Discrimination Model of Supervision Essay

School counseling is a complex and demanding component of the counseling profession. With an increase of social and emotional stressors, children and youth of today face numerous challenges. These challenges ultimately affect children in school. With an increase of suicides, drug abuse, gang involvement, and violence amongst youth, a high demand for school counseling supervision is needed (Henderson, 1994). Parents and teachers often turn to school counselors for guidance in helping troubled youth. Effective supervision is a benefit for novice as well as experienced school counselors. However, there is a lack of supervision in school counseling in comparison to clinical counseling (Wood & Rayle, 2006). Duties of school counselors have increasingly become much more vast due to cost reduction in education, retirement, increase in student enrollment, and an increase in societal issues such as the economic recession. Many novice and experienced school counselors are facing many more problems in the schools today than ever before. The lack of qualified supervision provided to school counselors force those in the profession to rely on self judgment, consultation, and having ethical knowledge about certain situations that may arise (Henderson, 1994). A study conducted by Wiggins (1993) found â€Å"more than 28% of the total group of experienced counselor participants were independently rated as low in effectiveness, 10 years previously, they were still rated in that manner and still employed as counselors† (p. 382). This study reinforced the urgency in the need for supervision for school counselors. If an effective supervision model was put in place, surely after 10 years, an improvement in performance by these experienced counselors would have been documented. According Herlihy and Corey (1996), the ACA Code of Ethics stated school  counselors have a responsibility to monitor their effectiveness, seeking supervision when appropriate. Despite this mandate, an enormous majority of professional school counselors are not involved in any clinical supervision once they are employed as a school counselor. Luke and Bernard (2006) proposed â€Å"using a 3 (focus of supervision) x 3 (supervisor role) x 4 (CSCP domain) matrix for an effective school counseling supervision model which is described as an extension of Bernard’s (1979, 1997) Discrimination Model† (p. 283). The discrimination model was initially created as a teaching model for use with apprentice supervisors. It is a theoretical model and is based on technical eclecticism. The discrimination model focuses on three separate foci of the supervisee’s competence: intervention skills; conceptualization skills; and personalization skills. Three supervisory roles are also a focus: teacher, counselor and consultant (Ladany & Bradley, 2010). The school counselor model of supervision with the discrimination model is the chosen model employed for my school counselor supervision practice. Intervention, conceptualization, and personalization skills are the three identified areas of focus (Ladany & Bradley, 2010). Intervention skills are the observable counselor behaviors and activities that the supervisee utilizes in the counseling relationship. Such skills are described as everything from a simple head nod, greeting of the client, to how the supervisee utilizes empathy and other counseling skills. The next area of focus, conceptualization skills include the counselor’s ability to choose an appropriate intervention, to make sense of what a client is presenting, to find and organize client themes, and to establish process and outcome goals. Finally, personalization skills are observed by the supervisor and focus on the individuality of the supervisee. Personalization skills include the personal style and chosen theoretical approach to counseling by the trainee, which includes personality, cultural background, countertransference, and the connection with clients served (Ladany & Bradley, 2010). Although some conceptualization and personalization skills may be observed directly, they are more often interpreted by the supervisor and initially require discourse between counselor and supervisor to become clear (Luke & Bernard, 2006). The supervisor’s roles consist of three areas of focal point. They include that of a teacher, counselor, and consultant. The role of a teacher by the supervisor includes the supervisor providing instruction, modeling, giving feedback, and conducting evaluation to assist the trainee in developing growth (Ladany & Bradley, 2010). The supervisor employing the role of a counselor involves the supervisor asking supervisees to reflect on an activity, on their thoughts, or on their internal reality. When supervisors adopt this role, they are not telling supervisees how to proceed; rather, they are assisting the supervisee to take advantage of a critical moment for reflection (Luke & Bernard, 2006). Lastly the supervisor serves as a consultant. In this role the supervisor and supervisee collaborate and share responsibility for the supervisee’s growth. The supervisor acts as a resource and encourages the supervisee to trust their own thoughts, insights, and feelings in their work (Luke & Bernard, 2006). The extension of the discrimination model to better adapt to the needs of school counseling supervision incorporates four domains: large group guidance; responsive counseling and consultation; individual advisement; and programmatic planning, coordination, and evaluation, also known as systems support (Gysbers & Henderson, 2001). These four domains are identified by the American School Counselor Association as the key components of an effective comprehensive school counseling program. Implementation of the discrimination model of supervision begins with the incorporation of the four domains of the comprehensive school counseling program. First, the supervisor identifies which of the four domains or a combination of domains will be the focus of supervision. When examining the three major areas of focus of the discrimination model, an additional set of skills are reviewed as it relates to intervention, conceptualization, and personalization skills (Luke & Bernard, 2006). When observing the use of intervention skills in counseling and consultation; classroom guidance skills, conduction of a needs assessment, and the ability to coordinate initiatives for staff would be additional focus during supervision. Similarly, conceptualization skills would include the supervisee’s  understanding of the relationship among various activities conducted by school counselors, planning a school wide function, deciding which components would be most helpful for a career day, developing a plan for evaluation of services, and choosing a developmentally appropriate classroom intervention. Finally, supervisee personalization skills would include how novice school counselors conduct themselves in a variety of contexts that is not limited to just individual counseling, such as leading large groups and asserting themselves in advocacy situations (Luke & Bernard, 2006). The implementation of the discrimination model of supervision in a school setting for novice school counselors mirrors the same frame work that is used for supervising clinical work but extends the focus of supervision to include the intervention, conceptualization, and personalization skills that relate directly to the four dimensions of a successful comprehensive school counseling program. Supervisors’ roles also expand using the discrimination model of supervision in school counseling. Supervisors use the four dimensions of the comprehensive school counseling program to assist with the development in particular skills not only in counseling interventions but also in advising sessions and negotiations with parents and school administrators. Supervisors assist supervisees in reflections and feelings about district-sponsored mandated programs and how these thoughts and feelings impact their performance (Luke & Bernard, 2006). Supervisors utilize all roles as teacher, counselor, and consultant and may need to change focus depending on the intervention and skills being developed. In conclusion, this extension of the discrimination model of supervision for school counselors prove to provide beneficial guidance and assistance to novice school counselor professionals. This model of supervision helps to combine the counseling and therapy focus seen mostly in clinical supervision with the requirements of school counseling skills needed to operate an effective comprehensive school counseling program. References Gysbers, N. & Henderson, P. (2001). Comprehensive guidance and counseling programs: A rich history and a bright future. Professional School Counseling, 4, 246-256. Henderson, P. (1994). Supervision of school counselors. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from ERIC Database. (ED372353). Herlihy, B. & Corey, G. (1996). ACA ethical standards casebook 5th ed. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. Ladany, N. & Bradley, L. (2010). Counselor supervision 4th ed. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Luke, M. & Bernard, J. (2006). The school counseling supervision model: An extension of the discrimination model. Counselor Education and Supervision, 46(4), 282-295. Wiggins, J. D. (1993). A 10-year follow-up of counselors rated high, average, or low in effectiveness. The School Counselor, 40, 380-383. Wood, C. & Rayle, A. (2006). A model of school counseling supervision: The goals, functions, roles, and systems model. Counselor Education & Supervision, 45(4), 253-266.

Activities of Investment Banking Essay

The Investment bank is the financial institution which assists the governments, corporations and the individuals in raising the capital by acting or underwriting as the agent of the client in issuance of securities. The investment bank can also help the companies which are involved in acquisitions and mergers, and offer ancillary services like the trading of the derivatives, market making, foreign exchanges, instruments of the fixed income, equity securities and commodities. Unlike the retail banks and commercial banks, the investment banks don’t take the deposits. There are commonly two main channels in the process of investment banking. Trading the cash for securities like market making, facilitating transactions or for cash or for the promotion of the securities like research, underwriting is known as the sell side, while correlate with the mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds and investment public comprises the buy side. Various companies have sell and buy side components. What are the main activities of the investment banking? The investment banking is generally split into back office, middle office and front office activities. While the big service investment banks provide all the channels of the business both buy side and sell side. The little sell side investment companies like as the small broker dealers and the boutique investment banks focus on the trading/sales/research and investment banking respectively. The Investment banks also provide services to both the investors buying securities and the corporations issuing securities. For the corporations, the investment banking provide information on how and when to place the securities on the open market, this activity is very much important to the reputation of any investment bank. Thus, the investment bankers play a key role in issuing the new offerings of the securities. Other activities of the investment banking: Apart from the main activities, there are some additional activities, in which the process of investment banking is involved. These are: †¢ Global transaction banking: This part is the division of investment banking which offers custody services, cash management, security brokerage and lending services to various institutions. Hedge funds with Prime brokerage is especially a risky as well as profitable business. †¢ Merchant banking: This process is also known as the â€Å"very personal banking†. The merchant banks provide capitals in exchange for the share ownerships and also provide information on strategy and management. The term merchant banking is also used to define the private equity part of any company. †¢ Investment management: This service offers professional management of several securities like bonds, shares and of other assets like real estate to meet with certain goals of investment for the profit of the investors. These investors can be institutions like pension funds, insurance companies, corporations and many more or the private investors. †¢ The investment management division of an investment bank is generally divided into separate groups, often known as Private Wealth Management and Private Client Services. †¢ Merchant banking is also a name used to describe the private equity side of a firm.Merchant Banking: Past and Present Current examples include Defoe Fournier & Cie. and JPMorgan’s One Equity Partners and the original J.P. Morgan & Co. Rothschilds, Barings, Warburgs and Morgans were all merchant banks. (Originally, â€Å"merchant bank† was the British English term for an investment bank.) Reference: http://classof1.com/homework-help/finance-homework-help/

