Critical Risks Assessment and Milestones Schedule Essay

Critical Risks Assessment and Milestones Schedule - Essay Example 1). In this regard, the critical risk assessment and milestones schedule for Dr. McDougall’s would encompass the following: (1) a SWOT analysis; (2) an identification of the contingency plans; and (3) a description of the preferred timing and objectives of your business plan. The strengths of the organization were identified in products they offer using all natural ingredients, are easy to prepare, and are consistent with the needs and requirements of health conscious people who are always on the go. The use of product ingredients and packaging that comply with standards imposed by environmental advocates increase the competitive advantage of the company over other producers in the industry. The weaknesses were identified in the need to offer diverse and new product variances that would cater to a wider market base. Further, the costs of all natural ingredients are relatively higher and more suppliers need to be solicited to ensure a steady supply at the least possible cost. There are vast opportunities facing Dr. McDougall’s ranging from producing other product variants to cater to diverse ethnic and cultural groups. Further, with the government’s thrust of focusing on organic products and the use of healthier ingredients, there is an expected increase in demand, both in the local and international markets. On the other hand, the threats come in terms of increasing competition and substitutes due to the lure of profits and high demand for healthy food products that are easy to prepare, buy and consume. The Porter’s Five Forces Analyses provide ample information on the organization’s threats and even bargaining powers of both suppliers and buyers that influence their current and future operations. To address the weaknesses and threats, Dr. McDougall’s should solicit alternative sources of natural ingredients to extend the scope

Teacher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Teacher - Essay Example â€Å"Performance is a developmental process that needs to be supported and facilitated.† (Maloy & Seidman, P. 28) However, tradition and qualifications on paper alone does not guarantee success in teaching profession. In the case of tradition, learners of today have different learning styles and come from diverse backgrounds. In addition to this, the integration of technology into the curriculum demands a shift in the teaching styles of teachers since new set of skills must be utilized to impart learning. Traditional method is only focused on intellectual learning and it is teacher –centered. Contrastingly, non traditional styles which promotes cooperative learning lead to increased motivation and academic performance ( Johnson, R. T., and Johnson, D. W.p.25). Similarly, academic qualification alone does not guarantee effective teaching. Other aspects as such as teaching styles and behavior which have been acquired through training and experience is more important than academic qualifications. In a study of teachers style published by Grasha, it was reported that teachers who exhibit medium intellectual excitement and high interpersonal rapport â€Å" are generally excellent for any group of students and teaching situation† ( Grasha P.35 ). It is important therefore that teachers do not only have academic qualifications but a set of skills as well as positive interpersonal behavior to be able to perform his role in the school setting. In the modern school setting, the teacher will not only deal with students but with the whole organization as well; thus, making him responsible to all stakeholders in the learning process. Some basic skills required for becoming a successful teacher are; Pedagogical skill, Interpersonal skill, Organi zational skill, Subject matter (content) & methodology skill , Skill in cooperating with colleagues and Skill in cooperating with the

Clearwater Technologies Essay Example for Free

Clearwater Technologies Essay Clearwater set a per-seat manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP) that decreased with higher quantity seat purchases, reflecting the customer perception of declining manufacturing cost per seat. Clearwater also saw this as advantageous because it encouraged customers to maximize their initial seat purchase. Clearwater typically sold its products through value-added resellers (VARs). A VAR was typically a small local firm that provided sales and support to end users. The value added by these resellers was that they provided a complete solution to the end user/customer from a single point of purchase and had multiple information technology products available from various vendors. Using VARs reduced Clearwaters sales and service expense significantly and increased its market coverage. These intermediaries operated in several steps. First, the VAR combined the QTX from Clearwater with database software from other suppliers to form a turnkey customer solution. Second, the VAR loaded the software with