Impact of widowhood on elderly women in nigeria

Impact of widowhood on elderly women in nigeria The paper examines the social structured context and implications of widowhood in Southeastern Nigeria. It argues that in spite of the efforts by formal and informal agencies to alleviate the burdens of widowhood, the gender informed discriminatory practice of mourning which exacts a heavy toll on women persists. In this case, widows are exposed to harsh and often cruel mourning practices which are especially tasking for elderly women who have to contend with frail physical health, loss of partners and the mental, psychological and physical stress of widowhood. Therefore, while these practices are norm oriented they expose the elderly widows to psychological and social coping challenges. However, these elderly widows are also often led into activities and social strategies perceived as capable of alleviating the burdens of widowhood. Equally interesting is the finding that widows who are actively engaged and enjoy social support cope better with the challenges of widowhood than other s. In view of the above, the paper argues for a more active role by social workers in informing care provisioning and policies for lessening the burdens of widowhood on elderly women. INTRODUCTION The plight of widows has been a recurrent theme in the efforts to address perceived or real gender imbalance in African societies even in contemporary times. In spite of this the traditional conception of mourning which places a higher burden on women has obviously defied reform efforts. Hence the focus on widows actually derives from the traditional and patriarchal nature of African societies in which women are often regarded as the silent role players. In such a situation a woman who loses her partner may confront culturally structured scenarios different from the case of a man in the same situation. Therefore, the imaginings of widowhood in African societies are socio-culturally structured and reinforced and generate significant gender imbalance. Widowhood, meaning loss of ones spouse whether early or later in life entails a lot of things, mostly problems for the bereaved. Its effects may even be worse when the bereaved is an elderly person. Her self identity also changes in the sense that it brings on an era of identity crisis. This is because the widows feel that the real essence of their being married has been lost by the death of spouses. Coping with this identity crisis depends to a large extent on the individuals capacity and will. For traditionally oriented women, the role of wife is central to their lives, structuring their lives not only in their house holds but also on the job and in answering the question who am I and these women often put wife of at the top of their lists (Atchley, 1996). Social recognition and acceptance also pose a problem to widows because often times, widowhood in African societies goes with the erosion of social recognition. Widows often face problems of declining social recognition and acceptance after the death of their spouses and this can be linked to their losing their central roles of wife. In dealing with the societal attitude, these women get involved in other activities that they think will help them get recognition from the public and this can be seen in their active involvement in politics. The elderly people in the society are often stereotyped as lazy, wicked, hard to please disgusting, sickly and sometimes even diabolical (Korieh, 2005). This can be explained by the fact that they are viewed as burdens and distractions from ones immediate family and responsibilities. This stereotype is wrong because in the society, old people who are kind, peaceful and God fearing can still be found and this shows that one being evil or nice has nothing to do with age but the persons character and dispositions in life. According to Hazelrigg (1977), age by itself is not the cause of anything and it gets meaning only from how we use it to sort people. Thus, although age is used systematically to distinguish and categorize people, age in itself explains very little or nothing at all. The loss of a spouse can be a very traumatic experience particularly for many older women who devoted most of their lives to their marriages, husbands and children. Widowhood has thus been called the exemplar of a stressful life event and perhaps requiring more adjustment than any other life transition. (Hatch, 2000; Gallagtor et al, 1983). In addition to this, isolation and exclusion from the social environment sets in all in the name of widowhood practices and rituals and the woman is not expected traditionally to look after herself or freshen-up. This is often defined crudely as not bathing or combing her hair (See Basden, 1966). He aptly captured this practice in traditional Igbo society. According to him the woman mourning: Moves from her deceased husbands house to a small but in another part of the compound. While dwelling in this hut, she wears no clothes unless perhaps a rag; she must sit on a block or wood and nowhere else. Instead of a sleeping mat, a banana leaf must suffice (Basden, 1966; 278). A prominent theoretical orientation in gerontology, the activity theory of aging argues that normal aging involves maintaining as long as possible the activities and attitudes of middle age (See, Havighurst, 1963; Brehm, 1968). The basic assertion of this theory is that individuals should be just as active and involved in a variety of different roles and responsibilities in their later years as they were in their middle years. Judging by the loneliness and feeling of aloneness these widows experience after living for decades with their spouses and losing them when their companionship is most needed- at retirement one would agree that the activity theory to a large extent captures the situation of these widow (See Atchley1996). Thus, according to Brehm (1968), except for the biological and health changes older people have essentially the same psychological and social needs as middle aged people. From our study, it was discovered that this activity theory is of very great significance as a reasonable number of elderly widows used in the study agreed that active involvement in occupation helped them deal with widowhood and its related stress. For them, it helped them overcome loneliness, provide them with resources and kept time moving. This is in live with the contention of Kunkel (1979), that working class widows adjust better during bereavement than those sick, jobless or incapacitated. Based on both the likely erosion of social recognition and insurmountable loss which widowhood occasions, widows have often had to face socio-psychological challenges. These challenges result from both the societal attitude to widows and more crucially the psychological and even physical health of widows. As the above discussion shows, the case of elderly women may be worse given the unexamined stereotype about their attitudes and behaviour (See Korieh, 2005). Therefore this study sought to ascertain the socio-psychological impact of widowhood on elderly women in a typical traditional setting in Nigeria. Such an exercise has undoubted policy and research implications since discrimination against widows form part of the much decried harmful traditional practices against women. Hence the outcome of this study may be instrumental in informing social policies for protection of women as well as pinpointing empirical and theoretical social work response to the problems of widowhood. The study was conducted in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Three quarters in the local government area viz Nkpunano, Nru and Ihe-owere were purposively chosen for the study. A total of 500 respondents were chosen through purposive sampling in the above three quarters. All the respondents were identified elderly widows above fifty years of age in these communities. The multi-stage sampling technique was used in actually selecting the above respondents while the questionnaire and interviews were used as instruments of data collection. The findings of the study reported below was based on a total number of 448 elderly women who fully responded to the study instruments. