Plant Biotechnology

Define plant biotechnology. Using examples discuss how it is different from traditional / conventional methods plant breeding. Plant biotechnology has been defined as the integrated use of biochemistry, microbiology and engineering sciences in-order to achieve technological application of micro-organisms and cultured tissue cells in the transfer of genetic traits from one crop species to another to obtain transgenic plants that are of beneficial use to human kind (Lawrence . W; 1968).Heldt H and Heldt F (2005) defines plant biotechnology as the art and science to produce a genetically modified plant by removing genetic information from an organism, manipulating it in a laboratory and then transferring it into a plant to change certain of its characteristics. . Plant breeding is the science and art of improving crop plants through the study and application of genetics, agronomy, statistics, plant pathology, entomology, and related sciences (Kuckuck et al; 1991).Increased crop yield is the primary aim of most plant-breeding programs; advantages of the hybrids and new varieties developed include adaptation to new agricultural areas, greater resistance to disease and insects, greater yield of useful parts, better nutritional content of edible parts, and greater physiological efficiency. Humans have been improving crops for yield and other characteristics since the advent of agriculture. Plant biotechnology involves processes such as genetic engineering which involves the direct addition of foreign gene/genes to the genome of an organism.It is a type of genetic modification. Traditional plant breeding also modifies the genetic composition of plants. It involves techniques such as crossing and selection of new superior genotype combinations. Firstly traditional methods tend to breed plants that can sexually mate with each other. This limits the new traits that can be added to those that already exist in that species. Secondly when plants are crossed, many traits are transformed along with the trait of interest. Whereas genetic engineering, on the other hand, is not bound by these limitations.It involves the removal of a specific fragment of DNA from one plant or organism and transferring the genes for one of a few traits into another. No crossing is required hence the sexual barrier between species is overcome. It is more specific in that a single trait can be added to a plant (Bajaj . Y; 2001). According to Rost . T. I et al (2006), another difference between traditional plant breeding and plant biotechnology is the number of genes transferred to the offspring in each case. Plants contain approximately 80 000 genes which recombine during sexual hybridization.The offspring may therefore inherit around 1000 new genes as a result of this recombination. This is equivalent to a 0. 0125 % change in the genome. By contrast when a specific gene is transferred into a plant, there is a 0. 0025% change in the genetic information of the plant, it is argue d that plant biotechnology provides a more precise approach to crop improvements than sexual hybridization. Plant biotechnology through genetic engineering can cause harmful toxins to be produced by transformed plants, though it is still unclear whether it is due to the technique itself on the nature of the foreign gene.The introduction of a gene that it is known to encode a toxin in one organism will induce a similar effect when introduced into a different organism (Raven P. H et al; 1992). There has been a case where a transgenic soybean containing a gene from Brazil nuts elicited an allergic reaction in some people. The gene from Brazil nuts had been well characterized and its product known to cause an allergy, hence extensive laboratory tests. This illustrates why rigorous characterization of a gene is required before permitting its introduction into a novel species.However there is also the potential of toxic product being produced as a result of conventional methods of crop im provements. For example, in sweet potatoes where vegetative propagation is done, potato varieties with increased pest resistance have continually been selected as giving a higher crop variety. Those varieties contain high levels of natural pesticides, called glucoalkaloids. However these compounds are toxic to animals, so could have harmful effects when eaten.This demonstrates that the nature of the novel feature should be open to debate rather than the method by which it is introduced (Lawrence . W; 1968). The traditional methods of crop improvements are limited by the sexual compatibility of the plants involved; whereas with plant biotechnology through genetic engineering any characteristic from any organism of any species can be introduced into a plant. Plant breeders therefore have access to a much wider gene pool than they have using traditional crossing methods to develop a new variety.For example a rice gene responsible for defense against a disease causing fungus can be tran sferred to a banana susceptible to that disease. The intent is to protect the genetically modified banana from that disease and thereby reduce yield loss and number of fungicide applications. Another example is that genes introduced into plants to provide a resistance to the herbicide Round Up was isolated from bacteria. An insecticidal toxin used as a crop spray was also extracted from bacteria. Genetically modified maize is been grown which expresses this type of proteins.One major difference between traditional plant breeding and plant biotechnology; genetic engineering/ modification is that, while extensive restrictions are in place to limit the development and release of genetically modified varieties, those developed by sexual hybridization and mutagenesis are under no restrictions (Raven P. H et al; 1992). A major concern surrounding the cultivation of genetically modified crops is the possibility of cross pollination between transgenic and related crops.While this is clearly possible for some species, but not all crop species have native wild relatives with which they are sexually compatible meaning that the possibility of the production of â€Å"super weeds† is not possible. Plants such as carrots are allowed only to flower for seed production meaning that cross-pollination during normal commercial cultivation is unlikely. In plant biotechnology plants can be grown in artificial medium requiring less land mass to produce large amounts of crops in less time. Although it seems like a great alternative to the earlier methods, it can also be devastating.By growing plants at a faster rate there is a possibility of losing the essential vitamins and nutrients that are important for us. Transgenic plants are still a relatively new field and no concrete evidence for any of this existing but it is growing concern (Bajaj . Y; 2001). Heldt . H and Heldt . F (2005) says, the techniques of traditional breeding are very time-consuming. By making crosses, also a large number of undesired genes are introduced into the genome of the plant. The undesired genes have to be â€Å"sorted out† by back-crossing.Using plant biotechnology which involves the use of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism it greatly facilitates/substitutes conventional plant breeding, because one can progress through a breeding program much faster, with smaller populations and without relying entirely on testing for the desired phenotype. RFLP makes use of restriction endonucleases enzymes which recognize and cut specific nucleotide sequence in DNA. The cut fragments are separated according to size by gel electrophoresis and made visible by hybridizing the plant DNA fragments with labeled DNA probes.The closer two organisms are related, the more pattern of bands overlap. With conventional breeding, the pool of available genes and the traits they code for is limited due to sexual incompatibility to other lines of the crop in question and to their wild relative s. This restriction can be overcome by using the methods of genetic engineering, which in principle allow introducing valuable traits coded for by specific genes of any organism (other plants, bacteria, fungi, animals, viruses) into the genome of any plant. According to Rost . T. I et al (1992), transgenes are inserted into the nuclear genome of a plant cell.Recently it has become possible to introduce genes into the genome of chloroplasts and plastids. Transgenic plants have been generated using methods such as agrobacterium-mediated DNA transfer, direct DNA transfer, particle bombardment and electroporation. References 1. Bajaj . Y. (2001). Transgenic Crops. Berlin. Springer. 2. Heldt . H and Heldt . F. (2005). Plant Biochemistry. 3rd edition. California. Elsevier. 3. Kuckuck . H; Kobabe G. and Wenzel G. (1991). Fundamentals of plant breeding. New York. Springer-Verlag. 4. Lawrence . W. (1968). Plant breeding. London. Edward Arnold Publishers Ltd. 5. Raven P.H, Evert . R. F and Ei chron . S. E. (1992). Biology of Plants. 5th edition. New York. Van Hoffman Press Inc. 6. Rost . T. l. , Barbour . M. G. , Stocking . R. C. and Murphy . T. M. (2006). Plant Biology. 2nd edition. California. Thomson Brooks/Cole. CHINHOYI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY NAME: Tanyaradzwa R Ngara REG NUMBER: C1110934J COURSE:Plant Biotechnology COURSE CODE: CUBT 207 PROGRAM:BSBIO Assignment: Define plant biotechnology. Using examples discuss how it is different from traditional / conventional methods plant breeding [25marks].

African American Immigration Essay

Among many of the ethnic groups that experienced a combination of segregation, racism, and prejudice; African Americans is one of the few that is still faced with one or more forms of discrimination today. The majority of African Americans came to the United States from Africa to be slaves, while others are citizens or residents of the United States from partial ancestry a form of the native population. In 1619, the first recorded Africans were recorded in British North America in Jamestown, Virginia, and the numbers began to increase as more English settlers died from harsh conditions and the Africans were brought to work as laborers. In the late 1700s the American Revolution occurred, which landed approximately 3 million Africans in slavery in the United States by the mid-1800s, (Centerwall, Brandon, 1984). In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln declared that all slaves in the United States from a Union were free. Meanwhile the declaration of Africans being free from slavery was joyful event, it was also the beginning of a growing battle that lead to a different approach of discrimination including; segregation, prejudice, and racism. By the 1900s, the African American population increased, which majority of the population lived in the Southern states of the United States. The Southern states enforced the Jim Crow laws, which mandated racial segregation in all public facilities giving white Americans advantages over black Americans in public schools, public transportation, restrooms, restaurants and drinking fountains. In order to eliminate the control that white Americans had over African Americans, African Americans began to build their own schools, churches, and communities. Although, African Americans building their own communities was the intention of avoiding the humiliation of the Jim Crow laws, it still didn’t prevent the African Americans from becoming victims of racially motivated violence. African Americans experienced countless acts of violence incidents that lead blacks battered, beaten and even dead in some cases. White Americans begin to form organizations that promoted white power, leading the organizations to practice out violence and destroy African Americans property. A popular white power organization called themselves the Ku Klux Klan and performed acts against blacks that included; lynching cross burnings, physical violence, and house burnings towards African Americans. Although, the Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1867, it has been rumors that there are people that are still secretly members today. African Americans experienced a wider range of discrimination, segregation, and racism more so in the later days but still arise in society today. In a perfect world, no one would be judged by the color of their skin and society would focus on a person’s individual true character. Often times African Americans miss out on opportunities because they are being judged by the color of their skin, rather than their abilities. The United States has tried to provide Americans the rights to equal opportunity, by creating the Affirmative action. The affirmative action eliminates people being granted opportunities based on their race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin and ensures that minority groups within a society receive equal opportunities. Although, the affirmative action was intended to diminish situations which cause people to participate in different forms of discrimination, but unless it could be fully proven that African Americans were being passed up for jobs, education, income and other forms of advancements there will never be a way to fully prohibit this form of discrimination. Today, there is still unequal opportunities and discriminatory treatment that occurs in the United States especially with African Americans. African Americans were affected by many forms of discrimination that decreased advancement to equal other races in society. They were faced with dual labor market, forcing blacks to work in lower labor market areas. Redlining was enforced by keeping businesses from helping African Americans simply because of the area they lived in. Many African Americans wanted to better themselves by furthering their education, but suffered from institutional discrimination and given less information and aid for education. Knowing the history of the African American struggles on; prejudice, discrimination, and segregation allows me to understand my roots and accomplishments of my ethnic group. Personally the history of African Americans affects me greatly, because it is the combination of struggles that has played a huge role to my advancements and opportunities performed daily. The African American ancestors fought daily through all counts of discrimination helps that allows all groups of different minority groups the same equal rights for advancement opportunities. Although, the majority of the world views of African Americans has changed there are still people that choose to discriminate against African Americans by choosing not to change with the ways of the world and maintain prejudice. Acts of discrimination is performed but not as greatly as many years ago. African American culture has had a rough past journey, but in the long run the majority of the United States has made it possible for all African Americans equal rights and opportunities in life.

