Fame made me lonely :: Creative Writing Essays

Fame made me lonely "Julie, there's a new number one!" shouted Kayleigh to her sister. "Who is it?" questioned Julie. "It's Chris Riley and it's called First Time" rushed Kayleigh, eager to hear the song. Chris Riley was in his luxury palace, watching the top ten chart on his 78 inch plasma screen television. His agent, Mark Priestman, informed him that his single went straight to number one in just two days. Chris was pleased. He didn't look thrilled or excited. I didn't understand why he wasn't chuffed. Chris Riley lived in a luxurious mansion in a desolate place in the depths of Yorkshire. His mansion had four floors each containing at least seven rooms. The long, lavish corridors were beautifully decorated with a light blue carpet and portraits of him posing. There was an indoor extensive swimming pool that had gold railings. On the fourth floor there was a small private cinema that had twenty comfortable seats with large beverage holders. The cinema had several small spotlights and the stairs were luminous green. The mansion had everything a person could ever want, including a huge disco, which must have been used for parties. There was a large stage with a bar next to it but there was no one inside it. I had looked around most of the house and it was all empty. I eventually figured out which room was Chris's bedroom. It was very spacious with little inside it. Chris had a double sized bed with basic furniture. To the left of the room was a large photograph that showed Chris with a women and a young girl, about four or five years old. They all looked very happy and free from the popularity he had back in England. It looked to me as if they were on holiday because they were on a seaside when the sun was setting to give a magnificent effect on the photo. I looked round the corner and spotted Chris walking towards his room. He silently sat down on the bed and stared at the photograph. He looked deeply into the woman's eyes and wondered, "Why did you leave me? Why?" He questioned with rage. "You separated me from my own daughter!" His eyes had turned red and tears were escaping from his eyes and landed onto his black silk shirt. Suddenly, it had all made sense to me why his mansion was so empty of life and happiness. He laid down gripping his hair with devastation of his separation from the ones he loved. When they had left she had taken half of his money with her.

Environmental issues and economics

Economic growth, unemployment and a better standard of living have always been the main objectives on the agenda of economists throughout the world. The environment is and has always been the major attribution to achieving these goals as it is the source of natural resources, many amenities and as a place to dump whatever waste, whenever necessary. Up to the 1960s there had never been the awareness of problems affecting the environment's role. The population started to grow rapidly since the industrial revolution, first in the west and then in the 20th century developing countries followed. Today the world population is over 6 billion and in relation to the rate of economic growth there has been a mass of extra pressure put on the environment. Also read this  Cheating in a Bottom Line Economy There is a great list of issues, disasters and environmental problems that have been discovered during the last forty years that are on the constant agenda of the majority of economist's decisions and that are in desperate need of a solution. Some economists choose to dismiss the issue altogether, for example the USA who make up only 5% of the population, yet contribute to using 25% of the world's energy and produce 22% of the world's CO2. For them to dismiss the allegations of their contribution to damaging the environment is a very serious issue as they refuse to cease the growth of their economy i.e. their car market. Their only attempts at solving this problem are unrealistic and would do little towards helping the environment. The main issues are the problems caused to the environment by global warming, nuclear disasters, water pollution, intensive farming, the loss of non-renewable sources and of course the cause of it all, rising population. When the environment becomes damaged it is due to a failure of the market (Demand and Supply). That is, as the environmental damage has not been taken into account when applying the concepts of economic growth. This can generally be accounted for by the lack of property rights, as there is nobody who can take the side of the environment and hold to account those who damage the sea, air, rainforest etc, so there is very little done about it. In almost every circumstance it is cheaper for businesses/ firms to pollute the environment than to attempt to clean up the damage they have caused. A good way of analysing the effects of production on the environment is to draw it on a diagram of the production possibility curve/ frontier to comprehend a range at which there can be production and environmental protection. At point Y – Maximum production and worst environmental conditions. At point Z – Environment is perfect but there is no production at all. At range X – There is production and environmental protection. There are five main aims of government policy which all contribute to affecting the environment in their own way. One of the main objectives of government is to reach full employment, which is economically, a very good position to be in for an economy. Full employment can and often does however lead to more factories, offices, shops, purchased cars, manufactured goods and therefore the possible loss of countryside which all lead to pollution, congestion