I have read, which did not display too much positive reception for this work; I personally enjoyed reading it, and doing my report on this play. When I first tried to read the Old-English original version of this play, I found it incredibly hard to ascertain what exactly the meaning was behind what the author had written. Understandably it was difficult for me when trying to use the un-translated Everyman, as Old-English is a version of our language, which has been out-of-date for centuries.When I found the translated version of Everyman on the Fordham University website and began reading it, I almost instantly thought that it had been a work which had b een written by either someone whom was a priest, or had been another member of the Christian church in some capacity. Another notion which I had was that if the play had not been written by someone who was a church member, then it obviously had to have been written by someone whom had some form of agenda for getting people involved with the Christian church in some form or another.Perhaps the author had a legitimate reason for wanting people to become more involved with the church or to become closer to god in some fashion. On the other hand, perhaps there was a more sinister motive; like getting more people into the flock of the church, in order to acquire more money flowing into their coffers. Personally, I think that it was a combination of both motives, and that whoever had wrote this play, also had a genuine interest in using a popular mode of expression.Or perhaps the author wanted to show that by turning away from the sins of the flesh; that a person could attain a state of c onsciousness, which could bring them closer to a higher form of enlightenment. No matter what the personal objectives were for its creation, one thing remains clear; this was that the author of this particular piece was incredibly ahead of his time. From what I have examined in doing research for this report project; in reading other plays that date from the late medieval age, I can honestly say with a certainty, that I have not read anything that dates from this period, which is as unique as this.The usage of human emotions and possessions being personified into literal characters is uniquely a modern notion; and from what I have found, does not appear to have been done in a theatrical piece until sometime around 18th or 19th century. This plot construction is something which I have seen in movies and television shows; which are much more recent, than something that dates from the late medieval period. One example that immediately comes to mind is Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol; although not entirely the same in primary foundation, the underlying principle is similar.Some of the scholars that I read about, that reviewed this work; were quick to dismiss it as being either frivolity, or simply nothing more than an act of religious propaganda. I have to disagree with both sides; I feel that this is a excellent illustration of late medieval/early modern era theatrical work, which will more than likely see its relevance come again. Summary of  key scholarship on this play The first article which I used to review for this report on the play Everyman was a modern-English translation, of the late medieval original version of the play.This particular article didn’t offer any insight into it, as in scholar reviews; but it was extremely helpful in writing my summary of the play. Without this article, I am not sure if I would have been able to do this research project on this particular play, as I would not have been able to even ascertain what it was a bout. The next article which I used to write this report was written by Roger Ladd. Mr. Ladd took a definitively scholarly approach to conducting his research.Some of the main issues which he decided to confront were how the play Everyman deals with the religious implications of how material wealth corrupts the good intentions of mankind. Ladd went into detail, comparing the details of Everyman, to other plays of similar genera that date from the period. He explains about how most everyday citizens of the late medieval period, looked at the assemblage of material wealth, as the path to avarice, which puts their immortal souls in jeopardy.Like many other scholars whom have written journals about the â€Å"morality plays†, Ladd believes that in order to find out whom the plays written for, one has to look into the wording of the work; by doing this, he states that it becomes apparent who the target was. For example Everyman, when the main character is forced to give up his worl dly possessions; it is written to appear as if this could have been the most dastardly thing which could have occurred in his life. Other key scholarship reviews of this play, comes from the scholarly works of Lawrence V. Ryan.Ryan takes an approach to his research, which is concerned with how organized religion is suspect in this play. One of his main thesis’ is about how in the play, Everyman attains salvation through his own works, and not by the salvation which comes from God. He talks about how many religious figures were quick to label Everyman as a work of unholy declarations; and that how many of these religious leaders informed members of their churches that they would be in danger of hell by going to watch a performance of Everyman. Ryan is perhaps the most non-forgiving of the three scholars that I chose to use.Mostly, he tries to make it known that he is of the opinion that Everyman was only an English translation of the Dutch work Elckerlijc. He does not make use of very much authentic information to make this claim, he simply relies on paraphrasing works which had been written by other scholars. Next, I used the research from the scholar Thomas F. vanLaan. VanLaan goes into detail describing the individual characters of Everyman. Noteworthy, is how he explains the nature of these characters, and how they relate to the human experience. Differing from the other scholars whom I referenced in this report, Mr. anLaan gives a very logical accounting of why the author chose to incorporate inanimate human natures, as the title characters for this play. The choices for the human failings and material wealth, was carefully used to make the play appeal to nearly everyone whom would have watched its production. An example being, of how Everyman had acquired material goods in his life, which would have appealed to the rich; while on the other hand, Everyman losing his material possessions would have gained the approval of the poor which might have bee n in the audience.However, I never found one scholarly review, which did not offer at least one compliment about this great play.Endnotes *** Paul Halsall, Internet Medieval Sourcebook, â€Å"Medieval Handbook: Everyman, 15th Century†, Fordham University (August 1998) (Accessed on October 20th, 2010) http://www. fordham. edu/halsall/basis/everyman. html —The entire summary which I wrote was based upon the modern-English translation of Everyman, which was available online at the Fordham University site.

