Corynebacterium Diphtheriae :: Medical Biology Medicinal Essays

Corynebacterium Diphtheriae Life History: Corynebacterium diphtheriae is the microbial causative agent of diphtheria; however, it is the exotoxin produced by pathogenic strains of the bacteria that cause the symptoms of the disease. Non-pathogenic strains are normal inhabitants of the oral cavity and lack the bacteriophage DNA to produce exotoxin. Pathogenic C. diphtheriae can localize in different parts of the body, including the nasal cavity, the naso-pharynx, the larynx, and the skin. Depending on the localization, the symptoms range from slight to severe (death). The bacteria are spread by direct person-to-person contact; concurrently, humans are the reservoirs for C. diphtheriae. Since the introduction of a vaccine in the 1920’s, diphtheria has not been prevalent in developed countries. Conversely, it is endemic in developing countries, especially in the former countries of the USSR. Characteristics: C. diphtheriae are non-motile, aerobic, gram-positive bacilli (rods). Viewed with a microscope, the bacteria are club-shaped and group in patterns that resemble Chinese characters. Little is known about the details of the adhesion mechanism of C. diphtheriae, but the bacteria are known to produce a neuraminidase. This enzyme is able to split N-acetylneuuraminic acid, which is found on the surface of animal cells. This may facilitate bacterial entry into the host cell. There are four biotypes of C. diphtheriae, gravis, mitis, belfanti, and intermedius. Only intermedius can be differentiated by colony morphology; small, gray, or transluscent lipophilic colonies compared to larger, white or opaque colonies of the other biotypes. In addition, the biotype intermedius is rare in clinical infections, while the belfanti biotype rarely carries the tox gene. Virulence: C. diphtheriae are capable of producing exotoxin. The diphtheria toxin gene, tox, is located on a bacteriophage genome; thus, bacteriophage infection is necessary for virulence. tox is negatively regulated by diphtheria toxin repressor (DxtR), located on the bacterial chromosome, in response to iron concentration within the cell. When iron concentration is low, DxtR does not repress the tox gene because it requires iron to be functional. Thus, when iron concentration is low, the tox gene is transcribed and toxin is produced. Diphtheria toxin is made up of a single polypeptide chain with two portions, A and B. The toxin attaches to a cell membrane receptor of the host cell and is engulfed by receptor-mediated endocytosis. Once inside the vesicle, the disulfide bond between the A and B portion is cleaved and the A portion enters the cytosol, where is can resist degradation for a long period of time.

Safety in China

In every activity we undertake, safety should prevail. Safety is very important for well living in terms of health and finances. This is because any individual who seeks safety by protecting him or herself lives free from harms, diseases and infections, thus spending little if any on treatments. This enhances saving of finances which could otherwise be spent on medication, and these funds can be used later to make other developments, or purchase other necessary goods and services. This shows the role of safety in life. Harms and damages may be caused by fire, traffic, occupational activities, as well as disasters whether natural or man made. In all these cases, we need to know the possible impact of the safety against these harms and based of individuals animals, businesses, premises as well as the entire society. China is geographically located on the Eastern side of Asia between Vietnam and North Korea. The country has diverse climate, characterized by subarctic in north and tropical in south. The country is exposed to various natural hazards such as floods which damage many things, earthquakes, tsunami, typhoons and drought among others. The country is rich in terms of natural resources as it produces hydropower potential, petroleum, natural gas and aluminum among many others. China is the forth largest country in the world, and part of the country hosts the tallest mountains peak in the world. According to the 2007 estimation, the country has a population of 1,321,851,888, a population growth of 0. 6%, with birth rare of 13. 5 births per a thousand populations, and a death rate of seven deaths per a thousand populations. The infant mortality rate is twenty two per a thousand live births and life expectancy of seventy three years at birth. China has 9. 326,410 sq Km of land and 270,550 sq of water with the coastline covering about 14,500 KM. Geographically China lies on 3500 N and 105 00 E. The Chinese have an intermediate degree of risk to major infectious diseases such as food and waterborne disease, vector borne diseases, water and animal diseases and very rarely avian influenza. (CIA 2008). An average of 91% of Chinese total population is literate, with the individuals aged fifteen and above able to read and write. Every Chinese individual is entitled to getting mandatory education. The country has 961,000 schools with 1,080 colleges and universities. Majority of these colleges and universities have online websites. Generally the China education system covers the preschool to college and universities levels, (Premier 2007). The China has a market oriented economy with many private sectors developing which has played a major role in the global economy. The GDP as per the 2007 estimate is 87. 043 trillion, 885,300 of PPP. The labor force is 803. 3 million as per the 2007 estimate. The unemployment rate is about 4% with 8% of the Chinese population living below poverty line. The household income rate ranges from 1. 