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL/EMOTIONAL STRESS AND WIDOWHOOD IN ELDERLY WOMEN IN NIGERIA. One glaring socio-psychological impact of widowhood identified in the study sample is mental/emotional stress. In the case, quite a good number of the respondents reported experiencing this type of psychological imbalance. As the table below indicates, the enormity of responsibilities widowhood lays on them triggers off mental/emotional stress in addition to physical stress. Table i: Distribution of Respondents by Nature of Health Stress. Stress Respondents Percentage Mental Stress 7 1.6 Physical Stress 280 62.5 None 161 35.9 Total 448 100 From the table above, apart from the 161 widows (35.9%) who declared they had no stress at all, 280 (62.5%) suffered from physical stress while 7 (1.6%) suffered from mental stress. This was as a result of the weight of responsibilities handed down to them after the death of their spouses. As has been indicated in the literature (See Basden, 1966), the isolation of the widow and the shabby treatment meted out to her in the name of culture in Igboland can generate and heighten emotional and mental stress. In fact as one of our respondents stated, most of the times I fall sick, it is because I think of how to care for my family and I dont seem to come up with any solution. Therefore in the Igbo area of Nigeria generally, as our study reveals, widows are confronted by social practices and observances such as disinheritance, and isolation which have adverse effects on their mental and psychological balance. Mental/emotional stress is a situation in ones mental well being or emotional state occasioned by tragedy (See Atchley, 1996). According to Atchley this stress can be manifested in the form of extreme anxiety, worries, frequent head-ache, high blood pressure, insomnia, heartache and regular hospital visits precipitated by mainly by worry. In patriarchal societies, especially where the widows are suspected of killing their husbands widows are left entirely without social support (see Korieh, 1995). This is usually worse for the women who do not have adequate educational background or who were prevented from obtaining further education. According to one of our respondents, a close relative of her deceased husband tried justifying the treatment meted out to her by asking her how come it was our brother who died? Therefore, the death of a womans spouse in Igboland is usually a great psychological and physical challenge to the widow and her children. The woman who is bereaved is usually expected to be the chief mourner, assisted by relatives and friends, the wailing, weeping and hysteria are expected to go on for days before the mans burial and even afterwards (Afigbo,1989). As has been reported in the literature such wailings and bitter lamentations are culturally expected (Basden, 1966; Meek 1937 cf Afigbo, 1989). This practice of prolonged wailing and anguish enforced by culture may often affect the psychological and mental balance of the woman (See Afigbo, 1989). In addition to this, widowhood may also occasion psychological and mental imbalance in some women especially older women whose mental faculties and emotions have been weakened by the challenges of living. Another key practice of widowhood in Africa which affects a womans psychological balance is the compulsory period of seclusion and isolation (Nwoga, 1989). In this case, the woman is isolated from the community for a specified period. According to this scholar, the isolation is combined with a regime of total neglect of the hygiene and body needs of the woman and incidentally, the practice of widowhood known as Igba-nkpe has also been noticed among Islamic communities. According to Trimmingham (1959), this period is known as iddat or idda among the Moslems and covers an average period of four months and ten days but in Igboland, the period lasts full 12 calendar months though radical Christianity has reduced it in some cases nowadays to six months. Due to their ages also, there are more reports of depression, poor health or new or heightened illnesses among these widows than there is among non-bereaved elderly widows and some of them do not live longer than one year after the deaths of their spouses (Gallagher and Thompson, 2001). This is because depression sets in at the loss of a spouse and most of them tell themselves that there is nothing to live for anymore. At some other times, married women friends see these widows as threats to their own still existing marriages and as a result terminate their relationships with these widows at the death of their spouses. ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT IN OCCUPATION AND COPING WITH WIDOWHOOD AMONG ELDERLY WOMEN Women across the globe have shown enviable courage, resourcefulness and residence in carrying on despite the trauma caused by widowhood, the isolation imposed on them by widowhood and the difficult tasks of earning a living and protecting themselves and their dependent family members. These women work outside the home as the breadwinners, make decisions, head their households and sometimes organize other women in areas of public life (ICRC, 1999). The above is no less the case with elderly widows in Southeastern Nigeria whose burden may have been doubled by the reality of aging. However, the women as our findings indicate see maintaining a sense of balance through engagement in occupation or meaningful economic activity as critical to surviving the coping challenges of widowhood in old age. Therefore, as can be noted from the table below, most of the widows were actively involved in one form of occupation or the other in order to earn a living for their families, and maintain some le vel of socio-economic functioning considered necessary to coping with widowhood: Table ii: Distribution of Respondents by Perceived influence of Active Involvement in Occupation on Coping: Active Involvement Respondents Percentage Yes 399 89.1 No 49 10.9 Total 448 100% It can be noted that 399 respondents (89.1%) stated that active involvement in occupation helped them deal with the stress of widowhood. This is in agreement with the literature which asserts that active involvement in occupation assists widows to deal with widowhood (See Kunkel, 1979). These widows when further questioned expressed different reasons for their involvement in active occupation but given that finance usually is a big problem to widows, 126 (31.6%) and 154 (38.6%) respondents respectively believe in active involvement because it provides money for the upkeep of the family and prevents too much thinking for the widows: Table iii: Distribution of Respondents by Importance of Active Involvement in Occupation. Importance of Active Involvement Respondents Percentage Prevents loneliness 56 14 Prevents thinking 154 38.6 Provides money resources 126 31.6 Keeps time moving 63 15.8 Total 399 100 Apart from involvement in occupation, these widows engaged