Blood pressure Essay

Question One: Hypertension (in addition to a number of medical conditions) may be considered as primary or secondary. Explain these concepts giving three examples of secondary hypertension and their pathophysiology. Most of the conditions that cause secondary hypertension involve the overproduction of one of the body’s hormones. Some of the medical problems that can cause secondary hypertension include: Kidney disease. Secondary hypertension is related to damaged kidneys or to an abnormal narrowing of one or both renal arteries. The renal arteries are the major blood vessels that bring blood to each kidney. When the kidney’s blood supply is reduced by a narrowing (called renal artery stenosis), the kidney produces high levels of a hormone called renin. High levels of renin trigger the production of other substances in the body that raise blood pressure, particularly a molecule called angiotensin II. Adrenal disease. The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys and produce several hormones that help regulate blood pressure. Sometimes, one or both adrenal glands make and secrete an excess of one of these hormones. Three different types of adrenal gland conditions cause high blood pressure: Pheochromocytoma. A tumour of the adrenal gland that overproduces the hormones epinephrine (adrenalin) and norepinephrine (noradrenalin). Hyperaldosteronism (also called Conn’s syndrome). Both adrenal glands can overproduce the salt-retaining hormone aldosterone or it can arise in a benign adrenal tumour. Hypercortisolism (also called Cushing’s syndrome). Both adrenal glands can overproduce the hormone cortisol or it can arise in a benign or malignant tumour. Hyperparathyroidism. A hormone called parathormone is made by four tiny glands in the neck called parathyroid glands. If the glands produce too much hormone, calcium levels in the blood increase. People with hyperparathyroidism are more likely to have high blood pressure. The exact reason for this association is not known. Question Two: Roger was a symptomatic and only came in for a check up. Why is it important for this ‘silent disease’ to be detected and appropriately treated? As blood flows through arteries it pushes against the inside of the artery walls. The more pressure the blood exerts on the artery walls, the higher the blood pressure will be. The size of small arteries also affects the blood pressure. When the muscular walls of arteries are relaxed, or dilated, the pressure of the blood flowing through them is lower than when the artery walls narrow, or constrict. Blood pressure is highest when the heart beats to push blood out into the arteries. When the heart relaxes to fill with blood again, the pressure is at its lowest point. Blood pressure when the heart beats is called systolic pressure. Blood pressure when the heart is at rest is called diastolic pressure. When blood pressure is measured, the systolic pressure is stated first and the diastolic pressure second. Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). For example, if a person’s systolic pressure is 120 and diastolic pressure is 80, it is written as 120/80 mm Hg. T he American Heart Association has long considred blood pressure less than 140 over 90 normal for adults. However, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland released new clinical guidelines for blood pressure in 2003, lowering the standard normal readings. A normal reading was lowered to less than 120 over less than 80. Hypertension is a major health problem, especially because it has no symptoms. Many people have hypertension without knowing it. In the United States, about 50 million people age six and older have high blood pressure. Hypertension is more common in men than women and in people over the age of 65 than in younger persons. More than half of all Americans over the age of 65 have hypertension. It also is more common in African-Americans than in white Americans. Hypertension is serious because people with the condition have a higher risk for heart disease and other medical problems than people with normal blood pressure. Serious complications can be avoided by getting regular blood pressure checks and treating hypertension as soon as it is diagnosed. If left untreated, hypertension can lead to the following medical conditions: arteriosclerosis, also called atherosclerosis heart attack stroke enlarged heart kidney damage. Arteriosclerosis is hardening of the arteries. The walls of arteries have a layer of muscle and elastic tissue that makes them flexible and able to dilate and constrict as blood flows through them. High blood pressure can make the artery walls thicken and harden. When artery walls thicken, the inside of the blood vessel narrows. Cholesterol and fats are more likely to build up on the walls of damaged arteries, making them even narrower. Blood clots also can get trapped in narrowed arteries, blocking the flow of blood. Arteries narrowed by arteriosclerosis may not deliver enough blood to organs and other tissues. Reduced or blocked blood flow to the heart can cause a heart attack. If an artery to the brain is blocked, a stroke can result. Hypertension makes the heart work harder to pump blood through the body. The extra workload can make the heart muscle thicken and stretch. When the heart becomes too enlarged it cannot pump enough blood. If the hypertension is not treated, the heart may fail. The kidneys remove the body’s wastes from the blood. If hypertension thickens the arteries to the kidneys, less waste can be filtered from the blood. As the condition worsens, the kidneys fail and wastes build up in the blood. Dialysis or a kidney transplant are needed when the kidneys fail. About 25% of people who receive kidney dialysis have kidney failure caused by hypertension. Question Three: The renin-angiotensin system plays a central role in blood pressure regulation. Explain the renin-angiotensin system with reference to Conn’s syndrome. The Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System is a hormone system that regulates BP and fluid balance. When blood volume is low, the juxtaglomerular cells in the kidneys secrete Renin directly into circulation. Plasma Renin converts a polypeptide called Angiotensinogen, which is secreted from Liver into Angiotensin I, which in turn is converted to Angiotensin II (or ATII) by the enzyme called ACE (Angiotensin converting enzyme) found in the lungs. It so happens that Angiotensin II is a potent vaso-active peptide that causes blood vessels to constrict, resulting in increased blood pressure. Angiotensin II also stimulates the secretion of the hormone Aldosterone from Adrenal cortex. Aldosterone causes the tubules of the kidneys to increase the reabsorption of sodium and water into the blood. This increases the volume of fluid in the body, which also increases blood pressure. If the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is too active, blood pressure will be too high. There are many drugs that interrupt different steps in this system to lower blood pressure. These drugs are one of the main ways to control HBP, heart failure, renal failure and the harmful effects of Diabetes. Angiotensin II is degraded to angiotensin III by angiotensinases located in red blood cells and the vascular beds of most tissues. Angiotensin III has 40% of the pressor action of ATII, but 100% of the aldosterone-producing activity of ATII. Angiotensin II has autocrine, paracrine and endocrine actions on different systems: Cardiovascular effects: AT II is the most powerful vasopressor known, constricting both arteries and veins. Myocyte growth is stimulated through a local tissue RAAS. The same system can be activated in the smooth muscle cells in conditions of HTN or endothelial damage thus contributing to and accelerating the process of Atherosclerosis. Neurological effects: ATII increases the thirst sensation by directly stimulating the Subfornical organ of the brain (Dipsogenic action). AT II also decreases the response of Baroreceptor reflex. ATII increases secretions of both ADH and ACTH besides stimulating postganglionic sympathetic fibers to secrete Noradrenaline. Adrenal effects: Angiotensin II acts on the Adrenal cortex causing it to release Aldosterone, a hormone that causes the kidneys to retain sodium and lose potassium.

October Sky Movie Essay

October Sky†¯is a movie about how a hillbilly†¯accomplished his dream of building rockets and got out from the falling mining hometown named†¯Coalwood. Homer Hickam, the main character of the movie, would never succeed in his rocket dream without the extraordinary inspiration and encouragement from Miss†¯Riley. An outstanding educator will focus on enlightening students and†¯extending†¯their†¯limits instead of instructing strict rules and following rigid†¯formats. The teacher in the movie, Miss Riley, recognizes the potential in every student, not only the ones with visible ability.†¯ She would use†¯philosophical†¯stories and her experience and observation to help her students to orient their dreams. All†¯the positive impacts on the students came†¯from the unique personality of the instructor. There is a remarkable†¯dialogue†¯that touches my heart and wins my approval in the†¯movie October Sky. When Homer and his partners were going to launch their rocket, some of the town residents had found their blockhouse and had been waiting for†¯their†¯launch. Miss Riley said to Homer, â€Å"You do not have to prove anything to anybody.† Miss Riley said that to the boys to make them feel more relaxed and try to comfort them from†¯nervousness. Even Homer’s father, John Hickam,†¯didn’t†¯believe his son could be successful in†¯building†¯rocket. Miss Riley gave support to the rocket boys and helped them to approach their goal as much she could, such as ordering a book for Homer. In the beginning, Principal Turner reprimand Miss Riley for giving her students false hopes and wasting their time; and confiscated Homer’s rocket and the book about rockets. It was Miss Riley helped to get Homer’s things back and directed him to pursue his goal even though there would be obstacles along the way and he should not fear.†¯ Homer’s father, John Hickam, and Ike†¯Bykovsky†¯both†¯had influence on Homer’s coming of age. The†¯effects from them were definitely not the elements that motivated Homer to achieve his ambition, but they taught Homer his responsibility to the family. Ike rather stayed at mining†¯for higher salary†¯than†¯go back to work in car shop. For the reason that his family was in poverty, his choice headed him to†¯death. In another accident, John was severely wounded, Homer picked up the responsibility to support family as his father had done. John was one of the major†¯obstacles for Homer to†¯accomplish†¯his rocket†¯dream. His father wanted to make Homer to be an exceptional miner in†¯Coalwood then take his place in the Company, so he threw Homer’s rocket equipment out and  sneered at†¯Homer. John had constructed his plan for Homer’s future;†¯nevertheless, Homer hated to be a†¯miner. John’s unsupportive actions towards Homer’s rocket dream were absolutely†¯negative†¯to Homer. But John gave Homer a†¯positive†¯lecture about how to treat friends when John saved†¯O’Dell†¯from his†¯drunken†¯stepfather†¯ou tside the police station. Homer shaped his outlook and grew up to be a man from Ike†¯Bykovsky†¯and John†¯Hickam’s valuable lectures. In†¯this tangible world, educators do not†¯necessary†¯have to be human being. Anything that inspires us can be our role model. The similarity between a physical object or an event and an instructor is that they both can give students positive impacts through affirmative representations. There is another movie that inspired†¯me named,†¯Life of†¯Pi. It is a sad story about how an Indian teenager survived from a marine peril with a tiger.†¯Ã¢â‚¬ ¯When Pi was a child, he converted himself to several religions, and his father told him that having several different faiths in the meanwhile is equal to not believing†¯in anything at†¯all. His mother explained a different idea to him which is, science takes over†¯our outside†¯world and it never gets inside†¯our heart,†¯only†¯faith does. This short†¯conversation†¯in the movie has its own†¯charm;†¯it reveals some truth to me, and affects me on†¯developing†¯my†¯standard of treating the world. Pi’s experience of sailing the sea taught me†¯that†¯no matter how slight the chance†¯is we should never†¯lose†¯hope. Even though the movie did not convey these ideas directly to us, it gave us†¯the direction to imagine. As the interpretation above,†¯great educators always use stories and their experiences to enlighten†¯students.†¯Ã¢â‚¬ ¯That†¯is where usually the positive sources come from. In October Sky, Quentin, one†¯of the rocket boys, could also be†¯seen as†¯a great teacher to†¯Homer. It was him who introduced Homer the basic†¯ideas†¯about†¯rocket; Homer would probably never recognize his hidden potential without Quentin. Before making friends with Homer and the other two Rocket boys, Quentin was the biggest geek in their school. He continued school without having a social life†¯and†¯friends.†¯Ã¢â‚¬ ¯Quentin came from a poor family in the poor†¯Coalwood neighborhood; he had†¯nothing†¯but a clever†¯brain. Rocket Dream joined Quentin and Homer together, and they were attracted by each other’s qualities as well. Homer desired Quentin’s†¯knowledge, and Quentin†¯wanted Homer’s†¯bravery and compassion†¯which encouraged him to pursue his†¯dream. They were not only a good friend to  each other, but also†¯a good teacher to each other. Educators giving great positive impact and support to their students do†¯not require obtaining a high diploma, but the ability to recognize the student’s potential and discover their possibility for greatness. Great educators come with a unique personality.†¯ The most primary job of educators is not to make their†¯students to be†¯solely erudite, but to offer them confidence and understanding to pursue†¯their†¯dreams,†¯just†¯like what Miss Riley have done for the rocket boys.