HR Performance Issues and Motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

HR Performance Issues and Motivation - Essay Example On the other hand, disgruntled employees led to low productivity and work absenteeism. According to a research by Hellriegel and Slocum (2009), organizations need to realize the importance of determining the relationship between job motivation, work performance, and satisfaction. Organization’s workplace settings offer a significant effect on the behavior and productivity of staff members. The need to attend to work life quality within organizations is a crucial part of understanding the link between these three variables. Managers have to play their roles in comprehending this issue also. The Human Resource department is directly linked with the needs of staff members and ought to be on the forefront to create awareness on motivating its staff. Creating a personal bond with employees is one way of motivating their work life. Making them feel more than employees is a key element in attaining this aspect. Creating job opportunities that match the knowledge and qualification of employees also leads to them being highly motivated and satisfied with their supervisors and the organization as a whole. A link between motivation and performance lies in the employer’s capability to ensure that the employee is motivated and satisfied. It is up to the employer to hand the employee with sufficient tools and capacity to achieve the organization’s objectives and reward the employees satisfactorily good. Employees, on the other hand, are obligated to work reasonably to elevate the productivity of the organization (Daft, 2011). Types of motivations in a job setting can be activated by either intrinsic or extrinsic factors. An example of intrinsic motivators includes recognition, growth, and responsibility while extrinsic ones are policy, safety, security, and salary. Failure to meet quality work standards is one example of a performance issue that results from, lack of

Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Environment - Essay Example In terms of the environment, thorium is a better product in contrast to uranium. In the reaction process, most of the thorium is combusted in a way that most of the thorium is spent. This means that a lower amount of waste is produced. Eventually, there are less harmful wastes in the surroundings. This argument favors thorium reactors because its resistance to meltdowns is greater. This means that it is safer, although there is always the possibility of some poisonousness. It is poisonous in the short-term, but nearly harmless in the long-term in comparison to uranium. Although both of them are nuclear reactors, they use dissimilar fission reactions. In essence, this means that there are different products and properties that arise from the reactions. While uranium cannot be easily used with thorium, thorium can be mixed with other uranium extracts. This means that its use does not mean that uranium would be out-of-date. They can be used together to form bigger and more potent compounds. However, scientific research indicates that the assembly of thorium is not as stress-free as that of uranium. Scientifically, thorium is not fissile. While uranium can split to form a nuclear chain reaction, thorium cannot split. Even so, it can be made fissile through the bombardment of diverse chemical reactions. Apart from that, the damage caused in the Fukushima disaster evidences how volatile uranium can be. On the contrary, thorium does not exhibit such reactions, and it cannot be used in making weaponries. In case of a catastrophe, a thorium reaction can be stopped because it is not fissile. In terms of density, thorium is about 200 times heavier than uranium and other lead products. Thorium is perhaps better than uranium as a nuclear reactor. In the main, it is a better substitute when equated to uranium. However, there still exists some challenges in the use of thorium, mainly because of personal welfares. Over the years, the use of uranium has formed a

Discuss the Servqual and Gap Analysis concepts and demonstrate how it Essay

Discuss the Servqual and Gap Analysis concepts and demonstrate how it can be applied in hospitality operations - Essay Example It is based on the pre-purchase expectations of an individual and the quality perceptions after purchase. The customer satisfaction differs with quality of service through psychological factors which play a vital role in an individual’s personal experience. Customer satisfaction is premised on the outcome or the process undertaken and thus defining customer satisfaction as the attributes of an end-state originating from consumption of experience base on perception, evaluation and psychological factors. The hospitality industry focuses on customer satisfaction as the main concern for producing service to its customers. Potential customers are lured to the hospitality sector for a number of reasons not limited to satisfaction, enjoyment, sense of achievement and self- esteem benefits that can be sought from this industry. Robinson (2009, p.21) discusses the benefits of leisure that provide customers with intellectual challenge, involvement and enjoyment, intellectual stimulation due to education, relief of stress through social benefits, relaxation and other aesthetic benefits. This factors link customer needs and satisfaction and motivation which is variable from individual to individual and thus obligating the customer oriented marketing to consider customer needs and be flexible to changes in internal processes to suit them. Satisfaction brings new customers through a positive word of mouth recommendations from existing customers. Secondly, it results into a stable source of income through maintaining customer loyalty through repetitive quality service delivery in the industry. Lack or inadequate customer satisfaction leads to additional expenses through handling customer complaints with an end result of wasting productive hours and ruining the reputation of a firm. There are a number of factors that affect customer satisfaction. However, the aspects of this paper aims at pre-purchase expectations that affect the overall

American culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

American culture - Essay Example Probing into the issue of the development of a new definition of American culture after the emergence of black culture will highlight the factors that gave African American culture a momentum. There is need to analyze the resistance that African American culture faced. At the end of the research, it will be possible to define the circumstances that propelled the growth of a vibrant African American culture irrespective of the resistance (Asante 67). As expected, many people are aware of the challenges that African Americans faced before they could get the opportunity to express and live a culture. Most of the African Americans who had the courage to express the uniqueness and richness of black cultural attributes faced an internal conflict of double consciousness. The events that transpired in the last decade of the 19th century and early 20th century redefined American culture. A culture that had predominantly represented the whites and Native Americans in the preceding centuries had to absorb aspects from African Americans. The slavery system accounts for the presence of African Americans in the American context. During the initial period, Africans withheld from expressing any of the cultural factors that had defined them as people before moving to America (Wolfram and Thomas 34). In order to establish the most relevant information, the research will focus on the changes that occurred in the early 1920s. geographically, research will consider all the states with African Americans. African Americans sought to build a unique culture that would define what they had become as a person. The African American culture would alter the homogenous nature of the American culture that had existed. African Americans managed to develop a unique culture that would transform American culture into a heterogeneous one. For some reasons that need identification, the African American culture that resulted was

GNC Corp1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

GNC Corp1 - Essay Example Let us consider the first option that is to hire native Chinese worker into the company. In order to successfully run the operation GNC Corporation will face the issue of cultural differences that exist between America and China. In One survey it has been recognized that cultural differences is the biggest barrier which any company faces while doing business. The management practices of America and China is different. So they need to take into consideration the cultural differences between them to be successful. There is a great difference between China and US with respect to political system, economic system, laws and social values despite the fact that major changes have occurred in China in recent years. China works in a centralized way while US is relatively decentralized. China follows collectivism principle. But in US they follow the principle of individualism. US enterprises have short-term orientation as compared to China’s long-term orientation (Baines 45). . These di fferences in culture greatly affect human behavior and the thinking process, and GNC must provide a platform where people from both the countries can interact on the basis of shared values. These cultural differences will impact the management practices in terms of cooperative strategies, decision making, conflict management, motivation systems and work group characteristics. American managers use open forms when faced with conflicts which are new to Chinese workers as they use assistance from third party. Also Chinese people pay more attention in building social and interpersonal relations. Also for motivating the employees the Chinese follows equity principle which is ignored by the American companies (Ambler 78). But hiring Chinese workers can do a lot of good also for GNC Company. Chinese workers will bring diversity in the business which is required for them to operate in China. They know the local people, what they need and which product will be able to sell most. Also rules a nd regulations that GNC has to follow in Chinese market can be easily followed if there is a presence of Chinese advisors in the company. With such Chinese workers they can reach out to the people in a far effective way. They will direct the strategies which the company needs to take so that their profitability increases. Another strategy that they will employ is to sell their product online, so that they can reach wider consumer base. In China the internet penetration is increasing and it has the second highest internet user base in the world. This opens up avenues of e-commerce base business style. Also the consumer can use the mobile phone as the strategy to reach to new consumers. GNC has to capture Chinese market by reaching out to the Chinese people through the use of their smart phones and digital devices. The rules and regulation of the Chinese government is strict as compared to the US market. They sometimes ban use of social media if they feel like it is a threat to the na tional security. Hence GNC must be careful to implement the online marketing which they will use. They can use Face book, twitter and their local social media sites in China to reach out to wider consumer base. Also telephone marketing is also a way of marketing through which they can use it as a medium to convey about the new products which they are offering to the consumer. Since today

