Mosaic Art Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7000 words

Mosaic Art - Research Paper Example The history of mosaic art has a foundation that goes back to 4000 years or more, in the early cultures of Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome and Byzantine. Each of these empires developed a unique and distinctive style to their mosaics, and their influences have been transmitted to other cultures throughout history and affect mosaic artists in our modern day. Historians have a hard time pin pointing the exact origins of this ancient art. Evidence tells us that mosaics originated in southern Mesopotamia and were first made with Terra Cotta cones embedded in the walls and columns of buildings. These cones were colored and laid in geometric patterns then tightly pressed tightly together into a wall coated with a thick layer of wet plaster. This technique was termed Cone mosaic. These cones were used to decorate monumental mud-brick cult and palace architecture. By the eighth century BC, there were pebble pavements, using different stones to create patterns, although these tended to be unstructured decoration. It was the Greeks, in the fourth century BC who raised the pebble technique to an art form, with precise geometric patterns and detailed scenes of people and animals. By 200 BC, specially manufactured pieces – â€Å"tesserae† were being used to give extra detail and range of color to work. Using small tesserae, sometimes only a few millimeters in size, meant that mosaics could imitate paintings. Many of the mosaics preserved at Pompeii were the work of Greek artists.

Answer 7 Questions materials provided - Training and Development Essay

Answer 7 Questions materials provided - Training and Development Questions - Essay Example b) Nominate one publication from the NCVER Statistics publications that you can access, which addresses the statistics of participation in ACE. (NB if not available electronically, how will you access it?) (2 marks) Karmel, T. & Mlotkowski, P. 2008, ‘School-based apprenticeships and traineeships’, NCVER, National Centre for Vocational Education Research. Retrieved 3 April 2009 from http://www.ncver.edu.au/statistics/aag/schoolbased/sp08010.pdf Of the six articles and books located in the search of the NCVER website VOCED database listed in the Topic Notes, which one is available in the UNE library, and which author has another publication available in the UNE library. Give full bibliographic details and the relevant call numbers from the UNE catalogue. Australian Association of Adult and Community Education, 1992, ‘Striking a balance: adult and community education in Australian towards 2000 / edited by Roger Harris and Peter Willis’, UNE, Centre for Human Resource Studies. Call number: 374.994/A938s. Retrieved 3 April 2009 from http://biblio.une.edu.au.ezproxy.une.edu.au/cgi-bin/chameleon?sessionid=2009040401184001311&skin=une&lng=en&inst=consortium&conf=.%2fchameleon.conf&host=biblio.une.edu.au%2b1111%2bDEFAULT&SourceScreen=INITREQ&scant1=Striking%20a%20balance%3a%20adult%20and%20community%20education%20in%20Australian%20towards%202000%20%2f%20edited%20by%20Roger%20Harri&scanu1=4&elementcount=1&t1=Striking%20a%20balance%3a%20adult%20and%20community%20education%20in%20Australian%20towards%202000%20%2f%20edited%20by%20Roger%20Harri&u1=4&pos=1&itempos=1&rootsearch=SCAN&function=INITREQ&search=AUTHID&authid=329794&authidu=4 a) Identify at least one useful article (for the essay assignment) by the author K Schofield that you accessed via the UNE library. Give accurate bibliographic details and the call number (refer to the UNE Referencing Guide for the bibliographic details). Schofield, K. 1996, ‘ACE-VET : is it delivering?