The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 23. Memories

Tm so sorry, Seth. I should have been closer.† Edward was still apologizing, and I didn't think that was either fair or appropriate. After all, Edward hadn't completely and inexcusably lost control of his temper. Edward hadn't tried to rip Jacob's head off – Jacob, who wouldn't even phase to protect himself – and then accidentally broken Seth's shoulder and collarbone when he jumped in between. Edward hadn't almost killed his best friend. Not that the best friend didn't have a few things to answer for, but, obviously, nothing Jacob had done could have mitigated my behavior. So shouldn't have been the one apologizing? I tried again. â€Å"Seth, I – â€Å" â€Å"Don't worry about it, Bella, I'm totally fine,† Seth said at the same time that Edward said, â€Å"Bella, love, no one is judging you. You're doing so well.† They hadn't let me finish a sentence yet. It only made it worse that Edward was having a difficult time keeping the smile off his face. I knew that Jacob didn't deserve my overreaction, but Edward seemed to find something satisfying in it. Maybe he was just wishing that he had the excuse of being a newborn so that he could do something physical about his irritation with Jacob, too. I tried to erase the anger from my system entirely, but it was hard, knowing that Jacob was outside with Renesmee right now. Keeping her safe from me, the crazed newborn. Carlisle secured another piece of the brace to Seth's arm, and Seth winced. â€Å"Sorry, sorry!† I mumbled, knowing I'd never get a fully articulated apology out. â€Å"Don't freak, Bella,† Seth said, patting my knee with his good hand while Edward rubbed my arm from the other side. Seth seemed to feel no aversion to having me sit beside him on the sofa as Carlisle treated him. â€Å"I'll be back to normal in half an hour,† he continued, still patting my knee as if oblivious to the cold, hard texture of it. â€Å"Anyone would have done the same, what with Jake and Ness – † He broke off mid-word and changed the subject quickly. â€Å"I mean, at least you didn't bite me or anything. That would've sucked.† I buried my face in my hands and shuddered at the thought, at the very real possibility. It could have happened so easily. And werewolves didn't react to vampire venom the same way humans did, they'd told me only now. It was poison to them. â€Å"I'm a bad person.† â€Å"Of course you aren't. I should have – ,† Edward started. â€Å"Stop that,† I sighed. I didn't want him taking the blame for this the way he always took everything on himself. â€Å"Lucky thing Ness – Renesmee's not venomous,† Seth said after a second of awkward silence. ‘†Cause she bites Jake all the time.† My hands dropped. â€Å"She does?† â€Å"Sure. Whenever he and Rose don't get dinner in her mouth fast enough. Rose thinks it's pretty hilarious.† I stared at him, shocked, and also feeling guilty, because I had to admit that this pleased me a teensy bit in a petulant way. Of course, I already knew that Renesmee wasn't venomous. I was the first person she'd bitten. I didn't make this observation aloud, as I was feigning memory loss on those recent events. â€Å"Well, Seth,† Carlisle said, straightening up and stepping away from us. â€Å"I think that's as much as I can do. Try to not move for, oh, a few hours, I guess.† Carlisle chuckled. â€Å"I wish treating humans were this instantaneously gratifying.† He rested his hand for a moment on Seth's black hair. â€Å"Stay still,† he ordered, and then he disappeared upstairs. I heard his office door close, and I wondered if they'd already removed the evidence of my time there. â€Å"I can probably manage sitting still for a while,† Seth agreed after Carlisle was already gone, and then he yawned hugely. Carefully, making sure not to tweak his shoulder, Seth leaned his head against the sofa's back and closed his eyes. Seconds later, his mouth fell slack. I frowned at his peaceful face for another minute. Like Jacob, Seth seemed to have the gift of falling asleep at will. Knowing I wouldn't be able to apologize again for a while, I got up; the motion didn't jostle the couch in the slightest. Everything physical was so easy. But the rest†¦ Edward followed me to the back windows and took my hand. Leah was pacing along the river, stopping every now and then to look at the house. It was easy to tell when she was looking for her brother and when she was looking for me. She alternated between anxious glances and murderous glares. I could hear Jacob and Rosalie outside on the front steps bickering quietly over whose turn it was to feed Renesmee. Their relationship was as antagonistic as ever; the only thing they agreed on now was that I should be kept away from my baby until I was one hundred percent recovered from my temper tantrum. Edward had disputed their verdict, but I'd let it go. I wanted to be sure, too. I was worried, though, that my one hundred percent sure and their one hundred percent sure might be very different things. Other than their squabbling, Seth's slow breathing, and Leah's annoyed panting, it was very quiet. Emmett, Alice, and Esme were hunting. Jasper had stayed behind to watch me. He stood unobtrusively behind the newel post now, trying not to be obnoxious about it. I took advantage of the calm to think of all the things Edward and Seth had told me while Carlisle splinted Seth's arm. I'd missed a whole lot while I was burning, and this was the first real chance to catch up. The main thing was the end of the feud with Sam's pack – which was why the others felt safe to come and go as they pleased again. The truce was stronger than ever. Or more binding, depending on your viewpoint, I imagined. Binding, because the most absolute of all the pack's laws was that no wolf ever kill the object of another wolfs imprinting. The pain of such a thing would be intolerable for the whole pack. The fault, whether intended or accidental, could not be forgiven; the wolves involved would fight to the death – there was no other option. It had happened long ago, Seth told me, but only accidentally. No wolf would ever intentionally destroy a brother that way. So Renesmee was untouchable because of the way Jacob now felt about her. I tried to concentrate on the relief of this fact rather than the chagrin, but it wasn't easy. My mind had enough room to feel both emotions intensely at the same time. And Sam couldn't get mad about my transformation, either, because Jacob – speaking as the rightful Alpha – had allowed it. It rankled to realize over and over again how much I owed Jacob when I just wanted to be mad at him. I deliberately redirected my thoughts in order to control my emotions. I considered another interesting phenomenon; though the silence between the separate packs continued, Jacob and Sam had discovered that Alphas could speak to each other while in their wolf form. It wasn't the same as before; they couldn't hear every thought the way they had prior to the split. It was more like speaking aloud, Seth had said. Sam could only hear the thoughts Jacob wanted to share, and vice versa. They found they could communicate over distance, too, now that they were talking to each other again. They hadn't found all this out until Jacob had gone alone – over Seth's and Leah's objections – to explain to Sam about Renesmee; it was the only time he'd left Renesmee since first laying eyes on her. Once Sam had understood how absolutely everything had changed, he'd come back with Jacob to talk to Carlisle. They'd spoken in human form (Edward had refused to leave my side to translate), and the treaty had been renewed. The friendly feeling of the relationship, however, might never be the same. One big worry down. But there was another that, though not as physically dangerous as an angry wolf pack, still seemed more urgent to me. Charlie. He'd spoken to Esme earlier this morning, but that hadn't kept him from calling again, twice, just a few minutes ago while Carlisle treated Seth. Carlisle and Edward had let the phone ring. What would be the right thing to tell him? Were the Cullens right? Was telling him that I'd died the best, the kindest way? Would I be able to lie still in a coffin while he and my mother cried over me? tt didn't seem right to me. But putting Charlie or Renee in danger of the Volturi's obsession with secrecy was clearly out of the question. There was still my idea – let Charlie see me, when I was ready for that, and let him make his own wrong assumptions. Technically, the vampire rules would remain unbroken. Wouldn't it be better for Charlie if he knew that I was alive – sort of – and happy? Even if I was strange and different and probably frighteningtohim? My eyes, in particular, were much too frightening right now. How long before my self-control and my eye color were ready for Charlie? â€Å"What's the matter, Bella?† Jasper asked quietly, reading my growing tension. â€Å"No one is angry with you† – alow snarl from the riverside contradicted him, but he ignored it – â€Å"or even surprised, really. Well, I suppose we are surprised. Surprised that you were able to snap out of it so quickly. You did well. Better than anyone expects of you.† While he was speaking, the room became very calm. Seth's breathing slipped into a low snore. Ifelt more peaceful, but I didn't forget my anxieties. â€Å"I was thinking about Charlie, actually.† Out front, the bickering cut off. â€Å"Ah,† Jasper murmured. â€Å"We really have to leave, don't we?† I asked. â€Å"For a while, at the very least. Pretend we're in Atlanta or something.† I could feel Edward's gaze locked on my face, but I looked at Jasper. He was the one who answered me in a grave tone. â€Å"Yes. It's the only way to protect your father.† I brooded for a moment. â€Å"I'm going to miss him so much. I'll miss everyone here.† Jacob,I thought, despite myself. Though that yearning was both vanished and defined – and I was vastly relieved that it was – he was still my friend. Someone who knew the real me and accepted her. Even as a monster. I thought about what Jacob had said, pleading with me before I'd attacked him. You said we belonged in each other's lives, right? That we were family. You said that was how you and I were supposed to be. So†¦ now we are. It's what you wanted. But it didn't feel like how I'd wanted it. Not exactly. I remembered further back, to the fuzzy, weak memories of my human life. Back to the very hardest part to remember – the time without Edward, a time so dark I'd tried to bury it in my head. I couldn't get the words exactly right; I only remembered wishing that Jacob were my brother so that we could love each other without any confusion or pain. Family. But I'd never factored a daughter into the equation. I remembered a little later – one of the many times that I'd told Jacob goodbye – wondering aloud who he would end up with, who would make his life right after what I'd done to it. I had said something about how whoever she was, she wouldn't be good enough for him. I snorted, and Edward raised one eyebrow questioningly. I just shook my head at him. But as much as I might miss my friend, I knew there was a bigger problem. Had Sam or Jared or Quil ever gone a whole day without seeing the objects of their fixations, Emily, Kim, and Claire? Could they? What would the separation from Renesmee do to Jacob? Would it cause him pain? There was still enough petty ire in my system to make me glad, not for his pain, but for the idea of having Renesmee away from him. How was I supposed to deal with having her belong to Jacob when she only barely seemed to belong to me? The sound of movement on the front porch interrupted my thoughts. I heard them get up, and then they were through the door. At exactly the same time, Carlisle came down the stairs with his hands full of odd things – a measuring tape, a scale. Jasper darted to my side. As if there was some signal I'd missed, even Leah sat down outside and stared through the window with an expression like she was expecting something that was both familiar and also totally uninteresting. â€Å"Must be six,† Edward said. â€Å"So?† I asked, my eyes locked on Rosalie, Jacob, and Renesmee. They stood in the doorway, Renesmee in Rosalie's arms. Rose looked wary. Jacob looked troubled. Renesmee looked beautiful and impatient. â€Å"Time to measure Ness – er, Renesmee,† Carlisle explained. â€Å"Oh. You do this every day?† â€Å"Four times a day,† Carlisle corrected absently as he motioned the others toward the couch. I thought I saw Renesmee sigh. â€Å"Four times? Every day? Why?† â€Å"She's still growing quickly,† Edward murmured to me, his voice quiet and strained. He squeezed my hand, and his other arm wrapped securely around my waist, almost as if he needed the support. I couldn't take my eyes off Renesmee to check his expression. She looked perfect, absolutely healthy. Her skin glowed like backlit alabaster; the color in her cheeks was rose petals against it. There couldn't be anything wrong with such radiant beauty. Surely there could be nothing more dangerous in her life than her mother. Could there? The difference between the child I'd given birth to and the one I'd met again an hour ago would have been obvious to anyone. The difference between Renesmee an hour ago and Renesmee now was subtler. Human eyes never would have detected it. But it was there. Her body was slightly longer. Just a little bit slimmer. Her face wasn't quite as round; it was more oval by one minute degree. Her ringlets hung a sixteenth of an inch lower down her shoulders. She stretched out helpfully in Rosalie's arms while Carlisle ran the tape measure down the length of her and then used it to circle her head. He took no notes; perfect recall. I was aware that Jacob's arms were crossed as tightly over his chest as Edward's arms were locked around me. His heavy brows were mashed together into one line over his deep-set eyes. She had matured from a single cell to a normal-sized baby in the course of a few weeks. She looked well on her way to being a toddler just days after her birth. If this rate of growth held†¦ My vampire mind had no trouble with the math. â€Å"What do we do?