Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Avian Influenza and Humans H5N1 Essay Example

Avian Influenza and Humans H5N1 Essay Example Avian Influenza and Humans H5N1 Paper Avian Influenza and Humans H5N1 Paper Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are three types of influenza virus: A, B, and C. Type A strains are broken down further into low pathogenic (LPAI) and highly pathogenic (HPAI).   Some HPAI viruses, such as H5N1, resulted in mild human infections and in some cases, have been fatal.   An â€Å"H5N1† virus has an HA 5 protein and a NA 1 protein.   There are sixteen known HA subtypes and nine known NA subtypes.   There are many combinations of HA and NA proteins that are possible. Only influenza A viruses and all its known subtypes infect birds.   Influenza A H5 affects both human and birds.   There are nine, potential subtypes of H5 known.   â€Å"H5 infections, such as HPAI H5N1 viruses currently circulating in Asia and Europe, have been documented among humans and sometimes cause severe illness or death† (CDC, 2).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 2006, a new strain of H5N1 bird flu appeared in China.   It affected three times as many Chinese poultry than it did the previous year.   Researchers say that it is a new â€Å"Fujian-like† strain of virus that came from a duck in Fujian, China in 2005 (MacKenzie, 1).   The rate of poultry infections jumped from 3 percent in 2005 to 95 percent by 2006.   Vaccine-induced antibodies did not recognize this new Fujian virus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 2008, a new strain of H5N1 was detected in Nigeria for the first time.   It was found to be different from the strains that were circulating in 2006 and 2007 (Stackyard, 1).   The new strain was similar to the strains identified in Italy, Afghanistan, and Iran in 2007.   â€Å"Influenza viruses constantly mutate, however, and vaccines are most effective against the highly specific strains that they are made from† (Bardi, 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A team of scientist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is a part of the National Institute of Health (NIH), report that it is possible to prepare vaccines and therapeutics to target a future mutant strain of H5N1. â€Å"This advance was made possible by creating mutations in the regions of the H5N1 hemagglutinin (HA) protein that directs the virus to bird or human cells and eliciting antibodies to it† (Bardi, 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   New strains appear and replace older strains.   When a new strain of virus emerges, antibody protection that may have developed after infection or vaccination with an older strain may not provide protection against the new strain.   For this reason, the influenza vaccine must be updated yearly. References Bardi, Jason Socrates.   NIH Scientists Target Future Pandemic Strains of H5N1 Avian Influenza. Retrieved March 12, 2009 from nih.gov/news/pr/aug2007/niaid-09.htm. Centers for Disease Control. Influenza Viruses. Retrieved March 12, 2009 from cdc.gov. MacKenzie, Debora. New Strain of H5N1 Bird Flu Emerges in China. Retrieved March 12, 2009 from newscientist.com. Stackyard, Via.   Nigeria:   A New Strain of H5N1.   Retrieved March 12, 2009 from http://crofblogs.typepad.com.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Digitization and convergence of music industry

Digitization and convergence of music industry Traditional record industry business model Sacha Wunsch-Vincent and Graham Vickery note that the relationship between the artist and the record company is usually contractual which normally last for a limited period of time or number of records depending on the specification of the contract.1 Record companies converts the artistic creation into consumer products alongside investing in artists to expand and market their works.2 Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Digitization and convergence of music industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A record industry can be said to be doing extremely good if one in ten of the total artist investment in turn out profitable. Noteworthy, most artist often never sell enough to recover the incurred overall cost. Record companies sponsor novice artists from profits, catalogues sales and new releases. Artist must achieve a specified number of copies sold to break even. The customary re cording industry revenue is collected from recordings while the turnover from T-shirt sales, concerts and so forth, normally grow to the artist. Once a music piece has become popular, the music industry package industry in diverse bundles to sell the same consumer the same piece multiple times.1 In times of increasing revenue from sponsorship, merchandised, live touring and declining sales of CDs the industry has experience a shrinking share in the general 1Sacha Wunsch-Vincent and Graham Vickery, ‘Digital Broadband Content: Music’, Working Party on the Information Economy: Directorate for science, technology and industry committee for information, computer and communications policy, 2004, p. 39. 2Barney Wragg, Vice President, eLabs, Universal Music International (UMI) and Ms. Sara John, Government Affairs Head, EMI Music during the OECD Digital Broadband Content Panel (OECD, 2004b).Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! G et your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More music revenue. With regard to declining CD sale, the negative outcome of the changing record label approach on the artist’s returns had to be revisited in terms of digital music sales also which may shift artists’ returns. 