etc. The same kind of damage is also caused by economic growth. A policy set by the government (especially monetarists) is to fight inflation that ordinarily results in unemployment, which is seen clearly from the Phillips Curve. Targeting and achieving low inflation will cut aggregate demand and so the environment actually suffers less damage. Improving the balance of payments deficit also contributes to less damage on the environment, as there is again a cut in aggregate demand. The final aim of government policy is to redistribute income accordingly to a specific school of thought e.g. 1945-1979 The rich were taxed heavily (income tax) to pay welfare state (help the poor) which inevitably boosted aggregate demand, harming the environment. Since about 1970 the concept of sustainable development has been more widely discussed. Sustainable development is about economic growth being the cause of damage to the environment. An economist named R.K. Turner once quoted that sustainable development is â€Å"to leave future generations an amount of wealth, which is at least equal to that inherited by the current generation†. Agenda 21 set up in 1992 was an attempt to solve this world problem for the generations. It was a conference in Rio where all the countries governments agreed to an outline plan to protect the environment, especially global warming. To follow this attempt, a further conference was set up in 1997 in Kyoto. In this conference legally binding targets were introduced to reduce CO2 emissions with the exception of developing countries that were allowed to increase CO2 emissions up to a limit as they industrialise. In order to apply these individual targets set for the environment within a country would have to produce an evaluation to establish whether the benefits are greater than the costs to the environment before starting a project. This is done through Cost-Benefit analysis, which is a way in which economists assess the private internal costs and benefits (relates to the firm/ businesses) and the social external costs and benefits (relates to society). The problems that arise with this method of assessment though is that it is very subjective and open to wide interpretation, as you cannot value pollution e.g. an eye sore or the gains of a quicker journey to work. Solutions to pollution and other social costs can be approached in two ways, through the private sector and the government sector. I order to control pollution and social costs in the private sector without the interference of the government, several approaches would need to be made. Property rights would need to be extended, the polluters and the pollutee would need to bargain (Coarse Bargaining) about pollution, there might need to be a merging between the polluter and the pollutee so that it would be in the polutee's best interest to clean up their act as the social costs would affect their profit levels. There might also have to be some altruism, which they can use as a marketing strategy. The price mechanism is also a strong solution to solving the problem of losing non-renewable goods e.g. oil. When demand exceeds supply then the prices rise and products like oil are instantly rationed which leaves an incentive to find alternatives. Alternatively for some products such as glass, paper, cans etc, it may become more economic to recycle as the prices for these scarce resources rise. However, i.e. with bottles, the factories used for recycling pollute the atmosphere as do the lorries collecting the bottles from the bottle bank as do the cars used by the public to take the bottles to the bank. Should the public sector fail to take these factors into account (market failure), there is a case for government intervention in order to apply a solution to pollution and other social costs. The government often sets standards as either an outright ban e.g. CFC's or as a partial ban e.g. leaded petrol. Other standards are also introduced that are often more difficult to enforce as they are not as effective as taxes and the government may face possible costs e.g. MOT tests. Taxes are deemed as effective and are therefore often imposed in an attempt to internalise external costs. These are effective, as the buyer has to pay the equivalent price for the damage to the environment; this is an effective disincentive to buy e.g. VAT and excise duty on petrol. The effect caused by added taxes is in this supply and demand diagram OP (price) & OQ (quantity) do not take damage to the environment into account As the taxes are introduced supply shifts to S2 due to the high price change at OP2. Subsequently this makes us aware of the damage caused to the environment and demand contracts to OQ2. The problems that arise however with indirect taxation are that the poor are consequently more affected than the rich are. One strategy that is now in the progress of being experimented within the USA that requires a combination of both the private and government sector. This involves the issuing of â€Å"permits to pollute†. This allows firms/ businesses to compete amongst themselves after the government has set up a structure by which permits are sold for the right to pollute. Over several years the permits are then cut and it is left to the private sector companies to compete with each other or to put investment into efficient power generators that are more environmentally friendly that require less or no need for permits. It is clear that there are many arising environmental issues becoming apparent to the economist throughout the stages of meeting government policies. Despite that there has been noticeable actions taken out since these problems have been discovered, there is still a long way to go.