6% to 35% (Harper 2005). According to the 2007 estimation of China budget, the expenditures out weighs the revenues, and has a 19% of GDP as public debt. The communication in China is composed of telephones which use main line and mobile cellular. The mobile cellular move used, compared to main line, according to 2006 estimate. There is also television and radio broadcast stations (Peterson 2002). Various modes of transport are used in China. Among these include airports, where there are those with paved runways and unpaved runways, the heliports, pipelines for gases and refined products, railways, waterways and roadways which are the commonly used transports among all Fire can be caused by various factors. Many lives and goods are lost as a result of fire disaster. It is very important to create safety against fire to minimize the risks related to fire. In China most of fire fighting agencies are the country’s army part and citizens undergoes the training which is divided into subcategories. These subcategories include drills, construction concerns, and simulations. The trainees can be trained by a 26-minute training DVD which are made in away to help the fire fighters to effectively and compassionately work with disabled individuals. The fire fighters Agencies in China include the public Agency. For any citizen to become fire fighter, there are several characters he or she need to have. This is barely because the job involves helping people who are in great need of the help, while risking your own health and life. Fire fighters have a unique character. When all other people are moving away from fire incident, the fire fighters tend to move closer to the fire, to put it off. This means that for any citizen to become an effective fire fighter, he or she need to be courageous and ready to save other people lives and ready to risk his or her life. The fire fighter are not only involved with putting out fires and saving other peoples lives, but they also constantly care about the people’s health making the society a better place to live. This brings the need for any citizen who intends to become a firer fighter to be devoted and not selfish. Citizen willing to become a fire fighter is expected to take psychological and physical examination, and to undergo a background and criminal check. The individual are expected to be self motivated without attitude. The citizen is expected to have empathy on others and have the ability to support people in all situations. A citizen with these abilities and who passes the exams are considered to be able to fight fire. In China, the fire fighters get their training involving in various activities and handling various equipments. They engage in responding to emergency calls, duties that require keeping watch, driving fire trucks and operating the fire trucks. The fire fighter learns manual and mechanical operation of the fire truck ladders. These practices needs to be handled in various locations, including inside buildings where they are expected to learn the amount of ventilation in building and how to increase without deteriorating the scene. They learn skills on how to enter into buildings on fire using the safest entrance. This shows that the training is not restricted to a specific area or location of training, but rather in various places depending on the skills being learnt to enhance proper practice. Safety against fire can be gained by using building code and fire codes. Although all building materials can be damaged by fire though at different heat degrees, the spread of the fire can be minimized by using building codes. (Thygerson 2008). Use of building codes enhances good public health, general welfare and safety. The building codes are used by engineers, architect and other manufacturers of products used in building, as well as insurance manager and tenants. Due to the distinct climatic zones in China, building codes are used. These codes are developed by code compilation committees which have high industrial involvement, and they are reviewed by the public, approved then the ministry of construction adopts them. These China building energy codes saves 35-50% energy in a 10% less cost increased as compared to other buildings. DEO II and other simulation software at LBNL, enhances software transfer and codes drafting where implementation activities are reviewed. Various zones have been covered in China, and the heating zone of North was covered by the code first, the residential code followed in cold winter and hot summer regions. The cooling of the warm winter and hot summer consumed a lot of energy, without heating. The commercial and government building are yet to get public building codes as they are in the process of being developed. (IEA 2006). The building codes in China played roles in heating the houses in colds winters and cooling the houses in warm and hot summers. Initially the fire codes were not translated into Chinese, until 2004 after the signing of agreement between National Technical committee for fire protection, Fire department commute, the China public security ministry and the National fire protection Association. They agreed to translate the 26 NFPA code. The translation was to be followed with training where individual would get the knowledge on how to apply the codes. This was aimed at enhancing life safety for the Chinese, and visitors who were to join the country for Olympics. Among these codes is the NFPA 1 uniform fire code, which was edited in 2003, NFPA 13E, NFPA 72, National alarm code which was edited in 2002, NFPA 101, life safety code which was edited in 2000, NFPA 230, standard for the fire protection of storage which was edited in 2003, NFPA 921, guide for fire and explosion investigation which was edited in 2004 among others in China, a GB316-87, is the current national standard Building design code which was edited in 2001 with the aim to control building fires. Kelly 2000). The National technical committee and China public security ministry are responsible for fire prevention in China. The PRC has come up with law which enhances fire prevention by ensuring that all residential buildings have a clear emergency exit. Generally the Chinese people feel the need for safety. This is evidenced after