The RelationShip between Forensic Experts to Their Stakeholders Essay

The RelationShip between Forensic Experts to Their Stakeholders - Essay Example Influence of Forensic Expertise on the Society Forensic expertise affects many people in the society with regards to the needs presented to them by the society. Through this, a good relationship is born between the experts and the society especially the stakeholders. Due to the strong relationship made by the society and forensic science especially the citizens perceive forensic evidence as a much more trusted form of testimonial evidence than others do. The role of the media educating the public more about the forensic technology through television programs that contain forensic evidences makes the way the public relies on quality evidences on cases. Prosecutors depend on the results obtained by the forensic experts in order to plan on the next step in the case. Studies have shown that prosecutors take forensic evidence as a central pillar of plea and trial conviction (Peterson & Murdock, 2009). Furthermore the law society especially the lawyers use the results in order to represent their clients with facts to the courts in case the client is a complainer. Forensic technology has a vital aim in the examination and trial of criminal activities. Forensic science brings things to broad light by retrieving out facts before a case in a court of law, which influences the way, the jury and the judge will make the judgment. The stronger the forensic evidence the more likely the suspect to be fairly prosecuted according to the facts brought forward to the courtroom. Forensic evidence can be vital in a broad range of cases ranging from the study of the blood of a driver alleged of driving while under the control of alcohol drink or drugs. The good thing about the evidence produced through forensic science is that the evidence can be reexamined later using new techniques in the field. Even though the way forensic science provides reliable evidences in cases the activity of collecting the specimens for the laboratory tests is tricky and it needs a lot of concentration (Pe terson, J. et al. 2010). Obstacles facing forensics One of the obstacles facing the forensic science is the chain of custody and the preservation of evidence after obtaining them. Evidence acceptability needs lawful investigation and the severe loyalty to the chain of custody regulations including evidence collection, evidence preservation, analysis, and reporting which is difficult to be done by an officer while gathering evidence. The level by which the information technology is spanning the globe makes it difficult for the forensics make sure security is maintained. For example hackers and fraudsters use the internet to pose threat to the people using the internet (Adrian & Vorster, 2005). Solutions Relevant government should come up with laws, which will deal with the evolving computer crimes. The laws need to evolve around forensics ways of investigating of crime in order to give way to the transformation in technology. These laws should provide judgment to be given to computer criminals. Furthermore, new techniques of auditing should be introduced to cope up with the high rising of techniques used by hackers (Adrian & Vorster, 2005). References Adrian C. & Vorster, W. J. (2005). Legal Challenges Facing Forensic Auditing. Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Peterson, J. et al.(2010). Role and Impact of Forensic Evidence in the Criminal Justice Process. School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics. California State University, L A Peterson, J. L. & Murdock, J.

Therapy Dog Visits Cancer Patients at Cone Health Assignment

Therapy Dog Visits Cancer Patients at Cone Health - Assignment Example The patients have the opportunity to hold the dog, which reminds her of her dog pet that she left at home. Animal-therapy is a topic that has gained a lot of attention within the contemporary topic about the human-animal relationship and how each party can benefit. This news item shows how close human beings and animals can be and how the two species can mutually benefit from one another. The reason I picked this article is its implication to the hope of reviving the bond between human beings and animals. As more people find consolation in their domestic animals, it becomes clear that it is possible to form even close bonds that will uphold the dignity of both animals and human beings. This brings a completely new image different from one created by the use of animals as test species that researchers use to develop a cure for the human ailment. Earlier on, medical experts have used animals to test for experimental drugs, leading to the death of many animals. This article is linked to the idea of bringing animals and human beings close, an important topic in the contemporary studies.

Risk Management Week3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Risk Management Week3 - Essay Example on that ought to be proactively and effectively managed for a firm to identify and be able to react to new vulnerabilities, emerging threats, and a firm’s continuously changing enterprise operational and architecture atmosphere. Over the years, several security requirements and standards constructions have been developed in an effort to address enterprise systems together with important data inside them. Nonetheless most of these attempts have basically become exercises on just reporting on conformity and have in actuality redirected security programme supplies from the continuously changing attacks that must be dealt with. The Critical Security Control aims first on making it a main concern on security responsibilities that are efficient against the very latest Advanced Targeted Threats that has got a very tough emphasis on â€Å"what actually works†-security controls whereby processes, products, services and architecture are being used and have actually proved real world efficiency. Automation and standardisation is yet a further top main concern, to increase operational competences while at the same time improving efficiency (Hossein, 2006). There are several critical security controls that this paper seeks to address .Some of these include; inventory of unauthorised and authorised devices or software, making sure there is secure configurations for software and hardware on laptops, servers, mobile devices and workstations, continuous vulnerability assessment and remediation, application software security, malware defenses, wireless access control, appropriate training and security assessment to fill in gaps, data recovery capabilities and finally secure configurations for network tools such as routers, switches and firewalls. In the case of inventory of unauthorised and authorised devices, there should be active management (track, inventory and correction) of all hardware devices that are on the network so that it is the only authorised devices that are

The Ethics of Consumers Engaging in Ethical Purchases Essay

The Ethics of Consumers Engaging in Ethical Purchases - Essay Example Brief Summary of the Topic Various scholars have studied consumer ethics in different perspectives. Newman (2011) studied them and explained that those consumers who try to make ethical purchases only to realize they were duped may become cynical and feel their efforts were futile. DaVinney et al. (2010) studied them in terms of consumer social behaviors while Nicholls & Opal (2005) studied the way they drive market and thus influencing fair-trade. According to Carrigan (2005), Consumer ethics are the moral principles that guide consumers in obtaining, using, and disposing of goods and services. These consumer ethics help us to understand how consumers make their judgment about products or services in questionable situations like fraud and shoplifting. The ethics helps consumers to conduct themselves in a way that help them remain in harmony with concerns of nature while not neglecting the needs and interests of their social reality and their immediate and material needs (Koslowski e t al 2004). These ethics can also help consumers to avoid unhealthy products and services and those products, which might pollute the environment. According to Schwartz (2010), it is necessary for consumers to consider the moral and ethical dimension of the products when making a purchase. However, there are very few who do so. In this era, what people say and what they actually do when shopping differ greatly (Miller 2001). Moreover, it is somehow very difficult to avoid unethical purchases completely and as a result, few people in the current world buy products and services purely on ethics. In most cases people tend to make emotional decisions based on the perception they have for a product or service when making a purchase (Arnold 2010). A good example of people who make ethical purchases are those who choose to buy a product that is labeled fair-trade because of their concern for the developing countries. Another good example is people who buy product because of the role they p lay in conserving the environment (Harrison et al. 2005). Various factors are believed to influence the consumer ethics. Some of these factors include culture, social-economic status, and religion (Carrigan 2005). Many scholars have studied these factors and tried to explain the roles they play in influencing a consumer to make an ethical purchase. It is also believed that when making an ethical purchase the consumer does not have to ignore other factors of the product or service like price and quality (Harrison et al. 2005). In this case, what a consumer should do is to use an additional criterion of ethics when deciding his purchases. Consider the Topic from the Views of at least Two Competing Ethical Perspectives We can consider the issue of consumer ethics from various different perspectives. One of these perspectives is when it comes to purchasing food staffs. In such a case, consumers are bound by various factors when deciding which product to buy. With the current development in economy and technology, various types of synthetic foodstuffs have emerged. These foodstuffs are promoted even in our media. Also due to competition of the sorts of foodstuffs in the market, no company can dare to tell the consumers the disadvantage of their products. The kind of

Islamic History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Islamic History - Essay Example The history of foundation of Islam is clothed with the veils of legend and obscured by multiple conflicting accounts that make its true outline all but impossible to discern with any clarity. But it is incontrovertible that Northern-Arabia prior to Muhammad was a predominantly tribal environment, structured by exigencies of camel herding, trading, feuding, and raiding. The ‘civilized’ area of Arabia was not in the heartland where Islam was born, but rather had long been located in the coastal south and along the gulf. Inland, the only possible location for development of any sort of state was in the impoverished and remote region dominated by Mecca and the Quraysh clan, where ancient pilgrimage centers protected markets in perfume, leather, and other trade goods. But no such development occurred until the advent of Muhammad, who was born around 570, received his first revelations at the age of forty, undertook his momentous journey to Medina (the hijra) in 622 (year one in the Muslim calendar) and died in 632, having led his people in the conquest of the whole Arab peninsula, and having initiated their great and ultimately successful war against the surrounding Sasanid and Byzantine empires.The religion of Islam is from the Muslim point of view, â€Å"the religion of Abraham and Ishmael† the forefathers of the Muslims. According to Ibn al-Kalbi, who conveys also the belief of his predecessors, Ishmael settled in Mecca where he became the father of many children who supplanted the Amalekites of Mecca; to him is ascribed the origin of the Arabs. Arabs. The Qur'an states that Abraham and Ishmael "raised the foundation of the House" and established a "proper worship". The rites of the pilgrimage, the circumambulation, the visitation of the lesser pilgrimage, the vigil of Arafat, the sacrifice of the she-camels and the acclamation of the name of the deity "came down from the time of Abraham and Ishmael", according to Ibn al-kalbi, and they constitute a part of the religion.(Tamara) Islam had come upon the world scene in the seventh century in connection with the explosion of Arabic-speaking, horse mounted warriors out of the Arabian desert under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad and his successors. The period of hemispheric history from 1000 to 1500 A.D., what we will call the Islamic Middle Period, witnessed a steady and remarkable expansion of Islam, not only as religious faith but as a coherent, universalist model of civilized life. The spread of Islam into new areas of the hemisphere during the Middle Period was given impetus by two major forces. One of these was the advance of Turkish-speaking of Muslim herding people from central Asia into the Middle East, a movement that began on a large scale with the conquests of the Seljuk Turks in the eleventh century. The second force was the gradual but persistent movement of Muslim merchants into the lands rimming the Indian ocean, that is, East Africa, India, Southeast Asia and China, as well as into Central Asia and West Africa south of the Sahara. A close look at the patterns of travel and migration in the post-Abbasid centuries reveals a quiet but persistent dispersion of legal scholars, theologians, Sufi divines, belle- lettrists, scribes and architects outward from the older centers of Islam to these new frontiers of Muslim military and commercial activity. (Spencer) The Islamic world in Ibn Battuta's time was divided politically into numerous kingdoms and principalities. Muslims on the move regarded the jurisdictions of states as a necessary imposition and gave them as little attention as possible. Their primary allegiance was to the Dar al-Islam as a whole. The terrible Mongol conquests of Persia and Syria that occurred between 1219 and 1258 appeared to Muslims to threaten the very existence of

