Transforming Clear Lake College Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Transforming Clear Lake College - Case Study Example On the other hand, the elements of transformational leadership that Sam exhibited included significantly transforming Clear Lake College into a productive and successful academic institution through launching graduate degree programs and several new undergraduate majors; being a people person where he manifested communicating and interacting with different stakeholders; being true to his word by increasing the salaries of faculty and personnel when the financial condition improved; and capturing opportunities in the educational markets. 2. Sam’s leadership traits and characteristic make him a pseudo-transformation leader than a transformational leader. As a pseudo-transformation leader, Sam exhibited self-serving behavior despite being initially inspirational. He made decisions on his own and therefore discouraged participative and collaborative decisions and earned the ire of faculty, staff and students by berating them in public. 3. Yes, I was able to confront a leader about a manifested behavior, whether by acknowledging a job well done or by disclosing that the current behavior was contributory to affecting the morale of subordinates. The leader was highly accommodating of the feedback and appreciated one’s comments.

Great Expectations And Relate These To The Novel As A Whole Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations And Relate These To The Novel As A Whole Essay Discuss the Significance Of The Events, Which Occur In Chapter Eighteen of Great Expectations And Relate These To The Novel As A Whole I shall now discuss the significance of chapter eighteen, and how the effects of this chapter relate to the whole novel, Great Expectations. In Great Expectations, the names of the characters symbolize their personalities. For example, Biddy is a very timid person who will do your bidding obligingly. Then Pip is a small and insignificant sounding name, just like the actual character is. Jaggers, is a man with sharp wit, and features, he has a bullying manner, which can cut you up in front of an audience, just like a jagged knife. Pip on his first encounter with Jaggers comments on how the smell of scented soap came from his hand. This is symbolism. One does not wash ones hands unless they are dirty, and since Jaggers is a criminal lawyer, they must be prone to doing illegal or immoral acts, in order to save his clients. Hence, he always has to wash his hands, in a sense, so that he is not caught by the courts, and found guilty of anything. To prevent any legal trouble, Jaggers puts a lot of thought into the way he phrases his dealings with clients. He makes sure that he does not give any personal opinions, and makes sure that the clients remember the dealings as he wants them to, so if they are questioned, then his name does not come up for recommending, or ordering the client to commit any actions of moral or legal wrongdoing. For example, when he is dealing with Pip, he makes sure that Pip rephrases his statement, much obliged for his (Jaggers) recommendation since Jaggers recommending anything, can be counted as being involved with the crime. He makes sure that Pip uses the word mention instead. This is how Jaggers makes sure his hands are clean of any dirt, because he never recommends anybody Jaggers job is a performance for him. He is a performer, and a better one then Wopsle, which is proved when he battles with him about the highly popular murder. One of Jaggers performances is with his handkerchief that he pulls out whenever he wants a person to confess some knowledge to him. This is because it makes the audience want to confess before he sneezes, it is a dramatic performance, and has aided Jaggers many times. This tells us a bit about the justice system in those times, where defending criminals, and getting them off the death sentence was a performance of techniques, and bullying the jury into letting off the criminals. This shows how the justice system in the days was not efficient at putting the real criminals out of the streets, since a few dramatic movements and a bullying of the jury could sway the scales of justice the wrong way. Dickens is a great social critic, and he criticizes the inefficiency of the justice system in those days. The justice system would be less harsh on criminals who were gentleman, then on criminals who were not. If you knew the right people, wore the right clothes, and looked the right part, you were more likely to get away with the crime. Also if you were a gentleman this made you less reason to have commit a crime in the first place(in the judges eyes), and youll get a lighter sentence then if you were coarse and common. A perfect example of this is the Magwitch/Compeyson trial. Although it was actually Compeyson that led Magwitch aside, because he knew the right people and because he was a gentleman, he managed to pass most of the blame onto Magwitch. Compeyson got a sentence of seven years, and Magwitch fourteen years, just because Compeyson was a gentleman. In chapter 18, when Jaggers is discussing with Pip and Joe the situation of Pip having Great Expectations, he offers Joe a compensation (Wemmicks property) for the loss of his (Pip) services Joe denies the compensation, but Jaggers, who is completely, shocked of this news keeps on badgering him, because he thinks Joe is a fool not to accept the money. He also says, Brag is a good dog, but that holdfast is better which means that Jaggers is telling Joe, to say he doesnt want the compensation is nothing, but to actually keep by the word is something else. Joe to everyones surprise gets up in a mood of rage, to fight Jaggers, for badgering him in his own home. This shows us that Joes character is un-materialistic, and to be offered money is not something he is pleased by, as a replacement for his friend. It also shows us that Joe is not the type of man who can be bullied in his own home, by a man like Jaggers. Jaggers thinks Joe is a fool for not accepting the compensation offered. This shows us that the type of clients Jaggers deals with are probably materialistic, and not very moralistic, and maybe Jaggers himself has become like this by working with those types, and to meet someone who is noble and honest, like Joe, must be quite rare and surprising to him. Pip has Great Expectations of becoming a gentleman, of getting out of his social class, ever since Estella had criticized him of his course hands. Although, when Pip is about to finally get his wish he starts to become unknowingly dissatisfied, he feels he does not want to leave his old life too, subconsciously he will miss the love and care he has received from Joe, and newly from Biddy. In some ways, his great expectations have failed, and shall continue to as his life progresses. Also, Pip starts to become snobbish, and disloyal to his people He accuses the caring people he has known his whole life, to act coarse and common if he were to go and show them his gentlemen clothes. This tells us about Pips character, he is the type who would leave his old friends behind, for a better, more promising life. Although, somewhere in his subconscious Pip feels guilty for these acts, and he suffers because he knows he is acting basely. When the older Pip on reflects the selfish acts he had committed against loved ones when he was young, he criticizes them. When he is discussing with Jaggers about his future life, he reflects on how he was so ready to leave and so unthankful to Joe. At the time, Pip was thinking of his future as a Gentleman, of how his Great Expectations will be fulfilled, and he was being selfish at the time, for not being grateful for what Joe had given him so far. Although, elder Pips reflection is very different, he realizes his mistakes and says how he sees Joe again, how hurt Joe felt because Pip was going to leave him, how he still feels his strong and faithful arm upon his shoulder as if it had been the rustle of an angels wing! Another example is when he says to Biddy, You are envious, Biddy, and grudging. You are dissatisfied on account of my rise in fortune, and cant help showing it. I think this behavior by Pip is the worst because he thinks that he is superior to Biddy, who is so timid, and caring. The elder Pip criticizes on his actions here, for speaking in a virtuous and superior tone When Pip was got his wish to become a gentleman, through Jaggers, he became emotionally blind. Even when Joe and Biddy, congratulated Pip on his fortune of going to become a gentleman; there was a certain touch of sadness in their congratulations that I rather resented. This really shows how foolhardy and unfeeling Pip was at that time. Since the touch of sadness was actually because they both love Pip, and shall miss him and his company once he is gone. The significance of chapter 18 is great, since it is the chapter where Pip gets his wish to finally become a gentleman. Also, it is where we, the audience, see how emotionally blind, and how focused on the superficial things about a person Pip begins to become. It is where Pip and we are introduced to the bullying figure of Jaggers, and also the foreshadowing hint of Pips unhappiness in his life to come.

Animal Usage is Needed to Benefit the Human Race Essay -- Argumentativ

Animal Usage is Needed to Benefit the Human Race In today's world, one could split our country into two groups. One is those who are for animal rights in every aspect, and the other is those who are not. Those who are for animals' rights are commonly labeled "Vegans" by people of the opposing viewpoint, and sometimes even by their own. These people may belong to certain organizations such as PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or ALF, the Animal Liberation Front. These people commonly believe that animals should have every right that a human has. Animal Rights Activists generally think that people don't have the right to eat, own, hunt, or use animals in any way, or for any reason. This would mean people who eat meat on a daily basis would just be out of luck. This would mean no person would be allowed to own any animal for work on ranches or farms, for companionship, or for any other reason. This would mean all guides and hunters would have no business. This would mean no person could use any animal part for clothin g. This would also mean that more than half of the medicines and medical advances that we enjoy and live as a result of today would never have been discovered, and we would not be making progress on what we are in the medical field. The other people, those who are not, believe that animals should be handled with care and taken care of, but don't believe animals should have every right that humans do. One of the reasons that vegans don't believe we should eat animals is because we don't have the right to eat them. They believe that those animals have the same exact rights that humans have. The animals feel pain and have the exact same feelings that human beings do. What these people don't realize ... ... using their companionship to always have that best friend that will never let us down. Animal rights have gone far enough. There are laws to protect these animals. There doesn't need to be laws that perish our natural instincts and pastimes. Works Cited Bender, David L. "Animal Testing" Biomedical Ethics: Opposing Viewpoints. 1987. Minnesota, Greenhaven. Bender, David "Animal Testing" Biomedical Ethics: Opposing Viewpoints. 1994. California, Greenhaven. Doughney, Michael T. "People Eating Tasty Animals" People Eating Tasty Animals. 9 Dec. 2001. (http://www.mtd.com/tasty/). Envirolink Network "Animal Concerns: Pros and Cons" Animal Concerns.1999. (http://express. Netforchange.com/egi.bin/WebX.fcgi?13@@.ee6bbal). Guest Choice Network "Moore Lies From Eco-Extremists" Nanny Headlines. 6 Dec. 2001 (http://Nanny_headlines@burst.sparklist.com).

Feminism in Hamlet

Feminism in Hamlet â€Å"Frailty, thy name is women†; Mother, thy name is greatness Loyalty or betrayal, nobody can definitely point out what the truth is; but something that seems like the truth may not always be correct. Truth usually hides behind the stage and needs to be found by knowing what the characters are actually thinking. The Queen acts as a controversial character in the play â€Å"Hamlet† by William Shakespeare. She marries her husband’s brother just after her husband’s death. â€Å"Treachery†, â€Å"recreance†, â€Å"conscienceless† become the symbols of her character.As a queen of noble lineage, she has superior power, but no access to speak freely. Everything she does is to protect her son Hamlet. The pitiful queen becomes the scapegoat in a play filled with male characters. She loves only her true husband-King Hamlet. Her weakness and sin is just a foolish pretense for male chauvinism. Weakness or sagacity may on th e surface appear to be just a result of a decision made on the spur of the moment. Queen Gertrude has always been a controversial character. â€Å"In 1848, Strachey called her â€Å"weak†; and Professor Nicoll declares her ‘Little more than a puppet’,† (Draper).Is Gertrude a symbol of weakness or sagacity? According to John William Draper’s understanding of Hamlet, he offers another perspective to understanding the queen. â€Å"Can Gertrude, indeed, have been so â€Å"weak†? This interpretation apparently is based on the vague accusations of the Ghost and on Hamlet’s bitter, but also vague, reproaches, and especially on his â€Å"Frailty, thy name is women,† early in the play† (Draper). Here Draper alters the discussion around Gertrude from focus on her frailty and weakness to argue that her actions are misunderstood by male characters who do not understand the complexity of female nature.In Act 1 Scene 2 Queen Gertrude s peaks to Hamlet about her perception of the circumstances they have been placed in since her husband’s death. Gertrude clearly articulates her belief in accepting what has been lost, and the necessity for her to continue on without longing for what can no longer be. Her husband has passed and she must now make decisions she does not like in order to maintain her position as Queen, and protect her son. She says: â€Å"let thine look like a friend on Denmark. Do not forever with thy vailed lids seek for thy noble father in the dust.Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity. †(Shakespeare, 1. 2. 69-74). Gertrude speaks rhetorically to Hamlet about her desire for him to continue with his life without longing desperately for his father, as she has been forced to do. The Queen is a normal woman who must play two different roles between her new husband and her son. She is distressed herself over the inharmonious relatio nship between Hamlet and Claudius. She attempts to tell Hamlet this, but he is too young and stubborn to understand the position she is in as a woman.Instead of understanding her, he forms an opinion of her being weak and frail, only thinking of herself. On one side is her husband, Claudius, who gives her comfort while she is helpless after the death of the King; on the other side is her dear son who is enraged over his father’s death. Although it appears that her motivation for marrying Claudius is selfish, she actually marries to secure Hamlet’s position as prince and maintain power over Denmark. No complaint, no grumble passes her lips, the only thing she is able to do is to tolerate it all. The reason Gertrude marries her husband’s brother is not because she loves him, or her vanity, it is because she wants to protect Hamlet. This is proven in the end of the play, when she drinks the poisonous wine which the King attempts to give to Hamlet. â€Å"Claudius t reats Gertrude with unfailing consideration, respect and love; for her sake, he tries to conciliate Hamlet, though at some personal risk, and even courts discovery of his last desperate plot to warn her against the poisoned goblet. † (Draper).It can be argued that because of this action the Queen has discovered Claudius’ guilt and is attempting to save Hamlet from the same fate as his father. The King asks Gertrude to â€Å"not drink† (Shakespeare. 5. 2. 293) the wine, but she responds, â€Å"I will, my lord; I pray you pardon me. †Ã‚   (Shakespeare. 5. 2. 294). Gertrude is hoping that Claudius will explain himself, and prevent her from drinking the poison. This is her way of letting him know she is aware of his regicide, and is no longer willing to be his idle accomplice despite his great affection.In saying this she is knowingly protecting Hamlet from drinking the poison, while also letting Claudius know she is on to him. Hamlet describes his mother as a, â€Å"wretched, rash, intruding fool† (Shakespeare 3. 4. 32). According to the opinion expressed by Harold Bloom, â€Å"All [Hamlet’s] life he had believed in [Gertrude]†¦ He had seen her not merely devoted to his father, but hanging on him like a newly-wedded bride, hanging on him†   (Bloom 21) However, he will never know who his mother was. Hamlet was staying abroad in England when is father died. Gertrude was helpless after King Hamlet’s death. However, Claudius gives her much comfort and encouragement, and as a result, she marries him. She sees Claudius as the reflection of the late King. As Steven Mullaney demonstrates â€Å"Remarriage might seem to resolve the threat posed by female independence. † (Mullaney 172) Remarriage plays an ironic role in the play, Gertrude indeed does not receive any independence but rather causes the tragedy that happens. It is tragic that her son thinks she is disloyal.Never is a statement made indicatin g the Queen’s knowledge of Claudius murdering his brother. She even seems to not trust Hamlet’s accusations about the King’s death because Hamlet has been behaving as if he is mad. During the conversation between she and Hamlet he tries to tell the truth, â€Å"A bloody deed-almost as bad, good Mother. As killing a king, and marry to his brother. † (Shakespeare 3. 4. 29-30), Hamlet instead accuses his mother of having knowledge of his father’s murder. This implies that Hamlet believes the Queen is selfish and deceitful.The Queen is confused by his accusation. â€Å"As Killing a King? † (Shakespeare, 3. 4. 31), she asks genuinely confused by his statement, and being innocent is hurt by his censure. At the beginning of the play, the Queen ask s Hamlet to get out from the sadness of the King’s death. What no one knows is that she is trying to tell herself the same thing. She seems to ‘step out’ from the shadow of the suddenl y French leave of her husband. She becomes a liar, she is silly, and childishly thinking that marrying her brother-in-law will keep her close to her husband.The audience and other ? characters are unaware of how much Gertrude loves the late King; this is due to her being perceived as weak, frail and of a lesser moral position than the men that surround her. Weakness is not a characteristic belonging to Gertrude. She is a great mother and wife, who is misrepresented to the audience vis-a-vis a one sided view- that of Hamlet. Hamlet says that he â€Å"must hold his tongue† (Shakespeare, 1. 2. 159) He acts as a male character in the play, although he is saying that he cannot express what he wants to, however he still can do what he likes.Beavering madly, arguing with his mother and even being rude to King Claudius. Whatever how bad deed Hamlet has done, people prefer to believe â€Å"he is mad†, but Gertrude makes one decision that appears to be bad, and people call herà ¢â‚¬  weak† and a treasonous wife; however her decision is also forced by the power of King Claudius, as he preys upon her fear and concern for her son and throne, convincing her that the only solution to reigning her country successfully is through another noble marriage. Sometimes, people judge others unfairly.Gertrude is a great mother who dedicates her life to protect her son and guard the little sanctity she has. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Bloom's Major Literacy Character- Hamlet. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2004. Print. Draper, John Wiliam. â€Å"Queen Gertrude. † Draper, John Wiliam. The Hamlet of Shakesperae's audience. London: FRANK CASS AND COMPANY LIMITED, 1939. 108-121. Electronic. Mullaney, Steven. â€Å"Mourning and Misogyny. † Chedgzoy, Kate. Shakespeare, Feminism and Gender. New York: PALGRAVE, 2001. 172. Print. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: New American Library, 1998. Print.

