Ornament and Crime by Adolf Loos | Analysis

Ornament and Crime by Adolf Loos | Analysis The art of argumentation is not an easy skill to acquireà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ It is easy to name call, easy to ignore the point of view or research of others, and extremely easy to accept ones own opinion as gospel.1 The 1908 essay Ornament and Crime by Adolf Loos is a collection of contradictory, hysterical, ill-conceived rants that were fomented by a sullen elitist. Loos implores the reader to cast off the wicked ways of the old and take up the fight for a new modern and more civilized era-an era that pictures the human race at its zenith with no ornamentation whatsoever. Although he was there to ride the wave of the Modernist Movement his essay decrying the ornament of the past can best be described as a reflection of a troubled man. Instead of putting forth new ideas he directs the reader to look with derision on other ones. Ornament and Crime has no continuity and is, in large part, simply opinions with little, no or bizarre base in facts. Loose writes of a civilization where, Men had gone far enough for ornament no longer to arouse feelings of pleasure in them, of a place where if there were no ornament at allà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦man would only have to work four hours instead of eight, and of a place where people say, Thank God,' when theres a fire, now there will be work for people to do again.' Loos could not have been more wrong about the future of art, architecture and human civilization. Ornamentation is not needless expression and is indeed an integral part of modern civilization that cannot be eliminated. Ornament and Crime begins with Loos describing an overly simplistic and narrow view of humans early development that shows his relativistic and class-based thinking. The human embryo goes through the whole history of animal evolution in its mothers womb, and a newborn child has the sensory impressions of a puppy. His childhood takes him through the stages of human progress; at the age of two he is a Papuan savage, at four he has caught up with the Teutonic tribesman. At six he is level with Socrates, and at eight with Voltaire. For at this age he learns to distinguish violet, the colour that the eighteenth century first discovered before that violets were blue and tyrian was red. Physicists can already point to colours they have named, but that only later generations will be able to distinguish. Loose breaks no ground with his observation that the senses of newborns are feeble; this is the very definition of what it means to be newborn. But the comparison between humans and dogs is ludicrous; might one not also consider the inherit potential that lies inside a newborn dog on one hand, and a newborn human on the other? At age two human is like a Papuan, a dark-skinned person from what is now Papua New Guinea, an evolutionary link just above a dog. Just able to walk on two legs and form rudimentary words but apparently unable to achieve full human status. Although racism was and still is all too common, science had fully blossomed by 1908 and such concepts as the theory of evolution had already been around for over 50 years. When attempting to write a forward-thinking essay it is tragic that Loos found it necessary and thought it acceptable to use such backward examples as part of a logical argument. Papuans had developed agricultural based societies some 6,000 to 9,000 years ago. Given better resources with which to work with Papuans may have well have been the ones to put Europeans in zoos.2 At age four, Loos writes, people are like the barbarians from the north that ancient Rome fought nearly two millennia ago-heathen savages. Then, quite unexpectedly there is a great leap in learning; a six-year-old is able to philosophize on the level of Socrates. Loos then takes one of many fantastic swerves from logic and declares that at the age of Voltaire a child is finally able to distinguish subtleties in the color wheel. It is unclear why Loos would choose Voltaire, a philosopher and writer, to use as an example of the developmental level when a person can distinguish a specific color, or its relevance. It is amazing to think that Loos knew children of eight years of age that had the wit of someone as legendary as Voltaire, not to mention the six-year-old Socrates. Perhaps most amazing though, is Loos complete and total lack of evidence that any of what he writes in his opening paragraph can be substantiated. His introductory observations continue and Mr. Loos writes of amoral children, murder, cannibalism, tattoos and morality. When a tattooed man dies at liberty, it is only that he died a few years before he committed a murder. This is his tie to the argument that ornament is a criminal act? This is why no school should have a statue at its front entry; no lapel should be adorned with a pin? Will these wanton decorations lead to mass murder? According to a 2004 survey by the American Academy of Dermatology, 24% of the respondents had a tattoo.3 By Loos standard we are all in deep trouble. Is it possible that he overstates himself? Mariners commonly had tattoos during his time and while they might have been a rough bunch as a whole, to state that their death is the only thing preventing them from committing murder is truly odd to any steady thinker. There is also no escaping the fact that the civilization that Loos felt was nearly at the point of building Zion, the holy city, the capital of heaven, was already in the midst of a period of slaughter and genocide such as the world had never seen. Not by savages and tattooed marauders but by politicians and titans of industry.4 After Loos interprets the amoral human embryo and the tattooed man, he launches into the origins of art and ornament. All art is erotic. Loos states. The first artistic act was performed to rid oneself of surplus energy. He compares the horizontal dash with a reclining woman and the vertical dash with a man penetrating her, concluding that the first ornament to be born was the cross, which was erotic in origin. Though ancient cross symbols have been seen as phallic symbols the fact that he sees only eroticism in the simple lines is bizarre in a truly Freudian way. Loos also neglects to elaborate on the other, probably older symbol, the circle. This reflects on his view of the profane, which is his main point, apparently, in the first section of the essay. He seems incapable of thinking that images of reproduction were not eroticism but merely represented life. His next argument for ornament as a crime is by using bathroom graffiti and the drawings of young children as examples of art. As to the former, One can measure the culture of a country by the degree to which its lavatory walls are daubed. To the latter, [a childs] first artistic expression is to scrawl on the walls erotic symbols. Loos is quite obviously deeply haunted by perverse thoughts and was himself in need of an outlet for his own surplus energy. To claim that young children are scribbling erotica on the walls is troubling. In a modern setting if a child were to actually do this, an investigation into criminal acts of pedophilia would take place. Again, with nothing to back up his claim, no correlative story, one has to wonder how he came to these conclusions. In order to bring any cohesion to Ornament and Crime and Loos thesis, The evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament from utilitarian objects, it is necessary to take a look at the experiences Loos had and the context in which he lived. Loos traveled to America in 1893. During that year he attended the Worlds Fair in Chicago and was impressed by much of the current architecture, particularly of American architect Louis Sullivan. Sullivan is famous for his saying, form ever follows function, which would later be shortened to form follows function.5 Sullivan and fellow-minded American architect Frank Lloyd Wright had the idea that buildings themselves could become ornament. They should fit into their surroundings and become part of the landscape. They were not however, opponents of ornament. Towards the end of his career in fact, Sullivan designed a number of buildings that were highlighted by ornament and are called his Jewel Boxes.6 Frank Lloyd Wright, in additio n to being an architect, was an art collector and dealer. He also designed the furniture for many of his buildings. Though the American architects had new visions for ornament it certainly was not left out of their design work. Loos remained in America for three years and while there, he was forced to labor at menial jobs such as floor layer, brick layer and even dish washer until late in 1894 when he found a position as an architectural draftsman in New York. He returned to Vienna a changed man. Back in Vienna, Loos was confronted with a floundering empire that dwelled on old architectural styles that promoted flourishes and grand faà §ades. He responded by designing the Cafà © Museum in 1899. It was well designed yet very simple. It had arched windows looking into an arched room. The light fixtures left the light bulbs