Erythropoietin and Athletes

Erythropoietin and Athletes Steven D. Jackson Student, American Military University Abstract Erythropoietin (EPO) use as a performance enhancing agent in sport carries both significant and detrimental risks to go along with its suggested benefits. As such, it was banned by the International Olympic Committee in 1990. Shortly thereafter, successful and reliable testing methods have been developed to test athletes for its potential use.Despite widespread knowledge of its potential adverse effects and the testing for its attempted use, EPO use remains substantial amongst endurance athletes of nearly all ages and disciplines, both professional and amateur. This paper will provide a history of EPO as a performance enhancing substance, explain its associated risks and perceived and actual benefits, attempt to analyze why athletes feel compelled to use it, and examine the sanctions, regulations, and weighty repercussions associated with its use. Erythropoietin and AthletesIn sport, there ar e a virtually limitless number of ways in which one can influence or positively impact physical or mental performance. These methods can come in the form of mechanical aids, pharmacological aids, physiological aids, nutritional aids, and psychological aids. Regardless of its source, any means by which one seeks to improve performance by enhancing the physiological capacity of a particular system of the body, removing psychological constraints which adversely affect performance, or by accelerating recovery from training or competition is called an ergogenic aid (MacKenzie, 2001).These may include something as simple and innocuous as a healthy meal consumed the night prior to a competition, but seemingly, the ergogenic aids which athletes are turning to more increasingly are those that have been banned by organizations such as the World Anti-Doping Agency, the International Olympic Committee, and the like. Often, these substances have been banned because they not only represent perver se and unethical behavior, but also, as is the case for a substance like recombinant erythropoietin, because they can have serious adverse health effects for heir users. Over time, these substances have changed, but the desire to gain an unfair competitive advantage remains. Hematopoiesis is the process which involves the production of mature cells in the blood and in lymphoid organs. Mature erythrocytes, or red blood cells, have no nucleus, so they cannot reproduce in the traditional fashion as other cells can. Erythropoiesis, then, is the process by which erythrocytes are produced. Erythropoietin is a naturally occurring hormone found within the human body which controls this red blood cell production.It is released by the kidneys, and to a lesser extent the liver, and in very little quantities in the brain in response to a negative feedback. The physiological stimulus of erythropoietin production is hypoxia, or prolonged oxygen deficiency in body tissue, and in the majority of in stances is related to the number of circulating erythrocytes within the kidneys. At high altitudes, for example, where the pressure oxygen in the air is reduced, oxygen delivery to the body’s tissues initially decreases.This drop in oxygen triggers the release of erythropoietin, which travels via the blood to the red bone marrow and stimulates red blood cell production (Shier, Butler, & Lewis, 2011). This is important to note, as this negative feedback of loss in oxygen is essentially no different than the body observing a loss in blood, which also necessitates the release of erythropoietin. In cases of hemolysis or hemorrhage, erythrocyte production will also increase rapidly and substantially for the body to attempt to accommodate for the amount of blood lost.However, overproduction of erythrocytes does not occur, both in extreme hypoxic environments and even after the most severe loss of erythrocytes (Robinson, et al. , 2006). This balance is very important, because adequa te oxygen delivery to tissues depends on having a sufficient number of red blood cells to transport oxygen. Decreases in their number or function can hinder oxygen delivery and thus affect exercise performance. Red blood cells serve a primary function of facilitating this transport of oxygen, which is bound to the hemoglobin found in red blood cells.Hemoglobin contains iron, which binds oxygen. As such, the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood is determined by its hemoglobin content. Accordingly, when hemoglobin levels fall, exercise performance is subsequently impaired. Being familiar with this, athletes, trainers, and coaches often