The Coors

The US brewing industry is mainly dominated by six main key competitors towards a small number of local competitors. As a reality of the industry, the main costs are the commodity, production costs (brewing&packaging) which oriented major brewers to backward integration in order to become cost-efficient. Cheaper distribution strategies may create real competitive advantage in brewing industry. The competitive rivalry is broken up into three main segments, National, Regional, and Microbrewers. National competitors have wide market coverage and generally a large company. Regional competitors are smaller than National in the fact that they only distribute in certain regions. Microbrewers are the smallest of the three because their size and capacity limit them to only distribute to small geographic areas. Due to the strong rivalry among existing competitors, new entrants to the industry face many difficult barriers to entry by the existing bigger brewers. Large capital requirements and the need to establish a very strong distribution network are the main barriers. Many laws and regulations may also inhibit a new entrant from coming into the market. In addition to this, the threat of substitute products is moderate in the industry. On the other hand, the demand has grown generally only at less than one percent over the four decades, except the period from 1960 to 1980 which is characterized by the higher consumption of younger drinkers and efficient marketing strategies driven by key market players mainly focusing on pricing and differentiation. Coors in the Brewing Industry The core competencies of Coors brewing company were the production quality focusing on most qualified inputs and better production processes and the brand positionning emphasizing the image of quality. Coors products differentiation was coming from both in the materials that went into the beer and in the process they followed to brew it. The extra costs of better production processes are controlled by single product focus, running the fastest packaging lines as a result of vertical integration and benefiting from economies of scale through the country’s largest brewery. By creating a perception of a natural, high quality product Coors was able set high relative price while maintaining a high volume of sales. Coors responded to the need to fill excess capacity by national rollout. But the lack of efficient distribution channel and multiple production sites were the main significant disadvantages of the company. The company overcame this obstacle by establishing distribution centres in outlying markets and working with weaker distributors willing to sell only Coors. Opposing to its past strategies, Coors focused on weaker distributors and spent more to manage the relationships. The company had begun to focus more on advertising and marketing. The expansion strategy was supported by strong brand image campaigns focusing on product quality strengthened the brand ever than before towards competitors. Due to increasing competition, they also began to launch different segments of beers. The agreements made by Molson of Canada and Kaltenberg Castle of West Germany may be treated as the positioning strategies in international marketplace. Coors’s plan for multisite expansion included a new facility in Virginia, to supply the eastern states in order to support future demand and absorb the increased shipping costs. Now the main question is that building a new facility would be profitable or not for Coors. The slow trend in sales growth from 1975 to 1985 might be taken as evidence that they would not need more than 25 million barrels in capacity in the near future. The costs savings from reduced shipping costs could be offset simply by scaling their existing facility. Building the new facility in Virginia might be against Coors’ product differentiation supported mainly by the pure ingredient â€Å"Rocky Mountain spring water† which in reality is the core competency for the company due to the location. Any facility built outside Colorado will not brew beer with the Rocky Mountain spring water. The past inefficient strategies should be investigated by the company. First of all, Coors could have continued to dominate the western region. Coors should have expanded the production capacity to support the consumption increase before the competitors moved production into territory. The possible solutions for competitors would be in this case, tolerate higher shipping costs for market entry or build a large, underutilized, production facility. So they had to accept Western market region belonged to Coors. Additionally, by growing dominance in their western territories, Coors would have built an even stronger position over their distribution channels. On the other side, in terms of marketing approach Coors should have focused on maintaining the Coors’ brand image in its core territory rather than reaching the niche market with limited penetration. The product strategy should also have been driven with a different approach. Rather than multiple product segments expansion, Coors should have only focused on rapidly growing light beer segment with their successful Coors Light product which would have reduce the cannibalization of super-premium products on Coors Banquet.

Pygmalion and its characters essays

Pygmalion and its characters essays Choose a character and analyze the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists; how the character is affected by and responds to those standards; and how the characters reactions develop meaning in the work. "Pygmalion," a play by Bernard Shaw, is a mixture of a romantic comedy and a satire in which the main character, Eliza Doolittle, is judged only based on her English dialect. Shaws play makes fun of a society that evaluates its citizens on their particular dialect rather than their character. As a result, Eliza is forced into the metamorphosis from a common flower girl into a lady. In the opening scene of Act One, Eliza has to fend for herself and vehemently asserts the virtue and sacredness of her character, which society fails to recognize. In this scene, the note taker, who will later be identified as Henry Higgins, repeats exactly what Eliza says: Cheer ap, Keptin; nbaw ya flahr orf a pore gel. At this point, he realizes she is from Lisson Grove, a less-than-wealthy area of England. Furthermore, Shaw foreshadows the importance for Eliza to improve her speech if she wishes to get ahead in life. In other words, she will spend the rest of her life as a flower girl, even though her character may be more upstanding than that of a duchess. Even in this pathetic state Eliza is not totally depraved. She is self-sufficient and capable of earning her living by selling flowers. She exhibits cleverness and a degree of resourcefulness to get the maximum value possible for her flowers. She even has enough self-respect and pride to defend her honor when, as a flower girl, she feels she is being accused of trying to molest a gentleman. Though still preoccupied with her wounded feelings because the note taker was writing down her words, she says, Hes no right to take away my character. My character is the same to me as any ladys. This statement is ...

E-commerce site development re essays

E-commerce site development re essays The purpose of this report is to document and showcase the need to develop an E-Commerce presence for a University Bookshop that will cater for the university students of Brisbane. Brisbane is a dynamic, modern day city with an ever-increasing population of university students, and with that being said, there is a need for students these days to require an online facility to easily purchase their University books. This report will consist of the following sections: SWOT Analysis; a Business Plan consisting of the elements of a market and industry summary, financial plan, supply and acquisition, demographics, geographic coverage, timeline for completion of the project and a section on the issues to be explored whilst the project is conducted and completed. The next section of the report focuses on a competitor comparisons where the report focuses on finding out the standards of our competitor websites. The report also consists of a number of important documentation sections that are provided in the appendix which all provide insightful information on how the project will be conducted and completed. These Appendixes include the following: Gantt Chart for timeline of completion for the project; project plan documentation, database design documentation and website design documentation. These documentation will form the basis of the website feasibility proposal and determining the requirements of the project. The project that is proposed to be undertaken is to design and create a website for an online book store. The website will advertise the various books and allow registered members to buy books online. The site will provide information on the various books and authors and even contain reviews. The website will offer a fully functional online business presence for university students to acquire the books they need to study at university. The online bookshop will allow students to purchase these books via online p...

Using German Participles as Adjectives and Adverbs

Using German Participles as Adjectives and Adverbs As in English, the past participle of a German verb may be used as an adjective or adverb. In English,  stolen  is the past participle of the verb  to steal. The word  stolen  can be used as an adjective, as in: â€Å"Thats a  stolen  car.† Similarly, in German the past participle  gestohlen  (fromstehlen, to steal) can also be used as an adjective: â€Å"Das ist ein  gestohlenes  Auto.† The only significant difference between the ways that English and German use the past participle as an adjective is the fact that, unlike English adjectives, German adjectives must have an appropriate ending if they precede a noun. (Notice the -es  ending in the example above. More about adjective endings in  Lesson 5  and  Adjective Endings.) Of course, it also helps if you know the correct past participle forms to use. A past participle such as  interessiert  (interested) can also be used as an adverb: â€Å"Wir saheninteressiert  zu.† (â€Å"We watched  interestedly/with interest.†) Present Participles Unlike its English equivalent, the present participle in German is used almost exclusively as an adjective or adverb. For other uses, German present participles are usually replaced by nominalized verbs (verbs used as nouns) -   das Lesen  (reading),  das Schwimmen  (swimming) - to function like English gerunds, for instance. In English, the present participle has an -ingending. In German the present participle ends in -end:  weinend  (crying),  pfeifend  (whistling),schlafend  (sleeping). In German, â€Å"a  sleeping  child† is â€Å"ein  schlafendes  Kind.† As with any adjective in German, the ending must fit the grammatical context, in this case an -es  ending (neuter/das). Many present participle adjective phrases in German are translated with a relative clause or an appositive phrase in English. For example, â€Å"Der  schnell vorbeifahrende  Zug machte großen Lrm,† would be, â€Å"The train, which was  quickly passing by, made a tremendous noise,† rather than the literal, â€Å"The quickly passing by train...† When used as adverbs, German present participles are treated like any other adverb, and the English translation usually places the adverb or adverbial phrase at the end: â€Å"Er kam  pfeifend  ins Zimmer.† â€Å"He came into the room  whistling.† Present participles are used more often in writing than in spoken German. Youll run across them a lot when reading books, magazines, or newspapers.