Developing Policies for Avian Flu in Bangladesh

Developing Policies for Avian Flu in Bangladesh Introduction: Highly pathogenic H5N1 was first reported in 2007 and since then the disease has devastated effect on poultry industry of Bangladesh. Since its introduction into Bangladesh, the H5N1 has evolved continuously. H5N1-H9N2 co-infection and reassortment event in H5N1 has been documented in Bangladesh. All those provide evidence of emergence of novel viruses, due to reassortment, in Bangladesh. For example H7N9 has been reported as a reassortant strain which have pandemic potential i.e deadly for human life (1). Objectives of the project: To develop policies for both low and high pathogenic avian influenza viruses present or at risk of entering Bangladesh, The economic analysis for the high pathogenic strains assume that their economic effects are similar to those of H5N1. In this review I emphasized on the population at risk and occurrence and distribution of HPAI and LPAI in Bangladesh. Population at risk: H5N1 has been reported in chicken, duck, pigeon, goose, quail, turkeys, pet birds (2-10) and wild bird (2, 11) such as lesser whistling ducks (4) and crow (5, 10). H5N1 has also been documented in the poultry samples of live bird market (LBM) (12), commercial farms (FAO classified the farming system: three (3)) (13) and local chicken (14). In LBM, chicken, ducks and quail were the three species of LBM from H5N1 has been isolated most (4). AI virus has been reported also from environmental samples (4-6). In human (15), H5N1 has been documented in children (16, 17) workers of poultry market (18-20) and poultry farm (19). H7N9 has been reported in chicken, quail, goose, duck and pigeon (8). H9N2 was reported in chicken (Parent stock (layer) (21)), duck, goose, pigeon and quail (8). A study reported that H9N2 was more prevalent in chickens while H5N1 was reported dominantly in ducks and goose in compare to chicken (8). Occurrence and distribution Geographic distribution in your country: HPAI H5N1 and LPAI H9N2 is an endemic poultry disease in Bangladesh and has been occurred throughout the country (2, 4, 20, 22). Those two HPAI and LPAI two have been circulated together at poultry market since 2008 (4). LPAI H9N2 has been circulated persistently in bird markets (4) while H5N1 have sporadic infection among LBM workers in Bangladesh (20). The disease has been distributed in retail market such as live poultry market, pet bird market, commercial farms (4, 6, 12, 13, 20) and wetland of Bangladesh such as Baikka Beel Hakaluki hoar, Tanguar Haors of Sylhet division and Jahangirnagar university lake of Dhaka division (11, 23). In Bangladesh, clade 2.3.2.1 was in reported from crow and bird market (4, 5) whereas clades 2.2.2 was reported in bird markets (4). Clade 2.2 reported in northwest–southeast direction whereas clade 2.3.2.1 reported mainly in north–south direction of central Bangladesh(24). Jamalpur district (Sarishari upazilla) reported as the HPAI outbreak epicentre for indigenous poultry in Bangladesh (25). H5N1 has followed Northwest–Southeast oblique line during phase I outbreak. The disease has reported nearly from all over the country with an exception in south region in phase II outbreak. In phase III outbreak, the disease has been extended to new areas from where there was no HPAI has been reported in earlier two phases (11). Fig.: Distribution H5N1 HPAI between 2007 and 2012 (1) Geographic distribution in other countries where epidemiology of the disease is likely to be similar: Khan et al. (2014) found close similarities in avian influenza virus clade 2.3.2.1 of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Myanmar and proposed a common AI antecedent in the area (5). Three clades such as clades 1, 2.3.4 and 2.3.2.1 has been linked with human outbreak in Vietnam (18) and there was a changes in clade circulation over the time in Vietnam and also in China (26). In other countries, H5N1 has been reported commonly from Red River Delta area and sporadically from highland areas of Vietnam(27). H5N1 has been reported in live bird market workers of Vietnam (18) and Hong Kong (20). H5N1 has also been reported in lower-Northern of Thailand (27). In India, the