Hepatitis B infection: An overview

Hepatitis B infection: An overview HEPATITIS B What is hepatitis B? Hepatitis B is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus. Chronic hepatitis B is a long-term infection of the liver that can sometimes develop after a bout of acute or short term, hepatitis B. How does a person get hepatitis B? The virus that causes hepatitis B is spread through contact with infected blood or other body fluids of people who have hepatitis B. For example, you can get hepatitis B by having unprotected sex with an infected person. People who use intravenous drugs can get hepatitis B when they share needles with someone who has the virus. Health care workers, such as nurses, lab technicians and doctors, can get these infections if they are accidentally stuck with a needle that was used on an infected patient. Pregnant women who are infected with hepatitis B can also pass the virus on to their babies. Hepatitis B cannot be transmitted through casual contact. For example, you cannot get hepatitis B by hugging or shaking hands with someone who is infected. How long does it take chronic hepatitis to develop after acute hepatitis B? The time between the acute illness and signs of chronic hepatitis B varies. It may take a short time, or it may be years after the acute infection before chronic hepatitis B develops. How is hepatitis B diagnosed? Blood tests are used to diagnose hepatitis B. Blood tests can tell your doctor whether your liver is working properly, and they can also be used to follow your condition during treatment. Your doctor may want to look at your liver with an ultrasound exam or x-rays. A liver biopsy may also be needed. With a liver biopsy, a small piece of the liver is removed through a needle and looked at under a microscope. A liver biopsy can help your doctor diagnose your illness and see the condition of your liver directly. What are the symptoms of hepatitis B? The symptoms of hepatitis B are: nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, jaundice (the skin turns yellow), weakness, fatigue, or brown urine (may look like tea), Symptoms of hepatitis B can range from mild to severe. If you have a mild case of hepatitis, you may not even realize that you have it. It may not cause symptoms or may only cause symptoms similar to the stomach flu. What are the complications of chronic hepatitis B? People with chronic hepatitis B may not have any symptoms at all. In some people, chronic hepatitis can lead to cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis occurs when the liver cells die and are replaced by scar tissue and fat. The damaged areas of the liver stop working and cant cleanse the body of wastes. The early stages of cirrhosis may not have symptoms, but the following symptoms may arise as cirrhosis gets worse and more of the liver is damaged: weight loss, fatigue, jaundice, nausea, vomiting, or loss of appetite, Cirrhosis can lead to liver failure and even liver cancer. If you have hepatitis B, you are also susceptible to hepatitis D (also called Delta agent). Hepatitis D can only develop in people who already have hepatitis B. It can make your symptoms of hepatitis B or liver disease worse. It is spread through contact with infected blood or other body fluids of people who have hepatitis D. How is chronic hepatitis B treated? If you have chronic hepatitis B, your family physician will probably refer you to a gastroenterologist or other subspecialist that treats people with chronic liver problems. There are a number of medical treatments available that are often successful. These include Interferon alfa-2b and other antiviral medicines. Treatment may take a year or more, depending on the severity of the infection and the response to treatment. Can hepatitis B be prevented? The best way to prevent hepatitis B is to have protected sex (use a condom) and to avoid sharing needles. A vaccine is available to prevent hepatitis B. It is now routinely given in the first year of life to all newborn infants. It is safe and requires 3 shots over a 6-month period. This vaccine should be given to people who are at high risk for this illness, such as health care workers, all children, drug users, people who get tattoos or body piercing, and those with multiple sex partners. (Hepatitis B, 2007a) (Hepatitis B, 2007b) (Viral hepatitis B, 2007) References Hepatitis B. (2007). Retrieved December 30, 2007, from eMedicine Health website: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/hepatitis_b/article_em.htm Hepatitis B. (2007). Retrieved December 30, 2007, from World Health Organization website: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs204/en/ Viral hepatitis B. (2007). Retrieved December 30, 2007, from CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/b/

