Production and Operations Management

Production & Operations Management–Homework 1 for Section 4 Due Tuesday October 16, 2012 1. 1 Eastman publishing Company is considering publishing a paperback textbook on spreadsheet applications for business. The ? xed cost of manuscript preparation, textbook design, and production setup is estimated to be $80,000. Variable production and material costs are estimated to be $3 per book. Demand over the life of the book is estimated to be 4,000 copies. The publisher plans to sell the text to college and university bookstores for $20 each. a. What is the breakeven point? b. What pro? t or loss can be anticipated with a demand of 4,000 copies? . With a demand of 4,000 copies, what is the minimum price per copy that the publisher must charge to break even? 1. 2 Creative Sports Design (CSD) manufactures a standard-size racket and an oversize racket. The ? rm’s rackets are extremely light due to the use of a magnesium-graphite alloy. Each standard-size racket uses 0. 125 kilo grams of the alloy and each oversize racket uses 0. 4 kilograms; over the next two-week production period only 80 kilograms of the alloy are available. Each standard-size racket uses 10 minutes of manufacturing time and each oversize racket uses 12 minutes.Also, 40 hours of manufacturing time are available each week. The pro? t contributions are $10 for each standard-size racket and $15 for each oversize racket. How many rackets of each type should CSD manufacture over the next two weeks to maximize the total pro? t contribution? a. De? ne decision variables and formulate the problem. b. Solve the problem using the graphical method. 1. 3 Management of High Tech Services (HTS) would like to develop a model that will help allocate their technician’s time between service calls to regular contract customers and new customers. Read also Exam Operations ManagementA maximum of 80 hours of technician time is available over the two-week planning period. To satisfy cash ? ow requirements, at least $800 in revenue (per technician) must be generated during the two-week period. Technician time for regular customers generates $25 per hour. However, technician time for new customers only generates an average of $8 per hour. To ensure that new customer contracts are being maintained, the technician time spent on new customer contracts must be at least 60% of the time spent on regular customer contracts. Given these 1 revenue and policy requirements, HTS would like to determine how to allocate echnician time between regular customers and new customers so that the total number of customers contracted during the two-week period will be maximized. Technicians require an average of 50 minutes for each regular customer contract and 1 hour for each new customer contract. a. Develop a linear programming model for the problem . b. Find the optimal solution via Excel. 1. 4 Industrial Designs has been awarded a contract to design a label for a new wine produced by Lake View Winery. The company estimates that 150 hours will be required to complete the project. The ? m’s three graphics designers available for assignment to this project are Lisa, a senior designer and team leader; David, a senior designer; and Sarah, a junior designer. Because Lisa has worked on several projects for Lake View Winery, management speci? ed that Lisa must be assigned at least 40% of the total number of hours assigned to the two senior designers. To provide label-designing experience for Sarah, Sarah must be assigned at least 15% of the total project time. However, the number of hours assigned to Sarah must not exceed 25% of the total number of hours assigned to the two senior designers.Due to other project commitments, Lisa has a maximum of 50 hours available to work on this project. Hourly wage rates are $30 for Lisa, $2 5 for David, and $18 for Sarah. a. Formulate a linear program that can be used to determine the number of hours each graphic designer should be assigned to the project in order to minimize total cost. b. How many hours should each graphic designer be assigned to the project? What is the total cost? c. Suppose Lisa could be assigned more than 50 hours. What e? ect would this have on the optimal solution. Explain. d.If Sarah were not required to work a minimum number of hours on this project, would the optimal solution change? Explain. 1. 5 National Insurance Associated carries an investment portfolio of stocks, bonds, and other investment alternatives. Currently $200,000 of funds are available and must be considered for new investment opportunities. The four stock options National is considering and the relevant ? nancial data are as in Table 1. 2 Table 1: Problem 1. 5 A B C D Price per share $100 $50 $80 $40 Annual rate of return 0. 12 0. 08 0. 06 0. 10 Risk measure per dollar inves ted 0. 10 0. 07 0. 05 0. 8 National’s top management has stipulated the following investment guidelines: The annual rate of return for the portfolio must be at least 9% and no one stock can account for more than the 50% of the total dollar investment. a. Use linear programming to develop an investment portfolio that minimizes risk. b. If the ? rm ignores risk and uses a maximum return-on-investment strategy, what is the investment portfolio? 1. 6 Greenville Cabinet received a contract to produce speaker cabinets for a major speaker manufacturer. The contract calls for the production of 3,300 bookshelf speakers and 4,100 ? or speakers over the next two months, with the delivery schedule as given in Table 2. Table 2: Problem 1. 6 Model Month 1 Month 2 Bookshelf 2,100 1,200 Floor 1,500 2,600 Greenville estimates that the production time for each bookshelf model is 0. 7 hour and the production time for each ? oor model is 1 hour. The raw material costs are $10 for each bookshelf model and $12 for each ? oor model. Labor costs are $22 per hour. Greenville has up to 3,400 hours of production time available each month. If production for either cabinet exceeds demand in month 1, the cabinets can be stored at a cost of $5 per cabinet.Formulate the problem to determine the numbers of units 3 that should be manufactured each month to minimize total production and storage costs. 1. 7 EZ-Windows, Inc. manufacturers replacement windows for the home remodeling business. In January, the company produces 15,000 windows and ended the month with 9,000 windows in inventory. EZ-Windows’ management team would like to develop a production schedule for the next three moths. A smooth production schedule is obviously desirable because it maintains the current workforce and provides a similar month-to-month operation.However, given the sales forecasts, the production capacities, and the storage capabilities as shown in Table 3, the management team does not think a smooth p roduction schedule with the same production quantity each month possible. Table 3: Problem 1. 7 February March April Sales forecast 15,000 16,500 20,000 Production capacity 14,000 14,000 18,000 Storage capacity 6,000 6,000 6,000 The company’s cost accounting department estimates that increasing production by one window from one month to the next will increase total costs by $1. 00 for each unit increase in the production level.In addition, decreasing production by one unit from one month to the next will increase total costs by $0. 65 for each unit decrease in the production level. Ignoring production and inventory carrying costs, formulate a linear programming model that will minimize the cost of changing production levels while still satisfying the monthly sales forecasts. 1. 8 Two television stations compete with each other for viewing audience. Local programming options for the 5PM weekday time slot include a sitcom rerun, an early news program, and a home improvement sho w.Each station has the same programming options and must make its pre-season program selection before knowing what the other television station will do. The viewing audience gains in thousands of viewers for station A are shown Table 4. 4 Station A/Station B Sitcom Rerun News Program Home Improvement Table 4: Problem 1. 8 Sitcom Rerun News Program Home Improvement 10 -5 3 -8 7 6 -4 8 -7 Formulate a linear program to determine the optimal strategy for each station and then solve it. What is the value of the game? 1. 9 A local television station plans to drop three Friday evening programs at the end of the season.Steve Botuchis, the station manager, developed a list of four potential replacement programs. Estimates of the advertising revenue (in dollars) that can be expected for each of the new programs in the four vacated time slots are as in Table 5. Table 5: Problem 1. 9 5–6PM 6–7 PM Home Improvement 5000 3000 World News 7500 8000 Hollywood Brie? ngs 7000 8000 7â€⠀œ8 PM 6000 7000 3000 Mr. Botuchis asked you to ? nd the assignment of programs to time slots that will maximize total advertising revenue. 1. 10 Adirondack Paper Mills, Inc. operates paper plants in Augusta, Maine, and Tupper Lake, New York.Warehouse facilities are located in Albany, New York, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Distributors are located in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The Augusta plant has a capacity of 300 units, and the Tupper Lake plant has a capacity of 100 units. Boston has a demand of 150 units, New York has a demand of 100 units, and Philadelphia has a demand of 150 units. The unit transportation costs (in dollars) for shipments from the two plants to the two warehouses are presented in Table 6 and those from the two warehouses to the three 5 istributors are presented in Table 7. Table 6: Problem 1. 10a Plant/Warehouse Albany Portsmouth Augusta 7 5 Tupper Lake 3 4 Table 7: Problem 1. 10b Warehouse/Distributor Boston New York Philadelphia Albany 8 5 7 Ports mouth 5 6 10 a. Draw the network representation of the Adirondack Paper Mills problem. b. Formulate the Adirondack Paper Mills problem as a linear programming problem. c. Solve the linear program to determine the minimum cost shipping schedule for the problem. 6

The advent of globalization has brought significant changes

The advent of globalization has brought significant changes in the market trends in the automobile industry. As the automobile industry is currently suffering from slumps due to the rising prices, taxes, competition and the oil price hikes, it is important to define what the car manufacturers are doing to alleviate the effects of these various changes. One important aspect that the automobile manufacturers are doing is to follow Japanese models of buyer-supplier relations that have been proven to sustain the hindrances that are involved in venturing the global market.Upon realizing this, US car manufacturers are incorporating these models and are now slowly gaining pace in the global market. In addition, the issue of car prices has also affected some car manufacturers as they joined the tough competition in the global market. The factors that affect these car prices should also be given emphasis as these involve the bigger picture of sustaining their business in the long run. Thus, g lobalization had pushed the automobile industry to improve on these aspects.With improved buyer-supplier relations and competitive car prices, the automobile companies should continue to strive in enhancing future research on these two aspects to develop the competitive advantage they need in the global market. Factors Affecting Economics of the Globalizing Automobile Industry With the current market trends around the world, the automobile industry has suffered slumps due to the rising prices, taxes, competition and most of all, the recent skyrocketing oil price hikes.As the modern global automotive industry traverses the paths of principal manufacturers, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Volkswagen, Toyota and Daimler-Chrysler, which all operate in a global competitive marketplace, it is seen that there’s still much hope to alleviate economic conditions that affect them. It is suggested that the globalization of the automotive industry, has greatly accelerated during the last hal f of the 1990's due to the construction of important overseas facilities and establishment of mergers between giant multinational automakers (Hiroaka, 2001).And, there’s no reason that they could repeat that achievement. Globalization and the current mergers in the automobile industry has been correlated with today's controversies over high petrol prices and fuel-guzzling SUVs in the huge American market. According to The Economist (September 8, 2005), this picture of the automobile industry only offers a partial detail of what future holds for industry as a whole:It may well be fully mature in markets such as North America, Europe and Japan, where over-capacity continues to sap profitability. But globally the industry is set for huge expansion with the motorisation of China and India. Within a few years China will replace Japan as the second-largest national market after America. Some experts predict that over the next 20 years more cars will be made than in the entire 110-y ear history of the industry.In the same report, Garel Rhys, director of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University in Britain, enlightened that this growth will create the need for 180 new factories, each producing 300,000 cars (and light trucks) a year—in effect, almost doubling the production capacity of the global industry to over 110m units annually. Thus, today's car plants will need to be â€Å"renewed, retooled, refurbished and replaced to remain competitive. There is nowhere for the inefficient to hide. †According to Takayasu and Mori (2002), the automobile manufacturing is an industry in which it is difficult to achieve optimized procurement, production and sales on a global scale. However, major assemblers began to form strategic partnerships based on capital relationships in the period from 1998 to 1999, and since then there has been an accelerating trend toward the creation of structures that allow manufacturers to supply a diverse ra nge of vehicles tailored to consumer needs in markets throughout the world.

