Chimerism in Humans

Chimera according to the genome glossary is an organism which possesses cells or tissues with a different genotype. This can be caused due to mutated cells of the host organism or cells from a different organism or species. According to Greek mythology, the original â€Å"Chimera† (pronounced as kih-MEE-ra, and the adjective form â€Å"chimerical† pronounced as kih-MER-ih-cal) was a fire-breathing female monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the hindquarters of a dragon. The terrifying Chimera may have merely been a product of a substandard family environment — her father was the giant Typhon, her mother the half-serpent Echidna. Her siblings were the Cerebrus (the three-headed hound who eventually found work guarding the gates of Hell), Hydra (a nine-headed aquatic monster) and Orthrus (the runt of the litter, a prosaic two-headed dog). As per the mythology, Chimera pounced around making everyone wretched until one day a man named Bellerophon, riding on the winged horse Pegasus slays her. [Author unknown, Chimera, 2004] Though believed to be a mythological epic, it was found that cases of Chimera were actually prevalent in humans when certain intriguing criminal cases erupted. One such case was when a woman has been raped by a man and the women claimed a particular person to be the culprit. However, the crime justice authorities had found it difficult to convict the suspect. It so happened that the DNA taken from his blood sample did not match the DNA of the suspect. However, extensive investigation and the victim’s statements revealed it to be same person being responsible for the crime. When another series of DNA tests were taken from the suspect, this time from his hair sample it was found that the DNA sample perfectly matched. This revealed a breathtaking phenomenon among human genome which has resulted in various problems in the criminal justice system. Those people who have two types of DNA in their body are called chimeras after the mythological creature with a head of lion, body of a goat and a tail of a serpent. These people are sometimes also referred to as mosaics. It has found that these people have two different types of DNA in various parts of their body. Though a rare occurrence, this could have been due to various reasons. [Vladar, 2004] One of the common reasons is that chimeras are formed if developing fraternal twin embryos join together to become one embryo. This is something which is completely opposite of identical twins who are formed when a single embryo splits into two. This occurrence takes place in the very early stages of the embryo development i.e. when it is still in the form of unspecialized cells, so when it develops the baby that is born is healthy but with two types of DNAs. It is also found that fraternal twins don’t have same set of DNA, however, they the two fraternal twin embryos fuse together it results in chimera. Another reason for chimeras to form is when developing fraternal twin share the same blood supply. This usually happens when the twins with different DNA share a placenta in the mother’s womb and cells from their blood mix together. This results in the twins being chimeras based on only their blood as other cells are not affected by the blood supply. Chimeras are also formed through some mistakes or mutations taking place in the division of the cells in the development embryo. This mainly takes place when the cells split into two so that they are able to be formed into more of themselves for the growth of the embryo. It also results in the the doubling up of the DNA by the cells which gets divided between the two new halves. During this process, if something goes wrong, then some new cells result in having different DNA. If this happens in the early stages of the development, then the tissues which are developed from the cells will have different genotype. It is difficult to gauge the exact number of chimeras in the world. We are able to find out whether a person is a chimera or not only when his / her DNA is analysed. This causes varied problems with regards to solving of crime cases and also results in complication with regards to donation of organs. In recent years, exciting results have been found out that a section of genetically incompatible cells may contribute to conditions like infertility, autism and Alzheimer's disease. [Migliore, L et al, 1999] Human chimeraism came into being with advent of blood typing and it was found that some people had more than two types of blood group. Most of the cases of chimeraism are the blood chimeraism i.e. non-identical twins sharing a blood supply in the womb. Twin embryos often share a blood supply in the placenta, allowing blood stem cells to pass from one embryo and settle in the bone marrow of the other, seeding a lasting source of blood. As a result, almost 8% of non-identical twin pairs have chimeric blood. [van Dijk, B A; Boomsma, D I and de Man, A J M, 1996] Apart from those who have chimera due to different blood types, there are even larger numbers of people who have this phenomenon due to carrying smaller numbers of different blood cells that may have passed through the mother and the fetus across the placenta or persist from a blood transfusion. It has also been analysed that the presence of some foreign white blood cells might be the cause for autoimmune diseases wherein the immune system affects the body’s own tissues. [Nelson, J L, 2002] True chimeras are usually identified when they possess male and female cells resulting in the formation of hermaphrodites or any related problem in the person’s sexual organs and their chromosomal sex is identified by their blood test. So the real number of chimeras and mosaics are much more than those that have been identified till date. Unless and until a chimera comes forward to get his blood sampled or has been convicted for a crime, it wouldn’t be possible to know whether he actually is a chimera. This has resulted in further complication in solving some crime justice cases. It has been also analyzed that with the increase in in-vitro fertilization (IVF), there has an increase in the cases of chimeras. To avoid infertility among women, IVF has been quite common in the present day scenario. In this process, two or more embryos are placed in a woman’s uterus so there is an increased success rate. This results in 25% more cases of twin pregnancies than expected. With the increased number of twins, there is likelihood of more cases of chimeras. This was proved by Bonthron who found out that the British hermaphrodite boy who was a chimera was formed by IVF. Strain, L; Dean, J C S; Hamilton, M P R and Bonthron, D T – 1998] According to various tests undertaken along with ultrasound examinations performed on the mother who was carrying the single fetus, the baby that was born had a normal right testis and a semi-developed left testis. An operation was conducted when the child was 15 months old and the surgeons removed â€Å"an abnormal gonad and vas deferens.† Pathology studies later exposed that these were actually an ovary with a fallopian tube attached. Studies revealed that the child's chromosomes had both female (XX) and male (XY) cell lines. This was explained to be that the child was an exceptional case of a true chimera which was a mixture of two embryos from separately fertilized eggs. The other likelihood was that two different sperm had unusually developed into a single mature egg before cell division had taken place. To distinguish between these possibilities, the researchers analyzed DNA near the centromeres of the child's chromosomes, which are involved in cell division. [Author unknown, DNA puzzle of mother ‘made of two women', 2004] Apart from this, the study conducted also revealed that chimerism can occur naturally, resulting in children with vague genitalia, however published data on the phenomenon is very restricted and many XX/XY children may go unnoticed. Even so, the fact that chimerism occurred in a child born following in vitro fertilization should be taken seriously. [Author unknown, 2004 In Vitro Fertilization Results In Chimera, 2004] Considering these above points, it is becoming more and more difficult for the crime justice system to analyze the crime due to the increase in the cases of chimeraism and mosaicism which in turn is increasing with the increase in in-vitro fertilization. The criminals are able to move about freely as their blood samples usually differ from their other DNA samples taken from different parts of the body. It is also becoming difficult for the crime justice system as well as the medical system to analyze the exact number of chimeras as it is very difficult with the increase in mutations.