customer-specific information and linked it to the customers existing sales history databases. Finally, the VAR installed the product at the customers site and trained the customer on its use. Clearwater sold the QTX to resellers at a 50 percent discount from the MSRP, allowing the VARs to sell to the end user at or below the MSRP. The discount allowed the VARs room to negotiate with the customer and still achieve a profit. The Upgrade Initially, the expectation had been that the 30-seat unit would be the largest volume seller. In order to gain economies of scale in manufacturing, reduce inventory configurations, and reduce engineering design and testing expense to a single assembly, Clearwater decided to manufacture only the 30-seat server with the appropriate number of seats enabled for the buyer. Clearwater was effectively giving away extra memory and absorbing the higher cost rather than manufacturing the various sizes. If a customer wanted a 10-seat server, the company shipped a 30-seat capable unit, with only the requested 10 seats enabled through software configuration. The proposed upgrade was, in reality, allowing customers to access capability already built into the product. Clearwater knew that many original customers were ready to use the additional capacity in the QTX. Some customers had added seats by buying a second box, but because the original product contained the capability to expand by accessing the disabled seats, Clearwater saw an opportunity to expand the product line and increase sales to a captive customer base. Customers could double or triple their seat capacity by purchasing either a 10- or a 20-seat upgrade and getting an access code to enable the additional number of seats. No other competitor offered the possibility of an upgrade. To gain additional seats from the competitor, the customer purchased and installed an additional box. Because customers performed a significant amount of acceptance testing, which they would have to repeat before switching brands, the likelihood of changing brands to add capacity was low. The objective of this mornings meeting was to set the price for the two upgrades. As QTX product manager Rob Erickson stopped to collect his most recent notes from his desk, he reflected: What a way to start the week. Every time we have one of these meetings, senior management only looks at margins. I spent the whole weekend cranking numbers and Im going in there using the highest margin weve got today. How can anybody say thats too low? He grabbed his notes, calculator, and coffee and headed down the hall. From the other wing of the building, financial analyst Hillary Hanson was crossing the lobby towards the conference room. She was thinking about the conversation she had late Number MSRP to VAR Unit Unit of Seats End User Price Cost* Margin** 10 $8,000 $4,000 $500 87. 5% 20 $14,000 $7,000 $700 90. 0% 30 $17,250 $8,625 $900 89. % TABLE 1 *Unit cost reflects additional $200 for memory capability for each additional 10 seats. **Margin _ VAR Price _ Unit Cost VAR Price Number Original Original Actual Actual of Seats Unit Cost Unit Margin Unit Cost Unit Margin 10 $500 87. 5% $900 77. 5% 20 $700 90. 0% $900 87. 1% 30 $900 89. 6% $900 89. 6% TABLE 2 Friday afternoon with her boss, Alicia Fisher, Clear waters CFO. They had been discussing this upcoming meeting and Alicia had given Hillary very clear instructions. I want you to go in and argue for the highest price possible. We should absolutely maximize the profitability on the upgrade. The customers are already committed to us and they have no alternative for an upgrade but with us. The switching costs to change at this point are too high since theyve already been trained in our system and software. Lets go for it. Besides, we really need to show some serious revenue generation for the year-end report to the stockholders. Hillary had not actually finalized a number. She figured she could see what the others proposed and then argue for a significant premium over that. She had the CFOs backing so she could keep pushing for more. From the parking lot, Brian James, the district sales manager, headed for the rear entrance. He, too, was thinking about the upcoming meeting and anticipating a long morning. I wish marketing would realize that when they come up with some grandiose number for a new product, sales takes the hit in the field. Its a killer to have to explain to customers that they have to pay big bucks for something thats essentially built in. Its gonna be even tougher to justify on this upgrade. At least with the QTX, we have something the buyer can see. Its hardware. With the upgrade, there isnt even a physical product. Were just giving customers a code to access the capability thats already built into the machine. Telling customers that they have to pay several thousand dollars never makes you popular. If you think about it, thats a lot of money for an access code, but you wont hear me say that out loud. Maybe I can get them to agree to something reasonable this time. I spent the weekend working this one out, and I think my logic is pretty solid. Price Proposals Once everyone was settled in the conference room, Rob spoke first: I know we have to come up with prices for both the 10-seat and 20-seat upgrades, but to keep things manageable, lets discuss the 20-seat price first. Once that number is set, the 10-seat price should be simple. Because the margin on the 30-seat unit is the highest in the line, I think we should use that as the basis to the price for the upgrade. He went to a whiteboard to show an example: If a customer is upgrading from a 10-seat unit to a 30-seat unit, they are adding two steps of capacity costing $200 each to us, or $400. $400 /1-0. 