In relation to mertons strain theory, consider whether crime is the product of blocked opportunities

The basis of Merton's Strain Theory lies with Emile Durkheim and his theory of anomie in so far as ‘anomie' is translated as ‘deregulation' or ‘normlessness'. Durkheim developed the concept of anomie in his book, Suicide, published in 1897 to refer to the lack of social regulation in modern society as one condition that promotes higher rates of suicide. He believed that individuals possessed an unlimited appetite of aspirations and it was up to society to regulate such an appetite. According to Durkheim, the appetites were regulated by the ‘collective conscience' of society; meaning people were bound together by their common morals and beliefs. However, if this mechanism failed or was significantly weakened, anomie would occur. An anomic state would unleash in people limitless appetites that could result in a variety of deviant behaviours. It was after reading Durkheim's work that â€Å"Merton assigned himself the task of discovering what produces anomie† (Hunt, 1961:58) Robert Merton was a criminologist who applied Durkheim's definition of anomie to modern industrial societies, with specific emphasis on the United States of America, and redefined the term. According to Merton, anomie is the form that social incoherence takes when there is a significant detachment â€Å"between valued cultural ends and a legitimate societal means to those ends† (Akers, 2000:143). Anomie can be separated into two distinct separate categories: macroside and microside. Macroside is caused when society fails to establish clear goal limits and is unable to regulate society members conduct. It is the microsided category that is more commonly referred to as strain, which focuses its attention on the breakdown of society and the increased levels in deviance, which is associated with this declining change that produces a stronger pressure among society members to commit crime. (Calhoun, 2003). Strain is the pressure that is placed on disadvantaged minority groups, where the lower societal population take any effective means to income and success that they can find even if those means are illegal (Akers, 2000:144), and Durkheim classified two strains of strain: individual and structural. Individual strain is described as the personally created stress that is attained by the person while they search for a means of meeting the needs they define through their personal expectations. Structural strain applies to members of the society who determine what their needs are based on societal ideas and are constantly battling to achieve these ideals (O'Connor, 2003). Following on from this, when Merton introduced his general strain theory, as aspirations increase and expectations decline, delinquency and the amount of deviant behaviour that occurs increases in effect to these changes. Merton recognised that certain expectations created by these two general types of strain and went on to identify five specific â€Å"modes of adaptation† to tackle these strains (Akers, 2000:144). Merton began his expansion on anomie by stating there are two elements of social and cultural structure. The first structure is culturally assigned goals and aspirations (Merton, 1938:672). These are the things that all individuals should want and expect out of life, including success, money, material possessions etc. The second aspect of the social structure defines the acceptable mode for achieving the goals and aspirations set out by society (Merton, 1938:673). This is outlined as the acceptable and appropriate way that people get both what they want and what they expect out of life, fro example obeying laws and societal norms, getting an education and working hard through life. It is expected that in order for society to maintain a normative function there must be a balance between aspirations and means in which to fulfil these aspirations (Merton, 1938:673-674). Balance would then occur as long as the individual felt that he was achieving this culturally desired goal by conforming to the â€Å"institutionally accepted mode of doing so† (Merton, 1938:674). Put in other words, there must be an intrinsic payoff, an internal satisfaction in playing by the rules as well as an extrinsic payoff of achieving their goals. It is also an important factor for all social classes to achieve these culturally desired goals through legitimate means, as if they are not, then illegitimate means might be employed to achieve the same goal. There is however, sometimes a disparity between goals and means with too much emphasis being placed on the goal itself and not the legitimate means by which it is achievable. For some members of the society, there is a lack of opportunity, which leads the individuals to a possible illegitimate way of achieving the goal. This, according to Merton is how crime is bred: – overemphasis on material success and lack of opportunity for such material success leads to crime. As mentioned previously, to supplement his theory, Merton developed a list of five possible reactions to such a disparity between goals and means. The first of these is the most common – Conformity. An individual facing this reaction accepts the goal alongside the institutionalised means. A second possible reaction would be Innovation. In this case, the individual accepts the goals facing him, but rejects the institutionalised means of attaining them. Then we have Ritualism, where the goal is rejected because the individual does not believe that it can be achieved but legitimate means are employed. Retreatism is where both the goal and the means are rejected. Merton used the example of the drug addict or alcoholic to demonstrate – people who are in society, but do not take part in the function of that society. The fifth and final reaction is Rebellion. Merton reserved rebellion for the individuals who, when frustrated, would elect to simply adopt a new social order and dispose of the old one.