† I whispered, horrified. Edward's arms tightened. He understood exactly what I was asking. â€Å"I don't know.† â€Å"It's slowing,† Jacob muttered through his teeth. â€Å"We'll need several more days of measurements to track the trend, Jacob. I can't make any promises.† â€Å"Yesterday she grew two inches. Today it's less.† â€Å"By a thirty-second of an inch, if my measurements are perfect,† Carlisle said quietly. â€Å"Be perfect, Doc,† Jacob said, making the words almost threatening. Rosalie stiffened. â€Å"You know I'll do my best,† Carlisle assured him. Jacob sighed. â€Å"Guess that's all I can ask.† I felt irritated again, like Jacob was stealing my lines – and delivering them all wrong. Renesmee seemed irritated, too. She started to squirm and then reached her hand imperiously toward Rosalie. Rosalie leaned forward so that Renesmee could touch her face. After a second, Rose sighed. â€Å"What does she want?† Jacob demanded, taking my line again. â€Å"Bella, of course,† Rosalie told him, and her words made my insides feel a little warmer. Then she looked at me. â€Å"How are you?† â€Å"Worried,† I admitted, and Edward squeezed me. â€Å"We all are. But that's not what I meant.† â€Å"I'm in control,† I promised. Thirstiness was way down the list right now. Besides, Renesmee smelled good in a very non-food way. Jacob bit his lip but made no move to stop Rosalie as she offered Renesmee to me. Jasper and Edward hovered but allowed it. I could see how tense Rose was, and I wondered how the room felt to Jasper right now. Or was he focusing so hard on me that he couldn't feel the others? Renesmee reached for me as I reached for her, a blinding smile lighting her face. She fit so easily in my arms, like they'd been shaped just for her. Immediately, she put her hot little hand against my cheek. Though I was prepared, it still made me gasp to see the memory like a vision in my head. So bright and colorful but also completely transparent. She was remembering me charging Jacob across the front lawn, remembering Seth leaping between us. She'd seen and heard it all with perfect clarity. It didn't look like me, this graceful predator leaping at her prey like an arrow arcing from a bow. It had to be someone else. That made me feel a very small bit less guilty as Jacob stood there defenselessly with his hands raised in front of him. His hands did not tremble. Edward chuckled, watching Renesmee's thoughts with me. And then we both winced as we heard the crack of Seth's bones. Renesmee smiled her brilliant smile, and her memory eyes did not leave Jacob through all the following mess. I tasted a new flavor to the memory – not exactly protective, more possessive – as she watched Jacob. I got the distinct impression that she was glad Seth had put himself in front of my spring. She didn't want Jacob hurt. He was hers. â€Å"Oh, wonderful,'71 groaned. â€Å"Perfect.† â€Å"It's just because he tastes better than the rest of us,† Edward assured me, voice stiff with his own annoyance. â€Å"I told you she likes me, too,† Jacob teased from across the room, his eyes on Renesmee. His joking was halfhearted; the tense angle of his eyebrows had not relaxed. Renesmee patted my face impatiently, demanding my attention. Another memory: Rosalie pulling a brush gently through each of her curls. It felt nice. Carlisle and his tape measure, knowing she had to stretch and be still. It was not interesting to her. â€Å"It looks like she's going to give you a rundown of everything you missed,† Edward commented in my ear. My nose wrinkled as she dumped the next one on me. The smell coming from a strange metal cup – hard enough not to be bitten through easily – sent a flash burn through my throat. Ouch. And then Renesmee was out of my arms, which were pinned behind my back. I didn't struggle with Jasper; I just looked at Edward's frightened face. â€Å"What did I do?† Edward looked at Jasper behind me, and then at me again. â€Å"But she was remembering being thirsty,† Edward muttered, his forehead pressing into lines. â€Å"She was remembering the taste of human blood.† Jasper's arms pulled mine tighter together. Part of my head noted that this wasn't particularly uncomfortable, let alone painful, as it would have been to a human. It was just annoying. I was sure I could break his hold, but I didn't fight it. â€Å"Yes,† I agreed. â€Å"And?† Edward frowned at me for a second more, and then his expression loosened. He laughed once. â€Å"And nothing at all, it seems. The overreaction is mine this time. Jazz, let her go.† The binding hands disappeared. I reached out for Renesmee as soon as I was free. Edward handed her to me without hesitation. â€Å"I can't understand,† Jasper said. â€Å"I can't bear this.† I watched in surprise as Jasper strode out the back door. Leah moved to give him a wide margin of space as he paced to the river and then launched himself over it in one bound. Renesmee touched my neck, repeating the scene of departure right back, like an instant replay. I could feel the question in her thought, an echo of mine. I was already over the shock of her odd little gift. It seemed an entirely natural part of her, almost to be expected. Maybe now that I was part of the supernatural myself, I would never be a skeptic again. But what was wrong with Jasper? â€Å"He'll be back,† Edward said, whether to me or Renesmee, I wasn't sure. â€Å"He just needs a moment alone to readjust his perspective on life.† There was a grin threatening at the corners of his mouth. Another human memory – Edward telling me that Jasper would feel better about himself if I â€Å"had a hard time adjusting† to being a vampire. This was in the context of a discussion about how many people I would kill my first newborn year. â€Å"Is he mad at me?† I asked quietly. Edward's eyes widened. â€Å"No. Why would he be?† â€Å"What's the matter with him, then?† â€Å"He's upset with himself, not you, Bella. He's worrying about†¦ self-fulfilling prophecy, I suppose you could say.† â€Å"How so?† Carlisle asked before I could. â€Å"He's wondering if the newborn madness is really as difficult as we've always thought, or if, with the right focus and attitude, anyone could do as well as Bella. Even now – perhaps he only has such difficulty because he believes it's natural and unavoidable. Maybe if he expected more of himself, he would rise to those expectations. You're making him question a lot of deep-rooted assumptions, Bella.† â€Å"But that's unfair,† Carlisle said. â€Å"Everyone is different; everyone has their own challenges. Perhaps what Bella is doing goes beyond the natural. Maybe this is her gift, so to speak.† I froze with surprise. Renesmee felt the change, and touched me. She remembered the last second of time and wondered why. â€Å"That's an interesting theory, and quite plausible,† Edward said. For a tiny space, I was disappointed. What? No magic visions, no formidable offensive abilities like, oh, shooting lightning bolts from my eyes or something? Nothing helpful or cool at all? And then I realized what that might mean, if my â€Å"superpower† was no more than exceptional self-control. For one thing, at least I had a gift. It could have been nothing. But, much more than that, if Edward was right, then I could skip right over the part I'd feared the very most. What if I didn't have to be a newborn? Not in the crazed killing-machine sense, anyway. What if I could fit right in with the Cullens from my first day? What if we didn't have to hide out somewhere remote for a year while I â€Å"grew up†? What if, like Carlisle, I never killed a single person? What if I could be a good vampire right away? I could see Charlie. I sighed as soon as reality filtered through hope. I couldn't see Charlie right away. The eyes, the voice, the perfected face. What could I possibly say to him; how could I even begin? I was furtively glad that I had some excuses for putting things off for a while; as much as I wanted to find some way to keep Charlie in my life, I was terrified of that first meeting. Seeing his eyes pop as he took in my new face, my new skin. Knowing that he was frightened. Wondering what dark explanation would form in his head. I was chicken enough to wait for a year while my eyes cooled. And here I'd thought I would be so fearless when I was indestructible. â€Å"Have you ever seen an equivalent to self-control as a talent?† Edward asked Carlisle. â€Å"Do you really think that's a gift, or just a product of all her preparation?† Carlisle shrugged, ‘it's slightly similar to what Siobhan has always been able to do, though she wouldn't call it a gift.† â€Å"Siobhan, your friend in that Irish coven?† Rosalie asked. 1 wasn't aware that she did anything special. I thought it was Maggie who was talented in that bunch.† â€Å"Yes, Siobhan thinks the same. But she has this way of deciding her goals and then almost†¦ willing them into reality. She considers it good planning, but I've always wondered if it was something more. When she included Maggie, for instance. Liam was very territorial, but Siobhan wanted it to work out, and so it did.† Edward, Carlisle, and Rosalie settled into chairs as they continued with the discussion. Jacob sat next to Seth protectively, looking bored. From the way his eyelids drooped, I was sure he'd be unconscious momentarily. I listened, but my attention was divided. Renesmee was still telling me about her day. I held her by the window wall, my arms rocking her automatically as we stared into each other's eyes. I realized that the others had no reason for sitting down. I was perfectly comfortable standing. It was just as restful as stretching out on a bed would be. I knew I would be able to stand like this for a week without moving and I would feel just as relaxed at the end of the seven days as I did at the beginning. They must sit out of habit. Humans would notice someone standing for hours without ever shifting her weight to a different foot. Even now, I saw Rosalie brush her fingers against her hair and Carlisle cross his legs. Little motions to keep from being too still, too much a vampire. I would have to pay attention to what they did and start practicing. I rolled my weight back to my left leg. It felt kind of silly. Maybe they were just trying to give me a little alone time with my baby – as alone as was safe. Renesmee told me about every minute happening of the day, and I got the feeling from the tenor of her little stories that she wanted me to know her every bit as much I wanted the same thing. It worried her that I had missed things – like the sparrows that had hopped closer and closer when Jacob had held her, both of them very still beside one of the big hemlocks; the birds wouldn't come close to Rosalie. Or the outrageously icky white stuff – baby formula – that Carlisle had put in her cup; it smelled like sour dirt. Or the song Edward had crooned to her that was so perfect Renesmee played it for me twice; I was surprised that I was in the background of that memory, perfectly motionless but looking fairly battered still. I shuddered, remembering that time from my own perspective. The hideous fire†¦ After almost an hour – the others were still deeply absorbed in their discussion, Seth and Jacob snoring in harmony on the couch – Renesmee's memory stories began to slow. They got slightly blurry around the edges and drifted out of focus before they came to their conclusions. I was about to interrupt Edward in a panic – was there something wrong with her? – when her eyelids fluttered and closed. She yawned, her plump pink lips stretching into a round O, and her eyes never reopened. Her hand fell away from my face as she drifted to sleep – the backs of her eyelids were the pale lavender color of thin clouds before the sunrise. Careful not to disturb her, I lifted that hand back to my skin and held it there curiously. At first there was nothing, and then, after a few minutes, a flickering of colors like a handful of butterflies were scattering from her thoughts. Mesmerized, I watched her dreams. There was no sense to it. Just colors and shapes and faces. I was pleased by how often my face – both of my faces, hideous human and glorious immortal – cropped up in her unconscious thoughts. More than Edward or Rosalie. I was neck and neck with Jacob; I tried not to let that get to me. For the first time, I understood how Edward had been able to watch me sleep night after boring night, just to hear me talk in my sleep. I could watch Renesmee dream forever. The change in Edward's tone caught my attention when he said, â€Å"Finally,† and turned to gaze out the window. It was deep, purply night outside, but I could see just as far as before. Nothing was hidden in the darkness; everything had just changed colors. Leah, still glowering, got up and slunk into the brush just as Alice came into view on the other side of the river. Alice swung back and forth from a branch like a trapeze artist, toes touching hands, before throwing her body into a graceful flat spin over the river. Esme made a more traditional leap, while Emmett charged right through the water, splashing water so far that splatters hit the back windows. To my surprise, Jasper followed after, his own efficient leap seeming understated, even subtle, after the others. k The huge grin stretching Alice's face was familiar in a dim, odd way. Everyone was suddenly smiting at me – Esme sweet, Emmett excited, Rosalie a little superior, Carlisle indulgent, and Edward expectant. Alice skipped into the room ahead of everyone else, her hand stretched out in front of her and impatience making a nearly visible aura around her. In her palm was an everyday brass key with an oversized pink satin bow tied around it. She held the key out for me, and I automatically gripped Renesmee more securely in my right arm so that I could open my left. Alice dropped the key into it. â€Å"Happy birthday!† she squealed. I rolled my eyes. â€Å"No one starts counting on the actual day of birth,† I reminded her. â€Å"Your first birthday is at the year mark, Alice.† Her grin turned smug. â€Å"We're not celebrating your vampire birthday. Yet. It's September thirteenth, Bella. Happy nineteenth birthday!†

Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Islam - Essay Example west as the Islamic religion today is actually more than a religion, but rather an explanation and an alternative to the centuries of confusion of idolatry and paganism in the Arabian world, which unified a system of diverse beliefs and practices into a single religious perspective (Aslan, 6). The traditional Arabian paganism had many gods but all of them were supplicating to al-ilah, which then became the Allah of the Islam religion, to mean the creator. The other origin source of Islam religion was a counter-ideology to replace capitalism that was fast replacing the traditional Arabic values of collectivism, after the nomadic lives of the Arabs had quickly transformed into rampant and ruthless capitalism (Armstrong, 71). On the other hand, Islamic religion traces its origin back to the instability of the only dominant religion by then, Christianity. Christianity was characterized by struggles and wrangles amongst the rival camps and even worse, by a streak of persecutions that created a vacuum for a unifying ideology in the Arabian world as advocated by Muhammad the Prophet, which then became Islam (Islam, 83). In this respect, Islam, contrary to what the west considers as a religion, arose as an ideology to create a unification of the traditional values of the Arabs, while also replacing the Christian doctrine existing back in the 6th century, which was

Ethical aspects of science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical aspects of science - Essay Example In an academic context, ethics needs to be considered as ‘an area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behaviour’. Ethics in the academic context is commonly considered to be a branch of philosophy that deals with what is right and what is wrong from a moral point of view.   In general, ethics needs to be considered as all the moral principles that may influence our decisions and correct our behaviour. It needs to be pointed out that these principles can include working, eating, communicating with other people, studying, and so forth.   These principles are meant to keep our own lives and lives of people around in the right order. That is why, since the ancient times people had been expected to follow the rules of ethics and to encourage others to do the same. However, it is necessary to keep in mind that modern world is a complicated place where everything changes fast.   Consequently, the need to adopt ethical theories to the new conditions o f life arises.   Technologies and science develop new ideas faster than ever, and one of the major concerns of science in a context of ethics is a field of biomedical research.   Dramatically fast development of biomedical technologies that happened during the last twenty years produced a huge amount of ethical issues. It is necessary to mention that there is a list of reasons explaining why adherence to ethical norms is so important in a field of research.  Firstly, the aims of any research are knowledge, avoidance of errors.

Role of the U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on America and Essay - 1

Role of the U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on America and the World - Essay Example This paper illustrates that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a very long presidency, lasting three terms, which is unusual since American presidents normally only have one or two terms.   He belonged to the Democrat party and introduced many reforms to include the famous â€Å"New Deal† which aimed to get people back to work after the Depression. In his work abroad he was respected for his diplomacy and he certainly is responsible for helping to bring the Second World War to an end. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as his family name suggests, belonged to a family of Dutch descent. They traced their roots back to the early settlers of America in the region in and around New York and to a Dutch farmer called Nicholas Claes Martenzen von Rosenvelt who came from Holland right at the beginning of the settlement period, in the early 1600s. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s parents were wealthy and they lived in the upper-class Hudson River area. Both James Franklin and Sara Delano had inheri ted money and a good education from their parents and the young Franklin grew up in a happy home, very much loved especially by his mother who was much younger than her husband. After homeschooling by a series of governesses until the age of 14, Roosevelt attended Groton, a private educational establishment led by the school’s founder, Endicott Peabody. This was a very privileged schooling: â€Å"At a time when most educational reformers stressed democracy and equal access to schools, Peabody attempted to build a school where the ‘best families’ of New England would send their sons to prepare them for future positions of leadership.† In some ways, this background excluded the young Roosevelt from the hardships that other people suffered, such as poverty and exclusion from the good things in life, but on the other hand, the Christian morals and hard-working ethic of Peabody’s school gave him a good moral basis for his future life. Having an educated mother who spoke several languages also allowed the young Franklin D. Roosevelt to develop an awareness and understanding of other countries which would come in very useful during his later career.

Discuss the role of repetition and habit in Proust's 'Combray' in Essay

Discuss the role of repetition and habit in Proust's 'Combray' in relation to another novel - Essay Example The early twentieth century saw a determined effort, on the part of the European intelligentsia, to exclude the masses from culture. In England this movement has become known as modernism.’ In this era the modernist writers initiated the trend of depicting the darker or the true picture of life i.e. the brutality and harshness of life. Some of the major thematic concerns of modernist literature include self identity, the relationship of an individual with his history or past and projection of an individual’s inner conflict i.e. the tug of war between the conscious and the sub-conscious mind. In order to be able to do justice to these themes modernist writers makes use of various aspects of human nature such as habit and repetition to highlight these themes in their works. 2. Combray by Proust The novel is in first person narrative. This first section of the novel ‘The Way by Swann's’ is a walk down the memory lane where the protagonist tells the readers abo ut his childhood days in Combray and the people that surrounded him and the manner in which the absence or presence affected him and made him the man he has become. A lot of major themes and characters are introduced to the readers in this first part of the novel. This part of the novel basically focuses on the people surrounding the protagonist and the manner in which those people influence him and ultimately result in making him the man or individual that he becomes. 2.1. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce   This novel is also depicted in first person narrative and just like the former novel it is also a journey of self discovery where the protagonist states the story of his life and the circumstances of his life that made him an individual rather than a replica of his father. The novel is about a boy named Stephen who is surrounded by the people of the modern world who are struggling to bring about a change however they are still unable to do so as their bon ds with their heritage and old norms are very strong. However through this novel Joyce reiterates his point of view that in order to bring about a change one has to start struggling on an individual level first. Moreover a human being has the capacity to make impossible possible. 3. Repetition and Habit Repetition and habit are two aspects of human psychology that project monotony of human life. similarly in modern literature the writers use these themes not only to reflect on the inner turmoil of human mind where it is trying to free itself from the shackles of the stereotypical norms but also help in explaining the role of stream of consciousness and its impact on human life in the modern novels. Writers like Proust and James Joyce are observed to be using repetition and habit in their individual unique manner of depiction. In both the novels In Search of Lost Time the Way by Swann's by Proust and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce  it is observed that writer s use repetition and habit as a tool to reflect upon the confused state of human mind where human existence is like a pendulum and he oscillates between the old norms of the society which are drilled in him since the day he was born and the new trends which he desire to follow to become a modern man. 4. Proust’s writing Technique In Combray Proust’s depiction of habit and repetition is evident in the manner he

BOOKKEEPING SERVICES Small Business Plan Assignment

BOOKKEEPING SERVICES Small Business Plan - Assignment Example The small businesses usually appoint accounting firms for maintaining financial transactions of their business operations effectively and in a cost effective manner. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 History 4 Description of the Business (Bookkeeping Services) 4 Definition of the Market 5 Description of Product or Services 6 Management Structure 7 Objectives and Goals 7 Financial Data 8 References 9 History ‘Accuracy’ is a small and one-person owned business which operates under a ‘Certified Public Accountant’ (CPA) in Los Angeles, United States of America (U.S.A). The firm usually offers tax accounting as well as management accounting services for small business firms. The firm in its initial stage of the commencement of its business generally rendered tax services to small business firms. Later on, the business offered management and cost accounting services as well. Additionally, the business also started offering QuickBook services on acquiring Quick Books Pro Advisor certification. These are the various services which are offered by the firm to small business firms. ... The CPA has planned to expand the business operations of the firm dealing with its bookkeeping services for small businesses. In this regard, investment is required to be made in marketing and staffing process in order to develop the bookkeeping business in an appropriate manner. The business plan has been formulated with the intention of identifying and implementing appropriate strategies required for the expansion of the firm’s business. Description of the Business (Bookkeeping Services) The expanded business of the firm will offer bookkeeping services for small businesses. Bookkeeping is an approach of recording financial transactions of business operations on a daily basis. Small businesses with bookkeeping services will be able to maintain their daily business transactions in an accurate, comprehensive as well as up-to- date fashion (E-conomic UK, 2013). In this respect, bookkeeping services that will be offered by the firm to its clientele will ensure that their financia l transactions are managed accurately and in the most efficient manner. The firm will offer bookkeeping services to small businesses under the supervision of the CPA. The bookkeeping services will be offered at an affordable rate to its clientele. Employees or staff will be hired which will entail undergraduate students to act as bookkeeper. Additionally, a graduate student will be appointed who will be entrusted with the task of managing the activities or operations of the bookkeeping segments. Definition of the Market The firm operates in the market segments of the US where there is a huge demand for bookkeeping service providers as large number of small businesses are significantly involved in appointing accounting and bookkeeping firms with the objective of saving time as