90 _ $4,000 to the reseller, and $8,000 to the end user. We keep the margin structure in place at the highest point in the line. The customer gets additional capacity, and we keep our margins consistent. He sat down feeling pleased. He had fired the first shot, had been consistent with the existing margin structure, and had rounded up the highest margin point in the line. Brian looked at Robs calculations and commented: I think thats going to be hard for the customer to see without us giving away information about our margins, and we dont want to do that, since they are pretty aggressive to begin with. However, I think I have solved this one for us. Ive finally come up with a simple, fair solution to pricing the upgrade that works for us and the customers. He walked over to a whiteboard and grabbed a marker: If we assume an existing 10-seat customer has decided to upgrade to 30-seat capability, we should charge that customer the difference between what the buyer has already paid and the price of the new capacity. So . . . New 30-seat unit $17,250 Original 10-seat unit $8,000 Price for 20-seat upgrade $9,250 Its consistent with our current pricing for the QTX. Its fair to the customer. Its easy for the customer to understand and it still makes wads of money for us. It also is easy for the customer to see that were being good to them. If they bought a 20-seat box in addition to the 10-seat box they already have, it would be costing them more. He wrote: New 20-seat unit $14,000 A new unit provides customers with redundancy by having two boxes, which they might want in the event of product failure, but the cost is pretty stiff. Upgrading becomes the logical and affordable option. Hillary looked at the numbers and knew just what she was going to do. That all looks very logical, but I dont see that either of you has the companys best interests at heart. Brian, you just want a simple sale that your sales people and the customers will buy into, and Rob, you are charging even less than Brian. We need to consider the revenue issue as well. These people have already bought from us; are trained on our hardware and software and dont want to have to repeat the process with someone else. It would take too long. Theyve got no desire to make a change and that means weve got them. The sky is really the limit on how much we can charge them because they have no real alternative. We should take this opportunity to really go for the gold, say $15,000 or even $20,000. We can and should be as aggressive as possible. All three continued to argue the relative merits of their pricing positions, without notable success. Jefferies listened to each of them and after they finished, he turned to a clean whiteboard and took the marker. Ive done some more thinking on this. In order to meet the needs of all three departments, there are three very important points that the price structure for these upgrades must accomplish: 1. The pricing for the upgrades shouldnt undercut the existing pricing for the 30-seat QTX. 2. We want to motivate our buyers to purchase the maximum number of seats at the initial purchase. A dollar now is better than a potential dollar later. We never know for sure that they will make that second purchase. If we dont do this right, were going to encourage customers to reduce their initial purchase. Theyll figure they can add capacity whenever, so why buy it if they dont need it. That would kill upfront sales of the QTX. 3. We dont want to leave any revenue on the table when buyers decide to buy more capacity. They are already committed to us and our technology and we should capitalize on that, without totally ripping them off. Therefore, while Hillary says the skys the limit, I think there is a limit and we need to determine what it is and how close we can come to it. If we assume that those are the objectives, none of the prices youve put together thus far answers all three of those criteria. Some come close, but each one fails. See if you can put your heads together and come to a consensus price that satisfies all three objectives. OK? Heads nodded and with that, Jefferies left the conference room. The three remaining occupants looked at one another. Brian got up to wipe the previous numbers off the whiteboards and said: OK, one more time. If our numbers dont work, why not and what is the right price for the 20-seat upgrade?