AI occurred mostly in backyard chicken of West Bengal (97%) and Assam (94%) states, while in Tripura state the AI reported only in 37% of backyard chicken (28). Prevalence in your country: Overall 0.87%-22.05% samples were positive for Avian influenza virus (AIV) Type A in Bangladesh (2, 3, 6, 8, 14, 23). AIV has been documented in migratory bird (3.93%), LBM chicken (7.06%), duck (1.68%-39.76%) (2, 3, 8, 23), pigeon (5.26%) (2), quail (8.5%)(3) and goose (9.09%) (8) of Bangladesh. Among chickens, AIV has been reported in broiler (12%-12.5%), layer (15%-62.5%) and local (0%-25%) chicken (8, 29). One study documented higher AI prevalence in hens (10.83%) in compare to cocks (8.65%) (14). AI was more prevalent in >34 weeks bird (12.80%) than 8-16 weeks birds (14). Avian influenza Type A virus was detected with Antigen test kit and reported, prevalence was high in Dhaka district and Gazipur district while lowest was reported in Mymensingh (0.0%) (29). H5N1 antibodies has been documented at low level in wild birds (0.09%) of wetlands such as Tanguar Haor and Hakaluki Haor (23). A study reported 5% H5N1 seroprevalence in live bird market (LBM) worker (20) while another study documented no farm workers and bird market worker in positive for H5N1 in Bangladesh even though they had history of regular contact with sick and moribund poultry (19). About 2% seroconversion per year has been documented in poultry worker of Bangladesh (20). Khatun et al. (2013) documented the AIV type A winter season sero-prevalence during December 2009-February 2012 period and documented highest rate in December 2009-February 2010 (43.8 9%) which followed by December 2010-February 2011 (38.50% ) and December 2011-February 2012 (34.8 3%). The seasonal prevalence of AIV type A from Dec’2009-Feb’2010 (26 .89%), Dec’2010-Feb’2011 (18.50%) and December 2011-February 2012 (18.33%) respectively (page 3). The overall sero-prevalence of AIV type A in three successive winter seasons was recorded as 39.76% (23). In Feni district, overall 0%-25% AIV type A seroprevalence has been documented at union level (14). Co-infection (H5N1-H9N2) in poultry has been reported in Bangladesh (4, 6). For example, a study isolated 975 H9N2 and 66 H5N1 from a total of 19897 samples (4) while another study isolated H5N1 (92), H9N2 (734) and 62 other strain such as from 17,438 samples in Bangladesh (23). Of 22 avian influenza sample, a study identified 8 sample positive for H5N1, 4 samples positive for H7N9 and 10 samples positive for H9N2) positive samples (8). H10N7, H1N2, H1N3, H4N2, H3N6 and H3N8 has also been detected in duck population of Bangladesh (4, 23). Avian influenza virus Type A co-infected with new castle virus (9.90 %) has also been documented in Bangladesh (23). Prevalence in other countries where epidemiology of the disease is likely to be similar: Nasreen et al. (2013) H5N1 seroprevalence in bird market worker of Bangladesh study findings had similarities with Nigera, Indonesia and Vietnam study findings where no farm workers and bird market worker were found positive for H5N1 (19). AI was more prevalent in >34 weeks poultry (12.80%) than 8-16 weeks poultry in Bangladesh (14). Similar pattern has been documented in duck of Nepal for example duck >1 year older was 2 times more seropositive to AI virus than duck 7). Incidence: In Bangladesh, Nasreen et al. (2015) estimated that â€Å"the H5N1 incidence: 7 cases per 100 bird worker–years and annual incidence 50 cases per 721 enlisted poultry workers† (20). Biswas et al. (2011) estimated the higher mortality rate in backyard chickens (0.0703/day) followed by broiler (0.0341/day), breeder (0.0215/day), layer (0.0179/day) and suggested that higher mortality in backyard chicken due to scavenging feeding and co-infection with other disease. In addition Biswas et al. (2011) stated that the findings did not provide evidence to the people faith that local chickens are less prone to H5N1 infection than hybrids chicken (30). Reference 1.Islam MR. Global and local challenges in the control of avian influenza. 9th International Poultry Show Seminar; Dhaka, Bangladesh: World Poultry Science Association-Bangladesh Branch; 2015. p. 5-14. 