Progressive Era during the Great Depression Essay

Progressive Era during the Great Depression - Essay Example The progressive era that transpired through the 1800s to 1920s established a critical moment of change for the American society and world in general. The period characterized by massive urbanization coupled with high rate of industrialization. In nutshell, the Progressive era became synonymous with high levels of poverty that touched lower class that constituted the biggest percentage of the American population. No sooner had the impacts the Progressive era fade than America and world, in general, bumped into yet another tempting moment of Great Depression. This period began in 1929 and ended in early 1940, before giving way for World War II. According to Sage, the spirit of progressive started to signalize in the early 1890s when small businesspersons, farmers, and other reform-oriented leaders merged to form the Populist Party. The purposes of the party were to confront and address the problems faced by the American societies such unemployment, injustice, poor leadership among other. It is from Populist Party that Progressives would later develop after the former gained national trust. As mentioned earlier, Progressive era entailed numerous events ranging from urbanization and industrialization that necessitated the need for change in the American societies. The rate at which urbanization took place alongside industrialization could only translate to the effects of poverty. Increased poverty among the majority of citizens translated to poor health services, high crime rates, racism, violence, class warfare, and greed, together with corruption. In the description of Burt, poor working conditions and environments were als o justifiable causes of concern by the Progressives. By 1890, 18% of the total labor in the country constituted of the women and children.

Product Safety and Product Liability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Product Safety and Product Liability - Essay Example The creation and development of a legal regulatory environment conducive to business and e-business is central to the improvement of trade among the E.U members. Currently, the Lisbon Agenda of â€Å"making the E.U the world’s most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy by 2010† was already under threat because trade barriers to the development of general business and e-business had not been effectively removed. Because of this, many of the European Union’s businesses operate within an e-business environment that is full of legal uncertainties and legal impediments to the take up of e-business. Central to these legal uncertainties is the product liability directives enshrined in the Rome II regulations. The Rome II regulations, though credited for opening up trans-border trade, have also been a source of criticism for the uncertainties they have caused in respect to the choice of law applicable in trans-border product liability cases. The dominant view in this argument is that the Rome II regulations on product liabilities invade the â€Å"country of origin† principle that was more customized to allow the growth of business. Instead, the Rome II Regulation adopt the â€Å"country of reception† principle which is damaging to the security of business in the E.U. this paper will therefore look at the problems producers and businesses may face in respect of the Rome II regulations and their impacts on the businesses across the E.U members.

Week 2-510 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Week 2-510 - Essay Example needed information, and when they receive the inputs, they should process it and take the correct decision for the proper functioning of the organization. One of the important inputs or aids that will surely help an organization in the decision making process is the research and statistics component. That is, components like descriptive statistics and probability concepts with good hypothesis and research will go a long way in aiding the management to come up with correct decisions. In the case to be analyzed, USA World Bank (UWB) is on the threshold of launching a new product, with the board already initiating the decision making process. And the component that is aiding this decision making process is the statistics work done by the respective department. So, this paper by using the research and statistical concepts will analyze the UWB’s issue or problem, opportunities, stakeholders’ view, end state vision, available solutions and the results. USA World Bank is facing some important issues, which needs quick and appropriate attention. The first issue is USA World Bank’s track record in introducing new products, which cannot be considered successful. Brian Allen, President of New Product Development for USA Word Bank, agrees with this fact, â€Å"Our new products have pretty much tanked in the past couple of years. We’re under a lot of pressure† (Scenario). So, the issue or challenge is to break this trend and introduce a truly workable product. The next issue that is plaguing USA World Bank is the need to select a product to launch using faulty statistical results. That is, a survey was done to find which product out of two, a consumer credit card or a credit card for small business owners will work optimally. Even though, the survey clearly favored the normal consumer credit card, the issue with that result is that a statistics specialist found faults with the statistical analysis particularly the me thod used to collect the data. As the product

Managing for the Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Managing for the Future - Essay Example It is also the co-owner of Sainsbury’s Bank along with Lloyd’s Banking Group (J Sainsbury Plc, 2012). Besides that, it has also owns property joint ventures with The British Land Company PLC and Land Securities Group PLC. What started off as a small retail store on London’s Drury Lane around the year 1969, Sainsbury’s has developed a huge history behind him over the years. Sainsbury holds more than 15% of the market share of the UK retail markets. Sainsbury hold the second position in the UK online retail market and is only behind Tesco. Sainsbury’s follows a simple passion of offering great food at fair prices to its consumers and this has been treated as one of the reasons for their success. By the year 2020, they have a target of sourcing all necessary raw materials and commodities in a sustainable manner (J Sainsbury Plc, 2010). Forecasts and Strategic Plan: Sainsbury is focused to provide healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food at fair prices. The chain continues to operate on five areas, which makes the chain differentiate itself from the retailers. The chain’s current focus plan is on: Growing space and creating property value Providing great food to the consumers Compelling general merchandising and clothing Developing new business channels Providing complimentary channels and services. Strengths Sainsbury’s has won numerous awards in the industry for its superior product quality over the past few years. Some of the awards comprises of fresh produce retailer of the year, honest food award and even wine retailer of the year. So it has clearly maintained industry standards and gained recognition in the industry The chain has made considerable amount of effort in order to modernize the brand by integrating technology at the point of sales (POS). Has tie ups with Nectar, a loyalty programme with an active user base of over 11 million. The chain has got high points on a regular basis in the industry’s most respected basket survey (J Sainsbury Plc, 2012). Weakness Their strategy is very puzzling at times. At times, they are targeting to appeal to mass markets which may result in tempting to go on an acquisition spree and then landing up with failed takeovers. Yet to recover the leading position of being the most preferred retailer in the UK region from the rival leading retailers. Opportunities Sainsbury’s ranking as an UK based online grocery provider is strengthened with higher sales on a year on year basis. With the increase in internet usage among the consumers, this segment can provide more sales to the retail chain. The addition of floor space in all new and existing stores for introducing the chain’s new health, beauty and household line of products will benefit the chain in the upcoming days and may provide greater share of revenue (J Sainsbury Plc, 2012). Threats Sainsbury’s is less committed to reinvest the capital generated in the business. This can spel l danger for the chain as Tesco who is a stronger competitor in this segment is more focused on committing a large amount of capital for maintaining their long term growth oriented strategy. Have high reservations in establishing the brand of Sainsbury’s overseas and in foreign locations, which provides them with a disadvantage of being

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

Oral PE History - Essay Example Stereotypical ideas of True Womanhood constrained girls like Wendy into a tightly defined entity in which physical activity was considered too robust a pursuit for a delicate female and negative connotations of the New Woman who was then threatening this Victorian concept further functioned to reduce her available options. To understand how this could be so, Wendy Strain’s life experiences as a child growing up in 1960s suburban Detroit will be related to these social and cultural concepts. Wendy Strain is a 50 year old woman who spent her childhood in a suburb of Detroit in a middle class household with aspirations for greatness. Clinging to the ideals of the gentry of a century earlier, her parents strongly adhered to the concepts of the True Woman. â€Å"The attributes of True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors and society, could be divided into four cardinal virtues – piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. Put them all together and they spelled mother, daughter, sister, wife – woman. Without them, no matter whether there was fame, achievement or wealth, all was ashes. With them, she was promised happiness and power† (Welter, 1966: 152). According to Poovey (1988), it was by â€Å"linking morality to a figure (rhetorically) immune to the self-interest and competition integral to economic success, [the cult] preserved virtue without inhibiting productivity† thus creating a perfec t world in which men were free to pursue every material pursuit they wished while women were constrained to remain at home and protect the moral and ethical values of the family unit. A woman could not participate in competitive sport under this ideology not only because it was against the nature of the True Woman to participate in any activity that could not be conducted inside the home, but also because it would have introduced this element of competition that was restricted to the male world. Strain indicates

Gender and Ethnic Minority Exclusion within Construction Dissertation

Gender and Ethnic Minority Exclusion within Construction - Dissertation Example The women contribute about 49% to the labor force of the United Kingdom. But they constitute just 9% to the entire  labor force employed in the construction industry. The part by part figures of this small number of women participating in the construction industry reveal some further facts. A tenth of all these women working in the construction industry is in design and management and a hundredth works as a tradesperson. A vast majority, about 84% work in the secretariat of the construction companies. The other fractions are 2% as sole traders and 4% as micro-enterprises. (Where Have All the Women Gone? n.d) The data shows that majority of the women employed in the construction industry work from office (Byrne, Clarke, & Meer, 2005). Similar is the case for racial discrimination. In the USA in 1991 only 32700 Afro-American people worked in the construction industry out of the total 4.7 million people employed. 1n 1977 out of the total revenue of $73.87 churned out by the constructi on industry, the black construction firms accounted for a mere $758 million. Studies carried out in Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and elsewhere have confirmed the existence of wide racial discrimination in the construction industry. (A Croson to Bear, 1992) There has been increased participation of the ethnically minor groups and women in the entire labor force. This can be accounted to the fact that there has been an increase in consciousness regarding this and policy, changes to encourage their participation. The European Union has undertaken a policy to overcome this segregation of the labor market. However, the representation of the aforementioned groups in the skilled construction group has been dismal. More or less in every part of Europe, this discrimination exists irrespective of the nature or structure of the construction industry. The incidence of such discrimination can be experienced in the deregulated industry Italy and Spain as well as the regulated and training oriented industries of England and Denmark.