Leadership and Organizatioinal Change Research Proposal

Leadership and Organizatioinal Change - Research Proposal Example Background to the Study Leaders are critical in change process given the role they play in the entire process. Leaders, for example, develop vision and strategy for the organization, create the need for change, identify new approaches to adopt, and even empower employees to take part in change process (Seidman and McCauley, 2011, p.47). As a result, leaders are critical to the success of change process. However, modern organizations due to internationalization and globalization have people from different cultures, backgrounds, ethnics, and so on. Given that, these people have to work together and help organizations achieve their goals, best ways have to be found on how well such people from diverse cultures can work together for the good of the organization. This therefore requires leadership teams of organizations to identify and implement the best strategies in order to establish cross-cultural teams that help organization achieve its goals. Although there is growing literature con cerning the positive role cross cultural teams plays in enabling organizations realize goals (Voutsas, 2011, pp. 116-117) there is little literature concerning how leadership teams can participate in establishing the most effective cross-cultural teams. Statement of the Problem Due to numerous dynamics in the environment, business managers and leaders have found change to be inevitable. Organizations have found out that having a heterogeneous workforce in globalized world is unavoidable. As a result, more and more people from different cultures are likely to work together in one organization. Due to this, organizations’ leadership has to find the best ways of establishing and managing effective cross-cultural teams in order to achieve objectives of the organization. Purpose of the Study The aim of this study is to establish the appropriate ways organizational leadership can take part in establishing effective cross-cultural teams in an organization. This will be achieved thro ugh analyzing a number of international firms that have heterogeneous workforce. Objectives The objective of the study is to identify and analyze strategies used buy firms to establish effective cross-cultural teams. The understanding is that organizational change can effectively be carried out through the input of cross-cultural teams. Research Questions This study will be guided by the following research questions: What strategic role can cross-cultural teams play in change management of an organization? How can organizational leadership create and sustain effective cross-cultural teams? Hypothesis Effective cross-cultural teams should promote good: communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, interpersonal relationships, leadership, and collaboration, which in turn are likely to results into effective organizational change. a) Independent variable The independent variable to be studied includes the function of cross-cultural teams in an organization. b) Dependent variable The dependent variables to be studied include skills with regard to communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, interpersonal relationship, leadership, and

To what extent can growing poverty be blamed on the advance of Essay

To what extent can growing poverty be blamed on the advance of globalization - Essay Example Globalisation is defined by Pugel (2004:5) as the â€Å"process of an increased relationship between national economies through international trade, foreign direct investments by multinational firms, and international financial investments†. Increased inter-nation trade results in the increased need for the redistribution of pricing and goods in a way that will ensure market place equilibrium is arrived at. As a result, nations may undergo periods of unemployment, reduced prices of their nations’ natural resources, as well as poor standards of life. On the other hand, Pugel (2004) argues that some countries undergo periods of inflation, increased employment demand, as well as increased living standards; thus there will be both gains and losses as a result of wealth redistribution. In order to establish comparisons between poor and rich nations, definition and measurement of inequality is vital. Once determined, it is possible to evaluate and measure the effects of globa lisation on the nation’s status. According to Birdsall (2002), inequality is the disparity of people’s living standards and their income in different countries. In addition, the World Bank categorises those in developing nations living under a dollar per day and those in medium economies living under two dollars a day as poor (Eswar, Rajan and Arvind, 2007). In contrast, the trio posits that a person in the more developed economies of the US, Japan, and Europe trying to live on under a thousand dollars is relatively poor as the cost of life is these economies is far greater than this amount. There is a rising increase in the income gap between the rich and the poor with many regions worldwide recording figures of 25% or more people living on less than a dollar a day (Ikubolajeh, 2002). According to Pranab (2007), poor people with less income have limited and or less access to the global wealth. A 2003 research revealed that the richest fifth of the global population ga rnered 85% of the globe’s income whereas the poorest fifth managed only 1.4% of the globe’s income (Eswar, Rajan and Arvind, 2007). Comparing the GDP between poorest and richest nations across the globe over the past century results in a constantly increasing and or widening income gap; an indicator that the gap of income has augmented and has continued with the same trend. Apart from income, the standards of living can also be used to measure a country’s level of poverty. Sri Lanka shares impressive social indicators as those of developed nations, for instance, life expectancy, literacy rates, mortality rates and population growth rate in the country is same as that of developed nations. Despite this, the country has a low income. Poverty of a country can be measured by fourteen major indicators that have been further subdivided into four sections namely infrastructure for development, growth and poverty reduction, human development, and governance and investme nt climate (Pugel, 2004). A number of factors can be used to drive economic growth and development, for instance increased educational standards and economic policies such as openness to international trade. Inequality exists in terms of living conditions and standards of livin

How do advanced technology and related forces of modernity operate in Essay

How do advanced technology and related forces of modernity operate in relation to culture - Essay Example Cultural values cause a significant effect on how advanced technology and related forces of modernity. Diverse cultures persuade management to incorporate the unique market segment in the company advanced technology and related forces of modernity’s operation. For example, the American company is persuaded to hire a Chinese sales person to sell the American made products to the current as well as prospective Chinese clients. The use of a local resident to sell the American products in China will generate more sales than letting a Native American sell the imported American goods in China. The current and prospective Chinese clients will be more comfortable and trusting of a Chinese neighbor, relative, friend, or resident selling the benefits of imported American goods and services. The Chinese sales person can introduce the benefits of eating the Chinese version of the popular American hamburgers to the current and prospective local Chinese clients. The Chinese would surely pre fer hamburgers more if the modern technology and forces of modernity, known as fast food chain stores, sell the modern day hamburger and other fast food products and services (fast food chain selling versus the traditional style of Chinese food establishment) are handled or managed by Chinese employees of the McDonalds restaurant in China (Brandt 121). Using another cultural setting, it is very clear that culture must be incorporated in the marketing strategy of the American advanced technology and related forces of modernity to ensure a huge market share when venturing into the unknown global market place, Japan. The American films, examples of advanced technology and related forces of modernity, can be easily accepted by the local residences in Japan by incorporating the Japanese culture. The American Film makers can penetrate the Japanese movie industry market by converting the American movies’ conversation pieces into Japanese voices.

The Subconscious in Characters in Gordimers Essay Example for Free

The Subconscious in Characters in Gordimers Essay She feels bewitched and cut off from reality. Marlow experiences a similar sense of insecurity as he travels up the Congo, a journey he describes as a timeless voyage back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings (30). He feels lost and insignificant in his surroundings, which irritates his pressure of being European. Marlow refers to himself and his boatload of pilgrims as wanderers who could have fancied ourselves the first men taking possession of an accursed inheritance We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember, because we were traveling in the night of the first ages, of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign and no memories (44). Bam and Maureen also experience this psychological transportation from one reality to another. This would explain their unconsciously developed habit of speaking about life outside of the village in the past tense: Whites in the pass offices and labor bureau who used to have to seal with blacks all the time across the counter-speaking an African language was simply a qualification, so far as they were concerned, thats all. Something you had to have to get the job. What are you lecturing about? -But he hadnt noticed he had spoken of back there in past tense (Gordimer, 44). Nature provides an important influence the development of the subconscious in both novels. Conrad depicts Europe as the conquered earth, whereas Africa is described as monstrous and free. The unfamiliarity and immensity of Africas nature to the Europeans heightens their sense of insecurity. Maureen often stares into the wild expanse of the bush, the borders of her freedom, feeling lost and pathetic, a cat at a mouse-hole, before that immensity (Gordimer, 43). During the night, she feels that even the moon and stars had been stifled and the dense bush that hid everything was itself hidden (Gordimer, 47). Marlow also remarks on how the vastness of nature causes him to feel small and lost: Trees, trees, millions of trees, massive, immense, running up high; and at their foot, hugging the bank against the stream, crept the little begrimed steamboat, like a sluggish beetle crawling on the floor of a lofty portico. It made you feel very small, very lost (Conrad, 104). As Marlow is recounting a spiritual voyage of self-discovery, the Smales, particularly Maureen, also take a journey into the hidden self. For Maureen, the end result of having to live a life on mere necessity uncovers the selfishness and darkness within. Eventually, she becomes less and less of a wife and mother and drifts apart from the family. When the helicopter is heard at the end of the story, Maureen is more vibrant and happy than shes ever been since she arrived in the village, and runs for the helicopter, forgetting her family whom she no longer loves or feels obligated to. Little consideration is taken into the consequences she might bring upon her family or to Julys people. Marlows deep psychological journey into his own darkness leads him to the confrontation of the impulsive savagery in his unconsciousness he had never acknowledged while in the deceptive milieu of a civilized existence. Much of this reflection is based upon Marlows final meeting with the power-hungry egomaniac Kurtz, in which he describes him as lack[ing] restraint in the gratification of his various lusts, that there was something wanting in him (Conrad, 133). The modern odyssey the characters take toward the center of the Self within the primitive wilderness of Africa uncovered much of the characters personality the personality that had been hidden under the influence and pressure of being European. The African experience stirred the unconscious forces within the self, bringing out all the true, repressed dark aspects of the personality. Word Count: 1,490 Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness, New York: Dover, 1990. Gordimer, Nadine. Julys People, London: Penguin Books, 1981. McLynn, Frank. Hearts of Darkness: The European Exploration of Africa. New York: Carol Gey, 1992. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Joseph Conrad section.