Chinese philosophy Essay

. Introduction A. Thesis There are so many different philosophies and religions, and they greatly influence people’s life. In this paper, I am going to introduce and define the representatives of the Western philosophy such as Plato’s metaphysical Dualism and Chinese philosophy like Daoism. And I am going to compare these philosophies and explain the difference between them. ?. Dualism A. Explain Plato’s metaphysical Dualism Plato’s Dualism divided the reality into two different realms of existence (World of the Senses and World of the Forms). One world (the physical world) is constantly changing, and another world (the world of the Forms) is unchanging. Plato further divided these two different realms of existence. The world of Forms can be divided into the higher world (realm of the form) and the lower world (the Empirical world). The world of senses can be divided into physical objects (ordinary objects we perceive) and images (shadows, reflections and pictures). B. Summary of Allegory of Cave Plato explained his metaphysical dualism by using the Allegory of a cave. According to Marc Cohen: In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see. However, one day one of them is released from what keeps them the guy sitting, and they look back. At that time, the guy realizes that there are objects and the fire behind people and someone moves the objects. The shadow people have seen is a fake. People who are still sitting have never seen the objects behind them, so they believe that the shadow is real. The guy is free to move, so he starts to run to the exit of the cave. After getting out of the cave, the guy feels dizzy because the world out of the cave is too shiny. After a while, his eyes got used to the brightness and the beautiful world like the mountain, the sky, the river, or the sun is in the eyes of the guy. And then he realizes that the world out of the cave is real. He goes back to the cave and tells people who are still sitting in the cave what he saw out of the cave. However, they do not believe that what the guy told is the truth. C. Interpretation of the Allegory By using this Allegory, we can think about today’s world. There are too much in formation in the world, and the world seems to be narrower than before. Especially the appearance of mass media like newspaper, television, magazine, Internet, or SNS changed how we deal with information. Too much information is created and flows every day, and we can get the information you need any time by the device like a smart phone, a PC or a tablet. However, is the information you can get really the reality? The information created by mass media might be like the shadow in a cave. Before I was born, there was already too much information. I learned much information like Japanese history in a school, and I also know the new information of the incidence that occurs every day at the same time through mass media. So I learned most of things that occurred around the world through the information created by mass media, and the information is like a shadow in Allegory of a Cave. Suppose that an internal warfare is happening in one country. We know about that through mass media. We might see suffers in a TV or in a photo. We feel like understand everything about the war through the picture on TV or words of the News, but that is not a whole thing but just part of that. We need to seek the reality by my own eyes today’s world. ?. Plato’s Legacy According to Philip, â€Å"Plato thought that the soul could and would exist apart from the body and would exist after the death of the body. He offered a â€Å"proof† for this position and was the first to do so in writing that we have any evidence of doing so. He offered several different proofs or arguments none of which are convincing today†. His argument was that humans were composed of bodies and souls, but soul was more important and immortal. His arguments used premises that are questionable today. For example, Plato thought he could conclude that the soul could exist separating from the body because it worked independently from the body when it engaged in pure thought. But today, it is proved that how we think depends on the physical brain works. So this is no longer accepted as true. Plato thought that they are remembering the knowledge implanted in their souls when the souls were in the realm of pure thought and eternal forms before entering into the body after which they forgot as they became confused by physical emotions and feelings and limited experiences through the senses. And that is the only way to explain how people come to know. This is no longer accepted as the best explanation of how people come to have knowledge. However, Plato is credited with being the first human to attempt to set out any sort of a proof that humans had souls and that they survived the death of the body and that they were immortal. A. Descartes-Substance Dualism According to Philip, â€Å"Descartes also believed that the soul existed prior to and separate from the body, and it was immortal. In his view, all of reality consisted of two very different substances: matter or the physical and spirit or the non-physical. † The physical was what would be extended in time and space and the non-physical would not be characterized. He thought that his famous claim that â€Å"I think therefore I am† established not just that he existed but that he existed without a body as a â€Å"thinking thing†. A â€Å"thinking thing† is a thing that thinks and by that would be included: imagining, conceiving, hoping, dreaming, desiring, fearing, conjecturing, reasoning, remembering and more. For him a â€Å"thinking thing† needed no physical parts to do what it does. Modern science has established that there is no evidence of humans that are without a physical body and its brain. There is no evidence that thought is possible without a brain. There is much evidence that what has been associated with Descartes’ â€Å"thinking thing† is now explained solely in term of the brain and how the brain is physically structured and the functioning of the brain. B. Aquinas According to the text, â€Å"Saint Thomas Aquinas is the philosopher who explained five ways to demonstrate the existence of the God within the framework of a posteriori (the knowledge comes from, or after the experience) and developed cosmological and teleological arguments. † I am going to explain one of the demonstrations. The way is from the nature of efficient cause. In the world of sensible things, there is an order of efficient causes. It never happens that the thing is the efficient cause of itself. If you look at one phenomenon, you can see many efficient causes behind it. But you cannot go back to infinity. There must be the first efficient cause. Aquinas claims that that is the God. The Aquinas’ claim is similar to Plato’s claim. He thought the God is the first efficient cause and independent one. That is close to the concept â€Å"the realm of the form† Plato claimed. And the things in the world of sensible things are the secondary things of the God. It is close to â€Å"the Empirical world† Plato claimed. ?. Chinese Natural Cosmology A. Ames `Image of Reason in Chinese Culture† Ames claims the difference between the dominant conceptions of reality in the West and in the Chinese tradition in his â€Å"image of Reason in Chinese Culture†. According to the text, Ames claims that â€Å"to explore the Chinese philosophy, he thought you needed to recognize at least that you are dealing with a fundamentally different world if you are familiar with Western culture. To bring into relief certain features of the dominant Indo-European view and Chinese alternative to it, he constructs a â€Å"logical sense of order with an â€Å"aesthetic† order. † What we call â€Å"logical† sense of order has developed Western philosophical and religious orthodoxy, and it is based on the presumption that there is something permanent, perfect, objective, and universal that disciplines the world of charge and guarantees natural and moral order-some originative and determinative arche, an eternal realm of Platonic edios or â€Å"ideas†, the One True God of the Judeo-Christian universe, a transcendental strongbox of invariable principles or laws, an annalistic method for discerning clear and distinct ideas. In a single-order world, the One God is the initial beginning of the universe. The God is primal and unchanging principle that causes and explains that origin and issues everything from itself, and that is familiar and presupposition in Western tradition. Although the world is explained by â€Å"logical† order in Western tradition, however, there is no â€Å"logical† order in Chinese philosophy. The order of Chinese tradition is immanent in and inseparable from a spontaneously changing world. The universe possesses within itself its organizational principles and its own creative energy. In the view of Chinese tradition, the world creates itself. That is scandalous from the view point of Western scholar reason. The yin and the yan come together and guide the infinite combination of these two opposite source of energy. These two sources of energy make a spontaneous intelligence possible. Yin and yan as the characterization of a particular relationship invariably entail a perception from some particular perspective that enables us to unravel patterns of relatedness and interpret our circumstances. They provide a vocabulary for sorting out the relationship among things as they come together and constitute themselves in unique compositions. Ames also mentions the Chinese word â€Å"li†. In both classical Chinese corpus and modern language, the closest term that approximates â€Å"reason† or â€Å"principle†. He claims that identifying the meaning of the word â€Å"li† correctly is essential to understand Chinese philosophy. According to the text, â€Å"Philosophically, the most familiar uses of li lie somewhere in the cluster â€Å"reasoning† or â€Å"rationale† (A. S. Cua), â€Å"principle† (W.T. Chan), â€Å"organism† (J. Needham), and â€Å"coherence† (W. Peterson). † Among these several alternative translations used for â€Å"li†, although philosophically as protean as â€Å"principle† for Western tradition, unwarrantedly restrict li to a notion of human consciousness and tend to introduce distinction such as animate and inanimate, agency and act, intelligible and sensible. Li is much different from being some independent and immutable originative principle that disciplines a recalcitrant world. It is the fabric of order immanent in the dynamic process of experience. That is why â€Å"psychology† is translated in to Chinese as â€Å"the li of the heart-and-mind,† but then â€Å"physics† is â€Å"the study of the li of things and events. † What separates li rather clearly from Western common understanding of â€Å"principle† is that li is both a unity and a multiplicity. Li is the coherence of any â€Å"member of a set, all members of a set, or the set as a whole. † Both the uniqueness of each particular and the continuities that obtain among them are reflected by this description. Li then is the defining character or ethos of a given community, or any other such composition. Ames also claims another point at which li departs from â€Å"principle. † In Western tradition, the discovery of originative and determinative principle gives us a schema for classifying things and subsuming one thing under another. That is why people seek â€Å"principle† in Western tradition. However, the investigation of li, by contrast, is to seek out patterns that relate things, and to discover resonances between things that make correlations and categorization possible. B. Hans-Gorg Moeller In Daodejing, the meaning of â€Å"the root† is described by using metaphor. From the view of the Daoist, our world is a â€Å"self-generating† process. In Daoism there is no initial beginning for â€Å"logical† order. In Daoism, order is immanent in and inseparable from a spontaneously changing world, and then â€Å"the world creates itself. † In this point of view, the role of â€Å"the root† is very important. â€Å"The root† is an origin of phenomenon, and many things are derived from â€Å"the root. † Unlike many Western philosophical perspectives, this â€Å"root† has a somewhat unique, interesting, and different meaning in it. The Western philosophy’s principle or arche is the first cause of the event. And nothing would exist if there were not any of the Western philosophy’s principle or arche. However, the concept of â€Å"the root† is different of that. From the Daoist perspective, â€Å"the root† is a part of the plant. â€Å"The root† does not exist before the plant although plant cannot exist if there is no â€Å"the root. † That is, â€Å"the root† itself is not a creator of the plant. It is the origin of the growth of the plant. â€Å"The root† is buried in the soil or ground, so it is invisible. However, â€Å"the root† greatly influences its visible part. This illustrates Daoist’s â€Å"autopoiesis,† self-generating concept well, which differs a lot from the Western philosophical concept â€Å"arche,† which is stated or recognized as â€Å"the God. † ?. Comparative Epistemology A. Hellenistic-Prescriptive theoretical knowledge In Western tradition, most of philosophers think there is one principle or one God and things happen from it. And the mind is separable part from the body. One of the examples is Plato. Plato’s dualism is that there are the realm of form and the imperial world. The body belongs to the imperial world and the world is constantly changing. And what we sense by the body is limited, and the Empirical world is not real. The true world is the realm of the form, and the mind belongs to the world. Plato argues that the â€Å"knowledge† continuously exists and must be justified conviction. However, the Empirical world that we belong to is contentiously changing, and there is no unchanging thing in the world. That is why there is no thing from which we can get â€Å"knowledge† in the Empirical world, so we cannot get â€Å"knowledge† by our own senses. The unchanging things exist in the realm of the form, and we cannot reach the world by using our senses. So we need to use our mind to get â€Å"knowledge†. Not all of Western philosophers claim like that, but most of philosophers claim that the truth does not exist in the world where we live today. This concept greatly influences Christianity or other religions that have the one God. In Christianity, there is one God named â€Å"Jesus Christ†, and he is the reason why things happen or why we live. People pray to seek â€Å"knowledge† that exists in the world where we are not living. That is, we cannot get the â€Å"knowledge† about it in the world where we are living, and we need to get it from the other world to know the essence of the things. B. Chinese philosophy-Prescriptive practical On the other hand, there is no the one God in Chinese philosophy. In China, the war occurred constantly, and Chinese dynasty changed over time, so people did not come to rely on one thing. This influenced the Chinese philosopher. Instead of one god or one principle, Chinese philosophers think that the world creates itself and that the world is constituted by the combination of determinacy and indeterminacy, and spontaneous, dynamic changing is the universal principle of the world. In Western tradition, the philosophers try to attribute many phenomenons to the one reason. However, Chinese philosophers think that each thing is â€Å"self-so† creativity, self-generating, and spontaneous. For Chinese philosophy, the Nature is very important, and in Daoism it is important not to try to force thing. That is why there is the concepts in Daoism; wu wei(without intentional action), wu si(without deliberate thought), wu si(without selfish interesting), wu ji(without self-awareness), wu zhi(without knowledge), wu xin(without heart-and-mind). Daoists claim that when you are thinking something, the world is also changing at the same time, so you are missing something. That is why it is important for Daoism to stop thinking by your head, get out of the world of your head, look around the world, and take action. The most important thing for Daoism is that we ought to take action as a part of the world. ?. Conclusion There have been so many philosophers through the history, and each of philosophy has been developed around the world. And how people think about the world is different, depending on the philosophy. Of many philosophies, the significant different philosophies are the Western and Chinese philosophy. In the Western philosophy, the philosophers try to attribute everything to the one principle or the one God. On the other hand, there is no principle, and the philosophers have recognized the world as self-generating process, and the world is the source of itself without no exact start and end point. This thought influences religion and how people think about the world. Around the world, many wars related to religion occur today. The difference between the religions is just what ancient people developed, so it is important to try to understand the difference in today’s world. Reference. Pecorino, Philip, Ph. D. â€Å"Chapter 6 : The Mind-Body Problem Section 3: DUALISM. † Introduction To Philosophy an Online Textbook. Queensborough Community College, CUNY, n. d. Web. 4 Dec 2013. . Deutsch, Eliot. Introduction to World Philosophies. 1st ed. 509. New Jersey: A Pearson Education Company, 1997. Ex-255-256. Print. Deutsch, Eliot. Introduction to World Philosophies. 1st ed. 509. New Jersey: A Pearson Education Company, 1997. Ex-469. Print. Cohen, Marc. â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave. † Philosophy 320 History of Ancient Philosophy. University of Washington, 07 11 2013. Web. 4 Dec 2013. .