Aviation Safety Reporting Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Aviation Safety Reporting Systems - Essay Example Correct analysis of this data would enable people to catch a problem before it actually happens, and be proactive in their respective area of work. It also works in two additional dimensions which are very crucial. The ASRS finds out the problems that are there in the MAS, and then it gives recommendations for future procedures, operations, facilities, and equipment. This is by far the most important role of any reporting system, which would not just end up as a datasheet at the end of the day, but would also prove to be the foundation for future policies. Since the advent of industrialization, nobody has liked inspections. However, in order to ensure the safety of both man and machine, this is mandatory. The Air Safety Week (2004) presents the view that rigorous inspections are actually costing lots of time, effort and of course, money to the companies. But then again, this is considered to be an inevitable requirement by the regulation authorities these days. With security and safety being paramount for both customers and the companies, this is a cost that has to be paid. There are three major areas which the FAA feels need to have a consistent and continuous inspection for best standards of safety and quality. Firstly, the Electrical system safety has to be ensured. ... 3. Training programs regarding aviation safety Mech (2004) explains the requirement for a transformation change in aviation safety concepts and understanding. It is elaborated, that no matter how much and how many aviation safety training programs are conducted for the personnel, the actual difference will be made only when the philosophy about this is changed in the minds of the people who matter. It is the time for a change in the culture of how we look at safety. Safety should not be merely prevention from accidents. Safety is an intrinsic value, which comes naturally to human beings and needs not be taught as such. What needs to be ingrained is the value for scientific systems of safety to be in place, where reports, inspection and investigations are respected as the need of the system, without which effective safety will not be possible for the wellbeing of the personnel. This change shall be possible only through the change in leadership style of the people at the helm of affairs. Aviation safety workshops have concluded overwhelmingly, that the administration is the only element in the system that can bring about and sustain a cultural change. This cultural change is the backbone of all aviation safety training that is to be conducted in the future. 4. A recent air transport investigation that is still in progress This is about a most recent crash, which had three fatalities, including the commercial pilot and two passengers. This is as reported by NTSB on 'Landings.com' (2007). On April 15, 2007, at 1210, a Beech BE 35-B33, N9556Y, impacted the terrain while on a low approach while landing towards Sedona Airport, Sedona, Arizona. All three humans in the flight received

Commentary on Watson and Crick Dna Discovery Essay Example for Free

Commentary on Watson and Crick Dna Discovery Essay In their 1953 Nature publication, Watson and Crick announced their landmark discovery: DNA exists in the form of a right handed, three-dimensional double helix. They described their DNA model as two DNA strands connected by hydrogen bonds between complementary bases. Adenine bases are always paired with thymines, and cytosines are always paired with guanines. Watson and Crick identified the anti-parallel configuration of DNA strands; each 5 end of one strand is paired with the 3 end of its complementary strand. Nucleotides are linked to each other by their phosphate groups, which bind the 3 end of one sugar to the 5 end of the next sugar. Nitrogenous bases are available to participate in hydrogen bonding. This important structural feature correlates with function that would soon be discovered: the bases have sites available to form hydrogen bonds with the proteins that play vital roles in the replication and expression of DNA. Since its inception, these features of the Watson and Crick model remain the same today. This enduring credibility is amazing, considering that many scientific research findings are drastically modified over time. In this paper, the two scientists claim their model to be â€Å"radically different† in order to strongly set it apart from the DNA structural model that was competitively proposed by Pauling and Corey, and also by Fraser: a triple helix with bases positioned outward. Watson and Crick rejected the triple helix model, criticizing that the protruding bases would leave the negatively charged phosphates positioned inward and towards each other. This could not be the correct structure because the repulsion of negative charges would blow apart the helix. Therefore, Watson and Crick knew it was the bases, not the phosphates, which were positioned inward and linked by hydrogen bonds. Their structural hypothesis was consistent with Chargaff’s research as well as the x-ray data. The intrigue of this paper cannot solely be attributed to its clear and simple presentation of a landmark discovery. Watson and Crick were indeed scientific pioneers, but they could never have drawn correct conclusions about DNA structure without considering data and hypotheses of other scientists. Chargaff’s discovery about DNA base proportions as well as Franklin’s crucial X-ray crystallography data made it possible for Watson and Crick to derive the three-dimensional, double-helical model for the structure of DNA. Although other scientists came close, Watson and Crick were the ones who got it right. Watson and Crick’s model suggested the structure correlated with function: â€Å"It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material.† The process of DNA replication was unknown at the time. By investigation of its function in the replication process, scientists were able to find out more about the more complex levels of DNA structure, which Watson and Crick’s model fails to predict. Today, we know that there are different DNA structures in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In eukaryotic cells, DNA in the nucleus is tightly packaged into chromosomes. The chromosomes form when DNA wraps around an 8-histone core to build the nucleosomes that make up chromosomes. Therefore, the double helix model of DNA is only relevant when DNA is in a replication stage. The model does not provide any information about important, higher level complexities of DNA structure. Our present understanding of storage and utilization of a cell’s genetic information has been possible because of Watson and Crick’s discovery. For example, understanding DNA has led us to new, successful avenues for medical research and treatment of diseases. We are able to use genetic screening for disease, and we have a better understanding of disease mutation, as in the flu virus. Also, our knowledge of DNA’s structure and function has made tissue matching possible for patients receiving transplants.