exposed and he did a novel thing by making the electrical connections to the chandeliers out of brass strips banding the ceiling. Cafà © Museum was stark for the time but by no means free of ornament-the ornament had just become more streamlined. The response to this functional design was not complimentary, Loos created this simple Viennese coffee house during the peak of the Art Nouveau period. The cafà © was nicknamed Cafà © Nihilism7 and Loos was incensed that the privileged classes of Austria werent as forward thinking as the people in America and Britain. He called his critics, hob goblins and blamed them for smothering a society he saw only evolving without ornament, Humanity is still to groan under the slavery of ornament. Loos blames the stagnant attitudes, the ornament disease on the state, which was the centuries old Austro-Hungarian Empire. Ornament does not heighten my joy in life or the joy in life of any cultivated person. So on one hand Loos decries the fact that a carpenters bench wouldnt be preserved for the ages as worthy of notice and on the other he preaches that the love of something unadorned is something only the cultivated can understand. He blames the slow speed of cultural-revolution on stragglers and gives as examples his neighbors that are stuck in the years 1900 or 1880, the peasants of Kals (a secluded mountain town in Austria) are living in the twelfth century, and the man of the fifteenth century [who] wont understand me. These very people who are stuck in the past and are keeping society from moving forward also seem to be the focus of a contradiction Loos is unable to explain away, try as he might. And somehow, through this narcissistic attitude of preaching to the aristocrat, Loos seems to have stumbled upon a rational argument and an undeveloped reasoning behind his thesis. Ornament is a crime against the national economy that it should result in the waste of human labour, money and material. Loos recognizes, however briefly, that people naturally tire of objects before their use is done, and if gone unchecked, the need to consume could become problematic. As an example of this wastefulness, Loos points to a mans suite or a ladys ball gown but he then irrationally compares them to a desk. But woe if a desk has to be changed as quickly as a ball gown because the old form has become intolerable. Loos inability to give the credit of common sense to his audience is only exasperated by his next argument. If all objects would last aesthetically as long as they do physically, the consumer could pay a price for them that would enable the worker to earn more money and work shorter hours. Loos does however scrape the surface and begin to relate how craftspeople are paid poorly and how changing tastes are causing some items that are completely unadorned to be priced the same as items with a high degree of ornament. He points out that productivity can increase with an end to frills and filagree. What economic paradigm was he using that would allow greater compensation for more productivity in less time? I will grant that I have one hundred years of economic history to look on that Loos wasnt privy to, but thinking that workers would benefit from working less defies logic. In addition, didnt Loos argue that the birth of ornament sprang from mankinds surplus energy? His point then becomes ridiculous-remove ornamentation from all utilitarian objects in order to save time and money thus providing mankind with the surplus energy necessary to ornament. This is where Loos argument completely falls apart. It is ironic and a pity that what seems to keep Loos from realizing that he is against consumerism and greed and not necessarily ornamentation seems to be his own fear to take a stand for what he believes in instead of what he is against. But he then compares a Chinese carver working for sixteen hours to an American worker, a product of the Industrial Revolution, working just eight hours. Of course the workers will make more money due to increased productivity. Yet, with this seemingly benevolent view of the working class he reminds us of his true thoughts, Loos touches on this when he recognizes that, people on a lower footing [are] easier to rule. Is it that the mason is too closely aligned with the working class and so is worthy of derision? So even with a plausible argument, that wasteful design is criminal, Adolf Loos goes off track and gets wrapped up in outlandish statements like, set fire to the empire and everyone will be swimming in money and prosperity and ornamented objects are tolerable only when they are of the most miserable quality. In his misdirected logic, Loos takes on some of the biggest names of the day, artist Otto Eckman and architect and designer Henry van de Velde, but he only weaves himself into further contradictions and confusion regarding ornament and crime. Loos claims that their works are not only a waste but that they fall out of fashion so quickly that furniture, clothing, entire households must be thrown out to make way for the new designs but he then goes on to say that the time is incapable of producing new ornament. You cant have it both ways, incapable of producing and producing too much. His entire argument that mankind was beyond ornament disregards the vibrant atmosphere around him; Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, Deutscher Werkbund, The Secession even the advent of Modernism. Although some of the buildings he designed had some redeeming points to them his obsession with a purity of design resulted in his writings getting more attention than the buildings he designed. White and boxy with no aesthetic would be one way to describe the later Loos style. His low point probably came when he designed the Rufer House in 1922. Loos tried very hard to make a point but when his buildings are taken as point of reference I find it difficult to believe he made one. In the end is Queen Capitalism to be our sovereign? Is the capitalist a more advanced human than the artisan? How dare an architect refuse to acknowledge the suffering of his companions, his peers. That one can draw an interesting collection of boxes and with the other can carve beautiful scrollwork into marble, are they both not working to create a more visually distinctive and enjoyable world? Indeed, Loos himself admits that ornaments produce joy-only not for him. When he concedes that he is not above wearing ornament for the sake of others he is truly exposed as a fraud. As far as making a point in debate however, it is quite skillful of Loos to infer that any who oppose his view are simply lower forms of life, possibly even sub-human. If in discussion, someone dared disagree, Mr. Loos could simply fall back on the intellectually fraudulent, You obviously dont understand or Maybe the concept is beyond you. These tactics are well known to debaters but they are hollow in that they accept a theorem without a firm foundation of facts, and Ornament and Crime is fraught with ideological foundation issues. Had he said, How can so much wealth and effort go into a theatre when people are starving? That is an argument for ornament being a crime. Woman giving birth to children on the street and not being cared for at the expense of some filigree, that could be argued to be criminal. The people with plenty spend their time shirking their duty to their fellow human beings; that could be considered criminal. It sounds like this son of a stonemason was trying too hard to impress his friends. In the end he has been remembered, not so much for his building designs but for this argument. Bringing aesthetic value to something is a gift, not a crime. To make an object that is already useful, graceful and a delight to the senses enhances the value of that object. The true crime is to deny or suppress the human desire to create, beautify, fashion into something that can only be seen in the mind. Of the question Is Ornament a Crime? I will retort by asking my own questions. Is a flower ostentatious? Is the plant much more pleasing before it has bloomed? I would boldly state that flowering plants are indeed not cultivated for their leaves and stalks. Is a bird, bright with plumage, blight on the horizon? Does water flow in such an objectionable way as to create eddies and whirlpools to offend the senses? I must answer no to these questions and simply say that ornamentation is the flower of humankind, a necessary expression for all civilizations that cannot and will not be eliminated while there is still a creative spark in us. -A note about the lack of accompanied imagery- There are a multitude of images that could be displayed as examples of ornament that could be viewed as good or bad. Humanity has created a myriad of expressions since self-realization happened. The expression itself is not the point, it could be any expression at any point in the history of mankind. The fact that humans should not be inhibited to create is what is at issue whether it be in architecture, dance, art, song; therefore I felt it would be superfluous to include snippets of creativity that could never encompass what all peoples have created in the last. 20,000 years.