The importance of banqueting and what type of events there are and how Essay - 1

The importance of banqueting and what type of events there are and how banqueting fits in - Essay Example Many guests introduce each other during a banquet and thus one can consider banqueting as a social event. Here you meet new people and make friends. Even the marketers, now days, use banqueting to promote and advertise their products. Many marketers even hold lucky draws and other brand activities during a banquet and all of this signifies the great importance that banqueting holds for people of our generation. A special event is a one-time event and does not recur on a continuing basis. This makes it unique and it basically held for the purpose of ground breaking, grand opening or other significant moments in life. Concerts and job fairs are also considered as special programme because they cannot be repeated or reproduced. Since, special events are one-time events, special management techniques are required to make these events a success. Many people suffer from improper management of these events which kills the purpose of these events. Therefore, planning these events is the key. You need to make sure that you have the resources and manpower to arrange and successfully host the event. A good starting point in the event management is developing a check list of the resources that you need. A written checklist is important because it can be referred to in the future and important details are not forgotten. Once the event is successfully stage, you need to take some time after the event to evaluate the significance of the event, that is how well it was hosted and stage. For this, a written document is better because you can write down the details while still fresh, reducing the chances that you forget your mistake and they might reoccur again. These steps make events unique and fulfill the purpose of ho lding special events. Banqueting fits in any event as a closing gesture, and signifies the end of an event. The food that is to be

Weaknesses that Wealth Creates According to the Stories of Ernest Hemingway Essay Example for Free

Weaknesses that Wealth Creates According to the Stories of Ernest Hemingway Essay Financial abundance is perhaps the most sought-after purpose of modern men. We spend a significant part of our lifetime doing jobs and chasing profits even if it is against our own will. In the context of the money driven world, we even have a notion that money would endow us a certain sense of strength—a resounding name in literature contests that notion. Ernest Hemingway, a household name for those who appreciate literature, had written several stories that depict material wealth as a source of weakness for humanity. Moreover, in Hemingway’s multiple depictions of wealth, multiple types of weaknesses had also surfaced. To be more specific, the stories that would be used to support this argument will be coming from the collection of short stories titled â€Å"Snows of Kilimanjaro. † The three stories would be â€Å"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber†, â€Å"Fifty Grand†, and a story of the same title as the collection, â€Å"Snows of Kilimanjaro. † The short story â€Å"The Short Life of Francis Macomber† is basically centrifugal to the relationship of Francis Macomber and his wife Margaret, who is also referred to as Margot. Francis Macomber was a wealthy man who is able to take his wife to a big-game hunt. Hemmingway had satisfyingly described the marriage of the characters â€Å"Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce and Macomber had too much money for Margot. † From the previous sentence alone, the type of weakness that wealth had generated is already surfaced. Hemmingway is seemingly suggesting that wealth could leave materially rich people poor—poor in terms of love. The situation of the main characters shows us that money could even corrupt a supposedly sacred concept such as marriage. In addition to that, this kind of wealth-inflicted weakness is inline with the popular notion that money can never buy love. In â€Å"Fifty Grand,† the title immediately talks about money giving the readers a hint as to what the story will be about money. The plot was revolved around the life of an aging boxer who is preparing for his last fight. The aging boxer is aware that there is no chance for him to win against his opponent who is seemingly on his prime. He had acknowledged his own weakness and attempted to turn the tables around. Interestingly, he had placed a bet for his own opponent. He was almost sure that through losing he would end up winning â€Å"I’m through after this fight†¦I got to take a beating why shouldn’t I make money on it? † Hemmingway complicates the plot by placing two shrewd gamblers as antagonists. The antagonists had come up with a brilliant plan of making the opponent of the protagonist to hit him below the belt, making him lose his fifty grand. In this particular story, the type of weakness that wealth could give an individual is a welcomed weakness. All the characters were willing to give up their pride, conscience, and even self-worth just to gain material wealth. In some respect, wealth could strip us the things we could never buy. The characters in â€Å"Fifty Grand† were all seemingly devoid of any self-worth, especially the protagonist. In addition to that, the protagonist sees doubling his life-savings as the only way he could live a happy pot-boxing life. In one of Hemingway’s best works, â€Å"Snows of Kilimanjaro†, he had written about how wealth could ruin a writer. Through this theme, readers would easily jump to the assumption that this particular story is quasi-autobiographical. The plot talks about a writer browsing through his memories while on a safari in Africa. He was infected through a wound that he got from a thorn. The protagonist collects his memories as he was awaiting a slow and seemingly inevitable death. He had realized that his life was full of wonderful memories. However, the tragedy was he was unable to write about those wonderful memories. Instead, he had focused much on the misery that his wealthy wife had inflicted to him. The weakness that â€Å"Snows of Kilimanjaro† had talked about is that wealth could kill an individual’s passion. The protagonist’s passion for writing was gradually killed by his adaptation to the lifestyle of his wealthy wife. The protagonist had become dependent to the wealth of his wife. He refers to his wife’s wealth as â€Å"†¦your damned money is my armour. † Unfortunately, his passion for writing was sacrificed—he had failed to write about the important things, instead he had spent most of time mingling with wealthy yet uninteresting people. All in all, these three stories reveal to us Hemingway’s distaste for material wealth. It is common in the three stories that things of priceless value like self-worth and passion are being neglected when pursuing wealth. Perhaps what Hemmingway may have wanted for us to realize is that material wealth should not be pursued at all. Instead, we should give more value to the things that could never be bought. And he is seemingly suggesting that being materially wealthy just means that we had lived our lives poorly.

Should Human Cloning Be Allowed?

Should Human Cloning Be Allowed? One of todays most controversial question is, Should Human Cloning be Allow? Unfortunately, our society always seems to finds more inhumane and harsh ways to eradicate itself; it also seeks ways to escape that eradication through immortality. The issue at hand is should human cloning be allowed in a society that seeks immortality in the name of science. I believe cloning is an evolutionary dead end and the use of cloning techniques to make ideal human would ultimately devalue life. Therefore, when people fear death, as most Christians do, the prospect of achieving immortality through the cloning process becomes provocative if not desirable (Sanders, 1974, p. 22). Although science might compels us to seek a higher quality of human life, there are certain activities in the area of genetics and cloning that violate basic moral and ethical principles. While, social effects have increased the knowledge of human genetics and quite possibly have been speculated about and studied more than those of any ongoing social change in history (Greely, 1998, p. 474). While most of society understands the curiosity around knowing how humans work, along with the need to know about DNA, to eliminate many hereditary illnesses and disabilities. There are still those ranging from the United States President to the proletariat have trumpeted the immorality of cloning, and research funding within the areas of animal and/or human cloning has been reduced or blocked in numerous countries and states (Rollin, 1999, p. 52). As most people condemn the idea of this in animals, it is more so appalling for humans. At what point would the experiments stop if we allow them to continue, and who will set the boundaries. People have different characteristics, which set them apart from each other, these traits range from illnesses and disabilities, which are all par t of life regardless of how we feel. I am sorry but scientists could better serve society as advisers, than as decision makers and leave it up to society to determine what is right and wrong. The fact that cloning humans is about creating a genetically indistinguishable copy of a previously existing or existing person is in my opinion wrong on all accounts. Anti-thesis I might add that while there are those for cloning and have established many positive arguments concerning the copying of human DNA, such as developing new medicines for cures. They also believe that one day this research could put an end to some hereditary diseases and disorders, as well as allowing infertile parents to produce children with their own DNA. Finally and most importantly a few scientists have suggested extending the ageing process all together through the cloning process. Even though there are many encouraging factors about cloning human embryos, there is always another side that raises many issues against the process. In a Time/CNN opinion poll of only 500 adult Americans, fewer than 1 in 5 Americans think human cloning should be allowed to continue. Fifty-eight percent of the participants in the poll believed it is morally wrong to clone humans and sixty-three percent say it is against Gods will (Battaglia, 1995, p. 675). Many religions organizations disagree with the tampering of human life; because it goes against their beliefs and argue that it is immoral. For instance, if perfected many people may turn to this method of conceiving unnaturally, in order to create the perfect son or daughter, which some may consider an unnatural birth. Many have argued that an embryo is indeed a human life, and if damaged during the cloning process, there is the possibility killing it. Therefore, making the practice of embryo cloning, an immoral procedure. Twenty years ago gene function was unknown; today we have the genetic dictionary that deciphers the code of life. Even more recent has been the application of this knowledge to our own species (Nagle, 1972, p. 372). While cloning is still considered to be in the early stages of research, and all the pros and cons contradicting each other, the main question is, should we allow human cloning in the name of science and take a chance at destroying the genetic cycle of humanity? The two main types of cloning that have caused ethical controversies around the world are embryo and reproductive cloning. Embryo cloning being the process that duplicates the procedure found in nature to produce twins, while reproductive cloning is a method where they extract the DNA from an ovum and replace it with the DNA extracted from a cell of an adult, therefore producing a copy of an existing person. Based on research done on animals, the results normally end with the subjects being born with severe inherent defects making it a profoundly unethical and immoral procedure for humans. At any stage of human cloning, there is no agreement concerning the ethical issues that arise by the process of destroying human embryos. Given that this procedure is somewhat comparable to traditional conception and because both methods create a pre-embryo, the question that still arises, is the pre-embryo is a human being? Many people have the opinion that an embryo in its early stage does not require any particular moral consideration, yet throughout Hebrew and Christian history, it is taught that what it means to be human as a person and as a people can be fully known only in reference to God (Cole-Turner, 1992, p. 162). However, there are still those that believe the embryonic cells at this stage are not equivalent to human beings because it lacks self-awareness of its environment. This simply implies that the embryo attains human form much later in development, maybe at the point when the brain develops and the embryo becomes aware of itself. Even though genetic research and cloning offers an opportunity to cure disease and allows infertile couples the possibility of having children, there is another side to this whole argument. For instance, imagine if cloning was used for the general improvement of the population, meaning collecting donor eggs and sperms from selected females and males to increas e the probability of a genetically superior species. If this is unacceptable for us, what do we do if some other nation, such as our enemy, begins such a eugenic program (Nagle, 1972, p. 376)? Many people remember the physician who substituted his sperm for the husbands to created children that were the doctors and not that of the husband. In an unscientific and unethical manner, he was using the couples to bear his children and to pay their rearing expenses. As a result, he was using science to manipulate couples to his own distorted sense of importance. Media coverage continues to suggest that the only ethical dispute is over the issue of destroying embryos, when in reality there is an unethical risk to a womens health, leaving the only one conclusion, it is unethical for both the mother and child. Therefore, when it comes to cloning humans, I believe we are playing on dangerous grounds, which are unethical and immoral to the human race as a whole. Still society continues to face the question, should we allow human cloning in the name of science. Unfortunately, many people find this to be a tough question to answer; believing there really is no right answers. Throughout all of the research already done, all we find is a lot of mixed opinions and emotions to consider. While, everybody has their own opinions about cloning, and I can see where it is difficult to determine right and wrong from the issues they have raised, both positive and negative. Synthesis The idea behind human cloning to discover new medicines and possible cures for hereditary diseases and illnesses, or at least create a decrease in the number, is the main cause of mixed emotions. For instance, I believe that everybody has his or her time, and the idea of human cloning to obtain a longer life is absurd. Looking at all of the negatives issues, I see a strong argument on the religious and moral sides. However, I suppose this would not affect everybody, being our society is on the decline when it comes to morals. While cloning for infertile parents may seem like a decent thing to do, it still poses a question concerning children that are in need of a good home. To me adoption would be a good moral decision on the part of the adopting parents. Although, cloning human embryos is still in the early stages of development it still has a long way to go before discovering the whole concept. There is one thing for sure; cloning human embryos will continue, only stopping when the government takes over and demands they put an end to the whole procedure. Despite the strong arguments and looking into the future, the commotion generated by the success of mammal cloning technology, applicable to man, highlights the fact that experimental science can raise, at least for certain people, a genuine ethical problem (Lavelle, 2005, p. 218). This leaves society with the conclusion that cloning will become more and more common as our knowledge of science and embryo development increases. However, the question of whether to allow this type of human experiment will remain unanswered. I believe the part of society that has the strongest morals when it comes to human life will continue to argue that it is still immoral.. After all the fact remains that, certain activities in the area of genetics and cloning violate basic environmental and ethical principles. Therefore, immortality is something we have lived without and come to except through our morals and religious beliefs not some scientific experiment. Although, I personally feel that embryo cloning should have never started in the first place, as pitiless as it may sound, the benefits of having this happen in order to stop further generations from suffering is definitely something many may consider. To think that this experimental behavior will create the perfect human is sad, because we will still have an imperfect world based on our immoral decisions. Even though there is a need for developing healthier cells for cancer treatment, achieving these results through cloning could potentially cause harm to an unborn child. As heartless as it may sound, I would prefer a child that had only mild disabilities, than one severely disabled because of the cloning process, or even worse, knowing that if it died from a cloning malfunction. I also think that ethics and morals play a major role in determining when an embryo becomes a living being. My own view is that even though the embryo is in this early stage and attached to its mother, it is alive. Therefore, we need to respect the embryo for what it is, a human being at its early stages of development and take in to account that one day this living creature will someday say mom or dad, so in consideration of this, would it not be sad to use it for experimental purposes. Therefore, in conclusion the question of whether or not human cloning should continue will remain unanswered. The one thing for sure is that the scientific part of humanity will continue to find more appalling and destructive ways of annihilating itself and the moral part of humanity will find a way to escape that obliteration by seeking to improve the quality life through natural sources.