Liu Bolin?”the Invisible Art, the Repeat and the Lost

Bridge: Critical Reading & Writing Assignment Liu Bolin†the Invisible Art, the Repeat and the Lost Liu Bolin, a Chinese artist who has mastered the power of invisibility and successfully used it to gain an international reputation. As the most known â€Å"invisible man†, Liu Bolin stands out by blending in. The Invisible Man includes controversial photographs such as the image of Liu Bolin's face replacing that of Mao's in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, and several scenes against iconic Chinese national monuments like the Temple of Heaven and famed Nine Dragon Wall (hiding in the ity series).Coming after the fame from â€Å"Hiding in the City' series, Liu Bolin continued using exactly the same form to work on photographs of hiding in different cities, such as â€Å"Hiding in New York†, â€Å"Hiding in California†, and â€Å"Hiding in Italy'. Even Though Liu Bolin's â€Å"The Invisible Man† series has won accolades for the art powerhouses and there is p raise all over the international media, almost all of his photographs essentially repeat the same techniques and concepts, and protest the history, culture and pride of his own country. The Infinite RepeatArtist Liu Bolin began his â€Å"Hiding in the City† series in 2005, after Chinese police destroyed Suo Jia Cun, the Beijing artists' village in which he'd been working. With the help of assistants, he painstakingly painted his clothes, face, and hair to blend into the background of a demolished studio. Since then, the so-called â€Å"Invisible Man† has photographed himself fading into a variety of backgrounds all over Beijing and many other cities. Spot him embedded in a Cultural Revolution slogan painted on a wall, or spy him within tiers of supermarket shelves stocked with soft drinks.The process of all these works has never been changed since 2005: Liu stands still for hours as his assistants paint him to match his surroundings, which helps him to disappear in the scene. And things became even meaningless when Liu Bolin blended himself in New York, California and Europe. He is Just a tourist, who takes pictures as he travels in different city, but invisible as people always see in this works. When I'm looking at Liu Bolin's art works in the exhibition at Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, I feel like I was lingering in a small circle and could not get out.I was drowned in the numerous fell-alike photos, which have extremely similar backgrounds, scenes, mood, colors, subjects, and the same person†Liu Bolin, who is the artist himself. In the series Dragon Panel, there are nine photographs of Liu Bolin blending into the colored wall witn traditional Chinese dragon sculptures . Besides the ditterent colors of the paint coating and the movements of the dragons, which is literally not the point, all of these photos have the same perspective, same lights, same size and same Liu Bolin blending in at the same position in each photo.It's really easy to tell that many of his works are Just repeat of himself. He painted himself to fade in the magazine rack in Beijing (2011) and New York (2013). If I have to say there is something different, it would be the languages on the magazines when people look at the photos very close. Super market seems like another inspired place for Liu Bolin as he painted himself so many times to blend in soft drinks, fast noodles, toys, and vegetables†¦ which happened in different years since 2009. There is a photo named â€Å"in front of red flag† (2006) caught my eyes in which he is blending in ChineseNational Flag. Not surprised to me, in 2007, he blended three families, which look similar, into the same background†the Chinese national flag, and named those work â€Å"family'. At the same year, he created another work using American national flag and named it â€Å"American National flag†. Single countries can't satisfy Liu, in 2008, he created another work name â€Å"UN f lag† using the UN flag. A few examples â€Å"Hiding in the City' series, the Dragon Panel 2010, 4 of 9: Magazine Rack, form â€Å"Hiding in New York† 2013 and â€Å"Hiding in the City' 2011: Super Market from â€Å"Hiding in the City' series 2011, 2010, and 2009:Cereal, Made in China, and Panda, â€Å"Hiding in New York† series 2013: In front of Red Flag and Family, â€Å"Hidng in the City' series 2006, 2007: The American National Flag and the UN flag, â€Å"Hidng in the City' 2007 and 2008: The very important part of Liu Bolin's works is silently against the iconic Chinese national monuments like the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall, the Palace Museum and famed Nine Dragon Wall (hiding in the city series). He had photographed himself to all over the scenic spots and historical sites where represents the time-honored istory and culture of China and are the treasure and pride for an ancient civilization.The concept is as still as the form, he wants to compel people to ponder the contentious relationship between the individual and society by silently commenting on modern sociopolitical conditions in China, because â€Å"l was a meaningless person, according to society,† Liu says. By repeating the same techniques and subjects in almost all of his photographs, Liu Bolin is well playing the â€Å"hero† of opening â€Å"China's national identity' and at the same time for tacit protest against the government, which Just caters to the values of the estern world.It's actually not a new trick to capture the attention of art moguls, spectators and critics for some artists who cannot get social recognition by the mainstream culture in their countries or communities. Recently, this â€Å"invisible man† who cannot even speak a complete sentence in English seems like living a pretty good life out of his country. In most of the interviews, Liu expresses so many times about how hard it is for people like him to survive in China an d his meaningless position in that society.However, as long as I was born in China nd raised there for twenty years, his experience most sounds like a story of a typical loser who got above himself with advanced degrees but has no ability to adapt to the real world after graduation. Just as what he said in an interview (his words were translated), â€Å"after graduating from school, for a long time I had no family, no Job and no love in my life. During those four years without love and income, I felt I had been dumped by this society and that I had no position within it. I was meaningless in this environment.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana - Essay Example In addition to this, she mobilizes her community to stand against the Taliban who had taken control of Kabul City where she lived. This book is therefore her personal story and her buoyancy to keep her family intact at a time when there is chaos in Afghanistan and women are not allowed to go to any public places and particularly to schools. My paper will look into the two major issues of distributive injustice as well as cultural imperialism that Kamila and her community faced once the Taliban entered their city of Kabul. Deutsch defines distributive injustice as having four different kinds of capital which includes investment, consumption, social and skill (Deutsch, 2005). In Kamila’s example they face skill capital especially when Kamila who has completed her teaching degree is denied the chance to get a teaching job and is forced to stay at home. There is also the social capital whereby kamila her sisters and the women in the neighborhood get together to grow the dressmakin g business. Cultural imperialism on the other hand according to Deutsch â€Å"involves the universalization of a dominant group's experience and culture and establishing it as the norm.". For example in Kamila’s story the women have to wear the chadri as mandated by the Taliban’s, something that they were not used to. When it comes to growth mindset Dweck states that is helpful to people’s growth as they look forward to a successful future however there is always a risk of failure (Dweck, 2006). For instance Kamila did not despair when she found out she could not get work, instead she started her own business in dressmaking and made it her priority to see it through to the end. Her business was however facing a lot of challenges particularly from the Taliban’s. This example shows that there is a risk element in growth mindset since despite the fact the Kamila was hopeful of succeeding her businesses she could she did not see the challenges ahead of her w hich would have affected the businesses growth. History of Afghanistan Afghanistan’s history dates back to 500BC at the time of the Achaemenid Empire. The meaning of Afghanistan translates to â€Å"land of Afghans†. Some of the most powerful kingdoms came because of Afghanistan state with the inclusion of Kushans, Ghurids, Hotakis, Mauryas and many others. When it comes to how women in Afghanistan are treated, this is whole different story especially compared to western societies. Women in Afghanistan are denied the privilege to many essential things with examples of education, work and even power. It is believed that women’s role is to stay at home while the men go out to fend for the family. Women are also not allowed to speak in public as they are only to be seen and not heard. Should they go out they have to be escorted by a man from their own home. Once the Taliban gained power in the year 1995, girls and women were automatically discriminated upon as well as their human rights being undermined. As a result, this led to the social and economic standards of women getting worse. Women who had previously been having good jobs as doctors, teachers found themselves jobless. This is why prostitution increased at a very alarming rate. In the year 2001, the Taliban has later prohibited women from even driving their own cars. Worse still, they would be humiliated and hammered in public. Another Taliban rule was that women had to go out fully covered from head to toe with the

Theories of Crime Causation Unit1 DB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Theories of Crime Causation Unit1 DB - Essay Example Other social factors that affect the individual determine recidivism of the individual (James 2003). Therefore, it is imperative to consider these factors in the rehabilitation process to ensure its success. Although rehabilitation works, the effectiveness of this method does not quite do away with recidivism, and it becomes necessary to adopt measures that prevent the occurrence of crime. Prevention of crime is a concept that works effectively in the reduction of crime. The police oversee the task of prevention of crime, and as such, they must focus on prevention of crime. This implies, therefore, that the main objective of the police is the protection of innocent lives from criminals and prevention of crimes against these innocent individuals. However, in the execution of this duty the police officers should operate within the law and at the same time ensure the protection of the innocent (Gordon 1998). Additionally, the police officers should also handle the criminals in a manner that conforms to the provisions of law relating to such individuals. This situation puts the police in a tough position and implies that, in the balance between protecting the innocent and upholding the law, the police must act prudently. Thus, the police officers should protect the innocent while upholding the

Cocaine Epidemic in the USA in 1980s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Cocaine Epidemic in the USA in 1980s - Essay Example The middle of the 1990s can be considered as the late phase of the epidemic. Since 1991 the number of people who use cocaine very often (at least every day) remains stable and amounts to 640  000 people. Approximately 16% of people who used cocaine lost control and dependency occurred. That happened under the influence of many factors. Two important factors are the availability and the cost of the drug. Till 1980s cocaine hydrochloride used for intranasal and intravenous injection was the only available form of cocaine. Moreover, it was very expensive. Then cheaper alkaloids of cocaine, which could be used by means of inhalation, appeared. Moreover, they were available in many big cities just for $2-5 for dose. Due to this fact, cocaine became available even for children and teenagers. In general, men used drugs more often than women and for cocaine, this correlation amounts to 2:1. However, the use of cheap alkaloids of cocaine was very widespread among young women and reaches the level that is characteristic for men. Due to this fact, the popularity of the use of cocaine among pregnant women was high. The third very important factor that influenced people was the fashion. It was fashionable and prestigious to use cocaine, it was very popular among rich and people blindly followed the stereotypes. Young people and teenagers were the most vulnerable. They were sure that in order to be considered â€Å"cool†, it is necessary to start using cocaine. Certainly, such stereotypes had many awful consequences (Demarest). The cocaine epidemic was depicted in many movies. Some of them were even forbidden due to the active propaganda of cocaine use. The movie â€Å"Blow† (2001) tells us the real story of a man who decided to become one of the first distributors of cocaine in the United States. He made many famous and rich people dependent on cocaine, his sharpness allowed him to avoid any conflicts with police. But everything comes to the end at last. The movie â€Å"Scarface† tells spectators about the history of cocaine use in the USA when it was brought by criminals from Cube.  

In the instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

In the instruction - Essay Example The trans-Atlantic trade was based on the need for raw materials in Europe, the ability of Africans to provide slaves and the productivity of the American continents (Gunn 102). Through the trading contacts between America and Europe, settlers gained a stronghold of the American continent and consequently became the primary producers. When they eventually sought independence, they relied on European technology to establish themselves (Gunn 113). In addition, since they came from Europe, the spread European culture and introduced European religion. Therefore, Europe played a key role in determining the course of the American history, hence the validity of the propositions of Eurocentrism. With the emergence of the age of enlightenment, there was a shift in human values and slave trade was no longer acceptable in Europe. However, slave labor was a primary source of income in other places such as in sugar cane plantations in America. However, Columbian Exchange implied that Americans relied on European values (Brown 26). Therefore, the slave trade was increasingly banned in many places. The relevance of the European values was so great that the plight for abolishment was a leading reason for the outbreak of the American civil war. This shows the dominance of European values in the rest of the world, despite the existence of differences (Brown 35). Therefore, the concepts of Eurocentrism are valid because changes in Europe produced changes in the rest of the world. The implication is that Europeans determined, and continue to determine, the course of history It is true that the world history from the 18th century is centered on the impact of the Europeans on the rest of the world. From the 18th century, Europeans became colonialists and spread European culture and values to the rest of the world (Vanhaute 76). In many parts of the world, there

The Uses and Gratification Theory Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

The Uses and Gratification Theory - Case Study Example In previous eras, the main sources of entertainment for people tended to be festivals dedicated either to harvesting or in praise of one god or another. In the western perspective, this came to be replaced by theatre and with the modern age came the development of television and the television networks which continue to offer a wide variety of visual entertainment. The advancement in technology has increased the demand for entertainment from individuals, and because of the wide variety of entertainment being offered, it is not a surprise that many of the entertainment companies involved are competing heavily to capture audiences. Because of this, the audience has gained great influence in controlling the type of media they would like to view, and this can be likened to the individual’s lifestyle as well as mindset (Napoli, forthcoming). From the very beginning of the development of media, the main question that has concerned the developers is whether the media has any influenc e on the audience. It has been proven that different types of media can influence the audience, so that in some cases when an individual sees an advert of a product on television, he or she will likely purchase the product. On the other hand, there are those of the view that media has no great influence on its audience since it is they who choose what to watch (Allison, 2006). This article makes a focus on the motives behind the choice of a particular media type as a basis of the Theory of Audience especially uses and Gratification theory. In the past few decades, the invention and development of the internet have revolutionized the lives of many people in the world and one would argue that it is one of the biggest developments in mass media. Every decade of the twentieth century presented its own theories concerning media communication, and while at the beginning, it was thought that media had an effect on the audience, later with the advancement in media communication, researchers found that audiences only used media for their own benefit (Rossi, 2002). Theory of Audience Uses and Gratifications Katz first proposed the theory of Uses and Gratification and the notion behind this theory is, it focuses on a question of why and how people use particular media. In contrast to the effect model view which is what media do with people, U & G is considered as a broader aspect among media researchers who are more concerned about finding what people do with a media (Chandler,1994). This theory is contradictory to the older approach of Audience of a passive group. This theory views the audience as an active group which means individuals have power and selects that media text that best suits her needs and her attempts to satisfy the needs. This theory represents the use of media in terms of gratification of social or psychological need of the individual. This theory shifted the approach of gratification from the functional paradigm to social sciences (Katz, Blumler and G urevitch, 1974).  Gratification can be derived from three distinct sources which are media content, exposure, and social content. The mass media compete with other sources of gratification, but gratifications can be obtained from a medium's content (e.g. watching a specific program), from familiarity with a genre within the medium (e.g. watching soap operas).