Bacteria on Stainless Steel Surfaces | Experiment

Bacteria on Stainless Steel Surfaces | Experiment The attachment of bacteria on food processing surfaces and in the environment can cause potential cross-contamination, which can lead to food spoilage, possible food safety concerns, and surface destruction. Food contact surfaces used for food handling, storage or processing are areas where microbial contamination commonly occurs. Even with proper cleaning and sanitation regimes or practices in place, bacteria can remain attached to the surfaces and this attachment can lead to biofilm formation. The purpose of this study was to identify the presence of pathogenic microorganism in a food processing area and to evaluate the effect of the cleaning procedure on the microbial load in the food processing area. Ten replicate food contact surfaces were tested: stainless steel, marble and wood, with adjacent areas being sampled before and after cleaning. The test surfaces were analyzed with a swab method before and after the cleaning stage. The results of these studies indicate that three of ten stainless steel surface were contaminated before cleaning and no surface was contaminated after cleaning. Furthermore, three out of ten marble surfaces were contaminated before cleaning and one surface was contaminated after cleaning. Six of ten wood surfaces were heavily contaminated before cleaning and three surfaces were contaminated after cleaning. The difficulty in cleaning was related to the amount of surface damage and it is best to avoid this type of surface. Hypochlorite solution that was used for cleaning the surfaces in this study was considered to be effective against the foodborne pathogens tested. This study has highlighted the fact that pathogens remain viable on dry stainless steel surfaces and present a contamination hazard for considerable periods of time, dependent on the contamination levels and type of pathogen. Keywords: Microorganisms; Survival; Cross-contamination; Food contact surface Introduction Food contact surfaces are the chief denizen of biofilm that can host potentially harmful microorganisms. This, therefore, is a prominent phenomenon in food processing plants owing to dregs and residues of all sorts chemical, biological, organic, and/or inorganic -which build up on the surfaces of equipments that may get in contact with food (Mafu et al. 2010). The presence of these undesirable microorganisms to the material surfaces is a source of concern, as this can result in food cross-contamination, leading to food poisoning. Under favourable circumstances (temperature, pH, relative humidity), pathogenic microorganisms are able to survive and/or replicate on a large scale within the biofilm. In domestic kitchens and food processing industries, foodborne illness can result from incorrect storage of foods, particularly with respect to temperature, contamination of raw or cooked foods before consumption, by contact with other foods or utensils (food contact surfaces ) carrying path ogens, and inadequate cleaning procedures that may not see complete removal of microorganisms (Teixeira et al. 2007). In food processing industries, food contact surfaces, such as stainless steel, marble and wood may create an enabling environment for the survival of the microorganism, leading to serious hygienic problems. Furthermore, dead ends, corners, joints, valves and any other hard-to-reach places are the most appropriate areas for the presence of bacteria. (Peng et al. 2001). The value of maintenance and disinfection processes in food processing industries depends, to a large extent, on the design and maintenance programmes adopted by the company. Lack of efficacy in cleaning procedures may allow persistence and survival of pathogens in foods owing to their consistent adherence to food contact surfaces. This may lead to transfer of microorganisms from people, objects or contaminated food to other food or material, hence leading to cross-contamination. People can, in many ways, be a source of cross-contamination to foods (Holah and Thorpe, 1990). Food can be contaminated when it is handled, so it is very important that people who may be carrying or suffering from certain diseases do not handle food. Contamination can also be passed from equipment when contacting food. It specifically happens when utensils or equipment are not efficiently cleaned and sanitized between each use and may lead to development of biofilm, creating favourable conditions for the survival of the pathogens. Contamination from food to food occurs mainly when raw foods come into contact with cooked or prepared foods (Montville et al. 2001). The persistent presence of microorganisms in food processing factories, specifically on food contact surfaces despite deliberate efforts to combat the phenomenon, poses great challenges to the company. It reduces the profit margins of the industries due to the increased cost incurred in the attempts to adopt advanced cleaning services and programmes. A potential effect of the presence of microorganisms on food surfaces is food poisoning. Occurrence of food poisoning will mean great damage to the image of the company and persistent stress on the part of the management, thus derailing the progress of the company. Cross contamination is also becoming a common problem both in the kitchen setting and in industry. Transfer of resistant pathogens and microorganisms across and around these food producers through various agents and factors that propagate and carry the pathogens is a health hazard. Studies show that the level of contamination varies depending on the duplication and the rate of material handling that occurs in the factory. In this context, therefore, workersà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ hands, utensils and the broad extension of all food contact surfaces contribute to in cross contamination (Zhao et al. 1998). A thorough examination of the whole concept of microbial survival and persistence on food contact surfaces despite typical cleaning procedures and revised designs of the food contact surfaces (such as textural properties, maintained solid surface hydrophobicity) will reveal that more detailed analysis and studies should be focused on the factors that create an enabling environment for the persistent replication and presence of the foodborne pathogens in the food processing industries and kitchen setting (Scott and Bloomfield, 1990). The study of various relevant properties for the microbial adhesion process has been another imperative goal of this study and the purpose behind it is to obtain a broader knowledge base of the mechanisms of bacterial adhesion to food contact surfaces so as to formulate strategies for its control. The objective of this study is to identify the microorganisms that can survive in the food contact surface, such as stainless steel, marble and wood, even after cleaning procedures, thus increasing the risk of food cross-contamination. The study will focus on microorganisms that survive in the food processing areas even after the cleaning procedure. Foodborne pathogenic bacteria adhere to inert surfaces; they may exhibit a greater scale of resistance to chemical or ordinary cleaning and fumigating agents (Barnes et al. 1999). The concept of cross contamination is of major concern in the food processing industries that constitute a threat to human health because they cause most food borne illness outbreaks. Food poisoning is one of the consequences of adherence of microorganisms to food contact surfaces (Sattar et al. 2001). Materials and Methods Premises In order to assess the microbiological safety of a food processing area in Oman, three types of food contact surfaces were studied: Stainless steel, marble and wood. Ten surfaces of each of the three types were tested, with the adjacent areas of each one being sampled before and after cleaning. This study was performed randomly in nineteen selected Army camps kitchen. Data analysis Swabs were taken from the food processing area within the Royal Army camps kitchen and sent to the food microbiology laboratory of the environmental of health unit for analysis. The swabs were each tested for pathogenic bacteria linked with food and coliforms that can survive on the surface of food preparation areas before and after cleaning. The plates were read for the number of colonies of pathogenic bacteria and coliforms. A Phoenix machine was used to identify the bacteria and readings were taken directly from the Phoenix machine. A Phoenix is automated microbiology system is intended to provide rapid identification results for most aerobic and facultative anaerobic Gram positive bacteria as well as most aerobic and facultative anaerobic Gram negative bacteria. The identification of the Phoeonix panal uses a series of conventional, chromogenic and fluorogenic biochemical tests to identify the organism. The growth-based and enzymatic substrates are employed to cover the different types of reactivity among the range of taxa. The tests are based on the use of bacteria and deterioration of specific substrates detected by different indicator systems. Acid production is indicated by a change in phenol red indicator when an isolate is able to utilize a carbohydrate substrate. A yellow colour is produce by Chromogenic substrates upon enzymatic hydrolysis and the enzymatic hydrolysis of fluorogenic substrates results in the release of a fluorescent coumarin derivation. Organisms that utilize a specific carbon source reduce the resazurine based indicator. These results were recorded and the log reduction was calculated for each plate at each dilution rate after and before cleaning of the surface (BD Phoenix, 2007). Sampling methods and microbiological examination (Before Cleaning) Tests using the swab method were carried out on surfaces contaminated with food borne pathogens in a food processing area. Tubes containing 10 ml of sterile buffered peptone saline solution were used to wet the swabs prior to sampling. Cotton swabs were removed from their sterile packaging and were held by the stick while they were moistened with buffered peptone saline solution, the excess broth was returned into the bottle. All surfaces were prepared in sizes of 20 x 20 cm2 for survival experiments. The swabs were rotated while in contact with the food preparation surface. After the defined area was swabbed, the swab was returned to the test tube containing the buffered peptone saline solution to dislodge the