2.Rahman MH, Giasuddin M, Islam MR, Hasan M, Mahmud MS, Hoque MA, et al. Bio-molecular Diagnosis of Avian Influenza Virus from Different Species of Birds in Bangladesh. Immunology and Infectious Diseases. 2015 2015;3(1):7-10. 3.Shanmuganatham K, Feeroz MM, Jones-Engel L, Walker D, Alam S, Hasan M, et al. Genesis of avian influenza H9N2 in Bangladesh. Emerging Microbes Infections. 2014 2014;3(12). 4.Marinova-Petkova A, Feeroz MM, Alam SMR, Hasan MK, Akhtar S, Jones-Engel L, et al. Multiple introductions of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses into Bangladesh. Emerging Microbes Infections. 2014 2014;3(2). 5.Khan SU, Berman L, Haider N, Gerloff N, Rahman MZ, Shu B, et al. Investigating a crow die-off in January–February 2011 during the introduction of a new clade of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 into Bangladesh. Archives of virology. 2014 2014;159(3):509-18. 6.Shanmuganatham K, Feeroz MM, Jones-Engel L, Smith GJD, Fourment M, Walker D, et al. Antigenic and molecular characterization of avian influenza A (H9N2) viruses, Bangladesh. Emerging infectious diseases. 2013 2013;19(9). 7.Karki S, Lupiani B, Budke CM, Manandhar S, Ivanek R. Cross-sectional Serosurvey of Avian Influenza Antibodies Presence in Domestic Ducks of Kathmandu, Nepal. Zoonoses and public health. 2014 2014;61(6):442-8. 8.Haque ME. Detection and differentiation of avian influenza and newcastle disease viruses from healthy farm birds in bangladesh by conventional and molecular techniques. Mymensingh, Bangladesh: Bangladesh Agricultural University; 2014. 9.Khaleda S, Murayama Y. Geographic Concentration and Development Potential of Poultry Microenterprises and Value Chain: A Study Based on Suitable Sites in Gazipur, Bangladesh. Social Sciences. 2013 2013;2(3):147-67. 10.Islam MR, Haque ME, Giasuddin M, Chowdhury EH, Samad MA, Parvin R, et al. New introduction of clade 2.3. 2.1 avian influenza virus (H5N1) into Bangladesh. Transboundary and emerging diseases. 2012 2012;59(5):460-3. 11.Parvin R, Kamal AHM, Haque ME, Chowdhury EH, Giasuddin M, Islam MR, et al. Genetic characterization of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus from live migratory birds in Bangladesh. Virus genes. 2014 2014;49(3):438-48. 12.Monne I, Yamage M, Dauphin G, Claes F, Ahmed G, Giasuddin M, et al. Reassortant avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses with H9N2-PB1 gene in poultry, Bangladesh. Emerging infectious diseases. 2013 2013;19(10). 13.Biswas PK, Rahman MH, Das A, Ahmed SSU, Giasuddin M, Christensen JP. Risk for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Virus Infection in Chickens in Small-Scale Commercial Farms, in a High-Risk Area, Bangladesh, 2008. Transboundary and emerging diseases. 2011 2011;58(6):519-25. 14.Nooruddin GM, Hossain MT, Mohammad M, Rahman MM. Sero-epidemiology of avian influenza virus in native chicken in Bangladesh. Int J Poult Sci. 2006 2006;5:1029-33. 15.Kerkhove MD. Brief literature review for the WHO global influenza research agenda–highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 risk in humans. Influenza and other respiratory viruses. 2013 2013;7(s2):26-33. 16.icddr b. First confirmed human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in Bangladesh. Health and Science Bulletin. 2008;6:1-6. 17.Brooks WA, Alamgir ASM, Sultana R, Islam MS, Rahman M, Fry AM, et al. Avian influenza virus A (H5N1), detected through routine surveillance, in child, Bangladesh. Emerging infectious diseases. 2009 2009;15(8). 18.Dung TC, Dinh PN, Nam VS, Tan LM, Hang NLK, Thanh LT, et al. Seroprevalence survey of avian influenza A (H5N1) among live poultry market workers in northern Viet Nam, 2011. Western Pacific surveillance and response journal: WPSAR. 2014 2014;5(4). 19.Nasreen S, Khan SU, Azziz-Baumgartner E, Hancock K, Veguilla V, Wang D, et al. Seroprevalence of antibodies against highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus among poultry workers in Bangladesh, 2009. PloS one. 2013 2013;8(9). 20.Nasreen S, Khan SU, Luby SP, Gurley ES, Abedin J, Zaman RU, et al. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus Infection among Workers at Live Bird Markets, Bangladesh, 2009–2010. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2015;21(4):629-37. 