Tubing design

Tubing design Tubing design In the previous chapter, selection procedure of tubing diameter was based on well performance analysis. In this section, the procedure for selecting tubing material properties is presented. Selection of material is carried out by considering different forces that act on the tubing during production and workover operations and then a graphical method is used to present the tubing load against material properties. 1.1 Forces on tubing During the life of the well, tubing is subjected to various forces from production and workover operations which include: * production of hydrocarbon, * killing of the well, * squeeze cementing, * hydraulic fracturing etc. The activities result in change in temperature and pressure inside the tubing and casing-tubing annulus, which can cause a change in tubing length (shortening or lengthening). The change in length often leads to increase in compression or tension in tubing and in extreme situation unseating of packer or failure of tubing (Hammerlindl, 1977 and Lubinski et.al, 1962). According to the authors the change in pressure inside and outside of tuning and temperature can have various effects on tubing: * piston effect(According to Hookes Law), * helical buckling, * ballooning and * thermal effect. HOOKES LAW EFFECTS Changes in pressure inside and outside the tubing can cause tubing movement due to piston effect. According to Hookes law, change in length of tubing caused by this effect can be calculated using the Equation 4.1. Where is the change in forces due to the change in pressures inside ( ) and outside () tubing and can be expressed as: Where, (see Fig. 4.2) DL1= change in length due to Hookes Law effect, inch, L = length of tubing, inch, F = force acting on bottom of tubing, lb., E= modulus of elasticity, As = cross-sectional area of tubing, inch2, Ai = area based on inside diameter of tubing, inch2 and Ao = area based on outside diameter of tubing, inch2, Ap= area based on diameter of packer seal, inch2, = change in pressure inside annulus at packer (Final Initial), psi and = change in pressure inside tubing at packer (Final Initial), psi. Notes: DL, DF, DPi or DPo indicates change from initial packer setting conditions. It is assumed Pi = Po when packer is initially set. HELICAL BUCKLING The difference in pressure inside tubing and casing-tubing annulus acts on the cross sectional area of packer bore at tubing seal and leads to a decrease in the length of tubing due to buckling. This effect is known as helical buckling. When the tubing is restricted from movement, a tensile load is developed. This effect is increased with increase in inside tubing pressure. The change in length caused by helical buckling can be calculated by the Equation 4.3. where Force causing buckling: Ff = Ap (Pi Po) If Ff (a fictitious force) is zero or negative, there is no buckling. Length of tubing buckled: n = Ff / w Where, DL2= change in length due to buckling, inch, r= radial clearance between tubing and casing, inch, w = ws + wi wo, ws = weight of tubing, lb/incn, wi =weight of fluid contained inside tubing, lb/in. (density multiplied by area based on ID of tubing), wo= weight of annulus fluid displaced by bulk volume of tubing, lb/in. (density multiplied by area based on OD of tubing), =tubing outside diameter, inch and =tubing inside diameter, inch. Buckling can be avoided by applying surface annular pressure. BALLOONING EFFECTS The radial pressure inside the tubing causes tubing to increase or decrease in length. When the pressure inside the tubing is greater compared to the pressure inside the casing-tubing annulus, it tends to inflate the tubing, thus shortening the tubing. If the pressure inside the casing-tubing annulus is greater compared to pressure inside the tubing, then the tubing length is increased. This effect is known as ballooning and the change in length caused due to this effect is given by Equation 4.4. Where, DL3=change in length due to ballooning, in. m= Poissons ratio (0.3 for steel) R= tubing OD/tubing ID Dri=change in density of fluid inside tubing, lb/in3 Dro=change in density of fluid outside tubing, lb/ in3 Dpi=change in surface pressure inside tubing, psi Dpo=change in surface pressure outside tubing, psi d=pressure drop in tubing due to flow, psi/in. (usually considered as d= 0) THERMAL EFFECTS Due to the earths geothermal gradient, the temperature of the produced fluids can be high enough to change the tubing length. The effect is opposite (decrease in length) when a cold fluid is injected inside the tubing. It is ideal to take the change in average string temperature. The change in length due to temperature can be calculated using the Equation 4.5. Where, DL4=change in length, in. L=length of tubing string, in. C=coefficient of expansion of steel per oF DT=temperature change, oF PACKER SETTING FORCE The setting of packer requires forces which may lead to change in length of tubing. This change in length can be calculated using the Equation 4.6., which is derived based on Equations 4.1 and 4.3. The force on packer should not exceed critical values whereby it can cause permanent damage to the tubing. The initial weight on packer may cause slack off and to check if this situation might exist, one could use Equation 4.7. Where, F = set-down force. The tubing can suffer permanent damage if the stress in the tubing exceeds the yield strength of the tubing material. It is therefore advised to determine the safe tubing stresses for a given production or workover operation. The safe tubing stress can be calculated by using the following Equations (Allen and Roberts, 1989): The critical values can be calculated using Equations 4.8 and 4.9. Where, Si=stress at inner wall of the tubing So=stress at outer wall of the tubing For free-motion packer: When the packer exerts some force on the tubing, an additional term Ff should be added to Fa and the sign in Equations 4.8 and 4.9 varies in way to maximize the stresses. Example 4.1: An example of Tubing Movement calculation: The following operations are to be performed on a well completed with 9,000 ft of 2-7/8 OD (2.441 ID), 6.5 lb/ft tubing. The tubing is sealed with a packer which permits free motion. The packer bore is 3.25. The casing is 32 lb/ft, 7 OD (6.049 ID). Calculate the total movement of the tubing (note: notation is used for inch). Conditions Production Frac Cement Initial Fluid 12 lb/gal mud 13 lb/gal saltwater 8.5 lb/gal oil Final Fluid Tubing 10 lb/gal oil 11 lb/gal frac fluid 15 lb/gal cement Annulus 12 lb/gal mud 13 lb/gal saltwater 8.5 lb/gal oil Final Pressure Tubing 1500 psi 3500 psi 5000 psi Annulus 0 1000 psi 1000 psi Temp Change +25oF -55oF -25oF SOLUTION Production: Hookes Law Effect At bottom hole conditions DPi = Final pressure inside tubing Initial pressure inside tubing DPo = Final pressure inside annulus initial pressure inside annulus Using Eq. (4.2) Using Eq. (4.1) Helical Buckling Effect Using Eq. (4.3) Ballooning Effect Using Eq. (4.4) Temperature Effect Using Eq. (4.5) Total Tubing Movement (Tubing lengthens) Fracturing: Hookes Law Effect At bottom hole conditions DPi = Final pressure inside tubing Initial pressure inside tubing DPo = Final pressure inside annulus initial pressure inside annulus Using Eq. (4.2) Using Eq. (4.1) Helical Buckling Effect Using Eq. (4.3) Ballooning Effect Using Eq. (4.4) Temperature Effect Using Eq. (4.5) Total Tubing Movement (Tubing shortens) Cement: Hookes Law Effect At bottom hole conditions DPi = Final pressure inside tubing Initial pressure inside tubing DPo = Final pressure inside annulus initial pressure inside annulus Using Eq. (4.2) Using Eq. (4.1) Helical Buckling Effect Using Eq. (4.3) Ballooning Effect Using Eq. (4.4) Temperature Effect Using Eq. (4.5) Total Tubing Movement (Tubing shortens) 1.2 Selection of Tubing Material Tubing selection should be based on whether or not the tubing can withstand various forces which are caused due to the variations in temperature and pressure. The API has specified tubing based on the steel grade. Most common grades are: H40, J55, K55, C75, L80, N80, C95, P105 and P110. The number following the letter indicates the maximum yield strength of the material in thousands of psi. The failure of the tubing can be attributed to the loading conditions. There are three modes of tubing failure which include: * burst (pressure due to fluid inside tubing), * collapse (pressure due to fluid outside tubing) and * tension (due to weight of tubing and tension if restricted from movement). The graphical design of the tubing can be achieved by creating a plot of depth vs pressure. This design is carried out by calculating pressures inside the tubing and casing-tubing annulus at the bottom hole and tubing head. The maximum differential pressures at surface and bottom hole are examined using the plot. This maximum condition usually occurs during stimulation. When the maximum allowable annular pressure is maintained during stimulation, a considerable amount of reduction in the tubing load can be achieved. The burst pressure load (difference between the pressure inside the tubing and annulus) is mostly experienced in greater magnitude close to the surface but may not necessarily be always true. The burst load lines are plotted followed by plotting collapse load lines. The collapse loads are calculated with an assumption that a slow leak at the bottom hole has depressurized the tubing. This scenario is sometimes expereinced after the fracturing treatment when operators commence kickoff before bleeding off the annular pressure. If the data for pressure testing conditions (usually most critical load) is available, it should be included in the plot. Along with the collapse and burst loads, the burst and collapse resistance for different tubing grades (available) are plotted. By observing the plot we can determine which tubing grade to be selected that can withstand the calculated loads. An example of selecting tubing based on