The annual budgeting process has been criticised

The annual budgeting process has been criticised The annual budgeting process has been criticised as a cumbersome process which occupies considerable management time; concentrating unduly on short term financial control; having undesirable effects on motivation of managers; emphasising formal organisation structure. Introduction A budget is a quantitative measurable long term plan with specified corporate goals set to be achieved within a specific time period. The annual budget is usually divided into sub-plans usually quarterly and is based on an annual strategic business plan. It is formulated by following a process that requires careful analysis and evaluation of organizational objectives, alternatives, strategic options, decisions and actions and implementation of objectives as well as monitoring of results. The comprehensive nature of the budgeting process thus require participation of managers and executives who are responsible for the planning of actual operations, coordination of activities, communication of plans to responsibility centres; motivate managers to achieve budget goals; controlling activities; and evaluating performance. In all of these processes and activities, one notices the conflicting roles of budgets that involve planning, motivation and performance evaluation (Drury 2004). Due to these conflicting roles of budgets, in the recent years critics are of the opinion that the annual budget process is merely a waste of resource and a burden to management rather than enabling them to control their management environment. In the following discussion the researcher shall discuss the factors concerned and offers some recommendation for improvement of the annual budget process. Discussion a. Management time consumption Conventional annual budget process is a quantified plan prepared and approved to define the course of action and activities to be carried out during a specified time period utilizing certain amount of resources to achieve given objectives (Drury 2004). The process deals with projection of activities, contingencies, strategies and interaction of processes within an organization. Budgets are also controls in the planning process to ensure the organization does not deviate from its financial and operational goals. These activities and processes require extensive analysis of organizational processes; plans for targets to be achieved by individual departments and by the overall organization; and results expected to be achieved etc. Consequently, one observes that the annual budgeting process is a complex and tedious process that requires top management directives and participation of lower management and staffs. Not only this but according to Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser (2003) the tradit ional budget process require four to five months for completion and efforts of 20 to 30 percent of the manager's time. Furthermore, traditional budgeting is based on incremental budgeting whereby expenditures or revenue estimations are based the increments on the previous outcomes, and does not necessarily reflect the need of the environment in which the firm operates resulting in unachievable targets and undesirable outcomes. To resolve modern day organizations are focussing more on rolling forecasts and driver based budgeting models which are concentrated on participation and usage of drivers that operate the organization (Hunt 2003). b. Short financial control Another aspect of the annual budget process is that it is divided and based on quarterly objectives and results. Whether the organization is segmented into profit centres; cost centres; revenue or investment centres, the basic premise is that each of these centres are responsible for the designated outcome set by the annual budget. The overall outcome is estimated based on the quarterly results. The objective for quarterly results is to enable management to estimate expected results at the end of the year and also to use budgets as financial controls to counteract deviation, if there are any before the situation proliferate out of hand. Yet this very factor not only takes up a lot of management time but it also forces managers to dedicate significant time to target achievements, financial objectives and compliance with the process therein instead of concentrating on management excellence. c. Undesirable effect on manager motivation The pressure to deliver as Hope and Fraser (2003) note force managers and their teams to concentrate on sales targets; customers order of goods whether they want it or not; and achieve financial objectives. There is less and less time for managers to concentrate on team building; motivation; performance level; evaluation; or even time for designing effective and productive departmental structure to achieve better results. For this reason budgeting process tend to motivate managers to set their objectives to financial objectives and deliverables rather than on working as a team. The managers are thus the gatekeepers while the team members are forced to become dissociated from the organization's structure. d. Emphasis on formal organizational structure Given the emphasis on extensive and detailed planning at the departmental level, it is imperative that organizations have formal structure so that budgeting process can be integrated into the forecasting and goal achievement activities. Formal organizational structure is also required for building and approving budgets through communication and coordination. Managers are therefore expected to align day to day activities with organizational strategies and budgets in order to achieve the desired objectives. Without a formal organizational structure, it would be difficult for the management to have a control over operational activities and financial consequences therein. Conclusion Given the above discussion, the researcher deduce that the annual budgeting process is a tedious process that eats up the time of management and lower staff alike without much productivity. The reason for this low productivity despite well planned budgeting is because of the long process that entails and the nature of the budgeting process. Budgeting from a top down approach is usually an imposition rather than participation. In modern day organization participation of team members, managers and supervisors with the top management is imperative for efficient operation. Dictated objectives and plans do not help in this regard. For this reason many organizations are changing their approach to budgeting by focussing on operational outcomes and inputs to fixate targets reinforced by incentives rather than outlined targets to be achieved without any motivation. As McGregor indicate in his Theory X/Y human beings are liable to work better if their desired motivation are in place (2005) and they are satisfied. Similarly, effective organizational planning in the form of budgets should be based on firm's ability to respond to change and more importantly on the satisfaction of those who are responsible for carrying out the plans. Increased participation not only encourages responsibility but also makes accountability easier as individuals feel they are responsible for the operational outcomes. They are not bogged by the imposed accountability (Hunt 2003). References McGregor, D. 2005, The Human Side of Enterprise, Annotated Edition. McGraw-Hill. Drury, C., 2004, Management and Cost Accounting, London: Thompson Business Press, 6th Edition. Hope, J. and Fraser, R. Feb 2003, Trash The Budget. Optimize, Issue 22. Hunt, S. Aug 2003, Budgets Roll With The Times. Optimize, Issue 22.