21.Jannat N, Chowdhury EH, Parvin R, Begum JA, Giasuddin M, Khan MA, et al. Investigation of an Outbreak of Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Poultry in Bangladesh. International Journal of Livestock Research. 2013 2013;3(4):21-32. 22.Loth L, Gilbert M, Osmani MG, Kalam AM, Xiao X. Risk factors and clusters of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 outbreaks in Bangladesh. Preventive veterinary medicine. 2010 2010;96(1):104-13. 23.Khatun A, Giasuddin M, Islam KM, Khanom S, Samad MA, Islam MR, et al. Surveillance of avian influenza virus type A in semi-scavenging ducks in Bangladesh. BMC veterinary research. 2013 2013;9(1). 24.Osmani MG, Ward MP, Giasuddin M, Islam MR, Kalam A. The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (subtype H5N1) clades in Bangladesh, 2010 and 2011. Preventive veterinary medicine. 2014 2014;114(1):21-7. 25.Biswas PK, Christensen JP, Ahmed SSU, Barua H, Das A, Rahman MH, et al. Avian influenza outbreaks in chickens, Bangladesh. Emerging infectious diseases. 2008 2008;14(12). 26.Haque ME, Giasuddin M, Chowdhury EH, Islam MR. Molecular evolution of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses in Bangladesh between 2007 and 2012. Avian Pathology. 2014 2014;43(2):183-94. 27.Paul MC, Gilbert M, Desvaux S, Andriamanivo HR, Peyre M, Khong NV, et al. Agro-environmental determinants of avian influenza circulation: A multisite study in Thailand, Vietnam and Madagascar. PloS one. 2014 2014;9(7). 28.Dhingra MS, Dissanayake R, Negi AB, Oberoi M, Castellan D, Thrusfield M, et al. Spatio-temporal epidemiology of highly pathogenic avian influenza (subtype H5N1) in poultry in eastern India. Spatial and spatio-temporal epidemiology. 2014 2014;11:45-57. 29.Rahman S, Rabbani MG, Uddin MJ, Chakrabartty A, Her M. Prevalence of Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease Viruses Using Rapid Antigen Detection Kit in Poultry in Some Areas of Bangladesh. Acta Microbiologica. 2012 2012;3(1). 30.Biswas PK, Christensen JP, Ahmed SSU, Barua H, Das A, Rahman MH, et al. Mortality rate and clinical features of highly pathogenic avian influenza in naturally infected chickens in Bangladesh. Rev sci tech Off int Epiz. 2011 2011;30(3):871-8. 1

The Character of Cyrano De Bergerac :: Cyrano Bergerac

The Character of Cyrano De Bergerac A man who knows every thing, has never ending wit and charm, and has a way with words like none other, but is still to horrid to convey his true feelings to a beautiful woman. This poor but yet amazing man is Cyrano from the play "Cyrano De Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand. This man has more intellect than sand in a desert and is the most courageous Gascon of all. Yet he has one tragic physical flaw. He has an enormous nose, of which he is very self conscious about and only he can talk about it. If any one else has anything to say about it the better say something very witty or there done for. All of this is portrayed in one of Cyrano's speeches on page 40-41. The speech reveals how clever and smart he is when he says things like "what a sign for a perfume shop" (41) and "Is that a conch, and are you Triton rising from the sea?"(41). Cyrano reveals a lot about himself in his speech like how intelligent he is to use such big intellectual words off the top of his head. Cyrano uses phrases like "The end of it must get wet when you drink from a cup. Why don't you use a tankard?"(40) And words like Grandiloquent to show off his wit. Most people in that age weren't educated as well as Cyrano was and that showed a lot when he spoke. Not many people in the room knew that grandiloquent meant pretentious or non straight forward. Aristophanes was also another word that no one ever used or knew what it meant. Cyrano also revealed that he had no patience for people that made fun of, or picked on those that were less fortunate. Cyrano thought as himself as less fortunate to have a nose like his. So when people made fun of it he got very angry but yet he never lost his cool. So Cyrano would just take care of business with the bully in a entertaining manner and then be on his way. In his speech he showed his willingness to fight and his aptitude to make people mad at him.