themselves in some sort of social activities. These they did most times to get their minds off their problems especially at those periods the pains of loss of a love one and maltreatment by in-laws were very intense. The table below goes to show that a reasonable number of widows get themselves occupied socially in one thing or the other as a way of avoiding being engrossed in the throes of pain or endless contemplation of life without ones partner: Table iv: Distribution of Respondents by Social Strategies Adopted by Elderly Widows: Social Strategy Respondents % Active involvement in meetings 77 17.2 Stepped up interaction with family 42 9.4 Move involvement in religion 259 57.8 Introversion 14 3.1 Just keeping busy 56 12.5 Total 448 100 Given that most of the respondents were Christians, it was not out of place to discover that majority of them adopted or resorted to prayers as a social strategy to cope with widowhood. In the interviews as well, it was observed that a good number of them adopted church activities as a solace from the loneliness and difficulties associated with widowhood. Apparently, the widows as the interviews revealed held strongly to the popular notion that when all things fail, God never fails. One of them said in vernacular, Ekpere bu ikem. Chukwu bu onye nkwado m. This simply means in English, Prayer is my strength, God is my provider. From the foregoing therefore, the study revealed that most of the elderly widows at one point or another adopted economic strategies to help them cope the hardship associated with widowhood. Such strategies ranged from petty trading down to taking up additional jobs. On the other hand, they also adopted social strategies to assist them in their daily affairs as widows. These womens involvement in occupations and church activities as means of coping or overcoming widowhood are largely in agreement with the views of some scholars who have written on widowhood (see, Kunkel, 1979; Atchley, 1997). SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE AND THE ALLEVIATION OF PROBLEMS OF WIDOWS IN NIGERIA. As the study revealed, widowhood in Southeastern Nigeria poses a variety of problems to women ranging from low social prestige, disinheritance, and forceful remarriage amongst others. Widows in Southeastern Nigeria often encounter the most severe forms of these discriminations in spite of the increasing modernity of all spheres of the society. One dimension of this gender discrimination is that once the man dies, the widow faces the incidence of disinheritance by in-laws. In western societies, a woman is entitled to all she ever had or shared with her deceased husband but as this study found out in Southeastern Nigeria widows, though preferring to continue to work on the lands owned by their late husbands cannot do so because land inheritance is impossible for them as a result of cultural norms which forbid this (Korieh, 2005). According to Oluwa (2005), though in paper the statutory and customary laws indicate that widows should inherit or be sole beneficiaries of their dead husbands properties (especially where children exist), this does not apply in practice. Rather in some cases where the woman is desperate for these lands and property, she is forced to conform to the tradition of widow inheritance. In this case, the woman is treated as part of the properties of the dead men and is also available for inheritance. She b ecomes the legal wife of her inheritor and the children inherited and those born by the inheritor are considered to belong to the new husband (Evans Pritchard, 1951). The study also discovered that for fear of ostracism and related punishments, widows suffer in silence, especially when they are denied traditional sources of support. This usually causes economic hardships and deprivation. They lose their honour and respect as soon as they lose their husbands. Their husbands being traditionally their main sources of honour and respect, once dead gives room for them to be treated with disregard as humans especially by in-laws (ICRC, 1999). This can be explained by the popular Igbo adage which says that Di bu ugwu nwanyi, (a husband is a womans honour). It was further discovered that widowhood in Igboland is usually a great psychological and physical challenge to the elderly widow. The wailing, weeping and hysteria are expected to go on for days, before the mans burial and even after wards; as is obvious in the literature, such wailings and bitter lamentations are cultural expected (Basden, 1966, Meek, 1937 of Afigbo, 1989) and this prolonged wailing and anguish enforced by culture may often affect the psychological and mental balance of the woman. The list of problems is almost in exhaustible and these call for the intervention of social work services to help alleviate if not eradicate them entirely. From the study it was noticed that those widows who involved themselves in occupation cope better than those who did not. Social workers should therefore take cognizance of the need to sensitize the idle widows to get busy in order to overcome both the financial and emotional hazards of widowhood rather than wallowing in self pity. In this case social workers can go the extra mile of linking widows with systems or organizations where these jobs no matter how small can be found. They can also act as advocates for these widows on the issue of in-laws maltreatment. This role of advocacy should be extended to the policy makers bringing to their notice the ills suffered by the widows especially the elderly ones so that ways of enforcing already existing policies will be found and new ones established. These policies should cover areas such as Medicare for widows, living arrangements (this can be achieved by building low cost houses), changing or eradication of harmful widowhood practices etc. Perhaps beyond the above public policy responses is the critical need for a widow oriented social work practice which while cognizant of the socio-cultural and psychological burdens of widowhood in Southeast Nigeria sees the elderly widows as a special group. Basically, aging and its resultant physical infirmities and socio-psychological withdrawal makes the elderly widow particularly vulnerable to widow induced stress. Hence, social workers acting in their capacities to function as enhancers of coping capacity, linking agents and promoters of effective humane operation of social systems (see, Ekpe Mamah, 1997 on the functions of social work) can do a lot to improve the situation of elderly widows in a male dominated society like the Igbo Southeastern Nigeria. The re-examination of the main findings of this study indicates that the situation of elderly widows can be explained along the lines of the popular continuity theory in social work. According to this theory the individual in the course of growing older is predisposed towards maintaining stability in the habits, associations, preferences and lifestyle that he/she developed over the years (Peterson, 1976; McCrae and Costa, 1984). According to these Scholars, peoples habits, preferences, associations, states of health and experiences will in large part determine their ability to maintain their lifestyle while retiring from full time employment and perhaps adjust to the death of a loved one. Therefore in accordance with our findings in the study, it can be inferred that activity at old age helps the elderly overcome loss of their loved ones especially their spouses and this activity if possible should be in the areas preferred and chosen by the individual with which he/she had been accustomed to over time.