Viable But Non Culturable Bacteria Biology Essay

Viable But Non Culturable Bacteria Biology Essay Viable but Non-Culturable state is a unique survival strategy of many bacteria in environment in response to adverse environmental conditions. VBNC bacteria cant be cultured on routine microbiological media but they remain viable and retain their virulent capacity too. VBNC bacteria can be resuscitated when provided with appropriate conditions. A good number of bacteria including many human pathogens have been reported to enter VBNC state. Though, there was disputes on the existence of VBNC in past, extensive molecular studies have resolved most of them and VBNC has been accepted as distinct survival state by all. VBNC bacteria are considered as threats to public health and food safety due to their non-detectability and virulence as food and water have been reported to be contaminated with pathogens at VBNC state though conventional methods declared them as safe and clean. A number of outbreaks have also been reported where VBNC bacteria has been implicated as causative agent. Furthe r molecular and combinatorial research in conjunction with predictive modeling are needed to elucidate the mechanisms and to identify the critical points to tackle the threat posed by VBNC bacteria with regard to public health and food safety. Key words: VBNC, Pathogen, public health, Food safety, Detection Introduction The cells that form colony in specific media are the culturable cells. Viable means metabolically or physiologically active. So the cells those are metabolically or physiologically active but cant be cultured on specific media are the viable but non-culturable cells (VBNC) (Bogosian Bourneuf, 2001). Most microorganisms growing in nature have yet to be cultured in the laboratory. In fact less than 1% of the microorganisms in natural water and soil samples are cultured in viable count procedures (Barcian Arana, 2009). In 1982, Prof. Rita Colwell and co-workers introduced the term Viable But Non-Culturable Bacterial Cells (VBNC) to distinguish particular cells that could not form colonies on solid media but obtained metabolic activity and the ability to elongate after the administration of nutrients (Xu et al., 1982). According to Oliver (1995), VBNC can be defined as a metabolically active bacterial cell that crossed a threshold in this way, for known or unknown reasons and become unable to multiply in or on a medium normally supporting its growth. Most of the bacteria that enter VBNC state are gram negative species belonging to the gamma subclass of the Proteobacteria branch, except for Rhizobium, Agrobacterium and Helicobacter-Campylobacter species (Oliver, 2000). History Debra Bashford and colleagues announced that they had recovered Vibrio cholerae from streams and drainage ditches, including sites with negligible chance of sewage contamination. Around the same lime, Rita Colwell was also finding Vibrio cholerae in Maryland. She and her coworkers showed that both this bacterium and E. coli, incubated in artificial sea water remained viable but lost the capacity to form colonies on culture media (Colwell Grimes, 2000). Soon Salmonella enteritidis, Shigella sonnie and Legionella pneumophila joined the list of organisms known to be capable of entering a state in which they failed to show up on nutrient agar yet took up substrates and signaled in other ways that they were certainly not dead. The use of laboratory media to recover and enumerate bacteria and lo link them with or absolve them from pathological and other activities became obsolete by the new discoveries and a term VBNC (viable but non-culturable) came (McDougald et al., 1998). VBNC Microorganisms that do not grow in culture methods, but which are still metabolically active and capable of causing infections in animals and plants are said to be in VBNC state. The conditions for these organisms to resume growth are not being met using the normal laboratory culture conditions (Yamamoto, 2000). Bacteria that have been semi-starved will immediately resume growth when provided with the appropriate nutrients and conditions. Viable but non-culturable cells will not resume growth even when nutrients are provided (NystrÃÆ'-m, 2001). VBNC cells exhibit active metabolism in the form of respiration or fermentation, incorporate radioactive substrates, and have active protein synthesis but cannot be cultured or grown on conventional laboratory media. They have been detected by observing discrepancies between plate count enumeration of bacterial population and direct staining and microscopic counts (Sachidanandham Gin, 2009). These cells may be of particular problems in the e nvironment if they are pathogens, for example, viable but non-culturable cells of Vibrio cholerae, Enteropathogenic E. coli, Legionella pneumophila and various other bacteria have been shown to regain culturability after they have entered the intestinal tracts of animals (Colwell et al., 1996). The VBNC state is defined as a state of dormancy triggered by environmental harsh conditions, such as nutrient starvation (Cook Bolster, 2007), temperature (Besnard et al., 2002), osmotic stress (Asakura et al., 2008), oxygen availability (Kana et al., 2008), several food preservatives (Quirà ³s et al., 2009), heavy metals (Ghezzi Steck, 1999), exposure to white light (Gourmelon et al., 1994) and decontaminating processes, as pasteurization of milk (Gunasekera et al., 2002) and chlorination of wastewater (Oliver, 2005). VBNC state is believed to be a unique survival strategy of bacteria in response to environmental stresses (Oliver, 2010). It is also considered as an important reservoir of many human pathogens in the environment (Lleo et al., 2007). VBNC state has been a matter of dispute for ling since its inception, due to the difficulty of differentiation of VBNC cells dormant cells through resuscitation phenotypic studies, recent molecular studies, data of which supported the existence of VBNC state, the dispute has mostly been put to rest (Barer and Harwood, 1999). VBNC Pathogens Following list includes but not limited to pathogenic bacteria that can enter VBNC state (Oliver, 2010)- Aeromonas hydrophila, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Burkholderia cepacia, Campylobacter jejuni, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli (including EHEC), Helicobacter pylori, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Legionella pneumophila, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Streptococcus faecalis, Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio vulnificus (types 1 and 2) Characteristics of Bacteria in VBNC state 1. Maintain apparent cell integrity; 2. possession of some form of measurable cellular activity (Lai et al., 2009); 3. possess apparent capacity to regain culturability (Anuchin et al., 2009); 4. respond to external stimulus by specific gene expression (kell et al., 1998); 5. low metabolic activity (oliver, 2005); 6. Exhibit dwarfing (Costa et al., 1999); 7. reduced nutrient transport; 8. High ATP level and high membrane potential (Signoretto et al., 2000); 9. extensive modifications in cytoplasmic membrane fatty acid compositions (Day Oliver, 2004); 10. Changes in cell wall peptidoglycan such as increasing cross linking, increasing muropeptides bearing covalently bound lipoprotein shortening of average length of glycan strands (signoretto et al., 2002); 11. Higher autolytic capability than exponentially growing cells; 12. Plasmids are retained; 13. changed antibiotic sensitivity as metabolic activity is lower, most bacteria at VBNC state demonstrate high antibiotic resistance (Ol iver, 2010); 14. Changes in outer-membrane protein profile (Muela et al., 2008); 15. Continuous gene expression (Maalej et al., 2004) etc. Conditions stimulating VBNC state In the environment, bacterial cells can enter VBNC state may be due to- 1. Lack of nutrients; 2. Lack of temperatures; 3. High pressure; 4. Sharp changes in pH or salinity (Cunningham et al., 2009); 5.damage to or lack of an essential cellular component; 6. DNA damage; 7. activation of lysogenic phages or suicide genes such as sok/hak or autolysins (Aizenman et al., 1996); 8. Nutrient starvation; 9. incubation outside the normal temperature range of growth; 10. elevated or lower osmotic concentrations; 11. oxygen concentrations (Mascher et al., 2000); 12. food preservatives; 13. Heavy metals (Del Campo et al., 2009); 14. exposure to white light; 15. pasteurization of milk (Gunasekara et al., 2002); 16. chlorination of wastewater (Oliver, 2005) etc. Public health significance of VBNC Though virulence of bacteria in VBNC state is still not very clear, many believed that pathogens in VBNC state are unable to induce infection/disease but still retain their virulent properties has potential to cause disease infection following resuscitation and resume of active metabolic state, which occurs when they pass through host animal (Baffone et al., 2003). The VBNC state appears to be the common to many bacteria especially those which have aquatic habitats, and may represent a mechanism to survive adverse environmental factors as temperature, salinity etc. or have a means of inducing cross protection against other adverse factors (Du et al., 2007). Among these bacteria entering this state are many significant human pathogens and indicator bacteria of these pathogens; such cells may represent a public health hazard and may be a factor in human health and/or disease (Rivers Steck, 2001). Even today, it is still not possible to cultivate most bacterial species directly from the environmental samples or after exposure of previously culturable cells to environmental conditions unfavorable for growth and multiplication in vitro. The passage of VBNC through an appropriate animal host will induce return of culturability. Even these VBNC bacteria retain their pathogenicity and may trigger life in vivo and thus cause severe disease (Sardessai, 2005). Under normal condition it is not possible to culture or detect VBNC. Many diagnostic laboratory set up does not have sufficient molecular facilities to detect VBNC. In case of food and water quality control test, such VBNC may not be detected. Even some indicator of some pathogenic bacteria undergoes VBNC state and may remain undetected (Signoretto et al., 2004). Upon consuming such food or after drinking such water, one may be infected by those VBNC that can trigger life as well as pathogenicity (Adams et al., 2003). Thus, environmental and clinical samples no longer can be considered free from pathogens if culturing yields negative results. For the general public, the presence of VBNC in water and food may be related to low-grade infections or so called aseptic infection. For example, Vibrio cholerae O1 in the surface water remain as non-culturable state. These water sources are used for domestic purpose regularly and posed a risk of infection (Edwards, 2000). When conditions are not favorable for growth then it transforms to the non-culturable state in association with crustacean copepods. Persistence of Vibrio cholerae in water in the VBNC state is an important public health factor, since detection will not be successful if only conventional cultural methods are used (Barer et al., 1993). Similarly, Shigella can undergo VBNC state in water but become a threat when enter in human body. Thus it is important to recognize that non-culturable bacteria are capable of producing diseases. The first evidence of pathogenicity of non-culturable cells was the demonstration of fluid accumulation in rabbit ileal loop assay (RICA) by VBNC Vibrio cholerae O1, followed by human volunteer experiments (Amel et al., 2008). VBNC E. coli non-culturable cells were re-isolated after passage through rabbit ileal loops 4 days post inoculation and chick embryos died when injected with non-culturable cells of Legionella pneumophila, led to the conclusion that VBNC pathogens remain potentially pathogenic. So, VBNC has a huge significance in public health care (Cappelier et al., 2007). Reports indicate that many potentially harmful bacteria survive treatment and persist in processed food, pasteurized milk, potable water and in the environment (Colwell et al., 2000). Many evidences suggested that recurrent urinary tract infections in many individuals are caused by uropathogenic E. coli cells which remain in VBNC state (Anderson et al., 2004) thus resistant to antibiotic treatment cause reinfection when resuscitate back to active metabolic state (Steck, 2001; Mulvey et al., 2001). Studies also showed that uropathogenic E. coli retain enteropathogenicity at VBNC state through continued production of enterotoxin (Pommepuy et al., 1996). Nilsson et al. (2002) showed that VBNC Helicobacter pylori cells can express virulence factors such as cagA, vacA and vreA. All these above evidence proved that many deathly pathogenic strains not only enter but also persist survive in VBNC state in environment most of them remain infectious as well. VBNC state of foodborne bacteria- a challenge in food safety Many evidences suggested presence of VBNC bacteria in food (Ordax et al., 2009). For example, in stored wine, acetic acid and lactic acid bacteria entered VBNC state as consequence of lack of oxygen and presence of sulphites, respectfully (Millet and Lonvaud-Funel, 2000). Food and its surrounding environment is a complex system, in which physic-chemical characterisitcs (pH, aw, chemical composition) and environmental factors (storage temperature and time, decontamination treatments, packaging under modified atmosphere) act simultaneously on contaminating bacteria (Sun et al., 2008). For example, it has been demonstrated that refrigerated pasteurized grapefruit juice induced VBNC state in E. coli O157:H7 and S. typhimurium within 24 hours of incubation (Nicolo et al., 2011). Again, Gunasekera et al. (2002) reported that in pasteurized milk which have undergone thermal treatment, contaminating bacteria such as E. coli and Pseudomonas putida enter into VBNC state but retained transcription and translation machineries. Several foodborne outbreaks has been reported in Japan, where pathogen such as Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica (Asakura et al., 2002) and E. coli O157 (Makino et al., 2000) in food in VBNC state were responsible for the outbreak. Therefore, the role of food and treatment for food preservation in induction of VBNC state has to be elucidated. Predicitve models offered by biomathematics and bioinformatics would be very helpful tools, in order to evaluate the possibility that, under certain conditions, pathogen bacteria contaminating a tipology of food may enter the VBNC state (Fakruddin et al., 2012). Methods of detection of VBNC bacteria 1. Bright Field Microscopy with Nalidixic acid For detection of Bright-field or light microscopic is usually used. Cell division inhibitor such as nalidixic acid (20-40 mg/L) is used to stop cell division. After such treatment the viable cells, which actively growing, will be appeared as lengthen and the non-viable/ metabolically inactive cell will remain as it is. The cells are then observed under microscope. Viable cells will be seen as elongated whereas VBNC/ dormant cells will be seen as oval and large. 2. Fluorescent Microscopy Various fluorescent staining procedures are used in combination with other procedure to determine VBNC organisms. Frequently used stains are Acridine orange, 4,6- Diamino-2-phenyl indole (DAPI), Fluorescein isothiocyanante (FITC), Indophenyl-nitrophenyl-phenyl tetrazolium chloride (INT), 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC) etc (Villarino et al., 2000). Table: Fluorescent dyes used for detection of VBNC bacteria Dye Mechanism Reaction Acridine orange Acridine orange stain cells depending on the ratio of DNA to protein in the cells Actively reproducing cells appear green but slow-grower or non-reproducing cells at time of staining appear orange Di-amino-phenyl-indole (DAPI) Living cells look green under fluorescent microscope Indophenyl-nitrophenyl-phenyl tetrazolium chloride (INT) INT deposit red dye in cells that have active dehydrogenase and thus determine which of the observed cells are metabolically active INT react with dehydrogenase enzyme to produce formazone and red color, thus living cells appear red. Nalidixic acid (NA) Lengthen metabolically active cells, VBNC cells remain as it is Cells that are dividing appear to be longer in size than VBNC Fluorescein isothiocyanante (FITC) Enzyme activity in living cell FITC stain living cells violet or blue In recent years, a new differential staining assay, the BacLight ® Live/Dead assay, has been developed. The assay allows to simultaneously count total and viable (metabolically active) cells, by using two nucleic acid stains, that is green-fluorescent SYTO ® 9 stain and red-fluorescent propidium iodide stain. These stains differ in their ability to penetrate intact cell membranes. When used alone, SYTO ® 9 stain labels both live and dead bacteria. In contrast, propidium iodide penetrates only bacteria with damaged membranes, reducing SYTO ® 9 fluorescence when both dyes are present. Thus, live bacteria with intact membranes fluoresce green, while dead bacteria with damaged membranes fluoresce red (Rowan, 2011). 3. Gene probe / oligonucleotide probe / hybridization: Molecular analysis can also be used to study non-culturable microorganisms in nature. Oligonucleotide probes of l8-20 nucleotides are proving most useful because they hybridize rapidly to specific DNA sequences of target organisms. These gene probes can reveal closely related organisms or organisms with similar functional capabilities. Especially useful for the analyses of rRNA that demonstrate the presence of diverse microbial populations whose phylogenetic relationships can be ascertained by comparison with rRNA sequences from previously described microorganisms (Josephson et al., 1993). Blotting: There are different types of blotting such as colony blot, slot blot, dot blot and southern blot. The principle of blotting is the use of radio- or non-radioactive or fluorescence labeled probe (DNA/RNA/Antibody) to detect VBNC cells directly from the environmental samples. Fluorescent in situ Hybridization (FISH): In situ hybridization is an alternative format for hybridization probes in which fluorescence labeled DNA or RNA probes are hybridized with target nucleic acids in whole, permeabilized cells. The application of this method to the detection of single microbial cells by using rRNA-targeted probes in combination with epifluorescent microscopy has been developed. This is done through selective targeting of regions of rRNA, which consist of conserved and variable nucleotide regions. By choosing the appropriate rRNA probe sequence, FISH can be used to detect all bacterial cells (a universal probe) or a single population of cells (a strain specific probe) of VBNC. It has lower sensitivity and cannot distinguish live and dead cells. 4. Molecular techniques: Hybridization probes and DNA/RNA amplification: Hybridization probes are nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) which have been (a) chemically or radioactively labeled and are used to detect complementary target DNA/RNA. Hybridization assay DNA/ RNA probes form a stable double stranded structure with target nucleic acid via H-bonding between complementary bases. Amplification of targets: DNA Based methods: Specific amplification of DNA targets in bulk DNA extracts from environmental and clinical samples permits detection of specific organisms or groups of related organisms without the need to cultivate them. DNA recovery procedures do not discriminate between culturable and non-culturable forms of the target organisms- all cells with intact amplification targets will be detected. Confocal laser microscopy in combination with fluorescence-based hybridization assays, also provide a more sensitive method for detecting and identifying VBNC organisms. RNA based methods: Due to the failure of distinguishing between dead or live cells by DNA-based methods, the mRNA level may be a valuable estimate of gene expression and/or cell viability under different conditions (Lleo et al., 2000). RT-PCR: RT-PCR (Reverse Transcriptase PCR) can distinguish between Live and dead cell. This is possible because this is an mRNA based method and mRNA is short lived (half-life less than 1 minute), mRNA is only present in metabolically active cells, not found in nature after the cell death. By this method we can study community relationship and can also detect non-culturable but active or live cells. DNase enzyme is used during the isolation of RNA from environmental samples. Reverse transcriptase and random primers are added to the reaction mixture and the RNA in the sample (both RNA and rRNA) is transcribed into DNA. PCR is then use to amplify the specific sequence of interest (Pai et al., 2000). Is the concept of VBNC is a misnomer? By extending the concept of bacterial self-suicide scientists tried to explain what happens when cells are exposed to chemical and physical injury (Forsman et al., 2000). Thus VBNC organisms came alongside with those, which do not grow in ordinary media but which do grow when offered selective or enrichment media. They said, Such cells are not un-culturable they wrote We are simply failing to provide appropriate conditions to support culture (Sinton, 2006). The reasons, which made the term, VBNC a misnomer are as follow: 1. Bacteria that have been semi-starved will immediately resume growth when provided with the appropriate nutrients and conditions. But viable but non-culturable bacteria do not resume growth when nutrients are provided. Evidence suggests that these cells have become too starved to be able to grow on rich medium initially; this phenomenon was observed over three decades ago and was known then as substrate accelerated death (Heim et al., 2002). It was found that substrate that normally supported growth of certain Gram-negative bacteria hastened their death when introduced into starved populations of these bacteria. These substrates were considered lethal substrates. These starved cells require an adjustment period to allow phenotypic adaptation back to the normal growth state (Epstein, 2009). A sudden shift to nutrient rich agar creates a metabolic imbalance that results in the formation of super-oxide and free radicals, causing DNA damage that can result in cell death (Barer Harwood , 1997). 2. There is yet no complete and perfect media to isolate arid culture all the organisms from environment. 3. Cells are usually-injured or stressed or starved condition in natural environment. So complete system has been devised to enrich or resuscitated the VBNC cells. Culture condition that can be applied in laboratory is not sufficient to recover all microorganisms i.e. yet it is not possible to provide or stimulate exact environmental conditions in the laboratory. Conclusion Regardless of the role that the VBNC state plays, it is clear that a large number of non-spore-forming bacteria, most notably a large number of human pathogens, are capable of entering this state, maintaining cellular structure and biology and continuing significant gene expression while otherwise non-culturable by standard laboratory methods. That they can exit from this state, and become culturable again, is also undeniable. Finally, it can no longer be questioned that the VBNC state plays a critical role in the survival of important human (and other) pathogens, and possibly in their ability to produce disease.