Solving Problems and Making Decisions Essay

Background The aim of the cervical screening programme is to reduce the incidence of, and morbidity and mortality from, invasive cervical cancer. This is achieved by screening eligible women between the ages of 25 and 65 years. In my role as an acting Senior Biomedical Scientist in the cytology department, I screen and report negative and inadequate cervical samples in line with XXX protocols as well as facilitating the flow of abnormal cervical samples through to consultant pathologists and ensuring appropriate recall management is given to patients. I am also involved with the supervision of staff and the production and management of in-house standard operating procedures. Description of Problem Although always monitored by XXX, the timeframe from taking a cervical sample to when it was reported has never been given a strict turnaround time target, unlike the screening programme in England, which since 2010 has had a 14-day turnaround time target. However, this is to change as XXX want women screened in XXX to have an equitable service to that of the women in England and with the introduction of new testing alongside the current cervical cytology test, laboratory turnaround times need to be under 3 weeks. In May 2013, the majority of our work was turned-around in 3.5 weeks with only 0.9% of our workload being reported within the proposed 3 week timeframe. Being aware that XXX were likely to implement changes within the next 12 months, we wanted to be proactive and improve our performance before XXX enforce improvement methods upon us or worse the service was moved from XXX. Therefore, the problem was identified as: How can we reduce our turnaround times to under 3 weeks (from date received in laboratory to date authorised)? Analysis of the Problem We were aware as a service that our turnaround times had increased over the last couple of years due to the loss of staff through retirement and centralisation and due to the transportation of work to an off-site laboratory for processing and then its transport to our department for screening and reporting. However, to identify the areas that we could improve, we created a work-stream to understand the flow of work through the laboratory process. A simplified version of the work-stream is found below: (Removed for confidentiality reasons) The days in the green ovals are average accumulative working days it would take to achieve a reported sample from arrival at the laboratory. These are working days and do not include weekends, therefore it is possible a further 2 to 4 days could be added to the actual turnaround time, making a possible estimated laboratory turnaround time of between 4 and 10 days. These days are calculated with no backlog, and therefore the next step would be to identify were backlogs or bottlenecks were occurring. The processing of work at XXX was beyond our control. As was the transport to and from XXX, which occurs on alternative days and is governed by XXX. Therefore, the two areas we could concentrate on were the booking in and the screening of slides. In May 2013, the administration staff based in XXX had a slight backlog of samples to book in, this equated to 1 to 2 days delay. The main cause of this delay was lack of staff and it wasn’t something we could address immediately as recruitment of new staff would take time and screening staff could not help as the backlog and delay in slides being screened was even greater. In the same month, the backlog of slides waiting to be screened was estimated at 2 to 3 weeks, this equated to around 3000 slides waiting to be screened. The backlog of screening work was not only affecting swift results to the patients it was also having an effect upon the screening staff morale as they had to see large numbers of slides waiting to be screened, which  could affect the turnaround further. We were also notified at this time that a member of the screening team would be leaving and therefore the urgency in reducing our turnaround times became more imminent as we would have less staff in a month or two. If no action was taken now the turnaround times would increase further once the member of staff left. As a result, the area we need to concentrate on and identify possible solutions to was the matter of reducing screening times of slides, by attacking this element of the laboratory process we should be able to reduce our overall laboratory turnaround times. Identification of Possible Solutions The Cytology senior staff members, including myself, started with a brain-storming exercise of trying to identify possible solutions. Due to constraints and safe-practices put in place by the NHS Cervical Screening Programme (NHSCSP) and XXX it is not possible to ask screening staff to screen each slide faster, as false positives and false negative results would increase and the quality would be affected. And we could not ask staff to screen for a longer length of time in the day, as screeners can only primary screen slides for a maximum of 5 hours a day, again due to the quality risk. However, staff could work overtime by coming in at weekends. To try and improve the workflow pathway within the screening room I decided to re-read the †Cytology improvement guide – achieving a 14 day turnaround time in cytology† produced by the NHSCSP when England was undergoing changes to its screening programme turnaround times. This guide is a collection of evidence-based ideas for improving workflow and turnaround times in the laboratory and administration departments of the cervical programme. We had already adopted one suggestion from the guide in 2010 regarding batching sizes of work, whereby we have reduced the number of slides in a tray from 20 to 8 slides. Although each slide was still being screened for the same time length, a tray of slides were being finished quicker and therefore the screening staff felt happier and kept the work flowing through  the laboratory. However, on inspection the work wasn’t flowing, as after primary screening, trays were being placed into the rapid review box and only taken out for review twice a day (first thing in morning and after lunch), with some staff only reviewing slides once per day. This was causing the first bottleneck and it was also having a knock-on effect on the authorising of samples by senior staff as large chunks of authorising was occurring first thing in the morning or after lunch, which due to the monotony of checking details and results was causing errors to occur in reporting. We therefore needed to undert ake a Lean transformation. Lean is an improvement approach to enhance flow and eliminate waste that was developed by Toyota. Lean is basically about getting the right things to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, while minimising waste and being flexible and open to change. Lean thinking focuses on what the customer values, any activity that is not valued is waste. If you remove the waste, the customer receives a more value-added service. In our department this means reducing our turnaround times, so that the customer (XXX women) get their cervical results in 3 weeks. We therefore had to remove processes that were not adding value to the end result. By investigating further it was noted that some screening staff were writing on the front and the back of the sample request forms if the samples were negative. There was no benefit in duplicating the result on the back of the form and therefore as part of Lean it is considered waste. Distraction was also a large issue in the screening room. To screen and report slides, it requires concentration to process and distinguish abnormal cells from normal samples. However, staff were regularly stopping screening to chat or employees from other departments were coming in to talk, make a cup of tea or to eat biscuits causing distractions of up to 30 minutes at times. The telephone was also a regular distraction, with service users phoning up for advice and results and the XXX administration department phoning up regularly to change and update patient managements. Summary of Options We eventually decided the options available to us were: 1. Screening staff to work overtime. If every member of the screening team and senior team (Senior Biomedical Scientist and Cytology Manager) were to partake in overtime work on one day of the weekend and managed to screen an average of 30 slides per day the backlog could be cleared in 9 to 10 weekends. However, partaking in overtime is a voluntary decision and not all staff members would want to or be able to work overtime. This means that if we were to only adopt overtime as an option a minimum of 9 weekends would need to be worked, and as we were not changing the day-to-day workflow process a further period of overtime may be needed in the future to minimise any further backlogs. Working overtime also had a cost implementation, as staff would need reimbursing for their time given. As overtime would be over a weekend this would be calculated at time and a half pay. 2. One tray of primary screening followed by one tray of rapid reviews. To overcome the current bottleneck of work after primary screening, it would be more advantageous to rapid review slides little and often instead of first thing in the morning or after lunch. The preferred scenario would be to primary screen a tray of slides and then screen a tray of rapid review slides and alternate like this throughout the day. This means the throughput of work is more constant and turnaround is less. These examples explain this option further: Current example – As you can see this example of current working practice means the slides take approximately 22 hours from being initially primary screened to being authorised. Proposed example – This example shows that by alternating between primary and rapid review screening the whole process up to authorising should take approximately 75 minutes. A saving in time of 20 hours and 45 minutes for those 8 slides to be reported and authorised. Some work primary screened at the end of the day will have to wait until the next day for rapid review, but on the whole most work will be turned around at a much faster pace. This could be implemented immediately with no cost implications or changes to staffs working pattern. 3. Authorising work little and often. The examples used above also outline how this can improve the bottleneck between rapid review and authorising. Currently authorising is carried out in large batches after rapid review has been completed mainly at lunchtime and occasional first thing in the morning. These large batches of work are monotonous and transcription errors can arise due to this. By having rapid review completed in small batches of 8, it is possible for senior staff to authorise in these small batches as soon as rapid reviews have been completed. This means authorisation can be achieved much sooner and hopeful reduce the risk of mistakes occurring. 4. Reduce waste. A Lean approach was considered and any process that didn’t add value was removed. The first wasteful process identified was writing on both front and back of request forms, writing on the back was considered worthless. This process approximately took 10 seconds to carry out. Therefore if this was stopped each screening staff member screening 30 slides a day on average would save 300 seconds a day. This equates to 5 minutes, which is more than enough time to screen one or two extra slides a day. Which over a week could mean 10 extra slides been screened by one screening staff member or 80 slides a week if all screening staff stopped. The second process considered was the taking of primary screening work from the work pile before necessary. Some individuals would pick up 2 trays of primary screening or would leave unfinished trays on their desks overnight. If these trays were left in the pile or half trays placed back into the work pile before going home, it would allow another member of staff to screen them sooner and therefore have them moving along the work-stream quicker. 5. Adopt quiet-time. The most controversial option considered was to implement quiet-time in the screening rooms. An initial quiet-time of between 9.30am-12.30pm and 1.30-3.30pm was suggested, asking all staff member to keep any talking to  work-related questions only and to deter any colleagues from other departments from coming into the screening room or phoning the department. No mobile phones would allowed in the department during these times and work emails were to be checked first thing in the morning or first thing after lunch. Evaluation of Options The NHSCSP advise on using a PDSA cycle (plan, do, study, act) to evaluate and to test out ideas to ensure changes make the improvement required before implementation. Although the cycle is good at temporarily trialling a change and assessing its impact, it’s not useful in highlighting the best option or options to adopt without trialling them all. We therefore need to analyse the strength and weakness of each option first. A decision matrix was created to evaluate and prioritise the 5 options above. The criteria we used to make the decisions were: Cost implications; would there be any extra cost involved with each option and was this a small or large cost. (Rated from 1 (high cost) to 3 (low cost)) Speed of implication; were we able to implement this option immediately or would it require much planning. (Rated from 1 (slow) to 3 (fast)) Effect on staff; would the staff be happy with these measure, would it cause a negative effect in the work place. Did the staff have to make large adjustments to their working practice. (Rated from 1 (high detriment) to 3 (low)) Speed of improvements; how long would it take for us to see a change in turnaround times if option was implemented. (Rated from 1 (slow) to 3 (fast)) Each option was rated for each criterion, so that we could establish any issues with each option. From looking at the table above, options 2 and 3 have scored well on all 4 criteria and therefore would be able to be implemented with little disruption but with a good impact on turnaround times. Option 1 unfortunately had too many issues regarding cost and the time it would take to gain agreement for funding the overtime and for staff to agree to giving up their free weekends. Also every staff member wasn’t able to participate due to personal commitments and families, this meant the overtime worked could vary greatly week to week. It was therefore decided options 2 and 3 would be trialled further and option 1 would be abandoned. Although option 4 would take time to see results, it was decided that by ‘Leaning’ up the work process could only be a good thing and that the ideas suggested to reduce waste in the workplace should be implemented immediately. The main cause for concern with option 5 was the detriment to the staff,  however this change to working practice was considered to be the one that would have the greatest affect on reduction of turnaround times. It was therefore decided to trial this for a while, and that once the backlog was reduced we could relax the quiet time option and re-implement it if the backlog was to increase again. We could now look at the PDSA cycle and using turnaround time as a measurement assess the capabilities of option 2,3,4 and 5. By starting to trial the options and regularly monitoring and studying the turnaround times (Do & Study) we can highlight any changes that may be necessary (Act) and think of new plans to tackle any issues that arise (Plan). Implementation Before implementing and disseminating the information to all the staff, the cytology manager and cytopathologist went over all the presented options and made the final decision to implement the improvements for reducing turnaround times. They were happy to put forward the 4 options identified to all the staff and create action plans for implementation. A staff meeting was held to explain the situation regarding increasing turnaround times and the options put forward in the form of an action plan to the staff on how we could reduce the turnaround times. The action plans presented were: It was important to us to use SMART action plans, which meant we had to be specific in our actions and create measurable, achievable and realistic plans. An achievable time frame was set by creating weekly and monthly milestones for reviewing our turnaround times. Staff were asked to provide their thoughts on these actions and identify any issues or bring forward any options not already covered. Staff members made known their fears regarding quiet time, with one staff pointing out their working times were 9.30am until 2.30pm, and therefore apart from lunchtime she cannot talk during her working hours. This was taken into consideration  and the hours of quiet-time were altered. It was also stated the quiet time was a short term proposal and would be lifted as the backlog reduced/ended. An idea of moving the boxes holding the work needing rapid review and the boxes holding forms for authorising was also put forward. As currently the boxes were located across two different rooms and in the furthest corner of one room, meaning the entire screening room was being disturbed when someone went to put work/forms in the boxes. By moving the boxes to an equidistant place between both room, it would reduce the time wasted in walking to the boxes and reduce disturbance to other staff. Therefore the new and modified action plans were added. The staff was also advised that the turnaround times would initially be monitored in-house on a weekly basis to trial these changes and if the turnaround times were improving the monitoring would default to the XXX monthly monitoring. The aim was to try and authorise 300 cases a day, this was a realistic number to screen between 8 screening and 2 senior biomedical scientist staff. This equated to 1500 slides a week authorised, and as approximately 1000 slides were received and booked in each week, this meant we would be clearing approximately 500 slides from the backlog each week. Review of Outcomes Work levels were reviewed weekly by the Cytology Manager using the laboratories computer system. It was possible to see that the workload being reported was greater than that of the workload coming into the laboratory, and therefore the backlog of work was decreasing. However, what helped staff morale and made them aware of a reduction in the backlog and an improvement in turnaround times was being able to visualise the time between the date the sample was taken and the date the sample was screened and also seeing the reduction in the pile of work that was waiting for screening. As all options were implemented at the same time it was not possible to identify the effects of each individual option. XXX were also gathering the 3 week turnaround figures for all laboratories and these were being disseminated amongst the screening staff on a monthly basis. From the graph provided by XXX, it is clear from the implementation of changes in June 2013 the percentage of samples turned around in less than 3 weeks has steadily increased. A slight dip in the percentage is noted between August and September 2013, this coincided with the loss of a staff member and a move to a new laboratory building, which resulted in screening down-time for a couple of working days. It was at this time a decision was taken to stop the strict enforcement of quiet time, allowing the occasional ‘chatter’ within the screening room. This made work more welcoming and created a happier work environment, this in turn seems to have helped in the increase of samples turned around in 3 weeks. The introduction of these measures over the past 12 months have seen the departments 3 week turnaround times increase from 0.9% to 100%. References NHS Cervical Screening Programme (NHSCSP) – Cytology improvement guide: achieving a 14 day turnaround time in cytology NHS Cervical Screening Programme (NHSCSP) – Continuous improvement in cytology: sustaining and accelerating improvement