practice iron supplementation in an effort to prevent anemia and attempt to boost hemoglobin levels. However, this supplementation cannot boost the blood’s oxygen carrying capacity beyond that which is normal.Consequently, doctors, trainers, and athletes have come up with various alternative means to try to boost blood’s oxygen-carrying capac ity, and in turn boost performance (Mottram, 2011). In traditional medical settings, the need for a means to raise red blood cell counts in patients suffering from kidney failure in order to alleviate their extreme anemia, as they have so few red blood cells that they typically experience near-permanent exhaustion. The demand for a way to treat these kidney patients precipitated the development of synthesized erythropoietin.There was no question that they needed red blood cells, and the proposition of providing them via erythropoietin seemed logically safer than the more natural and traditional repeated transfusions and dialysis. The same logic applied to the much larger number of people whose kidneys were weak or damaged, but not yet failing. Raising their red blood cell count, and subsequently their hemoglobin levels, up to a normal amount like the more attractive option, and it was only a matter of time before it could be discovered (Burch, 2011).In 1985, the gene responsible for the synthesis of erythropoietin was successfully cloned for the first time. This synthesized erythropoietin is known as recombinant erythropoietin, and first became available in Europe in 1987 and was later patented by Amgen in 1989 (Mottram). With this development, it quickly became evident that recombinant erythropoietin would be used illegally as a performance enhancer in endurance sports. As such, the International Olympic Committee elected to ban this drug in 1990, even though all forms of blood doping had been officially banned since 1984 (Robinson, et al. ).In its earliest clinical trials, recombinant erythropoietin proved very successful, and it was quickly put to use with patients requiring their hemoglobin be raised to normal levels. The trials showed the drug’s benefits outweighed its risks, but not by much. In 2005, researchers and kidney specialists concluded their trials ahead of schedule when they were stunned by what they found. After years of raising red blo od cell counts in patients to normal healthy levels, which also raised their hematocrit—the proportion of red blood cells to total blood volume—doctors were not seeing decreased occurrences of troke, heart complications, and even death. These rates were actually increasing. Therein laid the problem with EPO use, especially in uncontrolled environments and when used by athletes (Burch). Before EPO’s adverse effects were widely known, and to a great extent even today, its proposed benefits led to its immediate abuse by endurance athletes. The first cases were reported in several newspapers within the four years after recombinant EPO appeared in Europe. These articles claimed a link between rumored EPO abuse and the deaths of 18 Belgian and Dutch cyclists.This unfortunate wave seemed to roll on for some time, seemingly striking hardest amongst in the sport of cycling, and often resulting in death. For some time, cyclists publicly denied using EPO, but at the 1998 T our de France, a masseuse for the Festina team was caught with EPO and several other banned drugs. The entire team and its staff were ejected from the Tour, and eventually seven of the nine Festina riders admitted to doping. Even the winner that year, Marco Pantani, was ejected the following year for signs of EPO use in an earlier drug test (Eichner, 2007).Though the bulk of EPO use reported in the media comes from cycling, other sports are not free from it. Chinese runners, swimmers, and rowers, Russia’s top female cross-country skiers, Finland’s tops skiers, and Germany’s top runners all have been caught for suspected EPO use of some kind or another. Russian and American runners and sprinters, including American sprinter Kelli White, have been stripped of medals and handed bans for their admitted EPO use after failing drug tests.Even Lance Armstrong—who has always denied any EPO use—has been suspected of illegal EPO use brought about by claims of his former teammates (Eichner). Perhaps the greatest contributing factor for the prevalence of continued illegal EPO use is in its difficulty of detection. While some athletes may think that they are using a drug for which there is no means of detection, which is not the case, others may simply know that EPO can be a very elusive drug to detect.Early detection strategies for EPO use as a drug were