Chromium Induced Toxicity Research

Chromium Induced Toxicity Research Abstract In the present study, we hypothesize that cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and oxidative stress play a key role in chromium induced toxicity in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines when exposed for 24 h. Acute toxicity tests were conducted on three fish species namely L. calcarifer, E. suratensis and C. catla by exposing them to different concentration (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/L) of chromium for 96 h under static conditions and the LC50 was calculated. The percentage cell survival was assessed by multiple endpoints such as MTT, NR, AB and CB assays were performed in seven fish cell lines exposed to different concentrations of chromium and EC50 values of all the four endpoints was calculated. Linear correlations between each in vitro cytotoxicity assay and the in vivo mortality data were highly significant. Microscopic examination of cell morphology indicated cell shrinkage, cell detachment, vacuolations and cell swelling at highest concentration of chromium (50mg/L). The DNA damage and nuclear fragmentation were assessed by comet assay and Hoechst staining, in seven fish lines exposed to different concentrations of chromium. The result of antioxidant parameter obtained show significantly decreased catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione S-transferase (GSH) and Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and increased level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) in all the cell lines after exposure to increasing chromium in a concentration-dependent manner. This results proves that fish cell lines could be used as an alternative to whole fish using cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and oxidative stress assessment after exposure to chromium. Keywords: Fish cell lines, Chromium, Cytotoxicity, Genotoxicity, Oxidative stress 1. Introduction Heavy metal pollution of water is a serious environmental problem facing the modern world. At global level heavy metals pollution is increasing in the environment due to increase in number of industries (Chidambaram et al. 2009). Industrial effluents are discharged into the sewage canals, rivers and irrigation water, causing major pollution and health hazards (Baddesha and Rao 1986). Many industrial wastewaters contain heavy metals like cadmium, lead, zinc, cobalt and chromium. The toxic heavy metals are mostly absorbed and get accumulated in various plant parts as free metals which may adversely affect the plant growth and metabolism (Barman and Lal 1994). Human beings and cattle are badly affected when these metals are incorporated into food chain as it causes bronchitis and cancer (Khasim et al. 1989; McGrath and Smith 1990; Nath et al. 2005). Among heavy metals, chromium plays a major role in polluting our aquatic environment system. In nature chromium occurs predominately in two valances Cr (III) and Cr (VI). Hexavalent chromium [Cr (VI)] predominates over the Cr (III) form in natural waters. Hexavalent chromium [Cr (VI)] particulates enter the aquatic medium through effluents discharged from leather tanning, textiles, chrome electroplating, metal finishing, dyeing and printing industries and several other industries. The Cr (VI) penetrates biological membranes easily and causes cellular damage by oxidative stress (Irwin et al. 1997; Begum et al. 2006), its unselective exposure may pose serious effect on aquatic communities including fish. Toxic effects of Cr(VI) on enzymological/biochemical (Al-Akel and Shamsi 1996; Vutukuru et al. 2007; Oner et al. 2008), hematological (Gautam and Gupta 1989; Al-Akel and Shamsi 1996), immunological (Prabakaran et al. 2007) parameters, endocrine toxicity (Mishra and Mohanty 2009) and genotoxicity (Chen et al. 2011) have been reported in many teleosts fishes. In environmental risk assessment, much of the toxicity test on fish has involved the use of lethality as the endpoint. On the other hand, in vivo bioassay is expensive and requires huge quantity of toxicant. The exposure time is only 24 h as opposed 96 h in bioassay, which could reduce the cost of labor, lab facilities and test time but more importantly allow decisions to be made more rapidly. Nevertheless, toxicity testing with fish is an essential part of environmental risk assessment procedures (Castano et al. 2003). For all these considerations, the development and use of in vitro assays that could measure early stages of toxicity in vertebrates represent an approach that could be very useful to monitoring environmental risk assessment (Walker 1999). Over the last four decades, cell and tissue culture methods have been refined and have now become an essential tool in environmental research. There are a lot of ethical, scientific and economical reasons that support the development of in vitro methods for use in ecotoxicology (Castano and Gomez-Lechon 2005; Bols et al. 2005; Schirmer, 2006; Fent 2007; Taju et al. 2012, 2013, 2014). The use of fish cell lines in environmental toxicology has been reviewed and positively assessed mainly with regards to cytotoxicity (Babich and Borenfreund 1991; Castano et al. 2003; Fent 2001). Cytotoxicity assessments can be readily employed to examine multiple endpoints, including measurements of cell death (apoptosis), cell viability, cellular morphology, cell metabolism, cell attachment/detachment, cell membrane permeability, proliferation, growth kinetics, genotoxicity and oxidative stress (Maracine and Segner 1998; Li and Zhang 2002; Shuilleabhain et al. 2004; Taju et al. 2014). In the present study, three fish species from three different aquatic environments, Lates calcarifer (Marine), Etroplus suratensis (Brackishwater) and Catla catla (freshwater) were selected as representatives of their respective environments to study their suitability for acute toxicity test to evaluate the potential risk of chromium (Cr). They are excellent food fishes with a good market demand in India, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Some attempts were made to study in vivo acute toxicity in Sea bass, Etroplus and Catla using various toxicants (Chezhian et al. 2010; Azmat and Javed 2011, 2012; Bhat et al. 2012; Taju et al. 2012, 2013). The seven fish cell lines namely SISK and SISS cell lines derived from L. calcarifer (Sahul Hameed et al. 2006; Parameshwaran et al. 2006b), SICH and ICG cell lines derived from C. catla (Ishaq Ahmed et al. 2009b; Taju et al. 2014), and IEE, IEK and IEG cell lines derived from E. suratensis (Sarath Babu et al. 2012) were used as in vitro assays t o evaluate the cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and oxidative stress exposed to chromium. The results of in vitro cytotoxicity were compared with the results of in vivo acute toxicity test using fish. The use of these cell lines for toxicity assessment of chromium instead of living fish is recommended. 2. Material and methods 2.1. Chemicals and reagents Tissue culture media and chemicals were obtained from GIBCO (Invitrogen Corporation, USA). Potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7), EDTA, Trichloroacetic acid, DTNB [5,5-dithio-bis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid)], Thiobarbituric acid, Hydrogen peroxide, Nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT), Riboflavin, Hydroxylamine-HCl, Triton X-100, Ethidium bromide, Methanol, Acetic acid, Sodium chloride, Sodium hydroxide and Coomassie Blue was purchased from SRL chemicals, India. 2.2. Collection of experimental animals Lates calcarifer and Etroplus suratensis were collected from Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), Chennai. Catla catla was collected from a local pond in Walajapet, Vellore District, Tamil Nadu, India. The experimental fishes were 2 3 g in body weight. Specimens were transported live in oxygen bags or buckets to the laboratory, acclimatized and maintained for 20-30 days in a salinity range of 5-10 ppt for E. suratensis, 20-25 ppt for L. calcarifer and in freshwater in the case of C. catla (23-28oC) under an ambient photoperiod in the laboratory for 10 days prior to experiments. The fish were fed with commercial pellet feed twice a day and starved for 24 h before and during the experiments. 2.3. In vivo fish acute toxicity test Fish acute toxicity tests were conducted by exposing E. suratensis, L. calcarifer and C. catla (N = 10 per aquarium) for 96 h to chromium under static conditions (OECD 203, 1992). Five different concentrations chromium i.e., 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/L diluted with seawater (5 ppt) and freshwater while control with sea water and freshwater alone were tested to determine the LC50 (concentration at which 50% of the fish population dies). The aquaria had a working volume of 30 lit based on the body weight of fishes (1 g fish/L). Dead fishes were counted and removed immediately every day. All the experiments were conducted in triplicates. Mortalities were recorded following the guideline for fish acute toxicity OECD 203 (1992). 2.4. Fish Cell lines A total of seven cell lines established from different organs of L. calcarifer (SISS-seabass spleen, SISK-kidney), E. suratensis (IEE Etroplus eye, IEG gill, IEK kidney) and C. catla (SICH Catla heart, ICG gill) were tested for their sensitivities to chromium. These fish cell lines were propagated at 28oC in Leibovitzs L-15 medium (pH 7.0 -7.4) with 2mM L-glutamine, 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS), penicillin 100 IU/ml and streptomycin 100 ÂÂ µg/ml. The osmolarity ranged from 300 to 360 mOsm kg-1. These cells were sub-cultured every 2-3 days using standard procedure. Cells at exponential growth phase were harvested and used for in vitro cytotoxicity tests. 2.5. In vitro cytotoxicity assay using fish-derived cell lines SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells at exponential growth phase were collected and diluted to a concentration of 105 cells/ml in Leibovitzs L-15 medium with 10% FBS. After agitation, the cells were added to each well of 96-well tissue culture plates at the concentration of 2 x 104/well and incubated overnight at 28oC. After incubation, the medium was removed and the cells were re-fed with medium containing 0 (control), 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/L of chromium for 24 h EC50 analysis. Then four endpoints for cytotoxicity, i.e., MTT [3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay, Neutral red (NR) uptake assay, Alamar blue assay (AB) and protein concentration for Coomassie blue (CB) assay were determined after 24 h exposure as described by Borenfreund et al. (1988), Borenfreund and Puerner (1985), Taju et al. (2012) and Shopsis and Eng (1985), respectively. 2.5.1. Cell morphology SISS, SISSK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells were plated into a 24 well tissue culture plate at a density of 2ÃÆ'-105 cells (in 1 mL growth medium). After overnight growth, supernatants from the culture plates were removed and fresh aliquots of growth medium containing various concentrations of the chromium (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/L) were exposed for 24 h. Upon incubation, cells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4) and the morphological changes were observed under an inverted phase-contrast microscope (Carl Zeiss, Germany) at 100ÃÆ'- magnification. 2.6. Assessment of in vitro genotoxicity using fish-derived cell lines 2.6.1. Comet assay The Single Cell Gel Electrophoresis (comet assay) was performed on SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines according to the method of Singh et al. (1988) with slight modifications in accordance with the protocols of Taju et al. (2014). 5 x 104 cells on 500 ÃŽÂ ¼L of complete culture medium were seeded per well in a 24-well-plate. After 24 h incubation, cells were exposed to chromium using the following concentrations: 0 (control), 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mg/L. At the end of the exposure period, cells were collected through trypsinization, followed by centrifugation at 1000 rpm for two minutes to obtain the pellet and avoid cell loss. After the centrifugations, the supernatant was discarded and the pellet resuspended in 100 ÃŽÂ ¼L of 0.9% agarose in milliQ water (low-melting point agarose, Sigma Aldrich chemicals, USA). The suspensions of cells in agarose were then applied dropwise to microscope slides containing an agarose layer (agarose electrophoresis grade, prep ared with a 1% concentration in milliQ water), and kept in a freezer for 10 min. The cells were lysed in freshly made lysing solution (2.5 M NaCl, 100 mM EDTA, 10 mM Tris-HCl, 10% DMSO, 1% Triton X-100, pH 10), for 1 h at 4 ÂÂ °C. After rinsing with redistilled water, the slides were placed on the horizontal gel box, covered with the cold alkaline buffer (0.3 M NaOH, 1 mM EDTA, pH >13) and left for 20 min. Electrophoresis was run in the same buffer at 25 V (0.83 V/cm) at 300 mA for 20 min at 4 ÂÂ °C. After electrophoresis the slides were neutralized in a cold neutralization buffer (0.4 M Tris-HCl, pH 7.5), for 2 to 5 min, fixed in methanol:acetic acid (3:1) for 5 min and stored in the dark at room temperature. Prior to examination, the slides were rehydrated and stained with 10 ÂÂ µg/mL ethidium bromide and examined using a Zeiss Axioplan epifluorescence microscope (Carl Zeiss, Germany). A positive control (5 ÂÂ µM H2O2) was also included in every batch of sample s. This strategy was chosen to compare the variation in the distance of migration. The positive control was not included in evaluation. Slides were examined at 100x magnifications using a fluorescence microscope. For each experimental condition 100 randomly chosen cells from two duplicate slides were examined (50 from each slide). In all 100 comets were scored visually according to the relative intensity of the fluorescence in the tail length. The extent of DNA migration was determined as a percentage of DNA in the tail (% tDNA) using an image analysis system comet 5, Kinetic Imaging Ltd. 2.6.2. Assessment Nuclear fragmentation by Hoechst 33258 Nuclear fragmentation of SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines was analyzed with Hoechst 33258. The cells were seeded in 12-well cell culture plates and incubated overnight. Then the cells were treated with different concentrations of chromium (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/L). Cells were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS for 30 min, washed with PBS, and stained with 1 ÃŽÂ ¼g/mL Hoechst 33258 in PBS for 30 min. Stained cells were washed twice with PBS. The changes in nuclei were observed with a fluorescent microscope through a UV filter. 2.7. Preparation of cell extract and Biochemical estimations The SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines were exposed to different concentrations of chromium (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mg/L) on 25 cm2 flasks for 24 h. After 24 h they were trypsinized and pelleted by centrifugation at 500ÃÆ'-g for 5 min. The cell pellet was washed with PBS (0.1M, pH7.4), resuspended in 500 ÂÂ µl chilled homogenizing buffer (250mM sucrose, 12mM Tris-HCl, 0.1mM DTT, pH 7.4) and lysed using Dounce homogenizer. The lysate was centrifuged (8000ÃÆ'-g, 10 min, 4 ÂÂ °C) and the supernatant (cell extract) was used for various biochemical assays. Protein concentration in the cell extract was estimated by the method of Lowry et al. (1951). The enzymatic antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were determined by following the procedures described by Kono (1978). Catalase (CAT) activity was determined by following the method described by Aebi (1974). The level of non-enzymatic antioxidant reduced glutathione (GSH) was estimated following the procedures described Saldak and Lindsay (1968). The activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) was assayed by the method of Flohe and Gunzler, (1984). The level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) was measured according to the method described Beuge and Aust (1978) based on the reaction with thiobarbituric acid. The results were recorded as ÂÂ µmol of TBA reactive substances/mg protein. The enzymatic and non-enzymatic parameters was expressed as ÂÂ µmol/mg protein. 2.8. Data analysis Experiments were performed in triplicate with eight replicates for each exposure concentration. Absolute values of each assay were transformed to control percentages. The results of LC50 and EC50 values were expressed as dilution in (mg/L) of the sample calculated using computerized (EPA, 2000) software. The individual data points of the concentration response cytotoxicity graph were presented as the arithmetic mean percent inhibition relative to the control standard error (SE). Cell viability and the concentration were fitted Scatter plots with the regressive equation (a linear regression model). The strength of the r2 value was used to determine whether a linear or quadratic relationship was assumed. Analysis of variance was used to determine whether groups of variables differed from each other (SPSS, Version 16). 3. Results The cumulative percentage mortality in L. calcarifer, E. suratensis and C. catla exposed to different concentrations of chromium was determined at 96 h and the results are presented in Fig 1. The toxic effect of chromium on the survival of fish was found to be concentration and time dependent. The chromium at the concentration of 50 mg/L caused 100%, 96.66% and 90% mortality, respectively, in L. calcarifer, E. suratensis and C. catla, whereas lower concentration of chromium at 10 mg/L caused 26.66%, 16.66% and 20% mortality of L. calcarifer, E. suratensis and C. catla respectively. No mortality was recorded in the control fish even after 96 h exposure. The LC50 values corresponding to 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of exposure of chromium were determined and results are presented in Table 1. Five different concentrations which ranged from 10 to 50 mg/L of chromium were used to carry out the in vitro toxicity assay in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines using four cytotoxicity end points (MTT, NR, AB and CB assays) and the results are shown in Fig.2 A-D. The cytotoxicity of chromium to SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines was found to be similar in all the toxic endpoints employed. The lowest concentration of chromium tested (10 mg/L) was found to toxic in all the cell lines particularly SICH and IEK cell lines. The progressive increase in the concentration of chromium led to increase in toxicity when compared to control cells. The MTT, NR, AB and CB cytotoxicity endpoint assays revealed that a 24-h exposure of all the cell lines to different concentrations of chromium produced a dose-dependent reduction in the fraction of viability. The EC50 values and 95% confidence limit values obtained for chromium are summarized in Table 2. Correlations a mong the endpoints employed in the SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines to study cytotoxicity of chromium have been determined. A general tendency in the sensitivity among the four endpoints could be observed and statistical analysis revealed good correlation with R2 = 0.889-0.927 for all combinations between endpoints (Data not shown). The in vivo values of L. calcarifer vs. in vitro data of its two cell lines exposed to chromium were highly significant p2=0.956 (L. calcarifer vs. SISS) and 0.962 (L. calcarifer vs. SISK); R2=0.973 and 0.993; R2=0.980 and 0.975; R2=0.992 and 0.977 for MTT (Fig 3A), NR (Fig 3B), AB(Fig 3C) and CB (Fig 3D), respectively. The in vivo values of E. suratensis were compared with in vitro values of its three cell lines (IEE, IEG and IEK) exposed to chromium and were found to be highly significant p2=0.985 (E. suratensis vs. IEE), 0.987 (E. suratensis vs. IEK) and 0.968 (E. suratensis vs. IEG); R2=0.980, 0.936 and 0.956; R2=0.961, 0.955 and 0.904 and R2=0.955, 0.939 and 0.974 for MTT (Fig 3E), NR (Fig 3F), AB(Fig 3G) and CB (Fig 3H), respectively. Linear correlations between each in vitro vs. in vivo (C. catla)values of chromium were highly significant p2=0.991 (C. catla vs, SICH) and 0.993 (C. catla vs, ICG); R2=0.982 and 0.983; 0.974 and 0.990 and 0.987 and 0.984 for MTT (Fig 3I), NR (Fig 3J), AB(Fig 3K) and CB (Fig 3L), respectively. The prominent morphological changes of the cells exposed to high concentrations of chromium were observed. The changes observed include cell shrinkage, cell detachment, vacuolations and cell swelling in SISS (Fig 4H), SISK (Fig 4I), IEE (Fig 4J), IEK (Fig 4L), IEG (Fig 4L), SICH (Fig 4M) and ICG (Fig 4N) cell lines. In controls, no morphological alterations were observed in the SISS (Fig 4A), SISK (Fig 4B), IEE (Fig 4C), IEK (Fig 4D), IEG (Fig 4E), SICH (Fig 4F) and ICG (Fig 4G) cell lines. The percentage of DNA damage and the cumulative tail length from 100 cells per sample were measured in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells exposed to different concentrations of chromium (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/L) and the results are shown in Fig. 5. The length of tail DNA in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells exposed to 10 mg/L of chromium was estimated to be about 1.7%, 2.0%, 1.3%, 1.5%, 2.1%, 1.4% and 1.5%, respectively at a 24-h exposure, and chromium at the concentration of 50 mg/L caused 8.9%, 11.0%, 9.4%, 8.8%, 11.1%, 6.4% and 7.2% of tail DNA migration in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells, respectively (Fig. 5). Comet results of chromium exposed SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells showed a dose dependent increase in tail DNA (%) compared to the control cells, which gave the extent of DNA damage. The SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells were exposed to chromium for 24 h at different concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/L) and the results are shown in Fig. 6A-N. Apoptotic cells were identified by Hoechst staining of condensation and fragmentation of the nuclei as shown in SISS cells (Fig. 6H), SISK cells (Fig. 6I), IEE cells (Fig. 6J), IEK cells (Fig. 6K), IEG cells (Fig. 6L), SICH cells (Fig. 6M) and ICG cells (Fig. 6N) at higher concentration i.e. 50 mg/L of chromium exposed for 24 h, while no nuclear changes were observed in control cells are shown in SISS cells (Fig. 6A), SISK cells (Fig. 6B), IEE cells (Fig. 6C), IEK cells (Fig. 6D), IEG cells (Fig. 6E), SICH cells (Fig. 6F)and ICG cells (Fig. 6G). The level of antioxidant parameters such as SOD, CAT, GPx, GSH and LPO was measured in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells exposed to different concentrations of chromium and the results were presented in Fig 7A-E. Regarding oxidative stress biomarkers, no significant change was observed in SOD, CAT, GSH and LPO levels in the SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells exposed to lower concentrations i.e. 10 mg/L of chromium when compared to the control cells. However, when these cell lines were exposed to 50 mg/L of chromium, the activity of SOD (~2.1, ~2.3, ~1.5, ~1.3, ~2.3, ~1.2 and ~2.2 fold in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells respectively in Fig 7A), CAT (~5.2, ~6.8, ~5.3, ~7.4, ~6.4, ~5.2 and ~4.6 fold in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells respectively Fig 7B) and level GSH (~1.6, ~1.5, ~1.3, ~1.6, ~1.5, ~1.8 and ~1.3 fold in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells respectively Fig 7C) and GPx (~1.2, ~1.1, ~1.0, ~1.2, ~1.1, ~0.9 and ~1. 3 fold in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells respectively Fig 7D) decreased was found to be significantly (*P 4. Discussion Heavy metals constitute a main group of aquatic pollutants due to their bioacuumulative and non-biodegradable properties (Velma and Tchounwou 2010). Their excessive contamination of aquatic ecosystems has evoked major environmental and health concerns worldwide (Vutukuru et al. 2007). Chromium is the sixth most abundant heavy metal in the earth crust (U.S. EPA 1984). Fish and Fish cell lines constitute an excellent model to understand the mechanistic aspects of metal toxicity (Taju et al. 2014). In this study, we have examined the in vivo toxicity in three fish species in different environment i.e. L. calcarifer (Marine water), E. suratensis (brackish water) and C. catla (Fresh water), and in vitro cytotoxicity, oxidative stress and genotoxicity of the three same fish cell lines, SISS, SISK (Seabass spleen and kidney cell lines), IEE, IEK, IEG (Etroplus eye, kidney and gill cell lines), SICH and ICG (Catla heart and gill cell lines) an exposure to chromium. The results of this study clearly show that the fish cell lines experienced oxidative stress by modulating the antioxidant enzyme, exhibited DNA damage, nuclear fragmentation and microscopic morphological changes in the SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cells. The LC50 values of chromium were determined as 30.22, 33.83 and 30.64 mg/L respectively in L. calcarifer, E. suratensis and C. catla, respectively at 96 h of exposure in this study. Recently, Mishra and Mohanty (2009) reported the LC50 values of chromium on Channa punctatus at 96 h of exposure as 41.75 mg/L. The LC50 values observed by Mishra and Mohanty (2009) were found to be higher when compared to L. calcarifer, E. suratensis and C. catla and this indicates that the L. calcarifer, E. suratensis and C. catla were found to more sensitive to chromium. Seven fish cell lines derived from L. calcarifer (SISS SISK), E. suratensis (IEE, IEK and IEG) and C. catla (SICH and ICG) were applied to evaluate the cytotoxicity of chromium using MTT, AB, NR and cell protein (CB) assays. The results of in vitro assays were compared with the results of in vivo test to determine the suitability of these fish cell lines for toxicological studies to replace the use of whole fish. The evaluation of cytotoxicity of chemical substances using animal cells has been carried out by many workers (Ekwall 1980a, 1983; Metcalfe 1971; Muir 1983a, 1983b; Paganuzzi et al. 1981; Benoit et al. 1987). Four commonly used endpoint assays (MTT, NR AB and cell protein assay CB) were employed in the present study using SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines of E. suratensi, C. catla and L. calcarifer to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxicity of chromium. The main observation was that the cytotoxicity was closely associated in all the seven cell lines independent of the toxic endpoints employed. This not only supports the observations of Ekwall (1995) and Li and Zhang (2002) that most cell lines have a similar results to toxicants when toxicity is measured by different endpoints, corresponding to inhibition or destruction of basal functions and structures, and also suggests that endpoints employed in the present study can also be used to predict acute cytotoxicity. Tan et al. (2008) have used six fish cell lines to study the toxicity of four heavy metals: cadmium, chromium, zinc, and copper by using two cytotoxicity endpoints MTT and CB assays. The results revealed that carp epithelioma cells are least tolerant to chromium. The NR uptake assay is a useful method for comparing the relative acute cytotoxicity of metals in vitro with metal and chemicals toxicity studies in whole fish in vivo (Brandao et al. 1992; Ryan and Hightower 1994; Taju et al. 2013). In the present study, we employed that SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines for cytotoxicity assessment of chromium by using four endpoints. Our results show that there is no significant difference between all the four endpoints. Segner (1994) reported that the relationship of the in vitro cytotoxicity values to in vivo fish toxicity data is less satisfying and that this might be due to the inconsistency of the in vivo values. As observed in the present study, a positive relationship of acute lethal potency in fish with in vitro cytotoxicity has been found by Fry et al. (1990). Castano et al. (1996) found good correlations between in vivo and in vitro for each endpoint and for the cytotoxicity index and suggested the applicability of the RTG-2 cell line as an alternative protocol to estimate the acute toxicity of chemicals on fish without using live animals. The correlation of in vitro cytotoxicity of metals with in vivo toxicity data was evaluated by comparing the 24 h NR50 results of R1 cells to 96 h LC50 data of different fish species. The rvalues (R1 cell line) were 0.64 for the relation between LC50, data of golden ide and bluegill sunfish, 0.58 for golden ide and rainbow trout in soft water, and 0.68 for golden ide and rainbow trout in hard water (Segner et al. 1994). In the present study, in vitro cytotoxicity of chromium with in vivo results was evaluated by comparing the 24 h MTT, NR, AB and CB data of seven Indian fish cell lines to 96 h data of three fish species (L. calcarifer, E. suratensis and C. catla). A good correlation was found between in vitro of seven fish cell lines compared with in vivo values of whole fish exposed to chromium for 24 h and 96 h respectively, with r=0.902 to 0.99. The results revealed that the four endpointsvalues were closely correlated to whole fish in vivo values and that the linear correlation b etween each in vitro parameter and the in vivo data were found to be highly significant. The results of in vitro assays using SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines of E. suratensis, C. catla and L. calcarifer were correlated with those obtained from in vivo assay using the same species of fish (L. calcarifer, E. suratensis and C. catla). Based on the results of the present study we recommend the use of these seven cell lines instead of living fish for toxicity assessment of metal salts and environmental contaminants. The present study showed that chromium induced genotoxicity in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines by comet assay. DNA damage was observed in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines exposed to chromium in a concentration dependent manner. The DNA damage at higher test concentrations in SISS, SISK, IEE, IEK, IEG, SICH and ICG cell lines could be due to the elevated levels of tail DNA in all cell lines compared to their controls cells. Induction of ROS under metallic stress could attack the DNA and damage its integrity. Our present results are similar to the previous reports (Iqbal Ahmad et al. 2006; Velma and Tchounwou 2010; 2013) DNA damage in gill and kidney of Anguilla anguilla L. exposed to chromium with or without pre-exposure to ÃŽÂ ²-naphthoflavone. In another study, medaka fin cell lines exposed to Cr (VI) to examine the genotoxic potentials, have observed DNA double strand breaks a