Inclusion in the classroom Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Inclusion in the classroom - Term Paper Example As a result, the children with disabilities are not receiving sufficient and much needed care and attention, and the regular education of students is interrupted all the time. If there are students with special needs, then the educator is obliged to direct disproportionate attention to a small number of students, thus lessening the quantity of energy and time aimed at the rest of the class. Certainly, the variety of abilities is simply too big for one educator to sufficiently teach. As a result, the commission for greater educational responsibility and accomplishment are incapable to be met. There is also great concern for an emotional well being of the students with special needs. Many parents are concerned that other students will be ridiculing the one that stand out in some way. And the teacher cannot always be nearby to support the student with disabilities or protect him. One of the teachers’ goals is to help his students to develop as individuals, with is hard to achieve when some of his students, on the ground having some disabilities, have lowered self-esteem and stigmatized and even persecuted by other students. The learning disabilities field seems to recognize that being treated as an individual can usually be found more easily outside the regular classroom" (Lyon & Vaughn. (1994). p. 15). There are many reasons why the majority of students with special needs benefit more from services received outside the regular classroom. ... Also, as far as the educators’ trainings and abilities, ordinary teachers seldom have a desire or patience for a special student in their class Inclusion is a matter of concerns not only for the parents of children with special needs. There are number of voices against it coming from parents of the students with no disabilities. They are concerned that academic achievements of their children will suffer due to the teacher’s shift of attention to those with disabilities, thus leaving his regular students to be more on their own. Parents of children without disabilities often worry that the curriculum standards will be lowered by the inclusion of students with disabilities and those students with ADHD. Some special educators voice concerns that full inclusion may result in diminished or inadequate specialized services for students who have special needs. They point out that the regular classroom may not be the best setting for every child. Violent and emotionally disorder ed children, for example, may pose a threat to themselves and to their classmates. Overworked classroom teacher have complained that they are given inadequate resources and training to deal with students with disabilities. Ideally, when students with disabilities are included in regular classroom, their teachers receive special training and help from special education teacher who serves as either a co-teacher or a consultant. (Ryan, 2008, p.76-77) The hard work of inclusion do not bring success often because educators in conventional classrooms do not have proper preparation; there is a lack of knowledge about inclusion amongst supervisors, and the financial support for training and resources is usually short. One

Square Pharma Essay Example for Free

Square Pharma Essay The scope of the report was based on the annual reports web site, input from interviews of executives of the SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Limited. To analyze the situation in question, we worked on focusing on SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Limited and analyzing their objectives, market strategies, market situations, product mixes, etc. The analysis was based on the exposed and available information only. In-depth data were not always available on-demand due to some unavailable reasons. SWOT analysis of the company has been done. Objective of the study: The specific objectives aimed for this report is to analyze the environmental factors that influence the marketing sector of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Limited. Methodology: Information used to prepare this report has been collected from both the primary and secondary sources which together provided more comprehensive information. Collection of the data: An open discussion method was followed to gather primary information by informally interviewing the various executives of the company. Participants were purposefully selected as they commonly engaged in marketing directly or indirectly. Observations were also used to collect primary data while working in different desks. The secondary data was accumulated from two sources- a. internal and b. external. The former sources were annual reports, periodicals, articles and brochures published by the company. So in later we use journals, research papers and articles from various online sources. Limitations of the Study: This report suffered from several limitations: †¢ The most important of them was â€Å"time constraint†. Time was not adequate to complete the study more perfectly. †¢ Another important limitation was â€Å"inaccessibility in many section of the organization†. We confronted difficulties in getting appointment from the desired respondents as well as appropriate response from the selected respondents due to being confidential for the company. †¢ This report also suffered from inadequate secondary information. †¢ This report’s factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. †¢ The findings may not be generalized to the SPL as a whole. About SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd: SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Limited is the largest pharmaceutical Company in Bangladesh and is leading the Pharmaceuticals sector from the very beginning. It has been continuously in the 1st position among all national and multinational companies since 1985. It was established in 1958 and converted into a public limited company in 1991. The sales turnover of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd was more than Taka 7.5 Billion (US$ 107.91 million) with about 16.92%market share (April 2006– March 2007) having a growth rate of about 23.17%. SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Limited is an organization with equal emphasis on Leadership, Technology, Quality and Passion. SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is the leading branded generic pharmaceutical manufacturer in Bangladesh producing essential and other ethical drugs and medicines by maintaining the quality. SQUARE today symbolizes a name a state of mind. But its journey to the growth and prosperity has been no bed of roses. From the inception in 1958, it has today burgeoned into one of the top line conglomerates in Bangladesh. SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd., the flagship company, is holding the strong leadership position in the pharmaceutical industry of Bangladesh since 1985and is now on its way to becoming a high performance global player. SQUARE Pharmaceuticals started as a Partnership Firm in 1958. It converted into a Private Limited Company in 1964. The company made its initial price offering in 1995. It has achieved MHRA certificate as the first pharmaceutical company of Bangladesh. Environmental factors influencing the marketing activities of SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd: Environmental factors and forces that exist in our outside marketing affect marketing management’s ability to build and maintain successful relationship with target customers. And successful companies like â€Å"SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd† know the vital importance of constantly watching and adapting to the changing environment. Microenvironment of SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd: TheCompany: In designing marketing plans marketing management takes other company groups into account-groups such as top management, finance, research and development, purchasing, operations and accounting. SQUARE strives for best compensation to all the employees who constitute the back-bone of the management and operational strength of the company through a pay-package composing salary/wages, allowances, bonuses, profit participation, leave salary and superannuation retirement benefits. Suppliers: Suppliers like as- different in regents of making pharmaceuticals products, packaging related products and others. They provide the resources needed by the company to produce its goods and services. Supplier’s problem can seriously affect marketing. SQUARE strives for the best co-operation of suppliers who offer them at the best prices at the opportune moments. Marketing Intermediaries: Marketing intermediaries includes resellers, physical distribution firms, marketing services agencies and financial intermediaries. SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd do not have physical distribution firms or marketing services. But they influenced by reseller and financial intermediaries to market their goods and services. Customers: The five types of customer markets are consumer, business, reseller, government and international market. Square strives, for top quality health care products at the least cost reaching the lowest rungs of the economic class of people in the country. Square values our social obligations. SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd have enough capturing power in all the customer markets. That is why they are in leading role in pharmaceuticals business in Bangladesh. Competitors: The marketing concept states that to be successful, a company must provide greater customers value and satisfaction than its competitors do. A team of scientific pharmaceutical experts who continuously conduct research development programs for improving quality of products, reduction of cost, adaptation of products that are free of intellectual property rights and innovative products. These efforts have enabled the company to add new products to its product lines every year to the benefit of the common men of the country and the shareholders. The success in this field has secured the leading position for the company in the pharmaceutical sector. Publics: Any group has an actual or potential interest in or impact on an organizational ability to achieve its objectives. They are financial, media, government, citizen action, local, general and internal publics. SQUARE strives for best compensation to all the employees who constitute the back-bone of the management and operational strength of the company through a pay-package composing salary/wages, allowances, bonuses, profit participation, leave salary and superannuation retirement benefits. Square strives for practicing good-governance in every sphere of activities covering inter alia not being limited to, disclosure reporting to shareholders, holding AGM in time, distribution of dividends and other benefits to shareholders, reporting/dissemination of price sensitive information, acquisition of shares by insiders, recruitment promotion of staff, procurement supplies, sale of assets etc. all that directly and indirectly affect the interest of concerned groups the shareholders, the creditors, suppliers, employees, government and the public in general. Macro environment of SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd: Demographic environment: Demography is the study of human, populations in terms of age, density, location, gender, race, occupation and other. SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd is the pioneer of pharmaceuticals business in our country. So they our countries overall population and gradually they are capturing the international market. Square strives for equality between sexes, races, religions and regions in all spheres of our operation without any discriminatory treatment. Economic environment: This environment consists of buying and selling pattern, spending power, income, saving patterns of a group and this environment can discussed in two ways – (1) Subsistence and (2) Industrial economics. Square owes their shareholders and strive for protection of their capital as well as ensure highest return and growth of their assets. SQUARE pharmaceutical is influenced by the economic environment of our country directly. Economic conditions influence the growth and continuation of their entire business operations. Natural environment: Marketers take natural resources as input. Considerations of marketers in case of their awareness about natural resources are (1) Shortage in supply of raw materials (2) Increased population (3) Government interventions, SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd produce and distributes their product by their own. So they are aware of above and considerations for their betterment. Square strives for an environment free from pollution and poisoning. Technological environment: Incase of capture the following and need markets, marketers should consider the facts and they are (1) Accelerating pace of technological change, (2) New markets and opportunities, (3) Innovational oppurtunities.The international market become more competitive due to globalization. So technological environment and it’s considering factors are a matter of concern of importer and their marketing. SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd is endeavoring to upgrade and adopt new technology in production, quality control, distribution and administration of its products to patients. During the year (2007-2008) the company invested an amount of Tk. 36,424,234 in improving its Laboratory. Political environment: The considerations of political environment are- (1) Legislation regulation of business, (2) Changing government agency enforcement, (3) Increased emphasis on ethics and society, (4) Political situation. The political condition of our country is not so stable. So SQUARE pharmaceuticals Ltd faced many damage due to change in political condition of our country. Square strives for fulfillment the responsibility to the government through payment of entire range of due taxes, duties and claims by various public agencies like municipalities etc. Cultural environment: Incase of cultural environment, a company should think about following considerations (1) People views of themselves, (2) People views of society,(3) People views of organization (4) People views of nature,(5) People views of universe. Square strives for the achievement of millennium development goals for the human civilization. Square strives for an environment free from pollution and poisoning. Square strives, as responsible citizen, for a social order devoid of malpractices, anti-environmental behaviors, unethical and immoral activities and corruptive dealings.