HR Case Study of Yamaha Motors

Change, in any organization is routed through it’s Human Resource Department. Thereare always disgruntled employees who complain that change has adversely affected them. There are employees who believe in status Quo and believe that if a system is working,there is no point in changing it. Escorts going out and Yamaha coming in was a change that influenced each other andevery employee working on all levels. Strangely though, the resistance to this majorchange and to all subsequent decisions taken to enforce the change was minimized,. Itonly depicts the success of the H. R. epartment in educating all employees. Change wasviewed as mandatory rather than optional. Employees were made to believe that theirfuture bread and butter depended upon the success of this change. Almost everyemployee understood the need for this broad change. There were some voices ofdiscontent regarding small details which had to be worked out. The H. R. department’srole in handling the entire proces s of change is summarized below : 1. Agreement with the Union : Escorts left behind a strong labour union which wasknown to use aggressive tactics to get it’s demand met.Yamaha suspended the oldagreement with the union and entered into a new one after taking over. Theagreement covered various aspects like pay packages, increments, working hours,leaves schedule etc. Yamaha also offered V. R. S. ( Voluntary retirement schemes)to those who did not wanted to continue with the organization. However, theattraction rate of labour and managers was very low. What Yamaha ensuredthrough was there are no dissatisfied employees in the organization.Yamaha knewthat workers will be facing a cultural change soon and only wanted thoseemployees who were ready and willing to accept change in it’s true spirit. 2. Training of employees in Japan : Not every employee looks upon training inJapan as an opportunity or value addition. Certain employees are reluctant toleave their families back in India for a period of 6 months. People used to thesocial and cultural environment of India find it difficult to adjust to a foreigncountry. The challenge for the H. R. Department was to motivate such employees.These employees were assured that their families will be taken care of. While trainees will receive salary for their work in Japan, their families will be a paid afixed amount periodically by the company during the [period of training. Securewit the knowledge that their families are taken care of, employees were motivatedto undergo training in Japan. 3. Networking with dealers : Yamaha is currently in process of networking all it’sdealer all over India. Dealers are seen as valuable channel partners and not meresupply chain members.The purpose of this online network queries on a perpetual basis. Dealers are encouraged to report all complaints, suggestions, ideas throughthis network. The network will also be used for online order processing. Prof . Nomita Kapoor Page 14 How Organizations Handle Change – Yamaha Motors India 4. Routing bills through Tedfel : Dealers were not happy with Yamaha routing it’sbills through Tedfel. Earlier, dealers were not asked to pay until the motor cycleswere actually sold. Now Tedfel only offered a 15 days credit period to the dealers.Presently, may dealers have already approached Yamaha and have asked to revertback to the old system. At the time of our research, the dialogue between thedealers and the company was still on. Yamaha still believes in the companyvalidity of hiring an outside agency for bill payments and wants to bring aroundthe dealers to its way of thinking. Yamaha has also followed the policy that Indian managers are best equipped to handleIndian work force. The Japanese presence in the H. R. department is bare minimum. Language barrier is a significant constraint in this regard.So, while the company boastsof presence of Japanese professionals in production, quality assurance and financed epartment, the H. R. department is still completely handled by their Indian counterparts. Reference: http://www. scribd. com/doc/2165100/Yamaha HONDA His employees soon came to understand that poor performance would not be tolerated. People recognized his total determination to succeed and to establish an engineering business. Honda was a true leader with vision and passion. He was sufficiently aware of his own managerial shortcomings. The employees called Honda ‘Mr.Thunder’ for his bursts of anger in answer to their mistakes. His employees loved him but they were afraid of his anger. Honda was not a perfect man. He admitted his mistakes: ‘When I look back at my work I understand I have made mistakes – many blunders, serious omissions. However, I am proud of my