Re-interpretation of the Philosophical Thought of Benjamin Constant :: Philosophy Psychological Psychology Essays

Re-interpretation of the Philosophical Thought of Benjamin Constant ABSTRACT: The liberal French thinker Benjamin Constant develops a conception of human nature which shows the triplicity of being human. Such triplicity manifests itself in the close connection between emotion, rationality, and animality. He also develops an idea of liberty which treats it only as a real, historically conditioned minimalization of external limitations. Liberty thus understood enjoys metaphysical rootedness in human nature. 1. Introductory remarks Benjamin Constant (1767-1830), the French aristocrat, politician, one of the fathers of the French liberalism and, at the same time, the then well-known man of letters is also the author of a voluminous and almost unknown work about religion. It appeared in the years 1824-1833 in Paris in seven volumes, five of which are entitled "De la religion consideree dans sa source, ses formes et ses developpements", and two "Du Polytheisme romain considere dans ses rapports avec la philosphie grecque et la religion chretienne. Constant wrote this work through all his life, changing the fundamental theses and supplementing them as his theoretical knowledge about religion increased and as a result of his personal experiences connected with religion. Although the huge volume of the work is rather perceived as unattractive today and most of the historical material is out of date, it contains interesting philosophical theses which are the crowning achievement of the whole intellectual life of the a uthor. These theses allow us to understand and interpret better the philosophical foundations of Constant's liberalism which are created, among others, by a certain understanding of the human nature i.e. a certain philosophical anthropology, whereas the latter induces an understanding of liberty, peculiar for the Constantian liberalism. 2. The human nature. Constantian theses contained in the work on religion and refering to the human nature can be formulated as follows: 1. A man is not entirely the product of society in which he lives and its culture, but he is a being that can be defined by his stable and unchangeable nature. 2. What the human nature is like can be judged by examining the behaviours common to all people and their creations, for example religion. 3. The human nature is unchangeable . However, the forms change, through which it manifests it self in various periods of the development of humanity. In people's religious behaviour, for example, there is manifested something which is the permanent source of every religion and is inherent in human nature.