HR Practices for Competitive Advantage

HR Practices for Competitive Advantage The world nowadays is gradually moving fast bringing along several changes in our lives, culture and many others. In other part organisations do encompasses from time to time those experiences which are for some outrageous and therefore impossible to overcome new situations. According to Boddy (2005), human resource is the effective use of human resources in other to enhance organisational performance. This part in organisation is a great starting point, to easily manage the way people with react depending on coming change situation. General environment sometimes known as the macro -environment includes economic, political, social and technological factors that generally affect all organisations. The general factor can split into two aspects as the external environment which for most organisations is a constantly changing source of threats and opportunities this part consist of elements beyond the organisation such as the competitors or the wider PESTLE. Follow by the internal factor s which mostly target the element within the organisation, such as its business processes. We will clearly elaborate in the rest of our work which practises are sustainable and worthy to keep up with competitive advantage and help organisations remain in the top. PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN ORGANISATION The importance of human resources within an organization is becoming increasingly understood in todays rapidly changing and uncertain business environment (Davidson Griffin 2000: 18). In order to assist employees in helping an organization to reach its strategic business goals, effective human resource managers often gather job related information in a job analysis and job description, which is vital to creating or re-designing jobs which provide employees with a high level of job satisfaction (Stone 2002: 123). The basic human resource activity of gathering detailed information about a particular jobs duties, tasks and responsibilities, can help organizations achieve strategic goals more efficiently and effectively by avoiding both duplication and overlapping of work in jobs. According to Guest (1987) model of HRM policies goals, this stresses four key concepts- strategic integration, commitment, flexibility and quality. An organization which consists of people with formally assigned roles that works together to achieve the organizations goals, and the manager is the one responsible for the accomplishment of the goals and the management of peoples efforts. Most experts agree that managing involves five functions which represent the managing process as: Planning: establish goals and standards, developing rules and procedures, developing plans and forecasting. Organizing that consists to give each subordinate a specific task. Example1: the human resource manager of Great North Easter Railway decides to elaborate a new management planning which consists to emphasize on customer service and to introduce core competencies for others line mangers. The investment taking the companys annual training budget to  £1.25 million whereby twenty on-board coaches will work alongside inspectors, caterers and others staff to assist them in meeting new delivery standards. Traditionally, managers have told employees what to do say the companys HR development manager, who worked with many members of the coaching staff. The idea of appointing coaches is to create a peer group on board the trains that will help to enhance customer service; also some of the money will be spent on a management new training program. (HRM guide, April 2001) The strategic integration has two interrelated meanings. First here is an internal coherence and integration of employment management policies and practices with each others. For example, if work organization emphasizes teamwork then it would be individu to have a reward system that stressed individual contribution. The second dimension of integration is of human resourcing strategy with overall business strategy. Indeed, there cannot be a human resourcing strategy independent of business strategy, but there needs to be a close interrelationship between the two.. Example2: SAP is a company helping small and medium business to transform their inefficiencies into opportunities by creating innovative and sustainable strategy in long term. In this company HR departments are now being asked to do more with less. To meet this challenge head on, forward-thinking executives are thinking out of the box to transform their fundamental approach to operations. They are adopting progressive approaches including self-service, shared services, and business process outsourcing to gain efficiency, lower costs, and increase service quality on a global scale. Through this transformation, they are finding compelling ways to spend less time on repetitive transactional tasks and focus more on activities and programs that have a greater sustainable impact on the business. To achieve a HR efficiency SAP combine a deep understanding of developing and implementing seamless business models with industry best practices in HR service delivery (www.SAP,2010) Therefore they are able to: Provide self-service access to standard processes via kiosk, laptops, telephony, or mobile devices, so employees can complete routine tasks without the aid of HR staff Support a shared-services model for centralizing expertise, which improves quality and consistency while lowering costs Reach all employees in a cost-efficient manner via a centralized help desk. The second concept, commitment is at the heart of HRM-style policies. The objective is to elicit from employees attitudinal and behavioural commitment that will deliver service to customers and enhance the standing and reputation of the organization and hence its profits. Thus commitment behaviours should ideally come from within the employees who should go through processes of selection; induction and leadership understand what is required of them and deliver it, all the without a constant need of checking and supervising, so that those line tasks may be removed from the organizational structures. Another dimension of the Guest model is quality. Here there is meant to be an interrelationship between high quality employees in whom employers are prepared to invest and develop in the belief that such employees will in turn deliver high quality goods and services that will help distinguish organization from competitors. (Leopold, 2001) Example3: in May 2010 Pepsico the fizzy drink company launched a revolutionary idea involving at the same time high commitment and high quality within the organisation. the company ideas generation by 2020 will be to send nothing to landfill across its supply chain and make all its product packaging from renewable sources. At the same time its agriculture operations call Pepsico plans to use its long term farming contracts to halve the water and carbon impacts of its key crops, such as potatoes and oats. According to the vice president companys the environmental programme is setting of ambitious goals that are beyond the companys current knowledge and how to achieve them. (The guardian, May 2010) Flexibility is also a key in the HRM world, but here the emphasis is more functional rather than rhetorical. The main purpose for that will be to develop workers to be able to operate over a number of key tasks and to end previous demarcation line between particular skills and functions. Example4: During the 1980s the subject of flexibility became a topic of considerable debate partly shaped by the influential Institute of Manpower Studies now (Employment Studies). based on the fact that is possible to identify various types of flexibility which it was suggested , could be combined to form part of a coherent strategy- what now became a flexible firm. Four main types of flexibility are usually identified. The flexibility of work time and particular use of a stock of part-time workers, here the theory of the American engineer Frederick Taylor who focused his idea on, the relationship between the worker and the machine-based production system. Taylor believed the way to achieve the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee was to ensure that each worker reached their state of maximum efficiency.(Taylor, 1917) also contract flexibility regularly use in work agency as REED, Blue Harrow and many others were by workers can join and leave anytime they are willing to because the contract are mostly in short term, although some companies may start by a temporary contract and lastly permanent one. Flexibility reward and functional flexibly are also part of the components (Towers, 1998) IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES FACTORS IN ORGANISATION. The external factors are generally considered to be beyond the direct influence of an individual company. Although many organizations recognize the importance of the environment, all often this analysis ends up making a small or minimal contribution to strategy analysis and formulation in this particular case in relation with human resource importance within the company while undergoing those change.(Bensoussan, Fleisher, 2008) Political/legal influences include governmental regulations, employment and company law, privatisation/ deregulation policies ,government stability, European Union directives and define both formal and informal rules under which a firm must operate. Example5: European governments are gradually liberalising postal services. In 2000 the German government sold a 25 per cent interest in Deutsche Post, German s post operator. Some years before, a US parcels and logistics group, UPS, had complained to the European Commission (EC) in Brussels that Deutsche Post was using its monopoly profit on domestic letters to unfairly subsidise acquisitions and expansion into the international logistic market. In March 2001, following a long inquiry, the EC found Deutsche Post guilty of predatory pricing and anti-competitive practices. The company was fined 24 million Euros and required to split its operations, creating a separate entity to run its business parcel services. The postal operator faces a second EC investigation into whether its use of cash from state-owned property sales effectively constitutes illegal state aid. A finding against the operator in this case could mean receipts having to repay with serious financial consequences for the company. (The economist, 24 march 2001) Economic factors affect the purchasing power of potential customers and the firms cost of capital. For instance interest and inflations rates, exchange and unemployment rates, economic growth, labour costs, energy availability and cost, disposable incomes and the business cycle. Globalisation of some market is being driven by increasing competition and the search for cost advantages. Example6: electronics companies such as National Semiconductor or Seagate have switched many production facilities to low wage economies in Asia to cut costs. Similarly, Marks and Spencer chose to use outsourcing by serve long standing relationships with British clothing manufacturers in order to source clothing supplies from lower cost countries such as Turkey and India. (Boddy, 2002) Social-cultural factors include the demographic and cultural aspects of the external microenvironment. These factors affect the customers needs, changing lifestyle, demographics, values in society, change in consumer tastes and preferences and also level of education. The last factor is the technological one. technology is an increasingly important environment influence and is leading many management to considers fundamentally the way they would have to operate the business, consequently an HR department may carefully target on managing skills when technology go along in term of dealing with the high level of competition. This can influence the business from its overall strategic position through how to manage marketing, design, production and distribution. For example7: The technological innovation brings up an online shopping at Tesco. The leading British supermarket, has become the worlds biggest online retailer. Started in 2000, the business covers 90 per cent of the UK population. By mid-2001 it was taking 70,000 weekly orders, worth 6 million and already turning in a profit. Tescos success is based on its store- picking system, under which orders made up by specially employed pickers selecting items from the shelves of existing stores, using a computer- based system. This contrasts with the system of dedicated warehouses used by other e-tailers that demand a high throughput to be viable and have so far struggled to cover costs. The success of Tescos model attracted the attention of Californians biggest food retailer as well, Safeway. The two have struck a deal under which Tesco is to export its technology in return for a 35 per cent stake in Safeways online business, Groceworks. ROLE OF HR DURING CHANGE While organizations face such a change