AIDS in World History

The epidemic of human immunodeficiency (HIV) virus causing acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has transformed international history involving the emergence of social norms and stereotypes against Black races, homosexuals, and countries plagued by the disease (e.g. Africa, Thailand, etc.).Historically, the first convincing evidence of HIV virus and actual disease process of AIDS was found in the blood of an unknown man from Kinshasa, Africa in 1959 (Iliffe, 2007 p.311). Eventually, the infection reached the Western Nations initially in Los Angeles around June 1981 wherein a rare pulmonary Pneumocystis carinii was found infecting six cases with blood-borne HIV condition (Feigal, Levine and Biggar, 2000 p.1).By mid-1982, approximately 450 cases of HIV had been identified by CDC, and by the end of the year, an estimated case increase of 300 or more was received by the same organization (Finkel, 2007 p.89). The event marked the first AIDS epidemic creating a global stigma against races, demographics, countries and gender associated with the disease epidemiology (Parker and Aggleton, 2003).From 1982 to 1985, AIDS and HIV monitoring institutions were able to file an approximate 16,000 cases of HIV, while death toll caused by the disease had reached 8,100 for 1985 alone (Finkel, 2007 p.89). By the end of 2002, UNAIDS reported 42 million people with AIDS worldwide, while 25 million had already died of the infection (Porth, 2005 p.427).Due to the increasing number of infected population, AIDS had reshaped the world history by influencing the world’s views on countries, nations, and people responsible for the spread of the disease across the globe.I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Discussiona.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Epidemiology and its International ImpactAIDS epidemic has kept on growing in its exponential rates since its marked discovery in June, 1981. In United States, AIDS epidemic rose from the 1985 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) records of 5,600 to 82,764 in 1989, 816,000 by the end of 2000, and UNAIDS records of 3.5 million by the end of 2002 (Porth, 2005 p.428; Patterson, 2005 p.179).In an international perspective, global AIDS prevalence among adults from 15 to 49 years old has increased from approximately 8.5 million in 1990 to 38.6 million in 2005, while African AIDS prevalence trend among the similar demographics has increased as well from 1.3 million in 1985 to 25 million as of 2005 (UNAIDS, 2006).According to Steinbrook (2004), there are nine countries that have the most number of HIV-infected demographics, and eight of these are from sub-Saharan Africa totaling to approximately 12 million individuals with AIDS. The country and race of African people have been severely affected by the global stereotypes and trauma against AIDS.According to Iliffe (2007), convincing trace of HIV-1 transmission has been detected in chimpanzees exclusive to the region of Kinshasa, while the ten subtypes of HIV-1 have been foun d in an early epidemic only within the equatorial Africa, which consequently suggests the viral origin of AIDS (p.311).The increasing international stigma over sub-Saharan Africa has affected the global ethnicities of blacks, African American and African immigrants in every part of the world (Steinbrook, 2004).According to the review study of Valdiserri (2002), race and ethnic groups associated with the groups dramatically affected by AIDS infection have experienced negative attitudes, prejudice, judgment and discrimination from the social public.b.