The Great Gatsby: Chapter 7 Analysis

The communication of this invitation through Gatsby suggests initially to Nick that ‘something was up'. The air tension is increased by Fitzgerald's use of pathetic fallacy: the weather is â€Å"Hot!†¦Hot!†¦Hot!† so that it, like the atmosphere in the chapter ‘hovered on the edge of combustion'. It is almost the last day of summer, appropriately. There is a feeling that the last chance for Gatsby; that the darker days of autumn and winter are on their way; that things are drawing to a close with the demise of the summer. The telephone call received by Tom at luncheon (from Mrs.Wilson) adds to the air of expectancy and tension. It is also the first time the reader has seen all of the main characters of the play gathered together, adding to the idea that the climax is due soon. Daisy and Jordan's skin is powdered over, suggesting a papering over of cracks, and the falsity of the situation. Nick contemplates ‘the scalloped ocean and the abounding blessed isles', almost palpably desiring an escape. Daisy's public kissing of Gatsby, suggests that she is ready to make the relationship public, but her ‘clogging' on the fireplace suggests an almost hysterical desperation. Tom notes the change in the footing of their relationship, as Daisy exchanges apparently trivial comments that betray their intimacy : â€Å"you always look so cool†. His response to this is an attempt to shield Daisy from Gatsby, by trying to have her travel in his car to New York. He clearly recognises that ‘she had told him that she loved him'. Daisy's ‘presentation' of her child, Pammy, to Gatsby and the assembled company has striking effect upon Gatsby; she is concrete proof of the marriage between Tom and Daisy, inescapable evidence that Daisy has shared the last 5 years of her life with someone else. Tom agrees to Daisy's suggestion that they go to town as a welcome distraction from the almost surreal scene that appears to be brewing at the house. As the girls prepare for the outing, Nick notes ‘the moon hovered already in the Western sky', suggesting that time is again running out. As Tom gets whiskey, Fitzgerald has Gatsby explain the irresistible allure of Daisy's voice: â€Å"her voice is full of money†, This clarifies the whole moral stance of the characters in the text: drawn to the money in her siren's song. Nick thinks of her at this moment as † high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl† in a vision that simultaneously draws together the multiple images of silver, gold and white that Fitzgerald has used throughout the text to suggest money and wealth. The drive to town provides another opportunity for Gatsby and Daisy to be alone together as Daisy evades Tom's suggestion that he drive her ‘in this circus wagon' – Gatsby's car. This description clearly demonstrates the contempt of the patrician for the vulgar display of wealth by Gatsby, the parvenu.

The Law of Agency and the Power of Attorney Case Study

The Law of Agency and the Power of Attorney - Case Study Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that in the case of Francis Gagnon, Joan her daughter and Frank Gagnon the son, it is clear that Joan had the right and authority for the transfer of Shelburne property under her creation and control. First, once the power of Attorney has been signed, it holds and in the event of revocation, then the agent must be served with a copy of the signed revocation documents. In the case stated, it is evident that Francis Gagnon’s revocation was never told to Joan explicitly, and, therefore, the power of Attorney still holds. Secondly, according to the power of Attorney, any decision that an agent makes on behalf of the principle stands. Additionally, Frank Gagnon never incapacitated for any reason, to revoke the already signed power of Attorney. Based on such a perspective, it is sufficiently clear that the revocation of the power of attorney was unlawful. Since an agent should always act in place of the principle, the property had, therefore , be transferred to the trust, and, therefore, was the trust’s property.

DragonflyHelm Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DragonflyHelm - Assignment Example s beauty of the samurais who were wealthy, the armor they used was tailor-made to their specifications while utilizing a variety of materials that ranged from various forms of metal, silk, leather and lacquer. The iconic part as far as Japanese armor is concerned is the head protection that is comprised of fierce-looking facemasks and stagy helmets that are intended to underscore the superhuman image of power of the person who wears it. In Japanese culture, the dragonfly is taken to symbolize martial success as a consequence of the similarity of the term â€Å"victory† to â€Å"dragonfly† in the Japanese language. The dragonfly is a periodic representation that is linked to the late summer through to the early summer season. In general, in Japan, the dragonfly is a representation of strength and happiness as well as courage while regularly appearing in arts and literature, especially haiku (Mitchell and Lasswell 30). Additionally, in ancient mythology, Japan was referred to as Akitsushima that means â€Å"Land of the Dragonflies†. In creating the symbolism with the dragonfly, its back wings are comparatively larger than its front ones and this signifies that times will get better in the future. The nymph, which is the larval stage of the dragonfly feeds on mosquitoes, and this is considered as they action of the young people in the society stopping evil even before the evil begins. Additionally , the dragonfly stops utilizing gills and begins breathing normal air as soon as it gets into contact with it, and this represents quick adaptation to harsh conditions. The Kabuto helmet that is shaped like a dragonfly was made in the seventeenth century in Japan using various material including lacquer, silk, Iron, wood and leather as well as pigments and papier-mà ¢chà ©. Even though the artifact is famous as far as Japanese culture is concerned its artist is not known. High-ranking members of the Japanese society utilized embellishments like this so that they could be located

Cheating Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cheating - Research Paper Example Academic integrity refers to the responsibility and honesty in academics. Tutors use assignments to help them gauge whether a student has understood a concept or not. In addition, the tutor further grades the students according to their performance. Academic misconduct refers to all dishonest and prohibited ways where a student tries to receive a higher grade in the academics (Soles 306). Misconduct leads to false misrepresentation of student knowledge and skills, and this undermines the tutors’ ability to gauge the performance of a student. Plagiarism involves the use of another person’s original words or image without giving proper credit. It involves presenting someone else’s work as if it is your own. Depending on the institutions policies and regulations, plagiarism attracts certain consequences ranging from rejection of the results or complete expulsion from the institution. Plagiarism can be either intentional due to student’s lack of knowledge on research or unintentionally due to the ignorance of the student (Ellis 259). Citation and referencing are other important rules of academic integrity. The two rules come with different styles, and they differ according to the institution. The primary used methods include the Harvard referencing system and the Vancouver referencing system. Institutions have come with their writing formats that the faculty and the students must adhere to. Some of the most popular formats include among others, American psychology association, modern learning association. The basis of all these formats is on Vancouver system or the Harvard system. Creating a climate of integrity within an institution is the most indispensable task of ensuring academic integrity. To make the task less challenging, organizations should follow the existing guidelines and policies on academic integrity (Gabriel 1). In addition, ensuring timely dissemination of information to new students and the faculty will

Death in the Woods Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Death in the Woods - Research Paper Example umber of short stories where the narrator has made an attempt to describe the death of an old woman who dies on her way home from the village, and how soon after, how body becomes transformed mystically. The story is set in the nineteenth century in the deep dark areas of Illinois. This paper helps to provide an analysis on the same. Mrs Grimes is the main protagonist around whom the story has been woven. The narrator has presented himself as a very unreliable source upon which no one has a choice but to bank upon in order to hear the entire story of how Mrs Grimes died. She lived on the edge of society and made a livelihood by selling eggs. She and her husband did not have much standing in society as they were frowned down upon because her husband was called a horse thief. People were under the impression that they did not belong to a good family and thus did not deserve to be a part of the social circle. Mrs Grimes is thus ignored by the people around her, on a daily basis and she is quite used to the fact as well. Despite being quite an old woman, the narrator has described her physique as a rather appealing one. â€Å"A thing so complete has its own beauty.† (Anderson, S) She grew up as an indentured servant in the house of a German man. He treated her badly and made her provide him with sexual favours, as it has been suggested within the book, and this put her in the bad books of his wife, who beat Mrs Grimes up cruelly. However, she was rescued by Jake who helped her escape and married her. However, the two gave birth to a son and daughter – the daughter died during childhood and the son grew up to be like his father, and they both abused Mrs Grimes and gave her the worst time. They treated her much like the German master did and thus the narrator stated that for Mrs Grimes, life had always been rough, brutish and the worst form experienced by her and thus she did not know a different side to life at all. As she grew up, she began to take care of animals

Medical Experiments on Incompetent Individuals in a Society Essay

Medical Experiments on Incompetent Individuals in a Society - Essay Example Many factors are important and need to be taken into consideration while a problem of this intensity is being discussed. The divisions in the society need to be taken into account. Racial differences and how intelligence in different races and societies are assessed is an important aspect of such a debate. One must also assess the question as to who possesses the right to assess the intelligence of people who are to be subjected to medical experiments. What constitutes intelligence also remains an important part of this debate that would decide the future of human society. Much of this debate can be argued to stem from the work of the great naturalist, Charles Darwin, who argued that in a world where the natural resources that is available to everybody is limited, the law of the ‘survival of the fittest’ would be the one that holds (Darwin). ... The fact that such reforms can be brought about or stalled only through the medium of legislation by the executives of nations makes the issue even more complicated. This is because the issue, like the legalization of abortion or animal rights, is an extremely sensitive issue and can create problems for political parties that usually take the decisions of the executive wing of the government of a nation state. Public perceptions are thus, an important part of this debate. An objective approach that brings people from various backgrounds together for negotiations would be the best way to seek a solution for this problem. This should be preceded by campaigns that seek to allay the fears of all sections of the society regarding this matter. This paper shall seek to look at the complexities of the issue at hand and examine the choices that are available to human society as a whole for the purpose of attaining a solution to this problem. The issue of whether people who are in states of co ma where they may not be able to inform others of their assent or dissent to be a part of a certain experiment conducted for the purpose of finding out the efficacy of a certain scientific or medical truth, is a complex one. What constitutes death for such people is a question that has not met with satisfactory answers from philosophers as of yet. People who have died may have, in their wills, decided to donate their bodies for the cause of medical research. The question of death, thus assumes importance in this matter. Also important is the assent of the person involved. In many cultures, the body of a person is considered to be important for the performance of the last