the several fire disasters which have oc curred in the country. Despite the need for this safety, many builders and new-home buyers tend to assume the need. This is because, by use of these fire stops and better fire resistance rating materials the costs of construction and subsequent cost of buying the built house increases. In 1999, a severe fire disaster occurred in a village of Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. A high number of people were involved, and the following year, others died, while others remained hospitalized. Around fourteen patients were referred to UK and USA for further medication. Rapid motorization has caused severe challenge to driving safety in China. Research has showed that most of the Chinese drivers usually have unsafe driving behaviors, recommending improved training methods and enforcement of good driving behaviors by the police. The Chinese drivers consider use of driving skills and capabilities rather than practical safe driving guidelines. The Chinese drivers rarely use running light in snowy weather, few of the drivers don’t use safety belts and very few of them use turn signals as well as headlights. The automobiles in China were developed in 1986, and the output rapidly. These automobiles are high-class consumer durable containing low household ownership in China. In 2005, China started producing sedans. The death rate of Chinese in relation to motor vehicle is high, but not as the rate in United States. Chinese have more of the injury death associated with drowning, suicide, unlike the United States whose motor vehicle clashes rate is more compared to suicide and drowning. In China its easy to get driving license especially for individuals from other states, an individual is required to present a passport copy, a copy of driving license from their state, four red-color photos and 1,880 Hong Kong dollars. The applicant then sits for traffic rule examination and road tests follows, the applicant drives the vehicle for very few minutes as a practical examination, and after two weeks, driver’s license is ready. This means to get drivers license in China is easy because one can even refers the answer to the questions from the book. According to the Chinese culture, alcohol drinking is an important cultural aspect, believed to enhance, colleagues and leaders relationship, and to promote happy life when in festivals with friends, relatives and family members. In China, there is no minimum alcohol taking age, Alcohol-related injuries account for a third of total injuries in China, and the Chinese government made a traffic safety law in 2004. In China, there has been set penalty for drivers who drink while driving, and a different one for drivers who are found drunk when driving. For the drinking drivers, the driving license can be suspended for an average of two month, and a fine of an average of 50 US dollars. For the drunk drivers suspension of driving license takes an average of five month and the driver can end up into custody, and/or about 230 US dollars fine. WHO considers the Chinese most collisions to have resulted from violation of traffic rules, arguing that the poor road conditions, lack of necessary measures and ineffective prevention measures also contribute to the deaths, where farmers and businessmen are the major victims. According to Chinese automobile fatalities are preventable, but this contradicts with the cultural practices because what can be used to prevent the fatalities, the Chinese culture has great value for them. A good example for this is drinking. There has been no major motor vehicle accident in China, but minor cases have been reported throughout China, causing few severe and minor injuries to the victims. The International Labor Organization, State Administration of Work Safety as well as China International Forum of work safety are some of the organizations in China, which have been working to promote safety of workers at their work places. One of the most dangerous work places in China is the coalmines. Education and training of safety inspectors are the major keys which can underpin safety culture. The coal mining industry training in China is offered in four institutional types. The level A and level B institutions are involved with training the mine managers and safety controllers, level C institutions trains special occupational workers with special skills unlike those given to manager and controllers. The level D institution trains mine workers at the mining sites. (OS and HC 2001). The occupational safety inspectors require the training on how to maintain safety while working, and the need for the safety. An underground gas- triggered earthquake in Northeast China killed at least two hundred and two people. The president leaders and local officials made efforts to rescue the victims and put strict measures that would prevent similar and other disasters at mining site, and compensated the victims’ families. The Chinese work hard and with diligence. They believe that hard work has a lot for them in terms of benefits, incomes and generally good living standards. All Chinese keep this as their drive force, whereby all individuals work hard to earn living. Migrant workers put extra efforts when working in China, and the wages they get in return are very low. Not all Chinese are hard work, but since no country has a universal cultural trait, the general description of Chinese is that they are hard working. They are status-obsessed, greedy and envious of their social betterment. These traits are the driving force of Chinese to hard working. The riches of the Chinese are not achieved from the parents’ financial background, but rather from the efforts of their hard work. Various trade unions have been formed in China. These unions are aimed at protecting the legitimate rights and interests or workers. Among these unions is the All China Federation of Trade Unions which collectively bargains for the workers in the management. The union