graphical design is presented below. Example 4.2: Graphical tubing design Based on the data given below, select a tubing string that will satisfy burst, collapse and tension with safety factors of 1.1, 1.0 and 1.8 respectively. Planning Data: D =9000 ft true depth, f = 2.875 inches, tubing OD, CIBHP = 6280psi, closed-in bottom hole pressure, FBP = 12550psi, formation breakdown pressure, FPP = 9100psi, fracture propagation pressure, Gpf = 0.4 psi / ft packer fluid gradient, Gf = .48 psi /ft fracturing fluid gradient, g = 0.75 gas gravity at reservoir, Pann = 1000 psi, maximum allowable annulus pressure, SFB =1.1, safety Factor, Burst Condition, SFC =1.0, safety Factor, Collapse Condition, SFT =1.8, safety Factor, Tensile Load, Burst and Collapse rating of available tubings: B_L80 =9395 psi, C_L80 =9920 psi, B_J55 =6453 psi, C_J55 =6826 psi, B_H40 =4693 psi and C_H40 =4960psi. Solution: Step 1: Calculate the ratio of bottomhole pressure to surface pressure. Referring table 4.1 in the manual, determine the ratio of surface and BHP at the given reservoir gas gravity, At a gas gravity = 0.8 and Depth 9000 ft, the ratio is 0.779 At a gas gravity = 0.7 and Depth 9000 ft, the ratio is 0.804 At gas gravity 0.75 the ratio of surface pressure to BHP is Table 4.1 Ratio of surface pressure and BHP in gas wells for a range of gas gravities. Depth of Hole Gas Gravity (ft) (m) 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.80 1000 305 0.979 0.978 0.976 0.973 2000 610 0.959 0.956 0.953 0.946 3000 915 0.939 0.935 0.93 0.92 4000 1219 0.92 0.914 0.907 0.895 5000 1524 0.901 0.893 0.885 0.87 6000 1830 0.883 0.873 0.854 0.847 7000 2133 0.864 0.854 0.844 0.823 8000 2438 0.847 0.835 0.823 0.801 9000 2743 0.829 0.816 0.804 0.779 10000 3048 0.812 0.798 0.764 0.758 11000 3353 0.795 0.78 0.766 0.737 12000 3660 0.779 0.763 0.747 0.717 13000 3962 0.763 0.746 0.729 0.697 14000 4267 0.747 0.729 0.712 0.678 15000 4572 0.732 0.713 0.695 0.659 16000 4876 0.717 0.697 0.67 0.641 17000 5181 0.702 0.682 0.652 0.624 18000 5486 0.687 0.656 0.645 0.607 19000 5791 0.673 0.652 0.631 0.59 20000 6097 0.659 0.637 0.615 0.574 Step 2: Calculate the pertinent pressures for different operating conditions. a) Pressures inside casing-tubing annulus Assuming during the production and killing of well, packer fluid is present inside the casing tubing annulus. For producing situation: Pressure inside annulus at surface = packer fluid gradient * Depth Pkill_prod_surface= = 0.4* 0 = 0 psi Pressure inside annulus at bottom hole = packer fluid gradient * Depth Pkill_prod = Gpf *D = 0.4* 9000 = 3600 psi For Stimulation: Pressure inside annulus at surface= Pstim_surf = 1000 psi Pressure inside annulus at bottomhole = packer fluid gradient * Depth + (Max Allowable pressure inside annulus) Pstim_bh= Gpf *D + Pann = 0.4*9000 + 1000 = 4600 psi b) Pressures inside tubing At bottom hole, pressure = CIBHP At surface, pressure = CITHP (closed in tubing head pressure) CITHP = ratio * CIBHP CITHP = 0.792 * 6280 = 4973 psi KILL SITUATION: When a well is killed, the bottom hole pressure is given as sum of CIBHP and maximum allowable annulus pressure. At bottom hole, pressure inside tubing during kill situation (BHIP) = CIBHP+Pann BHIP =6280 +1000 = 7280psi Tubing head pressure during kill situation is calculated by multiplying BHIP with gas gravity. At tubing head kill pressure (THIP) = ratio * BHIP = 0.792*7280 = 5765 psi FORMATION BREAKDOWN SITUATION: During stimulation the bottomhole pressure is the formation break down pressure and can be calculated by the density of the fracture fluid .In this problem the break down pressure is specified. At bottomhole, pressure inside tubing during formation breakdown (BHFBP) = FBP BHFBP = 12550 psi The tubing head pressure can be calculated by subtracting the hydrostatic head generated by the fracturing fluid from the bottomhole pressure. At tubing head, pressure (THFBP) = FBP -Gf* D =12550- 0.48* 9000 = 8230psi FRACTURE PROPAGATION During stimulation (propagation), we experience some pressure drop due to friction. Based on the pumping rates and properties of proppants we can determine the drop in pressure. Assuming a pressure drop of 0.35 psi / ft (usually calculated through properties of fracturing fluid and pumping rate), the bottomhole pressure at fracture propagation (BHFP) can be calculated as: DPfr = 0.35 psi/ ft At bottomhole, BHFP = FPP BHFP =9100 psi At tubing head, the pressure inside tubing can be calculated as: Tubing head fracture propagation pressure (THFP) = BHFP + DPfr* D Gf*D = 9100 + 0.35*9000 -0.48*9000 =7930 psi Step 3: Calculate the burst load for different operating conditions: Defining the burst loads: Burst Load pressure = pressure inside tubing pressure in the casing- tubing annulus Burst Load at tubing head for producing conditions: BL _surface_prod = CITHP Pkill_prod_surface = 4973 0 = 4973 psi Burst Load at bottomhole for producing conditions: BL _bh_prod = CIBHP Pkill_prod = 6280-3600 = 2680 psi Burst Load at tubing head for killing operation: BL _surface_kill = THIP Pkill_prod_surface = 5765 -0 = 5765 psi Burst Load at bottomhole for killing operation: BL _bh_kill = BHIP Pkill_prod = 7280-3600 = 3680 psi Burst Load at tubing head for formation breakdown: BL _surface_fbp = THFBP Pstim_surf = 8230 -1000 = 7230 psi Burst Load at bottomhole for formation breakdown: BL _bh_fbp = BHFBP Pstim_bh = 12550 -4600 = 7950 psi Burst Load at tubing head for fracture propagation: BL _surface_fbp = THFP Pstim_surf = 7930 -1000 = 6930 psi Burst Load at bottomhole for fracture propagation: BL _bh_fbp = BHFP Pstim_bh = 9100 -4600 = 4500 psi Step 4: Calculation of collapse Load Defining the collapse loads: Collapse load pressure = pressure in casing-tubing annulus- pressure inside tubing In order to plot critical collapse load conditions (CLL) normally, we assume that a slow leak in tubing has changed the pressure inside casing-tubing annulus to CITHP and that tubing is empty and depressurized. Step 5: Plot the Load lines. Plot the burst load and collapse load lines for various completion operations, burst and collapse resistance lines for the available tubing grades. The obtained plot is illustrated in Fig. 4.4. It can be observed from plot that formation breakdown situation has the maximum burst pressures. The maximum burst pressure line and collapse line are plotted with the available ratings of tubing. The resulting plot will look like Fig. 4.5. Then by inspecting the graph we can come to a conclusion that L-80 grade is the best grade available that can withstand the collapse and burst pressures during various operations. But in other situations we have an option to select multiple grades on tubing which are guided by the estimated loading conditions. Estimation of Tensile Load: Most of the tubing failures are caused due to coupling leakage and failure. The failure of coupling can be attributed to inadequate design for tension of the tubing. This load being one of the significant and causes most failures compared to failures due to burst and collapse pressures. A higher safety factor is used while designing tubing. The design can be initiated by considering only the weight of tubing on packer. Some companies even ignore buoyancy effects while calculating weight to have a better design. So ideally a tubing design for tension is carried out by calculating the weight of the tubing in air. Then the buoyant weight of the tubing is calculated using the densities of steel and mud. Selecting a grade of casing which can handle the tensile load generated due to the weight of the tubing. An example below illustrates the design of tubing for tension. Example 4.3 Tension Design Tubing weight: 7.2 lb/ft Tubing length: 12,500 ft Packer fluid: 0.38 psi/ft = 54.72 lb/ft3 Density of steel: 490 lb/ft3 Win_air = 7.2 x 12,500 = 90,000 lb Wbuoyant = = 0.89 x 73,600 = 80,100 lb Joint Specifications J55 L80 EUE HYD CS EUE HYD A95 API joint strength (Klb) Design factor Design capacity (Klb) 99.7 1.8 55.4 100 1.8 55.6 135.9 1.8 75.5 150 1.8 83.3 Tubing Tension Design Considerations 1. Requires L80 tubing at surface 2. Requires joint strength capability of HYD A95 or equivalent Review questions 1. When would buckling of tubing above a packer likely to occur? 2. A 10,000-ft, high-rate oil well is completed with 5ÂÂ ½ 15.5 lb/ft tubing (wall thickness 0.275). Under producing conditions the flowing temperature gradient is 0.40F/100 ft, and under static conditions the geothermal gradient is 1.8oF/100ft from a mean surface temperature of 40oF. When the well is killed with a large volume of 40oF seawater, the bottom-hole temperature drops to 70oF. If free to move, what tubing movement can be expected from the landing condition to the hot producing and to the cold injection conditions? If a hydraulic packer were to be used and set in 30,000 lb tension, what would be the tension loading on the packer after killing the well? (Ignore piston, ballooning and buckling effects). 3. A 7000-ft well that is to be produced with a target of 15,000 STB/D using 5ÂÂ ½ tubing encounters 170 ft of oil-bearing formation with a pressure of 3000 psi. What rating of wellhead should be used? If a single grade and weight tubing is to be used, what is the cheapest string that can probably be run, assuming that Grade Weight (lb/ft) Collapse Strength (psi) Burst Strength (psi) Tensional Strength (1000 lb) Cost Comparison J-55 C-75 N-80 15.5 17.0 17.0 17.0 20.0 4040 4910 6070 6280 8830 4810 5320 7250 7740 8990 300 329 423 446 524 Cheapest Most expensive Moderately expensive REFERENCES 1. Allen, TO and Roberts, AP, Well Completion Design- Production Operations-1, 3rd edition, 1989, pp 182-187. 1. Hammerlindl, DT, Movement, Forces and Stress Associated with Combination Tubing Strings Sealed with Packers, JPT, February 1977. 2. Lubinski, A, Althouse, WS, Logan, TL, Helical Buckling of Tubing Sealed in Packers, JPT, June 1962. 3. Well completion design and practices PE 301-IHRDC EP Manual Series, Boston, MA 02116, USA.