Explanations of Underdevelopment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Explanations of Underdevelopment - Essay Example Multinational corporations or MNC can broadly be defined as the business corporations that operate across the world and have operation units in different countries. They are not only equipped with huge financial resources but they also have significant abilities to transfer knowledge across the international market. Underdeveloped nations, on the other hand are not financially or otherwise equipped to exploit their own resources. Thus, they become highly attractive business propositions for multinational companies as they can exploit the vast market potential of the region. But that is not the whole truth. MNCs bring their knowledge and use their financial expertise to not only exploit host country’s resources but they also contribute extensively to their socio-economic development. Theory of dependency primarily relies on financial aids to the underdeveloped nations from developed countries or international aid agencies that are frequently misused or used in areas other than infrastructural development. These aids are often in the form of soft loans but they still increase the debt liability of the already poor countries. The money is frequently misused or not used on areas infrastructure development, education, health etc which could benefit the society on long term. The inability of the government to appropriately utilize financial resources results in vicious debt trap. Isbister emphatically claims that they are ‘waylaid by the debt crisis’ (2003: 180). ... The money is frequently misused or not used on areas infrastructure development, education, health etc which could benefit the society on long term. The inability of the government to appropriately utilize financial resources results in vicious debt trap. Isbister emphatically claims that they are ‘waylaid by the debt crisis’ (2003: 180). Third world countries like Ghana, Botswana etc are prime examples where vast disparity of income is highly visible. Despite massive international aid, the common man is still reeling under abject poverty. Another important fact is that financial aids are often subject to conditions which are either not practical for poor nations or they fail to instill necessary discipline amongst the policy makers for its effective utilization so that it can filter down to the common man. At the same time, it also provides huge power to the donor which is often exploited by them for their own benefits vis-a-vis low wages to local persons, exploitation of natural resources at low cost etc. MNCs in such scenario may justifiably become the scapegoat for vested interests. Another important aspect of dependency theory is that third world countries get used to the foreign aid because most of them are characterized by unstable socio-political environment. This helps the vested interests in the higher hierarchy of politics and bureaucracy to divert fund for their own interests. Thus, socio-economic growth of the underdeveloped nations remains a dream. Modernization theory, on the other hand, focuses on capitalist principles of market and exhorts underdeveloped economies for more liberal market based policies to facilitate foreign investment. It also makes underdeveloped countries more attractive for MNCs who can

LAW ASSESSED WORK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

LAW ASSESSED WORK - Essay Example If we apply this by analogy to the current scenario, David was entering into contractual negotiations with Golden Antiques on behalf of White Hall Limited. Therefore, in order for there to be a valid contract, David will have to have capacity and authority to bind the company in such contracts (McIntyre, 2008). Sections 39-40 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA) regulate authority to negotiate on behalf of companies. Section 39(1) of the CA provides that â€Å"the validity of any act done by a company shall not be called into question on the ground of lack of capacity by reason of anything in the company’s constitution.† In addition, section 40(1) of the CA stipulates that â€Å"In favour of a person dealing with a company in good faith, the power of the board of directors to bind the company, or authorise others to do so, shall be deemed to be free of any limitation under the company’s constitution†. Moreover, section 40(2) of the CA implements a provision that as regards third parties negotiating with a company, there will be a presumption of good faith. As such, the CA provisions do not require third parties to enquire as to whether there are any restrictions on the authority of the board to enter into a contract. Accordingly, if we apply this to the current scenario, unless Golden Antiques were put on notice that David did not have appropriate authority, there will be a presumption that David had capacity to negotiate and conclude the contract with Golden Antiques on behalf of White Halls Limited. Therefore, the fundamental issue will be whether the legal requirements for an enforceable contract have been complied with. The law of contract provides a tripartite test for determining a legally binding contract, which is offer, valid acceptance and consideration. For example, in New Zealand Shipping Co Limited v A M Satterthwaite, The Eurymedon ([1975]) AC 154

Health Related Website Eval Form and Nursing Article from Bay College Assignment

Health Related Website Eval Form and Nursing Article from Bay College Library - Assignment Example It provides an opportunity for students to check out issues in the periodic stalks for a week. The article is reliable as it provides reliable and verifiable information. Students do not have to pay any money for accessing information. The article provides quality information that is available for students from home and in campus (Bay College Library: Resource for Nursing, 2012). People can understand evidence based practice by establishing the meaning of this approach and understanding its benefits. Geriatric article explains how evidence based practice can connect gaps between, theory and practice. It is quite unfortunate, as many nurses do not have the skills of incorporating evidenced based nursing in clinical practice. This article explains patient centered approach as an approach used in evidence based nursing as a strategy for improving patience care (Rubin, 2011). The article illustrates that the nursing profession, as a practice should strive to improve patients care (Barker, 2009). Evidence based practice is not only based on research since it includes all forms of research. It is a research practice where nurses use current information to make clinical