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Global Trend of AIDS EpidemicThe complex hallmark of AIDS in World History involves the rising trend of social stigma against AIDS epidemic and demographics associated with the disease epidemiology (Steinbrook, 2004).According to the review study of Valdiserri (2002), series of national interviews from 1990s to 2000 reveals that the 1 out of 5 individuals living in the study sample (n=5,600 American adults) possess negative a ttitudes against races associated and patients with AIDS.According to Perloff (2001), the increasing trend of AIDS epidemic triggered various social prejudice and negative attitudes against various groups of individuals across the world. In mainland South Africa, women and children who obtained HIV becomes the social projection of rejection, prejudice and discrimination brought by the global stigma towards AIDS (Brown, Macintyre and Trujilo, 2003).In United States, African American or Blacks have been viewed negatively after the American public harbor more stigmatizing attitudes from sub-Sahara’s reported HIV infection, while in Thailand, social hostility towards prostitutes (e.g. police harassment, discrimination, etc.) are increasing   consistently (Perloff, 2001 p.130).According to Armstrong-Dailey and Zarbock (2001), the common impact of AIDS stigma on a global perspective is the development of social ostracism among families or patients who contracted with AIDS (p.119) .According to the study of Sudha, Vijay and Lakshmi (2005), 51.13% of the sample (n=800) felt the need to publicly denounce the names of AIDS patients for the public to avoid them, while 73.75% of the families interviewed prefer to keep AIDS condition among family relatives only.Discrimination brought by the public and even medical practitioners becomes the by-product of the worldwide stigma stimulated by the exponential growth rate of AIDS (Perloff, 2001 p.130).c.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Impact of AIDS in Future GenerationWith the continuous rising trend of AIDS population worldwide, social stigma of the general public against the race, demographics and individuals associated with the disease epidemiology is likely to increase causing global negative attitudes, fear and prejudice against their population (Armstrong-Dailey and Zarbock, 2001 p.119).Contrary to the above predictions, the study of Blower, Schwartz and Mills (2003), public stigma against AIDS patient may reduce depending on the inc reasing health awareness of the public regarding HIV prevention and patient management.Meanwhile, Piot, Bartos and Ghys et al. (2001) have predicted that the immediate future implications of AIDS epidemic in high stakes countries (e.g. South Africa, Thailand, U.S, etc.) are (a) the increase in medical expenditures of the country (e.g. predicted 45% in South Africa, etc.), (b) decreased of life expectancy (e.g. 59 y/o down to 45 y/o by 2005 in South Africa, etc.), and (c) reduced economic efficiency of the country’s economy.II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ConclusionFrom the localized outbreak of 1981 to the massive infection of 21st century, AIDS has dramatically affected the global trend of social perceptions and health care due to the global stigma caused by the exponential increases of AIDS epidemic.AIDS patients in globally known epidemic countries, such as South Africa, India, United States, Thailand, are predicted to suffer social ostracism wherein patien ts may fail to publicly seek AIDS medical treatment due to their fears of discrimination, persecution and inferior treatment.According to presented studies, the global effects of AIDS epidemic may increase the countries’ allocations for medical expenditures, and decrease the life expectancy of the general population.III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ReferencesArmstrong-Dailey, A., & Zarbock, S. F. (2001). Hospice Care for Children. New York, London: Oxford University Press US.Blower, S., Schwartz, E. J., & Mills, J. (2003, June). Forecasting the Future of HIV Epidemics: the Impact of Antiretroviral Therapies & Imperfect Vaccines. AIDS Reviews, 5, 113-125.Brown, L., Macintyre, K., & Trujillo, L. (2003, February). Interventions to Reduce HIV/AIDS Stigma: What Have We Learned?. AIDS Education and Prevention, 15, 49-69.Feigal, E. G., Levine, A. M., & Biggar, R. J. (2000). AIDS-related Cancers and Their Treatment. New York, U.S.A: Informa Health Care.Finkel, M. (2007). Truth, Lies, and Public Health: How We are Affected when Science and Politics Collide. New York, U.S.A: Greenwood Publishing Group.Iliffe, J. (2007). Africans: The History of a Continent. New York, London: Cambridge University Press.