represents the workers interest in wage negotiations, while enhancing job security. Occupational illnesses and injuries cost China a lot. Most of these illnesses are caused by inhaling of dusts at mining sites and include, chronic lung diseases, pneumoconiosis. According to legal daily, the GAWS, said that about seven hundred million of Chinese suffer occupational illnesses, and there is a high possibility of the number to increase. (Chow 2003). There are other illnesses and injuries related to the Chinese occupation, but the ones that result from mining are the majority and have severe effects to individual and businesses. Although some businesses gives sick leaves, not all of them give a considerable duration of the leave for fire fighters in China, some fire houses gives a day to two medical leave for fighters but its given to workers with severe injuries. Minor injuries like sprains, injuries and cuts are not considered. The city argued that workers who seek on-duty injury leaves should be penalized because the union fosters the decision to seek the sick leaves. The ILO urges China to create more and better jobs to meet the economy surges, of filling jobs. This is because China’s economy is booming but the labor is scarce. The ILO reported that there is a decrease in creation of jobs in China, compared to the GDP growth. There has been a high ratio of unemployed Chinese in relation to the entire Chinese population. ILO reported that the shedding of jobs at poorly performing states owned business has caused loss of many jobs, and the shifting from long-term structural shift to employment-intensive growth as the country modernizes have resulted to mediocre rate in creation of job. ILO urges China to participate in education and training system to avail skilled technicians and workers. The trained personnel and thought to ensure long term transition plans are effective which would produce greater valued goods and services. In China occupational accidents are so frequent especially at mine sites and despite it all, Chinese continue to work at the mines. Despite the deaths which result from these accidents, the Chinese continue to work to earn for their living. The International Strategy for disaster reduction and UN/ISDR have been participating in preventing and minimizing risks associated with natural and manmade disasters in China. In July 1931, a severe flood occurred in China, which led to 3,700,000 deaths. The disaster was as a result of flooding of yellow river in China. In 1920, Gansu earthquake occurred in China killing 200,000 people. (Brown 2002). The WHO report, indicates that China is one of the major tobacco consuming countries, with subsequent death, and to limit this, the WHO report emphasized on preventing the tobacco consumption by giving anti-smoking messages to the public. In another WHO report, China was among the countries which were found to be operating in a level accepted by WHO in terms of compliance with its principles of good manufacturing practices. The tobacco consumption in China, as well as other lung infections related to mining dust is some of the specific threats faced by the Chinese. . According to WHO report, Chinese population is under the risk of chronic diseases, children malnutrition, under nutrition and overweight, anemia resulting from under nutrition and poor sanitation. These risks if not sorted out can have great negative impact to the entire Chinese population. Other diseases which increase the Chinese mortality rate include HIV /AIDS, malaria infection, and tuberculosis among others. Deaths, injuries and damage of premises are some of the major threats faced by the Chinese as a result of various disasters. These disasters affect individuals, organizations as well as the entire population in the Chinese society, whether directly or indirectly The WHO recommends support from governmental, and non governmental organization to enhance health workforce and financial support, which are thought to ensure effective treatment of infected and affected people in China. China is one of the countries mostly affected by disasters due to its geographical and physical feature. The disasters are also enhanced by involvement of people in various activities thus the manmade disasters. These disasters greatly affect the social and economic development of the Chinese. Various disasters have been reported to have occurred in China, including floods, earthquakes, firers, drought, seismic and ecological disasters among others. (Thygerson 1977). However, no history report has indicated volcano eruption or possibility of eruption. Threats posed by disasters are related to property, life and individuals’ safety as well as the country’s safety in terms of economy and society. These China’s social stability and national security are inhibited by the disasters and due to fear of investors, China economic development comes to halt, which promotes poverty in the country. The disasters made by man in China include the virus, biological warfare, chemical warfare and the development of nuclear weapons by man. (Abramowitz 2002). Both natural and man made disasters have similar threat to the Chinese population. A lot of injuries and deaths’ have resulted in China from disasters whether, natural or manmade. In China, flooding is a major killer of lives in China. Below is a table showing the top ten natural disasters in China, including the resulting death and injury toll. The Chinese blame Japanese, claiming that they cause most of the experienced disasters. They relate manmade disasters to the Japanese action. They regard civil war as a process in which a nation moves despite the war effects. Despite the many likes lost as a result of these disasters the Chinese population takes heart and continues with their work activities. This is common in mining sites, because the disasters are frequently reported but Chinese continue working at the mine site to earn for their living. (Heming and Philpee 2001).