HR department has to put into place several strategies to overcome the situation. Several strategies can be state as: High performance management or high performance working aims to make an impact on the performance of the organization in such areas as productivity, quality, and levels of customer service, growth and profits. high performance management practices includes a very strict recruitment and selection procedures, extensive and relevant training and management development activities, incentive pay systems and performance processes. These practices are often called high performance works systems which, as defined by (Appelbaum et al, 2000), comprise practices that can facilitate employee involvement, skill enhancement and motivation. Moreover another strategy that can be use by an HR is a high commitment described by (Wood, 1996) as a form of management which is aimed at eliciting a commitment so that behaviour is primarily self-regulated rather than controlled by sanctions and pressures external to the individual, and relations within the organization are based on the high level of trust. Lastly high involvement works practices that are a specific set of human resource practices that focus on employee decision making power, access to information, training and incentives. Example8: The York plant management met with workers representatives for months in 1981 to achieve a consensus on what was sought and also to ease scepticism. The increases in productivity stemming from these measures were deemed to be the effects of effective communication, shop floor enthusiasm, and increased recognition. Harley Davidson choose to target employee involvement and participation because is one of the most complex, dynamic and controversial aspects of organisational structure and employment relationships in advanced industries counties. The timing is particularly appropriate as significant shifts have taken place in the environment of organizational decision making in recent years.(Harvard Business School, April 2007) For a manager to greatly achieve these strategies he has to well formulate them. As the strategy formation process is complex, and excessively rationalistic models that advocate formalistic linkages between strategic planning and HR planning are not particularly helpful to the understanding of it. Also the business may be an important influence on HR strategy but it is only one of several factors.(Boxall, 1993) After elaborating a plan to be achieved and put into actions some practices the HR strategy will be able to suit the business need at any condition (depending on external changes). The strategy will be able to be turn into actionable programmes that anticipate implementation requirements and problems. It will take into account of the needs of line managers and employees generally as well as those of the organization and its others stakeholders. (Amstrong, 2009) HOW TO GAIN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH HR PRACTICES DURING CHANGE Human Resources Management mainly need to be forecast of the future needs in the light of an organizations environment, mission and objectives, strategies. These presents special challenges for the Human Resources leader in organizations while undergoing new influences. Effective Human Resources Management requires special HR tools, special approaches to management to tackle the raise of change and seek competitive advantage. There are several useful practices that organisation can implement from human resources. STAFFING Obtaining people with the appropriate skills, abilities knowledge and experience to fill jobs is one of the core achievements in organization with recruitment, selection and job analysis as key practises. Recruitment and selection have always been critical process for organizations. With recent interest on how organizations can achieve high performance associated with engaged and motivated staff who takes a pride in their work, there is a growing attention in the form of bundle of HR practices that lead to a positive psychological contract with employees. Recruitment and subs equal selection is vital stages in formation of the expectations that such a contract, on the basic of which, with an emphasis on a two- way flow communication. Employees are attracted to and select an organization and the work on offer as employers select their employees. (Bratton, Gold, 2007) the purpose of this practice will be to attract, develop and retain high quality people. The direct impact for the welf are of the organization will be to match those people to his strategic and operational needs. Provide for the acquisition, development and retention of talented employees, who can deliver superior performance, productivity, flexibility, innovation and high level of personal customer service and who fit the culture and the strategic requirements of the organisation. Example9: Specialist Cabinets Company had rapidly expanded from a two person operation to a small business of 28 employees. This thriving business catered to those who needed high end cabinet work in custom built homes or office buildings. the recruitment of new manager task have been given to George Zoran a senior supervisor with strong interpersonal skills.(Dickens, 2008) Another one we can give is Example10: the shortage of skilled labor is global issue. According to Scott Gibsons case CEO of the Britehouse, a software company in south Africa with 400 employees. Gibson states that the company could use another 50 workers immediately and could employ an additional 75 people per year for the next few years. Since taking on his role, he has not been able to make sales or market strategy his main focus. Instead his primary focus has been on attracting the talent the needs if it is going to be able to pursue and complete its staffing projects. (source: courtesy of Britehouse) TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT In general, education is a mind preparation and is carried out to remove from the actual area, training is the systematic development of the attitude, knowledge, skill pattern required by a person to perform a given task or job adequately and development is growth of the individual. It also provides to employees with stimulating and interesting work and gives the autonomy and flexibility to perform these jobs well. Moreover enhance job satisfaction and flexibility which encourages greater performance and productivity (Amstrong, 2009). Within the organization educate, train and develop the existent skills of employees will be necessaries in order to: develop workers to undertake higher tasks. provide the conventional training of new and young workers (for example: clerks, apprentices) paise efficiency and standards of performance Example11: Dayton Hudson Corporation is using training and development skills to create future customers. B Dalton bookseller division has earmarked $3 million over four years for a literacy training program- Their, goals are to recruit volunteer tutors and to tell people without basic skills about the free teaching program available in their communities. As part of Dalton, gives grants to local school districts to hire speakers who will persuade teachers to put more emphasis on teaching reading skills. the same process have been used by Texas Instruments, while the result of both the B Dalton and T.I programs gave an immediate benefit to the individuals gaining literacy, the companies broaden their base potential customers over the long run. meet legislative requirements. The practice can be done by induction training, pre-retirement courses, etc..(Schuler and Macmillan, 1984) Example12: When Delco-Remy trained its employees in participative management, it succeeded in differentiating itself from all competitors in the eyes of Honda and others. The successes of this training and resultant competitive advantage are described by Delcos Keith W. Wander: Honda of America was seeking an American battery manufacturer as a supplier to its auto plant in Marysville, Ohio. Honda wanted a plant which had a participative system of management and a reputation for producing a quality product at a competitive price. APPRAISAL Performance appraisal is viewed as one of the most important tools in the management arsenal. Because it is most usually carried out by line managers rather than HR professionals it is important that they understand their role in performance management and how performance appraisal contributes to the overall aims of performance management. Appraisal system complements the emergent strategic planning emphasis in all areas of the corporation. The appraisal reviews will clarify and articulate objectives and expectations for the organization and their employees. It also gives to the company a realistic assessment of its strengths, weaknesses and futures requirements. Another critical aspect of appraising is correcting poor performance. Example13: at Emery Air Freight, the company was losing $1 million annually because employees on the airport loading docks were shipping small packages separately rather than placing those with the same destination in one container that would be carried at lower rates by air carriers. Management also found that the containers were being used 45 percent of the time when they should have been used 90 percent of the time. By establishing a program of a positive consequences and feedback, the nearly $1 million annual loss was eliminated. (Fall, 1984) Example14: GTE performance appraisals are viewed as one of the most 4 important tools in the management arsenal. According to GTE Chairman Theodore F. Brophy, the appraisal system complements the emergent strategic planning emphasis in all areas of the corporation. The appraisal reviews assist executives in clarifying and articulating objectives and expectations for themselves and their employees. They give GTE a realistic assessment of its strengths, weaknesses, and future requirements:. As such,. The company is now able to better utilize its human resources :than at any time, in the past COMPENSATION AND REWARDS In the context of managing people, the reward system emphases a core facet of the employment relationship: that constitutes an economic exchange or relationship. That is an employee undertakes a certain amount of physical/metal effort and accepts instructions of others, in return receiving a level of payment or reward. The motivational power of money often wears off as employees simply get used to their current level of compensation. Many studies have confirmed that as long as employees are paid competitively, money is not the main factor that leads to job selection or performance. Most people are motivated by the job their do and the environment in which they work than the by the money they earn. Therefore the compensation and rewards system organization offer to employees should include both non-monetary and monetary ideas. This system is very praise mostly to develop motivation and job engagement by valuing people in accordance with their contribution. Example15: at Hewlett-Packard, entrepreneurial behaviour is stimulated in project leaders by tying more rewards to their success. Successful project leaders are being given banquets, stocks options and personal computers. At TRW, units or teams are given credit for sales generated in another department in return for helping that department. Also TRW fosters innovation by stimulating interdependence through its compensation practices. And these companies do get what they pay for steady stream of product and service improvements and enhancements that help them stand alone among their competitors. UNION MANAGEMENT RELATIONS Union management relation addresses the collective dimension of the employment relationship. The management of work and people includes both individual and collective relations (Kelly, 2005). As a field study however academics differ over the use of the terms industrial relations labour relations, employment relation (wajcman, 2000). In many companies today, companies face the possible bankruptcy due to the high labour costs. Helping to lower costs are wage reductions reached between unions and management. Example16: recently American Airlines has renegotiated two-tiered wage systems to help reduce total costs by reducing labour costs. Without these jointly negotiated systems, the company would not have survived. Thus a company relationship with its union can be critical to its survival, and the better its relationship with its union are, the more likely it is to ever gain a competitive advantage. CONCLUSION The difficulties of developing an HR system of fitting HRM strategy to business strategy are partly a reflection of the dynamic and uncertain environment within which organizations are operating. Organizations continuously need to adapt and reinvent their human resource management practices if they are to adapt and exploit such change. (Newell, Scarbrough, 2002) this has led to successive waves of new management techniques being adopted by organizations.