bacteria. Serial dilutions of the swab solutions were prepared and duplicate pour plates were prepared for each dilution using nutrient agar, MacConkey agar and Blood agar. The plates were incubated for 24 hours at 37oC. Sampling methods and microbiological examination (After Cleaning) The surfaces were washed with hot water and chemical detergent and then rinsed with hot water. Then the surfaces (stainless steel, marble, and wood) were disinfected with 5.25% of hypochlorite solution for 10 minutes. The surfaces were allowed to dry before sampling. The swabbing method used was as above. Duplicate pour plates were prepared for each dilution using nutrient agar, MacConkey agar and Blood agar. The plates were incubated for 24 hours at 37oC. Sampling methods and microbiological examination (Control) Some of the food borne pathogen strains used as a control for these experiments on the surfaces (stainless steel, marble, and wood), such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were obtained from the Armed Forces Hospital Laboratory. For their control strains a clean stainless steel table without tiny groove was prepared as the food contact surface because it can be fabricated with a smooth cleanable finish. The table also was disinfected with 5.25 % of hypochlorite solution for 10 minutes. The surface was then washed with hot water, with chemical detergent and rinsed with hot water. The surface was allowed to dry before sampling. The test suspensions were prepared by making serial dilutions of the microorganisms in peptone saline solution. Two different levels of contamination were prepared: high contamination (approximately 106 colony forming units (CFU)/100 cm2) and low contamination (approximately 103 CFU/100 cm2), obtained by spreading 1 ml of an appropriate solution on a surface of 20 x 20 cm2 over the grid reference table. The table was allowed to dry for 15 minutes to represent the environment of food preparation area. Selective agar media were used for the enumeration of pathogens: Blood agar for Staphylococcus aureus, incubated for 24 hours at 37oC and MacConkey agar for Escherichia coli incubated for 18 à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 24 hours at 37oC. Furthermore, the effects of two different contamination levels on the survival of pathogens on dry stainless steel surfaces for 24 hours at room temperature were investigated. Result Microbial survival on food contact surface (stainless steel surface) Table 1: The Colony descriptions of the microbial survival on stainless steel surface Table 1 shows the Colony descriptions result of the microorganisms isolated from stainless steel surface. Three of ten stainless steel surface were contaminated with bacteria before cleaning. Table 2: The colony count of the microbial survival on stainless steel Sample No. Serial ten-fold dilutions in deionised water diluents colony count (CFU ml-1) before cleaning colony count (CFU ml-1) After cleaning 2 3.2 x 102 Bacteria Not Detected 6 2.6 x 102 Bacteria Not Detected 9 4.3 x 102 Bacteria Not Detected Table 2 shows the result of the colony count obtained before and after cleaning of the stainless steel surface. Table 3: Gram stain result of the microbial survival on stainless steel surface Sample No.:  2 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Sample No.:  6 Gram stain result:  Gram positive cocci Sample No.:  9 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Table 3 show the result of the Gram stain of bacteria that were isolated from the stainless steel surface before and after the cleaning stage. Sample No.:  2 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  344 Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Klebsiella aerogenes Name of Bacteria detected After cleaning:  Not detected Sample No.:  6 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  367 Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Staphlococcus aureus Name of Bacteria detected After cleaning:  Not detected Sample No.:  9 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  382 Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Klebsiella aerogenes Name of Bacteria detected After cleaning:  Not detected Table 4: The Identification of bacteria by phoenix machine that survived on the stainless steel surface before the cleaning stage Table 4 show the result of bacterial identification that obtained by phoenix machine which was isolated from stainless steel surface before and after the cleaning stage. Microbial survival in food contact surface (Marble surface) Table 5: The Colony descriptions of the microbial survival on marble surface Sample of location No.:  1 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample of location No.:  2 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample of location No.:  3 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  Pink in colour, mucoid Blood agar:  white, large and mucous colonies Sample of location No.:  4 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample of location No.:  5 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  smooth, round, grayish-white colonies Sample of location No.:  6 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample of location No.:  7 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample of location No.:  8 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample of location No.:  9 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample of location No.:  10 Nutrient agar:  Small circular colonies, yellow in colour MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  swarming motility Table 5 shows the colony descriptions result of the microorganisms isolated from the marble surface. Three of ten marble surfaces remained contaminated with bacteria before and after cleaning. Table 6: The colony count of the microbial survival on marble surface Serial dilutions in deionised water diluents colony count (CFU ml-1) before cleaning colony count (CFU ml-1) After cleaning Sample No.:  3 *TFTC Bacteria Not Detected Sample No.:  5 5.1 x 102 Bacteria Not Detected Sample No.:  10 #TMTC TMTC *TFTC: Too Few To Count #TMTC: Too Many To Count Table 6 shows the result of the colony count obtained before and after cleaning stage of marble surface. Table 7: Gram stain result of the microbial survival on marble surface Sample No.:  3 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Sample No.:  5 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Sample No.:  10 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Table 7 show the result of the Gram stain of bacteria that was isolated from the marble surface before and after the cleaning stage. Table 8: The Identification of bacteria by phoenix machine that survived on the marble surface before the cleaning stage Sample No.:  3 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  301 Marble Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Klebsiella pneumonia Name of Bacteria detected After cleaning:  Not Detected Sample No.:  5 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  326 Marble Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Yersinia enterocolitica Name of Bacteria detected After cleaning:  Not Detected Sample No.:  10 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  381 Marble Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Proteus vulgaris Name of Bacteria detected After cleaning:  Proteus vulgaris Table 8 show the result of bacterial identification that obtained by phoenix machine which was isolated from marble surface before and after the cleaning stage. Microbial survival in food contact surface (Wood surface) Table 9: The Colony descriptions of the microbial survival on wood surface Sample location No.:  1 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  Non-lactose fermenters colonies Blood agar:  White, non haemolytic colonies Sample location No.:  2 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample location No.:  3 Nutrient agar:  smooth, translucent large colonies , greenish blue growth and pigment diffuses into medium MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  large brownish colonies Sample location No.:  4 Nutrient agar:  White, smooth, round colonies MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample location No.:  5 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample location No.:  6 Nutrient agar:  Circular, smooth, opaque colonies MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  swarming motility Sample location No.:  7 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Sample location No.:  8 Nutrient agar:  smooth, translucent large colonies , greenish blue growth and pigment diffuses into medium MacConkey agar:  slight pink colonies Blood agar:  large brownish colonies Sample location No.:  9 Nutrient agar:  smooth, translucent large colonies , greenish blue growth and pigment diffuses into medium MacConkey agar:  slight pink colonies Blood agar:  No Growth Sample location No.:  10 Nutrient agar:  No Growth MacConkey agar:  No Growth Blood agar:  No Growth Table 9 shows the colony descriptions result of the microorganisms isolated from the wood surface. Six of ten wood surfaces remained contaminated with bacteria before and after cleaning. Table 10: The colony count of the microbial survival on wood surface Sample No.:   Serial ten-fold dilutions in deionised water diluents colony count (CFU ml-1) before cleaning colony count (CFU ml-1) After cleaning Sample No.:  1 6.4 x 102 Bacteria Not Detected Sample No.:  3 5.3 x 102 Bacteria Not Detected Sample No.:  4 2.7 x 102 Bacteria Not Detected Sample No.:  6 TMTC TMTC Sample No.:  8 1.67 x 103 2.9 x 102 Sample No.:  9 9.3 x 102 3.6 x 102 Table 10 shows the result of the colony count obtained before and after cleaning stage of wood surface. Table 11: Gram stain result of the microbial survival on wood surface Sample No.:  1 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Sample No.:  3 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Sample No.:  4 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Sample No.:  6 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Sample No.:  8 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Sample No.:  9 Gram stain result:  Gram negative, rod shape Table 11 show the result of the Gram stain of bacteria that was isolated from the wood surface before and after the cleaning stage. Table 12: The Identification of bacteria by phoenix machine that survived on wood surface before the cleaning stage