Patients with Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome Essay -- Health, Treatment

Introduction It is known that glucocorticoids (GCs) therapy is the treatment of choice for patients with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS); however some patients fail to respond to the treatment even when given high-dose GCs. For those patients, the treatment should be bolstered by synergising GCs with other immunosuppressant [1]. Although biochemical alterations and clinical manifestations in most nephrotic patients seem to be quite similar, substantial differences are encountered regarding the course of disease. Relapses of proteinuria are experienced in approximately 60% to 80% of steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome patients and despite initial complete remission some remain steroid dependent or become steroid-resistant [2]. The lack of response to corticosteroids has been explained by several mechanisms. This may be ascribed to overwhelming disease severity, poor compliance, abnormalities in glucocorticoid metabolism or poor absorption, especially in patients with NS, who often develop heavy proteinuria and Hypoalbuminaemia, and, finally, by GCs resistance due to a GCR or postreceptor abnormality. GCR was incriminated in worsening the response to steroids earlier [3,4], but inadequate response to these agents, either due to inherited target tissue defective response or acquired impaired responsiveness is often reported by the clinicians in a number of patients [5]. If clinical response was predicted before therapy, synergised treatment might be performed at the beginning of the treatment to avoid side effects of chronic high-dose hormone therapy, which could improve the individual response to GC therapy and benefit more patients. Glucocorticoid receptor (GCR) seems to be related to the pathogenesis of steroid... ...ic indicator for patients with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome. During follow-up patients with non-relapsing and infrequent relapsing nephrotic syndrome had a median time to achieve remission 7 days [5]. Thus taken together all those data we can speculate that evaluation of the expression of intracellular glucocorticoid receptors shown as the percentage of lymphocytes (CD3/GCR) can directly predict early and late responders to steroid therapy, and as a result the outcome of nephrotic syndrome patients regarding future relapses if any. However, there has been no study on the relationship between the expression of lymphocytes GCR and the time to achieve complete remission in pediatric age group patients with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome so far.

Utopian Dreams Essays -- Utopia Perfect World Essays

Throughout the ages, man has come to idealize a word that is most commonly related to ‘heavenly’ or ‘perfect’ without actually picking up the book and realizing for themselves that there is no such thing. A Utopian society could never exist because man is made to want, to desire success. Man is competitive by nature and would never be happy in a society where everyone is equal and there is no chance of advancement. Sir Thomas More dreamt of a land that was much like England but could never surpass time. He opened the eyes of a nation and made its people desire something new. Views were significantly changed and the world would never be the same. Sir Thomas More inspired dramatic changes in religion, community life and even paved the way for communism. And he did all of this through one simple book about one simple society. In a perfect utopian society, there is no official religion. The people are allowed freedom of belief. â€Å"Some worship for god the sun, some the moon, some some other of the planets† (117). The only thing that they all believe in is that there is one supreme ruler that creates miracles and brings them such joy. This is all quite contrary to the beliefs held in 1516 England. Their opinions resemble those of Christianity: their priestly caste, their high standard of morality, their prayers, and their hymns. However, in England the Roman Catholic Church allowed no freedom of beliefs. In fact, the church was firm in its insistence upon the principle of one church and one authoritative doctrine. More even went so far as to poke fun at the idea of the priests of Utopia being men of eminent piety. This remark, under normal circumstances, should be taken as a matter of course. However, in Europe at the time there were many outcries against the laxity and corruption among the clergy. Therefore, many saw this as an indirect thrust at the Christian priesthood. The fact that Utopian priests could marry represents a significant difference from the Catholic vow of celibacy. This was shocking to the citizens and especially clergy of England and Europe. The idea of a married priest was not something that they were quite ready for but were willing to think about. Another surprising contrast to Christian rule was that in Utopia, women were appointed to the priesthood occasionally. Although there were many contrasts, there was o... ...topian society everyone works the same amount of time, at the same job and for no money. In a Utopian society, everyone shares everything and no one gets ahead. In a Utopian society, very few are able to explore their talents and dreams, they are required to work if visiting another city for too long and do not even know what vacations are. In a Utopian society a true American would commit suicide after realizing that they could no longer be individuals. In a Utopian society ... there is no such thing. Utopia is England with no specific jobs. It is England with more structure and a little bit more freedom. Utopia is England if Sir Thomas More was ruling England. Utopia is not an idealistic place to live. It is a trap for those who can not get ahead in the real world and for those who just want to belong. Utopia changed the eyes of a nation and opened the minds of millions. It gave light into what perhaps the world should be like without forcing it upon anyone. It has crept into most governments and lands and has remained there ever since. It is Utopia and its presence is immense. Utopia may not be the perfect society but some of its traits could help to create one.

Alternative Learning System Essay

Introduction The Alternative Learning System or ALS is a parallel learning system that provides a viable alternative to the existing formal education instruction (Guerrero, 2007, p. 2). It is a program by the Department of Education (DepEd), through its Bureau of Alternative Learning System that helps disabled people, cultural minority members, out-of-school youth, former inmates and/or rebels, industry-based workers, and others who cannot afford or missed the opportunity to go through formal elementary and secondary schooling. It was first called Non-Formal Education when it began in 1984. Its main focus back then was to help its students acquire technical skills that they can use for livelihood. Its focus diversified after its name was changed into Alternative Learning System in 2004. It now includes literacy classes that are aimed at eventually offering elementary and high school diplomas to students who have the same above-mentioned backgrounds. Legal Foundations The source of the ALS educational system can be traced to the basic and  fundamental law of the land. The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides for a free and compulsory elementary education and free secondary education through DepEd. Also, the Governance of the Basic Education Act of 2001, which is also known as Republic Act No. 9155, dictates that it is the primordial duty of the State, through DepEd to promote and protect the right of the citizens to quality education and shall initiate steps to ensure the accessibility of education to all. Among many of its provisions, this law recognizes ALS as a â€Å"complement of formal education and a major component of basic education with a clearly defined role within the overall educational goals (Guerrero, 2007, p. 9).† The Executive Order 356 of 2004 renamed DepEd’s Bureau of Non-Formal Education to the Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS). Not only does this Order repeat the bureau’s mandate to address the learning needs of marginalized learners, but it also directs BALS to provide a systematic and flexible approach to reach all types of learners outside the school system. In the 80’s, the global community launched a campaign called Education for All (EFA) that aimed to eradicate illiteracy and promote functional literacy for all peoples of the world by the year 2015. The Philippines was a signatory to this and as such, committed to providing education for all Filipinos and resulted to the formulation and adoption of the Philippine EFA 2015. The goal is to have in place a credible ALS that will increase functional literacy among the marginalized groups of learners. The country also affirmed its commitment in reducing poverty and any form of human deprivation as outlined in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which is also aimed to be attained by the year 2015. DepEd is primarily tasked to implement the 2nd major goal of the MDG which is to achieve universal education. In summary, the EFA plan for 2015 distributes urgent tasks that will guide DepEd in fulfilling the spirit of RA 9155 and EO 356, and ultimately the vision of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. It embodies the various programs, projects, and activities necessary to achieve the goal of quality ALS for all marginalized Filipino learners. ALS in Cagayan de Oro City DepEd, in close coordination with the city government of Cagayan de Oro,  implemented the program of ALS in the city and aims to attain the indicators and goals of Education for All (EFA) 2015 and of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Since 2007, the city government, as part of its implementation strategy, has been conducting advocacy socialization and mobilization in all its Barangays through the ALS Coordinators in order to determine the number of out-of-school youth, illiterates, and school leavers. Massive information campaigns were conducted. Consultations and meetings were also initiated discussing the importance and benefits that may be derived from the literacy program by focusing on the empowerment of the learner and of his/her potentials towards personal growth as he/she participates in the development of his/her community. As a beneficiary of technical assistance from World Bank through the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), the city government has formulated its own City Development Strategy (CDS), which serves as the guide in implementing its various  programs and projects. The ALS ranked third among the top priority programs and projects reflected in the CDS.  Various City Ordinances, Resolutions, Executive Orders and others were passed and issued to support the implementation of ALS. Through the Local School Board (LSB), all the Barangays in Cagayan de Oro City are major stakeholders supporting the various local departments and offices assigned by law to attain the goals of the program. The local Special Education Fund (SEF) and other available resources of the city government provides certain appropriation to support the program through the construction of training venues, the salaries of the employees, coordinators and teachers, acquisition of equipments and supplies, and others. The ALS program was implemented in the 57 urbanized and 23 rural Barangays in Cagayan de Oro City since 2007. Of the Barangays covered, the program faced some problems especially in the 11 hinterland Barangays of the 1 st Congressional District of Cagayan de Oro City. These Barangays are agricultural areas and have a relatively higher incidence of poverty and unemployment. These are: Pagalungan, Tagpangi, Taglimao, Tuburan, Pigsag-an, Tumpagon, Bayanga, Mambuaya, Dansolihon, Tignapoloan and Besigan. These are the areas we are  focusing on in our P.P.B.S. paper and presentation. The Problem The ALS in our paper is meant to reduce the illiteracy rate in the said localities by providing an alternative avenue for achieving a high school equivalent diploma among the illiterate adult population through its existing adult specific curriculum. We are doing this by introducing our own incentive program. The adverse issues confronting the implementation of the program in the fringe Barangays of Cagayan De Oro are the low rate of participation among the illiterate adult population and the low level of survival and/or retention among those who choose to participate. Rough estimates in the concerned areas indicate very low participation in the ALS program. Of those who avail of it, only very few actually commit to graduate. Insofar as the goal of attaining the highest participation among the total number of  potential beneficiaries is concerned, the ALS program translates into a dismal percentage of the estimated success rate. On closer assessment, the identified causes for this mediocre success rate appear to be the lack of incentives to avail of or sustain participation to the ALS program due to economic constraints. These constraints are characterized as follows: 1) Participation in ALS education implies unacceptable daily income loses among potential participants. In the fringe hinterland localities where incomes are hardly sufficient to meet minimum daily living costs, participation during school days will mean abdicating daily incomes needed to insure the provision of basic living needs like the day’s food supply. 2) ALS Participation also implies incurring added education related costs. While enrolment, facilities and learning materials are free, travel costs and other miscellaneous allowances are required to insure that participants are physically present and who’s mental and health dispositions are conducive to learning. Sustaining these costs for repeated learning sessions are often enough to deter potential participants. Scope and Limitation of the Paper There is a wide choice of perspectives and plenty of levels to approach ALS as a topic. In this paper, the existing ALS program we are attempting to improve using our version of the same are the following eleven hinterland fringe Barangays in the 1st Congressional District of Cagayan de Oro City: Pagalungan, Tagpangi, Taglimao, Tuburan, Pigsag-an, Tumpagon, Bayanga, Mambuaya, Dansolihon, Tignapoloan and Besigan. Our focus customers here are the resident adults (18 years old and above) in the said areas. The ALS’ Assessment and Evaluation phase, Accreditation and Equivalency processes (ALS A & E), livelihood programs, and its curriculum are only part of the paper as an assumption that they are there, functioning as they should. Because our topic is not focused on them, they are not discussed here. And of course we think they are very important since we are drawing our strategies from the existing overall mechanism of how the ALS program works. We are asking the questions, â€Å"How  do we increase the participants and make them commit to actually finish the program?† and â€Å"How do we motivate those employed or volunteered directly in the ALS program to participate and meet their objectives?† These are the concerns that this group is attempting to manage. Figure 1 shows the Strategic Framework of the proposed ALS Incentive Program. The focus of our P.P.B.S. is to add a set of incentives to continually help improve the mechanisms that operate ALS. The Planning, Programming, and Budgeting are at work separately along this framework. It is our desire that this model will cascade smoothly to our target learners. Vision: Substantial reduction of illiteracy among adults in the fringe Barangays of Cagayan de Oro City through the Alternative Learning System and where human dignity is restored thereby resulting to personal growth and community development. Mission To improve the ALS’s participation and completion rate among the illiterate adult population in the concerned areas of Cagayan de Oro City through the participation incentive program. Figure 2 shows the S.W.O.T. Analysis for the proposed ALS Incentive Program. The program’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats will help clarify the present situation and strategies that can be developed out from them, and will determine the salient indicators of success, the abilities of the program managers and stakeholders and the available skills and resources. The S.W.O.T. Analysis conducted is grounded on knowing â€Å"Where the program is now?† and in identifying â€Å"What are the strategies needed to attain its goals?† The Strengths and Weaknesses are inside factors within the control of those involved in the ALS organization (inside environment). They  are: Strategy, Structure, System, Staff, Skills, Style, and Shared values. On the other hand, Opportunities and Threats are outside influences that impact the ALS organization S and O are strategies that should be executed, given that the Strengths and Opportunities are there. W and O asks the question, â€Å"How can we use our Opportunities to offset or even reverse our Weaknesses?† S and T asks the question â€Å"How can we use our Strengths to offset or even reverse our Threats?† W and T is the combination of Weaknesses and Threats. It shows that they are part of the organization’s identity since no organization is perfect. Because these factors cannot be fixed, it contains strategies that manage or minimize the damage caused by them. Figure 3 shows the organizational structure of the proposed ALS Incentive Program. Figure 4 shows the Strategy Map of the proposed ALS Incentive Program. The objectives shown in the map have a causal relationship as traced by arrows along each of the different functions in the ALS Incentive Program, namely: Financial Perspective, Learning and Growth, Internal Process, and Client Perspective. As you can see, the goals here are Increase Participation, Increase Completion, and Decrease Illiteracy. And each of these is supported by our proposed incentives. The Balanced Scorecard in Figure 5 below will elaborate on the different incentives mentioned in this paper so far. It will also describe how the objectives from different functions in the ALS Incentive Program can be achieved by concentrating on and satisfying its three parts: Measures, Targets, and Initiatives. The Balanced Scorecard will be a helpful guide in carrying out the functions of each member of ALS in helping themselves and their learners keep motivated and be on track towards achieving their goals. Conclusion While this group acknowledges the current efforts made by the LGU’s, DepEd, BALS, and ALS in their cooperation and hardwork, the daily operations to help reduce illiteracy in the involved barangays is still far from what they should be. Our emphasis here, as already mentioned, is the introduction and proper management of an incentive program in the ALS program. As what we have presented, we believe this would optimize the operations in each step  and level of the program. And thus, in the long run, the reduction and even total elimination of illiteracy is then achieved. It is our hope that this P.P.B.S. be part of the many considerations that may help the functions of the current ALS program.