Intellectual Craftsmanship Essay Example for Free

Intellectual Craftsmanship Essay TO THE INDIVIDUAL social scientist who feels himself a part of the classic tradition, social science is the practice of a craft. A man at work on problems of substance, he is among those who are quickly made impatient and weary by elaborate discussions of method-and-theory-in-general; so much of it interrupts his proper studies. It is much better, he believes, to have one account by a working student of how he is going about his work than a dozen , codifications of procedure by specialists who as often as not have never done much work of consequence. Only by conversations in which experienced thinkers exchange information about their actual ways of working can a useful sense of method and theory be imparted to the beginning student. I feel it useful, therefore, to report in some detail how I go about my craft. This is necessarily a personal statement, but it is written with the hope that others, especially those beginning independent work, will make it less personal by the facts of their own experience. 1.  It is best to begin, I think, by reminding you, the beginning student, that the most admirable thinkers within the scholarly community you have chosen to join do not split their work from their lives. They seem to take both too seriously to allow such dissociation, and they want to use each for the enrichment of the other. Of course, such a split is the prevailing convention among men in general, deriving, I suppose, from the hollowness of the work which men in general now do. But you will have recognized that as a scholar you have the exceptional opportunity of designing a way of living which will encourage the habits of good workmanship. Scholarship is a choice of how to live as well as a choice of career; whether he knows it or not, the intellectual workman forms his own self as he works toward the perfection of his craft; to realize his own potentialities, and any opportunities that come his way, he constructs a character which has as its core the qualities of the good workman. What this means is that you must learn to use your life experience in your intellectual work: continually to examine and interpret it. In this sense craftsmanship is the center of yourself and you are personally involved in every intellectual product upon which you may work. To say that you can have experience, means, for one thing, that your past plays into and affects your present, and that it defines your capacity for future, experience. As a social scientist, you have to control this rather elaborate interplay, to capture what you experience and sort it out; only in this way can you hope to use it to guide and test your reflection, and in the process shape yourself as an intellectual craftsman. But how can you do this? One answer is: you must set up a file, which is, I suppose, a sociologists way of saying: keep a journal. Many creative writers keep journals; the sociologists need for systematic reflection demands it. In such a file as I am going to describe, there is joined personal experience and professional activities, studies under way and studies planned. In this file, you, as an intellectual craftsman, will try to get together what you are doing intellectually and what you are experiencing as a person. Here you will not be afraid to use your experience and relate it directly to various work in progress. By serving as a check on repetitious work, your file also enables you to conserve your energy. It also encourages you to capture fringe-thoughts: various ideas which may be by-products of everyday life, snatches of conversation overheard on the street, or, for that matter, dreams. Once noted, these may lead to more systematic thinking, as well as lend intellectual relevance to more directed experience. You will have often noticed how carefully accomplished thinkers treat their own minds, how closely they observe their development and organize their experience. The reason they treasure their smallest experiences is that, in the course of a lifetime, modem man has so very little personal experience and yet experience is so important as a source of original intellectual work. To be able to trust yet to be skeptical of your own experience, I have come to believe, is one mark of the mature workman. This ambiguous confidence is indispensable to originality in any intellectual pursuit, and the file is one way by which you can develop and justify such confidence. By keeping an adequate file and thus developing self-reflective habits, you learn how to keep your inner world awake. Whenever you feel strongly about events or ideas you must try not to let them pass from your mind, but instead to formulate them for your files and in so doing draw out their implications, show yourself either how foolish these feelings or ideas are, or how they might be articulated into productive shape. The file also helps you build up the habit of writing. You cannot keep your hand in if you do not write something at least every week. In developing the file, you can experiment as a writer and thus, as they say, develop your powers of expression. To maintain a file is to engage in the controlled experience. One of the very worst things that happens to social scientists is that they feel the need to write of their plans on only one occasion: when they are going to ask for money for a specific piece of research or a project. It is as a request for funds that most planning is done, or at least carefully written about. However standard the practice, I think this very bad: It is bound in some degree to be salesmanship, and, given prevailing expectations, very likely to result in painstaking pretensions; the project is likely to be Presented, rounded out in some arbitrary manner long before it ought to be; it is often a contrived thing, aimed at getting the money for ulterior purposes, however valuable, as well as for the research presented. A practicing social scientist ought periodically to review the state of my problems and plans. A young man, just at the beginning of his independent work, ought to reflect on this, but he cannot be expected-and shouldnt expect himself-to get very far with it, and certainly he ought not to become rigidly committed to any one plan. About all he can do is line up his thesis, which unfortunately is often his first supposedly independent piece of work of any length. It is when you are about half-way through the time you have for work, or about one-third through, that such reviewing is most likely to be fruitful -and perhaps even of interest to others. Any working social scientist who is well on his way ought at all times to have so many plans, which is to say ideas, that the question is always, which of them am I, ought I, to work on next? And he should keep a special little file for his master agenda, which he writes and rewrites just for himself and perhaps for discussion with friends. From time to time he ought to review this very carefully and purposefully, and sometimes too, when he is relaxed. Some such procedure is one of the indispensable means by which your intellectual enterprise is kept oriented and under control. A widespread, informal interchange of such reviews of the state of my problems among working social scientists is, I suggest, the only basis for an adequate statement of the leading problems of social science. It is unlikely that in any free intellectual community there would be and certainly there ought not to be any monolithic array of problems. In such a community, were it flourishing in a vigorous way, there would be interludes of discussion among individuals about future work. Three kinds of interludes-on problems, methods, theory-ought to come out of the work of social scientists, and lead into it again; they should be shaped by work-in-progress and to some extent guide that work. It is for such interludes that a professional association finds its intellectual reason for being. And for them too your own file is needed. Under various topics in your file there are ideas, personal notes, excerpts from books, bibliographical items and outlines of projects. It is, I suppose, a matter of arbitrary habit, but I think you will find it well to sort all these items into a master file of projects, with many subdivisions. The topics, of course, change, sometimes quite frequently. For instance, as a student working toward the preliminary examination, writing a thesis, and, at the same time, doing term papers, your files will be arranged in those three areas of endeavor. But after a year or so of graduate work, you will begin to re-organize the whole file in relation to the main project of your thesis. Then as you pursue your work you will notice that no one project ever dominates it, or sets the master categories in which it is arranged. In fact, the use of the file encourages expansion of the categories which you use in your thinking. And the way in which these categories change, some being dropped and others being added-is an index of your intellectual progress and breadth. Eventually, the files will come to be arranged according to several large projects, having many sub-projects that change from year to year. All this involves the taking of notes. You will have to acquire the habit of taking a large volume of notes from any worth-while book you read-although, I have to say, you may get better work out of yourself when you read really bad books. The first step in translating experience, either of other mens writing, or of your own life, into the intellectual sphere, is to give it form. Merely to name an item of experience often invites you to explain it; the mere taking of a note from a book is often a prod to reflection. At the same time, of course, the taking of a note is a great aid in comprehending what you are reading. Your notes may turn out, as mine do, to be of two sorts: in reading certain very important books you try to grasp the structure of the writers argument, and take notes accordingly; but more frequently, and after a few years of independent work, rather than read entire books, you will very often read parts of many books from the point of view of some particular theme or topic in which you are interested and concerning which you have plans in your file. Therefore, you will take notes which do not fairly represent the books you read. You are using this particular idea, this particular fact, for the realization of your own projects. 2 But how is this file-which so far must seem to you more like a curious sort of literary journal-used in intellectual production? The maintenance of such a file is intellectual production. It is a continually growing store of facts and ideas, from the most vague to the most finished. For example, the first thing I did upon deciding on a study of the elite was to make a crude outline based on a listing of the types of people that I wished to understand. Just how and why I decided to do such a study may suggest one way in which ones life experiences feed ones intellectual work. I forget just when I became technically concerned with stratification, but I think it must have been on first reading Veblen. He had always seemed to me very loose, even vague, about his business and industrial employments, which are a kind of translation of Marx for the academic American public. At any rate, I wrote a book on labor organizations and labor leaders-a politically motivated task; then a book on the middle classes-a task primarily motivated by the desire to articulate my own experience in New York City since 1945. It was thereupon suggested by friends that I ought to round out a trilogy by writing a book on the upper classes. I think the possibility had been in my mind; I had read Balzac off and on especially during the forties, and had been much taken with his self-appointed task of covering, all the major classes and types in the society of the era he wished to make his own. I had also written a paper on The Business Elite, and had collected and arranged statistics about the careers of the topmost men in American politics since the Constitution. These two tasks were primarily inspired by seminar work in American history. In doing these several articles and books and in preparing courses in stratification, there was of course a residue of ideas and facts about the upper classes. Especially in the study of social stratification is it difficult to avoid going beyond ones immediate subject, because the reality of any one stratum is in large part its relations to the rest. Accordingly, I began to think of a book on the elite. And yet that is not really how the project arose; what really happened is (1) that the idea and the plan came out of my files, for all projects with me begin and end with them, and books are simply organized releases from the continuous work that goes into them; (2) that after a while, the whole set of problems involved came to dominate me. After making my crude outline I examined my entire file, not only those parts of it that obviously bore on my topic, but also those which seemed to have no relevance whatsoever. Imagination is often successfully invited by putting together hitherto isolated items, by finding unsuspected connections. I made new units in the file for this particular range of problems, which of course, led to new arrangements of other parts of the file. As you re-arrange a filing system, you often find that you are, as it were, loosening your imagination. Apparently this occurs by means of your attempt to combine various ideas and notes on different topics. It is a sort of logic of combination, and chance sometimes plays a curiously large part in it. In a relaxed way, you try to engage your intellectual resources, as exemplified in the file, with the new themes. In the present case, I also began to use my observations and daily experiences. I thought first of experiences I had had which bore upon elite problems, and then I went and talked with those who, I thought, might have experienced or considered the issues. As a matter of fact, I now began to alter the character of my routine so as to include in it (1) people who were among, those whom I wanted to study, (2) people in close contact with them, and (3) people interested in them usually in some professional way. I do not know the full social conditions of the best intellectual workmanship, but certainly surrounding oneself by a circle of people who will listen and talk-and at times they have to be imaginary characters-is one of them. At any rate I try to surround myself with all the relevant environment-social and intellectual-that I think might lead me into thinking well along the lines of my work. That is one meaning of my remarks above about the fusion of personal and intellectual life. Good work in social science today is not, and usually cannot be, made up of one clear-cut empirical research. It is, rather, composed of a good many studies which at key points anchor general statements about the shape and the trend of the subject. So the decision-what are these anchor points? -cannot be made until existing materials are re-worked and general hypothetical statements constructed. Now, among existing materials, I found in the files three types relevant to my study of the elite: several theories having to do with the topic; materials already worked up by others as evidence for those theories; and materials already gathered and in various stages of accessible centralization, but not yet made theoretically relevant. Only after completing a first draft of a theory with the aid of such existing materials as these can I efficiently locate my own pivotal assertions and hunches and design researches to test them-and maybe I will not have to, although of course I know I will later have to shuttle back and forth between existing materials and my own research. Any final statement must not only cover the data so far as the data are available and known to me, but must also in some way, positively or negatively, take into, account the available theories. Sometimes this taking into account of an idea is easily done by a simple confrontation