Fostering Motivation by the Help of Neuroplasticity

Fostering Motivation by the Help of Neuroplasticity There are two types of mindset: fixed versus growth mindset. In fixed mindset, students (people) believe that their abilities is innate and they cannot change it, therefore a failure makes them start doubting in themselves and believing they are not smart/good enough to achieve their goals. On the other hand, those who have a growth mindset believe that they can improve their abilities by learning and practicing. They see failure as an opportunity to working on their mistakes and weaknesses; their perseverance and resilience makes them more motivated and work harder to improve their abilities. Moreover, one of the biggest difficulties that students face when they enter to a new stage of their academic life is lack of motivation. The main idea of this project is improving growth mindset as well as fostering intrinsic motivation among students by teaching them about the brain and neuroplasticity. For this purpose, a weekly workshop will be designed for five sessions. Below is the detai l of each session. Method This project is based on learning science approach with focus on embodiment and feedback which are explained in details. Participants In order to meet the goals of this project and having a sound base of interpretation of the results and eliminating some of the confound variables like method of learning and environmental differences, students from one class will be selected to participate in the workshop. Junior students are extremely vulnerable to fail to achieve an acceptable grade during their high school, because in general children in this age suffer from antisocial behavior, lack of self-esteem, school engagement and more importantly being motivated enough to continue their study. Having a positive or negative outcome in this age depends on students motivation and motivation is dependent on children core belief. In other words, the way students deal with their environment, indicate their future success and exactly here motivation comes to play an important role because if students are motivated enough to continue their study and like to challenge themselves, they can survive and even flourish during this peri od (Blackwell et al., 2007). For this reason, target group in this project will be high school students. Both male and female students with any ethnic background can participate in this study. It is ideal to have a balanced number of male and female participants in order to control for any potential gender differences in the study. Materials Prior to participating in the workshop, participants will be asked to answer to two questionnaires: one of them is a motivation questionnaire to examine students goal in the coming year and their view about the value of efforts and the other one is a mindset questionnaire. The mindset questionnaire will measure students core belief about their intelligence, goal orientation, belief about effort and attribution and strategies in response to failure. Teachers report on students level of engagement and motivation in classroom will be also collected. To investigate the impact of growth mindset on long term achievements (outcomes), the same questionnaire will be distributed at the end of semester, which will be two months after the workshop. The latest grade of students mathematic achievements (CAT) and students new math grade at the end of semester will be collected. Procedure Session 1: The Neurons: Structure and Function In this session, students will learn about concept of neuron and its structure and neurotransmitters by lecture and pictures (figure 1 and 2). The lesson plan for this session is as the following: Lesson Plan There are two types of cells in the brain: The first type is called glia, which comes from a word that means glue and they hold the brain together. Glia plays an important role in the processing and communication. The main brain cells are called neurons. They have a lipid bilayer as a cell membrane to keep everything inside. They have the fluidly cytosol, the liquid inside. Neurons have three main parts, the cell body, or the soma, is where we find the nucleus, the part that has DNA. And the other parts are the specialization that allows the neurons to communicate with other cells. Dendrites are branches around the soma. It integrates it in two ways, both spatially and temporally. Spatially means weve got all these inputs coming from different parts of the brain and temporally means that theres a time window over which the cell is looking at. Once the information has been summed up and the neuron decided how to process it, the neuron sends output down to the axon. Neurons shapes and sizes depend on their function within the neural circuit. The stereotypical one is called a multi-polar neuron which has more than one dendrites and only one axon. Bipolar neurons have one input and one output. Unipolar neurons have basically one long transmission wire with the cell body off to the side, so information just kind of flows down with, no real interference from the soma itself. Physiological properties of the neuron: The neuron is actually using electricity to send through the dendrites and then down the axon. Every cell has an electric membrane potential, or an electric resting potential, which is the difference between the electrical potential energy inside and outside the cell. By recording the electrical potential of cell membrane versus the electrical potential at an electrode outside the cell membrane we can have voltage difference. Most cells have a resting membrane potential of about -70 or -65 mV. The other property thats really important about the neurons is t hat they have Ion channels, which are like doorways in their cell membrane. When their membrane potential gets high and reaches the thresholds, these doors can open. Signal starts at this area at the juncture of the soma and the axon thats called the Axon Hillock. So, what happens is the membrane potential of the cell reaches a certain threshold, and that causes the door to open. When the door opens, positive ions start coming into the cell, which causes the membrane voltage to go up and opens more of these voltage sensitive doors. And eventually there would be a big influx of positive current, but the Ion Channels will be close very fast. That quick increase and decrease of the membrane potential, is called an action potential, which lasts for about one to two milliseconds. Action potential is an all-or-none event. As the positive ions are coming in from action potential that started at the Axon Hillock, its going to increase the memory voltage of the axon right next to it. Therefo re, more channels will be opened and more positive current flow in which will cause action potential to travel down the length of axon. What the neurons saying in the pattern of its spiking activity. In general, neuron does not directly talk to the next neuron via an electrical signal, instead when the electrical signal gets to the tip of the axon, the axon will release chemicals called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals messengers that travel over a small gap between the neurons sending the information and the dendrites of the neuron receiving the information. That gap is called a synapse. The neuron receiving the information by their dendrites on that post synaptic side of this gap have special receptors for receiving the released chemicals by the presynaptic neuron. When the chemical binds to those special receptors, that causes changes in the membrane potential of the second neuron and then that neuron can collect that information and send its signal to its neigh bors. After this lecture, students will have time to ask any questions and discuss their thoughts and understanding of the concept of neurons within small groups. By the end of this session, students will learn about basic properties of neurons and how neurons communicate with each other.                Session 2: Brain structure and Function In this session, after a brief recalling of last session which was about neurons, few fact cards about brain will be given to students. Next, a brief introduction of brain anatomy and main areas of brains will be given by the help of pictures (figure 3 to 5). For avoiding boredom in students, instead of lecture given by the instructor, they will watch short videos explaining brains function. Videos are from an online course offered by University of Toronto Facts that are given after figure 3: Weight: 3 lbs 2% of total body weight Consumes 25% of the bodys oxygen supply Consumes 70% of the bodys glucose supply Consumers 25% of the bodys nutrients 100 Billion Neurons Facts that are given after figure 4: With matter is inside the brain and Gray matter is outside the brain Cerebral cortex is wrinkled. The grooves that make these wrinkles are called sulci and the ridges between them are called gyri Two hemispheres are connected by Corpus Callosum Facts that are given after figure 5: Brain has two main parts: cortex which has 4 parts: frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobe. and the other part is cerebellum After watching the videos, students will discuss their questions, any misconception that they might have about the brain and gained knowledge in small groups. The session will end by given pictures of brains structure and areas that students are required to name them. Session 3: Neuroplasticity In this session, the topic of neuroplasticity which is about the electrical and neural changes in the brain during learning will be thought. The lesson plan will be a brief explanation of neuroplasticity by summarizing some researches about this concept: Plasticity is one of the most essential functions of the human brain. According to Munte et al (2002) Neuroplasticity allows the brain to adapt to environmental factors that cannot be anticipated by genetic programming There are a vast majority of researchers that are interested in this topic and have been examining plasticity via different experiments both on animals and human. One of these researchers named Dr Norman Doidge who is author of The Brain that Changes Itself. In his book he talked about the brain as a modifiable, changeable, adaptable and plastic organism that is able to change its function and even structure without chemical reaction in the body, just based on our interaction with the brain. The interesting thing about the power of the brain is, its ability to change structurally even with imagination. Another discovery related to plasticity is the fact that learning changes the number of connection between neurons; even with hours of training the number of connection between two neurons can increase from 1300 to 2700 as an example. The reason how plasticity happen in our brain is: through activities and thoughts that people do with their brain, there are certain genes in nerve cells that become on and others off, this change causes producing protein and protein finally makes change in brain structure. This discovery made a strong proof for the role of learning and training in changing our brain and as a result changing our mind and behavior (Bush et al., 2004). People are able to change their behavior as a result of functional changing in their brain, for example depression is a severe disorder that causes 25% loose of gray matter in hippocampus. This is due to fact that chronic stress release cortisol which gradually weakens the role of left prefrontal cortex, a region that is known as a controller of negative emotion, and the weak activity of PFC causes 25% loose of gray matter in hippocampus. An experiment done in UK showed that the size and amount of gray matter would be the same again after 5 weeks of treatment in depressed people. Similarly, in article written by Draganski et al., (2004) the same finding was reported. Subjects of their experiments were d ivided into two groups: learner and non-learner. They scanned their subjects brain at the beginning of experiment and find that there is no difference between two groups. Then they taught the learner group how to juggle and when their subjects were professional enough to juggle in 1 minute, they had another FMRI scan for both group. For learners the amount of gray matter in the mid-temporal area and in the left posterior intraparietal was increased by 25% compared to non-learner and compared to the first scan. Finally they had third scan after 3 months without training for both group and they found that the amount of gray matter decreased again in learner group. Their finding was consistent with the finding about depression. Mà ¼nte et al., (2002) examined neuroplasticity in musicians that had begun their training in early age. They found musicians who began before the age of seven had a larger anterior midsagittal corpus callosum compared to others that started later. Therefore, they were able to have a bidirectional movement. In order to be able to control bidirectional movement, an enhanced interaction between two hemispheres is needed and since number of axons that can be transmitted to other hemisphere depends on size of midsagittal corpus callosum, therefore musicians with larger AMCC were able to have bidirectional movements. Elbert et al., (1995) showed that string players had a larger cortical representation of the digits finger in the left hand compared to non-musicians. They argued that even neuroplasticity was different among musicians depending on their interaction with music and their professional usage of music; for example a conductor is better in understanding non-adjacent and separatin g adjacent sound sources. Accordingly, there is an automatic movement in musicians body (fingers of hand or even leg) when they just listening to music and vice versa. This is because of co-activation of motor-audio regions in their brain. After this lecture, students will ask their questions (in case of any) and form small groups to share their ideas about neuroplasticity. During these sessions, students learned how their brain can be manipulated by practicing By the end of this session, knowledge creation about the brain will be ended. Therefore, in order to test the output of the sessions, they will be required to articulate their learning. They can either create an artifact (brain, neuron), or write a short essay related to neuroplasticity. As Chinn and Sherin (2005) mentioned one of the problem of team work would be more knowledgeable students will do the load of works and some students might be quiet and their learning process might be overestimated if they work in a group. To avoid this problem, each student is required to do articulation alone. They need to complete this task before last session. Understanding Goal: By the end of this session, students will understand that brains function and even structure can be changed. Session 4: Mindset Change This session consists of two parts. First part is the activity part in which students will discover more about brain and brain plasticity. This part is designed based on embodiment approach. Embodiment in a broad sense could be defined as the study of the subjective role of the body in making sense of life experiences (Kiverstein, 2012). In other words how our bodies influence and shape the way we speak, think, and behave with regard to environmental challenges we face in our daily lives (Gibbs, 2005). Following such a definition the idea of embodied cognition points out to the inter-connection of mind and body and how they both influence each other. Such an idea was raised as a counter-intuitive argument against the mind-body dualism proposed by Rene Descartes in the 17th century which supported a separation between human body and the external world in which body is completely divisible and mind is completely abstract and indivisible. However, this view was challenged by philosophers like Merleau-Ponty (1962) who viewed body as a primordial existence prior to the existence of a reflected world, and understanding of the external world as a reflection of the humans body. Pointing to the inter-relationship between body, environment, and peoples perception of the environment (i.e. the external world) Merleau-Ponty (1962; 235) writes that body is the fabric into which all objects are woven, and it is, at least in relation to the perceived world, the general instrument of comprehension (cited in Gibbs, 2005; p. ). Drawing from the definition of the embodiment, it can be concluded that acquiring and comprehending knowledge and solving problem are not solely manipulated in the brain. Conversely, it is influenced by the interaction we have with the external world and how our bodies manage to perceive them. According to Lakeoff and Johnson (1980) this relationship is highly represented in numerous metaphorical expressions in the language we use. For example we may say the something is beyond us when we cannot understand what a specific expression refers to. In this case we make a connection between our understanding of physical distance and mental concept of uncertainty in order to show how we feel about it. Using Lakeoff and Johnsons metaphorical representations, Barsalou (2008, p. 618) through exemplifying the act of sitting on a chair argues that embodied learning can take place through activating a perception-action-introspection complex. According to Barsalou (2008) this whole process is an i ntegrated and multimodal representation of current and past sensory experiences which results in comprehending an object. According to Abrahamson and Lindgren (2014)in order to place the embodiment theory in education there is need to have an embodied design in order for learners approach a problem in a subject matter through their natural body instinct and movements (p. 363). However, embodied designs could be challenged from three aspects of the types of activities, materials and artifacts, and facilitation of conceptual development. Accordingly they proposed that each of those challenges could be appropriately met through using initial simple activities which fall within the experiential domain of learners and then gradually move toward more symbolic one. Moreover, the types of materials and artifacts used to promote learning in such kinds of designs should be similar to ones found outside these designs and in unmediated environments. Finally, the movement and body engagement should be facilitated through providing real-time feedback by tutors and teachers to help learners develop their own conceptua l insights. Given this brief explanation of embodiment, students will participate in an activity that will result in understanding how their brain can be manipulated by practicing and how their intelligence could be increased through learning. During activity part, they will go through a Neural Network Maze spelling out the word SMARTER and saw how this network change when they learn something new. This activity is based on BNlackwell et al., (2007). In the second part students will see some examples of disabled people who were able to manage their disability and succeed in their life. The aim of this activity is showing students that even people who are suffering from major problems and lost their critical abilities (like walking) did not give up and challenge themselves to achieve their goals. An example of disabled people is Nicholas James Vujicic who is an Australian motivational speaker. He was born with tetra-amelia syndrome and has neither arms nor legs, but could graduate college with a bachelor degree in financing and is a successful writer. Understanding Goal: Everyone can be smart, because intelligence is not statistic and unchangeable Efforts is the most important factor in improving ability The way they think about their ability, can affect their behavior Session 5: Improving motivation by the help of feedback In the last session of workshop, students will summarize their learning and will explain how their misconceptions have changed (if changed) and the instructor will give each student the appropriate feedback. Depending on the number of students participated in this workshop, each student will have time to show their artifact or read their essay that was asked to complete it by the end of session 3. Instructor (experimenter) will give feedback for each students work because as we already know feedback is one type of reward and it can motivate students and even change extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation. Below is a summary of researches that support the effect of reward in increasing students motivation and their performance Harackiewicz (1979) was concerned about relation between feedback, motivation and the outcome and examined this relation among high school students. He found positive feedback increase motivation and motivation increase performance. However he claimed that positive feedback on the performance has different effect compared to reward effect. Positive feedback which is assessed as verbal rewards is known as an unexpected, competence improvement reward and has a significant positive influence on intrinsic motivation. In two studies that used positive feedback as a motivational resource, they tested how a slightly change in wording can bring a fundamental change in the motivation. In the first study, Ryan (1982) used a controlling feedback by saying: Excellent, you should keep up the good work, whereas in the other study, Pittman et al. (1980) used an informational feedback: Compared to most of my subjects, you are doing really well. The result of these two studies was in line with the claim; in the first statement subjects had less intrinsic motivation after few trials compared to second informational feedback. In conclusion, positive feedback can bring interest for receivers and will increase intrinsic motivation. ODohetry (2004) wrote an excellent review about the underlying mechanism of reward seeking and punishment avoidance in human behaviors. He discussed recent neuroimaging findings which gives insight into the reward representations and reward-related learning process that take place in the human brain. The author highlighted the involvement of ventromedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, striatum, and dopaminergic midbrain in the reward-related learning process. Providing evidence from human neuroimaging, the author argues that specific reward-induced behaviors are subject to the function of different parts of the aforementioned network. However, no matter which component guides which specific reward-related behavior, the persistence of behavior is dependent on the value assigned to the reward and perhaps the punishment within this network. The importance of the findings reported in this paper is connecting them with goal-directed behavior which requires complex cognitive resources and fu nctionalities. In other words, the complexities involved in choosing between various behaviors and actions are based on evaluation of their representation of the predicted future rewards with the selected action having the highest predicted reward which varies depending on the its quality, frequency and variance in specific situations. As stated in the article, there are three main parts of the brain that is responsible for guiding our action. Therefore, our behavior is formed controlled as a response to a value of reward or punishment. The author also made a distinction between these parts and the role of each part in seeking the reward, evaluating the value of reward or punishment, predicting the future reward/punishment and deciding about a proper action based on the prediction of value. As a result becoming motivated in doing an action depends on the value of reward or punishment as well as its amount that is aligned with that action even in future. Our brain and even animals br ain is able to learn how to guide our action to receive rewards. It means, our brain tracks and analyses the process of gaining a reward for future use just like the classical conditioning situation. Better reward causes more motivation (ODohetry, 2004). Understanding Goal: By putting enough efforts, students can increase their performance on school Reference: Abrahamson, D., Lindgren, R. (2014). Embodiment and embodied design. In R. K. 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