Sample No.:  1 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  86 wood Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Acinetobacter baumannii Name of Bacteria detected after cleaning:  Not Detected Sample No.:  3 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  301 wood Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Pseudomonas spp Name of Bacteria detected after cleaning:  Not Detected Sample No.:  4 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  326 wood Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Enterobacter hafinae alvei Name of Bacteria detected after cleaning:  Not Detected Sample No.:  6 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  342 wood Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Proteus vulgaris Name of Bacteria detected after cleaning:  Proteus vulgaris Sample No.:  8 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  369 wood Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Pseudomonas aeruginosa Name of Bacteria detected after cleaning:  Pseudomonas aeruginosa Sample No.:  9 Sample No. In phoenix machine:  385 wood Name of Bacteria detected before cleaning:  Pseudomonas aeruginosa Name of Bacteria detected after cleaning:  Pseudomonas aeruginosa Table 12 shows the result of bacterial identification that obtained by phoenix machine which was isolated from wood surface before and after the cleaning stage. Control Table 13: Survival of Staph aureus and E.coli on stainless steel surfaces Staphylococcus aureus Escherichia coli Time of swab process after contamination High contamination level (106 colony) CFU/100 cm2 Low contamination level (103 colony) CFU/100 cm2 High contamination level (106 colony) CFU/100 cm2 Low contamination level (103 colony) CFU/100 cm2 After 15 minute 2.0 x 107 1.0 x 104 1.6 x 107 5.2 x 103 After 2 Hours 1.73 x 107 9.1 x 103 8.3 x 106 1.8 x 103 After 6 Hours 1.3 x 107 3.8 x 103 2.1 x 106 No growth After 12 Hours 5.8 x 106 No Growth No Growth No growth After 24 Hours No growth No Growth No Growth No growth Table 13 shows the survival of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli on stainless steel surfaces at room temperature (25oC) for 24 hours at two contamination level; high contamination level of (106 colony CFU/100 cm2) and Low contamination level (103 colony CFU/100 cm2). Discussion Sampling food contact surfaces is a complex problem, and the results depend on many factors, including the type of surface, the cleaning solution, the sources of contamination, and the temperature. The accuracy and reproducibility of all sampling methods are reduced when the numbers of bacteria on the surface are low. Some differences between methods are probably due to an uneven distribution of bacteria on the surface. The type of surface markedly influenced the cleaning results. For this study, nineteen selected premises were tested/studied (Ten replicate surfaces were tested; stainless steel, marble and wood, with adjacent areas being sampled before and after cleaning). The results of these studies indicate that three of ten stainless steel surfaces were contaminated before cleaning the surfaces and no surface was contaminated after cleaning, which means that stainless steel surfaces were more easily cleaned. Furthermore, three out of ten marble surfaces were contaminated before c leaning and one surface was contaminated after cleaning the surfaces, which means marble surfaces were easily cleaned but using the wrong cleaning products and the wrong cleaning techniques can damage the marble because marble is a calcium-based natural stone which is highly sensitive to acidic materials (Marble Institute of America, 2012). Stainless steel resists impact damage but is vulnerable to corrosion, while marble surfaces are prone to deterioration and may develop surface cracks where bacteria can accumulate (Leclercq and Lalande, 1994). Wood surfaces were particularly diffi

Essay --

"The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams shows the struggle of two people to fit into society, Tom and Laura, and how society wouldn't accept them. They were the dreamers that were unjustly kept out and you may even go as far as to say persecuted into staying out and aloof like the other dreamers which are forced to become outcasts and not contribute to the actions of all. Tom and Laura, the two dreamers, were pushed by their mom, Amanda, to her frame of mind and the thoughts of a hard working society. They both stumbled on the fire escape which served as a gateway, physically and mentally. Tom had the problem of fitting in at the warehouse were he worked, because is the warehouse really a place for someone like him and his mind rebelled. Lastly you can see how society forced them to change and Laura to lose her status in order to fit in with Jim and that's shown by the horn breaking. Tom then realizes that and leaves which causes him to change too. Tennessee Williams artfully depicted this. The fire escape. A downtrodden red thing off the sides of buildings showing societies ineffectual escape from itself. In this case it served as a passageway between the real world and the dream one that Laura and Tom were living in at home. Both somehow stumbled both physically and mentally. When Laura said â€Å"I'm all right. I slipped but I'm all right†(47). She was trying to pass to the real world to do a real job and couldn't because of societies â€Å"inability† to accept her and her ways. She wasn't strong enough to make the trip by herself, but needed the moral support of the other dreamer in the area, which was Tom who came running out. Tom is the one who stumbles mentally in his inability to look at t... ...lizing that he was changing to Amanda's way of thinking, so he left. upon his leaving he lost his dreaming ability anyway. It was ironic how he no longer dreamed because he felt he was seeing the dreams in real life, as society had again forced him out. As you can see Tom and Laura were dreamers which were unaccepted into society. Laura lost her dreaming when the unicorn lost it's horn and tom then lost his upon doing the first thing he had dreamed about because he stayed that way and didn't dream about going any higher. Ultimately Tennessee Wiliiams message was that society was rigid and it forced those which did not fit the mold to change into a from which was acceptable. That we killed the dreamers and are till doing it at an even younger age. We have to Accept them with open arms if ever we are able to make it far into the future and survive.

Essay examples --

Organizational changes have a potential failure rate of 70%, although this rate has been consistent for many decades there are many organizational changes that are successfully strategized and implemented (Maurer, 2010). An organizational change is when an organization goes through a renovation of altering business strategies (Organization change) to strengthen and expand their services to meet a demand of the economy (Ackerman, 1997). According to the chapter on Development, Transition, or Transformation: The Question of Change in Organization by Linda Ackerman in the book Organization Development Classics: The Practice and Theory of Change, there are three types of collective changes that are among organizations these changes are developmental change, transitional change, and transformational change (1997). In this paper I will further discuss the changes in details and will counteract the changes discussed by Ackerman through other approaches or reasoning for the changes. First, developmental changes in an organization consist of an improvement of a skill, method, or condition ...

Racism: Lessons Learned Essay -- essays research papers

Many things have been shared in this classroom environment. Issues have been studied that have caught the attention of the class and made them consider things that perhaps were not contemplated before. Over the past semester, one series of lessons have stood out to me more than any other. That particular set of lessons revolved around the issue of racism. Racism has taken on a new comprehension within my thoughts and mind over the course of this semester. I had always considered racism a baneful idea and an even more wicked practice. We defined it as a prejudice based upon the color of one’s skin or race. Although laws have outlawed the practice of segregation and racism, we have seen as a class that it is still practiced within a country that declares it to be illegal. We have learned ...

First meeting Issues

In the first meeting of the Land Committee held on 22nd December, 2004 it was decided to hold public hearings with recognized political parties, civil society organizations and peoples? unions working on land issues of the poor to understand the various issues on land reforms. The Committee held public hearings in Hydrated, Wrangle, Vigilant and Atrophic. The visits to the districts and public meetings were followed by field visits to districts and villages to get a firsthand knowledge of the land issues affecting the poor.In an overwhelming response, political parties and civil society organizations attended all the public hearings and cutting across party lines, have demanded that land issues affecting the poor required immediate attention by the Government. Commissioning of Studies In order to understand the land issues in greater detail and also the relevance and use of the existing Revenue Acts, the committee has commissioned studies on various aspects of land issues by speciali sts and experts.Studies have been conducted on Board Standing Orders and Revenue Acts, Tribal land issues, issues of Tenancy, the phenomenon of absentee landlord's and that of plain paper transactions (Sad bambina transactions), functioning of the legal system and state of the endowment lands (Terms of References of the studies and consultants/consulting organizations conducting the study enclosed).Recommendations immediately operational in nature While commissioning the studies the Land Committee was very clear that recommendations evolving from the studies would not be theoretical in nature and focus shall be on operational issues. The Committee has tried its best to cover the important and pressing land issues. The recommendations of the committee while not exhaustive nevertheless cover substantial ground. Page 3 of 101 Land still the single most emotive issue in rural areas It has been the Committee?s experience that the issue of land continues to be the single most emotive issu e in the rural areas.