of the idea with overturning or supporting fact; sometimes a detailed analysis or qualification is needed. Sometimes I can arrange the available theories systematically as a range of choices, and so allow their range to organize the problem itself. (1) But sometimes I allow such theories to come up only in my own arrangement, in quite various contexts. At any rate, in the book on the elite I had to take into account the work of such men as Mosca, Schumpeter, Veblen, Marx, Lasswell, Michel, Weber, and Pareto. In looking over some of the notes on these writers, I find that they offer three types of statement: (a) from some, you learn directly by restating systematically what the man says on given points or as a whole; (b) some you accept or refute, giving reasons and arguments; (c) others you use as a source of suggestions for your own elaborations and projects. This involves grasping a point and then asking: How can I put this into testable shape, and how can I test it? How can I use this as a center from which to elaborate-as a perspective from which descriptive details emerge as relevant? It is in this handling of existing ideas, of course, that you feel yourself in continuity with previous work. Here are two excerpts from preliminary notes on Mosca, which may illustrate what I have been trying to describe: In addition to his historical anecdotes, Mosca backs up his thesis with this assertion: Its the power of organization that enables the minority always to rule. There are organized minorities and they run things and men. There are unorganized majorities and they are run. (2) But: why not also consider (1) the organized minority, (2) the organized majority, (3) the unorganized minority, (4) the unorganized majority. This is worth full-scale exploration. The first thing that has to be straightened out: just what is the meaning of organized? I think Mosca means: capable of more or less continuous and co-ordinated policies and actions. If so, his thesis is right by definition. He would also say, I believe, that an organized majority is impossible because all it would amount to is that new leaders, new elites, would be on top of these majority organizations, and he is quite ready to pick up these leaders in his The Ruling Class. He calls them directing minorities, all of which is pretty flimsy stuff alongside his big statement. One thing that occurs to me (1 think it is the core of the problems of definition that Mosca presents to us) is this: from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, we have witnessed a shift from a society organized as 1 and 4 to a society established more in terms of 3 and 2. We have moved from an elite state to an organization state, in which the elite is no longer so organized nor so unilaterally powerful, and the mass is more organized and more powerful. Some power has been made in the streets, and around it the whole social structures and their elites have pivoted. And what section of the ruling class is more organized than the farm bloc? Thats not a rhetorical question: I can answer it either way at this time; its a matter of degree. All I want now is to get it out in the open. Mosca makes one point that seems to me excellent and worth elaborating further: There is often in the ruling class, according to him, a top clique and there is this second and larger stratum, with which (a) the top is in continuous and immediate contact, and with which (b) it shares ideas and sentiments and hence, he believes, policies. (page 430) Cheek and see if anywhere else in the book, he makes other points of connection. Is the clique recruited largely from the second level? Is the top, in some way, responsible for, or at least sensitive to, this second stratum? Now forget Mosca: in another vocabulary, we have, (a) the elite, by which we here mean that top clique, (b) those who count, and (c) all the others. Membership in the second and third, in this scheme, is defined by the first, and the second may be quite varied in its size and composition and relations with the first and the third. (What, by the way, is the range of variations of the relations of (b) to (a) and to (c)? Examine Mosca for hints and further extend this by considering it systematically. ) This scheme may enable me more neatly to take into account the different elites, which are elites according to the several dimensions of stratification. Also, of course, to pick up in a neat and meaningful way the Paretian distinction of governing and non-governing elites in a way less formal than Pareto. Certainly many top-status people would at least be in the second. So would the big rich. The Clique or The Elite would refer to power, or to authority, as the case may be. The elite in this vocabulary would always mean the power elite. The other top people would be the upper classes or the upper circles. So in a way, maybe, we can use this in connection with two major problems: the structure of the elite; and the conceptual-later perhaps, the substantive-relations of stratification and elite theories. (Work this out. ) From the standpoint of power, it is easier to pick out those who count than those who rule. When we try to do the first we select the top levels as a sort of loose aggregate and we are guided by position. But when we attempt the second, we must indicate in clear detail how they wield power and just how they are related to the social instrumentalities through which power is exercised. Also we deal more with persons than positions, or at least have to take persons into account. Now power in the United States involves more than one elite. How can we judge the relative positions of these several elites? Depends upon the issue and decisions being made. One elite sees another as among those who count. There is this mutual recognition among the elite, that other elites count; in one way or another they are important people to one another. Project: select 3 or 4 key decisions of last decade-to drop the atom, to cut or raise steel production, the C. M. strike of 45-and trace in detail the personnel involved in each of them. Might use decisions and decision-making as interview pegs when you go out for intensives. 3 There comes a time in the course of your work when you are through with other books. Whatever you want from them is down in your notes and abstracts; and on the margins of these notes, as well as in a separate file, are ideas for empirical studies. Now I do not like to do empirical work if I can possibly avoid it. If one has no staff it is a great deal of trouble; if one does employ a staff, then the staff is often even more trouble. In the intellectual condition of the social sciences today, there is so much to do by way of initial structuring (let the word stand for the kind of work I am describing) that much empirical research is bound to be thin and uninteresting. Much of it, in fact, is a formal exercise for beginning students, and sometimes a useful pursuit for those who are not able to handle the more difficult substantive problems of social science. There is no more virtue in empirical inquiry as such than in reading as such. The purpose of empirical inquiry is to settle disagreements and doubts about facts, and thus to make arguments more fruitful by basing all sides more substantively. Facts discipline reason; but reason is the advance guard in any field of learning. Although you will never be able to get the money with which to do many of the empirical studies you design, it is necessary that you continue designing them. For once you lay out an empirical study, even if you do not follow it through, it leads you to a new search for data, which often turn out to have unsuspected relevance to your problems. Just as it is foolish to design a field study if the answer can be found in a library, it is foolish to think you have exhausted the books before you have translated them into appropriate empirical studies, which merely means into questions of fact. Empirical projects necessary to my kind of work must promise, first, to have relevance for the first draft, of which I wrote above; they have to confirm it in its original form or they have to cause its modification. Or to put it more pretentiously, they must have implications for theoretical constructions. Second, the projects must be efficient and neat and, if possible, ingenious. By this I mean that they must promise to yield a great deal of material in proportion to the time and effort they involve. But how is this to be done? The most economical way to state a problem is in such a way as to solve as much of it as possible by reasoning alone. By reasoning we try (a) to isolate each question of fact that remains; (b) to ask these questions of fact in such ways that the answers promise to help us solve further problems by further reasoning. (3) To take hold of problems in this way, you have to pay attention to four stages; but it is usually best to go through all four many times rather than to get stuck in any one of them too long. The steps are: (1) the elements and definitions that, from your general awareness of the topic, issue, or area of concern, you think you are going to have to take into account; (2) the logical relations between these definitions and elements; building these little preliminary models, by the way, affords the best chance for the play of the sociological imagination; (3) the elimination of false views due to omissions of needed elements, improper or unclear definitions of terms, or undue emphasis on some part of the range and its logical extensions; (4) statement and re-statement of the questions of fact that remain. The third step, by the way, is a very necessary but often neglected part of any adequate statement of a problem. The popular awareness of the problem-the problem as an issue and as a trouble-must be carefully taken into account: that is part of the problem. Scholarly statements, of course, must be carefully examined and either used up in the re-statement being made, or thrown out. Before deciding upon the empirical studies necessary for the job at hand, I began to sketch a larger design within which various small-scale studies began to arise. Again, I excerpt from the files: I am not yet in a position to study the upper circles as a whole in a systematic and empirical way. So what I do is set forth some definitions and procedures that form a sort of ideal design for such a study. I can then attempt, first, to gather existing materials that approximate this design; second, to think of convenient ways of gathering materials, given the existing indices, that satisfy it at crucial points; and third, as I proceed, to make more specific the full-scale, empirical researches that would in the end be necessary. The upper circles must, of course, be defined systematically in terms of specific variables. Formally-and this is more or less Paretos way they are the people who have the most of whatever is available of any given value or set of values. So I have to make two decisions: What variables shall I take as the criteria, and what do I mean by the most? After Ive decided on my variables, I must construct the best indices I can, if possible quantifiable indices, in order to distribute the population in terms of them; only then can I begin to decide what I mean by the most. For this should, in part, be left for determination by empirical inspection of the various distributions, and their overlaps. My key variables should, at first, be general enough to give me some latitude in the choice of indices, yet specific enough to invite the search for empirical indices. As I go along, Ill have to shuttle between conceptions and indices, guided by the desire not to lose intended meanings and yet to be quite specific about them. Here are the four Weberian variables with which I will begin: I. Class refers to sources and amounts of income. So Ill need property distributions and income distributions. The ideal material here (which is very scarce, and unfortunately dated) is a cross-tabulation of source and amount of annual income. Thus, we know that X per cent of the population received during 1936 Y millions or over, and that Z per cent of all this money was from property, W per cent from entrepreneurial withdrawal, Q per cent from wages and salaries. Along this class dimension, I can define the upper circles-those who have the most-either as those who receive given amounts of income during a given time-or, as those who make up the upper two per cent of the income pyramid. Look into treasury records and lists of big taxpayers. See if TNEC tables on source and amount of income can be brought up to date. II. Status refers to the amounts of deference received. For this, there are no simple or quantifiable indices. Existing indices require personal interviews for their application, are limited so far to local community studies, and are mostly no good anyway. There is the further problem that, unlike class, status involves social relations: at least one to receive and one to bestow the deference. It is easy to confuse publicity with deference-or rather, we do not yet know whether or not volume of publicity should be used as an index to status position, although it is the most easily available (For example: On one or two successive days in mid-March 1952, the following categories of people were mentioned by name in the New York Times-or on selected pages-work this out) III. Power refers to the realization of ones will even if others resist. Like status, this has not been well indexed. I dont think I can keep it a single dimension, but will have to talk (a) of formal authority defined by rights and powers of positions in various institutions, especially military, political, and economic. And (b) powers known informally to be exercised but not formally instituted-pressure group leaders, propagandists with extensive media at their disposal, and so on. IV. Occupation refers to activities that are paid for. Here, again, I must choose just which feature of occupation I should seize upon. (a) If I use the average incomes of various occupations, to rank them, I am of course using occupation as an index, and as the basis of, class. In like manner (b) if I use the status or the power typically attached to different occupations, then I am using occupations as indices, and bases, of power and skill or talent. But this is by no means an easy way to classify people. Skill-no more than status-is not a homogeneous something of which there is more or less. Attempts to treat it as such have usually been put in terms of the length of time required to acquire various skills, and maybe that will have to do, although I hope I can think of something better. Those are the types of problems I will have to solve in order to define analytically and empirically the upper circles, in terms of these four key variables. For purposes of design, assume I have solved them to my satisfaction, and that I have distributed the population in terms of each of them. I would then have four sets of people: those at the top in class, status, power, and skill. Suppose further, that I had singled out the top two per cent of each distribution, as an upper circle. I then confront this empirically answerable question: How much, if any, overlap is there among each of these four distributions? One range of possibilities can be located within this simple chart: (+ = top two per cent; = lower 98 per cent). CLASS ___________________________________________ + __ STATUS STATUS ____________________________________________________________ _____________ + __ + __ + Skill + 1 2 3 4 Power __ 5 6 8 8 Skill + 9 10 11 12 __ 13 14 15 16 __________________ _______________________________________________________ This diagram, if I had the materials to fill it, would contain major data and many important problems for a study of the upper circles. It would provide keys to many definitional and substantive questions. I dont have the data, and I shant be able to get it-which makes it all the more important that I speculate about it, for in the course of such reflection, if it is guided by the desire to approximate the empirical requirements.