O Pioneers!

O Pioneers! Was written by Willa Cather and was first published in 1913 and it is a literary fiction. This book is about all the hardships of living in the planes or even just the hardships and challenges that people had to endure in the life of a pioneer. O Pioneers! takes place between the late 1800s and the early 1900s in Hanover Nebraska. The main character in the book is Alexandra a strong, young woman who bests the difficult lifestyles of living in the great planes. Some of the themes shown in O Pioneers!  Could be self sacrifice, building a civilization out of nothing, and Imagination of pioneers. An example of self sacrifice is Alexandra, she gives up most of her childhood to making sure her farm flourishes and learning more effective methods of farming. Pioneers must have imagination because they have to be able to look at an empty plot of land and imagine the city that could spring up from the area or what their farm could potentially yield. Also pioneers build their civilization out of nothing on the frontier. Its originally just a bunch of grass and planes but farmers work the land and produce crops, and eventually it attracts more people. Life in the great planes was extremely difficult for multiple reasons. The great planes didn't have very many trees, and without trees there was no wood to build houses, so most pioneers built their houses out of sod. The winters were long and cold and the summers were hot and dry. Farmers had to plant crops that didn't require much water because they had to carry their water from nearby streams to their crops. There were many droughts and grass fires often started because it was so dry. Also there weren't that many people out in the great planes yet so they had to develop new technology making new farm equipment that would help make their farming easier. Women also play different roles in O Pioneers than the usual roles of women. The women work, and cross different gender lines on the frontier and for some women its a refreshing taste of freedom. In O Pioneers! Alexandra owns land on her own instead of the men in her family. This is an overall interesting book to the general public, it is ostly accurate in the depiction of how life was for pioneers in the late 1800s early 1900s or maybe even for the life of a pioneer in general, except for It shows the successful side of pioneering. Most pioneers ended up in debt by picking the wrong plot of land or just using the wrong farming techniques. But it does show the drought that made the majority of people in Hanover sell their land which Alexandra later invests in. O Pioneers is a useful book for the general audience in depicting some of the hardships of life in the great planes.

Essay on Contrasting Kand and Hume on Morality - 1510 Words

Morality is central to all rational beings, whereby a moral action is one determined by reason, rather than our personal desires as suggested by Kant (1785) in contrast to Hume. (1738). Furthermore, Kant suggests that an action is moral only on account of its being reasoned, therefore the moral worth of an action is determined by its motives and not by its consequences. Exploring the works of Hume (1738) and Kant(1785) on morality and ethics, we will ask the question whether we should do what is morally right, even when you could profit by doing something wrong, and furthermore, we shall discuss morality as a type of game, yet something you cannot opt out of, as something Foot describes as inescapable. (Foot 1972: 311). Morality and†¦show more content†¦For Hume, reason alone can determine how something is useful to us. He distinguishes between artificial and natural virtues; with artificial virtues depending on social structures, such as chastity, and natural virtues which are created in nature and are more universal for example friendship. A major argument for Hume is that reasons do not govern our actions, in fact reason is a slave to the passions.(Hume in Signer 1994). Hume says that in fact our actions are cause by a combination of value and emotion. In fact, reason influences our actions in only two ways: by guiding passions to focus on objects and by uncovering connections between events that will in fact create passions. The judgments a person makes about relations of ideas or about ideas themselves may be reasonable or unreasonable, but the judgments do not result in anything other than opinions. For the moral method to work, the judgments must stir up passions, which then lead us to act. If we are to consider both Kant and Humian ethics, the differences are many from their very definitions. Kantian ethics rely on rationality, whilst for Humian ethics assert that reason alone is not enough to ensure action, instead its our passions. So the qu estion is, why should we act morally good if we could profit from behaving morally bad? Kantian ethics would say that we have a duty to act morally good, but where

Marketing Mix - 1070 Words

The marketing mix is primarily made up of four variables, and they are product, place, price, and promotion. These variables are often referred to as the four P s. Many sources often describe the marketing mix as a recipe used in developing a viable marketing strategy, with each ingredient being used different ways and at different times based on the product or service one is trying to market. This paper will utilize three sources to describe the elements of the marketing mix. It will also describe how each one of the four elements of the marketing mix impacts the development of an organization s marketing strategy and tactics. Three Sources Describing the Marketing Mix The article Developing Your Marketing Mix defines the†¦show more content†¦The last element to be discussed is promotion. The primary purpose of the promotion element is to affect the customer behavior in order to close the sale. 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Feminism What Would You Do If You Weren t Afraid