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 67

Case Study - Essay Example This led to implementation and installation of the new system, but poor training and inadequate time for training about the new systems affected its effectiveness. This led to challenges to the JCSS officials but after later training, the system became effective. (Timeline, 2006). For the purpose of faster and efficient data analysis, JCSS needed to develop the new system and to enhance that they selected vendors and software. A selection of computer committee of major users of the system was chosen to evaluate and recommend on available systems and recommend a vendor to the JCSS School Board. The vendors were to accept responsibility and enhance installation and maintenance of the new system by support and training services. JCSS gave information on the size and the system they needed and gave specifications on the desired requirements for the application software. The problem arose when the system that they needed did none of what they exactly needed the system to do and this led to uncertainties in the new system, which was to be replaced with the existing one. (Chris, 2006) There were major problems in using the student management system and installation. The method employed in the implementation of student system by transferring directly all information in the old system to the new system without testing the system to identify any problem let to problems. This led to errors when they started working on the students scheduling. The scheduling officers did not know how the system work due to inefficient training by the DSI, and this led to the failure of JCSS to make the schedules done at the time planned which resulted in several problems. The rush in training due to less time for training as schools were to open led to issues when schools started as those working in the system did not understand it. The attendance officers were unable to work the system for the first few weeks, and this made scheduling of

Cultural Transformation in Mississippi Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cultural Transformation in Mississippi - Article Example By the turn of the 19th century, the Mississippi was an Indian location. Indians were the most numerous residents. Indian villages also controlled passage down the river. Indian villages were governed by chiefs. Villages such as of those of Choctaw were autonomous and had a common language (Bradley 18). The Chickasaw had a great Chief who was consulted if community issues arose, or there were disciplinary problems that had to be met. The Indians had a unique way of designing their buildings, in addition to the mode of dressing (Bradley 18). Few of them still based their residences on molds, which had been a way of life since medieval times. Of the few white residents residing then, most were of French ancestry. Hence, cultural behavior and daily rules were derived from these two groups. Besides the particulars of French and Indian cultures, it is imperative to note that the Mississippi was a frontier. The culture of the region reflected a locality where people of diverse backgrounds collided. It also reflected a place where the systems of power and governance were uncertain. Colonial Mississippi was characterized by marked cultural differences from each kind of population. The cultural challenge during these times was to make the diverse population into a single nation. As migration mixed the population, and an improvement in communication and transportation technologies decreased the geographical barriers, the Mississippi culture began to homogenize during colonial times (Morris 22). New residents of Mississippi developed a cultural identity that was different from their ancestral lands. Attitudes towards social class, religion, manners, and slavery combined to make a distinct western culture and character (Ownby 38). The energy that drove cultural evolution in the region can be broadly categorized into two sources: local and global (Morris 6). One of the forces radiated from within the locale, where people confronted and continually changed their local enviro nment. The other force was as a resultant of the wide and always changing world. The culture of Mississippi was also a direct result of broader diplomatic and commercial factors (Wyne 4). In spite of everything, culture and commerce worked together to shape how residents negotiated with each other. Meanwhile, particular frontier circumstances were preserved due to the lack of clear resolutions in the struggle between the US, Europeans, and Indians for the control of Mississippi. In the 1820s, soil exhaustion and economic problems in the East forced tens of thousands of white Americans to seek fortune in the West (Wyne 3). The Mississippi region was deemed to offer a promised land of fertile, cheap land, where the river itself assured of speedy connections to the markets. By 1850, the Mississippi river was a thoroughfare through the increasing different cultures of South and North. The culture of lower Mississippi was rested on slavery (Ownby 54).  

Leadership and Management in Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Leadership and Management in Practice - Essay Example From the experience of nurse managers, the problems with work are problems mostly with people. The primary purpose for studying leadership and management is to learn how to work with people, not only as individuals but also as members of groups, teams, and organizations. Use of nursing leadership and management concepts and skills allows the nurse manager a greater understanding and control of events in work situations (Clark, 1994). In health care we work in many different kinds of teams, many of them multidisciplinary, with many different management arrangements. There are many teams where managerially the team is accountable to one person but individual members each have professional hierarchies of their own. In many of the teams I have worked with there are some members who believe the team exists in order to advise the team leader, and others who perceive it as a decision-making group, with all members having an equal say. When these beliefs coexist in the same group, without being made explicit, then unresolved conflict is inevitable, and typically members will complain about each other (Wenckus, 1995). The scenario which is being dealt in here actually happened in our unit. There are two teams, team A and team B. As of now, there is gross animosity between these two teams to an extent that member of team A has stopped talking to each other and among one another. If several members of team-A are out sick, no one in team B will help team A on work. Team A members have stopped taking telephone messages of any members in team B and team B members would ask the caller to call later if the call is for any one in team A. When members of each team come across each other in the hall, they try to avoid eye contact or if at all they make contacts they will glare at each other. It seems the whole unit is in a state of perennial argument with one another. In many states during the work, the argument is sure to occur when the same piece of

Edward Scissorhands and the Cay Essay Example for Free

Edward Scissorhands and the Cay Essay As a result of this Timothy and Phillip meet because they happen to get on the same raft that leads them to the small Cay. Some of the adversities that are overcome are dealing with Phillip going blind, being shipwrecked and prejudice. Getting along, working as a team and most importantly a friendship help overcome these adversities. The second example of adversity is in a film called No Limbs, No Limits. This is about a man called Nick Vujicic who was born with no limbs. After seeing the film you will always remember Nick as it is one story that will blow your mind. This 25 year old man is overcoming every obstacle that life puts in front of him. Some of the obstacles that he and his family have to overcome are having to accept Nick for who he is and having to change the way that they will live forever. Striving for what he wants helps overcome this and Nick does it with determination and family encouraging him to do his best always. The Cay: They have been shipwrecked on the island for a few days and it is starting to get hard. They are running low on supplies which mean that they have to go and hunt for food. With Phillip being blind it makes it very difficult because Timothy who is quite old has to do the hunting in order for them to survive. What kept them alive and the way they got through everything in the story was by supporting each other, growing a friendship and Timothy’s knowledge due to his age. At one point in the book Timothy and Phillip found a coconut tree. With Timothy being old and frail and Phillip being blind they still thought of a way to get the coconuts. The way they did this was for Timothy to tell Phillip exactly what to do. It was hard for the both of them with Timothy having to explain to Phillip each step of the way as well as making sure that there were no dangers in the process that could hurt Phillip. Having to actually climb the tree while being blind and not knowing what was coming up ahead would have been very scary. Eventually getting to the top of the tall coconut tree, Phillip cut some coconuts down from the tree and then came back down safely. They were both jumping for joy and as quoted by Phillip in the book â€Å"I just felt like I had just passed a survival course†. With this we as readers take away how having a disability means nearly everything is still possible. You are still very capable of doing the same things that a person who has no disability can do providing you have the right support and people around that care about you and you can trust. Black and white to most people are just colours, but to some if you are black then you are discriminated against. The Cay is set in 1942 when if you were black then you had to stand up if a white person got on the bus and there was no seats left. It was the time when half of the bus was for white people and the other half was for black. Phillip was bought up by his mother Grace to disregard black people. That all had to change when Phillip and Timothy got stranded on the Cay. Phillip had to get used to having a black man around because he and Timothy were the only people on the island. They both got so used to each other that they overcame the whole concept of black and white. They did this by accepting each other for who they were and equality that was done by forgetting that they â€Å"were neither white nor black† as quoted by Phillip when he was lying next to Timothy on the Cay. This is also shown when Phillip says to Timothy â€Å"I want to be your friend† Timothy replies â€Å"young bahss you have always been my friend. † Phillip said â€Å"instead of calling me young boss call me Phillip†. Here we take away that different coloured skin really means nothing. It is people’s actions and personality that we should judge someone by not their colour or age and certainly not their disability. No limbs, No limits: Nick Vujicic is a man who was born with no arms or legs and he has had to overcome that he is very different to everyone else. Nick got bullied throughout primary and high school as a result of his disability. Nick was also misunderstood and everyone thought that because of the way he was he could not achieve anything. Nick’s personality was so determined that he proved them all wrong. He has overcome so much in his past, worked through many obstacles and is now a successful speaker with a wife and a child. Nick has got to this point in life because he was determined to let nothing get in his way and supported from all of his family and friends. We can take away from this film that no matter what your disability is or even if you do not have a disability then there is nothing holding you back. Go for what you want in life and you can achieve anything if you want it badly enough. There is a shot in the film where teenagers are looking at Nick with tears in their eyes. The teenager’s point of view is that of admiration of Nick and encouragement that all is possible. Then Nicks point of view shot is showing his feelings of joy, pride, success and achievement in life. By Nick becoming a public speaker he is showing people never give up no matter what is thrown at them in life as despite his disability he is successful and very happy. In conclusion after reading the book and watching the film I feel that no matter what obstacles are put in front of us if we have the determination and believe in ourselves anything is possible. Life is full of ups and downs. It is these ups and downs that make us strong and the people we are today. Both the book and the film encourage audiences to go for what they want in life and never let anything hold you back. Persistence and determination are so important and as a result of this Nick has an amazing career and is very happy despite his disabilities and Phillip and Timothy survived being stranded on The Cay.

