The Potential for Avian Influenza to Cause Another Worldwide Pandemic E

The Potential for Avian Influenza to Cause Another Worldwide Pandemic Abstract There are three major factors involved in the start of a pandemic; the viral strain must be new, able to cause serious illness, and transmit efficiently between humans. This article explores the avian influenza virus?s potential to cause another global pandemic through its ease of transmission and ability to evade treatment. Avian type A influenza virus generally spreads either through an intermediate vector during the process of antigenic shift or directly to humans when it jumps the species barrier. A certain strain of the virus, H5N1 was of particular concern as it was the first strain to move directly from birds to humans. The avian influenza virus poses another threat as it evolves quickly through antigenic drift and eludes all treatment protocol, quickly gaining resistance to medication. Battling not trying to stop this virus seems to be the best course of action as we prepare ourselves for another possible outbreak. Avian influenza is a viral disease that does not normally affect humans. However, there have been an increasing number of cases where people have been affected and died. In order for any virus to become a pandemic, it must fulfill three major requirements. It needs to be a new subtype of the virus, one that hasn?t existed in the past. It must be able to replicate itself and cause serious damage in humans, and it must have the ability to transmit efficiently between humans. (World Health Organization, 2005). During the 20th century, there were three pandemics of a strain of avian influenza, two of which (originating in Hong Kong and China) were caused by a new viral strain containing a combination of genes from both human and av... ...where and when it does strike seems to be the best way to battle this deadly virus. Avian Influenza: A Global Pandemic - 6 References ? Kaye, D., Pringle, C. (2004). Avian Influenza Viruses and their Implication for Human Health. Clinical Infectious Diseases, (40), 108-112 ? Ruben, F. (2005). Influenza: getting our attention. Clinical Infectious Diseases, (40), 1697(2) ? Center for Disease Control. (2005, May). Influenza (Flu). Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 7/25/2005: www.cdc.gov/flu ? World Health Organization. (2005). Avian Influenza: assessing the pandemic threat. The World Health Organization. 7/25/2005: www.who.int/en/ ? Mayo Clinic. (2005, March). Bird flu (avian influenza). MayoClinic.com. 7/25/2005: www.mayoclinic.com ? Avian Medicine PHR 220, Spring 2005 UCD ? VM, Pat Wakenell, Avian Influenza

Quantitative Versus Qualitative Interpersonal Communication Essay

Quantitative interpersonal communication is described as any communication between two individuals, whether it is between two friends or simply two strangers that are only interacting for a matter of seconds. It is defined by the number of people in the interaction that is taking place. An example of this type of communication might be two people passing each other on the street and saying â€Å"Good morning† or â€Å"How do you do?†. They may be that brief, or they may be a continuing occurrence, say between a student and his or her teacher. The two may spend an entire school year together and never speak again in their lives. The other definition is called qualitative. This interaction also takes place between two people, but is defined by its six separate factors, rather than the number of people involved. Qualitative communications must be unique, irreplaceable, interdependent, involve disclosure of personal information or feelings, have intrinsic rewards, and be fairly scarce. These types of communications are said to happen only five times in a lifetime, although I think it would be more accurate to suggest that an individual has only five qualitative relationships at any given time. A person may have a qualitative relationship with a family member, best friend, significant other, or any person they enjoy spending time with and would like to continue to be involved with. I personally believe that the qualitative, rather than the quantitative description better represents the definition of interpersonal. The word â€Å"inter† implies that the communication taking place is close to home, or has an effect within a person. â€Å"Personal† says to me that the communicator has time, emotions, and interest tied into the communication that is taking place. If two people meet for the first time at a cash register, talk for a total of two minutes, and go on their way, they are likely never to see each other again. No matter how polite the interaction, neither of the communicators has been significantly affected; in fact, they are probably going to forget that the exchange even took place. To me, there is nothing internal or personal about this. Qualitative interactions, on the other hand, usually have a lasting effect on both parties. When two people are dating, they develop unique rules and roles, their moods affect each other, and they share information with each other that they may not share with anyone else. They are both looking for and hopefully receiving a sense of fulfillment, and if they were to discontinue the relationship for any reason, it would be extremely rare to find one with the same qualities. The end of the relationship would be considered a loss, and to me, that makes it interpersonal.

World War Is Mitteleuropa

German for ‘Middle Europe’, there are a wide range of interpretations for Mitteleuropa, but chief among them was the German plan for an empire in central and eastern Europe that would have been created had Germany won the First World War. War Aims In September 1914, a few months after the start of World War I, German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg created the ‘September Programme’ which, along with other documents, set out a grandiose plan for post-war Europe. It would be enacted if Germany was totally successful in the war, and at that point nothing was certain. A system called ‘Mitteleuropa’ would be created, an economic and customs union of central European lands that would be led by Germany (and to a lesser extent Austria-Hungary). As well as these two, Mitteleuropa would include German domination of Luxembourg, Belgium and their Channel Ports, the Baltic and Poland from Russia, and possibly France. There would be a sister body, Mittelafrika, in Africa, leading to German hegemony of both continents. That these war aims had to be invented after the war started is often used as a stick with which to beat the German command: they are chiefly blamed for starting the war and didn’t even know what t hey wanted beyond having threats from Russia and France removed.br/>It’s unclear exactly how far the German people supported this dream, or how seriously it was taken. Indeed, the plan itself was allowed to fade as it became obvious the war would last a long time and may not be won by Germany at all. A variation emerged in 1915 when the Central Powers defeated Serbia and Germany proposed a Central European Federation be created, led by Germany, this time recognizing the needs of the war by placing all military forces under German command. Austria-Hungary was still strong enough to object and the plan again faded. Greed or Matching Others? Why did Germany aim for a Mitteleuropa? To Germany’s west were Britain and France, a pair of countries with a vast global empire. To the east was Russia, which had a land empire stretching to the Pacific. Germany was a new nation  and had missed out as the rest of Europe had carved the world up between them. But Germany was an ambitious nation  and wanted an empire too. When they looked around them, they had the hugely powerful France directly west, but between Germany and Russia were eastern European states that could form an empire. English language literature racistly considered a European conquest as worse than their own global conquests, and painted Mitteleuropa as significantly worse. Germany had mobilized millions of people and suffered millions of casualties; they tried to come up with war aims to match.In the end, we don’t know how far Mitteleuropa would have been created. It was dreamt up in a moment of chaos and action, but perhaps the Treaty of Brest-Lit ovsk with Russia in March 1918 is a clue, as this transferred a vast area of Eastern Europe to German control. It was their failure in the west that caused this infant empire to be erased.