Rhenium Oxide (ReO3) and Highly Applied Pressure

Rhenium Oxide (ReO3) and Highly Applied Pressure Describe the symmetry characteristics of the ReO3 polymorphs and their relationship to applied pressure. Rhenium Oxide also known as ReO3 has been researched and looked into detail widely with the use of highly applied pressure. ReO3 is described as a non distorted structure at surrounding pressure levels. Accurate and precise measurements of the pressure-volume relationship crafted by Batloff showed that the transistion pressure was at a value of 5.0kbar and also presented that volume strain is related to (P-PC)2/3. Differences in volume strain was evidently great when comparing with other materials that went through the same process.The reason for this large difference was due to the buckling of the Re-O-Re bonds while ReO6 continued to be firm and strong. With the assumption that octahedral rotation is always as rigid units,stress on rotations that are small will be directly related to the square of the rotation angle, Ø that leads to Ø2. This in turn would allow the polymorph to transform into various phases. The curvature behaviour which was found by Razavi starts at low temp eratures with pressure level of 3kbar.M3 phonons being triply degenerate allows the surrounding temperature of ReO3 with a ambient pressure to have a Pm-3m symmetry. At this current stage it will undergo a transition to a structure that contains a Im-3 symmetry. When changed to a tetragonal form, it will be P4/mbm at 5.2kbar and cubic Im3 at 7.3kbar at increased levels of pressure. The Im3 structures were formed with the process known as condensation from one, two or three M3 phonons. With this transformation, the cubic structure will go through a rhombohedral phase with the symmetry structure of R-3c. The current R-3c will morph again to a rhombohedral phase. ReO6 being a octahedral undergoes a distortion at high pressure, giving a rotation angle of (P-PC) ÃŽ ² where ÃŽ ²=0.322(5) (ÃŽ ² describes the large critical region where the rotation angle is more than 14Â º) that is valid from pressure levels of 5.0 to 27.4kbar. Pressure measurements are mainly done to identify different h igh pressure formations of the ReO3 and the quantity of these formations. Particularly with the use of the time of flight Laue method, when the pressure formation reaches a value of 15 kbar, the structure deduced as a cubic Im3. Despite, the discovery there was a downturn which was the values tabulated was only at a single pressure point. Therefore the entire formation of the breakdown of the structured could not be figured out. Describe the metrical relationships between the polymorph unit cells and ReO6 octahedral tilting. Use the CIF files to create ATOMS drawings that support your analysis. The malformation of perovskite structures can be acquired with reference from the Pm3m structure by rotating the octahedral about the cubic axes. High tension and stress arrangements can be identified and elaborated with the aid of 23 various rotating arrangements that was discovered by Glazer. Respective symmetry groups for high stress transitions include the P4/mbm and Im3 where both groups are homogenous with the M3 phonon condensation. The element Re is fixed in the 8c position in the Im3 space group with only 2 thermal values whereas the oxygen atoms is found to be at the 24g position with 4 thermal values. With a increased in the loading added to the P4/mbm structure will create a deceasing strain that may deform the structure. P4/mbm being a 7 lattice point structure has a normal way of placing the positions of the elements found in ReO3. The Rhenium element is located in the 2b position while the oxygen atom would be fixated in the 4h and 2a position. In the presence of surro unding atmospheric pressure, the direct dependency of the oxygen atoms is fairly lower in the Im3 group than the one found in the Pm3m.In the Im3 unit cell for the ReO3, rotation was done around the coordinates of (111) for the eight sided compound. Evidently P4/mbm produces a nonzero seven sided pull that creates a positive and negative strain value. This rotation created the process of condensation that affected all three M3 phonons. Deformation in the eight sided ReO6 produces two different Re-O bond distances in the P4/mbm formation while there would only be a single Re-O bond found in the Im3 strucutres.Re-O bonds parallel with the c axis will remain in a pressed state when turned whereas Re-O bond that are normal to the c axis will not be in a pressed position but instead arranged in an order where there are gaps.However both formations include double O-O corners of the octahedron that is used to quantify any errors in ReO6.However the O-O distances found in the Im3 and P4/mbm are varied at a pressure value of 27.40kbar that leads to certain abnormalities but can be ignored as trivial. Explain the distortion of the ReO6 octahedra with pressure and quantify the ReO6 octahedral titlting. The deformation and the distortion of the ReO6 octahedron is usually found in the P4/mbm and Im3 structures. Starting with the P4/mbm, there are two symmetry Re-O bonds which are not equal in nature. With the process known as the powder neutron diffraction , the results obtained shows the in depth structural details of the transformation with the function of pressure and thus this confirms that at least 2 high pressure phases are present. When the ReO6 octahedra are rotated they are observed more with ease through the neutrons than the x rays. The method known as Rietveld method of the structural refinement with the high resolution powder data produces the single-crystal neutron diffraction study and this would allow the pressure dependence of the distortion to be measured with sufficient accuracy to state that the order parameter exponent ÃŽ ² where Ø is proportional to the (P-Pc) ÃŽ ² presents the pressure dependence of the rotation angle. This pressure based on the rotation ang le is illustrated well by the law of power in the formula Ø~(P-Pc) ÃŽ ².Ø against the pressure and the curve is plotted with this reference. The result from the exponent ÃŽ ² was obtained with the linear gradient of the slope of the lnØ against the ln(P-Pc) curve that produces the value of ÃŽ ²=0.322(5). Through the discrepancies Ø is always continuing with the stress value of 5 kbar despite the direction of the rotation axis that would vary from (100) to (111) during the change from P4/mbm to the Im3 phase (5.3kbar). With condensation of one, two or three M3 phonons would increase the phase transition from Pm3m to P4/mbm to I4/mm and lastly to the Im3 that have usually been seen in Nax WO3 during the M3 phonon condensation upon cooling. The parameter for the phase transition would be a three component order with the Ø as the magnitude of the rotation angle surrounding the direction of the rotation aixs. The transformation from Pm3m to any of the groups between the P4 /mbm, I4/mmm and Im3 would be the first order that would produce from the rotation around a axis. Abnormalities in the lattice during the transformation would have been seen in the Nax WO3.