Development of Sediment Reference Sample for Toxicity Tests

Development of Sediment Reference Sample for Toxicity Tests Development of sediment reference sample for toxicity testing using Microtox Solid Phase test and Metal Fractionation using single extractions Abstract Chemical characterisation of pollutants using fractionation techniques and bioassays are useful monitoring tools for sediment quality assessment. However, a common criticism of sediment bioassays is the lack of an appropriate reference sediment sample which sample sediment toxicity can be comparatively assessed. In this study an approach of obtaining a reference sediment sample by cleaning the sediment samples with metals was tested. Metal fractionation was carried out by applying single extraction techniques modified from a sequential extraction scheme proposed by Tessier et al (1979). The total metal concentrations were characterised using nitric acid digestion. The sediment samples before and after the extractions were analysed using the Microtox Solid Phase Test (SPT). Comparison of total metal concentration with various sediment quality guidelines suggests that the sediments are polluted due to higher concentrations of Cu , Ni , Pb , Cd and Zn. The fractionation studies reveal t hat metals are contained mainly within Fe-Mn Oxide phase.The comparison of the results of the SPT with various sediment classification methods suggests that the sediments are moderately toxic to non toxic. However, the results of changes in the toxicity of sediment residues obtained after each extraction compared to unprocessed sediment toxicity results are not statistically significant. But the comparison of toxicity results of sediment residues obtained after HNO3 and NaOAc digestion with the toxicity value of replicate1 of unprocessed sediment suggests a marginal decrease in the toxicity of sediments while the comparison of toxicity values of MgCl2 , NH2OH.HCl, HNO3+H2O2 indicates an increase in the toxicity of sediment residued. The comparison of toxicity values of all sediment residues with that of replicate2 of unprocessed sediment indicates an increase in the toxicity of the sediments after extractions. Get wisdom, get understanding. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it costs all you have, get understanding (Proverbs 4: 5,7). Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8: 32). CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background: With the growing interest in the rules that govern the fate of pollutants in urban environments, the sediments of urban rivers pose a particularly challenging scientific problem as many persistent contaminants (e.g. metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs)) tend to concentrate in river bed sediments. Therefore, the assessment of sediment quality is recognised as a critical step in understanding the risks associated with man made pollution in the riverine system (De Miguel et al , 2005). Depending upon the conditions in the river, pollutants bound to sediment may become bioavailable and impose toxicity on aquatic organisms. Chemical analysis alone is not adequate to explain effects of chemicals present in the sediment (Beg and Ali, 2008) as they do not prove that adverse effects are occurring (Luoma et al , 1995) , thus for optimal characterization and assessment of pollution , issues concerning both concentration and toxicity should be addressed (Mowat et al , 2001). Therefore, because of the need to establish a cause -effect relationship between the concentration of pollutants and consequent environmental damage and to measure the possible synergistic effect of complex mixture of chemicals(Girotti et al , 2008), Microbial toxicity tests based on bacteria have been widely used in environmental toxicity screening due to the similarity of complex biochemical function in bacteria and higher organisms (Mowat et al , 2001) .Among the bioassays solid phase tests are useful and widely used as test organisms are exposed to whole sediments which include water soluble and non polar substances and thus offer a high relative realism for toxicity assessment of sediments. However, sediment toxicity tests require reference sediment exclusive of contaminant with similar physico chemical characteristics as the test sediments (Guzzella , 1998). The microtox test based on bacterial bioluminescence which uses V. Fischeri bacteria as test organism represent one of the most suitable test for sediment toxicity assessment as it can be used on extracts as well as directly to the sediment (solid phase test) ( Calace et al , 2005). As it is now widely recognised that the total concentrations of Heavy Metals indicate the extent of contamination, but they provide little information about the forms in which Heavy Metals are present, or about their potential for mobility and bioavailability in the environment (Lake et al , 1987) , knowledge on metal speciation in the sedimentary environment may be of more importance for hazard assessment than the total metal concentrations( Farkas et al , 2007). For this reason, sequential extraction procedures are commonly applied because they provide information about the fractionation of metals in the different lattices of the sediments and other solid samples (Margui et al , 2004). It is against this background that an investigation into establishing a reference sediment sample for solid phase bioassays was undertaken in relation to Microtox solid phase test utilising single extractions of metal fractions using -same conditions and procedures described in the sequential extraction procedure mentioned in Tessier et al 1979 . Aims and Objectives: The main aim of the study is to assess whether the approach of cleaning the sediment with metals using single extraction steps of sequential extraction is an appropriate alternative to develop a sediment reference sample or not. In order to obtain a reference sample exclusive of metals, the following procedure was adopted: Each extraction step described in the Tessier scheme was applied to separate aliquots of sediment samples using the same extraction conditions and chemicals described in the scheme (see section 3.8 for details). After the extraction step washed and dried residue sediment samples were analysed for toxicity using the Microtox solid phase test. A reduction in the toxicity could be expected as the metals were removed using chemicals. Microtox solid phase test was also conducted on unprocessed sediment so that a relative comparison between toxicity measurements could be made. The objectives of the investigation are summarised as follows : To characterise the sediments for total bio available metal concentration for eight heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu,Fe,Mn,Zn,Pb,Ni) using nitric acid digestion method. To characterise various fractions of metals as described in the Tessier Scheme using single extraction procedures. To determine the level of toxicity associated with unprocessed and processed sediment sample using the Microtox solid phase test. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Urban River Sediments and Pollution: Urban rivers have been linked with water quality issues since the nineteenth century when it was usual practice to discharge untreated domestic and industrial waste into water courses. Since then the situation has been improved due to e.g. the management curtailment of pollution at sewage treatment plants. However, because of high population densities in urban areas due to variety of sources of pollution the degradation of urban rivers is still important today (Goodwin et al , 2003). When released into the river environment many anthropogenic chemicals bind or adsorb on to particulate matter and depending upon river morphology and hydrological conditions such particulate matter along with associated contaminants can settle out along the water course and become part of the bottom sediments(Vigano et al , 2003). Thus , sediments are considered as repositories for physical and biological debris and for many pollutants (Calmano et al , 1996). Further more , under various physical , biological and chemical conditions (e.g. aqueous solubility ,pH, redox , affinity for sediment organic carbon , grain size of sediments , sediment mineral constituents and quantity of acid volatile sulfides) these contaminants may become bioavailable and result in a toxic impact on aquatic biota(Ingersoll et al , 1995). Nowdays, escalating evidence of environmental degradation have been confirmed where water quality guidelines for contaminants are not surpassed but, still organisms in or near the sediments are adversely affected (Ingersoll et al , 1995). Thus, with a vision to protecting aquatic biota, improving water quality and managing problems of resuspension and the land deposition of dredged materials, sediment quality assessment has been a crucial scientific and legislative issue in recent years. ( Calmano et al 1996 ; Nipper et al 1998). 2.2 Water Framework Directive (WFD) : The European Unions(EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) which came in effect on 22 December 2000, is one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation and is likely to transform the way water quality is being monitored within all member states ( Allan et al , 2006). The main objective of the Directive is to improve, protect and prevent further deterioration of water quality across Europe and it aims to achieve and ensure good quality status of all water bodies throughout Europe by 2015. Thus the necessity of addressing water quality issues associated with urban rivers has been increased within Member States(Goodwin et a, 2003). Under the WFD , three modes of monitoring strategies are specified and at each strategy level chemical monitoring , biological/ecological assessment , physico-chemical and hydro morphological tools have been covered to assess the water quality status of the body(Allan et al,2006). In the WFD, EU commission places emphasis on establishing quality standards related to the concentrations of priority substances and substances which may cause harm in water , sediment or biota . (Crane , 2003). 2.3 Sediment and Pollutants Sources in Urban Rivers : Urban river system is much more complex in its sediments and pollutant sources. Sediments may be released into urban rivers due to erosion of land surface through variety of physical and chemical processes, the rapid run off from impervious surfaces, routing through drainage network, retention tanks and winter gritting roads (Goodwin et al, 2003). These sediments may contain or associated with pollutants such as hydrocarbons , garden and animal wastes , fertilisers , pesticides , oils , detergents , deicing chemicals , street litter (Hall, 1984 ; Chapman, 1996) and trace and heavy metals (Collins et al, 2007). Moreover, Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) events also augment the pollutant and sediment load due to its own contaminant load and the erosion and wash out of in-sewer sediments (Fierros et al , 2002). Due to the wide variety of sources and river dynamics there exist a wide spatial and temporal variation in the properties of sediments. 2.4 River Sediment Composition and dynamics : River sediments are mainly composed of mineral particles originated from the parent rocks due to erosion process, particulate organic matter adsorbed on mineral particles or particle sized organic matter which originates from plant detritus and animal debris, adsorbed nutrients and toxic inorganic and organic pollutants (Chapman , 1996). However , with respect to their behaviour in nature , sediments can be classified in two distinctively different groups a) fine sediments with particles smaller than 50m (i.e silt and clay) and b) coarse sediments with size exceeding 50m ( i.e. sands and gravels) (Salomons et al , 1984). The erosion, transportation and deposition of sediment is a function of river flow velocity, particle size, water content of the material (Chapman , 1996) , channel structure and degree of turbulence(Goodwin et al , 2003). Under certain hydraulic conditions sediments can be transported in suspension or by traction along the bottom which is often called Bed Load. The suspension mechanism initiates the movement of fine particles while the Bed Load causes the movement of coarse particles (Chapman , 1996). More over, within urban catchments rapid runoff and CSO events trigger river flow events with short peak times and high peak flows which step up transport of sediments and associated pollutants (Goodwin et al , 2003). 