Feminism to many people can mean many different things. Feminism is the belief in equality of the sexes in social, political, and economic aspects. The article â€Å"Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid† by Sheryl Sandberg as well as the article â€Å"Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In† by Bell Hooks go hand in hand on the topic of feminism. Each author shows their own views on feminism some of the views being similar in comparison and some being total opposites. Bell Hooks article points out both the downfalls and the good aspects that Sheryl Sandberg said on this topic. In the article â€Å"Lean In† Sandberg says how women almost always hold themselves back within their careers without really meaning to. She brings up issues that come†¦show more content†¦White feminism is exactly what it sounds like and it only holds for those people. Hooks believes that even that notion of white feminism is hard to swallow. She says â€Å"and she makes it seem that privileged white men will eagerly choose to extend the benefits of corporate capitalism to white women who have the courage to â€Å"Lean In†Ã¢â‚¬  (Hooks 662). Sandberg’s definition of feminism is only true for those of her race and class, but for feminism to be effective it must be for every race and class. This statement speaks put to me because as I read her piece I noticed that some of the things that she stated seemed to only pertain to a certain class and race. But like I said before her perception of feminism does not dig deep enough. Hooks believes th at by it not reaching the women in poverty that it is neglecting the true meaning of feminism. Feminism should not only address sex but also race and class to be accurate. Sandberg has received many acknowledgments and commandments on her book. She has been given the title of the new voice of the revolutionary, as well as being ranked one of a few powerful women in the world. It’s clear to see that many people stand by her and her view on feminism. Even will all this praise Bell Hooks points out that Sandberg has admitted to her readers that she has not been a strong supporter of the feminist movement. Sandberg explains why she has not always been a strong supporter. She says â€Å"I Headed to collegeShow MoreRelatedFeminism : What Would You Do If You Weren t Afraid? Essay844 Words   |  4 PagesFeminism has been a huge part of women’s lives. People argue what is equal and what is right for the women population. In the articles â€Å"Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?† by Sheryl Sandberg and â€Å"Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In† by Bell Hooks, both authors address issues that women face such as educational opportunity, economic standings, and societal pressures, from different perspectives. Sandberg stated that a pressing issue for women has been the value of education. Sandberg describesRead MorePersepolis : The Story Of A Childhood1654 Words   |  7 Pageslifestyle, she is able to reconstruct gender norms that society has set by depicting the different ways women resist them. â€Å"Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others† by Lila Abu-Lughod is an essay detailing the misconceptions surrounding the veil. Through this essay we can see how colonial feminism, the form of feminism in which western women push for a western way of living on their third world counterparts, has shined a negative light on

Lipids Fatty Acid and Amp Free Essays

string(219) " quantity of oilseeds was needed in order to obtain accuracy and precision results by using standard Soxhlet extraction method, which may be a handicap in analysis of small, rare and precious samples in plant breeding\." The measurement of parameters such as oil and fat content help define product quality for many agricultural and food products. These values are widely used to determine energy content and to calculate the proportions of other food components. In addition oil and fat content significantly affect the texture, perceived quality and the flavour of products. We will write a custom essay sample on Lipids: Fatty Acid and Amp or any similar topic only for you Order Now (Whitney, Rolfes, Crowe, Cameron- Smith, Walsh, 2011). An accurate and precise quantitative and qualitative analysis of lipids in food is important for accurate nutritional labelling, determination of wether food meets standard identity, and to ensure that the product meets manufacturing specifications (Nielsen, 2010). AOAC International (2007) state â€Å"the sample preparation for the lipid analysis depends on the type of food and the nature of the lipids in the food. â€Å" Several preparatory steps are common in lipid analysis. They act to aid extraction by removal of water, reduction of particle size, or separation of the lipid from bound proteins or carbohydrates (Min Ellefson, 2010). To analyse lipids it is necessary to first isolate them quantitatively from nonlipid components. Extraction of lipids from source materials, such as food, animal and plant tissues or microorganisms essay writer uk, should be carried out in a manner that avoids changes in the lipids or leads to formations of artefacts (Christie, 1993). It might be necessary to deactivate enzymes that might hydrolyse lipids via heat treatment. (Vain, Nairn, Reid, 1991). Precaution must be taken to minimise oxidation of lipids, especially those with polyunsaturated fatty acids. Use of antioxidants might prove beneficial when dealing with extractions of lipids with highly unsaturated fatty acids (Carapace Garcia, 2000). Carapace et al, (2000) state the accuracy of direct solvent extraction methods greatly depends on the solubility of the lipids in the solvent used and the ability to separate the lipids from complexes with other macromolecules. The lipid content in food determined by extraction with one solvent may be quite different from the content determined with another solvent of different polarity. Fisheries and Aquaculture department (1986) concluded that solvent extraction techniques are commonly used for the determination of fat content. However they tend to be slow, cumbersome, and require highly skilled personnel. In addition, many of the often-hazardous chemicals used are becoming increasingly unacceptable according to international environmental standards. Despite these issues, solvent extraction continues to be used as a reference measurement for quality control. Nielsen (1994) acknowledged the validity of the fat analysis of a food depends on sampling and the preservation of the sample before analysis. An ideal sample should be as close as possible to its intrinsic properties to the material from which it was taken. Pomeranz and Meloan (1994) states â€Å" a sample is considered satisfactory if the properties under investigation correspond to those of the bulk material within the limits of the test. â€Å" Min and Ellefson (2010) note organic solvent methods, which include Goldfish a continuous method, Soxhlet as a semicontinuous method and Folch as a discontinuous method are commonly used to determine the total lipid content of food. They also note the major uses of these methods include extracting the fat prior to GC analysis, quality control of formulated products, determination of fat content in product development, verifying when fat content is 0. 