Financial Analysis of Bahrain Mari. & Mer. Inter.Co Assignment

Financial Analysis of Bahrain Mari. & Mer. Inter.Co - Assignment Example Bahrain Mari. & Mer. Inter.Co Company Profile: Bahrain Mari & Mer Inter co. is also known as BMMI in Bahrain stock market. BMMI principal activities are whole selling and retailing of food, beverages and other consumable items. Company also provides services in shipping. BMMI's headquarter is located in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and with international operations spanning three continents, BMMI is a diversified retail and distribution, and contract services and supply group, supported by a world class integrated logistics capability. BMMI is one of the fastest growing companies in the list of the companies which are listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange. BMMI has an annual turnover in excess of US$ 230 million. Company adopts a costumer focus business approach and follows the international standards and global best practices. BMMI Group now has a presence in seven countries across three continents of the world, and has staff comprising people of 30 different nationalities. BMMI operates core business area. The group has owns and operates a chain of Supermarkets in Bahrain, which enjoy a reputation for delivering fast and offering fresh, quality products. BMMI also provide the some other services like remote site and facilities management, contract supply, packed meals and beverage distribution. Financial Analysis of Bahrain Mari. & Mer. Inter.Co. Note: All Accounts' figures have been form BMMI financial statements of three years. Profitability Ratios Liquidity and leverage Ratios: Year 2011 2009 2008 Equity attributable to shareholders' to total assets (%) 78.02 77.27 64.59 Total liabilities to total Equity attributable to shareholders' (times) 0.28 0.29 0.54 Current ratio (times) 3.03 2.80 1.72 Quick ratio (time) 2.32 2.04 1.03 Financial performance: Note: All Accounts' figures have been form BMMI financial statements of three years. It is clear that the recent financial performance of BMMI Co has been good. Total sales revenues are strong at BD 84.8 million despi te a slight decrease compared to BD 87.2 million in 2009. However, According to financial statements of the company the net profit of BD 9.2 million was the fourth highest in the Group’s history, while shareholders’ funds increased to BD 48 million, up seven per cent over 2009. There are also several positive signs. BMMI Co. has not made losses in any of the last three years. There is an impressive increase in liquidity position, with cash and short-term deposits increasing to BD 12.9 million from BD 12 million in 2009. On the side the value of total assets also increased 5.9%. Financial Position: According to the financial statements of the company total operating profit is increased to BD 8.9 million from BD 8.7 million which is the indication of lower selling and distribution expenses. Total assets also increased from BD 57.8 million in 2009 to BD 61.2 million in 2010, due to increases in property, plant and equipment and trade receivables. Earning per share has als o increase .079 to .080. On the other side he underlying net profit and revenue strength of businesses must be highlighted, but this factor can not effect on the company's performance because company strongly capitalized, highly liquid, unleveraged and conservative towards investments. It is clear that with the presence of recessionary pressures from suppliers and customers BMMI has successfully increased its Gross profit margin to 26 per cent. It is the symbol that the company is focusing on primary functions in efficient manner. Investment portfolio can be seen in healthy position but on the other side some devaluation of investments and provision against losses can be seen in BMMI statements. According to BMMI's chairman this is due to the impairments against some losses and further improvement is expected in 2011 as markets continue to recover. Shareholder wealth: Shareholders’ funds increased to BD 48 million, up seven per cent over 2009. This clearly states that BMMI Co has been increasing the

Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Project Management - Essay Example Moreover, these activities are assumed to accomplish, their objectives within financial constraints as well. In the light of above discussion the projects are conceived to attain the certain goal or set of goals in a given time frame, therefore it could be established, that the time is the most important feature of these activities. Generally, the resources are deployed in an organization to carry out its normal functions, but the nature of a firm is pretty much stable, as compared to that of a project. This fact places a premium on the timely execution of the projects. The project could also be defined, a set of interconnected tasks, which should be completed to execute, the entire project (Blackstone, Cox, & Schleier 2009). However, this observation leads to the implication of interdependence of one task on to the completion of another one. This interconnectivity compels the project management to hire experts of every area affected by the project. Next, this paper will shed some li ght on the interesting facts, about the revolution of project management as a science, which are as follows The process of project costing got better, because the cost overruns dropped from 180% to just 56%, in past ten years (Blackstone, Cox, & Schleier 2009) The time overruns are also decreased from 164% to 84% in the same period of time (Blackstone, Cox, & Schleier 2009) These improvements are caused, by the excessive utilization of information technology, to integrate the decision process, between various people working on the project. However management information systems helped a lot in terms of effective and efficient project execution, but they by themselves are the most difficult ones to manage. The case of NHS IT program is a real world example. The major purpose of projects is to create something new, such as new product development. Therefore, they carry a higher level of risk, which requires an able management team that was lacking in the NHS project. The projects are believed to be the only credible source of development in the dynamic world of management, because they provide, the opportunity to the business persons around the world to experiment with something new (Zdanyte & Neverauskas 2011). However the rate of failures among these activities is overwhelmingly high. This fact is partially caused by the inadequate level of knowledge about this particular field among practitioners. This trend also played a significant role in making the IT project of NHS a failure, where the large level execution was attempted without any prior planning. The modern method of project management entails, dividing a whole project into smaller ones, and then considering each one separately (Gorog 2011). In this way the commitment of resources is well divided among the various stages of the project, so it becomes relatively simple to track the investments. Another benefit of this approach is the clear and logical interdependence between the different phases of the project gets highlighted, which gives clear sense of direction to those working on it. This above mentioned approach was the ideal one to implement on the venture

Strategy Implementation - NIKE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategy Implementation - NIKE - Essay Example For a large capital company, these continued gains are an amazing performance. This paper is a strategy implementation for Nike. (Nike Inc., 2012) While the statistics above shows strength in Nike’s strategy, this ratio has several limitations. It does not account for the money’s time-value, in addition to the risk associated, with an investment or stock (Harper, 2012). The ratio also overvalues investments as the equation overlooks long-term costs in favor of short-term savings. Finally, since they can be calculated using different criteria, these ratios have a problem with consistency. The Inventory Turnover of a company, in accounting, is a measure of the frequency at which inventory is used or sold in a set period, for example, a year (Ozyasar, 2012). The equation for its calculation involves dividing the cost of goods sold by average inventory. It is also referred to as stock turnover or inventory turns. For Nike, the inventory turnover has been dropping, although not drastically. These ratios show that while Nike does well with money collection, it has much slower in selling or using inventory in the past three years. (Nike Inc., 2012) This ratio has several limitations. ... Finally, low inventory levels could lead to lost sales. The inventory turnover ratio fails to tell the organization if it could have sold extra if it had higher stocks. Nike intends to move its global organization into organizational learning and sustainable practices with an aim to increase sales (Balch, 2012). These strategies are also aimed at spreading the appreciation of sustainability through the entire organization, as well as demonstrate value to customers and business. In the 21st century, successful integration of corporate responsibility with the heart of the business is mandatory. Nike is adopting environmental efforts aimed at being part of its wider sustainability program. Nike is striving to minimize the negative impacts, which their processes have on the environment during the product life cycle from design all the way to manufacturing. They are also extending this to the products post-consumer use, as well as the product’s ultimate disposal. They have institut ed a program called NEAT that strives to recycle manufacturing waste left over from shoes (Balch, 2012). The solid waste from Nike shoes, especially cured rubber used for the manufacture of soles, is now converted into new soles This is expected to create value addition to the consumer since they are environmentally friendly, which is now a major global issue. This builds on one of the company’s core values; doing things with a difference as standing still is seen as dangerous while failure to take risks is seen as more dangerous. For Nike, collaboration is vital if they are to stay ahead with innovation (Balch, 2012). They are thus continually seeking insight from regular athletes and partners from inside and outside the industry, with an aim to improve

FACILITIES, STADIA AND THE ENVIRONMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

FACILITIES, STADIA AND THE ENVIRONMENT - Essay Example Expansion of the existing stadium of the Arsenal club was not possible because of the space crunch. Due to this there was a loss of total revenue. Hence construction of a much larger stadium was extremely required. Since Islington was very close to Highbury, Arsenal decided to move on to this location, which could afford around 60, 400 seats. The club had to first buy different lands to relocate Islington Council's recycling plant and Royal Mail Holloway Delivery Office earlier situated in the chosen location (Islington). This was a very expensive move for the club. The Emirates Airlines has signed a 100m sponsorship deal with the club. This is the reason why the stadium has been named Emirates Stadium. The name of the stadium will remain the same for at least 15 years because of this sponsorship. The club had arranged for loan from the stadium facilities banking group. The group consists of the biggest names of the banking sector of UK. One of the reasons why the club chose to build the stadium in this location is that it is geographically well located. A number of London Underground stations are within easy reach of the stadium. Holloway Road tube station is very close to the southern part of the stadium whereas the Arsenal Tube Station is situated close to the northern part of the stadium. ... location's geographic importance was most attractive for them because it was in an area with which the club has been associated since the past 91 years. So there was an emotional attachment to Islington, which worked in its favour. Arsenal's reputation is of having world's best playing surface. Islington's land statistics were attractive which was yet another geographic reason for choosing this area for the reputed stadium. Emirates - a multiple purpose stadium Apart from sports the Emirates Stadium is also involved in various other activities like organizing different top-level meetings, forums, seminars, conferences etc. at the stadium premises. The stadium has the planning permission to organise several single day events and up to 3 musical concerts in its premises. Government Policy The UK government's regeneration policies have changed the face of London. The construction of the Emirates Stadium can be related to these policies of the government. All efforts have been made to carry forward the regeneration work in accordance to the policies set by the government. Sports have always been a favourite activity of the people of United Kingdom. In comparison to all the sports, football (soccer) is the most popular game among the people of UK. The government policies are always directed to promote this game. The government's support in this project is an example of its pro sports policies. With the present government and its policies there is no doubt about the fact that sports will prosper even more in London. The construction of the Emirates Stadium is a fresh example of this. The stadium has been announced - no smoking zone, in the light of the no smoking policy in public places of the government of Great Britain. Through this the people are not allowed to

Multidimensional Chromatography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Multidimensional Chromatography - Essay Example Hence, essentially speaking, one dimensional chromatographic separation is definitely not the last word for isolation and characterization of biomolecules, chiefly proteins. The limitation is due to its low resolving power in presenting a homogenous protein sample from a complex mixture of several other unwanted proteins, associated matrix components and metabolites that can otherwise be segregated in a much more efficient way by various types of matrix loaded multiple columns utilizing their differential properties and affinities. Moreover, combination of two or more analytical separation steps involve perfectly standardized pre-treatment processes that are to be coordinated in an automated way for a complete segregation of the test samples. (Mondello, P. 251) Multidimensional separation techniques were first devised with the implementation of two dimensional separation beds, in which two different parameters for migration corresponding to two distribution coefficients help to identify the separated components on the bed with more certainty and a high peak capacity than that achieved by one dimensional separation procedures. (Cortes, P. 14 - 15) A high value of peak density is an important requisite for effective separation process and it can easily be achieved by combining two or more chromatographic separation techniques. The greater the number of peaks that can be resolved effectively in a given multidimensional separation procedure within a fixed time frame greater is the overall efficiency of the process. Likewise with effective resolution of a higher number of peaks more and more complex samples can be duly segregated, characterized and analyzed for further investigation. In a simple two dimensional chromatographic process that is c arried out by a combination of two different columns, the maximum peak capacity will be the product of the peak capacities of the individual columns, thereby generating a higher capacity of resolution for the overall analytical process. As for example, the peak capacities for each separation process being 100 and 200, the combined value of the maximum peak capacity of the two dimensional separation procedure becomes a product of the two, that is, 20000, thereby ensuring high resolution and larger separation between the collected fractions. (Chromatography Online.com, 1998 - 2008) Multidimensional chromatography, therefore, finds a maximum usage in biomedical research and especially in proteomics, where investigation of biological samples of protein mixtures requires prior separation and characterization in order to tag the target protein. In protein analysis research several novel methods of multidimensional chromatographic separations are being currently used in complementation with the 2-D polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic separation (2D-PAGE), for a much better resolution and greater separation space between analyzable eluents. Multidimensional approach involving multidimensional liquid chromatography (MDCL) used in unison with bio-mass

Analysis of Hyundai Motor Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Analysis of Hyundai Motor Company - Essay Example The company in focus for this paper is Hyundai motors. Hyundai is a Korea based company but it has grown steadily in the automotive market over the past few years. Automotive industry is highly competitive these days, according to Bloomberg Businessweek (2012), the US automotive market is highly competitive these days, home companies like General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC are expected to lose market share to companies like Toyota and Honda. Hyundai Motor Co. has reported to have doubled its share in US automotive market as compared to their share in 2005. It is still expected to gain 0.1 % market share more than the last year. According to the customer retention study carried out by J.D. Power and associates in 2011, Hyundai has been declared to be number one in customer retention. According to the study Hyundai’s customer retention rate has increased by 4 points thus raising it to 64% in the year 2012, which implies that among the automotive brands custome rs were the most loyal towards Hyundai. Its brand name is currently measured to be nearly $5 billion. As the future of every company is based on the relations it has with its customers, thus it’s safe to say that Hyundai's future seems even more promising. In this paper the company’s performance will be analyzed as to see whether its market share value, which is currently $ 203.16 (Won 229,000), according to the company’s overview, reflects the actual performance of the company or not. As the consolidated reports for the year ended 2011 are not available yet, so the analysis will be carried out for the year ended 2008 to year ended 2010. Along with the comparison with last years, the performance of the company will also be compared with the financial performance of Toyota Corp. Financial Analysis As the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the reflection of the company’s performance on its share value, the basic analysis will be carried out on the profita bility of the company with relation to the shareholders’ equity. Keeping the performance of the company from the year 2008 to 2010 in mind, it will be analyzed how the company is performing over the past few years as well as with its competitor Toyota Corp. The profit margin of the company drastically fell to 4.42% from 13.7% in 2009. The company has been able to recover a bit, the profit margin has increased to 7.09% in 2010, and even though the consolidated statements of the company for the year 2011 are not yet released, it has been reported that Hyundai has broken its sales records in the year 2011, so a probable increase in profitability can also be predicted. As opposed to the sketchy performance over these years, the company is still doing better as compared to Toyota Corp., which reported a profit margin of only 1.54% in the year 2010. A company’s revenue is highly dependent on the fact that how the company is utilizing its assets for generating sales every yea r, as is defined by the net return on assets, which has prominently increased for Hyundai over these three years from 2.71% to 19.3%, it would