Alkaloids Case Study Essay

Alkaloids are the most diverse group of secondary metabolites and over 5000 compounds are known. They are most commonly encountered in the plant kingdom, but representatives have been isolated from most other orders of organisms ranging from fungi to mammals. For years, there has been interest in their pharmacological activities, and for a long time selected plant products (containing alkaloids) have been used as poisons for hunting, murder, euthanasia, a euphoriants, psychedelics, and stimulants (e.g. morphine and cocaine) or as medicines (e.g. ephedrine). Many of our modern drugs now contain the same compound or synthetic analogues, and the pharmacological and toxicological properties of these compounds are thus of immense interest and importance. Almost two centuries have elapsed since Serturner isolated the first organic base clearly recognised as such, a crystalline substance that he obtained from the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, and called morphine. The name alkaloid is applied to the members of a class of natural products of basic nature, and is derived from the name â€Å"vegetable alkali† first applied to these substances. They all owe their basic nature to an amino nitrogen. It is more difficult than at first might be supposed to define the term alkaloid. The work was coined in 1818 by Meissner and implies a compound similar to an alkali, referring to the basic properties of this class of substance. Meyer’s Konversations- Lexikon of 1896 states, â€Å"Alkaloids (plant bases) occur characteristically in plants and are frequently distinguished by their remarkable physiological activity. They contain carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen and in most cases oxygen as well; in many cases they resemble the alkalisà ¢â‚¬ . Modern dictionary definitions only differ in minor details from those of the older nontechnical literature. A definition due to Pelletier in 1982 includes cyclic nitrogen- containing molecules which are true secondary metabolites (i.e. of limited occurrence and produced by living organisms. Simple acyclic derivatives of ammonia and simple amines are thus excluded, and the additional requirement, that the nitrogen atom must have a negative oxidation state, excludes nitro and nitroso compounds. As for other natural products, no uniform system of nomenclature has so far been devised for alkaloids. In most cases the name of the alkaloid has been derived from the plant name. Thus, papaverine was called after the Papaver species from which it was isolated. The names cocaine (from Erythoxylum coca) and atropine (from Atropa belladonna) are other examples. Frequently several alkaloids are obtained from the same plant, and the names devised for them will depend on the inspiration of the natural products chemist who isolated them. Alkaloids as a class have interested organic chemists partly on account of their physiological action on the animal organism, and partly on account of the complex structural and synthetical puzzles that they pose. The chemistry of the alkaloids is but a branch of the wide chemistry of nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds, but the methods by which the structures of individual bases are deduced from degradative evidence and confirmed by total synthesis are typical of the methods applied for these purposes whole field the chemistry of natural products are illustrative of the general fundamental principles of organic chemistry. Structural types Alkaloids are usually classified according to the amino acids (or their derivatives) from which they arise. Thus, the most important classes are derived from the following Amino acids: * Ornithine and Lysine * Aromatic amino acid phenylalanine and tyrosine * Tryptophan and a moiety of mevalonoid origin Also a number of compounds are also derived from: * Anthranilic acid * Nicotinic acid This classification however, fails to include the alkaloids derived from a polyketide or a terpenoid, with the incorporation of a nitrogen atom, ultimately from ammonia. Examples are Conine and batrachotoxin which are often known as ‘pseudoalkaloids’. Other compounds covered by Pelletier’s definition also exist. Examples are the antibiotic cycloserine, mitomycin C, mushroom toxin muscimol and the purine alkaloids such as caffeine. There is another classification of the alkaloids according to the location of the nitrogen atom in certain structural features: 1. Heterocyclic alkaloids 2. Alkaloids with exocyclic nitrogen and aliphatic amines 3. Putrescine, spermidine and spermine alkaloids 4. Peptide alkaloids 5. Terpene and steroidal alkaloids Classifying the whole range of alkaloids according to this system result in them being dividing them up unequally as the great majority fall into the heterocyclis group and the smallest group is the putrescine, spermidine and spermine alkaloids. Occurrence Of the more than 5000 alkaloids known, most occur in flowering plants, although the distribution is far from uniform. Thus, although 40% of all plant families have at least one species containing alkaloids, when the 10000 plant genera are considered, only about 9% of these have been shown to produce alkaloids. Increasing numbers of alkaloids have been isolated from animals, insects, and microorganisms. Although mammalian alkaloids are rare, two examples are (-)-castoramine (a) from the Canadian beaver; and muscopyridine (b) from the musk deer. Both compound have a role in communication as territorial marker substances. Insects produce a variety of structural types which include the 2,6- dialkylpiperidines of the fire ant (c), the tricyclic N-oxides of the ladybird (d) and the quinazolines of the European milliped (e). Tese compounds are used for defence. During the last three decades Marine organisms have been investigated. Amongst the alkaloids are the exceedingly complex Saxitoxin (f) produced by a red coloured dinoflagellate. The ‘red tides’ contain mass aggregations of such organisms, and food poisoning when he toxic alkaloids are passed along the food chain to man. The Japanese puffer fish is highly valued as a culinary delicacy, but it is hazardous because its liver and ovaries contain the highly toxic tetrodotoxin. Fungi also produce alkaloids, and these too, present potential hazards as food contaminants. The ergot alkaloids, for example, Chanoclavine (g) produced by the fungus Claviceps purpurea, were a frequent soure of misery and death during the Middle Ages through the contamination of rye bread. Some of these were neurotoxic whilst others caused vasocontriction. During the last 40 years most of these non plant alkaloids have been isolated and their structures elucidated. The introduction of modern chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques facilitated this. Isolation Work on the constitution of alkaloids is often prefaced by the problem of their isolation from plant material or from residues after commercially important constituents have been removed. The isolation of each alkaloid is an individual problem there are a variety of procedures which may be entitled to generic rank. There are few plants which produce a single alkaloid so the main problem is the separation of mixtures. Many alkaloids are basic and occur as salts of 2-hydroxybutane-1, 4-dioic acid (malic acid), or of 1,3,4,5-tetrahydroxycyclohexane (quinic acid). They can thus be extracted into acid solution using aqueous hydrochloric, tartaric, or citric acids. Neutral alkaloids such as colchicines or piperine, which are in fact amides, remain in the organic phase, whilst most other alkaloids are isolated after basification and extraction into ethyl acetate. Steam distillation can be used also be used with low molecular weight alkaloids; but almost invariably sudsequent purification of the crude alkaloid mixtures is effected by chromatography using silica or alumina, and then recrystallisation of the partially purified compounds from solvent systems like aqueous ethanol, methanol/chloroform, or methanol/acetone. Structure elucidation Classical era: The classical era for structural studies on alkaloids was the 19th Century, though this could be extended to the 1930’s (advent of x-ray crystallography) or even to the 1970’s (advent of high resolution NMR facilities and modern methods of mass spectroscopy. Two case histories will be discussed, those of morphine and atropine. Opium has been used by man for thousands of years, so it is not suprising that the major active ingedient, morphine, was the first alkaloid to be isolated in pure state (by Serturner in 1805). It was not until 1923 that Sir Robert Robinson established the stucture of morphine. Chemical evidence for the structure is as follows: Standard showed that the nitrogen atom was fully substituted, and that the phenolic hydroxyl was present as it gave a positive FeCl3 test. Two hydoxyls were present as a diacetate and dibenzoate could be formed. Both compounds contained one olefinic double bond as codeine absorbed one. It was found that a reduced phenanthrene with a two-carbon bridge containing a tertiary nitrogen atom (with methyl as on substituent) was present, and the structure of morphine and codeine were first proposed in 1923 and 1925 respectively by Robinson and Gulland. Synthesis