5g per serving, so nutrient content claim can be made and defat samples prior to fibre analysis. The Association of Analytical Chemists (AOAC) as the standard method for crude fat analysis recognizes Soxhlet. The underlying process is that of fat extracted through repeated washing, with an organic solvent under reflux in special glassware. Extraction efficiencies for different compound classes are highly dependent on the properties of the applied solvents (Johnson Barnett, 2003). In the Soxhlet extraction, usually dry material is subjected to semi-continuous extraction with hexane or petroleum ether (James, 1995). Under these conditions, the method basically determines the content of triacylglycerols and has been reported to incompletely extract phospholipids in the samples (Luque de Castro and Garcia-Ayuso, 1998). When a compound of low solubility such as a lipid needs to be extracted from a solid mixture, Soxhlet extraction can be carried out. This method of extraction is only required where the desired compound has a limited solubility in a solvent and the impurity is insoluble in that solvent. It allows the build up of the solvent in the extraction chamber for between 5 and 20 minutes. It is used for oilseed, nutmeg and other food samples where the moisture content does not exceed 10%. The solvent surrounds the sample and is then siphoned back into the boiling flask. The procedure provides soaking effect and does not permit channelling (AOAC, 1995). AOAC (1995) further qualify this method may be used for quantification of lipids in both low fat and high fat source material. It mainly removes non-polar lipids from samples, as polar lipids are generally scarcely soluble in non-polar solvents. In high moisture foods, predrying of the sample may be necessary. High temperatures may adversely affect the oxidative state of lipids, predrying may be achieved using low temperature drying of the sample under vacuum 100mm Hg at 40C to 50C overnight, or 95C to 100C for 5hour. AOAC (1995) report the most outstanding advantages of the conventional Soxhlet method as the sample repeatedly being brought into contact with the fresh portions of the solvent. Thereby it is helping to displace the transfer equilibrium. It further stimulates the temperature of the system remains relatively high since the heat applied to the distillation flask reaches the extraction cavity. This results in no filtration being required after the leaching step. (Russell, Matthews, Gray, 1980) show further advantages. Sample throughput can be increased by simultaneous extraction in parallel, since the basic equipment is inexpensive. Furthermore there is little specialized training and is non-matrix dependent. Soxhlet extraction provides good lipid recovery but is tedious and impractical to use on a routine basis in industry (Schafer, 1998). Wei et al. (2008) concluded from their research accurate quantitative determination of oil content in oilseed rape plays an important role in varieties breeding for improving oil content in seeds. They noted, large quantity of oilseeds was needed in order to obtain accuracy and precision results by using standard Soxhlet extraction method, which may be a handicap in analysis of small, rare and precious samples in plant breeding. You read "Lipids: Fatty Acid and Amp" in category "Papers" James (1995) outlines disadvantages in using this procedure as length of time required for extraction, and the fact that polar and bound lipids are not removed. The most significant drawbacks of using Soxhlet extraction are the large amount of solvent wasted, which is not only expensive to dispose off, but can itself cause additional environmental problems. Samples are exposed to thermal decomposition of the target compounds, which also cannot be ignored when thermo labile analytes are involved. Luque de Castro and Garcia-Ayuso, (1998) further describe disadvantages in this method when looking at the many phases in the extraction process. These are prone to operator error, resulting in inter-laboratory variations. Soxhlet technique is also restricted to solvent selectivity and is not easily automated Modification of the conventional Soxhlet extractor has been developed to shorten the extraction time by using auxiliary energy and automation, for example, ultrasound-assisted Soxhlet extraction and microwave-assisted Soxhlet extraction (Virot, Tomao, Colnagui, Visinoni, Chemat, 2007). Azeredo, Colnago, Engelsberg, (2000) report on the contrast in standard wet chemistry methods and various secondary techniques such as Gas Chromatography with low field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). They conclude NMR provides a fast, direct and user-friendly method for determination of the fat and oil content in food. They also note the technique is based on measurement of the NMR response obtained from fat in a product, and the quantification of the fat content by simple and direct calibration without the use of chemometrics. NMR can be calibrated to cover a concentration range from 0. 