limited to blood testing only. Though blood tests could confirm inconsistent hematocrit levels and other blood markers compared to base samples in athletes who may have been using EPO supplementation up to, and sometimes over, a week prior, or those that had been using EPO when they originally provided a base sample and had discontinued its use, a direct method for detection in urine had yet to be established.Furthermore, early attempts at developing a urine test proved to be expensive, overly sensitive, and unreliable. Since blood doping had been common practice in some endurance sports for decades due to its clear performance advantages, it regrettably became even more attractive once recombinant EPO became available. Athletes have exploited these limitations of testing, particularly in sports that relied solely on urine specimen testing (Robinson, et al. . Successful urine testing had finally been developed and came into the picture in 2000. Serving as the only direct method of recombinant erythropoietin detection approved by the Court of Arbitration for sport, this method utilized electrophoretic techniques to separate the isoform profiles of recombinant and endogenous erythropoietin found in urine according to their isoelectric points (Diamanti-Kandarakis, et al. , 2005).Not only could this newly approved testing mathematically and scientifically identify EPO use—or discontinuation of its use—but it could also isolate the various forms of forms of EPO, including erythropoietin alpha, beta, omega, and delta, as well as newer generations of EPO anal ogues like darbepoetin and mimetic peptides. The disadvantage of such an effective urine testing method, however, was that it discouraged athletes from recombinant EPO use. Athletes now fearful of getting caught moved back to using—or rather misusing—blood doping and transfusions in an attempt to raise hematocrit and hemoglobin levels.For that reason, some international sports federations elected to limit their testing to either blood or urine. However, more recently the trend has been to attempt to keep their current testing procedures randomized (Robinson, et al. ). The risks of illegal EPO use remain high. Some athletes choose to supplement with EPO in smaller doses with the intent of limiting their potential exposure in drug tests, and, just as likely, with the expectation that this practice would be â€Å"safer. Regardless, the results of EPO use are largely unpredictable, and tests have revealed that hematocrit values in EPO users can greatly exceed what is cons idered the healthy or normal upper limit of 50 percent. Once the hormone has been put in the body, the athlete is at great risk for substantial increases in blood viscosity. This places the individual in danger of thrombosis, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, hypertension, stroke, and pulmonary embolism. However, with the ever-increasing pressures to excel in competition, and the draw of larger rizes, purses, sponsorships, and notoriety in sport today it is not beyond reason as to why teams, athletes, trainers, and coaches would feel compelled to explore an option which may offer athletes a clinically documented six to eight percent increase in their VO2max and 13 to 17 percent increased time to exhaustion (Kenney, Wilmore, & Costill, 2012). Athletes who use banned EPO also risk disqualification from a particular competition, with the risk apparently greater if the athlete’s result is good, as the top-placing finishers in competitions almost certainly are subje ct to testing more and more frequently.They can also be banned from their sport, typically for a minimum of a year, but potentially for life. In their quest for enhanced performance, athletes can easily get caught up in the hype surrounding these sorts of substances and the purported benefits they might bestow. Unfortunately, too many athletes are blinded by ambition and do not consider the consequences of their actions until their careers have become jeopardized or their health has been seriously affected.Considering recent reports of even amateur athletes being dealt bans and imposed fines after testing positive for EPO use in events that are considered recreational, the need is definitely present for the likes of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee to take more aggressive and decisive action in the battle against doping and illegal drug use. The misuse of medical and biotechnological advancements to enhance athletic performance is an issue that wi ll clearly not go away on its own.It is imperative for sports federations to be able to collect blood samples from their competitors and