The Value of Work Experience :: Free Essays

The Value of Work Experience A summer or part-time job pays more than money. Even though the money earned is important, the work experience gained has a greater long-term value when one applies for a full-time job after graduation from school. Job application documents (the application blank and the personal data sheet) ask you to list jobs you have held and to list as references the names of individuals who supervised your work. (Gieseking and Plawin, 1994, 22) As one young person was heard to remark, â€Å"You can’t get a job without experience, and you can’t get experience without a job.† That dilemma can be overcome, however, by starting work early in life and by accepting simpler jobs that have no minimum age limit and do not require experience. Jobs Teens Can Do Begin early at jobs that may not pay especially well but help to establish a working track record: delivering newspapers, babysitting, mowing lawns, assisting with gardening, and the like. Use these work experiences as springboards for such later jobs as sales clerks, gas station attendant, fast-food worker, lifeguard, playground supervisor assistant, and office staff assistant (after you have developed basic office skills). As you progress through these work exploration experiences, try increasingly to get jobs that have some relationship to your career plans. If, for example, you want a career involving frequent contact with people—as in sales—seek part-time and summer work that gives you experience in dealing with people. Hamel, 1989, 10) How to Handle Yourself on the Job Whatever the job you are able to get, the following pointers will help you succeed in getting good recommendation for the next job you seek. 1. Be punctual. Get to work on time and return from lunch and other breaks promptly. 2. Get along well with others. Do your job well and offer to assist others who may need help. Take direction with a smile instead of a frown.

Clone :: essays research papers

Pre-Mature Decision Millions of people pour into movie theatres every weekend to view movies about sports, romance, politics, and Science Fiction. While most of these movies are meant exclusively for entertainment, occasionally people will leave a theatre believing what they had viewed. Science fiction movies do this very well, especially when it comes to the topic of cloning. These movies from time to time have involved cloning machines, where a character walks into the machine and out he comes along with his clone. This might have made the movie enjoyable, but have put the idea of cloning in a bad light. There are many reasons why the public fears cloning, however, most fears are unsupported. People are afraid of cloning just as they are afraid of anything new in their lives. This immature fear led congressional representatives to an immediate ban of all research and practice of cloning. Cloning should have never been banned, the action taken was inappropriate and had absolutely no factual reasoning. The statement that "Humans are not guinea pigs" is one of the most common claims made by those who oppose cloning. However, in all morally relevant respects, this is not true. Every one of us is an experiment; a result of a couple of people getting together in the back of a car, a hotel room, or some dark and secluded part of the house, throwing together the ingredients that created us. In many cases, the people who created us may not have even wanted to form a person by their actions, though they did. In this respect, clones will be far further from being guinea pigs than most people who are conceived through traditional methods. Which means that if the cry "humans are not guinea pigs" really has some sort of moral force, it would argue for prohibiting traditional reproduction long before it will have any applicability to cloning (Fyfe par. 26-30). Another very common fear is that cloning will be used to create armies or slaves. Armies and slaves can be created faster and more cheaply by other means than cloning. This fear of a â€Å"2nd Holocaust† is very frivolous. It is unlikely that clones will ever be mass-produced as some people fear. Women would have to go through having to bear them , not mentioning that someone also has to raise them. This is an important point that much discussion about cloning overlooks.