Literary Analysis Of Beowulf English Literature Essay

Literary Analysis Of Beowulf English Literature Essay Ever sense the beginning of time there have been epic stories about heros and courageous leaders who take down evil and bring peace to the people they protect, Beowulf is no different from this. Beowulf is an epic story that relates well to the time that it was introduced by having the stories of the epic battles and the defeats of the treacherous monsters that kept everyone entertained during this era. Not only does Beowulf represent the era well but it also has very interesting characters, themes and symbols that help teach us lessons that are very much so needed in todays society. Beowulf teaches us courage, it shows us characters such as Beowulf himself that are true to his word and self-confident, and it also shows us symbols that give an image of God and the hope that he brings to the people that believe in his word. When Beowulf arrives to the land of the Danes, as soon as they dock and get off of their ship Beowulf shows his courage instantly by taking the lead and explaining to the guards that watched out for raiders and enemy ships approaching who they were and where they were from so that they may advance to the Heorot which he had heard much about. After they get inside Heorot Beowulf truly shows his courage when he tells Hrothgar about all of the triumphs he had when he was younger and how when he heard of their problem with Grendel and how he planned to be a match for him so that he could be the one to bring peace back to Heorot. The news of Grendel, hard to ignore, reached me at home: sailors brought stories of the plight you suffer in this legendary hall, how it lies deserted, empty and useless once the evening light hides itself under heavens dome. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] Now I mean to be a match for Grendel, settle the outcome in single combat. (410 414 425-426) He also explains how he is nt afraid of death because if he is going to die it will happen whether he wants it to or not and by doing this he gives king Hrothgar peace by knowing that he is courageous enough to take on this challenge and not be afraid by the terror that his people have been facing for the last 12 years. whichever one death fells must deem it a just judgment by God [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] Fate goes ever as fate must. (440-441 455). Not only is Beowulf extremely courageous but he is the mold that heros model themselves after he is noble, true to his word and his unquestionable trust in his skills. When Beowulf gets to Heorot and they begin to feast Unfearth goes up to Beowulf and questions the race that he and Brecca had in the fierce open sea saying that no matter what he had done before that he would not be able to defeat Grendel because many great warriors had come before him and his fate would be no different, however Beowulf has trust in his skills that God has graced him with just as he did when he raced Brecca in the open sea. The truth is this: when the going was heavy in those high waves, I was the strongest swimmer of all (532 534). By Beowulf saying this he is letting Unfearth know that now as well as when he raced Brecca he is the best and will not be beaten. Beowulf then begins to challenge Unfearths skills by saying if he was really as courageous as he has been saying he is then Grendel wouldnt be able to get away with killing all of Hrothgars people and that Beowulf will show Grendel different and that he will show him his skill. He knows he can trample down you Danes to his hearts content, humiliate and murder without fear of reprisal. But he will find me different. I will show him how Geats shape to kill in the heart of battle. (599 603) Beowulf by saying this is showing that he has great confidence in his skill as a warrior and that he do what Unfearth has been unable to do, which is free Heorot of their burden of Grendel. Later in the story Grendel appears in the night to eat the bodies of the soldiers that are in the middle of their slumber inside of Heorot and Beowulf is waiting for him to do as he said he would. After their battle Grendel had been beaten by Beowulf Grendel was driven under the fen-banks, fatally hurt (818-819) by defeating Grendel Beowulf was true to his word and accomplished what he had set out to do The Geat captain had boldly fulfilled his boast to the Danes: he had healed and relieved a huge distress (827 829). Beowulf has many things inside the story that a symbolic of God and how he can deliver us from our demons, or Grendel in this case that constantly torment us and cause us dismay in our everyday lifes. When Beowulf is at the feast when he arrives at Heorot he is sitting at a bench when the helming woman came by to give him a drink with measured words she welcomed the Geat and thanked God for granting her wish that a deliverer she could believe in would arrive to ease their afflictions. (625 628) When she tells him this it gives a kind of Godly presence to Beowulf that he is their savior and he will relieve them of their transgression that is Grendel and his murderous ways. In the beginning of the story it talks about how a leader will come one day that would be set apart from others that had come before to deliver the Danish people from all their problems. It also states that the shield was still alive when it was the mans time to go into the lords keeping. Shield was still thriving when his time came and he crossed over into the Lords keeping. (26 27) This is symbolic of how the shield is Gods word and Gods protection over us how when we have it with us in our lives we will be taken by him when our time comes to spend eternity in his kingdom. Another interesting symbol in the story is Grendel the story often refers to him as God-cursed (711) which is similar to the devil who was banished and cursed for the rest of eternity just as Grendel was as he was always living in torment and all that would ease him is the pain and suffering of others such as when he arrived at Heorot and saw all the men sleeping there. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ his glee was demonic, picturing the mayhem: before morning he would rip life from lib and devour them (730 732) Grendel enjoyed causing misery in the lives of the Danes much like the devil enjoys seeing suffering in our lifes. Beowulf is an amazing story that teaches us courage, it shows us characters such as Beowulf himself that are true to his word and self-confident, and it also shows us symbols that give an image of God and the hope that he brings to the people that believe in his word. Whether its courage or just teaching us to believe and trust in God through any transgressions that we encounter in life Beowulf can teach us many valuable lessons that can help make us better people.