1 Digital rights management (DRM) Effective DRM technologies have been embraced as the business enablers has for the digital delivery of music as well as for the numerous business models that meet the consumers expectations. In spite of their drawbacks, they may be a significant technical device for protecting the IPRs and have potential of becoming persistent across the overall digital distribution chain. Through their capacity to secure content, they may motivate the content rightholders to avail content for digitization and ensuing digital sales. By virtue of their ability to offer diverse access schemes to content the, DRMs may afford content aids that are conform to consumer needs incl uding the right to buy time-limited admittance to songs and thereby increasing consumers choice and expectation. Many problems are associated with DRMs. To begin with the key problems with DRM’s appear to have had difficulty in curbing unauthorized access. DRM programmes and technologies should be substantially robust to guarantee the protection of digital content to piracy. Means of harnessing technology to secure intellectual property have been developed and have taken effect. 3European Commission, ‘communication on The Management of Copyright and Related Rights in the Internal Market’. To address this issue, various governments have pledge to develop a sufficient legal protection and useful legal solutions against the circumvention of technological security interventions such as DRMs. These lawful protections are prerequisite for DRMs to function as expected. 1 Second, the expanding adaption of DRM technologies has posed question that the latter may potentiall y restrict usage rights. Indeed this concern has become a policy basis presumably for consumer association and is apparent in relevant forums. Based on some academics, limits place to private copies can turn out bothersome when they swing the equilibrium between the expectations of copyright holders as well as the public.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Digitization and convergence of music industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More DRMs have seldom been known to block legitimate access of content and services, unlike the CD-Rom copy-protection technologies. Nevertheless, designers of DRM, users of DRM-protected product must be equally concerned to ensure suitable usage rights, and players in the market adapting DRM, transparency, privacy, and ease reliability of access.1 Bibliography European Commission, ‘communication on The Management of Copyright and Related Rights in the Internal Market’, 2004, pp. 11 Wragg B, John S, ‘EMI Music during the OECD Digital Broadband Content Panel’ (OECD, 2004b). Wunsch-Vincent, S Vickery G, ‘Digital Broadband Content: Music’, Working Party on the Information Economy, Directorate for science, technology and  industry committee for information, computer and communications policy, 2004, p. 39.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Business Start Up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Start Up - Essay Example We had worked out an initial business plan with my team as a basis of our operations. Our business plan had all the important sections including finances, operations, milestone objectives and marketing covered. Practically speaking, having a business plan significantly reduces the risks and provides a proactive scope. I learnt that the initial business plan is not sufficient enough, hence my team decided to keep updating the document to take guidance from it. Hornsby & Kuratko (2009 p.111) have also identified many reasons to update a business plan which are: varying financial needs and new projections yearly, additional financing needed, managing management conflicts and to induce more reality to the plan. There already are similar companies producing customised cakes and crepes, therefore I was of the view that if we want to stand out we need a comptetitive advantage. Enterpreneurship is about new ideas and creation, and strategic planning focuses on the method to achieve above ave rage performance through a competitive advantage (Hitt, Ireland, Camp, & Sexton, 2002 p.33). Two of our team mates are passionate about the baking line of foods. Utilising their talent we have designed new cake and crepe recipes alongwith additional services and packages, as our unique selling points include customised packaging, complimentary dessert decor, small goodwill presents, greeting cards and an optional nutrition card for the health conscious customers. We have drafted updates on our business plan regarding this Enterpreneurial Strategic Management Interface (ESMI). Professionalism is a function of time and experience, but we lag in it because we are beginners in business... Professionalism is a function of time and experience, but we lag in it because we are beginners in business management. There have been incidents like the one when we landed with a huge order of deserts for a new year party. The order was huge, with promising profits and potentially loyal customers. The process to meet the order produced conflicts amongst our team members. The team member responsible for managing the operations and employees, namely preparation of the deserts and managing the chefs, felt that he was doing all of the work. The one who had negotiated the contract and maintained the liaison with the customer party felt that she deserved all the credit. That’s when I, being the leader, realized that we need teamwork orientation to wheedle out the individualism. I arranged a self-development session with my fellows and pointed out that everyone’s individual contribution in the work is unique and significant. We need to develop a sense of unity in our work ot herwise the conflicts will adversely affect the output and our produce will lack harmony. We learned that there are external agencies that exist to perpetuate small businesses. One of my fellows gave the idea to take some form of external small business assistance and consultancy service. He showed me the SBA.Gov platform on the internet that helps in finding the local resources, exploring the potentials and consultancy to achieve the organization’s goals. Our current focus is to develop and strengthen ourselves through proactive planning and introducing newer food and service packages.