American Home Products Corporation Essay

American Home Product Corporation (AHP), a highly growing American company, has four business lines: prescription drugs, packaged drugs, food products, house wares and household products. Its policies include: -A tight financial control and maintained an aggressive capital structure policy. – Make money for its stockholders and to maximize profits by minimizing cost. – It has been able to finance internally its growth while paying a very high portion of its earning to its shareholders (60%). Currently, AHP seems to have no business risk but may face a certain risk in the long run. Based on the ratios shown on the attached sheet, AHP should not worry about business risk since its working capital is very healthy ($1472.8 million) and cash excess $233 million. The high ROA, high profit margin, low current-to-asset ratio and 49.71 collection days show that AHP can generate cash quickly, thus it can maintain current high growth rate. However, it’s decreasing annual sales growth from 14.1% in 1978 to 8.8% in 1981 (exhibit 1) shows that it faces future risk of losing market shares in all its business lines if it does not foresee competition and continues to focus on increasing stockholders’ value. AHP’s current financial performance is very good since it has high ROE (30.3), high quick ratio (42.68), low debt-to-equity ratio (0.09) and low debt-to-asset ratio (0.01). However, an analysis of different debt ratios shows that if AHP increases debt ratio, it will face a financial risk of increased debt-to-equity and debt-to-asset ratios. In other words, it will face solvency problems in long terms. AHP also face liquidity problems since the quick ratios decrease when the debt ratios increase. 2 The proposed mechanism follows a dual mechanism of leveraging:- (a) Increase the Debt Equity Ratio. (b) Buy back the shares. This also results in the following:- (i) Improves EPS as the amount gets shared by lesser number of shares. (ii)Improves Price / earnings ratio (iii) The excess capital gets utilized. (iv)Sends a +ve signal to the market and share prices likely to increase. (v) Improves Return on Equity ratio. The calculations enclosed indicate that the best option in accordance with the company stated policy would be to have Debt-Equity Ratio of 70%. Shareholders’ value increases when debt ratios increase. EPS increases from $3.18 to $3.49. The dividend payout ratio also increases from 0.597 to 0.602. Similarly, the dividend yield from 0.063 to 0.070. It means that the company can increase shareholders’ value by increasing debt ratios. However the following needs to be considered:- (i) The valued net worth of the firm which decreases may not convey the correct picture to the investor and thus negating the positive signals of buy back of shares. (ii) The firm has no strategy related to R&D in new products and focuses on me-too products thus constituting a large business risk. (iii) The firm would reduce the cash to debt ratio substantially exposing itself to financial risk. The closest competitor has Debt – Equity Ratio of 30% which if taken as a benchmark gives a conservative method of deciding the proposed leveraging, however this does not maximize the shareholder value, but is in line with the strong conservatism philosophy of the firm. It also gives a better Return on Assets ratio and has a safer Debt to Cash ratio. Even though AHP has a very good current financial performance, it should change the financial policy to increase debt ratio at a certain level. To meet the goal of increasing shareholders’ value, AHP should not use its excess cash flow to repurchase its stocks because this is only a temporary solution and may generate serious financial problems in the long run. Instead, AHP should use this excess cash to invest in profitable projects to improve its current products and launch new products that meet current market demands. By doing so, AHP can minimize the business risk, prepare itself for competition and increase sales growth. On the other hands, AHP should increase debt ratio to a certain level that is suitable for its  business to increase shareholders’ value. Also it should continue to exercise tight monetary policies as earlier to pay off the debt in a disciplined manner This solution does not bring financial risk to AHP but enable it to minimize business risk. If AHP remains only concerned about how to increase shareholders’ value and ignores market threats, it might lose its business to its competitors.