Utopian Society in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley :: Brave New World Essays

In the novel Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley a dystopia is presented of a Utopian society where happiness is brought through a drug and your predestined life follows. Aldous Huxley conveys different conflicts with characters being isolated from the society they are being forced to live within. In which, these characters, are brought about reliance of soma, a drug, to stabilize their life. As well as this, the novel expresses the on going battles of having a society that is "perfect". Therefore, because of the isolated, delusional nonperfected-society, the World State introduced in Brave New World defines a Utopian Society. Throughout the story the characters are presented in different social classes. In this World State, society isn't broken down into race, sex, or wealth, it deals with the intelligence level of a human being. Character by character is presented with a strong detachment from reality and the lack of freewill they are given. "It is only kind of pre-natal conditioning envisioned in Brave New World itself, in which the beings produced from bottles are so changed that they are no longer Homo sapiens, that will permanently keep men down" describing the fact that the people made in these test tubes are not normal men (Woodcock 273). Here, you see the outlook that no one could be an acceptable human being when being produced from a bottle. From the top, Alphas, and the bottom, Epsilons, where society is created through test tubes, in which, "Alphas and Betas [remain], (in incubators), until definitely bottled, while the Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons were brought out again, after thirty-six hours to undergo Bokanovsky's Process. . . where eight to ninety-six buds and (where) every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo. . . (and the Epsilons suffer) oxygen-shortage for keeping an embryo below par. . . (where) the lower the caste. . .the shorter the oxygen, (and) the brain will be affected first" (Huxley 4-5,15). With the first breath of life, the people have already been determined their fate. As well as the Neo-Pavlovian, which is a procedure to condition kids to respond or not respond to different objects. Roses and books were placed in front of eight month old babies, and "the babies at once fell silent, then began to crawl towards (the roses). . .(and) the crawling babies came squeals of excitement, gurgles and twitterings of pleasure.

Gender and Power Relations in Browning’s Porphria’s Lover and My Last D

Gender and Power Relations in Browning’s Porphria’s Lover and My Last Duchess Robert Browning provides a critical view of gender and power relations in his dramatic monologues â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† and â€Å"My Last Duchess.† The dramatic monologue, as S.S. Curry has written, "reveals the struggle in the depths of the soul† (11). Browning delves into the minds of characters to show their conceptions of women and ideas of power. He explores the mental processes of the characters, and invites readers to question societal ideas of power and gender. The mental pathologies of the speakers is emphasized, which forces readers to examine the sanity of their own notions of gender dynamics. In the Victorian age, the idea of separate spheres was an integral part of society. Men’s roles involved participation in the marketplace of the industrial society. Women, on the other hand, were expected to remain in the domestic sphere. They were assigned subordinate, and often passive roles, whereas men played direct roles in an industrial society, therefore being active agents. William Greg’s review-essay â€Å"Prostitution† (1851) provides insight into societal conceptions of men and women and their respective roles. Although Greg believes prostitutes are treated unfairly by society, he nonetheless views prostitution as â€Å"the darkest, the knottiest, and the saddest† social problem â€Å"which philosophy has to deal with† (448). A critical reason prostitution is ostracized is because it violates traditional ideas of gender relations. Prostitutes are women who participate in the marketplace. They, therefore, venture outside the realm of their expected sphere, the home. This is dissonant with Greg’s view – which is a reflection of society’s view ... ...nventional gender relationships. They were assumed to be the active agents and women were expected to be passive. Browning draws attention to the madness of the narrators by delving into their minds. In doing so, Browning forces readers to question their own conceptions of gender and power relations, since the men’s views are but an exaggeration of societal ideas concerning gender dynamics. Works Cited Browning, Robert. The Complete Works of Robert Browning, Volume III. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1971. Curry, S.S. Browning and the Dramatic Monologue. Boston: Expression Company, 1908. DeVane, William Clyde. A Browning Handbook. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1955. Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality, Volume I. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. Greg, W.R. "Prostitution." The Westminster Review 53 (July 1850): 448-506.

How effective is tuberculosis (TB) treatment in less economically developed countries?