5 to 100 percent fat. They report that a single sample of fat can be used as a primary calibration. Azeredo, et al. 2000) further note sample measurement as short, typically about 20 seconds, allowing a high throughput of samples and an efficient laboratory operation. The research indicates minimal sample preparation is required because the entire sample is normally loaded into a test tube and measured directly. Colnago et al. (2011) show that no solvents are required and the analysis of the sample is done in its natural state. Research indicates some samples must be heated to melt the fat so it becomes visible to the NMR. This method has been accredited since 2009. Furthermore Colnago et al. (2011) report NMR as non-destructive, so repeatability of measure is easily made. NMR is temperature sensitive, and with a stabilized magnet temperature of 40C, repeatability and precision are optimized by preconditioning the sample at the temperature. Guillou, Trierweiler, Martin (2005) in a collaborative study involving 16 spectrometers discuss precision and accuracy. They indicate repeatability and reproducibility of quantitative deuterium NMR at the natural abundance. This has been determined according to the ISO norms. Precise quantitative and qualitative analysis of lipids in food is important for accurate nutritional labelling and to ensure that the product meets manufacturing specifications (Nielsen, 2010). Xiao, Mjos, Haugsgjerd. (2012). concluded from their research, soxhlet extraction with polar solvents has a low extraction of polar lipids and the recovery of fatty acids in the extracts was below 50%. This method of analysis is crude and subject to operator error and not likely to have precise repeatable results in analysis of lipids. Jansma et al. (2005) in their study compared solvent extraction, with NMR. Each sample using solvent extraction takes approximately six hours from set-up to completion whereas NMR is processed in less than one minute per sample after set up. A further advantage to NMR is the significantly reduced cost of purchase and disposal of solvents, reduced running cost and environmental benefits associated with reduced solvent usage. References: AOAC International. (1995). Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Official Methods of Analysis (16th ed. );(pp1-10). Gaithersburg, MD:AOAC International AOAC International. (2007). Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Official methods of Analysis of AOAC International (18thed. ). (2005); current through revision 2, (2007)Gaithersburg, MD:AOAC International Azeredo, R. BV. , Colnago, L. A. , Engelsberg. M. (2000). Quantitative analysis using steady-state free precession nuclear magnetic resonance. Organic Analytical Chemistry ,72(11). doi:10. 1021/ac991258e Colnago, L. A. , Azeredo, R. B. V. , Marchi Netto, A. , Andrade, F. D. , Venancio, T. (2011). Rapid analyses of oil and fat content in agri-food products using continuous wave free precision time domain NMR . oi:10. 1002/mrc. 2841 Carrapiso, A. I. , Garcia, C. (2000). Some new extraction techniques and insitu transesterification. Lipids, Development in Lipid Analysis: 35(11),1167-1177. doi: 10. 1007/s11745-000-0633-8 Christie, W. W. (1993). Preparation for lipid extracts from tissues. Advances in lipid methodology-Two. Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society,71(11), 1179-1187. doi:10. 1007/BF02540534 Fisheries and Aquaculture department. (1896). The Production of fish meal and oil. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. (T142) Retrieved from http:www. fao. org/DOCREP/003/x6899E/X6899E00. HTM Golay, P. A. , Giuffrida, F. , Dionisi, F. , Destaillats, F. (2009). Streamlined methods for the resolution and quantification of fatty acids Including trans fatty acid isomers in food products by gas chromotography. Journal of AOAC International. 92(5) Retrieved from http://www. unboundmedicine. com/medline/ebm/record/19916367/ab Guillou, C. , Trierweiler, M. , Martin, G. J. (2005). Repeatability and reproducibility of site-specific isotope ratios in quantitative 2H NMR. Magnetic response in Chemistry. doi:10. 1002/mrc. 1260260611 Johnson,R. B. , Barnett, H. J. (2003). Determination of fat content in fish feed by supercritical fluid extraction and subsequent lipid classification of extract by thin layer chromatography-flame ionization detection. Aquaculture. 216, 263-282. ISSN:0044-8486 James, C. S. (1995). Analytical Chemistry of Food (pp91-105). London, UK : Blackie Academic and professional. Jansma,A. , Chuan, T. , Geierstanger, B. H. , Albrecht, R. W. , Olson, D. L. , Peck, T. L. (2005). Automated Microflow NMR: Routine Analysis of Five- Microliter Samples. Analytical Chemistry of Food. 77(19), 6509-6515. doi:10. 02/ac050936w Luque de Castro, M. D. , Garcia-Ayuso, L. E. (1998). Soxhlet extraction of solid materials: an outdated technique with a promising innovative future. Analytica Chimica Acta 369, 1-10. Min,D. B. Ellefson, W. C. (2010). Fat Analysis,Food Analysis . doi:10. 1007/978-1-4419-1478-1_8 Nielsen,S. (Eds. ). (1994). Introduction to the chemical analysis of foods. (pp183-191). Boston, Jones and Bartlett. Nielsen, S. S. ( 2010). Compositional Analysis of food. Food Analysis, (4th ed. ). New York, USA. doi: 10. 1007/978-1-4419-1478-1 Pomeranz,Y. , Meloan, C. F. (1994). Food Analysis: Theory and practice (3rd ed. ). NewYork,Van Nostrand Reinhold. Russell, C. E. , Matthews. M. E. , Gray, I,K. (1980). New Zealand Journal of Dairy Science Technology. 15, 234-244. Schafer, K. (1998). Accelerated solvent extraction of lipids for determining the fatty acid composition of biological material. Analytica Chimica Acta, 358, 69-77. Vian,B. , Nairn,J. , Reid, J. S. G. (1991). Enzyme-gold cytochemistry of seed xyloglucans using two xyloglucan-specific hydrolases. Importance of prior heat-deactivation of the enzyme. The Histochemical Journal, 23(3), 116-1234. oi:10. 1007/BF01047456 Virot,M. , Tomao, V. , Colnaqui. , G. , Visinoni, F. (2007). New Microwave -intergrated Soxhlet extraction an advantageous tool for the extraction of lipid from food products,; Journal of ChromotographyA,1174(1-2), 138-144. doi:org/10. 1016/j. chroma. 2007. 09. 067 Whitney, E. , Rolfes, S. R. , Crowe, T. , Cameron- Smith, D. , Walsh, A. (Ed). (2011). Understanding Nutrition: Aus tralia and New Zealand Edition. South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia Wei, F. , Gao,G. Z. , Wang, X. F. , Dong, X. Y. , Li, P. P. , Hua, W. , Wang, X. , Wu, X. M. , Chen, H. (2008). Quantitative determination of oil content in small quantity of oilseed rape by ultrasound assisted extraction combined with gas chromatography. Ultrasonic Sonochemistry,15(6) 938-42. doi. org/10. 1016/j. ultsonch. 2008. 04. 003 Xiao,L. , Mjos, S. A. , Haugsgjerd, B. O. (2012). Efficencies of three common lipid extraction methods evaluated by mass balances of the fatty acids. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 25(2), 198-207. doi:10. 1016/j. jfca. 2011. 08. 003 How to cite Lipids: Fatty Acid and Amp, Papers