of morphine was carried out in 1956 by Gates. Atropine on the other hand, is not generally a natural product but arises through racemisation of (-)-hyoscyamine (see (a) below) and purification, and is thus ( )-hyoscyamine. (-)-hyoscyamine is the most common tropane alkaloid. In 1833 atropine was isolated from Atropa belladonna. Hydrolysis with warm barium hydroxide solution produced racemic tropic acid and tropine. Degradative studies and then through synthesis found the structure of tropic acid: Exhaustive degradation of tropine, carried out by Willstlter between 1985 and 1901, provided evidence for the bicyclic structure of tropine. The most widely used process in degradative studies of alaloids is exhaustive methylation, known as Hofmann degradeation. . This involves the pyrolysis of a quaternary ammonium hydroxide to form and olefin an a tertiary base: To ensure the complete removal of the nitrogen atom when it constitutes part of a ring, two degrdations must be carried out. When exhaustive methylation of of cyclic compounds might be expected to give 1,4-dienes, the alkaline conditions of the reaction may result in the migration of one of the double bonds to give a 1,3-diene. For example, the exhaustive methylation of N-methylpiperidine gives 1,3-pentadiene (piperylene) and not 1,4-pentadiene. The diene is then easily hydrogenated to form a saturated hydrocarbon. If Hofmann degradation fails to bring about ring fission of cyclic amines, Emde degradation, invoving catalytic reduction of a quaternary salt by sodium amalgam or sodium in liquid ammonia, may be applied. For example, attempted Hofmann degradation of N-methyltetrahydroquinoline methoxide results in regeneration of the parent base, while Emde reduction with sodium amalgam affords the ring-opened amine. Alkaloids containing diphenyl ether linkages, for example, bis-benzylisoquinoline, are cleaved into two fragments by reduction with sodium in liquid ammonia. For example, the structure of the alkaloid dauricine was established by reductive cleavage of O-methyl-dauricine. Modern era: During the last 30 years, structure elucidation has benn facilitated by the use of mass spectroscopy, and 1H and 13C NMR techniques. It is now possible to determine the structure in days with a few milligrams or less of pure compound. It took 118 years to determine the structure of morphine. The mass spectrum data for morphine is highly informative and is shown below and would have helped enormously years ago. Once the structure of an alkaloid is known, partial or total synthesis can be attempted. Biosynthesis It is possible to determine the amino acid from which an alkaloid is derived just by looking at the structure. Before availability of radio-isotopes 14C and tritium, and more recently the stable isotopes 13C and 15N it was only possible to speculate about the likely biosynthetic pathways. This was sometimes successful as for example, the suggested pathway to the isoquinoline alkaloid is as follows: It is possible to divide the biosynthesis of the alkaloids into two categories according to whether products are obtained from the amino acids ornithine and lysine, or the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan. Alkaloids derived from ornithine and lysine: Pyrrolidine alkaloids – hygrine, cocaine, tropinone, hyoscyamine etc Piperidine alkaoids – piperine, (-)-lobeline etc Quinolizidine alkaloids – sparteine, cytosine, (-)-lupinine etc Pyridine alkaloids – nicotine, anabasine, anatabine etc Alkaloids derived from phenylalanine and tyrosine: Monocyclic compounds – hordenine etc Tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids – morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine (narcotine), papaverine, heroin etc Alkaloids derived from tryptophan: Simple indole derivatives: psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine, physostigmine etc Complex indole derivatives : harmaline, echinulin, ergonovine etc No class of naturally occurring organic substances shows such an enormous range of structures as the alkaloids with over 5000 known. It would be impossible to discuss each one of these within the time limit. Therefore, this project is concerned with the following alkaloids: Morphine ( including codeine and heroin), Cocaine, Nicotine and Caffeine (including theophylline). These alkaloids are present in enormous quantities in the world and seem appropriate to be discussed due to the current interest in their effects particularly when used illegally. They are some of the most well known alkaloids. Morphine (Codeine and Heroin) When the unripe seed capsules of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is cut or pricked, a viscous liquid is exuded. After the exudates dries and darkens with exposure to air, a hard but still partly sticky mass is obtained. This is opium, which has been used for many centuries by some for medicinal purposes. Opium is important as a painkilling drug in its own right, but is also the source of other analgesic drugs such as morphine and heroin. Mankind had discovered the use of opium by the time of the earliest written records. In fact, the first recorded use of opium as a painkiller was around 6000 years ago by the Sumerians, and the Babylonian and Egyptian writings contain many references to the value of opium preparations for the relief of pain. Thomas Sydenham, the 17th Century pioneer of English medicine wrote, â€Å"Among the remedies which it has pleased Almighty God to give to man to relieve its sufferings, none is so universal and so efficacious as opium†. Nowadays, alt hough opium is no longer regareded as a universal analgesic, it is still a very important source of morphine. The pharmacologically active constituents of opium have been employed in medicine for many thousand of years. During the 19th century these constituents were isolated as pure chemical entities. Morphine is a naturally occurring substance and is the major constituent of opium, constituting about 10% (sometimes up to 20%) of its weight. Morphine was first isolated in 1805 by Friedrich Sertrner. However, its basic structure was not correctly determined until 120 years later. Morphine provides symptomatic relief of moderately severe to severe pain. Morphine acts as an anesthetic without decreasing consciousness, and it is one of the most powerful analgesics known. However, it also suppresses the repiratory system, and high doses can cause death by respiratory failure. Its analgesic properties are related to the ability of the molecule to fit into and block a specific sit on a nerve cell. This eliminates the action of the pain receptor Cocaine Cocaine is obtained from coca leaves (Erythryloxum coca) and has the formula C17H23O4N and a molecular weight of 303.39. The anaesthetic properties of cocaine were first recognised by Koller in 1882, but it has now been largely replaced in the clinic by synthetic analogues due to its widespread abuse as a narcotic. It is, however, still much used as a stimulant by Andean Indians. After chewing the leaves, they are easily fatigued and can go on for long periods without food. Cocaine is shipped and sold in the form of the water-soluble hydrochloride salt, which may be ingested through the nasal passages by ‘snorting’ orally and intravenously. There are severe physical and psychological side effects of the drug, such as brain seizures, respiratory collapse, heart attack, paranoia, and depression. Cocaine may be hydrolysed by acids or alkalis to methyl alcohol, benzoic acid, and (-)-ecgonine, C9H15O3 N; only partial hydrolysis, to benzoyl- (-)-ecgonine, C16 H19O4 N, and methyl alcohol when the alkaloid is boiled with water. Cocaine can be regarded as being derived from ornithine. Willsttter worked on a tortuous synthesis (of about 20 steps) of tropinone between 1900 and 1903, but in 1917 Robinson reported his ‘one-pot’ synthesis and also provided what was probably the first example of a formal retrosynthetic analysis. He stated: ‘By imaginary hydrolysis at the points indicated by the dotted lines, the substance may be resolved into succinaldehyde, methylamine and acetone’. The yield of this reaction was poor but Schpf and Lehmann reported optimised conditions (buffered solution at pH5 and 25C) which allowed 85% yield. A variety of mechanisms are possible and the one shown below envisages a reaction between the enol form of acetone dicarboxylate and the condensation product from succinaldehyde and methylamine. Willsttter made his own contributions based on this type of chemistry, and completed simple synthesis of tropinone in 1921 and a synthesis of cocaine in 1923. The synthesis of cocaine is as follows: A Robinson- type reaction yielded the expected azabicyclo structure but with a fortuitous axial stereochemistry for the carbomethoxyl group. Racemic cocaine was formed after separation of the diastereoisomeric products on the reduction of the ketone and benzoylation of the mixture of alcohols. An important aspect of Robinson’s route is that it represented the first biomimetic synthesis of an alkaloid. He provided inspiration for others to consider possible biosynthetic pathways, before planning their synthetic routes to alkaloids. Nicotine Nicotine, present in dried tobacco leaves of the plant nicotiana tabacum in 2-8% concentration, is the