institute a continuity system which keeps track of appropriate individual values. The appropriate way to fight blood doping and EPO use is to markers for each individual athlete to have a record of each marker and measure of their blood. In this way it will not be necessary to take into account complicating factors during testing and analysis such as sex, ethnic origin, and the kind of sport in which the athlete is participating.With a system such as this, it would be possible to identify which athletes are manipulating their bodies based on their own set reference values and markers over time. This, combined random, unannounced testing is the only way currently possible to effectively mitigate doping. Even still, it is supremely difficult for sports organizations and control agencies in sport to stay ahead of the always sophisticated doping method s. Summary Erythropoietin and all of its forms were developed with the intent of rehabilitating and alleviating the extreme symptoms of kidney patients.Their appeal is strong to competitive athletes, especially with more and more on the line each year. Despite their undeniable ability to enhance performance, EPO can cause serious negative health effects. In an era where performance-enhancing drug abuse is rampant across nearly all disciplines of sports despite rigorous legislation and testing throughout the world, it is necessary to understand the harmful effects of all substances when considering their use.The undesirable effects of EPO use are virtually countless, but—and perhaps worse yet—the potential long-term effects of chronic use are not well known. References Burch, D. (2011). Blood sports. Natural History 119(6), 14-16. Diamanti-Kandarakis, E. , Konstantinopoulos, P. , Papiliou, J. , Kandarakis, S. , Andreopoulos, A. , Sykiotis, G. (2005). Erythropoietin abus e and erythropoietin gene doping. Sports Medicine, 35(10), 831-840. Eichner, E. (2007). Blood doping. Sports Medicine, 37(4/5), 389-391. Kenney, L. W. , Wilmore, J. H. , & Costill, D. L. (2012).Physiology of sport and exercise (5th ed. ). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Mackenzie, B (2001). Ergogenic aids. Retrieved from http://www. brianmac. co. uk/ergoaids. htm Mottram, D. R. (2011) Drugs in sport (5th ed. ). New York: Routledge. Robinson, N. N. , Giraud, S. S. , Saudan, C. C, Baume, N. N. , Avois, L. L, Mangin, P. P. , & Saugy, M. M. (2006). Erythropoietin and blood doping. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 40, i30- i34. Shier, D. , Butler, J. , & Lewis, R. (2012). Hole’s essentials of human anatomy & physiology (11th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

The Salt Trade essays

The Salt Trade essays The word 'Hall', often found in contemporary Austrian place-names or geographical features, is derived from the ancient word for salt. (Zronik 14) Beginning in the 7th century BC, one of the main regions of Celtic occupation was in modern-day Austria, centred around Hallstatt, a large prehistoric salt-mining area. The Hallstatt period, 750 - 450 B.C., is named after this region. Hallstatt is the location where most of the extensive and comprehensive finds pertaining to the early Iron Age were discovered. (Schutz 191) Salt was a highly desirable commodity at the time, and the Hallstatt culture took advantage of the salts high value by establishing a salt trade. There are two main components in any trading system; exports and imports. The Hallstatt culture exported salt, and imported such items as pottery, jewelley, weapons, and gold. The salt trade resulted in increased wealth for the Hallstatt culture while the imported goods carried along cultural influences. The various influences came from all around Europe, but most notably the Greeks, the Italians, the Mediterranean. With the current weather conditions at the time, the value of salt was extremely high. With salt having such a high value, the salt trade led to a stratification of society, as the rulers of the salt trade became wealthy. The economic basis of the Hallstatt culture focused on the mining and distribution of rock salt. During the early Iron Age there was an increased demand for salt. The demand was attributed to the dry weather which lasted from 700 to 500 B.C. The salt trade was motivated by the need for the increase in the dietary use of salt to prevent dehydration. Also salt was valuable for preserving meats during the winter. The salt trade was of great economic importance to the Hallstatt culture as suggested by the difficulty in the mining of salt. With the tools available to the salt miners of Hallstatt they could advance into the rock at a rate of 1 met...