Why Are Children Used as Protagonists in Iranian Cinema?

i SAE Institute London Written Assignment WHY ARE CHILDREN USED AS PROTAGONISTS IN IRANIAN CINEMA : A LOOK INTO MAJID MAJIDI’S ‘THE CHILDREN OF HEAVEN ’ (1997)? Iman Yusufali 15346 FF1011 20 August 2012 Word count: 3300 approx. ii DECLARATION: I hereby declare that I wrote this written assignment on my own and without the use of any other than the cited sources and tools and all explanations that I copied directly or in their sense are marked as such, as well as that the dissertation has not yet been handed in neither in this nor in equal form at any other official commission. Date: 20 August 2012 Place: London, U.K. Signature: IMAN YUSUFALI iii Table of Content Title Page Declaration Page Table of content Essay Reference List i ii iii 1 7 1 WHY ARE CHILDREN USED AS PROTAGONISTS IN IRANIAN CINEMA : A LOOK INTO MAJID MAJIDI’S ‘THE CHILDREN OF HEAVEN ’ (1997)? Iranian cinema has numerous successful movies that have been viewed internationally, th at use children as protagonists and child heroes who have to go through daily life struggles. These films include ‘Children of Heaven’, ‘Colour of God’ by Majid Majidi, ‘The White Balloon’, ‘Mashq-e Shab’ (homework) by Kiarostami and Ab Bad Khak (water, wind, dust) by Amir Naderi.The innocence of a child and the impromptu acting is sure to affect the way the story is told and witnessed by the viewers. Therefore what we are going to explore in this essay is what children could possibly represent and symbolise in films, why Iranian cinema in particular has used this notion of child-hero and we will also be analysing Majid Majidi’s film ‘The Children of heaven’ (1997) step by step, how he uses children as protagonists and what they represent in film.Ultimately, we will understand the effect of using the child-hero in films and how the audiences interpret the film. Moreover, we shall be considering what children sym bolize and represent in films and what they convey through their naturalistic performances. Additionally, we examine how the Iranian cinema changed post revolution and in what ways the filmmakers were forced to conform to the censorship prohibitions laid down by the strict government of Iran.Likewise, we will be analysing Majid Majidi’s Oscar nominated film from 1997; ‘The Children of Heaven’ and how it conforms to these censorship laws, as well as its success in being able to attract a large international audience simultaneously, who could relate and sympathise with it’s child-hero, Ali. Using sources and references such as the World Wide Web, journals, books and reviews we arrive at our conclusion.It might not make sense why these questions in particular need to be answered, however my personal experiences living in Iran, my interest in Iranian cinema and my knowledge of the Persian language would be the first reason as to why this topic was chosen. Seco ndly, I strongly believe these are questions that one needs to consider and research whilst studying digital filmmaking, since using a child hero instead of an adult hero could have a major impact on the way a message of a film and the emotions within it, are communicated and perceived.This will result in the realization that a tainted adult cannot communicate the same messages and performances, as a pure child is able to. 2 Many films worldwide use children as lead roles in their stories; as has been seen in Hollywood, Bollywood, Iranian and Italian cinema in films such as, ‘Hugo’ (2011), ‘Tare zameen par’ (2007), ‘Children of Heaven’ (1997) and ‘Bicycle Thieves’ (1948). Why use children as protagonists? Is it not possible for adults to play the hero instead?Children have a sense of realness about them, a world of their own not yet tainted by adult distrust, dishonesty and disbelief. Children symbolise an untouched reality not inf luenced by the world as yet. (Marco Grosoli, 2011) Children have an independent life off set that gives them a feel of realism thus allowing audiences to trust their performances and actually believe and empathize with them. (Richard Tapper, 2002) This trueness gives children a sense of being ‘real’ and part of the common people thus portraying how people are or what people should really be like. Richard Tapper, 2002) Children are frequently used to scrutinize the grown-up world in addition to a world of their own. (David Morrison, n. d. ) Thus, it seems that children are not always valued for their child like ways but sometimes for their prospective great future in the mature world. (Iris Shepard, 2010) Kathy Jackson author of Representations of the Child in American Film also suggests that a child generally represents a hopeful future while an evil or demonic child would represent the evils of a society at large. Iris Shepard, 2010) The pureness of a child is a mere r eflection of a tainted grown up person. (Marco Grosoli, 2011) Perhaps it is the fact that they are so impulsive in their ways and are more adaptable and less self-aware in front of the camera that children are a means in films to show reality. To put things into perspective, children are â€Å"naturals at being natural. †(Jonathon Jones, 2000) hence these ‘real people’ enlighten audiences with real messages. Their own past life experiences affect their performances in being even more credible.From what we have said so far, one can gather that children can represent good and evil but all in a convincing and realistic manner. Children can symbolize society and even people’s alter egos. (Richard Tapper, 2002) We now have a brief idea as to why filmmakers would use children as protagonists, how their performance effect the audience and in what way they understand the story, this would then leads us to our next question why did Iranian cinema use this method?Th e evidence to suggest that Iranian cinema had a tendency to use child protagonists comes with the sheer volume of films made with this concept. Amir Naderi’s Davandeh (the runner)(1986) and Ab Bad Khak (water, wind, dust)(1987), Abbas Kiarostami’s Khaneh Doust Kojast? (Where is my friend’s house? )(1986) tells the story of a child who is caught up in a inconsiderate adult world and in his Mashq-e Shab(homework)(1987), a documentary about the schooling structure, Kiarostami sat in conversation with the children.In Gal(Scabies)(1987), Abolfazl Jalili tells us about the trials of a young delinquent in prison and, Raqs-e khak(dance of dust)(1991), explores into the realm of child labourers, these films are just the films that got international acclaim excluding the many more films made with the concept of a childhero. (Rosa Issa and Sheila Whitaker, 1999) As to the reason behind this type of story telling, we will have to discuss and explore further into the Iranian society.Iranian filmmakers, especially post revolution throughout the 1980s, have had a hard time with governmental regulations to be able to make films according to their own visions and directorial style. This is when children became an elemental part of the Iranian film industry. (Rosa Issa and Sheila Whitaker, 1999) 3 One might wonder why a sudden shift came about during and after the revolution, it seems the revolution itself, the occupation of US embassy and the 8 year war between Iraq and Iran had serious implications on the Iranian cinema and what was directed and produced in the country.Resulting in the Iranian cinema being influenced by Islamic rulings, an anti-western outlook and propaganda. The afore-mentioned incidents created a shift in the world’s perception of the Iranian people. The outside world now saw the Iranian people as cruel and barbaric, all this only from the lack of communication with the outside communities. Accordingly, cinema was the only method in which Iran could paint a completely different, more humane, vision of the Iranian people to the rest of the planet. Hamid Reza Sadr, 2006) Limitations employed on certain topics such as the illustration of love interactions between opposite genders and violence, added to the trend of substituting adults with children as heroes (usually playing the roles of brother and sisters). The children are sometimes were even allowed to sing songs in child hero films, which is still forbidden in Iranian films till today. (Rosa Issa and Sheila Whitaker, 1999) The child-hero movies are to a certain extent, a channel through which filmmakers sidestep restrictions that they would have had with adult-hero movies. Jonathon Jones, 2000) Some films like ‘The Apple’ (1998), are seen by Times magazine as a masked confrontation on the mullahs, with the children signifying the new young Iran’s refusal to allow further religious control. (Jonathon Jones, 2000) Thus, children were als o used to symbolize the youth of the whole country at large in their political positions. Furthermore, making viewers and audiences relate to the subjection of a child makes them in turn able to engage with the nature of the Iranian society and what it means and feels like, to be as subjected and as helpless as the child in the film. Jonathon Jones, 2000) Hence, children were not only used to symbolize the young Iran’s political and social positions but to actually make the audience understand and identify with the feelings that come by living in such a society. The recurrent hire of kids as actors is double in its implication as Persian filmmakers use the theatrical and melodramatic abilities of kids by showing them as troubled by destitution and unjust policies. Nevertheless, the use of youngsters is likewise a method that permits directors to evade those strict censorship laws that relate explicitly to the depiction of men and women in films.In movies like Majid Majidiâ₠¬â„¢s Bache-ha-ye Asman (Children of Heaven, 1997) and Rang-e Khoda (The Colour of Paradise, 1999), the relationships featured are often pairs of young brothers and sisters who together must overcome the rigid dictates of their parents. Therefore, the purpose of children in Iranian cinema is inconsistent: they are, in one way used to evade the strict censorship laws and prohibitions that come with making films in Iran but simultaneously these children are shown to be restricted by the same system. Rosa Holman, 2006) Many films are arranged against a vivid natural setting to add gravity to the storyline (Linda Aronson, 2001), which in turn exaggerates the inner and emotional occurrences of the hero in a film. Likewise children can be used as symbols whose external battles and experiences relate to the broader problems in society. (Rosa Holman, 2006) Another possible reason for the placement of children as protagonists in Iranian cinema, would be that children are less likely to be ju dged because their performance embodies individual incidents and intimate sentiment.This