active ingredient in cigarettes and other tobacco products. The reason tobacco is used by so many people is because it contains this powerful drug nicotine. When tobacco is smoked, nicotine is absorbed by the lungs and quickly moves into the bloodstream, where it is circulated throughout the brain. All of this happens very rapidly. In fact, nicotine reaches the brain within 8 seconds after someone inhales tobacco smoke. Nicotine can also enter the blood stream through the mucous membranes that line the mouth or nose, or even through the skin. Smoking and chewing tobacco have been connected to heart and lung disease and cancer, mainly a result of the presence of carcinogens, carbon monoxide and other toxins. Nicotine affects the entire body. Nicotine acts directly on the heart to change heart rate and blood pressure. It also acts on the nerves that control respiration to change breathing patterns. In high concentration, nicotine is deadly. In fact, one drop of purified nicotine on the tongue will kill a person. It’s so lethal that it has been used as a pesticide for centuries. So why do people smoke? The mode of action of nicotine is complex. Ingestion of the molecule may stimulate or calm the user and it may affect his or her mood, appetite, and cognition. There appears to be little doubt that nicotine is an addictive drug, and the debate about how to regulate its availability is ongoing. Nicotine is part of the pyridine alkaloids and is the chief alkaloid of tobacco. It can therefore be classed as a tobacco alkaloid. Nicotine has the empirical formula C10 H14 N2, a molecular weight of 162.26 and was first observed by Vanquelin in 1809 and isolated 19 years later by Posselt and Reimann. Its structure is as follows: It is a colourless liquid with a boiling point of 246.1-246.2C and is miscible in all proportions with water below 60 and above 210. It is less soluble between these temperatures. When oxidised with chromic acid it yields an amino acid, C6H5O2N, which may be decarboxylated to pyridine–carboxylic acid. Nicotine is therefore a 3-substituted pyridine and that the substituent is a saturated group containing five carbon atoms and one nitrogen atom. The alkaloid forms a crystalline addition compound with zinc chloride, and when this is heated with lime pyridine, pyrrole and methylamine are obtained, suggesting that the structure be as above (1). This was supported by the degradation of the alkaloid to N-methylproline (1) to (5) (below), the oxidation of dibromocotinine (6) to nicotinc acid, malonic acid and methylamine (6) to (7). Also, by the reductive hydrolysis of bromocotinine to methylamine and the dihydroxy-acid (8). The structure of nicotine was finally confirmed by synthesis. Three syntheses of nicotine have been recorded. The first was based on the discovery that N-acetylpyrrole is transformed by heat to C-acetylpyrrole shown to be ?-acetylpyrrole. Pictet and Crepieux applied this reaction to N- pyridylpyrrole (3) (below) obtained by the reaction of -aminopyridine1 with mucic acid (2). The compound 31- pyridyl-2-pyrrole (4) was formed. An attempt to methylate the pyrrole nitrogen by heating the potassium derivative with yielded (5) (methiodide of 31- pyridyl-N-methyl-2-pyrrole). Distillation of this with calcium oxide gave nicotyrine (6). Selective hydrogenation of the pyrrole nucleus with a palladium-carbon catalyst converted nicotyrine (6) to nicotine with about a 25% yield. PICTET’S SYNTHESIS: Pictet’s classical synthesis involves two steps at high temperatures, one of which is a rearrangement. It cannot therefore be regarded as unambiguous. However, a second synthesis by Spth and Bretschneider involves no rearrangement at high temperature and are thus structurally specific. SPATH’S SYNTHESIS: (1) (Above) was converted into (2) via electrolytic reduction, which on treatment with potassium and methyl sulphate gave (3) (N-methylpyrrolidone). Ethyl nicotinate was then condensed with (3) in the presence of sodium ethanoate and the resulting -pyridyl-1- -(N1 – methyl-?1- pyrrolidonyl) – ketone (4) was hydrolysed with fuming hydrochloric acid at 130. The derived amino ketone (5) was reduced with zinc and sodium hydroxide to the corresponding alcohol (6), which was converted to nicotine on treatment with hydrogen iodide and potassium hydroxide. A third synthesis of nicotine by Craig was also carried out: CRAIG’S SYNTHESIS: Nicotinonitrile (1) (above) was reacted with ?- ethoxypropylmagnesium bromide. The product of the reaction (2) (3-pyridyl-?-ethoxypropylketone) formed an oxime (3), which was reduced to an amino derivative (4). On heating to 150-155 with 48% hydrobromic acid this was converted to nornicotine (5), which in turn was methylated to nicotine. The pyridine ring in nicotine is derived from nicotine acid, which itself is derived from aspartic acid and glyceraldehyde-3- phosphate: The remaining steps en route to nicotine are shown below: Caffeine The purine system occurs widely in nature. Two purines, adenine and guanine, are constituents of the nucleic acids; adenine is a component of coenzymes I and II, of flavin adenine dinucleotide and of adenosine with 3 distinguished compounds: caffeine, theophylline and theobromine. They are physiologically active constituents of coffee, cocoa, and tea. The compounds have different biochemical effects, and are present in different ratios in different plant sources. These compounds are very similar and differ only by the presence of methyl groups in two positions of chemical structure as shown below: They are easily oxidised to uric acid and other methyluric acids, which are also similar in chemical stucture. CAFFEINE – 1,3,7- trimethylxanthine SOURCES – Coffee, tea, cola nuts, mate, guarana EFFECTS – Stimulant of the central nervous system, cardiac muscle and respiratory system, diuretic, delays fatigue. THEOPHYLLINE – 1,3 – dimethylxanthine SOURCES – Tea EFFECTS – Cardiac stimulant, smooth muscle relaxant, diuretic, vasodilator. THEOBROMINE – 3,7- dimethylxanthine SOURCES – Principle alkaloid of the cocoa bean (1.5-3%), cola nuts and tea. EFFECTS – Diuretic, smooth muscle relaxant, cardiac stimulant, vasodilator. Theophylline has a stronger effect on heart and breathing than caffeine. For this reason it is the drug of choice in home remedies for treating asthma, bronchitis and emphysema. Theophylline found in medicine is made from extracts from coffee or tea. Theobromine is weaker than caffeine and theophylline – has one tenth of the stimulating effect. When isolated in pure form, caffeine is a white crystalline powder that tastes very bitter. Recreationally, it is used to provide a ‘boost in energy’ or a feeling of heightened alterness. It’s often used to stay awake longer. Caffeine inhibits the action of an enzyme, phosphodiesterase, whose job it is to inactive a molecule called cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP). Cyclic -AMP is involved in the formation of glucose in the bloodstream. Deactivation of phosphodiesterase by caffeine frees cyclic – AMP to do its job, more glucose appears, and we feel more energetic. Caffeine is an addictive drug. Among its many actions it operates using the same mechanisms that amphetamines, cocaine and heroin use to stimulate the brain. Caffeine’s effects are milder but it is manipulating the same channels and that it is one of the things that give caffeine its addictive qualities. It is one of the most widely used drugs. More than 90% of the population Britain consume it everyday and its long-term effects are of current interest. Purines are usually synthesised by Traube’s method in which a 4, 5 – diaminopyrimidine is treated with formic acid or, better, sodium dithioformate.4, 5- diaminopyrimidines are themselves obtained from 4- aminopyrimidines by nitrosation followed by reduction or via diazonium coupling of activated methylene compounds followed by cyclisation and reduction. Two examples are as follows: Uric acid (an 8-Hydroxypurine) are made using ethyl chloroformate in place of formic acid: Uric acid is then the starting material for other purines: Summary The term alkaloid refers to any Nitrogen containing compound extracted from plants, although the word is used loosely and some compounds of non-plant origin are also commonly known as alkaloids. The name is derived from their characteristic basic properties (alkali-like), which are induced by the lone-pair of electrons on nitrogen. The basic nature of the alkaloids, in conjunction with their particular three-dimensional architecture, gives rise to often-potent physiological activities, e.g. the narcotics morphine and heroin. The laboratory synthesis of an alkaloid can be a challenging problem. The goal nowadays is not only to synthesise the natural product, but also to do so from simple molecules by a short elegant pathway. Such syntheses have practical importance because many alkaloids are desirable drugs. Large amounts of these alkaloids are often difficult to obtain from natural sources. A simple synthesis can provide an alternative supply of such a drug. The 19th century was the heyday for structural studies on the alkaloids and the 20th century was notable for the large number of elegant syntheses that have been accomplished. Virtually all of the major alkaloids have now been synthesised.