Discuss the way in which Sheila changes throughout the play Essay

Discuss the way in which Sheila changes throughout the play The Birlings are a middle Edwardian class family. The play is set in 1912, in the house of the Birling family in the North Midlands. At that time a woman's role was considered inferior to the men's as it was always presumed that the man was the head of the house. Women were also not thought of as being able to take part in serious conversations, and that they needed to be protected. At the beginning of the play, Sheila is described as young, attractive, girly and naà ¯ve. Also she has just become engaged. This is made known through the stage directions and how she reacts to certain situations. At the start of the play, Sheila shows her character by being very girly in her contributions to the conversation. As the stage directions say 'Sheila is still admiring her ring' and not listening to her father's speech. This shows that she is self-centred and is enjoying the attention that the engagement is bringing her. Also she refers to her parents as "Mummy" and "Daddy" at the beginning of the play, emphasizing her dependency on her family. The arrival of the Inspector seems to be the beginning of the change in Sheila. When Sheila says 'except for all last summer, when you never came near me'. She does not question Gerald further on the subject though she knew where he was. She does not question him further about it because the earlier, girly side of Sheila's character would not be able to cope with the truth. Though she knows that he has not been 'awfully busy at the works', where he said he has been, but having an affair. When Sheila first finds out about the girl's suicide she is genuinely upset and shows her sensitive side in her reaction, 'I... ...nd of the play she is unable to accept her parents attitude and is both amazed and concerned that they haven't learned anything from the events of the evening as she sarcastically says 'So nothing really happened. So there's nothing to be sorry for, nothing to learn. We can all go on behaving just as we did.' By this she means that she does not really understand how she could have learnt more in a few hours than her parents have in their lifetime. In the play, Priestley is trying to show that there is a change in the younger generation. He portrays this by the characters of Sheila and Eric taking responsibility for their part in the death of Eva Smith and the fact that her parents haven't learned anything from the events of that night. He is trying to show that people should take responsibility and care for each other, as in the idea of a big community.

Children Essay

1.1 Explain how legislation, frameworks, codes of practice and policies relating to positive behaviour support are applied to own working practice. The aspects of my role within our setting are regulated by our policies and procedures which have been written with current legislation such as the Children’s act. These policies and procedures cover promoting positive behaviour and we all follow that as our code of practice as this is an important area to both us and all our children. We focus very much on praise for good behaviour, respecting each other and each other’s feelings, helping each other and if they cannot do something but try we give praise for trying. We feel that a child’s behaviour is reflected in how much they feel valued within our setting, we make sure the children have planned activities for them to experience and we allow the children to have their say and we change and mould activities letting the children take the lead and let the activity free flow and it ends up being a lot of fun. We do have a set of house rules which we feel are realistic and very set around house rules that would apply in their own home. We try to be consistent in enforcing these house rules which very much includes our own daughter, we make sure she is included in following the house rules the same as all the other children that we look after. However all children will have times where they misbehave and for this we have several strategies, depending on the age and stage of ability of the child but we find that they work well for us. * Distraction- We will remove the child from a situation and give them an alternative activity or we ask the child to help us with a special task and tell them we need their help. * Ignoring- Depending on the situation we may ignore the bad behaviour as we feel it is being done to get a reaction, we do find this more common with our own daughter too. * Discuss with child- We will take the child to one side and talk to them about why we will remove them from the activity if they continue even though we don’t want to do that but we want children to understand that their actions have consequences, we are always very careful that we explain that it’s their behaviour that we don’t like not them. We also talk to the child about how they are feeling maybe not at that point but we return to it later on to see if anything is troubling them that they want to talk about * Time Out- Removing the child from an activity or situation and giving them some quiet time, maybe even some TV time if this is what their prefer to do, we find that some children burn out and just need some short time on their own or with a friend to chill out and relax We will never smack, shake, or hurt a child in any way and we will never humiliate a child ever We would always discuss the situation with the parent on collecting; we have never had a situation where we have had to call a parent/carer to collect the child but if the situation needed it we would do that. We have found that some children get quite distressed if you tell their parents about their behaviour and this can actually have a negative reaction so we will catch the parent before the child knows they are here and speak to them in private in our lounge about the situation, confirm how we dealt with it at the time and the outcome and that we have dealt with the behaviour at the time that it happened. 1.2 Define what is meant by restrictive interventions. There are a number of forms of restrictive intervention’s, the first one is physical intervention where you have to intervene such as if two children were having a fight and you wanted to break them up then there is a good chance that you will need to separate them to calm them down. Social intervention is another form of restrictive intervention where you can deal with the situation with speech, body language and facial expressions. Social intervention is also used in the setting for example the stair gates to stop the children climbing the stairs, the safety straps on the high chair so they don’t fall out. 1.3 Explain when restrictive intervention may and may not be used. Practitioners will always look for the best possible way of dealing with situations that may arise, unfortunately that’s sometimes not the case and there are times where Restrictive intervention may be required when a child is showing signs of unreasonable behaviour and everything has been taken into account of trying to reason with them, intervention may then be used, but any forms of intervention are best used as a last resort as its always best practice to communicate in a positive way but strongly depending on the circumstances and situation i.e. any injury that may have been caused by a child to another could have been an accident and therefore intervention of any kind may not be required on this occasion. 1.4 Explain who needs to be informed of any incidents where restrictive interventions have been used. It outlines in the EYFS that one intervention that can be used however rare that it is, can be that of a physical one, it is used to manage a child’s behaviour and it must be recorded and the parents must be informed on the same day as the incident occurred. Our own policies and procedures state that any intervention that has been required will be discussed with you at the time of pick up, written in their handbook if they have one or a phone call will be made on that day by us informing the parents of the incident and how it was dealt with at the time. 1.5 Explain why the least restrictive interventions should be used when dealing with incidents of challenging behaviour. I think it’s always important for people who look after children in whatever role they may do to be positive in sometimes difficult circumstances, I don’t mean we should praise bad behaviour far from it but we need to show positive reinforcement of some nature in order for us to get the best out of young people , negativity won’t bring out the best in people and will only give them a sense of despair and lack of self-confidence, positive feedback will hopefully bring them the confidence they need in life to go from strength to strength so I feel it’s always important to concentrate on what they can do well and not what they can’t do right. For all parties involved in situations of bad behaviour it’s important if possible to diffuse situations and to try and talk things through to a resolution with the child involved, with safety in mind. 1.6 Describe safeguards that must be in place if restrictive physical interventions are used. With health and safety in mind there are environments that need to be safe if any physical intervention is required, safety to all is priority in this situation and as unfortunate as it may be, if a person cannot be calmed down by any other means as previously discussed a situation may escalate and turn physical. It’s important that all children are safe and therefore removed from the setting and placed with other practitioners in another room away from the threatening behaviour of the individual concerned. If any unfortunate event does take place it’s important that the room is as safe as possible to avoid any injury to all involved, remember we are still looking for a peaceful and positive ending here and a physical situation is really the last thing anybody wants.it needs reminding here that its best if 2 practitioners are on standby as witnesses may be needed if things got out of hand and if anything was ever required from a medical point of view. 2.1 Explain the difference between proactive and reactive strategies. These are both at each end of the spectrum, a Proactive strategy is about us preventing a situation that we perceive may happen , a reactive strategy is something that hasn’t happened yet and something we may have to react to, a negative situation that we may have to turn into a positive one. 2.2 identify the proactive and reactive strategies that are used within own work role. To use these strategies’ it’s about us seeing, hearing and being aware of situations almost in a psychic form that may develop in our setting, for us to react and respond in a way to prevent something we feel may happen, as it may have happened before so will it happen again?, this could be any type of issue or situation and any act that is carried out by a child such as crying, aggressive behaviour, smacking, biting, arguments , an example of a situation that has occurred with us in our setting are as follows, a proactive and reactive example of the way we work would be to plan an activity when 2 of the children that are involved in this don’t get along very well but we want them to feel included in the groups activity ,it’s our job to understand what happened previously when we did this activity and the cause of the situation in the first place we can then implement ch ange for next time and see if there is any change in the behaviour of the child or children if resolved then fine, if not it’s up to us again to look at the cause and then try another method , methods used in situations like this would be to: Use our knowledge in order to avoid escalation, containment, use diversion as a strategy, use mediation, challenge and explain to children the consequences of their actions, support children and help them resolve situations to a positive end. 2.3 Explain the importance of identifying patterns of behaviour or triggers to challenging behaviour when establishing proactive or reactive strategies to be used. Like I’ve touched on earlier it’s about identifying the early warning signs that triggers children to cause disruptive behaviour and for us to intervene and preventing it from escalating further, it’s usually in our case quite easy to spot as you will see situations from time to time where you may find a child can start something and others will follow and do the same thing , an example of this would be where a child has been given something to do but has no interest in what they are doing, with nothing to do they begin to run around the play area and cause other children to do the same, it’s up to us to identify and intervene with this before it happens , a warning sign can sometimes be a change in their mood and other causes are as follows. Boredom – give them something to focus on. Lack of choice – it’s so important for them to them to be stimulated make sure there is plenty of choice in terms of things to do. Frustration in not being able to do something. Lack of attention – make sure we communicate with them and show positive feedback if their doing something well. Disruption and noise – make sure of a calm environment. Too many children doing an activity – move make sure there another alternative activity A difficult one to identify is sometimes when they’re not well, all children are different and react in different kinds of ways, some will communicate and engage well and some wont. 2.4 Explain the importance of maintaining a person or child-centred approach when establishing proactive strategies. Challenging behaviour can be an individual thing and not all children react in the same way or react at the same level there can be different degrees in the severity of the behaviour. When dealing with inappropriate behaviour it’s important that each child is handled as an individual and not as a group, this shows that we are capable of adapting to each single case and it must be noted that a technique that may suit one child may not suit another, treating the children as individuals is also gives them a sense of value as they are treated as individual young people. Like we’ve said often despite the circumstances a positive spin on the situation is always a good one to end with. 2.5 Explain the importance of reinforcing positive behaviour with individuals. All people like to be praised and look for approval its only human nature and children are no different, to be positive as a person comes from positive behaviour itself, it’s always what we strive for and to be as a person, it’s vital that we show encouragement, praise and to be positive when they do something well if children are not praised for doing something well or they don’t get encouragement in a positive way they will look for attention in another ways, this is usually from a negative point of view i.e. they will start to show challenging behaviour in order to get a response this is most certainly what we don’t want ,as its not only bad for the child in question but the practitioner will find frustration in the fact that the feeling they now have could come across to the child in a negative light and that was something they were trying to avoid initially. You can now see that reinforcing positive behaviour is a good thing and the children mirror th is situation by acting appropriately well and in a positive light. 2.6 Evaluate the impact on an individual’s well-being of using reactive rather than proactive strategies. The use of a reactive approach towards a child is more of a negative one I feel, as an incident has already occurred and there will be a consequence for the child’s action, whereas a proactive approach is more of a positive one as it outlines from the start the behaviour that is expected from them, children as they are need constant reminders of good positive behaviour and if a proactive approach wasn’t used in the first place and an incident has occurred , the reactive approach after the incident has taken place can make the child in question feel a sense of confusion ,they may feel ashamed, humiliated and a whole host of negative feelings even if they are expressed in a positive light.