Multidimensional Chromatography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Multidimensional Chromatography - Essay Example Hence, essentially speaking, one dimensional chromatographic separation is definitely not the last word for isolation and characterization of biomolecules, chiefly proteins. The limitation is due to its low resolving power in presenting a homogenous protein sample from a complex mixture of several other unwanted proteins, associated matrix components and metabolites that can otherwise be segregated in a much more efficient way by various types of matrix loaded multiple columns utilizing their differential properties and affinities. Moreover, combination of two or more analytical separation steps involve perfectly standardized pre-treatment processes that are to be coordinated in an automated way for a complete segregation of the test samples. (Mondello, P. 251) Multidimensional separation techniques were first devised with the implementation of two dimensional separation beds, in which two different parameters for migration corresponding to two distribution coefficients help to identify the separated components on the bed with more certainty and a high peak capacity than that achieved by one dimensional separation procedures. (Cortes, P. 14 - 15) A high value of peak density is an important requisite for effective separation process and it can easily be achieved by combining two or more chromatographic separation techniques. The greater the number of peaks that can be resolved effectively in a given multidimensional separation procedure within a fixed time frame greater is the overall efficiency of the process. Likewise with effective resolution of a higher number of peaks more and more complex samples can be duly segregated, characterized and analyzed for further investigation. In a simple two dimensional chromatographic process that is c arried out by a combination of two different columns, the maximum peak capacity will be the product of the peak capacities of the individual columns, thereby generating a higher capacity of resolution for the overall analytical process. As for example, the peak capacities for each separation process being 100 and 200, the combined value of the maximum peak capacity of the two dimensional separation procedure becomes a product of the two, that is, 20000, thereby ensuring high resolution and larger separation between the collected fractions. (Chromatography Online.com, 1998 - 2008) Multidimensional chromatography, therefore, finds a maximum usage in biomedical research and especially in proteomics, where investigation of biological samples of protein mixtures requires prior separation and characterization in order to tag the target protein. In protein analysis research several novel methods of multidimensional chromatographic separations are being currently used in complementation with the 2-D polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic separation (2D-PAGE), for a much better resolution and greater separation space between analyzable eluents. Multidimensional approach involving multidimensional liquid chromatography (MDCL) used in unison with bio-mass

Characteristics and Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Characteristics and Skills - Essay Example The most critical cycle for effective counseling is the 4Es cycle – On introspection as to why I have people turning to me for sharing their problems and going back with a sense of relief in my personal life, I have realized that I can build trust based relationships quickly that could actually help the aggrieved person. Some of the essential characteristics that I possess as an individual are strong yet effective communication, make an objective assessment of situations, the ability to call a spade a spade and communicating this reality to the person opposite in a way to empower them in their current situation and give feedback effectively has made me choose this particular professional career. The values that I bring to the table are the following Empathy is one of the soft skills that any person would need to be an effective counselor. Empathy actually means affection clubbed with passion touched by the quality of suffering. This particular characteristic is viewed by many professionals as the most important one in a helping relationship. â€Å"Empathy is often viewed as conveying sensitivity to the client and trying to understand what â€Å"walking in the other guy’s shoes† may feel like. The helper need not necessarily have undergone the experiences of a client to understand the client’s feelings (Brooks/cole - A division of Thomson learning, 2004).† Genuineness is another important aspect that any person who intends to take up a human service profession needs. Genuineness is the expression of true feelings. â€Å"To be a genuine helper, one must avoid role playing or feeling one way and acting another. Genuine helpers do not take refuge in any specific role, such as counselor or therapist. Genuineness involves self-disclosure. It implies a willingness to be known to others (Brooks/cole - A division of Thomson learning, 2004).† If the human service helper is genuine then

Philosophical Autobiography Essay Example for Free

Philosophical Autobiography Essay Life is what not it’s cracked up to be. Sure, it sounds like good, but eventually we all encounter despair, failure, suffering, frustration, the being unloving of our own hearts and of those around us, and finally death. Experience tells us even the best aspects of life are ultimately unsatisfying.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Probably the most significant question we can ask ourselves is what the most important thing in life is. The question has far reaching implications in that the answers that we arrive at can determine the course of the rest of our lives. Many would consider money or financial success as the most important factor in life. The high rate of suicide amongst lottery winners would contradict this. Others would search for fame, yet the list of famous people who have committed suicide or died from an overdose of drugs continues to grow. Good health would be high on anyone’s priorities, and the presence of love in ones life is also of major importance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I would propose that wisdom is the most important thing in life. The best definition of wisdom that I have read is â€Å"the best means to achieve the best ends†. Wisdom is needed to achieve the best results in the myriad decisions we all need to make daily in our personal, financial, family, work, community lives. Each one of us has a unique mindset or set of beliefs which are continuously changing and which we use to make decisions, each of which has significant roll on effect on how the rest of our lives turn out. These mindsets are determined by the unique environments we have grown up in, our age, our education and the cumulative impact that each life experience has had on us. Our unique mindset is either working in our favor or working against us in each and every situation that we face. One way that we can test how online our thinking is in a particular situation is to look at the results we achieve as a result of the actions we took. Good results means our governing beliefs were online, bad results means that we need to re-evaluate our beliefs to determine what caused the negative outcome. I would propose that life is very much like a game and that a comparison between the two is very enlightening. In any game, you need to be fit, possess certain skills and have a good knowledge of the rules in order to participate. In life, we need to have a good knowledge of the rules that apply and to use this knowledge continuously in order to assess and make decisions in every situation that we face. The more intensely we play the game of life, the better our knowledge and application of the rules, the better the results we will achieve, much like a football player who is skilled, trains hard and knows the rules. During the course of our lives we progress from being dependent on our parents for food and shelter and emotional support, to being independent as we become young adults. We learn to make decisions for ourselves, and as we see the results of our decisions we get feedback and the resultant experience adds wisdom to subsequent decisions. The next stage is to develop relationships with others, or interdependence, and it is through these relationships that significant personal growth can occur. Many of us however have a low sense of self esteem which holds us back in relating to others. We look at the results we have and are achieving in our lives. If our results are unsatisfactory, we reassess our beliefs and make adjustments to our actions. Additional feedback is our emotions like fear, anger, unhappiness, disappointment etc. Our target is to lead a joy-filled, intense yet balanced life, leading to continually increasing wisdom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, most of us need to unwind and get away from our hectic schedules from school, work, and other things that keep us busy. Like other young adults, they hang out in bars to have some fun but in my case, I rather go to the beach or in the mountains with my family to spend time with them and at the same time to recollect, meditate and appreciate the creation of God. Each place has its own beauty that attracts my attention. I love nature that much. I am thrill and feel excited every time I gaze their natural beauties. These are the places where I can meditate, recollect and reminisce my past or the things I do previously.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I like going to the beach if I want to find enjoyment and fun. I like the beach a lot because the breeze is very fresh. When I am in the beach, I enjoy staying under the heat of the sun while reading my favorite book and the sun makes my skin tan and adorable to look at. I also feel free and at ease. I can wear too my favorite swimwear.   When I am in the beach, it gives me an opportunity to surf and play beach ball games which I cannot do when I am at home and school. I also bury myself under the sand as a sort of relaxation and therapy to my body and when I do that, it gives me a sort of relief. Going to the beach also gives me an opportunity to meet new set of people from different walks of life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, going to the mountains is also an interesting thing to do. It is fun and adventure. If I want to be on my own and don’t want to be disturbed by people, I immediately go to the mountains. The air there is as fresh as in the beach but it is not crowded with people. I can only find trees and animals. The chirps of the birds really inspire me and want to live life to the fullest. It makes me realize, too, that though birds live simply, they are happy and contented with their lives. They don’t ask for more but happy of what they have. This is the perfect place for meditation and for adventure. I am free from air and noise pollutions from the city where I live. When I am on the mountains, it gives me an opportunity to sleep early and helps me wake up excitedly the next day to have a brisk walk or climb some mountainous areas. Moreover, as a wide reader, I love to read detective and inspirational books. These would help me develop my critical thinking and analyze why things happen that way. Hence, I also like the works of Shakespeare especially the story of Hamlet. Considered as one of the greatest of Shakespeare’s tragedies, Hamlet is also one of the best-known plays in world literature. It is distinguished to be one of the first of its kind of being peculiarly a â€Å"philosophical play†, in addition to having a variety of metaphysical and psychological theories. Although revenge tragedies already existed during and before its time, Hamlet best exemplifies the genre of Elizabethan revenge. A center of many arguments is the apparent delay of Hamlet’s revenge. Critical discussion of this supposed procrastination has a long history. Goethe thought Hamlet too sensitive, Coleridge and A.W. von Schlegel too intelligent to be capable of action. The early 20th century English critic A.C. Bradley saw him as restrained by melancholia, the 19th century German scholar Herman Ulrici by moral scruples; the Freudians viewed him as too complex-ridden to kill his uncle (â€Å"Hamlet†). This aspect of Hamlet’s behavior is seen either as a flaw or a virtue. The story contains four sons of murdered fathers (Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras, and Pyrrhus), but Hamlet differs from the three’s pursuit for revenge. He even goes as far as feigning insanity in order to conceal his real agitation and divert attention from his task of revenge. The subject of revenge, which is one of the focal themes of the play, transcends every genre, for there is a Hamlet in every one of us. As Hamlet in the story suffers pain and grief as a result of the circumstances surrounding his father’s death, the usurping of the throne and by the betrayal he felt from his mother’s remarriage to his father’s brother, Hamlet is then filled with the dilemma of whether to take revenge against the wrongdoer. Suffering and grief as a consequence of injustice and oppression is as old as man’s history. Even during the course of the play, Hamlet’s torment alienates him from all those around him, even though he has a close friend to confide with. Such inner turmoil is only expressed in his soliloquies but unknown to those around him. Certainly, the depth of suffering is known only the most by the one who suffers.   How people variously react to such agonies is showcased in the play’s story. Most often, it is the common desire to act as the three other young men (Laertes, Fortinbras, and Pyrrhus) did pursue their task of vengeance with ruthless single-mindedness. However, Hamlet’s situation is far more complicated. This shows that indeed, vengeance is far from simple. While it seeks to retaliate by inflicting pain for pain, Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows the peril of vengeance. All those who sought revenge died. Hamlet’s loved ones (such as Ophelia), those whom he could have sought solace and comfort, and himself also died. They became victims of Hamlet’s reckless rage as a result of his deflected and unfulfilled desire for retaliation. Revenge therefore, sinks both the offender and the avenger, pulling down along with it the innocent. It is a bearer of destruction. While most revenge plays justifies the avenger by emphasizing him or her as a victim, Hamlet’s character hangs a question above it. At the very core of revenge is bitterness, and is like a ‘rotten apple that spoils the whole bunch’. It has destroyed everything that’s good in Hamlet and made him much more evil than his stepfather. The danger of retaliation is to do greater harm than what was received. No one overcomes evil, with evil. Before bitterness could do its harm, it is best thrown out. Truly, Shakespeare’s Hamlet speaks to every individual in every genre, since ALL of us must pass through a time of making that choice: â€Å"TO BE (bitter) OR NOT TO BE (bitter)? That indeed is a question we all must face.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition, I believed that I am a one of a kind person so the saying or quote that would definitely describe me is The Grateful One. The reason I chose this quote is because this is what I perceive myself as and this is what other people think about me too. Not all people are being appreciative and thankful of what they have in life. Some of them would only be grateful when things go smoothly and when they can get the things they want. But through the years and seasoned with testing and circumstances, I have learned that I should be grateful in every way; thus, thanking those people who have helped me shape my character not only those people who brought positive impacts in my life but including those people who have hurt me. It is so irony to be grateful for those people who have hurt me but to some degree, their negative actions toward me make me strong as an individual and learn to depend on God. I have learned, too, that I should not only be thankful during the times when my spirit is uplifted but as well as the time when I am also down because I believe that everything has a purpose why things happen and during those gloomy days of my life, I was able to ponder and see the true beauty of life; thus, showing me who are my true friends are.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, I never let the day pass without being appreciative and thankful to every people I meet. I may not directly say thank you to them but at least I would tell them that I appreciate to be with their presence. But most of all, I will continually be grateful to God for giving me a family and parents who are very supportive and really inculcated that good conduct. Actually, I come from a strong Christian background and my family tells me, consistently, to always acknowledge God and to remember where my blessings come from. I am what I am today because of them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though I am very active with my academic career and civic organizations, I had this experience before that totally teach me a lesson. It teaches me how to listen some advices from others especially from our parents. This is my other side. To let go of someone you dearly love is very painful to do. The pains cause by ending relationship is very unbearable. Some people may find their world tear apart when they realize that their relationship with their partner is not going well. I have had this relationship in the past that truly marks in my heart and in my mind. I do love this person very much despite of his weaknesses and flaws but many people around us do not like the idea of being us together. At first, I try not to give ear to their comments and opinions because of my love for my partner. But in a long run, I decide to call it quits because I find out that my partner is having an affair with other man; take note, it’s a â€Å"man.† It truly hurts me a lot because he exchanges me to a man! It is a big slap my on face. That is the first factor I consider when I break up with him. He is not trustworthy and faithful. I just strongly believe that a woman is meant to be with a man and a man is meant to be with a woman. Though I live in a liberated world but I cannot just take and stand with this kind of idea that is having an affair with same sex. When I break up with him, I feel so much freedom that I never been experiencing when we are still together. I don’t know why I feel that way, but that is how I really feel. I feel like a bird being imprison in a cage for a long time and has the chance to be released. When my friends especially my parents learn about it, they are very happy and relieve. They don’t just like my partner because they can smell something fishy on him. After the break, I feel such joy in my heart and feel more beautiful inside.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, many people think of personality as being made up of observable traits such as shyness, friendliness, and initiative. However, such traits are only the outward expression of various inner conditions and processes such as intelligence, attitudes, interests, and motives. Normal persons develop relatively consistent personalities that are distinguished by certain dominant traits. Persons belonging to the same cultural group—such as a family or nation—have many traits in common. But each person exhibits different traits under different circumstances, and each has unique traits as well as those he or she shares with others. It is also known that personalities develop throughout life, and may even undergo fundamental changes as result of psychotherapy or other treatment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, personality is produced by the interaction of heredity and environment. Inborn qualities affect the individual’s response to the outside world, and the environment influences the way in which inborn capacities develop. However, the precise reasons why one person develops certain personality traits, while other develops other traits, are not known.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What you have known to yourself is not known to others. They only base their judgments on what they see and that is your personality. Basically, the treatment of people on you depends on how you carry yourself, through your composure when you are irritated and how you dressed up yourself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An example of this is how you dress up yourself.   Don’t wear clothes that will give others a reason to criticize and not respect you at all but rather wear clothes that would motivate them to respect you as a person because if you would like to be respected, pay respect first to yourself by wearing clothes decently.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I have observed that people that I meet pay me respect because of the way I dress and talk to them. I have a number of experiences that with regards to how I dress up and gaining respect from others. They find my personality respectable because of how I act and how I carry my clothes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another thing, we cannot deny that there is always prejudice and biases wherever we go. People will treat you nicely or give you special treatment if they find you attractive or appealing but if you are not attractive to their eyes, they will just ignore you as if you do not exist. It usually happens in big and known department stores or any establishment. If you wear flashy clothes and very attractive to look at, the salesperson will entertain you very well and gives you a welcome smile but if you wear just a simple dress and you are not that attractive, there is a tendency that the salesperson will not give you a fair treatment. She/He might think that you cannot afford the stuff they are selling and why does she/he bother entertaining you?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are times too that attractive people are always popular and they are respected because of their good looking appearances. Moreover, many people would be fanatic to them and may imitate their styles. Just like the actresses and actors that we have in the past and at present. Because of their charisma, many people would try to imitate and dream to be like them. But if you only have a plain face, there is always a tendency that people would make fun of you. So we cannot deny that in this world, most people are looking only for the outside appearance and they forgot to look what is in the heart.