Sane Or Insane A Distorted Definition English Literature Essay free essay sample

Many people have a deformed definition of what the true significance of saneness truly is. Harmonizing to the Memidex dictionary mentions, saneness refers to the soundness, reason, and good health of the human head . Meaning, that a individual is sane if he is rational or, better yet, a individual is sane if he is a rational mind. In the drama, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, written by William Shakespeare, the supporter of the narrative, Hamlet, is given an overpowering sum of duty of revenging his male parent s most disgusting, unusual, and unnatural [ decease ] ( I.v.34 ) . Hamlet, being a prince with many qualities, has the ability to believe rationally and understand the deepness of his effects and is hence non insane. At the beginning of the drama, King Hamlet has late died and Hamlet s female parent, Queen Gertrude, has married Hamlet s uncle, the new male monarch, Claudius. Already at the start of the drama, Hamlet demonstrates a deep disgust for his female parent s relationship with his uncle and an acute sum of hatred towards his uncle. When the shade of King Hamlet appears with a vindictive psyche, he commands Hamlet to halt his female parent from holding an incestuous relationship with Claudius and to kill the current male monarch every bit good. Hamlet did non see the shade foremost which merely proves that he was nt hallucinating. Horatio and Marcellus were one of the first characters to see the shade and they were the 1s who told Hamlet about it. Hamlet makes Horatio and Marcellus swear that neither of them have seen the shade and swears them to secrecy about his new behaviour that will be in an un-orderly manner sing the people around him: Hamlet: Never do known what you have seen tonight. Horatio/Marcellus: My Godhead, we will non Hamlet: Never speak of this that you have seen, Swear by my blade. Hamlet: As I perchance hereinafter shall set an fantastic temperament on Hamlet knows who to swear and what to state to those he does nt. He s able to maintain his friends near and his enemies even closer. Now, he is on a mission to calculate out if what the shade said is genuinely factual, and if so, what to make next. Hamlet is evidently non some kind of imbecile who is nt cognizant of his milieus. He knows that he will be targeted by King Claudius for leery behaviour and must therefore ever maintain his guard up. Thankss to Hamlet s outstanding dying and misanthropic personality, drawing off his insanity character is nt so much of a job. Upon his return to Denmark, Hamlet sees participants fixing for a drama. Hamlet insists on seting a scene of the late male monarchs slaying as a manner to find how the current male monarch, Claudius would respond. Let s face it, non many of us would believe of seting on a review of a secret slaying that has one time occurred in forepart of the liquidator himself. Once Claudius has risen in the center of the drama out of choler and bitterness, Hamlet s intuitions are eventually put to rest. King Claudius has so killed Hamlet s male parent. As Claudius caputs towards a room to pray, Hamlet follows. Hamlet stands behind the kneeling Claudius, blade in manus, ready for the putting to death. However, he starts to hold 2nd ideas. Hamlet says, Now might I make it [ ? ] now he is a-praying, and now I ll make t. [ He draws his blade. ] And so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged [ ? ] That would be scanned ( III.iii.77-80 ) . Hamlet believes that if he kills Claudius mid-prayer, Claudiu s s psyche will so travel to heaven and all his wickednesss forgiven. This was a common impression in Shakespearean clip. Small does he cognize that Claudius is nt atoning but is proud of all that he has achieved ; his Crown, his ain aspiration, and his queen ( III.iii.59 ) . But still, Hamlet needed to wait and catch Claudius in an act of wickedness to kill him so that Claudius would endure merely every bit severely as his male parent had. In Act V, Hamlet and Laertes duel. Before the affaire dhonneur, Laertes screens his blade with toxicant and Claudius toxicants the vino, which he offers Hamlet, with a toxicant pearl. During the affaire dhonneur, Hamlet gets scathed with the toxicant blade. Somehow, the blades get switched and Hamlet wounds Laertes with the toxicant blade that Laertes himself wanted to utilize to kill Hamlet with. Laertes yells out, I am rightly killed with mine ain perfidy ( V.ii.337 ) and explains to Hamlet that it was all portion of Claudius s program to acquire rid of Hamlet, The King, the King s to fault ( V.ii.351 ) . Finally, Hamlet decides to take action and kills the male monarch! As Hamlet forces Claudius to imbibe the toxicant vino, that killed his female parent, he says ; Here, thou incestuous, murdrous, blasted Dane, imbibe off this toxicant ( V.ii.356-357 ) . Hamlet was eventually able to carry through his end and made everyone see the truth. And so, the narrative of Hamlet comes to an terminal, with everyone dead, and a good old friend to recite the narrative of a calamity that had befallen the land of Denmark. Some would inquire if Hamlet would ve made it out survived if the determinations that were made were different. I believe that in the terminal, decease is inevitable and that retaliation ever has a manner of seize with teething people in the butt. Claudius would hold found some manner to kill Hamlet and the same frailty versa. Both Hamlet and Claudius are minds. They both calculate what will go on before either of them take action. Hamlet stayed true to his mission with a processing head to counterbalance for his losing his ain life. A