One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich - Analytical Essay

Russia, has a lowest ever temperature of –44 ºC, and an average of 104 days a year above 0 ºC and a yearly average of 261 days below 0  ºC. It is the second coldest continent in the world only behind Antarctica, it snows on average 111 days of the year. It is dark, gloomy, freezing and miserable in the winter, and in the summer, cold, dark, and gloomy. Camps for political prisoners seemed even colder, especially with no real heating and limited clothes to wear on these wintriness days. The camp which was the bases of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s novel A Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich was initiated by Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 until 1956. Stalin, which means â€Å"man of steel†, constructed one of the tightest and toughest communisms in history. He is such a dominant figure in Russian history, even though he will always be remembered to heavily contributing to bringing Russia down. This was no general camp, but a so called â€Å"special† camp for long term prisoners. Shukhov was a political prisoner, in fact not one of these prisoners were common criminals. Stalin had established many camps like this, full of spies, prisoners of war, and those who rebelled against his system of government. The camps were in poor condition, the government spent as little on them as possible, all the repairs and erections of new buildings was all done by it’s inhabitants. The primary theme in this nobel prize winning novel is the endurance of humanity and fight for survival. Survival is a fight every human must take part in, although ones fight is much easier than anothers. The fight for survival is tough in the camp especially under the severe conditions, the cold and the brutality of the guards and camp life. The author has paid special and close attention to the weather, the bitter cold, it is not made an extremity, but the facts. A prisoner had 1 grubby blanket, covering his mattress, which incidentally was made of sawdust, this blanket was supposed to help them keep warm through those winter nights. â€Å"No one ever took his wadded trousers off at night- you’d grow numb with cold unless you wore them under your blanket.† The amount of work the prisoners were required to do was enough to keep them going, but then to have to worry about the cold, and completing the task to the captains expectations, man life for prisoners was tough. Although prisoners maintain the... ...as all over other parts of the camp. The camp has no real source of heating, and if you are lucky a bit of heat may be thrown your way. The work was labor intensive, with all of it one by hand. The days where a lot of work was done, when it was warm, when the team worked together were the good days, they were the easy days where the stolen time didn’t seem so bad. However the days when it was miserable cold and the jobs weren’t completed to satisfaction were the long days, the hard days to survive. Although at the end of each day, there was dinner, a time where each prison had a few scared minutes to himself, and was only concerned for himself. The significance of a piece of bread and a bit of kasha was extraordinary. This novel is living proof of the struggle of survival for prisoners in communist countries. It illustrates problems we all face in our everyday lives, especially cultural and religious conflict. It was published to awaken the world to the horrendous conditions Stalin put these prisoners in, and shows what kind of man he really was. The novel consists of cold hard facts about Stalin’s prisoner camps, and a story of courage and hope despite the conditions and odds.

Religious Renewal and Sexual Masochism in Batter my heart, three person

Religious Renewal and Sexual Masochism in "Batter my heart, three person'd God" In Donne's Holy Sonnet, "Batter my heart, three person'd God," themes of religious renewal and sexual masochism are abundant. While religious renewal is clearly the front-most, and most clearly defined meaning of the poem, the poet's choice of words and subtle analogies leave the poem wide open for speculation in sexual meaning. That John Donne was a preacher, the fire and brimstone, evangelical ringings of religious renewal in this poem are well founded. A man's soul, invaded by Satan's sin, must be purged by whatever means necessary by God's force. Donne associates his corrupted soul with that of an "usurp'd towne," invaded by an enemy (Satan), but "to'another due," (the Trinity). He asks God to break the impurity by force and to beat his soul clean and into repentance. While this all makes sense on the first level, there are many dualities, and sexual undertones present in the poem. Several words in the poem contain multiple meanings, further promoting the mingling of the sacred and profane throughout the poem. Particularly towards the end of the poem, these words help to justify what the reader might have guessed at earlier in the poem. 'Enthrall,' for example, used in the sense of something God does to the poet, can mean 'to hold or capture, enslave', (having a negative connotation) or 'to hold spellbound by pleasing qualities' (having a positive connotation). This makes unclear, or at least arguable, Donne's attitudes toward the emotions involved in being taken by God, as well as the possibility of pleasure found in a sexual act being described. Another, 'betroth'd,' usua... ... beating of the poet by God. "O'erthrow mee,'and bend / Your force to breake, blowe, burn and make me new," while again implying that the poet is a woman (God having to bend his force-phallic reference-to break the woman, an expression used in the taking of a woman's virginity), indicates an act of sexual violence. "Untie, or breake that knot againe" paints a picture of bondage, as does "imprison mee" and "enthrall mee." The last line, "Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee" implies the rape of the virgin, having chastity no more after being ravished, or raped. Either way you look at this poem, in the religious or sexual sense, it is powerful and controlling. Donne intertwines sexual connotations with religious renewal and the ridding of sins from the body. He has made sure not to support either reading too fully, leaving both open to speculation.

Jane Eyre: Bildungsroman

Nicholas Scelzi Mrs. Pinto English 10H Period 2 April 14, 2013 Jane Eyre as a Bildungsroman Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, is a Bildungsroman. A Bildungsroman is a novel in which the protagonist engages in a moral and psychological growth. A Bildungsroman generally exhibits the growth and development of a particular individual within a confined social order. The character, to travel on this road to adulthood and development, must have some sort of loss or discontent.The path that the character travels is long, arduous, and gradual and is lodged with hardship and adversity between the needs, desires and views of the protagonist and the norm of society. Ultimately, the spirit and values of the social order becomes evident in the protagonist and the protagonist displays a new position in society. In the opening chapter of Jane Eyre, Jane, the protagonist, is abused emotionally, physically and verbally by her antipathetic family. Her cousin John, who demands that Jane refer to h im as Master, is especially belligerent.While reading and minding her own business, Jane is disturbed and attacked by her malicious cousin for no good reason. This is the first time Jane stands up for herself and yells back at her cousin, only to receive a worse punishment and become imprisoned in the red-room at Gateshead, which is the same room in which her late uncle was waked. She soon hallucinates and sees illusions of her ghastly uncle. Jane later attends an orphan school called Lowood, where she is, yet again, treated cruelly. You can read also Analysis of Literary Devices of Jane EyreHowever, there is a single girl who is content and uncomplaining: Helen Burns, a young girl who has faith that God will. Jane admires this and soon befriends Helen. Helen grows ill and dies, but her last words reassure her strong-rooted faith in God and inspire Jane to have the same faith. Jane remains at Lowood for eight years, six as a student and two as a teacher, furthering her education and accelerating to the top of her class. When Jane leaves Lowood, she gets a job as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her employer.She discovers, however, that he is already wedded and faces the inner conflict of whether or not to stay with him. She decides it is essential that she must leave and move on. Ten months later, after finding home with her unbeknownst cousins and inheriting a fortune of five-thousand pounds, she returns to her love, Mr. Edward Rochester, and finds out that his insane wife killed hers elf. She accepts his proposal and they marry and live happily thereafter. Jane, who was once an abused orphan, grew to become mature, educated and moral woman. She was a tortured and passionate girl who wanted nothing more than to love and be love. She could not restrain her passion and lashed out at her family for abusing her. However, as the novel progressed, she grew able to control herself, without, though, losing her passion or moral values. She became a giving, selfless, and charitable woman. This shows Jane’s coming of age and development and proves the novel Jane Eyre to be a bildungsroman.