2.5 Sediment Quality Assessment: Historically, the assessment of sediment quality has often been limited to chemical characterisation. It helps to classify what are the contaminants and what is their concentrations(McCauley et al , 2000) and it provides information about the condition of sediments and processes within them(Wolska et al , 2007). However, quantifying contaminant concentration alone can not provide enough information to evaluate adequately potential adverse effects, possible interaction among chemicals or the time dependent availability of these materials to aquatic organisms ( Ingersoll et al , 1995) because it is impractical to analyze all the compounds and their synergistic/antagonistic effects contributing to toxicity(Plaza et al , 2005). As the bioavailability of pollutants to aquatic biota and their effects on the biota is the key concern in sediment risk assessment , ecotoxicological testing (bioassays) of sediments which study the toxic effects of sediment contaminants on living organisms ( e.g . fish , plants , bacteria , algae) has been extensively used ( Rand et al , 1995). Thus, to understand the fate of pollutants in sediments and their impacts on aquatic biota , a tiered biological and chemical assessment methods have been implemented (Calmano et al , 1996) . The sediment quality triad methodology, one of the most widely used tiered approach based on weight of evidence combines 1) Identification and quantification of contaminants (i.e. chemical analyses ) , 2) Measurement and quantification of Toxicity based on bioassays (toxicity tests) and 3) Evaluation of in situ biological effects(e.g. Benthic community structure) (Calmano et al , 1996 ; McCauley et al , 2000 ). Principal advantages are that it can be used for any sediment type (Calmano et al ,1996) and as both biological and chemical components are used , environmental significance of contaminated sediments is addressed (McCauley et al , 2000). However the cause -effect relations are not always identified due to the synergistic/antagonistic effects of chemicals causing toxicity in sediments (Calmano et al , 1996 ; McCauley et al , 2000) . Furthermore, the assessment is very site specific and does not allow empirical calculations of chemical specific guidelines ( Mc Cauley , 2000). 2.6 Metals in Urban Sediments and Sources : Metals are natural components of biosphere (Luoma , 1983) and they are introduced in to the aquatic environment through many lithogenic and anthropogenic sources(Zhou et al , 2008). Chemical leaching of bedrocks , water drainage basins and run off from banks are considered as the major lithogenic sources of metals (Zhou et al , 2008) while emissions from industrial processes ( e.g. mining , smelting , finishing , plating , paint an dye manufaturing) (Rand et al , 1995) and through urban sewage, house hold effluents, drainage water, business effluents , atmospheric deposition and traffic related emissions transported with storm water (Karvelas et al , 2003) are the major anthropogenic sources of metals in the aquatic environment. Upon discharge to the aquatic environment metals are partitioned between solid and liquid phase (Luoma , 1983) and eventually as a result of settling metals associated with solid phase accumulate in bottom sediments(Farkas et al , 2007).Thus , sediments are m ain sink of metals in aquatic environment(Morillo et al , 2002). A comparison of typical concentration of metals in urban river sediments is presented in the Table 2.1. Table 2.1 : Concentration of metals in urban river sediments(g/g) (reproduced from De Miguel et al , 2005) Cr Cu Fe(%) Mn Ni Pb Zn River Henares, Spain (97-180) (7-270) (0.8-3.16) (150-445) (11-128) (17-1280) River Seine , France 84 2.91 162 429 River Sowe , UK 47.9 164 411 786 Semarang , Indonesia (12.3-448) (5.2-2666) (53.7-1257) Danube River, Austria 43.5 53.9 187 Tiber river , Italy (18.2-54.2) (13.3-45.5) (3.6-33.5) (12.4-43.1) (53.4-417.6) River Po, Italy (118-223) (45.2-179.9) (4.5-5.2) (355-1159) (99-237) (39.3-71.8) (127-519) River Sherbourne 38 71 2.9 481 19 118 196 River Manzanares (18-1260 (11-347) (1.9-9.1) (305-1276) (5-47) (42-371) (70-591) In brackets : minimum- maximum values ; in italic :arithmatic mean values 2.7 Toxic metals and their forms in sediments : Although some metals are essential micronutrients (e.g. Mn, Fe, Cu,Zn) , almost all metals are toxic to aquatic organisms and human health if exposure levels are sufficiently high (Luoma , 1983). Among the toxic metals cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, zinc, mercury and arsenic are of prime importance due to their association with anthropogenic inputs. Under different physical, biological or chemical conditions the toxicity of metals in sediments is a matter of bio availability (Jennett et al ,1980). Thus in order to estimate the bio availability of metals and their potential toxicity it is desirable not only to determine the total concentration but also the different chemical forms or ways of binding between metals and sediments(Albores et al , 2000). In sediments depending upon various physical, chemical and biological conditions , metals partitioned into different chemical forms associated with a variety of organic and inorganic phases (Farkas et al , 2007).In river sediments metal can be bound to various compartments e.g. adsorbed onto clay surfaces or iron and manganese oxy hydroxides, present in lattice of secondary minerals such as carbonates, sulphates or oxides, occluded within amorphous material such as iron and manganese oxyhydroxides, complexed with organic matter or lattice of primary minerals such as silicates (Gismera et al , 2004). Due to natural and anthropogenic environmental changes these associations can be altered and metals can become more or less bio available or mobilized within different phases. These influential factors include pH, temperature , redox potential , organic matter decomposition , leaching and ion exchange processes and microbial activity(Filgueiras et al ,2002). Thus in relation to their mobi lity and bioavailability, in order of decreasing interest the major metal fractions are : 1) Exchangeable ,2) Bound to carbonates , 3) Bound to Fe-Mn Oxides , 4) Bound to organic matter and 5) Residual . 2.7.1 Exchangeable Metals : In this fraction , weakly adsorbed metals retained on the solid surface by relatively weak electrostatic forces that can be released by ion exchange processes in the sediment are included(Filgueiras et al , 2002). These metals are considered the most available form of metals present in the sediments (Morrison , 1985). 2.7.2 Metals Bound to Carbonates : Metals in this fractions are co-precipitated with carbonates which exist as cement and coating (Morrison , 1985) and this phase can be an important adsorbent for metals in the absence of organic matter and Fe-Mn oxides (Filgueiras et al , 2002). 2.7.3 Metals bound to Fe-Mn Oxides : Metals in this fraction are associated with Iron and Manganese oxides which exist as nodules , concretion and cement between particles or simply as a coating on particles. Iron and Manganese oxides are considered as excellent scavengers of metals and are thermodynamically unstable under anoxic conditions (Tessier et al , 1979). 2.7.4 Metals bound to organic matter : In this fractions metals associated with various forms of organic materials such as living organisms, plant and animal detritus or coatings on mineral particles are included. This fraction is considered to be less mobile due to their associations with humic substances of higher molecular weights(Filgueiras et al , 2002). 2.8 Sequential Extractions : A sequential extraction procedure (SEP) also known as sequential extraction scheme (SES) can be used to determine above mentioned binding fractions of metals in the sediment. In this process, given sediment sample is subjected to a series of increasingly strong , phase specific reagents under controlled condition which extract our metals from the particular physic-chemical phase of interest(Bird et al , 2005). Depending upon target fractions, a wide variety of chemical extractants can be used (see fig.2.1) and thus in the literature various sequential extraction schemes are available which differ in the use of extractant, target phase and the order of attack to separate particular form of metals. The majority of the schemes are variants of a scheme proposed by Tessier et al (1979). Many researchers have reported difficulties in comparing the results of SES due to their wide variation in the use of chemicals and target phase. Thus, in an effort to harmonize the different methodologies and to make the comparison of results easier , Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) proposed a three step extraction procedure along with a reference sediment material to certify the protocol (Mossop and Davidson , 2003). 2.9 Advantages and problems of sequential extractions : The application of sequential extraction techniques , though time consuming provide valuable information about the origin , mode of occurrence, biological and physic-chemical availability , mobilisation and transport of metals within the sedimentary matrices(Tokalioglu et al , 2000).However, since their initial development, sequential extraction schemes have been criticized for the lack of selectivity of reagents, issues of re adsorption and redistribution of metals solubilised during extraction and changes in speciation due to sample pre- treatment and its general methodology ( Gleyzes et al , 2002). In the sequential extraction scheme, the reagents are expected to attack only the target phase without solubilising the other phases. However, it has been found that the reagents are not selective and may affect other phases also. Thus the sequential extractions are termed as operationally defined fractionation techniques. This lack of selectivity may cause re-adsoprtion and re distribution of metals among the target phases. Moreover, incomplete dissolution of some phases and changes in pH may also lead toward re adsorption and redistribution problems (Gleyzes et al, 2002). Various researchers have reported the problem of re adsorption and redistribution for many sequential extractions for each phase. Despite these limitations sequential extractions are widely accepted for metal fractionation in sediment samples to assess the mobility and bioavailability of metals . 2.10 Single Extractions : To reduce lengthy procedures and thus making sequential extractions a part of routine analysis, various alternatives(e.g. microwave heating and ultrasonic shaking) to conventional extraction procedures have been employed (Albores et al , 2000). One of the alternatives to reduce the lengthy and laborious sequential process is to use single extractions. In single extractions the same reagents and operating conditions as the sequential extractions are applied to different sub- sample (Albores et al ,2000) and, except for first step , the metal concentrations in each individual step can be obtained by subtracting the results obtained in two successive steps(Filgueiras et al , 2002). Initially this technique was suggested by Tack et al (1996) in which first three steps mentioned in Tessiers Scheme were extracted simultaneously while, for organic matter bound metals, it was suggested that the sample should be extracted first for reducing metals and should then be re treated with hydrogen p eroxide step to remove organic matter and thus release metals bound to this phase. 2.11 Bioassays : A useful monitoring tool Bioassays measure changes in physiology and behaviour of living organisms resulting from stress induced by biological or chemical toxic compounds which can cause disruption of e.g. metabolism. Thus, bioassays help to establish cause / effect relationship between the concentrations of pollutants and consequent environmental damage (Girrotti et al , 2008). Historically fish and macro invertabrates bioassays are the first in the series of toxicity bioassays involving animals. As these bioassays were found useful in assessing the acute toxicity of chemicals and effluents and often predicted their effects of aquatic biota and habitat, they have been extensively used in the screening of chemicals and regulatory compliance monitoring (Blaise et al , 1998). However , these conventional bioassays require longer test duration along with additional time(e.g. acclimatisation) for preparations of the test (Ribo and Kaiser , 1987). Moreover toxicity was found a trophic level property and thus it was realized that protection of aquatic resources could not be ensured by conducting bioassays solely at macro organism level (Rand et al , 1995). Therefore an urgent requirement of cost effective , multi trophic and faster bioassays was strongly felt which led to development of micro scale testing procedures involving bacteria , protozoa , micro algae and micro invertabrate (Blaise et al , 1998). Distinct advantages of microbial testing procedures include :1) ease of handling ,2 ) short testing time , 2) reproducibility of results (Mowat et al , 2001) and 4) cost effectiveness (Wadhia and Thompson , 2007). 2.12 Sediment Toxicity Tests : As Van Beelen (2003) stated, toxicity is not a substance property only , but it is the c