Properties of Some Ayurvedic Bhasmas

Properties of Some Ayurvedic Bhasmas Investigation of Structure, Microbiological and Cytotoxic Properties of Some Ayurvedic Bhasmas Introduction Ayurveda is the traditional Hindu medicine system practiced extensively in South Asia. In Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda is basically made of two components, Ayush life and Veda science and knowledge. This states clearly that science of life is Ayurveda. From ancient period Ayurvedic medicine is in use with the objectives: i) to enhance health status physically, mentally and spiritually free of illness and ii) to cure disease with the help of natural diet, medicine. In ancient period if people get sick and injured there was a trend of use of medicine which is also known as folk medicine. Use of Bhasmas as Ayurvedic medicine has been known from as an alternative medicine. Use of traditional medicine includes Ayurveda, Ancient Iraninan, Korean and African medicine. But recently WHO has noticed that use of these medicines in inappropriate way may give some negative and toxic results. And research work is to be done for its safety and ascertinity. These days microorganisms are common org anisms for causing disease (Shubha Hiremath, 2010). Some of them can be cured with daily hygienic processes but most of them can be removed and recovered with the use of medicines. Ayurveda is the traditional Hindu medicine system practiced extensively in South Asia. Ayurvedic medicine has wide range of composition, which also includes Bhasmas. Literally, Bhasma is something that is obtained from the process of calcination. Generally, calcination and incineration of any gem or metal substance is performed to prepare such formulations and used in any medicinal purpose as Ayurvedic medicine (Kumar Pal, 2015). The Bhasmas are prepared from metals like gold, silver, iron, lead, mercury and arsenic and so on (see Tables 1 and 2). Metal constituent are supposed to have positive impact to human health through Ayurvedic perspective. However, in modern synthetic medicine heavy metal are considered toxic. The objective of this study is to test the impacts of these drugs on growth of microorganism. Lead, mercury and arsenic is considered as the harmful compound that may lead to different kinds of disease especially cancer (Patra, Bhattacharya, Mukhopadhyay, Mukherjee, 2010). The aim in this work is to analyze the selected Bhasma drugs with respect to their structure, perform their antimicrobial susceptibility tests and also to analyze the cytotoxic effect towards the cell lines. Furthermore, if there is any antimicrobial and cytotoxic behavior of the drugs, the attempts will be made to answer the following questions: Is the given Bhasmas effect related to the presence of heavy metal compound? Is the effect the result of other materials that has been added for the preparation of that Ayurvedic Bhasma? Table 1. Some of the Bhasmas intended to be studied in the proposed work S. No. Name of Bhasma Content (metal) 1 Parad Mercury 2 Hartal Arsenic 3 Manoshila Arsenic 4 Naag Lead 5 Shisak Lead 6 Kajjali Mercury 7 Ras sindur Mercury 8 Kajjali Mercury 9 Jasada Zinc 10 Loha Iron 11 Rajat Silver 12 Sworna Gold Tabl 2: Some Bhasmas that are produced by calcination of corresponding mineral compounds S. No. Name Source 1 Coury Cowry shell 2 Abraka Mica 3 Muga Coral 4 Sankha Conch shell 5 Sipi Oyster shell 6 Moti Pearl shell Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of medicine dating back to 5000BC. Literally the science of life, it uses animal, plant, mineral and metal based medicines to cure diseases. (Barve, Mashru, Jagtap, Pargiri, Prajapati, 2011) (Patwardhan Mashelkar, 2009) A part of Ayurveda called Rasasatra is concerned with drugs of the metal-mineral origin, their processing technique, properties and therapeutic applications (Sarkar, Das, Prajapati, 2010). In Ayurveda, the drugs with mineral origin are considered more effective than those of animal and plant origin. Generally, metal minerals in the original form are toxic, non-absorbable and dont have medicinal significance. Therefore, are transformed by various standard protocols before being used as drug. Pharmaceuticals with the metal minerals origin are called Bhasmas. Bhasmas is a calcined powder of mineral, metal, gems (Sangale, Suryawanshi, Chikate, Khot, 2014). Sworna (Gold) Bhasmas, Rajata (Silver) Bhasmas, Tamra (Copper) Bhasma, Loha (Iron) Bhasmas, Jasada (Zinc) Bhasmas and ashes of the minerals like Caury (cowry shells), Muga (corals), Sankha (conch shell), Sipi (oyster shell) and others have been extensively used as Bhasmas in Ayurvedic medicine (Adhikari, 2014) (Krishnamachary, et al., 2012) (Sarkar, Das, Prajapati, 2010) (Wadekar, Rode, Bendale, Patil, Prabhune, 2005). The importance of the proper dose and way of administration of Ayurvedic drugs has been studied. It has been found that improper application of the Bhasmas lead to the death of the patients. The death is due to the accumulation of the heavy metals in the soft cells (Sarkar, Das, Prajapati, 2010) (Kapoor, 2010). However, heavy metals are drugs if they are supplied within recommended limits on their labels for plant and animal. Preparation methods determine the therapeutic efficiency as well as level of toxicity of the Bhasmas (Nagarajan, Rajan, Krishnan, Sethuraman, 2014). Formulation of Bhasmas based on standard protocol reveals nanostructured morphology. These metallic nanoparticles are taken along with milk, butter, honey, ghee which eliminate their harmful effects and intensify their biocompatibility (Formulation, 2014). Jasada Bhasma has been used for treatment of diabetes, arthritis and tuberculosis. Rajata Bhasma is used to cure muscles wasting, brain diseases and nervous disorder. Similarly, Sworna Bhasma is used for arthritis and rheumatoid (Adhikari, 2014) (Patwardhan Mashelkar, 2009). These are the ancient formulation of the metal and minerals based drugs in Ayurveda. In modern medicine, the trend of the using the metal nanoparticle is increasing for curing diseases. Modern nanoparticles through a several chemical modifications are used in the preparation of the nanodrugs. Recent trend on modern medicine shows that nanoparticles from gold, silver, iron, zinc can be used against several chronic diseases. Gold nanoparticles have high therapeu tic potential to fight against cancer and act as drug delivery vehicles (Khan, Vishakante, Siddaramaiah, 2013) (Dobrovolskaia McNeil, 2007) (Patra, Bhattacharya, Mukhopadhyay, Mukherjee, 2010). Therefore, the systematic studies of the many Bhasmas are still behind the horizon. Such Bhasmas may have potential for higher therapeutic values for curing chronic diseases. So, to investigate the science behind the different Ayurvedic Bhasmas, in particular with respect to their structiure-properties correlations, and their medicinal values will be the topic of the proposed project. The proposed research will encompass different interesting questions which will be attempted to solve in the course of the study. What is the physico-chemical and microscopic structure of the given Bhama? Is it a kind of nanomedicine with respect to its structure? What is the real chemical compositions? How do Bhasmas differ with respect to their microbiological effects on the human body? Will the Bhasma show significant cytotoxic effect only towards diseased cells? How will the normal cell lines respond? Can a correlation be established between the structure and properties of the Bhasmas? Although heavy metals have proved poisonous effects and have a predominantly unfavorable reputation in the modern scientific society, these have been used as pharmaceutical agents since first century B.C. Traditional literature like Rasatarangini, Charaksamita, Rasratnasammuchaya compiled the processing, manufacturing and therapeutic application of heavy metal containing drugs. Different studies show that formulation with heavy metal has toxic effect. The toxicity level depends upon various factors such as processing of raw materials, method and amount of consumption. Heavy metals with nanoscopic structure are generally absorbable inside cell. Recent trend also shows that nanoparticles of gold, arsenic, silver have pharmaceutical potentiality. Thats why well documented study on Bhasmas prepared from heavy metals is needed for their appropriate use as well as for the proper understanding of their structure-properties relationships. Preliminary works have been performed in a variety of Ayurvedic drugs including some drugs comprising Arsenic compounds (Harital) by the research group comprising the some of these members of the present consortium (Panta, Bhandari and Lamsal, and Adhikari 2017). Microscopic, spectroscopic and antibacterial tests were performed on some of the drugs. The compounds exhibited quite strong antibacterial activities again gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Nanomechanical aspects of the Bhamsa drugs were also review some time ago to find the parallel between modern nanomedicine and ancient ayurvedic Bhasma (Adhikari, 2014). Thus, there is a sufficient background information and nalaytical skill in the research group to perform successfully the proposed research works. The proposed work is aimed at the investigation of physico-chemical structure as well as microbiological and cytotoxic properties of different Bhasmas. To elucidate the composition and structure of Bhasma. To see the positive effect of components, present in Bhasma. To study the toxicity of Bhasma on microorganisms and cell lines. To bridge the gap between modern medicine and traditional medicine practice. The research will begin with detail literature survey to eliminate the possibility of duplication and to determine possibility of conflict of interest. The commercial Bhasma will be collected and sample preparation will be done in accordance to the availability of Bhasma in the market while strictly following the procedure described in the Ayurvedic books. Pertinent physical and chemical properties will be studied and the sample will be sent for characterization. X-Ray Diffraction, Optical Microscopy, Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopic Analysis will be performed. After characterization, based on the composition, the proper solvent for the drugs to enter the cell will be selected. Biological assay will then be carried out according to standard protocol. The assays include anti-microbial, cytotoxicity and antidiabetic. The obtained results of all above tests will be compile and analyzed manually or using computer software wherever applicable. The report will then be prepared. The ab ove process is illustrated in the flowchart below. The research plan including the anylytical procedure is depicted in Scheme 1. Scheme 1: Flowsheet depicting the analytical and research plan for the proposed work         Ã‚   It has been proved by earlier studies that the Bhasmas prepared after using standard protocol should reveal nanoparticles which are thus expected to show anti-microbial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. It is the topic to explorer the opportunities that the Bhasmas might exhibit pharmaceutical potentiality against cancer, diabetic and HIV/ AIDS. This study is expected to deliver the following outcome after completion of the works. Provide necessary scientific foundation for structure and composition of the Bhasmas. This study may be able to clarify the issue of contradiction related to the statement telling Ayurvedic formulations with heavy metals are toxic to health. The study will deliver the structure-antibacterial properties correlations of very important traditional medicinal practice of the country. Limitations This study does not cover any Ayurvedic formulation based on herbs and animals. This research does not include detail mechanism of action of the Bhasmas on tested parameters. This work does not associate in any way to the psychological, psychiatric and social impacts that might arrive after the use of Bhasmas. Delimitations This project will bring Ayurveda from supplemental medicine to main stream treatment practice. This work may change the notion that heavy metals in all form are detrimental to health. The facilities available in the laboratory in the REACST will be primarily sufficient for performing major part of the study. Some of the samples have to be sent to other laboratories. This study associates with a variety of people who have been working with Bhasmas as family business for many generations. The result of this work, if contradicting with their practices, might affect their livelihood. The formulation of Bhasmas will be done in isolated condition using standard protocol and also focus to minimize metal hazards during study. This project does not incorporate all the aspects of heavy metals impact in body. Thus, any action based solely on this work might cause on foreseen effects. S.N Task to be done Tentative time 1 Literature review 8 weeks 2 Chemical and instrument collection 4 weeks 3 Commercial sample collection 4 weeks 4 Sample preparation 16 weeks 5 Characterization 16 weeks 6 Biological Assay Antimicrobial test 4 weeks Cytotoxicity (Anti-cancer) 6 weeks Anti-diabetic 10 weeks 7 Data Analysis 8 weeks 8 Preparation of initial draft of report 8 weeks 9 Finalization of report 12 weeks Total Time 96 weeks = 1 year 10 month Estimated Budget S. No. Title Amount (Rs.) 1. Chemical Formulation Rs. 30,000/- Antimicrobial test Rs. 30,000/- Cytotoxicity test Rs. 40,000/- Antidiabetics test Rs. 40,000/- 2. Instruments Rs. 1,50,000/- 3. Commercial Sample Rs. 10,000/- 4. Transportation and Courier for Characterization Rs. 40,000/- 5. Stationary and Logistics Rs. 30,000/- 6. Miscellaneous (printing, binding, communications etc.) Rs. 20,000/- 7. Laboratory chemicals Rs. 60,000/- Total Rs. 4,50,000/- Today nano-medicine is emerging as new revolution worldwide and has several promises. The exploration of nano-formulations in medical field has made us to dream of several opportunities. The study of the Bhasmas will help to gain those goals. There is higher chance of innovation of new drugs by mixing the indigenous knowledge with modern technology of drug discovery and delivery. These efforts on Bhasmas are directed toward finding solution to crucial issues of infectious disease and in particular tackling with more vulnerability the comeback of diabetics, HIV/AIDS and the devastating spread of cancer in world. However, more effort has to be done to uplift the potentiality of Bhasmas to that of modern nanodrugs. More research is desirable which explore the co-relation between structural nature and mechanism associated with their therapeutic activity. This study can provide pathway to enhance the use of traditional Ayurvedic medicine and helps to preserve the traditional knowledge. References       Adhikari, R. (2014). Ayurvedic Bhasmas: Overview on Nanomaterialistic Aspects, Applications, and Perspectives. Infectious Diseases and Nanomedicine I, 23-32. doi:10.1007/978-81-322-1777-0_3 Barve, M., Mashru, M., Jagtap, C., Pargiri, B. J., Prajapati, P. K. (2011). Therapuetic potentials of metals in ancient India: A review through Charaka Samhita. Journal of Ayurveda and Intregative Medicine, 2(2), 55-63. Retrieved from http://imsear.hellis.org/handle/123456789/172982 Dobrovolskaia, M. A., McNeil, S. E. (2007). Immunological properties of engineered nanomaterials. Nature nanotechnology, 2(8), 469-478. doi:10.1038/nnano.2007.223 Formulation, c. a.-m. (2014). Rasheed, Arun; Naik, Madhu; Haneefa, Kotappadath Pillanayil Mohammed; Kumar, Raveendran Pillai Arun; Azeem, Abdul Kharim. Pak. J. Pharm. Sci, 27(4), 793-800. Retrieved from http://applications.emro.who.int/imemrf/Pak_J_Pharm_Sci/Pak_J_Pharm_Sci_2014_27_4_793_800.pdf Kapoor, R. C. (2010). Some observations on the metal-based preparations in Indian systems of medicine. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 9(3). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2248/3544 Khan, M. S., Vishakante, G. D., Siddaramaiah, H. (2013). Gold nanoparticles: a paradigm shift in biomedical applications. Advances in colloid and interface science, 199, 44-58. doi:10.1016/j.cis.2013.06.003 Krishnamachary, B., Rajendran, N., Pemiah, B., Krishnaswamy, S., Krishnan, U. M., Sethuraman, S., Sekar, R. K. (2012). Scientific validation of the different purification steps involved in the preparation of an Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Lauha bhasma. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 142(1), 98-104. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2012.04.021 Kumar Pal, S. (2015). The Ayurvedic Bhasma: The Ancient Science of Nanomedicine. Recent Patents on Nanomedicine, 5(1), 12-18. Nagarajan, S. a., Rajan, K., Krishnan, U., Sethuraman, S. (2014). Scientific insights in the preparation and characterisation of a lead-based naga bhasma. Indian journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 76(1), 38-45. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4007254/ Panta, P, Bhandari, T. R, Lamsal B., and Adhikari, R. unpublished results (2017) Patra, C. R., Bhattacharya, R., Mukhopadhyay, D., Mukherjee, P. (2010). Fabrication of gold nanoparticles for targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 62(3), 346-361. doi:10.1016/j.addr.2009.11.007 Patwardhan, B., Mashelkar, R. A. (2009). Traditional medicine-inspired approaches to drug discovery: Can Ayurveda show the way forward. Drug discovery today, 14(15), 804-811. doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2009.05.009 Sangale, M. D., Suryawanshi, M., Chikate, C., Khot, R. (2014). Comparative studies and analysis of Jasandand Nag bhasma prepared by different Ayurvedic pharmaceuticals. International Journal of Advanced Scientific and Technical Research, 2(4). Retrieved from http://rspublication.com/ijst/2014/april14/29.pdf Sarkar, P. K., Das, S., Prajapati, P. K. (2010). Ancient concept of metal pharmacology based on Ayurvedic literature. Ancient science of life, 29(4), 1-6. Shubha, S. H., Hiremath, R. S. (2010). Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of Rasaka Bhasma. AYU: An International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda, 31(2), 260-262. Wadekar, M. P., Rode, C. V., Bendale, Y. N., Patil, K. R., Prabhune, A. A. (2005). Preparation and characterization of a copper based Indian traditional drug: Tamra bhasma. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 39(5), 951-955. doi:10.1016/j.jpba.2005.06.015 Association to national Priority Ayurvedic drugs are indigenous technology of Nepal. The practice incorporates a wide variety of social groups during the raw material collection, purification, processing, delivery and prescription of medicine. Moreover, the need of raw materials opens door to industrial and entrepreneur investment. The work we have proposed thus can impact a variety of national priority which will be described in detail below Bhasma is found to have significant effect on the cure of tuberculosis. They are also expected to cure diabetes, cancer and other non-communicable diseases. The reduction of these communicable and non-communicable disease is a part of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). The formulations studied in our work can play a major role in meeting the SDG as well as in improving the health indicators not covered in SDG but is a common health problem in Nepal such as rheumatic and skin disease [SDG] The production and dissemination of Bhasma is a multi-step process requiring a variety of manpower. It demands unskilled manpower for labor works necessary in all steps, semi-skilled manpower for the production and distribution of medicines as well as skilled manpower like doctors, chemists, administrators to supervise the whole operation. Hence understanding and commercialization of Bhasma can significantly contribute to employ not only local manpower but also help bring back the manpower currently outside Nepal. Bhasma is unquestionably the local intellectual property of Nepal which requires protection before it becomes the victim of modern medicine hegemony and foreign trademark. This work will be a step to the documentation, standardization and recognition of the ancient knowledge which is not yet accepted as a scientific truth. Understanding and patenting the rights in the country will prevent local knowledge from being foreign property. This project is also a step towards proper documentation and preservation of rare and endangered books. Preparation of Bhasma is a traditional example of top-down nanofabrication. Nanoscience and nanotechnology is a burning research field. However, only a handful of work has been done in this field. Government as well as private investors are reluctant to investment on nanoscience. This project can be an invitation to industries as well as academia to focus on nanomaterial synthesis and use to solution of everyday problem.