Preventing Dengue Fever in the Mauritius

Preventing Dengue Fever in the Mauritius INTRODUCTION Mauritius is a small tropical island located at latitude 20à ¸ 18 0 S and longitude 57à ¸ 34 60 E. It has a tropical climatic condition. Mauritius has an area of about 2,040 sq km and is located to about 2000 kilometers from east west of Africa and some 800 kilometers from Madagascar. The positioning of Mauritius makes the latter a tropical country with moderately lofty temperature throughout the year. Winter and summer are the seasons that manifest onto the island. The island of Mauritius finds itself as one of the most accessible islands in the Indian Ocean. Situated amid R‚union island and Rodrigues island, the island of Mauritius has gained the reputation, through the course of time of that of the key and star of the Indian Ocean. The Mauritian population estimates for the year 2008 was about 1, 260, 781 with an annual growth rate of 0.7 %. Since the country is undergoing major developmental changes many industries have implanted here and thus the number of expatriates in the country is on the rise. These people may be a carrier of the disease and of course those Mauritians visiting the dengue endemic areas can also become infected and bring the disease in the country. It is an indisputable fact that during the lapsed decades, Mauritius has witnessed a multitude of diseases. The most prominent and recent one being Chikungunya which has infested merely about 12000 Mauritians. Furthermore, the history of diseases in Mauritius is marked with Malaria epidemics since colonial regimes and through the intensive effort of the Public Health sector, the latter has been proclaimed eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1973. Some years ago many of the realms citizens were not aware of what was dengue fever even though it had already occurred in the country but there was not mass infection by the virus. Providentially, the number of cases reported beforehand was only one or two and through the close collaboration between the Ministry Of Health and the infected person the situation was under control and hence no further positive case of dengue were recorded. The Mauritian government is putting forward all steps to prevent an epidemic rather than to rush for controlling it when it has already hit the population. The Ministry of Health is working on a list which highlights all water retaining sites and is identifying the hotspots of such sites that are liable to cause proliferation of mosquitoes; this process is carried out each year. Furthermore, an action plan is being prepared by the ministry which gives a layout of which and what job is to be done by which section of the ministry or other stakeholders (anonymous, 2009). Dengue viruses are transmitted by the Aedes species. Two known species the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are vectors of the disease. The Aedes albopictus can be found in large quantity all around the island whereas Aedes aegypti is said to be eradicated from the country. Surveillance on the abundance of mosquitoes is carried out by the entomological section throughout the year. All sites where mosquitoes that can be vectors of disease are seen, they are referred to the nearby health office for a larviciding to be carried out at that place and in the vicinity. Aedes albopictus (Skuse) is known as the Asian Tiger mosquito (Robertson and Hu, 1988). Aedes albopictus is native to Southeast Asia, but now occurs throughout the world. The worldwide spread of Aedes albopictus during the precedent 20 years has caused apprehension in the midst of public health officers and scientists over the possibility that the introduction of this species will amplify the risk of epidemic dengue fever and other arboviruses in countries where it has become established (Gubler, 2003). Aim The aim of this study is mainly to evaluate the effectiveness of the control measures taken to prevent dengue fever in Mauritius. Emphasis will be laid on the steps taken before, during and after the disease occurrence. This might highlight the shortcomings that Mauritius face in order to manage outbreaks of diseases. Objectives of study The objectives of this dissertation are to evaluate the management, procedures and legislation that are implemented in Mauritius during outbreaks of dengue fever. Furthermore, most interest is geared towards the application of chemicals, preventive measures, and health education of the public carried out by the Ministry of Health Quality of Life to prevent the occurrence of the disease and also to annihilate if ever found in the island. To elucidate the effectiveness of fogging, larviciding carried out in the country and health education of the public. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Dengue 2.0.1 General considerations Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever were first identified in the 1950s, during the dengue epidemics in Philippines and Thailand and by 1975 it had become a leading cause of hospitalization and death among children in many countries found in that region (Lloyd, 2003). In the year 1779 Egypt and Java had dengue-like epidemics, but it is thought that they were caused by the chikungunya virus (Carey, 1971). Dengue virus belongs to the genus Flavivirus, Family Flavivaridae and there are four serotypes of the virus (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN 4). All the four serotypes can cause dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever and even dengue shock syndrome (Ramchurn et al, 2009). The four viruses are closely related but are distinct. Millions of people residing in tropical areas of the world are affected by epidemics of dengue fever. Dengue fever is associated with the severe form dengue hemorrhagic fever/ dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS) that is seen mostly in children and nevertheless adults also are attained by the disease. In the 19th and early 20th centuries dengue or dengue-like epidemics were reported in the Americas, Southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia and on various islands in the Indian Ocean, South and Central Pacific and the Caribbean (Ehrenkranz et al, 1971). Generally these epidemics consisted of nonfatal feverish illnesses, often coupled with rash and either muscle or joint pains (Carey, 1971). Deaths occurred during dengue epidemics in Australia in 1897 and in Greece in 1928, when over 1000 deaths were reported (Halstead, 1980). Hemorrhagic demonstrations, including gastrointestinal bleeding, were described during dengue epidemics in Texas and Louisiana in 1922 (Scott, 1923). Nevertheless through the first half of the 20th century, dengue was generally described as a self-limited, nonfatal febrile illness, with occasional hemorrhagic manifestations such as red spots, acute hemorrhage from the nostril, nasal cavity, or nasopharynx, gingival bleeding and menorrh agia that only once in a blue moon resulted in more stern or fatal outcomes. During the last decade, dengue infection along with its complications has been on the rise all over the world. Their geographical spread is increasing: only 5 countries documented dengue in the 1950s but to date there are more than 100 countries reporting the incidence of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (Guha -Sapi Schimmer, 2005). Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas (WHO, 2009). Dengue fever is a very infectious mosquito borne viral disease characterized by either a mild febrile syndrome or the classic incapacitating disease with abrupt onset of high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and bone or joint pains, nausea and vomiting and rash. Skin hemorrhages are not uncommon. Leukopenia is usually seen and thrombocytopenia may be observed (WHO 1997). Dengue is a flu-like mosquito-borne disease and has a soaring capacity for epidemic outbreaks, which according to the World Health Organization (2009) affects 50-100 million people each year in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. Dengue is cited as being one of the most significant mosquito-borne disease affecting humans and as a major international public health concern (WHO 2009). Dengue fever is predominantly transmitted by Aedes species which have adapted themselves to living near human habitation (Hales et al., 2002). The dengue virus is a member of the family Flaviviridae virus, transmitted through the biting of infected Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquito. The Aedes aegypti mosquito normally bites indoor and late in the afternoon whereas the proficient mosquito Aedes albopictus is an aggressive daytime biter, which is also known to bite early in the morning, late afternoon (Knight and Hull, 1952) and at night (Murray and Marks, 1984). This biter is usually an outdoor biting mosquito, but it also bites indoors (Hawley, 1988). Generally the mosquitoes bite at ground level (MacDonald and Traub, 1960, cited in Hawley, 1988). Females will bite any area of exposed skin, but prefer the ankles and knees (McClelland et al., 1973; Robertson and Hu, 1935). The time amid the bite of a mosquito carrying dengue virus and the apparition of symptoms ranges from 4 to 6 days, with a range of 3 to 14 days. 2.0.2 Pathogenicity of Dengue fever: 1. Asymptomatic and mild infection It is very common. 2. Dengue Fever (primary infection) Dengue fever is characterized by increase in body temperature; severe aching of the forehead; retro-ocular pain; muscle and joint pain; and widespread maculopapular inflammation. Conjunctiva may become red. Other common problems that may arise are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain. Fear of light, sore throat, increase in the size of the lymph node and bleeding tendencies may also happen. The illness lasts 5 to 7 days. Immunity is lifelong. On the other side the incidence of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever or Dengue Shock syndrome increases if the person has immunity or has already been infected before with a different serotype. Even after several months of recovery some patients may experience depression and fatigue. 3. Dengue Hemorrhagic fever The well-known feature is bleeding. It happens when a person is infected twice but with a different dengue virus serotypes or infrequently by primary infection is common in kids Under 15 years of Age (Rigall-Pewrez et al.1998). There is sudden rise in temperature and other manifestations of Dengue fever. Petechiae, effortless bruising, gingival bleeding and epistaxis are common. In severe cases bleeding of the gastrointestinal tract can be observed. In children, we can have an increase in the size of the spleen and the liver. 4. Dengue Shock Syndrome The prominent feature is hypotension. It normally occurs in people below 15 years of age. The clinical features include weak pulse with narrow blood pressure, cold and clammy skin (Rigall-Pewrez et al.1998). 2.0.3 Mode of transmission of dengue virus: Chikungunya and dengue viruses are transmitted to humans by the bites of infected mosquitoes. In contrast, Aedes albopictus is abundant and may be the only important vector of these viruses on the islands. Both species bite mainly during the daytime, particularly in the early hours after dawn and for 2-3 hours before darkness. Aedes albopictus is more active outdoors whereas Ae. aegypti typically feeds and rests more indoors (WHO 2008). In the cycle of dengue, the vertebrate host is man and the Aedes species the vectors. The disease is acquired only when bitten by female mosquitoes, as the female feed on blood in order for the development of their eggs whereas the male mosquitoes are not infectious due to the fact that they feed only on nectars rather than blood. In 8-10 days the infected mosquito is able to transmit the virus to other people. Thus the cycle of transmission takes only 14 days. One dengue-infected female mosquito is capable of biting and infecting several people during one feeding session. The dengue mosquito frequents backyards in search of containers holding water inside and outside the home, such as: cans, buckets, jars, and vases, pot plant dishes, birdbaths, boats, tyres discarded with no rims, roof gutters blocked by leaves striking containers, tarpaulins and black plastic. It can also breed in natural containers like: bromeliads fallen palm fronds. In drier conditions it also breeds in water inà ¿subterranean sites such as: wells, telecommunication pits, sump pits, gully traps. Transmission cycle of dengue results from a complex system based on several main constituents like: the density of susceptible hosts, environmental conditions and the presence of one or more serotypes of the dengue virus. The number of confirmed dengue cases has been increasing owing to the fact that the world is undergoing rapid urbanization and its population is also on the rise, disposal of non-biodegradable containers, rapid transportation and poor living conditions such as poor water supply and very rare scavenging services at squatter areas (Satwant, 2001). Various studies have shown that the Aedes albopictus is able to transmit all the 4 serotypes of dengue. Aedes albopictus mosquito can serve as an important maintenance vector of dengue viruses in endemic areas, and new endemic areas may be initiated by importation of vertically infected eggs (Gubler, 2002). That is the infected Aedes mosquito can pass the dengue virus to its progeny and when the eggs will develop into mature mosquitoes they will be already infected, hence capable of causing infection of human beings or even pass the virus to their progeny. Transmission cycle of dengue virus by the Aedes aegypti mosquito starts with a person infected with the dengue virus. The blood of the person will contain the virus thus circulating in his body and this is called a viremia which will last for about 5 days. During this period, an uninfected female Aedes aegypti mosquito bites the infected person and acquires the dengue virus. Within the mosquito, replication of the dengue virus occurs and this process usually takes between 8-12 days, after which the female mosquito can transmit the virus upon a blood meal. Once infected the virus takes 4-7 days to replicate within the new host (the person whom the infected mosquito bite) before inception of symptoms. Symptoms may last from three to 10 days, with an average of five days, after the onset of symptoms. Hence, the disease persists several days after apparition of symptoms (CDC Dengue Slideset). 