Carotenoid Profiles in Pandan Leaves

Carotenoid Profiles in Pandan Leaves Introduction Pandan Leaves In Indonesia, people are familiar of using several herbal leaves for special purposes especially for condiments to act as natural colorants or natural flavors to improve color and flavors in food e.g. pandan leaves (Figure 1). Pandan leaves (Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb) have been used in cooking and also as traditional herbal treatment for several illnesses in South East Asia Countries (Wongpornchai, 2004). Figure 1. Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb. Classification of Pandan leaves are bellow Kingdom:  Plantae Subkingdom:  Tracheobionta Super Division: Spermathophyta Division: Magnoliophyta Class:  Liliopsida Subclass:  Arecidae Ordo:  Pandanales Famili:  Pandanaceae Genus:  Pandanus Species:  Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb. There are several herbs that have been investigated contain expressive amounts of several bioactive compounds which can decrease ageing and also prolong life span and living organism (Ferrari, 2013). Natural products, including essential oils and extracts are the main source of biologically active compounds that can give benefit for human health (Fernà ¡ndez-Garcà ­a et al., 2012). Many people said that pandan leaves are vanilla of the east since it is commonly used in several foods with the vanilla like aroma (Comax Flavors, 2011). The genus name Pandanus is derived from the Indonesian name of the tree, pandan. In several Asia countries, pandan leaves, names given include pandan wangi (Malaysian), daun pandan (Indonesian), bai toey or toey hom (Thai), taey (Khmer), tey ban, tey hom (Laotian), dua thom (Vietnamese), and ban yan le (Chinese) (Wongpornchai, 2004). The distribution of pandan leaves is found over Southern India, the Southeast Asia peninsular, Indonesia and Western New Guinea (Wongpornchai, 2004). The plants grow in clumps and have thin and sharp leaves at the edge where the form is like sword, fragrant odor. Pandan leaves, commonly known as pandan, are often used to give a refreshing, fragrant flavor to both sweet and savoury South-East-Asian dishes (rice, chicken, jellies, drinks, puddings, custard or sweets). Pandan leaves are also used in cooking ordinary non-aromatic rice to imitate the more expensive aromatic Basmati and Jasmine rices (Nor, Mohamed, Idris, Ismail, 2008). Since the flavour of pandan leaves is similar to that possessed by some famous aromatic rice varieties, the leaves often find their way into the rice pot to enhance the aroma of lesser rice varieties. By increasing the aroma in lesser rice varieties, it can increase the consumer acceptance by enhance the flavour perception in customer where the non-aromatic rice has similar flavour with the aromatic rice e.g. Basmati and Jasmine rice. Flavour perception is interesting subject. The flavour of food is ultimately a product of the brain. The brain combines sensory information from taste, smell and touch to generate our perception flavour, and how it does this is currently a hot topic in psychology and neuroscience (Stevenson Richard, 2013). The study of the mechanism of important flavour during cooking rice is quite comp lex, where the absorption of important flavour by rice in both optimal and excess water cooking was highly dependent on the presence of water, moisture content of rice, water to rice ratio, starch gelatinization process as well as temperature and time of cooking (Yahya, 2011). Rice grains with the popcorn like fragrance are very popular among several Asian countries. In particular, Basmati in India and Pakistan; Khao Dawk Mali 105 in Thaliand, Pandan rice in Indonesia are very popular (Bryant McClung, 2011; Kawakami et al., 2009). These aromatic rice are more expensive and also more valuable than non aromatic one. Since fragrant rice is very expensive and pandan leaves that have aromatic rice like flavour. Nowadays, since the interest of customer flavour companies have come out with a number of mimetic rice flavour oils. 2-Acetylpyroline (2 ACPY) as one of the main compounds in rice also will give the popcorn like aroma like fragrance (F. Yahya, Fryer, Bakalis, 2011). Because of that, nowadays the encapsulated process of pandan aroma had been developed. Spray drying is the most common and cost effective way to perform encapsulation of flavors. The encapsulated flavour of pandan leaves by using gum Arabic and maltodextrin had been developed (Kawakami et a l., 2009). Pandan leaf extract has been used for food industries as dye materials, and also soya beverage and coconut milk. As a traditional herbal this leaves are generally used for traditional medicine especially to encounter the typhus illness in Indonesia (Roosita, Kusharto, Sekiyama, Fachrurozi, Ohtsuka, 2008). The effect of antimicrobial effect of pandan leaves has been investigated on the preservation of stored milk (Khusniati Widyastuti, 2008). Sometime, pandan leaves are also used to wrap food for cooking, such as chicken wrapped in pandanus leaves and are neatly folded into small baskets for filling with puddings and cakes (Wongpornchai, 2004). The leaves are sometimes also can be put into frying oils to impart flavour to fried food. Pandan extracts also capable of retarding oxidation in palm olein during deep frying process than as effectively other antioxidant which is BHT (Butyl Hydroxy Toluene). In sensory evaluation, the extract also was able to maintain sensory quality of French fries. The delightful flavour characteristic from pandan leaves, which is well-known throughout the world as an important component in Asian cookery, has made the industrial production of both natural extracts and artificial flavourings containing green food colors for use as food additives in Southeast Asian countries enlarge during the past two decades). Like other green leafy vegetables, pandan leaves are also known as potential source of several lipophilic antioxidant e.g. ÃŽ ²-carotene, vitamin E, phenolic compounds, ascorbic acid (Isabelle et al., 2010; Lee, Su, Ong, 2004). Leafy vegetables are nutrients dense sources. They possess antioxidant activity and thus have the potential to be used as cheap natural sources for reducing cellular oxidative damage and reduce degenerative conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and cancers. The consumption of several leafy vegetable are encouraged enough to fulfill nutrient especially in developing countries (Uusiku et al., 2010). Investigation of nutritional value of plants are essential especially to develop strategies to promote the utilization, cultivation and commercialization on these sources of nutrients which could be promoted a new source and other developing countries to assist in promoting biodiversity and combating malnutrition (Schà ¶nfeldt Pretorius, 2011; Uusiku et al., 2010). The delightful flavor characteristic from pandan leaves, which is well-known throughout the world as an important component in Asian cookery, has made the industrial production of both natural extracts and artificial flavorings containing green food colors for use as food additives in Southeast Asian countries enlarge during the past two decades (Wongpornchai, 2004). Pandan leaves which is known as one aromatic plants has been used in several Southeast Asia countries to confer aroma and flavors in several traditional food. Application of pandan leaves flavor have been used in rice, where rice-starch coating containing natural pandan extract produced non-aromatic rice with aroma compounds similar to that of aromatic rice (Laohakunjit Kerdchoechuen, 2007). Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction from pandan leaves also have been investigated as a novel applications in food flavorings (Bhattacharjee, Kshirsagar, Singhal, 2005; Laohakunjit Noomhorm, 2004). Nowadays pandan leaves have been investigated also as waste treatment. The performance of extracted pandan leaves was investigated towards treatment of textille wastewater by using flocullation process (Ngadi, N. , Yusoff, 2013). This give such a promissing to develop several process by using natural source e.g. pandan leaves for several purposes. Carotenoids The color of food is perhaps the first attribute that consumers assess when determining the quality and appearance of a product, and therefore conditions its acceptability. Color becomes a measure of quality and also an indication of deterioration. More than 700 naturally occurring carotenoids have been identified (Britton et al., 2004). Carotenoids are widely distributed whereas C40 isoprenoid pigments with polyene chains contain up to 15 conjugated double bonds. They furnish flowers and fruits with distinct colors (e.g., yellow, orange, and red), which can attract pollinators In addition carotenoids play important roles in photosynthesis, light harvesting, and prevention of photooxidative damage (Britton et al., 2004). Carotenoids can be classified as carotenes (oxygen-free; e.g ÃŽ ²-carotene) and xanthophylls (oxygen-containing; e.g. lutein, zeaxanthin, neoxanthin, violaxanthin, and antheraxanthin (Fig. 2). Fig. 2. Chemical structures of selected carotenoids The polyene chain of carotenoids is responsible for the color of plants and fruits. The length of the chromophore influences the color, for example from the colorless phytoene, via the orange color of ÃŽ ²-carotene to the red of capsaxanthin (due to the increasing number of double bonds). Besides the color, the polyene chain is responsible for the instability against several environmental factors e.g. oxidation, heat and light or oxidizing chemical (Britton et al., 2004). Carotenoid pigments are group of bioactive compounds that are of interest to the food scientists, nutritionists and food industries due to their positive impact on human health and their economic benefits. Carotenoids are responsible for the attractive color of most fruit and vegetables, having diverse biological functions and activities. An extensive number of factors determine the efficient incorporation of these phytochemicals from the diet In particular, an interest in increasing the consumption of carotenoids has been evident since the health effect of carotenoids, e.g. ÃŽ ²-carotene consumption reduces the incidence of some types of cancer, and further evidences were obtained in subsequent studies (Britton et al., 2004). In animals, carotenoid pigments have several important biological activities from nutritional and physiological standpoints. Animals and humans cannot synthesize carotenoids de novo although they can metabolize some of them into vitamin A (retinol). Approximately 10% of carotenoids meet the main structural requirement for acting as vitamin A precursors, i.e., contain a ÃŽ ²-type non-substituted ring, being ÃŽ ²-carotene and ÃŽ ²-cryptoxanthin the most representatives (Fernà ¡ndez-Garcà ­a et al., 2012; Rodriguez-Amaya, 2010). The extensive presence and distribution of carotenoids in nature, where mainly are found in fruits and vegetables (foods that occupy or should occupy an important place in our diet), make carotenoids with provitamin A activity the most important source of retinol. Some groups of people, the vegetarians, even depend almost exclusively on fruits and vegetables as a source of retinol in the form of its precursors. In mammals, therefore, the unique and important b iological function of carotenoids with retinol equivalence is their role as vitamin A precursors, which is necessary for vision, growth, cell differentiation, and other physiological processes (Fernà ¡ndez-Garcà ­a et al., 2012). Data published in the study â€Å"Global prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in populations at risk 1995–2005† published by the World Health Organisation in 2009, indicate that 190 million preschool-age children and 19.1 million pregnant women had levels of serum retinol less than 0.7 ÃŽ ¼mol/L, which is the lower limit of normal, and below which is considered a state of vitamin A deficiency. The deficient population is distributed in countries whose gross domestic product (GDP) is less than US$15,000 and in those with 92% of the worlds population (WHO, 2005). Fortification in several foods is one alternative for reducing the vitamin A deficiency (VAD) Unfortunately, in developing countries e.g. in Indonesia potential knowledge to find indigenous plant resources to fulfill provitamin A requirement as essential nutrition have not established enough. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of major public health concern in Indonesia. Lack of intake of Vitamin A can cause this VAD and other degenerative disease (Fernà ¡ndez-Garcà ­a et al., 2012). Several biochemical studies have proved that intake of sufficient carotenoids may give a protective effects from several diseases e.g. cancer, cardiovascular disease, cataracs, etc (Melà ©ndez-Martà ­nez, Vicario, Heredia, 2007). In Indonesia, several program have been developed to give sufficient intake of pro vitamin A e.g. fortification in several in foods, supplementation and diversification of food which mean finding a new potential provitamin A source (S. G. Berger, de Pee, Bloem, Halati, Semba, 2007; de Pee, West, Muhilal, Karyadi, Hautvast, 1995; Muslimatun et al., 2001; Robert Karyadi, 1988; Wieringa et al., 2003). The vitamin A capsule distribution program in Indonesia was more widely expanded in the 1980s to overcome VAD. Indonesia has one of the strongest vitamin A capsule distribution program for child survival and the intended coverage is for all infants 6-12 months and all preschool children 12-59 month of age. Universal periodic vitamin A supplementation is known as an effective intervention to increase child survival in Indonesia as one of developing country (S. G. Berger et al., 2007). Giving vitamin A to children with measles, serious malnutrition, diarrhea, or other illnesses protects a gainst death and blindness. Besides supplementation, another effort to overcome VAD is fortification. Fortification of foods commonly consumed by children is a viable strategy in developing countries. Margarine, dairy products, sugar, wheat flour, and monosodium glutamate (MSG) have been fortified with vitamin A in different countries. Finally, diversification of vitamin A rich food or provitamin A rich foods is another approach to overcome VAD (Pollard Favin, 1997). Learning from several developed countries, food fortification program has proven an effective and low-cost way to increase the micronutrient supply and reduce the consequences of micronutrient deficiencies. It has been rarely used in the developing world, but general conclusions can be drawn. The biological efficacy, but not the effectiveness, of fortifying oil and hydrogenated oil products as well as cereal flours and meals with vitamin A has been shown. Sugar has been fortified with vitamin A in Central American countries for years, and biological efficacy and program effectiveness are well established. Efficacy of fortifying monosodium glutamate with vitamin A was demonstrated but a program has not been established (Dary Mora, 2002). Fortification with vitamin A in the developing world should satisfy certain elements for success. Firstly, a potential food matrix a food regularly consumed, produced by a few centralized factories, without sensorial changes compared with the nonfortified equivalent, and nutrient remains bioavailable and in a sufficient amount) is required. Second, fortified foods should provide at least 15% of the recommended daily intakes for the target group (e.g., individuals consuming the lowest amount of the fortified food). Third, voluntary fortification of processed foods should be regulated to prevent excessive consumption of vitamin A. Forth, the neighboring countries should harmonize technical standards, facilitate compliance and minimize conflicts over global trade laws. Fifth, a practical monitoring system should be instituted. Six, Social marketing activities should be permanent and aimed at industry, government and consumers. Seven, food fortification should be combined with other stra tegies (e.g., supplementation) to reach those not adequately covered by fortification alone. Infants and small children, whose dietary habits differ from those of adults, require special attention. Fortification of food commodities is a very attractive and economic way to prevent and control vitamin A deficiency. Effective food fortification might make supplementation of postpartum women and older children unnecessary (Dary Mora, 2002). Norisoprenoids Degradation of carotenoids yield to apocarotenoids which can exhibit powerful aroma properties (Winterhalter Rouseff, 2002). Examples of volatile breakdown products of carotenoids are compounds with 13, 11, 10 or 9 carbon atoms, and the terminal group of their carotenoid parent as illustrated in Fig.3. Fig. 3. (a) Formation of (i) 2,2,6-trimethylcyclohexene-1-one, (ii) ÃŽ ²-cyclocitral, (iii) dihydroactinidiolide/ DHA and (iv) ÃŽ ²-ionone from ÃŽ ²-carotene; (b) Chemical structures of carotenoid derived aroma compounds with the megastigma structure The C13 compounds are the most abundant carotenoid derived aroma components in nature. They can be divided into: (1) compounds with the megastigmane structure, including the families of ionones and damascones with oxygen at C9 position in ionones or at C7 as in ÃŽ ² -damascenone and (2) compounds with the megastigmane structure without oxygen in the lateral chain, e.g. megastigma-4,6,8-triene (Winterhalter and Rouseff, 2001). 2,2,6-Trimethylcyclohexen-1-one, ÃŽ ²-cyclocitral and dihydroactinidiolide (DHA) are examples of C9, C10, C11 norisoprenoids, respectively (Winterhalter and Rouseff, 2001). Carotenoid derived aroma compounds are wide spread in nature where they occur in: (1) leaf products e.g. tea and tabbacco; (2) fruits e.g. grapes, starfruit, quince, and citrus fruits; (3) vegetables e.g. spinach, tomato, melon; (4) spices e.g. saffron, red pepper, and also in essential oils e.g. Osmanthus fragrans, Boronia megastigma, Rosa damascena (Winterhalter Rouseff, 2002). Several carotenoid derived aroma compounds are extremely powerful, e.g. the fruity signature of ÃŽ ²-ionone is recognizable even at concentrations as low as 0.007 ppm, and the rose and raspberry-like aroma of ÃŽ ²-damascenone is recognizable at even lower concentrations of 0.002 ppm (Winterhalter Rouseff, 2002). Volatiles in plants can be beneficial for humans. Recently, damascenone as one of norisoprenoids and related compounds were identified as potential cancer prevention phytochemicals. It was found that these compounds can both up-regulate the phase 2 cytoprotective enzymes and inhibit the induction of pro-inflammatory enzymes (Gerhà ¤user et al., 2009). The damascones and related species showed significantly higher activities than ionones and their derived compounds. Besides damascenone, ÃŽ ²-ionone has been shown to hold potent anti-proliferative and apoptosis induction properties in vitro and in vivo (J.-R. Liu et al., 2004). These results showed that the enzymatic reaction products of carotenoids have a good positive effect for human health that very promising for future application. HS-SPME for Flavor Analysis One of the primary goals in flavor research is to identify several flavor constituent in various sources (Linskens, 1996). The characterization of aroma compounds from natural sources is still a challenge despite the sophisticated techniques now available (Roe, 2005). Flavor components are usually present in a very low concentration (ppm or ppb). In addition, they have a wide range of polarity, solubility, volatility, and thermal and pH stability. The sources may be very complex and cause interference with the isolation techniques. Therefore, there is no single and simple method for the identification of aroma compounds from several natural sources (Roe, 2005). In order to study the flavor, it is first necessary to isolate volatiles from the complex non volatiles material. There are several methods for analysis of volatile constituent in plants and always have been developed from time to time for their efficiency and reproducibility. One of the other popular methods for analysis of volatile constituents in plants are headspace sampling techniques. Headspace sampling is probably the easiest way to capture and detect aroma compounds, since they exist in the space above the sample (Roe, 2005). It is simple and convenient and it has been used for all kinds of materials. It is especially useful for several sources that give of a lot of odor such as flowers and fruit. For samples that do not have odors, gentle heating can be accepted to help the release of volatiles. Due to the fact that these techniques detect highly volatiles compound, these techniques can be used to help to identify compounds that may be hidden in solvent peaks in liquid extra cts. The advantages examples are: (1) simple and quick; (2) solventless technique; (3) low amount of sample; (4) no artifacts are formed and no contaminants introduced (Roe, 2005). Some disadvantages of these techniques as examples are: (1) relative concentration of component in headspace does not reflect the concentration in the sample due to the difference in volatility of aroma compound. This methods can be classified to: (1) static headspace sampling where the sample is put into a sealed headspace vial and left to equal and atmosphere above the sample and (2) dynamic headspace where method the volatiles above the sample are swept away by carrier gas, onto a trap such as TENAX (Roe, 2005). The headspace volatiles are purged by air or nitrogen and are trapped by adsorption on porous polymer traps. Various trapping materials have been used such as charcoal, the Porapak series, the Chromosorb series, and Tenax. In a second step the volatiles are recovered by solvent or heat desorpti on (Linskens, 1996). Sorptive techniques allow rapid and solvent less extraction and pre-concentration of aroma compounds. They are based on the partitioning of organic components between aqueous or vapour phase and thin polymeric films (Roe, 2005). This technique group includes SPME (Solid Phase Microextraction), HSSE (Head Space Sorptive Extraction) and SBSE (Stirrer Bar Sorptive Extraction). SPME has been widely used a fused silica fibre coat with polymer film to collect the volatiles from the sample. In the mean time range of polar, non-polar and mixed fibers are available in the market. The fibre is inserted within a needle which is placed into a SPME holder for sampling and desorbing purposes. The sample is placed in a SPME vial then sealed by a septum cap. Mechanism for Enzymatic Formation of Norisoprenoids Carotenoid derived aroma compounds can be formed via an enzymatic or chemical degradation. The primary oxidative unspecific cleavage can be initiated by peroxides, photo-oxidation, or by thermal degradation (Winterhalter Rouseff, 2002). The specific enzymatic degradation of carotenoids is catalyzed by CCDs (Carotenoid Cleavage Dioxygenases) and leads to the production of particular carotenoid derived aroma that are more environmental friendly which is suitable to the green technology approach. CCDs have the capability to cleave a broad spectrum of carotenoids, leading to the production of carotenoid derived aroma compounds e.g. tomato, maize, rose (Huang, Horvà ¡th, et al., 2009; Simkin, Schwartz, Auldridge, Taylor, Klee, 2004; Vallabhaneni, Bradbury, Wurtzel, 2010) In rose, CCD has the potential to cleave different substrates specifically at 9,10 (9`-10`) double bonds (Fig. 6) (Huang et al., 2009). Fig.4. Cleavage sites and volatile reaction products of recombinant RdCCD1 enzymes from Rosa damascena Aims The aim of this research is to investigate the carotenoid profiles in pandan leaves, the flavor compounds which is derived from carotenoids and the mechanism of flavor compounds from carotenoids in pandan leaves. The results from this research could be useful for studying the chemical and biochemical characteristics of flavor formation from carotenoids in model plant e.g. pandan leaves. In detail the objectives of the research are explained point by point bellow : Characteristic of carotenoids in pandan leaves by RP-HPLC (Reversed Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography) Characteristic of flavor profile in pandan leaves by HS-SPME GC-MS (Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrophotometry) Carotenoid Cleavage Activities by crude enzymes from Pandan Leaves including the characterization of enzyme activity in different carotenoid substrates, optimum pH and optimum temperature. References Baldermann, S. (2008). Carotenoid oxygenases from Camellia sinensis, Osmanthus fragrans, and Prunus persica nucipersicaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯: kinetics and structure. Gà ¶ttingen: Cuvillier. Baldermann, S., Kato, M., Kurosawa, M., Kurobayashi, Y., Fujita, A., Fleischmann, P., Watanabe, N. (2010). Functional characterization of a carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase 1 and its relation to the carotenoid accumulation and volatile emission during the floral development of Osmanthus fragrans Lour. Journal of Experimental Botany, 61(11), 2967–77. doi:10.1093/jxb/erq123 Baldermann, S., Mulyadi, A. N., Yang, Z., Murata, A., Fleischmann, P., Winterhalter, P., †¦ Watanabe, N. (2011). Application of centrifugal precipitation chromatography and high-speed counter-current chromatography equipped with a spiral tubing support rotor for the isolation and partial characterization of carotenoid cleavage-like enzymes in Enteromorpha compressa . Journal of Separation Science, 34(19), 2759–64. doi:10.1002/jssc.201100508 Baldermann, S., Naim, M., Fleischmann, P. (2005). Enzymatic carotenoid degradation and aroma formation in nectarines (Prunus persica). Third International Congress on Pigments in Food Third International Congress on Pigments in Food, 38(8–9), 833–836. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2005.02.009 Bechoff, A., Dhuique-Mayer, C., Dornier, M., Tomlins, K. I., Boulanger, R., Dufour, D., Westby, A. (2010). Relationship between the kinetics of ÃŽ ²-carotene degradation and formation of norisoprenoids in the storage of dried sweet potato chips. Food Chemistry, 121(2), 348–357. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.12.035 Behrendt, D. (2011). Directed Evolution of Arabidopsis thaliana Carotenoid Cleavage Dioxygenase 1. RWTH Aachen University. Berger, R. G. (2009). Biotechnology of flavours—the next generation. Biotechnology Letters