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that is caused by several bacteria called ‘Tubercle bacillus’. The bacterium were discovered and named as a cause of TB in 1882 by the German Biologist Robert Koch. Tubercle bacillus is a small and extremely dangerous bacterium; it has a long life span and can survive for months in dryness and resist mild disinfectants (Stefan, 2000). TB is a contagious disease which spreads in similar way to common cold and flu viruses; the bacteria are transferred from host to host in small droplets. There are numerous types of TB, of which Pulmonary TB is one. It can be transferred when an infected person sneezes, coughs or spits and an uninfected person comes into contact with the droplets, for example in saliva (Stefan, 2000). Symptoms The symptoms of this disease are severe coughing including bloody mucus, chest pains, shortness in breathe, fever, weight loss and sweating. The secondary infection affects the immune system, bones and gut. The most common scenario when infected with TB is when a person contacts it following another disease or infection which has weakened the immune system. For example when a person has the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) their immune system is weakened; people with HIV therefore show an increased rate of TB infections. Only when you show symptoms of TB can you infect others (Ottenhoff and Kaufmann, 2012). Organ infected by tuberculosis TB is an extremely harmful disease cause by microorganisms called ‘Tubercle bacillus’. It harms many organs in the human body. It mainly affects the lung (as shown in figure 1) and that is called ‘pulmonary tuberculosis’ the initial symptom last up to 6/7 months. During this long time period the immune system fights of the disease and bacterium. After that period and the immune system resisting the disease some particles of the bacteria escapes into the bloodstream, this is then carried around the body. Usually the immune system cannot stop the bacteria and leads to being untreated. If left untreated for a long period of time then the environment in the body is perfect for the bacteria to multiple, this is extremely dangerous as the tissues of the organ for example; the tissue of the lung may become infected. When the lung is infected it results in destruction in the respiratory system. It is important this is not left unattended as it will cause permanent s carring to the tissues of organs. Diagnosis The main method of diagnosing TB is a harmless skin test. This is performed by injecting a small amount of fluid under the skin around the forearm; this is a special fluid containing a protein copied from the microorganism Tubercle bacillus. After a few days the area where the fluid was injected is visually scanned. To determine whether you have the infection the scientist will measure the diameter and hardness of skin where the injection was placed. If the area if hard and the skin appears to be raised it will mean you have a bacterial protein present in your body. The redness in the area injection is not taken in to account. With this test it is possible to get false positive, for example a negative test does not mean you do not have TB. If the test is positive a chest x-ray will be taken to assess whether the TB infection is active (see figure 1). Areas affected by tuberculosis TB was a main cause of death in the late 19th century and early 20th century. TB still occurs in humans worldwide but more concentrated in many developing countries and kills 4 out of 10 people who are infected. Figure 2 shows that over 15 years (1990 to 2005) the estimated TB incidence rate global has not changed much, with incidence in Europe slowly increasing whilst staying below the global average. In Africa however the estimated incidence has remained above the global average. Figure 2 also demonstrates that having human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a risk factor for being infected with TB. HIV is a condition which affects a person immune system, and so makes suffers more vulnerable disease. Therefore attempting to reduce the prevalence of HIV could also reduce the rate of TB in Africa population. This is a social problem as HIV is spread by contact with bodily fluid from a HIV suffer, therefor social education programs about safe conduct with HIV suffers could help reduce both disease and HIV. However the data (fig 2) only shows up to 2005. More recent data would be needed to see how the rates have changed from 2005-present. suffers more vulnerable disease. There is also a correllation between TB and economic condition. Hihgest incidences are seen in africa, where the gross domestic product (GDP) is low. The world health organisation (WHO) predicted that 8 million people per annum contract TB, 95% of these cases are found in developing countries. It is estimated that 3 million perople die from TB every year, which means the 4 put of 10 people infected from developing countries die each year. Immigration (process of relocation permanently to a foreign country or area) is increasing which leads to countries that usually have relatively low incidence of TB reporting an increase in the number if case per annum. TB is often referred to as a disease of poverty because it is common in developing countries. TB is transmitted in those conditions with areas that are overcrowded, have poor ventilation and a lack of nutrients in their diet. Living in an overcrowded area increases the risk of contracting TB as the airborne droplets are able spread faster; an example of this would be an overcrowded area such as a prison. Groups who have the largest chances of catching the disease are those who have close contact with