2.0.4 Lifecycle of Aedes mosquito: The mosquito goes through four separate and distinct stages of its life cycle and they are as follows: Egg, Larva, pupa, and adult. Each of these stages can be easily recognized by their special appearance. Egg: Eggs are laid one at a time and they float on the surface of the water. Aedes species do not make egg rafts but lay their eggs separately. Aedes lay their eggs on damp soil that will be flooded by water. Most eggs hatch into larvae within 48 hours. Larva: The larva lives in the water where they eventually undergo a molting process to become a pupa. Pupa: The pupal stage is a resting, non-feeding stage and is the time the mosquito turns into an adult. It takes about two days before the adult is fully developed and upon complete development, the pupal skin splits and the mosquito emerges as an adult. Adult: The newly emerged adult rests on the surface of the water for a short time before flying away. In the Aedes mosquito family only the female bites because it requires protein to develop eggs, therefore if it bites a person infected with the dengue virus the mosquito becomes infectious after approximately 7 days. The mosquitoes are known to be biting at a highest frequency at dawn and dusk. Some more facts: The average lifespan of a mosquito of the genus Aedes in Nature is 2 weeks Mosquitoes may lay eggs about 3 times in his life, and about 100 eggs are produced each time. The eggs can live in dry conditions until approximately 9 months, after which they can hatch if it is subject to conditions, i.e food and water Source:http://dengue-feverdisease.blogspot.com/2008/02/lifecycle-of-aedes-mosquito.html [accessed on 05.12.09] 2.0.5 Investigation for dengue infections: Laboratory results Decrease in the number of white blood cell and peripheral neutrophils in the blood, abnormal increase in the number of lymphocytes in bloodstream and very low amount of platelets in the blood. Radiology X-ray of the chest normally shows pleural effusion and seldom pericardial effusion Ultrasound Used to detect pericardial effusion and 2) presence of excess fluids in the gap amid the tissues lining the abdomen and abdominal organ. Tests Laboratory diagnosis is done by detection of virus in specimen-serum at the virology laboratory. Culture is done in cell line derived from A. albopictus cell. Immunoflurescent techniques are used to detect viral replications. The virus can be isolated in patients with fever. Serology IgM is detectable in 90 % of patients by the 6th days of illness. Serum collected early may give false negative result. IgM can also be detected 2-3 months after. It is not possible to identify serotype with serological tests. In case where the IgM test is Positive it may imply recent infection with Dengue fever. However definitive diagnosis can only be made if the virus is isolated or the virus genome is detected by PCR. Seroconversion or boost in titer may indicate fresh infection. The appropriate samples for PCR test include plasma and serum. Molecular test is highly sensitive but it can be used in patients only with viraemia (Rigall-Pewrez et al.1998). 2.0.6 Treatment: The managing of dengue fever can be enhanced with bed rest, passable fluid intake, plus control of fever and pain with antipyretics in addition to analgesics (e.g. paracetamol). For the supplementary ruthless manifestations of dengue virus infection, correct management requires early identification and swift intravenous fluid substitution. Blood transfusion may be necessary in cases. There is currently no vaccine is available to shield against dengue infection. The current lack of a booming vaccine against the dengue virus causes prevention methods to be approached by plummeting disease vector population, with Integrated Pest Management programs for mosquito control. These employ a mishmash of control strategies, including mosquito surveillance, source diminution, eradicating larvae and eradicating adult mosquitoes (Ooi et al. 2007). Eradicating adult mosquitoes alone is fruitless in controlling mosquito populations because it is complex to treat the unattainable habitat of the adults. Mosquito larvae are left to carry on their development, and they quickly swap the adults. Nevertheless, mosquitoes can become resistant if pesticides are overused. 2.0.7 Dengue fever in Mauritius: Dengue virus infections are emerging as the major ones in Southeast Asia. Global warming may worsen the occurrence of dengue fever. Since very last few years mixed outbreak of chikungunya and periodic cases of dengue fever have been reported on R‚union Island and other South West Indian Ocean countries. From March 2005 till March 2006 it is estimated that about 204000 people in R‚union Island may have been infected by the chikungunya virus, which furthermore shows that there is presence of the transmitting vectors of the disease on the island which are also the vectors of dengue fever as well. Hereafter, the other South West Indian ocean countries were not spared from infection from the chikungunya virus. An outbreak of dengue fever was reported in Madagascar more specifically in the city of Toamasina that started mid-January 2006 and rare cases of chikungunya were also reported mid-February. Maldives also have suffered from a dengue outbreak in year 2006 where 602 people were suspected to be infected among which there were some severe form of dengue fever that is 64 dengue hemorrhagic fever cases and 9 cases of dengue shock syndrome (WHO 2006). In Mauritius the first case of dengue fever dates to the 1976s and it was contained thus limiting the disease from spreading. Then we had a case of imported dengue from a person who visited an endemic dengue area in January 2008 (CDCU). The main vectors of the disease remain the Aedes mosquitoes, among which the Aedes aegypti mosquito is the primary vector and Aedes albopictus the secondary one. The mosquito found to be spreading dengue fever and Chikungunya in Mauritius is the Aedes albopictus (CDCU 2009). It is to be noted that in Mauritius we had both the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, due to the intense anti-malaria campaign during the year 1952 the primary carrier of the dengue fever, the Aedes aegypti have been successfully eradicated. Still very minute amounts of this mosquito can be seen whereas the Aedes albopictus is abundant. Dengue is transmitted from person to person through the biting of infected mosquitoes. Most recently we had a short-lived epidemic of re-emerged dengue fever in Mauritius that started in the month of June 2009 which was imported. The mild fever was first localized in the city of Port Louis, where there were 192 cases and then we did have some sporadic cases in other regions of the island. Mosquito fogging and larviciding in whole Port Louis started on 3rd June 2009, and were repeated every seven days. Fogging was carried out outdoors early in the morning, early evenings and sometimes till late in the evenings (Dengue Unit 2009). The Ministry of Health and Quality of Life of Mauritius took the situation as being severe and all medium possible to contain the disease were put into action. Like the Special Mobile Force and manpower from other Ministries which joined the Ministry of Health to fight the dengue fever. Public alertness campaigns on the requisite to hunt and eliminate mosquito breeding sites at home and in the neighbourhood and to protect oneself against mosquito bites were carried out through radio, television and the press through a public private partnership. Detailed information leaflets were also distributed, door to door distribution of pamphlets showing pictures of possible breeding sites for mosquitoes and products to be used to prevent mosquito bite were carried out by the primary health care personnels. Target groups included the public, community groups and school children (Ramchurn et al, 2009). By the end of the month August no new or suspected cases of dengue were recorded in any of the countrys hospital. But still the control and prevention program were continued throughout the island as the summer season was coming near hence reappearance of the dengue fever was possible due to the ambient temperature, favorable for larvae development. The fear of having the virus again was due to the possibility of the infected mosquitoes to pass the virus to their progeny. Fortunately, till February 2010 no suspected case of dengue fever was reported from any in the country (Dengue Unit 2010). 2.1 Vector surveillance and control program Ever since mosquitoes are capable of transmitting diseases like dengue and chikungunya, till now it has not been possible to eradicate the mosquitoes completely from their originating site. The best way to monitor or control vector-borne diseases is to control or limit the population of the vector to such an extent that disease transmission is very low or even stopped. In order to achieve this goal, it is imperative to know all about the mosquito involved in the transmission of the disease. Detailed knowledge of all aspects such as the breeding sites, different features of the mosquito at different stages, feeding habits, mating, resting and structure and most importantly without forgetting the lifecycle of the mosquito, are the main required things in order to be able to break the chain of transmission. Furthermore, the only way to prevent infection of people who have not suffered from dengue is to control the population of dengue vector (Ooi et al.2001) and of course personal precaution has also proved to be effective in reducing the risk of being infected by a mosquito. Since no vaccine is yet available for dengue the only mode to control dengue fever is the control the amount of the disease vector that is of the Aedes mosquitoes. The control strategies of these mosquitoes are 1) carrying out larviciding -spraying a chemical called abate in any water retaining place which kill the larvae of the mosquitoes hence interrupting the cycle to be completed, 2) fogging operation- a thermal fogger is used to propel fumes of Aqua K-Othriner which when is in contact with a mosquito kills it, thus the amount of developed or simply mature mosquitoes are reduced and 3) health education- talks are organized for the members of the public, for children in schools, colleges, etc. Entomological survey is an important and integral part of dengue prevention and control. The effect of the intervention by the community can directly affect the ecology of the vectors that is the Aedes mosquitoes. The Communicable Disease Control Unit (CDCU) is the unit which is mostly concerned for the control of communicable diseases such as Malaria, Dengue fever, Chikungunya, and other infectious diseases. In Mauritius, surveillance, disease prevention and education of infectious diseases are mainly carried out by the Health Inspectorate Cadre. In Mauritius, we have the Public Health Act (Section 32A) which is used in case where there is presence of a mosquito borne disease in the island. The potential for predation to prevent pathogen invasion or reduce disease prevalence in a host population also has implications for the biological control of vector populations. Predators have been introduced, or proposed, as biological control agents of vectors for various diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and Lyme disease (Jenkins 1964; Legner 1995; Stauffer et al. 1997; Samish Rehacek 1999; Scholte et al. 2005; Kumar Hwang 2006; Ostfeld et al. 2006; Walker Lynch 2007). Several recent studies suggest that predator introductions led to a decline in local cases of dengue fever in Vietnam and Thailand (Kay Nam 2005; Kittayapong et al. 2008), and malaria in India (Ghosh et al. 2005; Ghosh Dash 2007). 2.2 Biology of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) Aedes albopictus are two winged insects from the family Culicidae of the order Diptera. They are among the best known groups due to their importance as pests and as vectors of diseases. They are easily identified due to a combination of the following characters: long trunk projecting head; charisma of scales on the wing veins, a tassel of scales along the posterior boundary of the wing, and the typical wing venation, the second, fourth and fifth longitudinal veins being branched (Miyagi and Toma 2000). Female mosquitoes feed on blood and they have highly specialized mothparts for piercing host skin and blood sucking (Wahid et al. 2002). Aedes species are normally day-time bitters and active during the day. During this time, they have peaks of landing and biting activity. The peak time for Aedes albopictus occurred about one hour after sunrise and then before sunset (Abu Hassan et al. 1996). Nevertheless, the rate of biting varies depending on the mosquito age and time of the day (Xue and Barnard 1996). CHAPTER 3 DATA COLLECTION 3.1 Introduction In this chapter, a summary of the various steps that was undertaken to finalize the research is attempted. The research work was started as from the month of September 2009 to the end of January 2010. 3.2 METHODOLOGY In order to assess the effectiveness of the control measures taken to prevent dengue fever, data were collected from the different partners who are involved in the control and prevention of dengue fever in Mauritius. Such data were collected from books, newspapers, published articles, magazines and official statistics from the Central Statistics Office, Dengue Unit, Communicable Disease Control Unit and the Ministry of Health Quality of Life. Moreover, constructive discussions were entertained with people who are in touch with the matters connecting to the piece of work. Search through the internet, review of available documents and properly classifying the information that would be used during the study. 3.3 METHODS OF ANALYSIS OF THE DATA OBTAINED Questions related with the way of application of the different control measures were selected for analysis from the filled questionnaires. Moreover, each particular question was analyzed by using SPSS software which provided the frequency and percentages and hence Microsoft Excel 2007 was used to express the data in forms of percentages, tables, figures, graphs, pie charts and charts. Chapter 4 Part I-Data Analysis 4.01 Introduction This chapter of the thesis will be dealing with the data collected from different stakeholders involved in the fight against dengue fever. Data collected mainly from the Communicable Disease Control Unit, Dengue Unit, and certain Health Offices of the country and the media will be expressed in figures. This section will be divided in to two parts: data analysis and press cot analysis. Much attention will be oriented towards the control measures in Port Louis, as the maximum number of cases occurred there and eventually the island in whole. 4.02 Progress of the disease through June 2009 in Port Louis Figure 4.1: Number of cases each day during the month of June 2009 From figure 4.1 it can be seen that the first case was detected on 2nd June 2009 and the maximum number of cases reported to the hospitals was around the 10th to 13th day of the same month. The number of confirmed cases by the end of June 2009 had decreased to less than five. 4.03 Age of people infected with dengue virus From the above chart (Fig 4.2) it can seen that about 34.55 % of the total number of cases (246 confirmed) of dengue were vulnerable ones that is the young and the elderly. 4.04 Aqua K Othriner used for fogging process Aqua K Othriner is a chemical used in mixture with another chemical substance called Nebolr, in thermal foggers to kill adult mosquitoes. Normally, the fogger produces fumes which in fact are fine droplets of the mixture which when in contact with a mosquito causes its death. The first day of fogging was started on 2nd June 2009 with a minimum cubic centimeter of Aqua K Othriner used, on the 7th day the maximum and throughout the rest of the days varying just a little in amount except for the 14th day. 4.05 Number of inspections carried out during the past 8 years throughout the Country Starting from the year 2001 till 2005 from the graph (fig 4.4) the number of inspections carried out by the health inspectorate cadre shows a slight decrease and suddenly in 2006 the number increases to approximately 3 fold than that in 2005. In year 2007, the amount of inspections carried again decreases to 112,087 and eventually for 2008 the number decreases a bit more. 4.06 Number of sanitary notices served during the past 8 years Public Health Act Sanitary notices are normally issued to the author of nuisance, as for in this case the notices served were to cause removal of water collected in used tyres, drums, roof tops, etc. From the year 2001 till 2005 the number of such type of notices served was ranging between 4933 and 8013. For 2006 the figure was the highest with 10657 of notices served and for the remaining 2 years a gradual decrease was noted. 