Tennessee Vital Records - Births, Deaths Marriages

Tennessee Vital Records - Births, Deaths Marriages Learn how and where to obtain birth, marriage, and death certificates and records in Tennessee, including the dates for which Tennessee vital records are available, where they are located, and links to online Tennessee state vital records databases. Tennessee Vital Records1st Floor, Central Services Building421 5th Avenue, NorthNashville, TN 37243Phone: 615-741-1763 What You Need to Know:Check or money order should be made payable to Tennessee Vital Records. Personal checks are accepted. Call or visit the Web site to verify current fees. A photocopy of a valid government issued form of identification which includes the requestor’s signature, usually a driver’s license, must accompany requests for birth and death records. Web site: Tennessee Office of Vital Records   Tennessee Birth Records: Dates: From 1908 Cost of copy: $15.00 long form; $8.00 short form Comments: Tennessee birth records less than 100-years-old are only available to the individual named on the certificate, or their spouse, parent, legal guardian or child. However, verification of information from the records (a transcription of all available information)  can be provided to any requester with a Verification of Birth Facts request. Birth records are available from the State Office beginning with January 1914 births. Records of births from 1908-1912 were kept by the County Clerk in the county where the birth occurred and are also available at the Tennessee State Archives. Records of some births that occurred in the major cities (Nashville since June 1881, Knoxville since July 1881 and Chattanooga since January 1882) are also available. Although the short form is cheaper, the long form (a photocopy of the original record) is much better for genealogical purposes!Application for Tennessee Birth Certificate * Memphis birth records from April 1874 - December 1887 and November 1898 - January 1, 1914 are available from the Memphis Shelby County Health Department. Online:Index to Davidson County Birth Records, 1908–1912Index to Nashville Birth Records, 1881–1913Index to Shelby County Birth Records, 1874–1906   Tennessee Death Records: Dates: From 1908 Cost of copy: $7.00 Comments: Tennessee death records less than 50-years-old are only available to the individual named on the certificate, or their spouse, parent, legal guardian or child. However, verification of information from the records can be provided to any requester with a Verification of Death Facts request. This is  transcription of all available information from the death record, excluding cause of death.   The State office has had death records for the entire State since January 1914, for Nashville since July 1874, for Knoxville since July 1887 and for Chattanooga since March 6, 1872. Death records are available from the State Vital Records Office for the past 50 years. Older death records can be requested through the Tennessee State Archives. Although the short form is cheaper, the long form (a photocopy of the original record) is much better for genealogical purposes!Application for Tennessee Death Certificate Online:Index to Tennessee Death Records: 1908-1912Statewide Index to Tennessee Death Records, 1914–1933)Index to Davidson County Death Records, 1900–1913Tennessee, Death Records, 1914-1955 (index images)   Tennessee Marriage Records: Dates: From 1861* Cost of copy: $15.00 (state) Comments: Tennessee marriage records less than 50-years-old are only available to the individuals named on the certificate, or their spouse, parent, legal guardian or child. However, verification of information from the records (a transcription of all available information) can be provided to any requester with a Verification of Marriage Facts request. The State office has marriage records for the entire State for the past 50 years. Older records are held by the Tennessee State Archives.Application for Tennessee Marriage Certificate * For Memphis birth records from April 1874 - December 1887 and November 1898 - January 1, 1914, and for Memphis death records from May 1848 to January 1, 1914, write to Memphis-Shelby County Health Department, Division of Vital Records, Memphis, TN 38105. A list of Tennessee marriages before 1861 has been published in six volumes. Copies of entries for a surname can be provided upon request for a small fee from the Tennessee State Archives. Online:Tennessee County Marriages, 1790-1950 (index images)Nashville and Davidson County Marriage Records 1788–1839 (index)Nashville Marriage Records 1864–1905  (index)Nashville and Davidson County Marriage Records 1905–1916  (index)   Tennessee Divorce Records: Dates: From July 1905 Cost of copy: $15.00 Comments: Vital Records Office keeps divorce records for 50 years. Older records are maintained by the Tennessee State Archives. Divorces can also be obtained from the Clerk of Court in the county where the divorce was granted. If youre ineligible to receive a certified copy of the divorce, you can still apply for Verification of Divorce Facts for a transcription of information from the divorce record.Application for Tennessee Divorce or Annulment Certificate * Early divorce requests in Tennessee had to be approved by the Tennessee General Assembly. Search the Index to Names in the Acts of Tennessee 1796-1850 to see if there is a listing for a particular individual. If found, the Tennessee State Archives can provide copies for a fee. More US Vital Records - Choose a State