emotional performance brings the audience to believe what they are seeing is the ‘real world’. This in turn leads the audience to empathize with the struggles of the child not as the child’s but as their own. Consequently, taking out all sorts of social illnesses within the audience and giving them a sense of communal understanding. (Richard Tapper, 2002) 4 The use of children to manipulate the mature audience’s feelings is a method that has been long used by Iranian filmmakers. Rosa Issa and Sheila Whitaker, 1999) Also this approach, of a child being a hero, portrays them as greater symbols of men and women and even sometimes as â€Å"everyone’ alter egos†. (Richard Tapper, 2002) However it appears that the filmmakers in Iran did not employ the notion of child hero in their stories, merely to evade censorship prohibitions or to get the children’s natural performances on camera. Having children especially in Iranian films let the international viewers delve deep into a child’s world, whose lives and lifestyles may be very different from the viewers’, but whose concerns is one in the same universally. Hamid Reza Sadr, 2006) Perhaps, in a child’s universe time is unlike that of time in an adult’s world i. e. the concept of time is not that of the real world it is more adaptable and more changeable, it can be still entirely or can be fast-forwarded just like a film. It is the quintessence of child’s play where even a â€Å"boy blowing a bubble† can hold the time in suspense just to enjoy that very moment and not let it pass by. Jonathan Jones, 2000) The comprehension of why the child-hero was used so widely in Iranian cinema leads us to our last point of discussion: An exploration of the use of child protagonists in Majid Majidi’s film, ‘The Children of Heaven’ (1997) . After having watched the film, it is apparent that Ali, the child protagonist in ‘The Children of Heaven’ has represented all that a child should represent in film, from his au-natural acting to his innocent tears we see so very often throughout the film.In the adult world, we separate children from ourselves as not being able to feel or go through the same emotional and spiritual experiences as we do. Also as grown ups one feels that children have it easy in life and are not as affected by daily problems and issues. However, Majid Majidi in this film illustrates to Iran and the world that children in fact are more receptive to emotions and have a heightened sense of fear and distress than we as adults, realise. (Maria Garcia, n. d. â€Å"The young hero of Majid Majidi's †Children of Heaven† is played by Mir Farrokh Hashemian, a desolate-looking boy with huge brown eyes and a way of sending tears suddenly rolling down his cheeks. Those tears well up with some regularity during this film about 9-year-old Ali, his younger sister Zahra (Bahareh Seddiqui) and their scheme for sharing a pair of his tattered sneakers. † (Janet Maslin, 1999) We see such depictions of high emotions every time Ali cries or feels guilt or strives to recompense for his sister’s lost shoes.The first time this is shown in the movie is in the beginning when Ali loses his sister’s shoes and goes looking for it under all the wooden vegetable cartons and even though he is shouted at cries and tells the grocer that his sister’s shoes were there and now they are not there any more. (Majid Majidi, 4:50, 5:19) The second time we see Ali troubled with the burden of losing his sister’s shoes is when he comes back home, stops and looks at his sister’s smiling face. At first he does not have the heart to tell her but she goes to look at them and he is forced to tell her the truth.Both children start crying here. Zahra, Ali’s s ister, cries because she does not know what she will wear to school the next day and Ali cries because he’s looked everywhere and feels guilty and knows his father cannot afford to buy a new pair of shoes and pleads with Zahra not to tell their mother and to make up runs back out of the house and goes back to the grocers bravely to look for the shoes even refusing to play with his friends at their request. (Majid Majidi, 6:48, 6:50, 7:10, 7:15, 7:21, 7:26, 7:45, 7:50, 8:00, 8:20, 8:40, 9:15) 5Yet again we see Ali crying because his father tells him off for running out of the house and not waiting to help his mother. Ali’s father tells him he is now 9 years old and grown up that he needs to be more responsible. All Ali can do is cry out of guilt and fear even though he is doing his best. (10:42, 10:50) Even when Zahra threatens to tell their father, Ali tries to explain to her that this will cause more damage then her having no shoes as he has no money to buy her new sh oes. So he being a loving brother suggests they share shoes and in tries to compensate by giving her a brand new pencil. Majid Majidi, 14:30, 15:08, 15:30, 15:49) Ali’s emotions get the best of him when he becomes agitated with his sister for coming late and in turn making him late for school. This happens because Ali is afraid of being caught by the principal of the school who always seems to be lurking around to catch late children. (Majid Majidi, 19:24, 19:36, 20:38) When Ali comes back home Zahra expresses her distaste of the dirty shoes and says she just cannot where dirty shoes. Ali who simply says, â€Å"We’ll wash it†, solves this issue making his sister smile.He knows how to make his sister happy without getting caught by his parents. (Majid Majidi, 21:15, 21:31) On the television there is a program informing the viewer’s dangers of not wearing the proper type of shoes and this makes Ali worry about his sister. (Majid Majidi, 23:25, 23:38) Zahra cannot sleep at night because she is worried the rain might wet their shoes and she wakes Ali up. Ali gets up and gets the shoes right in time. No matter what happens Ali makes sure nothing happens to these shoes a lesson learnt well. Majid Majidi, 23:57, 24:05, 24:25) When one of the shoes slips off her foot into the gutter full of water, she gets fed up of this sharing and tells Ali that she’s going to tell their father. Ali tells her he’s not afraid of the beating that he might get but he thought she would understand that their father is the one who will get upset for not being able to buy a pair of shoes and that he’ll have to take a loan and if he gets in debt, so on and so forth. (Majid Majidi, 29:45, 29:58, 30:21) Ali tries to make his little sister understand the concept of self-sacrifice.Another scene where Ali’s emotional side comes to play is when he says no to his friend’s request to come to play in the finals for the football league. H e maintains his principals and recognizes his responsibilities when he answers negatively, stating that his mother is ill. (Majid Majidi, 32:20, 32:44) If you want a heart-melting scene of kindness to ones sibling look no further. Ali gets one of the highest marks in his Mathematics class and thus receives a pen as a gift. He runs home to find Zahra still not talking to him, to makeup he gives her this pen without thinking twice. Majid Majidi, 34:00, 34:21, 34:40) This is a true example of giving. Respecting his old neighbours, and giving them a bowl of hot soup, Ali is rewarded with a handful of nuts, raisins and sugar balls for which his very thankful. (Majid Majidi, 35:40, 36:20, 36:25, 36:30) Another crisis that takes place is when the principal catches Ali coming in late for the third time. This time he tells Ali to go back home and come back with his father. Ali tries to explain that his father works all the time and his mother is sick but the principal just thinks the boy is making excuses because he is afraid.He goes out crying but gets allowed back into the school with the intercession of his teacher. (Majid Majidi, 43:05 – 43:55) 6 Ali like his father helps at the local mosque. Ali does the humbling job of putting all the shoes of the worshippers in order with his friends and then later on is called to serve the tea to all of those attending. (Majid Majidi, 46:40, 46:43, 47:40) Ali always listens to his parents never once disrespecting them even though as a child he is burdened with many chores.Ali’s ability to play with a child he’s just met who is from a completely different background to him shows Ali’s ability to interact without judgment just enjoying the present. (Majid Majidi, 56:25) When Ali finds out that the third price of the national race is sports shoes he goes straight to the P. E. teacher’s office to out his name down for the race. He insists on this to the point of tears and promises to come first, t he teacher cannot say no to Ali’s tear stained face. This illustrates that Ali is focused on compensating for a mistake he committed and making his sister happy.As soon as he reaches home he does not wait a minute in telling her the good news. (Majid Majidi, 1:07:50, 1:08:12, 1:09:05, 1:10:08) All through the race Ali has flashbacks of his sister running back home to give him his shoes back for school and he hears her voice asking about the shoes. This motivates him to the point where he even is pushed over but stands right back up and continues to run. (Majid Majidi, 1:15:10, 1:18:26) In the end Ali wins first prize accidentally, which is good for everyone except him whose soul purpose was to win the shoes for his sister.He goes back home disappointed and ashamed not knowing in the end that the father bought both them a new pair of shoes each. (Majid Majidi, 1:21:10, 1:22:03, 1:23:00, 1:23:30) In the end we see Ali sitting with his blistered feet in the fountain with all the golden fish surrounding his feet (Majid Majidi, 1:24:50) as if the good actions and intentions, attracted them to him likewise attracting all those who watched this film. In conclusion, we see that Majid Majidi’s child hero character, Ali, makes the audience empathise with him for his innocence, realness, innate goodness and his naturalness.He really gets the message across; problems in society, how one should act responsible when they make a mistake, respecting one’s family, self sacrifice and so much more. This movie is completely with in the regulations Iran has set yet it identifies not only with the Iranian people rather by all of the world. â€Å"What follows is a beautiful telling of a childhood adventure, a touching portrait of sibling-hood, and among other things, an immersive portrayal of life in poverty. The film is surprisingly poignant, and quietly gives us different perspectives on the lives of others by literally putting us in their shoes. (Nadir Siddi qui, 2012) 7 Reference List Aronson, L. (2001) Screenwriting Updated. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press, p. 88. Bachehaye Aseman (The Children of Heaven) (1997) [dvd] Iran: Majid Majidi. 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