4.07 Number of contraventions taken for none compliance with the Public Health Laws Notices Figur Preventing Dengue Fever in the Mauritius Preventing Dengue Fever in the Mauritius INTRODUCTION Mauritius is a small tropical island located at latitude 20à ¸ 18 0 S and longitude 57à ¸ 34 60 E. It has a tropical climatic condition. Mauritius has an area of about 2,040 sq km and is located to about 2000 kilometers from east west of Africa and some 800 kilometers from Madagascar. The positioning of Mauritius makes the latter a tropical country with moderately lofty temperature throughout the year. Winter and summer are the seasons that manifest onto the island. The island of Mauritius finds itself as one of the most accessible islands in the Indian Ocean. Situated amid R‚union island and Rodrigues island, the island of Mauritius has gained the reputation, through the course of time of that of the key and star of the Indian Ocean. The Mauritian population estimates for the year 2008 was about 1, 260, 781 with an annual growth rate of 0.7 %. Since the country is undergoing major developmental changes many industries have implanted here and thus the number of expatriates in the country is on the rise. These people may be a carrier of the disease and of course those Mauritians visiting the dengue endemic areas can also become infected and bring the disease in the country. It is an indisputable fact that during the lapsed decades, Mauritius has witnessed a multitude of diseases. The most prominent and recent one being Chikungunya which has infested merely about 12000 Mauritians. Furthermore, the history of diseases in Mauritius is marked with Malaria epidemics since colonial regimes and through the intensive effort of the Public Health sector, the latter has been proclaimed eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1973. Some years ago many of the realms citizens were not aware of what was dengue fever even though it had already occurred in the country but there was not mass infection by the virus. Providentially, the number of cases reported beforehand was only one or two and through the close collaboration between the Ministry Of Health and the infected person the situation was under control and hence no further positive case of dengue were recorded. The Mauritian government is putting forward all steps to prevent an epidemic rather than to rush for controlling it when it has already hit the population. The Ministry of Health is working on a list which highlights all water retaining sites and is identifying the hotspots of such sites that are liable to cause proliferation of mosquitoes; this process is carried out each year. Furthermore, an action plan is being prepared by the ministry which gives a layout of which and what job is to be done by which section of the ministry or other stakeholders (anonymous, 2009). Dengue viruses are transmitted by the Aedes species. Two known species the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are vectors of the disease. The Aedes albopictus can be found in large quantity all around the island whereas Aedes aegypti is said to be eradicated from the country. Surveillance on the abundance of mosquitoes is carried out by the entomological section throughout the year. All sites where mosquitoes that can be vectors of disease are seen, they are referred to the nearby health office for a larviciding to be carried out at that place and in the vicinity. Aedes albopictus (Skuse) is known as the Asian Tiger mosquito (Robertson and Hu, 1988). Aedes albopictus is native to Southeast Asia, but now occurs throughout the world. The worldwide spread of Aedes albopictus during the precedent 20 years has caused apprehension in the midst of public health officers and scientists over the possibility that the introduction of this species will amplify the risk of epidemic dengue fever and other arboviruses in countries where it has become established (Gubler, 2003). Aim The aim of this study is mainly to evaluate the effectiveness of the control measures taken to prevent dengue fever in Mauritius. Emphasis will be laid on the steps taken before, during and after the disease occurrence. This might highlight the shortcomings that Mauritius face in order to manage outbreaks of diseases. Objectives of study The objectives of this dissertation are to evaluate the management, procedures and legislation that are implemented in Mauritius during outbreaks of dengue fever. Furthermore, most interest is geared towards the application of chemicals, preventive measures, and health education of the public carried out by the Ministry of Health Quality of Life to prevent the occurrence of the disease and also to annihilate if ever found in the island. To elucidate the effectiveness of fogging, larviciding carried out in the country and health education of the public. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Dengue 2.0.1 General considerations Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever were first identified in the 1950s, during the dengue epidemics in Philippines and Thailand and by 1975 it had become a leading cause of hospitalization and death among children in many countries found in that region (Lloyd, 2003). In the year 1779 Egypt and Java had dengue-like epidemics, but it is thought that they were caused by the chikungunya virus (Carey, 1971). Dengue virus belongs to the genus Flavivirus, Family Flavivaridae and there are four serotypes of the virus (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN 4). All the four serotypes can cause dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever and even dengue shock syndrome (Ramchurn et al, 2009). The four viruses are closely related but are distinct. Millions of people residing in tropical areas of the world are affected by epidemics of dengue fever. Dengue fever is associated with the severe form dengue hemorrhagic fever/ dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS) that is seen mostly in children and nevertheless adults also are attained by the disease. In the 19th and early 20th centuries dengue or dengue-like epidemics were reported in the Americas, Southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia and on various islands in the Indian Ocean, South and Central Pacific and the Caribbean (Ehrenkranz et al, 1971). Generally these epidemics consisted of nonfatal feverish illnesses, often coupled with rash and either muscle or joint pains (Carey, 1971). Deaths occurred during dengue epidemics in Australia in 1897 and in Greece in 1928, when over 1000 deaths were reported (Halstead, 1980). Hemorrhagic demonstrations, including gastrointestinal bleeding, were described during dengue epidemics in Texas and Louisiana in 1922 (Scott, 1923). Nevertheless through the first half of the 20th century, dengue was generally described as a self-limited, nonfatal febrile illness, with occasional hemorrhagic manifestations such as red spots, acute hemorrhage from the nostril, nasal cavity, or nasopharynx, gingival bleeding and menorrh agia that only once in a blue moon resulted in more stern or fatal outcomes. During the last decade, dengue infection along with its complications has been on the rise all over the world. Their geographical spread is increasing: only 5 countries documented dengue in the 1950s but to date there are more than 100 countries reporting the incidence of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (Guha -Sapi Schimmer, 2005). Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas (WHO, 2009). Dengue fever is a very infectious mosquito borne viral disease characterized by either a mild febrile syndrome or the classic incapacitating disease with abrupt onset of high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and bone or joint pains, nausea and vomiting and rash. Skin hemorrhages are not uncommon. Leukopenia is usually seen and thrombocytopenia may be observed (WHO 1997). Dengue is a flu-like mosquito-borne disease and has a soaring capacity for epidemic outbreaks, which according to the World Health Organization (2009) affects 50-100 million people each year in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. Dengue is cited as being one of the most significant mosquito-borne disease affecting humans and as a major international public health concern (WHO 2009). Dengue fever is predominantly transmitted by Aedes species which have adapted themselves to living near human habitation (Hales et al., 2002). The dengue virus is a member of the family Flaviviridae virus, transmitted through the biting of infected Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquito. The Aedes aegypti mosquito normally bites indoor and late in the afternoon whereas the proficient mosquito Aedes albopictus is an aggressive daytime biter, which is also known to bite early in the morning, late afternoon (Knight and Hull, 1952) and at night (Murray and Marks, 1984). This biter is usually an outdoor biting mosquito, but it also bites indoors (Hawley, 1988). Generally the mosquitoes bite at ground level (MacDonald and Traub, 1960, cited in Hawley, 1988). Females will bite any area of exposed skin, but prefer the ankles and knees (McClelland et al., 1973; Robertson and Hu, 1935). The time amid the bite of a mosquito carrying dengue virus and the apparition of symptoms ranges from 4 to 6 days, with a range of 3 to 14 days. 2.0.2 Pathogenicity of Dengue fever: 1. Asymptomatic and mild infection It is very common. 2. Dengue Fever (primary infection) Dengue fever is characterized by increase in body temperature; severe aching of the forehead; retro-ocular pain; muscle and joint pain; and widespread maculopapular inflammation. Conjunctiva may become red. Other common problems that may arise are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain. Fear of light, sore throat, increase in the size of the lymph node and bleeding tendencies may also happen. The illness lasts 5 to 7 days. Immunity is lifelong. On the other side the incidence of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever or Dengue Shock syndrome increases if the person has immunity or has already been infected before with a different serotype. Even after several months of recovery some patients may experience depression and fatigue. 3. Dengue Hemorrhagic fever The well-known feature is bleeding. It happens when a person is infected twice but with a different dengue virus serotypes or infrequently by primary infection is common in kids Under 15 years of Age (Rigall-Pewrez et al.1998). There is sudden rise in temperature and other manifestations of Dengue fever. Petechiae, effortless bruising, gingival bleeding and epistaxis are common. In severe cases bleeding of the gastrointestinal tract can be observed. In children, we can have an increase in the size of the spleen and the liver. 4. Dengue Shock Syndrome The prominent feature is hypotension. It normally occurs in people below 15 years of age. The clinical features include weak pulse with narrow blood pressure, cold and clammy skin (Rigall-Pewrez et al.1998). 2.0.3 Mode of transmission of dengue virus: Chikungunya and dengue viruses are transmitted to humans by the bites of infected mosquitoes. In contrast, Aedes albopictus is abundant and may be the only important vector of these viruses on the islands. Both species bite mainly during the daytime, particularly in the early hours after dawn and for 2-3 hours before darkness. Aedes albopictus is more active outdoors whereas Ae. aegypti typically feeds and rests more indoors (WHO 2008). In the cycle of dengue, the vertebrate host is man and the Aedes species the vectors. The disease is acquired only when bitten by female mosquitoes, as the female feed on blood in order for the development of their eggs whereas the male mosquitoes are not infectious due to the fact that they feed only on nectars rather than blood. In 8-10 days the infected mosquito is able to transmit the virus to other people. Thus the cycle of transmission takes only 14 days. One dengue-infected female mosquito is capable of biting and infecting several people during one feeding session. The dengue mosquito frequents backyards in search of containers holding water inside and outside the home, such as: cans, buckets, jars, and vases, pot plant dishes, birdbaths, boats, tyres discarded with no rims, roof gutters blocked by leaves striking containers, tarpaulins and black plastic. It can also breed in natural containers like: bromeliads fallen palm fronds. In drier conditions it also breeds in water inà ¿subterranean sites such as: wells, telecommunication pits, sump pits, gully traps. Transmission cycle of dengue results from a complex system based on several main constituents like: the density of susceptible hosts, environmental conditions and the presence of one or more serotypes of the dengue virus. The number of confirmed dengue cases has been increasing owing to the fact that the world is undergoing rapid urbanization and its population is also on the rise, disposal of non-biodegradable containers, rapid transportation and poor living conditions such as poor water supply and very rare scavenging services at squatter areas (Satwant, 2001). Various studies have shown that the Aedes albopictus is able to transmit all the 4 serotypes of dengue. Aedes albopictus mosquito can serve as an important maintenance vector of dengue viruses in endemic areas, and new endemic areas may be initiated by importation of vertically infected eggs (Gubler, 2002). That is the infected Aedes mosquito can pass the dengue virus to its progeny and when the eggs will develop into mature mosquitoes they will be already infected, hence capable of causing infection of human beings or even pass the virus to their progeny. Transmission cycle of dengue virus by the Aedes aegypti mosquito starts with a person infected with the dengue virus. The blood of the person will contain the virus thus circulating in his body and this is called a viremia which will last for about 5 days. During this period, an uninfected female Aedes aegypti mosquito bites the infected person and acquires the dengue virus. Within the mosquito, replication of the dengue virus occurs and this process usually takes between 8-12 days, after which the female mosquito can transmit the virus upon a blood meal. Once infected the virus takes 4-7 days to replicate within the new host (the person whom the infected mosquito bite) before inception of symptoms. Symptoms may last from three to 10 days, with an average of five days, after the onset of symptoms. Hence, the disease persists several days after apparition of symptoms (CDC Dengue Slideset). 