Navitas Kaplan Case Essay

The competition relationship between the Navitas and Kaplan is based on high educational service. They both play an important role at own educational fields and geographical fields. According to Brandenburger and Nalebuffs Value Net model Assume that Navitas is the company and Kaplan is one of competitors of Navitas. Most of customers are international students because of the target market of the Navitas. And the suppliers can be universities that have a positive relation with the Navitas such as Griffith University. Moreover, complementor can be student accommodation, good transport connections and appropriate shopping facilities such as a post office in the school. Additionally, the value of Navitas wants to add which is customer loyalty, and it is implemented very well. There is an increasingly number of international students especially Chinese students and Indian students are attracted to entry Navitas for Language improvement and preparation of university. Rules specify ways of attracting customers with strategies such as tuition fee of price-matching. Tactics are the practices sometimes used to take away a competitors possible market share, for example, Navitas provides university pathways programs. Scope is the final part, used to take a broader prospective and create links between competitors games and interests and see how co-opetition can benefit the players. Also, using the 5Qs (pp. 32-33) assess 2. What is Navitas business strategy How well is it performing Navitas business strategy 5Qs What amount of growth and level of profitability does the organisation plan to achieve It wants to grow and be quite profitable. What products and services does it plan to produce Its services are programs leading to higher education in English-speaking countries. What customer and geographic markets does it plan to service Its customers are students, especially international students. What generic strategy does it plan to follow to position itself uniquely against competitors It focuses to form relationships with established, highly credible universities. What position does it plan to hold in the future It wants to be universally recognised as the most trusted global learning organisation in the world. Navitas is a diversified global education provides that offers an extensive range of educational service for students and professionals including university programs, language courses, workforce education and student recruitment. By 2009, the company had become the largest private provider of international pathway students to Australian  universities. Moreover, the goal of the company is expanding its initial position as a university pathway program to a global education provider. Additionally, the corporate strategy of Navitas is to create seamless education pathways for students. Besides, most of Navitass colleges were also located at or near university campuses, providing students with convenience and at the same time leveraging the reputation of university. Due to Navitas also provides English language courses for most low IELTS grades international students before they enter university, the competitors fail to attract more international students. In the future, Navitas prefer to increase and strengthen relations with oversea universities and local campus expansion, and the important point is still focus on international students education. 3. What is Kaplans corporate strategy What is its business strategy in Australia How well is it performing Kaplans corporate strategy Kaplan wants to grow reasonably rapidly and be profitab le. It is a related corporation. All businesses of the corporation relate to each other. The businesses are all in the education and training areas, particularly in business-related or professional areas. The position that Kaplan wants to achieve is to be one of the worlds largest diversified education companies. What amount of growth and level of profitability does the organisation plan to achieve What products and services does it plan to produce What customer and geographic markets does it plan to service What generic strategy does it plan to follow to position itself uniquely against competitors What position does it plan to hold in the future The mission of Kaplan is to help people achieve their educational and careers goals. Kaplan wants to grow in both breadth and depth of education offerings to cover the need of individuals throughout their lifetime, such as test preparations and admissions, kids and schools, meanwhile expanded and increased professional development programs in Australia as quick as possible as well as appointed chief executive of Kaplan Australia to oversee the companys expansion in the country. 4. To what extent is Kaplan a threat to Navitas What should Navitas do to address this Clearly Kaplan and Navitas are competitive relationship in Australia, especially the expansion of Kaplan in Australia is a direct challenge to Nacitass position in the educational market. Kaplan has found its way to make an agreement with a Go8 university whereas Navitas has struggled to get entry to this group. It would signal that Kaplans services  may be better than Navitas in quality terms. It is a negative impact for Navitas in the education industry. Navitas should seek to grow internationally, trying to increase the international market share to make itself more famous and more attractive. On the other hand, Navitas should try to make an agreement with Go8 universities to steady the market share in Australia. 5. To what extent is Navitas a threat to Kaplan What should Kaplan do to address this Navitas entry into the US market is an threat to Kaplan. However, thus the US market is so large and the universities that Navitas is dealing with are not attractive enough, Navitas is difficult to cause any future threat to Kaplan. At this stage, it seems that it is not necessary for Kaplan to worry about the threat from Navitas. Kaplan should maintain the quality of service in US market and pay more attention to expand other markets. 6. To what extent do Navitas, Kaplan and similar organisations threaten existing government higher education institutions, such as universities and TAFEs The organizations like Navitas and Kaplan play multiple roles which can be competitor and complementor with existing government higher education institutions. They share student resource and built own brands to attract them. Moreover, overseas students are more profitable than domestic students. Universities are able to charge full-fees for overseas students, while most domestic placements attract a lower fee. Hence, Navitas and Kaplan pay more attention on the international educational markets, but TAFEs prefer to train professional skills to domestic students for their future careers. The difference of target market of these universities can be operated by them to maximize profits. 7. What should universities do to address this The university should improve the quality of its own service and programs, to be more customer-focused. Moreover, university can work with these profit-based organisations and clearly delineate which services and programs each should provide.

Analysis Of Crooks in Of Mice and Men Essay

Answer: Crooks is so mean to Lennie because although he and Lennie are quite similar (they are both categorised as the ‘weak ones’) Lennie has the better life, simply because he is white. Lennie is allowed in the dorm room and allowed to play cards should he choose to (if he even knew how to) whereas Crooks cannot. Throughout the conversation, we see Crooks’ character come out of his shell, and be nice to people whom he normally wouldn’t conversate with except Slim and the boss. Obviously, because he’s black and because of segregation, he is mean to those who disregard him because of his colour, but maybe there is another reason he is mean to Lennie, such as he is jealous of his lifestyle or he wishes he were white. Also, he is pretty low on the societal totem pole and Lennie is an easy target for him. Crooks’ first reaction when Lennie visits him is that he wants to prove a point: if he as a black man can’t enter white men’s houses, then whites aren’t allowed in his room. He wants Lennie to know that he has to have some sorts of rights. But Lennie’s inviting smile and Crooks’ desire for company means that Lennie can enter, and thus starts the convo where we learn all about Crooks. Like Curley’s wife, Crooks is a powerless character, and it seems that he seeks vulnerable characters to make himself feel good – He starts â€Å"suggesting† that maybe George will never come back and only stops the cruel game when Lennie threatens him with physical violence. He shows us that his loneliness means he often has no-one to talk to and his character would like sympathy. He is also interested once Candy and Lennie start conversating and forgets all about his mean self. He has seen men of all sorts come on and off the ranch and no-one has actually fulfilled the American Dream which he is doubtful of because it seems this â€Å"Dream† does not apply to him due to the colour of his skin. This is why he scrutinizes others. Question 2) Are there any similarities between Lennie and Crooks? Answer: Lennie and Crooks are both marginalised from society – Lennie’s lack of mental abilities keep him isolated and Crooks’ skin colour keep him isolated. For this, they are classed as ‘the weak ones’. When Lennie comes by, Crooks is immediately unfriendly. â€Å"You go one get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunk house; you ain’t wanted in my room. † However, both men long for company, and so begin talking. Their similarities wipe out any awkward silences and end their isolation. Crooks understands that Lennie has the better life and uses this against him to compare himself. â€Å"I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets lonely an’ he gets sick. † Both men can be seen as lonely, not only are they marginalised, and even though Lennie has George, his mental challenges keep him alone because no-one can completely understand him which emphasises his differences and Crooks’ colour leaves him excluded from the dorms. Question 3) What does this conversation tell us about the relationship of Crooks with other men? Answer: Crooks’ relationships are built around the fact that he is a victim of racism and is outcasted from companionship. We know from the start that Crooks takes a liking to Skinner and the boss, and since we don’t get to know him until Chapter 4, this outlines his lack of status, credibility and power. We as readers are able to emphasise with Crooks because we are shown how black people were treated in the time of the Great Depression. We see how Crooks is able to open up to Lennie and he confesses all his feelings and thoughts because he sees him as a figure of trust as he is unable to remember what he is told. His relationship with Slim is tight because we admire Slim as a good, supporting member of society.