Astonishing Details Regarding Argumentative Essay Topics Tobacco Uncovered

Astonishing Details Regarding Argumentative Essay Topics Tobacco Uncovered New Ideas Into Argumentative Essay Topics Tobacco Never Before Revealed You don't need to find super technical with legal argumentative essays, but be certain to do your homework on what the recent laws about your favorite topic actually say. Now you know the fundamental argumentative essay template, as well as a few of the specifics of writing this kind of essay, let's discuss some topics you could write about and ways you are able to brainstorm new topics. Moreover, in-text citations will present your awareness of the various papers formats. Then, it's essential to offer a crucial review of the literature regarding the matter under discussion. In scenarios when you get to pick the topic for an argumentative essay, you need to be wise and locate a title that will intrigue a reader. If you're struggling, you always have the option to get help by employing an essay writing service such as ours. Even if it must be read, as in the instance of essay writing assignments in a university setting, a fine introduction provides the reader a very good preliminary impression, entices. You may continue to keep your argumentative essays for your upcoming job portfolio in case they're highly graded. You are able to order a top-notch customized essay from us, and we're going to deal with everything, or all you have to do is benefit from our paper editing and rewriting services. Writing an argumentative essay can at times be confusing as you don't necessarily understand how to compose a convincing argument. You devote a good deal of education on writing argumentative essays. Our writers use their abilities and abilities to fulfill the wants and necessities of our clientele. Professional essay writers at 5staressays can help you, when you're looking for specialists to guide you. To locate argumentative essay topics easy on various platforms, you will need to comprehend about the argumentative essay. Writing a persuasive, argumentative essay can be challenging, and at times it can find a little confusing. You will probably locate a different and terrific topic you will love to write about. Moral argumentative essay topics are a few of the simplest to get carried away with. Tobacco is quite an enormous business which gives lot of revenue. Tobacco industry proceeds to persuade several people that smoking isn't associated with numerous health risks. Although adults smoke, tobacco businesses attempt to draw more teens, since they are simpler to persuade and can be a lengthy time consumer. Thus, a ban on tobacco wouldn't be an effective means to minimize the variety of smokers. Since you may see, banning tobacco isn't going to stop individuals from deciding to smoke. In fact, tobacco industry doesn't reveal the real truth about tobacco. What's the Iron Lady's role on earth history. When you're picking your topic, remember that it's much simpler to write about something which you presently have interest ineven in case you don't know a good deal about it. Regardless of what, don't forget that there's a group of highly qualified experts on the internet who can make a genuine jewel out of your smoking essay. For instance, you can write about something that personally affects you or somebody you know. Argumentative essay is about arguing and debating on a subject, which is debatable. You should make sure you keep on that 1 side during your whole essay. The argumentative essay structure is comparable to that of different essays, but it has a couple of unique elements that you should look out for. Students lead busy lives and frequently forget about a coming deadline. Your reader ought to be convinced your argument is valid. It's important to select debatable argumentative essay topics since you need opposing points which you can counter to your own points. You'll end up lost without having the ability to make an argument and develop it correctly. You may also list any opposing arguments, and your rebuttals.

The Inspirations from the Mayan Ballgame - 1515 Words

The Pre-Columbian peoples of the Mesoamerican area are a population that has since fascinated historians and archaeologists to this day. Exploration and investigation has brought to light the great advancements these civilizations made in the areas of art, technology, and even astronomy. By means of examining and analyzing the remains, the massive structures and artifacts left behind by the early people of these civilizations, we have come to know of their rich culture and traditions. One group that we know a great deal of, the Classic Maya, exhibited a culture that was not only sophisticated and ahead of its time, but also one of great art and rituals. What was of great significance to these people was the Mayan Ballgame. The†¦show more content†¦These Lords stand for all that is bad. Death, disease, sadness – everything is now restricted to the Underworld. According to the Popol Vuh, after their defeat â€Å"only the worthless will yield themselves before [t he Lords].† No longer would the Lords torment randomly, only those that deserve it. This tale teaches the Mayans to act morally. The Twins exhibit qualities of virtue and devotion and were even resurrected into the heavens. This gives the Mayan people a reason to act in a way the Twins would have, in hopes gaining everlasting life with the gods. This tale of the first ballgame played, between Lords and gods, is a tale that teaches the Mayans the proper way to behave, and has taught historians of the higher powers that guide their actions. The Popol Vuh tells the origins of the ballgame, and it is so significant to the people that it is ritualized for generations. The Mayan ballgame is also important in that it was crucial in their rituals and civilization, being almost at the center of Mayan culture. According to the article written by Friedel, Schele, and Parker, the ballgame served as ritual ceremony – a reenactment of the first ballgames ever played between the Hero Twins and the Lords of the Underworld. The authors stated that players would wear headdresses and godly symbols personifying the gods or Dieties. The players representedShow MoreRelatedMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 Pageswell-known successes. While mistakes provide valuable learning insights, we can also learn from successes and find nuggets by comparing the unsuccessful with the successful. With the addition of Google and Starbucks, we have moved Entrepreneurial Adventures up to the front of the book. We have continued Marketing Wars, which many of you recommended, and reinstated Comebacks of firms iii iv †¢ Preface rising from adversity. I have also brought back Ethical Mistakes, because I believe that organizations