2.0.4 Lifecycle of Aedes mosquito: The mosquito goes through four separate and distinct stages of its life cycle and they are as follows: Egg, Larva, pupa, and adult. Each of these stages can be easily recognized by their special appearance. Egg: Eggs are laid one at a time and they float on the surface of the water. Aedes species do not make egg rafts but lay their eggs separately. Aedes lay their eggs on damp soil that will be flooded by water. Most eggs hatch into larvae within 48 hours. Larva: The larva lives in the water where they eventually undergo a molting process to become a pupa. Pupa: The pupal stage is a resting, non-feeding stage and is the time the mosquito turns into an adult. It takes about two days before the adult is fully developed and upon complete development, the pupal skin splits and the mosquito emerges as an adult. Adult: The newly emerged adult rests on the surface of the water for a short time before flying away. In the Aedes mosquito family only the female bites because it requires protein to develop eggs, therefore if it bites a person infected with the dengue virus the mosquito becomes infectious after approximately 7 days. The mosquitoes are known to be biting at a highest frequency at dawn and dusk. Some more facts: The average lifespan of a mosquito of the genus Aedes in Nature is 2 weeks Mosquitoes may lay eggs about 3 times in his life, and about 100 eggs are produced each time. The eggs can live in dry conditions until approximately 9 months, after which they can hatch if it is subject to conditions, i.e food and water Source:http://dengue-feverdisease.blogspot.com/2008/02/lifecycle-of-aedes-mosquito.html [accessed on 05.12.09] 2.0.5 Investigation for dengue infections: Laboratory results Decrease in the number of white blood cell and peripheral neutrophils in the blood, abnormal increase in the number of lymphocytes in bloodstream and very low amount of platelets in the blood. Radiology X-ray of the chest normally shows pleural effusion and seldom pericardial effusion Ultrasound Used to detect pericardial effusion and 2) presence of excess fluids in the gap amid the tissues lining the abdomen and abdominal organ. Tests Laboratory diagnosis is done by detection of virus in specimen-serum at the virology laboratory. Culture is done in cell line derived from A. albopictus cell. Immunoflurescent techniques are used to detect viral replications. The virus can be isolated in patients with fever. Serology IgM is detectable in 90 % of patients by the 6th days of illness. Serum collected early may give false negative result. IgM can also be detected 2-3 months after. It is not possible to identify serotype with serological tests. In case where the IgM test is Positive it may imply recent infection with Dengue fever. However definitive diagnosis can only be made if the virus is isolated or the virus genome is detected by PCR. Seroconversion or boost in titer may indicate fresh infection. The appropriate samples for PCR test include plasma and serum. Molecular test is highly sensitive but it can be used in patients only with viraemia (Rigall-Pewrez et al.1998). 2.0.6 Treatment: The managing of dengue fever can be enhanced with bed rest, passable fluid intake, plus control of fever and pain with antipyretics in addition to analgesics (e.g. paracetamol). For the supplementary ruthless manifestations of dengue virus infection, correct management requires early identification and swift intravenous fluid substitution. Blood transfusion may be necessary in cases. There is currently no vaccine is available to shield against dengue infection. The current lack of a booming vaccine against the dengue virus causes prevention methods to be approached by plummeting disease vector population, with Integrated Pest Management programs for mosquito control. These employ a mishmash of control strategies, including mosquito surveillance, source diminution, eradicating larvae and eradicating adult mosquitoes (Ooi et al. 2007). Eradicating adult mosquitoes alone is fruitless in controlling mosquito populations because it is complex to treat the unattainable habitat of the adults. Mosquito larvae are left to carry on their development, and they quickly swap the adults. Nevertheless, mosquitoes can become resistant if pesticides are overused. 2.0.7 Dengue fever in Mauritius: Dengue virus infections are emerging as the major ones in Southeast Asia. Global warming may worsen the occurrence of dengue fever. Since very last few years mixed outbreak of chikungunya and periodic cases of dengue fever have been reported on R‚union Island and other South West Indian Ocean countries. From March 2005 till March 2006 it is estimated that about 204000 people in R‚union Island may have been infected by the chikungunya virus, which furthermore shows that there is presence of the transmitting vectors of the disease on the island which are also the vectors of dengue fever as well. Hereafter, the other South West Indian ocean countries were not spared from infection from the chikungunya virus. An outbreak of dengue fever was reported in Madagascar more specifically in the city of Toamasina that started mid-January 2006 and rare cases of chikungunya were also reported mid-February. Maldives also have suffered from a dengue outbreak in year 2006 where 602 people were suspected to be infected among which there were some severe form of dengue fever that is 64 dengue hemorrhagic fever cases and 9 cases of dengue shock syndrome (WHO 2006). In Mauritius the first case of dengue fever dates to the 1976s and it was contained thus limiting the disease from spreading. Then we had a case of imported dengue from a person who visited an endemic dengue area in January 2008 (CDCU). The main vectors of the disease remain the Aedes mosquitoes, among which the Aedes aegypti mosquito is the primary vector and Aedes albopictus the secondary one. The mosquito found to be spreading dengue fever and Chikungunya in Mauritius is the Aedes albopictus (CDCU 2009). It is to be noted that in Mauritius we had both the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, due to the intense anti-malaria campaign during the year 1952 the primary carrier of the dengue fever, the Aedes aegypti have been successfully eradicated. Still very minute amounts of this mosquito can be seen whereas the Aedes albopictus is abundant. Dengue is transmitted from person to person through the biting of infected mosquitoes. Most recently we had a short-lived epidemic of re-emerged dengue fever in Mauritius that started in the month of June 2009 which was imported. The mild fever was first localized in the city of Port Louis, where there were 192 cases and then we did have some sporadic cases in other regions of the island. Mosquito fogging and larviciding in whole Port Louis started on 3rd June 2009, and were repeated every seven days. Fogging was carried out outdoors early in the morning, early evenings and sometimes till late in the evenings (Dengue Unit 2009). The Ministry of Health and Quality of Life of Mauritius took the situation as being severe and all medium possible to contain the disease were put into action. Like the Special Mobile Force and manpower from other Ministries which joined the Ministry of Health to fight the dengue fever. Public alertness campaigns on the requisite to hunt and eliminate mosquito breeding sites at home and in the neighbourhood and to protect oneself against mosquito bites were carried out through radio, television and the press through a public private partnership. Detailed information leaflets were also distributed, door to door distribution of pamphlets showing pictures of possible breeding sites for mosquitoes and products to be used to prevent mosquito bite were carried out by the primary health care personnels. Target groups included the public, community groups and school children (Ramchurn et al, 2009). By the end of the month August no new or suspected cases of dengue were recorded in any of the countrys hospital. But still the control and prevention program were continued throughout the island as the summer season was coming near hence reappearance of the dengue fever was possible due to the ambient temperature, favorable for larvae development. The fear of having the virus again was due to the possibility of the infected mosquitoes to pass the virus to their progeny. Fortunately, till February 2010 no suspected case of dengue fever was reported from any in the country (Dengue Unit 2010). 2.1 Vector surveillance and control program Ever since mosquitoes are capable of transmitting diseases like dengue and chikungunya, till now it has not been possible to eradicate the mosquitoes completely from their originating site. The best way to monitor or control vector-borne diseases is to control or limit the population of the vector to such an extent that disease transmission is very low or even stopped. In order to achieve this goal, it is imperative to know all about the mosquito involved in the transmission of the disease. Detailed knowledge of all aspects such as the breeding sites, different features of the mosquito at different stages, feeding habits, mating, resting and structure and most importantly without forgetting the lifecycle of the mosquito, are the main required things in order to be able to break the chain of transmission. Furthermore, the only way to prevent infection of people who have not suffered from dengue is to control the population of dengue vector (Ooi et al.2001) and of course personal precaution has also proved to be effective in reducing the risk of being infected by a mosquito. Since no vaccine is yet available for dengue the only mode to control dengue fever is the control the amount of the disease vector that is of the Aedes mosquitoes. The control strategies of these mosquitoes are 1) carrying out larviciding -spraying a chemical called abate in any water retaining place which kill the larvae of the mosquitoes hence interrupting the cycle to be completed, 2) fogging operation- a thermal fogger is used to propel fumes of Aqua K-Othriner which when is in contact with a mosquito kills it, thus the amount of developed or simply mature mosquitoes are reduced and 3) health education- talks are organized for the members of the public, for children in schools, colleges, etc. Entomological survey is an important and integral part of dengue prevention and control. The effect of the intervention by the community can directly affect the ecology of the vectors that is the Aedes mosquitoes. The Communicable Disease Control Unit (CDCU) is the unit which is mostly concerned for the control of communicable diseases such as Malaria, Dengue fever, Chikungunya, and other infectious diseases. In Mauritius, surveillance, disease prevention and education of infectious diseases are mainly carried out by the Health Inspectorate Cadre. In Mauritius, we have the Public Health Act (Section 32A) which is used in case where there is presence of a mosquito borne disease in the island. The potential for predation to prevent pathogen invasion or reduce disease prevalence in a host population also has implications for the biological control of vector populations. Predators have been introduced, or proposed, as biological control agents of vectors for various diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and Lyme disease (Jenkins 1964; Legner 1995; Stauffer et al. 1997; Samish Rehacek 1999; Scholte et al. 2005; Kumar Hwang 2006; Ostfeld et al. 2006; Walker Lynch 2007). Several recent studies suggest that predator introductions led to a decline in local cases of dengue fever in Vietnam and Thailand (Kay Nam 2005; Kittayapong et al. 2008), and malaria in India (Ghosh et al. 2005; Ghosh Dash 2007). 2.2 Biology of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) Aedes albopictus are two winged insects from the family Culicidae of the order Diptera. They are among the best known groups due to their importance as pests and as vectors of diseases. They are easily identified due to a combination of the following characters: long trunk projecting head; charisma of scales on the wing veins, a tassel of scales along the posterior boundary of the wing, and the typical wing venation, the second, fourth and fifth longitudinal veins being branched (Miyagi and Toma 2000). Female mosquitoes feed on blood and they have highly specialized mothparts for piercing host skin and blood sucking (Wahid et al. 2002). Aedes species are normally day-time bitters and active during the day. During this time, they have peaks of landing and biting activity. The peak time for Aedes albopictus occurred about one hour after sunrise and then before sunset (Abu Hassan et al. 1996). Nevertheless, the rate of biting varies depending on the mosquito age and time of the day (Xue and Barnard 1996). CHAPTER 3 DATA COLLECTION 3.1 Introduction In this chapter, a summary of the various steps that was undertaken to finalize the research is attempted. The research work was started as from the month of September 2009 to the end of January 2010. 3.2 METHODOLOGY In order to assess the effectiveness of the control measures taken to prevent dengue fever, data were collected from the different partners who are involved in the control and prevention of dengue fever in Mauritius. Such data were collected from books, newspapers, published articles, magazines and official statistics from the Central Statistics Office, Dengue Unit, Communicable Disease Control Unit and the Ministry of Health Quality of Life. Moreover, constructive discussions were entertained with people who are in touch with the matters connecting to the piece of work. Search through the internet, review of available documents and properly classifying the information that would be used during the study. 3.3 METHODS OF ANALYSIS OF THE DATA OBTAINED Questions related with the way of application of the different control measures were selected for analysis from the filled questionnaires. Moreover, each particular question was analyzed by using SPSS software which provided the frequency and percentages and hence Microsoft Excel 2007 was used to express the data in forms of percentages, tables, figures, graphs, pie charts and charts. Chapter 4 Part I-Data Analysis 4.01 Introduction This chapter of the thesis will be dealing with the data collected from different stakeholders involved in the fight against dengue fever. Data collected mainly from the Communicable Disease Control Unit, Dengue Unit, and certain Health Offices of the country and the media will be expressed in figures. This section will be divided in to two parts: data analysis and press cot analysis. Much attention will be oriented towards the control measures in Port Louis, as the maximum number of cases occurred there and eventually the island in whole. 4.02 Progress of the disease through June 2009 in Port Louis Figure 4.1: Number of cases each day during the month of June 2009 From figure 4.1 it can be seen that the first case was detected on 2nd June 2009 and the maximum number of cases reported to the hospitals was around the 10th to 13th day of the same month. The number of confirmed cases by the end of June 2009 had decreased to less than five. 4.03 Age of people infected with dengue virus From the above chart (Fig 4.2) it can seen that about 34.55 % of the total number of cases (246 confirmed) of dengue were vulnerable ones that is the young and the elderly. 4.04 Aqua K Othriner used for fogging process Aqua K Othriner is a chemical used in mixture with another chemical substance called Nebolr, in thermal foggers to kill adult mosquitoes. Normally, the fogger produces fumes which in fact are fine droplets of the mixture which when in contact with a mosquito causes its death. The first day of fogging was started on 2nd June 2009 with a minimum cubic centimeter of Aqua K Othriner used, on the 7th day the maximum and throughout the rest of the days varying just a little in amount except for the 14th day. 4.05 Number of inspections carried out during the past 8 years throughout the Country Starting from the year 2001 till 2005 from the graph (fig 4.4) the number of inspections carried out by the health inspectorate cadre shows a slight decrease and suddenly in 2006 the number increases to approximately 3 fold than that in 2005. In year 2007, the amount of inspections carried again decreases to 112,087 and eventually for 2008 the number decreases a bit more. 4.06 Number of sanitary notices served during the past 8 years Public Health Act Sanitary notices are normally issued to the author of nuisance, as for in this case the notices served were to cause removal of water collected in used tyres, drums, roof tops, etc. From the year 2001 till 2005 the number of such type of notices served was ranging between 4933 and 8013. For 2006 the figure was the highest with 10657 of notices served and for the remaining 2 years a gradual decrease was noted. 4.07 Number of contraventions taken for none compliance with the Public Health Laws Notices Figur