achievements. Although I made one mistake after the other, these mistakes and failures did not happen in connection with one and the same thing. ’ (Peters & Waterman 1982) As a transformationa l leader Honda tended to see the big picture, but not the details.Motivation is one of the major concepts of the human resource management. The research of motivation and its necessity for organization is closely connected with the Behavioral Management that arouse at the end of the Scientific Management era. Human resource management views an employee not as a machine but as a personality with its own goals and aspirations. The objective of managers is to build relationships in which workers would see themselves working with the manager, rather than working for a manager. Motivation can be defined as the process of arousing, directing, and maintaining behavior toward a goal.He points out that people are motivated to fulfill their needs. Companies view workers as being interdependent, meaning, managers cannot do their job without workers, and workers depend on their managers. Consequently, instead of management treating employees like machines, organizations should take a genuine in terest in the employee and help them reach their goals. Human resource management supposes that if employees are happier at work the production would increase. Soichiro Honda placed human initiative and attention to all workers on the first place.He tried to create a better environment for his employees, attract specialists and motivate them to do their work in the best possible way. Honda paid much attention to experimental work and did not accept attempts to control him or his corporation via the traditional caste system. He was the innovator and was against the hierarchy management structure: ‘On the whole, people work better if they are not forced and controlled. ’ (Peters & Waterman 1982) This thought is proven by psychologists and new styles of management are very effective and should be used by others.Honda understood that encouraging his worker’s personal development, their wish for self-actualization will bring him success in business. He was a passionat e person. Honda did not admit defeat and could risk everything he had achieved for the sake of his beliefs and ideas. He is the embodiment of persistence. Soichiro Honda was a man with modern mentality and readiness to risk in order to invent something new. He is the example of persistence, modesty, and the ability to see his own mistakes as the most valuable achievements.

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Assess which foreign policy crisis issue, North Korea or Iran, is the Essay

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Riesman, how does the rise of bureaucratic Essay

Riesman, how does the rise of bureaucratic - Essay Example The â€Å"inner directed† domain of individuality loses primacy when personal values are compromised for the sake of gratifying other people. In a bureaucratic type of environment, social acceptance is deemed to be very significant. Moreover, in a mass society dominated by the attitude of following trends and fashion, the â€Å"other directed† features rule out the â€Å"inner directed†. The transition occurs whenever an individual becomes aware of the relevance of coping up with the changing times. The moment an individual learns to filter out messages from the social environment and to process these messages to something that would be beneficial for the self, then the shift from the â€Å"inner directed† to the â€Å"other directed† takes place. In simpler terms, â€Å"inner directed† character denotes individuality or independent thinking whereas â€Å"outer directed† means cooperation and the likelihood to compromise, which is the fundamental attitude requirement of advance capitalism (Kivisto 1998: p. 112). Riesman further asserts that the shift in the social character was brought about by the transition of the society. He had delineated three stages of this societal transformation: the traditional, the inner directed and the outer directed. For him, the traditional stage is the best form of social character because it has the potentiality to develop in a high degree (p. 112). In these levels of social development, Riesman integrated the concept of the old and the new middle class. The old middle class that thrived in the traditional stage were the feudal lords and other individuals from an aristocratic blood. The new middle class that arose in the contemporary period are the entrepreneurs who are driven not by competition but cooperation. These two middle classes that existed from different times were in conflict when it comes to social character. The old middle class is more inclined on