Ezra Pound Essay

The Young Genius: Ezra Pound’s influenced poetry on Benito Mussolini and the Fascist movement, time of his stay in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and the concept of Imagism. â€Å"If a nation’s literature declines, the nation atrophies and decays.† (Ezra Pound Quotes) Ezra Pound was not a man of many words, but he certainly did have a knack for turning simple words into something beautiful. Pounds’ poetry was influenced by his fascination with Benito Mussolini and the Fascist movement, the time of his stay in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and the concept of Imagism. It is safe to say that Ezra Pound did not live a boring life growing up. He was born on October 30, 1885 in Hailey, Idaho. However, he was brought up in Wyncote, Philadelphia. At the small age of 12, Pound’s father, Hoomer Loomis Pound, sent him to military school. His father’s occupation was an assistant assayer at the U.S. Mint. Pound was the only child from his father, Hoomer Loomis Pound, and his mother, Mary Parker Wadsworth Weston. The family was your average, middle-class family. His mother, was more of a traditional woman. â€Å"A family that has respect for tradition,† were the words that often came out of her mouth. (Ezra (Weston Loomis) Pound Biography) In the year 1905, Pound received a bachelor degree of philosophy from Hamilton College and a master’s degree from University of Pennsylvania in 1906. After he graduated in 1907, his first teaching gig was teaching Spanish and French at a small Presbyterian college in Indiana. He was shortly fired from that occupation, due to the accused charges of seducing a young woman. Pound was never found guilty. One of the main influences in Ezra Pound’s poetry was Benito Mussolini and the Fascism beliefs. The whole interest and fascination began around 1924, when Pound left England and went to Italy with his second wife Olga Rudge. He left England because he believed they were responsible for the usury and international capitalism for the war. â€Å"Mussolini seemed to have clever ideas about economics than Major Douglass did.† (74. Wilhelm, James J.) Pound was so fixated on Mussolini that he eventually met him in Rome at January 30, 1933 in the Palazzo Venezie. (Ezra Pound – Pound, Politics, Poetry) Furthermore, Pound created a name for him in the Fascist world and eventually made a regular address on the Italian State Radio, approved by the Italian government, because he was such an advocate for Benito Mussolini and his fascist views. Because of his incredible favor towards Mussolini, people back in the United States viewed him as a traitor  and were saying he was fraternizing with the enemy. â€Å"If a man isn’t willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he’s no good.† (Treason, Fascism, and Anti-Semitism) People thought that Pound went insane and he was arrested for treason and was sent to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital of Mental Health. I believe, that this is an expressive poem about his feelings living in England or the United States. He was so happy in Italy and was living such a â€Å"colorful† life that every other way of life just appeared â€Å"dull† to him. â€Å"And the days are not full enough† And the days are not full enough And the nights are not full enough And life slips by like a field mouse Not shaking the grass. (Pound, Ezra) Ezra Pound In this poem, Ezra Pound used diction, tone, and euphony. Diction shined through in the chosen phrase, â€Å"not full enough†. Although he only used that twice in the poem, that phrase had a very powerful effect on the readers’ mood of the poem. He gave the poem a dull and melancholy vibe for the poem. Although the Pound’s attitude is not directly stated in this poem, the depressing tone is as noticeable as a white elephant in the room. Last but not least is the use of elegy. Despite the part of elegy relating to death, elegy is used in this poem because it is a very solemn themed poem. In my opinion, this â€Å"man† Pound is talking about is intended to be viewed as England or the United States. This â€Å"ideal† man that he speaks of, who has order about him, meant to be viewed as Italy/Benito Mussolini. â€Å"Canto 13† If a man have not order within him He cannot spread order about him; And if a man have not order within him His family will not act with due order; And if the prince have not order within him He cannot put order in his dominions. (Lines 46-51) In the previous excerpt of Canto 13, the three literacy terms refrain; anaphora and a hint of didactic poetry are involved. The word and phrase order appear in every line of the excerpt. It is repeated to not only get the meaning across, but to make a significant indent in the readers’ mind while reading the poem. The hint of didactic poetry is shown in this poem, I believe, because Pound is telling the reader without order you cannot do a few things such as spread order about him, family will not act, and one cannot put order in his dominions. In a way, that is teaching the pros of â€Å"order.† From this poem I can infer that Ezra Pound is stating that whether or not he is ruled by an imperialistic power: everyday is going to be the same, for everybody. The last line â€Å"Imperial power is? And to us what is it?† means that no matter government is enforced, their everyday life is not going to change. â€Å"Cantos XLIX: For The Seven Lakes† Sun up; work Sundown; to rest Dig well and drink of the water Dig field; eat of the grain Imperial power is? And to us what is it? The fourth; the dimension of stillness. And the power over wild beasts. (Lines 42-48) In this excerpt of a free versed poem, the mood is shown to be this sort of â€Å"depressed† or â€Å"given up on life† type of attitude. Also used in this poem are diction and caesura. Caesura is a natural pause in the middle of a line, sometimes coinciding with punctuation (Quizlet). The short and curt choice of words really gives off the frustrated aura of the poem. And caesura shines through with the use of the semi-colons after every first verse in the line of that stanza. The second influence of Ezra Pound’s poetry and writings had to do with his stay in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. When Pound was arrested and put in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital he was deemed mentally insane after being convicted of treason. While Pound was in the hospital, he wrote most of his poetry. For example, the series of 120 sections of Cantos were written mostly in the hospital. Furthermore, after being analyzed, his poems and writing were said to be from a â€Å"sane persons mind.† ( Not being a very talkative man out of the hospital, his lack of social skills really showed through while in the hospital; he was not a very warm and fuzzy man. While still in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Pound was awarded the Bollingen Award by the Library of Congress for his Pisan Cantos (1948). About 10 years later in 1958, his fellow writers and fans released him due to the campaign. I really liked this excerpt of the poem â€Å"Before Sleep† because I feel that it really described how Ezra Pound was feeling in his room at the hospital. He must have had a good amount of time to think and analyze everything going on around him. â€Å"Before Sleep† The lateral vibrations caress me, They leap and caress me, They work pathetically in my favour, They seek my financial good. (Lines 1-4) Obviously from the title of the poem, we can infer that the theme of the poem is about the period of time before one falls asleep. However, any knowledgeable reader can infer that without the title. The imagery used in this poem is absolutely marvelous. When I read the excerpt, I really envision the vibrations becoming one and interacting with the body. That is also an excellent use of personification. Vibrations obviously cannot â€Å"caress† and â€Å"leap† across ones body. In my opinion, Ezra Pound is explaining through the character Kung that being cooped up in the hospital is doing him no good, that he is not himself. â€Å"Without ones’ freedom (character) one cannot get far in life (play on that instrument or execute the music)† (Poems by Ezra Pound) â€Å"Canto 13† And Kung said, â€Å"Without character you will â€Å"Be unable to play on that instrument â€Å"Or to execute the music fit for the Odes. â€Å"The blossoms of the apricot â€Å"Blow from the east to the west, â€Å"And I have tried to keep them from falling.† (Lines 80-85) This excerpt from â€Å"Canto 13† has two hidden literacy terms incorporated in its writing. The terms symbolism and didactic poetry are noticeable and relate to each other. Symbolism is used to symbolize the word â€Å"character† with ones freedom and the phrase â€Å"unable to play on that instrument† is used to symbolize the ability to use and control that freedom. This is where didactic poetry comes into play, having freedom and being able to control it is teaching. The third influence that had a major part in Ezra Pounds’ poetry is Imagism. It is safe to say that Ezra Pounds’ most noted contribution to poetry was the founding and involvement of Imagism. Imagism: a literary movement launched by British and American poets early in the 20th century that advocated the use of free verse, common speech patterns, and clear concrete images as a reaction to Victorian sentimentalism. (Imagism: Definition from Answers.com) â€Å"We believe that the individuality of a poet may often be better expressed in free verse than in conventional forms. In poetry, a new cadence means a new idea.† (Imagists’ Quotes). That quote is derived from Ezra Pound and his fellow poets who had a large effect on the Imagism period. One of the other poets was Amy Lowell. In 1912, Pound founded the Imagist School with T.E. Hulme and F.S. Flint and Helda Doolittle. This poem is one of my favorites because it is so direct and honest. Not only is it honest but also it is so forward and really makes me gain more respect for Ezra Pound. This poem is influenced by Imagism because one of the main topics in Imagism is to advocate the use of free verse and this poem is the epitome of free verse.

Biology What Are Your Career Goals and How Do Your Immediate Educational Plans Fit Into Them Essay

Biomedical Science Biomedical Science is the application of biology – based science for medical use. It will allow you to learn the human body at the whole body, organ, tissue, cell and sub cellular level. You will also learn how these systems can go wrong in various diseases and how accurate diagnosis can be made using a variety of laboratory tests. Biomedical Science is a continually changing, dynamic profession with long-term career prospect including research, management and education. Biomedical Scientist Biomedical Scientist learns scientific and personal skills and gain qualification that can be transferred all over the world and can be recognised globally. BTEC HND Biomedical Science graduates may apply for the associate membership of the Institute of Biomedical Science in the UK after obtaining 5 years of relevant work experience. Careers Hospital laboratory biomedical scientist Industrial laboratory bio-scientist Bio-science research Medicine or Dentistry (after acceptance in medical school and further training) Science teaching Transfer Opportunities Students, who successfully complete HND in Biomedical Science, can transfer to Northumbria University Biomedical Science Degree which is accredited by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences (IBMS). It provides the education and training required to become a Registered Biomedical Scientist. awarded by BTEC Higher National Diploma (HND) BTEC HND in Biomedical Science is a 16 unit higher level qualification which is awarded by Edexcel UK. Programme Structure Unit 01 Unit 02 Unit 03 Unit 04 Unit 05 Unit 06 Unit 07 Unit 08 Cell Biology Biochemistry Human Physiology Laboratory Techniques Medical Microbiology Project Analysis of Scientific Information and Data Quality Assurance & Quality Control Unit 09 Unit 10 Unit 11 Unit 12 Unit 13 Unit 14 Unit 15 Unit 16 Histology and Haematology†¦ [continues]