Key Features of Utilitarianism Essay

The theory of Utilitarianism is based on the concept of utility, a theory of usefulness. Utilitarianism is a system of morality that generates us with what the most useful thing to do in different situations and outcomes. Different Utilitarian approaches to morality have emerged each with their own theory of good and community of concerning individuals. Featuring the main influential contributors to this theory are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. There are two types of theories, teleological and deontological theories. Firstly for the teleological theory, you would consider the ends, or the outcomes of your decision. It considers whether it is right or wrong depending on the different outcomes it might cause and not concerned with the motive or intention for an action. This is the most common thing to all Utilitarian, the teleological outlook. In this theory, the means justifies the ends. Whereas the deontological theory concentrates on the moral rules that can’t be broken. For this theory, the most important ethical thing isn’t the result or the consequence of the action, but the action itself. If by nature that the action is wrong, then don’t do it. For example, a deontologist could day, ‘You should never steal, this means by the act itself of stealing is wrong. This theory suggests that the end never justifies the means. Introducing Jeremy Bentham, where his theory focuses on weighing up pleasure and pain. In 1789, in Principles of Morals and Legislation, he wrote: Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as what we shall do. This is when the hedonic calculus came into the equation. Its purpose is to weigh up pain and pleasure generated by the available moral actions to find the best option. There are 7 factors that needs to be considered in this calculus before making the decision, starting with its intensity, considering how deep or superficial the happiness is, duration, how temporary or permanent the happiness is, certainty, how sure the happiness is, propinquity, how near or remote the happiness is, fecundity, how likely the happiness is to recur or lead to future happiness, purity, how free from pain the happiness is and extent, how far the happiness-giving effects of action will spread. This suggestion will only help the majority and no the minority. It doesn’t give any protection to the minority, for example the sadistic guards, where the guards gain pleasure from torturing and the helpless prisoner gets pain but there are a higher number of guards comparing to one prisoner. So is it correct to say that what the guards are doing is right? For the calculas, what if someone doesn’t have all the available information for every 7 factors? Will the calculus still be put to use? There’s absolutely no guarantee in predicting the future because everyone is different. Each person has different views even if it’s on the same subject. The calculus is obviously flawed. J. S. Mill on the other hand, felt that Bentham had made a mistake in his assessment of what human beings desired the most. Mill thought that what was more important was that happiness will be most affectively gained when individuals seek their own needs. Mill knows that Bentham’s theory is based on quantitative level and that’s where he saw upcoming errors where human behaviours react to different things change everything. So, instead of focusing on quantity, Mill focuses on the qualitative pleasures. He developed a system of higher and lower pleasures where the higher pleasure would be taken into consideration first before the lower ones. Mill stood up on the fact that pleasures of the mind were higher than those of the body. For example, Mill thought that pure bodily pleasure like food, drink, drugs and sex was not as high an objective as those on an intellectual level. There are two types of utilitarianism, act and rule. For act, the principle of utility is faced individually. All of the acts are decided by the resulting consequences even if it might break the law. It has the benefit of being flexible where the section of justification may vary. Meaning of this is that, one day it might be the right thing to do and another day it might be the wrong thing to do. It is said that the act states the most number of good for the most number of people is generally good. For example, it can be in a form of satisfaction, pleasure and happiness. Act utilitarianism is the application on a case by case basis. It states that, when faced with a choice, we must first consider the likely consequences of potential actions and from that choose to do what we believe will generate the most pleasure.   