Alfred Nobel and the History of Dynamite

Alfred Nobel and the History of Dynamite The Nobel prizes  were established by none other than inventor Alfred Nobel. But besides being the namesake behind  one of the most prestigious awards given annually for academic, cultural and scientific achievements, Nobel is also well-known for making it possible for people to blow things up.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Before all that, however, the Swedish  industrialist, engineer, and inventor  built bridges and buildings in his nations capital Stockholm. It was his construction work that inspired Nobel to research new methods of blasting rock. So in 1860, the Nobel first started experimenting with an explosive chemical substance called  nitroglycerin. Nitroglycerin and Dynamite Nitroglycerin was first invented by Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero in 1846. In its natural liquid state, nitroglycerin is very volatile. Nobel understood this and in 1866 discovered that mixing nitroglycerine with silica would turn the liquid into a malleable paste called dynamite. One advantage that dynamite had over nitroglycerin was that it could be cylinder-shaped for insertion into the drilling holes used for mining. In 1863, Nobel invented the Nobel patent detonator or blasting cap for detonating nitroglycerin. The  detonator used a strong shock rather than heat combustion to ignite the explosives. The Nobel Company built the first factory to manufacture nitroglycerin and dynamite. In 1867, Nobel received U.S. patent number 78,317 for his invention of dynamite. To be able to detonate the dynamite rods, Nobel also improved his detonator (blasting cap) so that it could be ignited by lighting a fuse.  In 1875, Nobel invented blasting gelatine, which was more stable and powerful than dynamite  and patented it in 1876. In 1887, he was granted a French patent for  ballistite, a smokeless  blasting powder  made from nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. While Ballistite was developed as a substitute for black gunpowder, a variation is used today as a  solid fuel rocket propellant. Biography On October 21, 1833, Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His family moved to St. Petersburg in Russia when he was nine years old. Nobel prided himself on the many countries he lived in during his lifetime and considered himself a world citizen. In 1864, Albert Nobel founded Nitroglycerin AB in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1865, he built the Alfred Nobel Co. Factory in Krà ¼mmel near Hamburg, Germany. In 1866, he established the United States Blasting Oil Company in the U.S. In 1870, he established the Socià ©tà © gà ©nà ©ral pour la fabrication de la dynamite in Paris, France. When he died in 1896, Nobel  stipulated the year before in his last will and testament that 94 percent of his total assets go toward the creation of an endowment fund to honor achievements in  physical science, chemistry, medical science or physiology, literary work and service toward peace.  Hence, the Nobel prize is awarded yearly to people whose work helps humanity. In total, Alfred Nobel held three hundred and fifty-five patents in the fields of electrochemistry, optics, biology, and physiology.

Theory of planned behavior( Ajzen, 1991) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Theory of planned behavior( Ajzen, 1991) - Essay Example The theory relates human behavior to beliefs, arguing that our behavior is influenced by our beliefs. The following study expounds on the Theory of Planned Behavior. The theory of planned behavior was coined by Icek Ajzen in 1985 after seemingly developing it from his joint proposal with Martin Fishbein’s of the theory of reasoned action in 1975 (Fishbein & Cappella, 2006). The theory of reasoned action was developed from many other proposed theories such as the attribution theory, the consistency theories, the expectancy-value theories, and the learning theories. As such, the theory of planned behavior is far-fetched; containing multiple frameworks from many other [proposed] theories. Ajzen coined this theory after evaluating and concluding that individual theories did not satisfactorily attempt to explain human behavior which, according to him is a â€Å"complex and difficult task† (Ajzen, 1991). Behavioral intention: This is the extent to which an intended behavior has motivational factors. It states that the higher the intention to perform a behavior, the higher the chances of it being performed. Social norms: Social norms are simply the standard customary codes as perceived by the larger context of society. In short, it is the level to which a behavior is acceptable or unacceptable according to society. These constructs are categorized into three contexts, that influence human behavior; individual attributes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. According to the theory of planned behavior, these three elements combined are what determine intention and/or action. They are discussed herein: Ajzen developed the context of perceived behavioral control from Bandura’s self-efficacy concept which states that a person’s ability to execute a behavior depends on their perception of its difficulty or ease. In short, a person’s belief is what motivates or demotivates them from executing a certain action. Belief may act as an