infected persons over a long period of time and live in a poorly ventilated room. Figure 3 shows clearly that the continent of Africa has the highest number of TB cases in its population. There is a link between poverty and TB. This is because the population there is living in a poor lifestyle or HIV is very common. As discussed above, HIV makes a person vulnerable to TB because it weakens the immune system. Another reason for this economic link could be that hard manual workers, with lower economic status, often live on a diet with fewer nutrients, which also weakens the immune system, leaving a person more vulnerable to TB. Because this is a disease of poverty’ there are economic implications; the countries affected have no money to invest in finding treatment and research. The burden then falls on more economically developed countries. However because of the benefits being gained from this; pharmaceuticals companies invest little money into TB research. The reliability of fig 3 on the estimated of the cases varies depending on the sources. Economically developing countries have easy access to medical data, e.g. NHS in UK. However data on less economically developed countries is less reliable due to less health services. 1.2 Different types of antibiotics Isoniazoid is the drug most commonly used to treat TB, and is the most effective. Isoniazoid is bactericidal (capable of killing bacteria and viruses), non-toxic, easy to access and inexpensive. The usual dosage is 3 to 5mg/kg body mass produced in a peak concentration. The drug is effective because it travels throughout the entire body, including the cavities. The drug concentration is alike to the concentration found in the serum. Rifampin is also a bactericidal for TB. Like Isoniazoid it is non-toxic and is easy to access. It is effective as it is absorbed quickly from the stomach lining and intestines. After a few hours the serum concentration increases; when digested it absorbs into the tissues and cells. It can have very bad side affects even though the drug is a protein bound. The most common side effect is damage to the stomach lining. Other side effects include skin irritation, yellow urine, nausea and joint pain. These side effects are quite rare. TABLE!!!!! Development in treatment for TB The technology and knowledge about TB is increasing. There are number of new drugs tested, including amikacin, quinolones, rifamycin derivatives, clofazimine, and beta-lactams. They have all been tested separately but have not been tested in a multidrug regimen for treating TB. The recent increase in the occurrence of multi drug resistant TB creates an increase in the need to consider multi drug regimen as a treatment option. While all these medication have been tested none of them have been evaluated as a well designed drug. Appropriate dosage and intervals for the use of these drugs for TB has not yet be established. However WHO reported that only 1 anti-TB drug has actually come on the market in the last 28 years. This is said to be because pharmaceutical companies have lost interest in TB research because there is little or no profit associated with it (Blanc and Nun, 2000). However the source is from 2000; not up to date. New drugs for TB could have be reported after the time pe riod 2000. Vaccination There is only one vaccination for TB available and it is called bacillus calmette Guerin (BCG) (see figure 4). Scientist began testing between 1921 and 1924 on animal models which raised ethical concerns as many deemed testing on animals wrong, therefore BCG was considered a controversial drug. Throughout testing of the BCG vaccine promising results were found, and it was therefore distributed worldwide as an effective treatment for TB. Today BCG is regarded as the most widely used vaccine, and is being provided to less economically developed countries as a quick way of curing TB; this excludes people with HIV. The use of BCG vaccination faces some problems as it uses a live form of TB, the BCG is therefore not suitable for use in patients with HIV as they already have a compromised immune system, so exposing them to a live virus increases their chances of becoming infected with TB. Many vaccinations against TB are being developed. The most popular vaccine is the subunit vaccine. This vaccine is a protein obtained from the disease TB. Using a mixture of these proteins has shown good results. As it is a cellular vaccine and does not pose a risk of causing the disease. A DNA bases vaccine has been tested and has also showed promising results. The vaccine uses DNA as a system to deliver TB antigens. The DNA based vaccine does not have any problem with where the disease first originates and induces long lasting immunity. Several trails with DNA vaccination have shown protection against TB. It does this by releasing more concentrated ‘lymphocytes’ blood cells and are more effective towards the infected cells. Within the next few years, these vaccines should be available and safe for testing on human specimens. When a clinical trial is set up it is always in a lab, firstly on animals. This data is deemed reliable as it is done in a lab, but requires further human testing before data is valid for human treatment. Conclusion â€Å"We cannot win the battle against HIV/AIDs if we do not also fight TB. TB is too often a death sentence for people with HIV/AIDs† – Nelson Mandela XV international AIDs conference, Bangkok,July 2004 There is a link between developing countries and the prevalence of TB. Ways to prevent this could be to provide new-borns with a vaccine against TB; however that could bring the risk of the new-born being infected with the active disease if their immune system is weak.