The problem with this is that we have to take every single thing into account. By every dilemma that we face, we’d have to go through it first then make a decision to act upon it. It is closely associated with Bentham’s theory. For rule utilitarianism, it focuses on general rules that everyone should follow to bring about the greatest good for that community. For example, the rules are pursued by the whole community giving them convenience and reasonable rules to live by which ultimately brings the best result overall. This theory leans closer to Mill’s theory. In any situation, an individual must obey the rule even if it doesn’t lead to the greatest pleasure. By obeying all these rules, it brings the greatest good when everyone acts in the same manner. Now, there are the weak and the strong where the weak utilitarianism doesn’t have to stick by the rules cause they chose not to abide by it therefore when it comes to certain situations, they have a free choice to either follow it or not. For example, although rules should be framed on previous examples that benefit society, it is possible, under specific circumstances, to do what produces the greatest happiness and break that rule. On the other hand, strong utilitarianism is where people never break the rules. So a strong rule utilitarian might say the â€Å"Do not steal† rule must never be broken and they would stick to it even though in some situations, it might be better if they did steal but to them, it’s the wrong thing to do no matter whether it brings them to a better condition. Lastly, there are other forms of Utilitarianism such as the â€Å"Best Interest Utilitarianism† by Peter Singer where he tries to solve the problem that some pleasures are bad for us. Preference Utilitarianism by R. M. Hare where he tries to solve the problem that people have different ideas of pleasure even if it’s something very small and specific, not everyone wants and thinks the same. Ending with Motive Utilitarianism by Sidgwick where he tries to solve the problem of the difficulty of predicting consequences where he elaborates on the inaccuracy of an individual’s chances of guessing what’s going to happen in the future.

Monticellos Dome essays

Monticellos Dome essays Thomas Jefferson began the long, tedious job of building his dream house in 1770 at the age of twenty-five. Along with being a congressman, and the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson was also the architect of Monticello. The original Monticello was built to take on conventional Palladian features. However, as Jeffersons public career kept him away from Monticello for long periods of time, including five years spent as the nations representative to France, Monticellos design began to change. In this report I will concentrate on the dome, one of the major additions. I will quickly tell you a little background information of Monticello. Monticello is located near Charlottesville, Virginia on a hill that stands 867 feet above sea level. When standing on top if the mountain, if one looks eat from the house over the Rivanna River to the gentle hills of Albemarle County. Facing the west one can spend hours watching the shifting light patterns on the Blue Ridge Mountains. And if one stands on the north terrace, one can see the University of Virginia (Urofsky 21). Following Peter Jeffersons (Thomas Jeffersons father) death, Thomas Jefferson was given a large amount of land, including several in Albemarle County. Here is where he pick his ideal location for his house, and he named it little mountain or in Old Italian, Monticello. After living in Paris and visiting its great public buildings as well as the city and county houses of the nobility, Monticello seemed small and provincial to Jefferson. He declared himself violently smitten with the Hotel de Salm in Paris, now the Museum of the Legion of Honor across the Seine from the Louvre. He went to look at it often from the Tuileries, and this one - story town house with a dome certainly influenced him as he sat out to remodel Monticello(Urofsky 93). Jefferson remodeled other parts of Montice...