Human Resourse Management in Pakistan

HUMAN RESOURSE MANAGEMENT IN PAKISTAN (Major Human recourses challenges in Pakistan public health system, Human Recourse system policies and ways to address those challenges) Introduction Human resources are the heart of the health system and health care managers have a critical role in determination of performance of the system [1]. Our savings and investment level can be raised only when we are in a position to convert our unproductive and underutilized human and natural resources into dynamic and self-sustained capital and potential accelerator of economic growth.The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined the health workforce as â€Å"all people primarily engaged in actions with the primary intent of enhancing health†. This definition is consistent with the WHO definition of health systems as comprising all activities with the primary goal of improving health. The health workforce is one of the most important pillars of the health system. Adequate numbers and quality o f health workers have been positively associated with successful implementation of health interventions, including immunization coverage, outreach of primary care, and infant, child and maternal survival. 2] Human Resource Management is a key to improve productivity of people in the organization. Good Human resource management approach with strategic, ethical and social responsibility which further help to achieve organization goal and objectives. Human Resource management is an art to transform changes as employee commitment and opportunity through developing their knowledge & skills and motivating them. In developing country human resource players are considered necessary since they can serve as intellect of an organization.A loyal, dedicated, skilled, efficient and productive human resources is valuable assets of an organization but not reflected on the balance sheet. [3] Pakistan story In 1947, Pakistan was created as British rule came to an end in India. In 1971, East Pakistan demanded independence, and after a bloody civil war it was transformed into what is now the country of Bangladesh. As one of the most crowded countries in the world, Pakistan faces enormous economic and social crises.Fortunately, however, it possesses an abundance of natural resources that can help it overcome these challenges [4] Pakistan is blessed with huge natural and human resources but most of these are in crude form. â€Å"According to official data, there are 127,859 doctors and 12,804 health facilities in the country to cater for over 170 million people. † [5] â€Å"Infant mortality rate: 72/1,000 live birth, Maternal mortality rate: 260/100,000 live birth instead having 7. 8 Physicians/10,000 population, 3. Nurses and midwifes/10,000 population; overall 11. 6 Health care workforce /10,000 population in the country† [6] In Pakistan the health system remains functionally weak and the quality of health services is poor, despite very old constitutional support fo r health care as a right and a large Ministry of Health at federal and provincial levels [7, 8]. In Pakistan health sector performance has not been evaluated in terms of inputs, processes or activities and outputs for different types of resources including human resources.Very little is known about compositions of health managers, their skills, and training, and spec ifically the policy for deployment. The first and foremost prerequisite for human resources progress is the proper attention to the health sector. No nation can dream of acquiring preeminence in any field with sick and disabled persons so developed nations invest quite a hefty amount in their health sector. In Pakistan, unfortunately, due attention is not paid to this important sector.Human resources for health have recently been emphasized as a central component in providing a stronger health system to achieve the Millennium Development Goals [9]. Absence or nonimplementation of appropriate human resource policies that address appropriate numbers of staff, their qualifications, deployment, working conditions, and gender distribution are associated with many problems in the health work force [10]. Frequency of turnover of key managerial staff has also been associated with poor system performance [11]. Human Resource Development and Management challengesPakistan has been categorized as one of 57 countries that are facing an HRH crisis, below the threshold level defined by WHO to deliver the essential health interventions required to reach Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 [12]. Health workforce strategy is usually low on a country’s agenda, despite the understanding that scaling-up health interventions to reach MDGs is not possible without a minimum level of health workforce. National health workforce strategies require reliable and timely information, rational system analysis and a firm knowledge base.However, data analysis, research on HRH and technical expertise are still underd eveloped in many countries, in part due to low investment in HRH [13]. Pakistan’s new draft National health policy 2009 mandated the development of strategies in various key areas, including HRH [14] There is a lack of clear long-term vision for human resource development and the federal MOH or provincial DOH does not have a unit, responsible for such an important health system function. [15] The imbalances in health workforce in terms of cadre, gender and distribution are well known in Pakistan.The public sector continues to heavily invest its scarce resources in the development of medical colleges and universities rather than investing in improving quality and quantity of nursing institutions, public health schools and technicians training institutions. In the context of health system development, there is a serious shortage of qualified health system specialists such as health and human res ource planners, health economists, health information experts and health system and hospital managers.Pre -service training of health professionals follows traditional methods and there is a mismatch between educational objectives, which focus on hospital based care, instead of addressing the needs of the communities for promotive, preventive curative and rehabilitative services. The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) is responsible for registration, licensing and evaluation of the medical and dental practitioners, the attempts made by PM&DC have not materialized yet.Regulation of private practitioners and different traditional categories of medical practice such as homeopathic doctors and Yunani Hakims is non-existent. Human Resource in health care is not appropriately planned in Pakistan, with the result that there are more doctors than nurses, dearth of trained midwives, urban concentration, brain drain from rural to urban areas and abroad, along with other issues related to curriculum, quality of graduates and their continuing supervision.The service structure for health workers is poorly defined it, favors tenure over competence, largely ignores technical capacities and does not allow incentives or rewards for performance. The conduct of education for medical, nursing and related cadres is mostly conventional and does not utilize recent developments in the field of medical education. Though curricula have been revised from time to time, in majority of cases they are not locally contextualized and are not based on competencies and skills.There is no organized system for continuing medical education for any health providers who are also largely unsupervised and at times ill equipped with newer knowledge/skills to tackle emerging diseases. This holds true for management cadres as well. The health system is currently not conducive to nurses, midwives and allied health professionals playing pivotal roles in ensuring the provision and delivery of effective primary health care services in th e absence of doctors.Health authorities hav e yet to be convinced that PHC services can be successfully provided and delivered by nurses, midwives and allied health professionals making up local teams with the relevant staffing complement and skills mix. [14] All publicly employed doctors are forbidden from practicing privately and many of them receive non practicing allowances as part of their non salary allowances under the law of the country, That notwithstanding, most of them run lucrative private sector clinics while working in hospitals and often use the public sector leverage to boost practices in private facility settings.A number of unethical practices such as refusing to see patients i n hospitals and referring them to private clinics are well established and are almost regarded as a conventional norm. Provider-driven over-consumption of health services, over-prescription, and over-use of diagnostics as well as violation of ethical guide lines in clinical practice are well established in Pakistan. In terms of the et hics of health care alone, frequent violations of the four basic principles of: the Right to autonomy, Right to privacy, Right to choose and Right to information are often seen. 17] High rate of frequent transfer and posting is also a major reason of low levels of performance in public health sector. A study was conducted on the 54 top provincial offices in the government of Sindh Department of Health over the period of 24 years (1981-2004). There were 689 transfers/postings made in the 54 key offices studied over the 24 year time period. Almost half (48. 9%) of these postings lasted no longer than 1 year. The offices affected highest were tertiary/district care hospitals (54 tim es) and district health offices (37 times) respectively. 18] Recommendation and priority actions towards Human resource development Since the Pakistan is enriched with human resources there is emerge need to develop strategy for optimum utilization of it especially in public heath sector. WHO reviewed the h ealth system of Pakistan and suggested that there is need to develop a clear policy and strategies for human resource development according to the longer term stated health development vision for Paki stan and to the more pressing requirements of improving health service delivery in the country .The report emphasize on mapping of health care providers and institutions through a national human resources for health (HRH) observatory, which should bring together all stake holders involved in human resource development. It suggested that to deal with standard setting and regulatory functions strategic planning in human resource development at federal and provincial levels is required. It reflected the essentiality to established position such as human resource planners, health economists, health information experts and health system managers, which are attractive enough to recruit qualified and experienced persons.In addition, tackle their shortage in the short term through external fel lowships and in the longer term through the development of accredited training programs in the country. A nursing directorate should be established in the MOH in order to strengthen leadership and to address the nursing crisis. There is need to review the role of the PM&DC, CPSP and other institutions in term of new developments and planned reforms. By providing problem based training the system can reorient the production of health workforce towards more focus on public health and community needs.In order to provide the necessary support to the various reforms aimed at increasing access to health services and at improving health system performance; strengthening of partner institutions such as Health Services Academy (HSA), schools of public health, academia and professional institutions is required. Human resource policy in government bureaucracies should be developed to stabilize professional positions while having a clear transfer policy in place and improve the performanc e of the health care delivery system. 15] Efficient and effective development of a health care system needs of equitable gender distribution of women in the health workforce. [19] To meet out such needs ministry of health, Pakistan came up with national health policy in July 2009 which recommended that Federal and health authorities will play a vital role for the development of the health resource in Pakistan. This federal and Provincial Health authorities will forecast human resource needs based on requirements outlined in essential health services package and provincial strategies.It will direct and facilitate the teaching institutions in reorienting their curricula and training t o being competency-based with enhanced exposure to the community and with responsiveness to the local needs and compliance with international standards. It includes that each district will be linked to a teaching institution so that the latter can provide technical support and supervision to the former to imp rove rural health care services.All medical graduates will be recommended to be posted to rural centers for a period of at least 6 months after graduation. The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council will ensure that those undergoing post graduate training also rotate through district health centers. Provincial health authorities will appoint and retain relevant cadres of appropriate health personnel with special focus on staffing district primary care outlets and on recruiting women.Provincial health departments will track human resources for health by establishing a database of doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals working in the BHUs and RHCs across each province and those in training funded by the government. [14] Conclusion A healthy population is not only valued in its own right, but it also raises the human capital of a country thereby positively contributing to the economic and social development.A considerable improvement in health sector facilities over the past year is reflected in the existing vast network of health care facilities which consist of 4712 dispensaries, 5,336 basic health units, 924 hospitals, 906 maternal and child health centers and 288 TB centers. Available HR is 122798 doctors, 7388 dentist and 57646 nurses. [20] A major strength of health care services in Pakistan is very strong outreach via about 95,000 Lady Health Workers (LHWs) and an increasing number of community midwives (CMWs).Inspite of all there is a lack of clear long-term vision for human resource development, which is necessary to address the imbalances in health workforce with appropriate skills; and improved motivation, retention and productivity; Human resources in health care are not appropriately planned in Pakistan, with the result that there are more doctors than nurses and â€Å"brain drain†, along with other issues related to curriculum, quality of graduates and their continuing supervision.The service structure for health workers is po orly defined it, favors tenure over competence, largely ignores technical capacities and does not allow incentives or rewards for performance. The conduct of education for medical, nursing and related cadres is mostly conventional and does not utilize recent d evelopments in the field of medical education. There is no organized system for continuing medical education for any health providers who are also largely unsupervised and at times ill equipped with the skills to tackle emerging diseases.National Health Policy 2010 is include a vision for the role HRH strategy can play in helping to meet the country’s goals for improving health care services for all Pakistanis. In addition, the current HRH assessment will serve as evidence for a new HRH strategy to be dev eloped and implemented by the Ministry of Health. The national and provincial authorities will comprehensibly plan and forecast their human resource requirement for next 10 years according to the proposed services in t he respective areas and take robust short term and long term steps to achieve the balance in manpower. 6] Provincial health authorities will also develop, implement and maintain a database of health human resource, including the private sector. Nationwide campaigns will be launched to promote the permanent roles that nurse, midwives and allied health professionals may play in providing and delivering effective services to the public. By: – Mr. Vikas Jain References 1. Martinez J, Martineau T. Rethinking human resources: an agenda for the millennium. Healt h Policy and Planning 1998 2. The world health report 2006: working together for health .Geneva, World Health Organization, 2006. 3. Dr. Zareen Abbasi Assistant Professor Department of Public Administration University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Human Resource Management in Pakistan , The Elite Scientific Publications, Faisalabad, Pakistan, 2009 4. World Atlas . com [http://graphicmaps. com/webimage/countrys/asia/pk. htm] 5. http:// southasia. oneworld. net/todaysheadlines/healthcare-in-pakistan-too-expensive-to-afford 6. CCF Case study, establishing an HRH coordination process, Pakistan, page 1, 2 7. Siddiqi S, Haq IU, Ghaffar a, Akhtar T, Mahaini R.Pakistan's maternal and child health policy: analysis, lessons and the way forward. Health policy 2004; page 117-130. 8. Bhutta ZA, Ali N, Hyder A, Wajid A. â€Å"Perinatal & Newborn Care in Pakistan: Seeing the Unseen! † Maternal and Child health in Pakistan. Challenges And Opportunities: Edited by Zulfiqar A Bhutta. Ameena Saiyid, Oxford University Press 2004. 9. Narasimhan V, Brown H, Pablos-Mendez A, Adams O, Dussault G, Elzinga G, et al. Responding to the global human resources crises. The Lancet 2004; page 14 -72. 10. Martineau T, Martinez J.Human resources in the health sector: guidelines for appraisal and strategic development Brussels: European Commission, Directorate General for Development, â€Å"Health and Development Series† 1997. 11. Buc han J. What difference does (â€Å"good†) HRM make? Human Resources for Health 2004 12. Global atlas of the health workforce. Geneva, World Health Organization (http://www. who. int/globalatlas, accessed 12 December 2009). 13. Narasimhan V et al. Responding to the global human resources crisis. Lancet, 2004 14. National health policy 2009. Islamabad, Ministry of Health (final draft) (http://www. health. gov. pk, accessed 5 May 2010). 5. Report of the Health System Review Mission – Pakistan, World Health Organization United Nations Children Fund, Department for International Development, United Kingdom, The World Bank, February 19-28, 2007, Islamabad 16. Corruption in the health sector in Pakistan , Pakistan Health Policy forum 17. Abdul Hakeem Jokhio B. S. , Ph. D. Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, H ealth System Managerial Staffing Patterns: Public Sector Experience From P akistan, 18. World Health Organization. World Health Report 2003-Sha ping the future. Geneva; 2003. 19. Pakistan Economic Survey, 2007