The Old, Bald, Toothless Angel

The supposed angel in the story A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez differs from the usual conception of angels with the following characteristics: its physical appearance, its effect upon the community, and the paranormal occurrences of its presence. The usual conception on the images of angels are romanticized – images of blonde children with small, white wings and rosy cheeks. However, the ‘angel’ in Marquez’s story is described as an old man, dirty, smelly, and possesses rotting wings. â€Å"He was dressed like a ragpicker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather had taken away any sense of grandeur he might have had. His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever tangled in mud† (Marquez, 387). In addition, the use of the word ‘enormous’ used to described the old man’s wings are strewn with mud and rotting, full of small insects and parasites. The characters in the story immediately perceive the old man to be a fallen angel, because of the state of his wings. Also, the enormity of the wings give emphasis on Marquez use of the magic realism genre in the story. The shape and size of the wings may be exaggerated in a realistic point of view but the use of enormous gives the reader a more realistic approach to the old man. It also presents an ordinary experience on part of the characters – since Pelayo and Elisenda did not express shock of the old man’s appearance but of his condition – lying in the mud and in a downcast state. As the story revolves on the theme of magical realism, the characters in the story do not express shock over the old man’s appearance. They exhibit behaviour as though they see kinds of magical creatures often in their lives. Indeed, the first reaction of the couple is more a contradiction toward the whole theme of the story – a realistic perspective. They deduced that the old man may be a castaway from a ship across the sea that was wrecked by some storm. They based their judgement when they tried to ask the old man and responded in a strong sailor’s voice with a foreign dialect. However, the couple was not convinced and decided to ask a woman who had experience with such matters. The old woman needed only a glance and immediately concluded that the old man was an angel sent to take the couple’s ailing child (Marquez, 388). Thus, the themes of magic and realism come together from different point of views. The old man’s effect on the community, upon hearing the suggestion of the old woman, also became magical in one point. As exhibited by the behaviour of the townspeople in the story, they immediately associate the angel with various miracles and scenarios – that the angel was sent to be the leader of the world, to be a five star general in order to end wars, and such. The angel is also viewed by the community not as a supernatural creature but rather as a circus animal. After all the commotion the old man brought to the community, the couple decided to charge a fee for everybody who wanted to see the angel. Its popularity declined when a circus act visited the town with a spider-lady as its main attraction. The people favored the spider-woman over the angel as the spider had a personal story on why she turned to such while the angel did nothing but sit on the chicken coop. Marquez presents an alternative conception of the angel – that the spider, with all its grotesquery and exhibiting usual emotions like pain and emotional suffering, greatly amused the people rather than an old, mute angel rotting in its place. People favored amusement, even if the object is supernatural in nature. Apart from this, Marquez presents the angel to be a mere object of interest for only a limited time until the townspeople shifted their attention toward the spider. Angels are often regarded to be holy beings, that are capable of miracles, and provides ‘good’ in people’s lives. But the angel in the story remains isolated from the community and only act as though he had no care of his condition. His characteristics were also a downfall toward the perception of the community – he was old, toothless, with rotting wings and a pronounced stench. Even though the old man was first conceived as an angel, people did not pay the same amount of attention compared to the spider-woman, who exhibited an emotional plight that greatly amused the people. The paranormal presence of the angel did not stir bewilderment on the characters of the story – instead they presented keen interest and ill-disguised curiosity. Also, their immediate association of the old man as a universal solution to all their worldly-problems became the definitive character of the angel. Yet, they did not bother to place the angel in greater prominence, as they ignored him until one day, he grew new wings and began to fly toward the ocean horizon. The disappearance of the angel also coincided with the growth of Pelayo and Elisenda’s child, and deduced that the angel took away the child’s sickness. And because of the fee they charged to see the angel, the couple became rich from their profits. Marquez persuades the reader into a personal interpretation of the old man – just like the people in the story. He presents the old man with its characteristics and it is up to the reader to decide whether it is an angel or not. However, Marquez also utilizes several peculiar situations and characteristics that coincide with the angel’s presence in the story. His enormous wings is the main point. It appears as though it was nothing out of the extraordinary; that the characters in the story were accustomed to seeing wings deeply implanted in a person’s structure. Also, as the angel grew another set of wings, it could have been assumed that it would resemble the pearly-white color of a real angel but the old man’s wings were that of a scarecrow (Marquez, 392). Marquez leaves room for interpretation on the part of the reader as to what the old man really is. He presents a wholly different perspective of an angel, as presented by the examples of the people in which the old revolved upon. It may be an angel or just an old, toothless man with enormous wings.