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Life Under Hammurabis Rule in Ancient Babylonian Cities

Life Under Hammurabi's Rule in Ancient Babylonian Cities Babylonian cities during Hammurabis day were made up of royal compounds with palaces, gardens, cemeteries, and Mesopotamian temples known as ziggurats. Residential areas in cities such as Ur consisted of ordinary houses on winding streets, dotted with elite housing, shops, and shrines. Some of the cities were quite large, reaching their maximum size in the late 3rd or early 2nd millennium BCE. Ur, for example, measured 60 hectares in size during the Isin-Larsa period, with additional suburbs outside the city walls. Urs population at that time has been estimated at 12,000. Babylonia was a kingdom in ancient Mesopotamia, located to the west of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq. Although famous in the West for its cultural advances- including the legal code of its greatest ruler, Hammurabi- the city of Babylon itself was of minor importance throughout much of Mesopotamian history. Far more significant was the city of Ur and its rivals (at various times) for regional power: Isin, Lagash, Larga, Nippur, and Kish. Ordinary and Elite Residences Ordinary houses in Babylon and Ur were house complexes rather like a Roman villa, consisting of a rectangular internal courtyard open to the air or partially roofed, surrounded by blocks of rooms opening up on to it. The streets were curving and generally unplanned. Cuneiform texts from the period tell us that private householders were responsible for taking care of the public streets and were at the risk of death for not doing so, but archaeologists have found trash deposits in those streets. Simple house plans without internal courtyards and single-roomed structures probably representing shops were scattered throughout the residential quarters. There were small shrines located at street crossings. The grandest houses at Ur were two stories high, with rooms around the central courtyard again open to the air. The walls facing the street were unadorned, but the internal walls were sometimes decorated. Some people were buried in the floors beneath the rooms, but there were separate cemetery areas as well. Palaces The palaces were, in comparison to even the grandest of regular houses, extraordinary. The Palace of Zimri-Lim at Ur was built of mud brick walls, preserved to heights as much as 4 meters (13 feet). It was a complex of over 260 rooms on the ground floor, with separate quarters for the receiving rooms and the kings residence. The palace covered an area of about 200 by 120 meters, or about 3 hectares (7 acres). The exterior walls were up to 4 meters in thickness and were protected with a coat of clay plaster. The main entrance to the palace lay off a paved street; it had two large courtyards, an antechamber and an audience hall thought to be the throne room. Surviving polychrome murals on Zimri-Lim show the events of the kings investiture. Near life-size statues of goddesses graced the courtyard. Below is a list of some of Babylonias most significant cities at the height of Hammurabis empire. Agade (Akkad): exact location between the Tigris and Euphrates is not known. They spoke Akkadian.BabylonEridu (Eridug/Urudug): Site of the temple of EnkiEshnunna: Located in the Diyala Valley, gateway to the kingdom of ElamKish: Symbolic center of northern MesopotamiaUr: Biblical home of the Hebrew forefather Abram, later AbrahamUruk: Seat of the legendary king GilgameshNippur: Symbolic center of southern MesopotamiaSippar: Sun-cult center on the banks of the EuphratesUmma: Rival to LagashLarsa: Another center of a sun cultAdab: A vassal of KishLagash: Especially ancient city and center of artistic developmentIsin: Important city to the Third Dynasty of Ur, ca. 2000 BCE, and thereafter

Under FSMA 2000, the Financial Services Authority has various Essay

Under FSMA 2000, the Financial Services Authority has various statutory objectives. Critically evaluate the progress they have made under each of these objectives - Essay Example This ensures that there is smooth functioning without any friction. The second point of consideration is its power to conduct regular supervision of the financial services industry. This means writing policies for wholesale, retail, banking, and other financial services including insurance, and ensuring their proper adherence to the policies. As a part of this, the Authority has developed a code of market conduct which ensures that the market abuse practices are properly dealt with. Also, it has its own investigation and enforcement policies and department that identify the misconducts, and bring the culprits to law. The benefit of FSMA Act is that Section 165 allowed FSA to collect information and documents from firms as necessary. This power can be utilised in two ways. Either it can be used to require the provision of particular information, or it can be used to require the production of a particular document. According to Section 167, the Authority has the power to appoint investigators to conduct general investigations into firms (Alexander, 2002). Another vital point that deserves attention is the possibility of conducting investigations in support of overseas regulators. When there is violation of the policies, the Authority has the power to issue a public statement of misconduct or penalty as it finds appropriate, and the quantum of penalty is based on the risk of loss caused to consumers and other market users. Yet another important measure that enhances market confidence is the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The next point is ensuring public awareness. Admittedly, Financial Service Authority has such a policy that is open to all consumers. To illustrate, there is the FSA library, FSA handbook, and FSA register. The FSA handbook gives one an idea about all the rules, regulations, and policies of FSA. In addition, there are handbooks called tailored handbooks available on various