Design of a New Security Protocol Using Hybrid Cryptography

Subasree & Sakthivel ? Design of a New Security Protocol IJRRAS 2 (2) ? February 2010 DESIGN OF A NEW SECURITY PROTOCOL USING HYBRID CRYPTOGRAPHY ALGORITHMS S. Subasree and N. K. Sakthivel School of Computing, Sastra University, Thanjavur – 613401, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. ABSTRACT A Computer Network is an interconnected group of autono mous computing nodes, which use a well defined, mutually agreed set of rules and conventions known as protocols, interact with one -another meaningfully and allow resource sharing preferably in a predictable and controllable manner.Communication has a majo r impact on today? s business. It is desired to communicate data with high security. Security Attacks compromises the security and hence various Symmetric and Asymmetric cryptographic algorithms have been proposed to achieve the security services such as Authentication, Confidentiality, Integrity, Non-Repudiation and Availability. At present, various types of cryptographic algorithms provide high s ecurity to information on controlled networks. These algorithms are required to provide data security and users authenticity.To improve the strength of these security algorithms, a new security protocol for on line transaction can be designed using combination of both symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic techniques. This protocol provides three cryptographic pr imitives such as integrity, confidentiality and authentication. These three primitives can be achieved with the help of Elliptic Curve Cryptography, Dual -RSA algorithm and Message Digest MD5. That is it uses Elliptic Curve Cryptography for encryption, Dual -RSA algorithm for authentication and MD-5 for integrity.This new security protocol has been designed for better security with integrity using a combination of both symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic techniques. Keywords: Network Security, Elliptic Curve Cryptography, Dual-RSA, Message Digest-5. 1. INTRODUCTION Curiosity is one of the most common human traits, matche d by the wish to conceal private information. Spies and the military all resort to information hiding to pass messages securely, sometimes deliberately including misleading information [12]. Steganography, a mechanism for hiding information in apparently innocent pictures, may be used on its own or with other methods.Encryption fundamentally consists of scrambling a message so that its contents are not readily accessible while decryption is the reversing of that process[14]. These processes depend on particular algorithms, known as ciphers. Suitably scrambled text is known as cipher text while the original is, not surprising ly, plain text. Readability is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for something to be plain text. The original might well not make any obvious sense when read, as would be the case, for example, if something already encrypted were being further encrypted.It's also quite possible to construct a mechanism whose output is readable text but which actually bears no relationship to the unencrypted original. A key is used in conjunction with a cipher to encrypt or decrypt text. The key might appear meaningful, as would be the case with a character string used as a password, but this transformation is irrelevant, the functionality of a key lies in its being a string of bits determining the mapping of the plain text to the cipher text. 1. 1 Why we need cryptography?Protecting access to information for reasons of security is still a major reason for using cryptography. However, it's also increasingly used for identification of individuals, for authentication and for non -repudiation. This is particularly important with the growth of the Internet, global trading and other activities[12]. The identity of e -mail and Web users is trivially easy to conceal or to forge, and secure authentication can give those interacting remotely confidence that they're dealing with the right person and that a message hasn't been forged or changed.In commercia l situations, non-repudiation [12] is an important concept ensuring that if, say, a contract has been agreed upon one party can't then renege by claiming that they didn't actually agree or did so at some different time when, perhaps, a price was higher or lower. Digital signatures and digital timestamps are used in such situations, often in conjunction with other mechanisms such as message digests and digital certificates. 95 Subasree & Sakthivel ? Design of a New Security Protocol IJRRAS 2 (2) ? February 2010The range of uses for cryptography and related techniques is considerable and growing steadily. Passwords are common but the protection they offer is often illusory, perhaps because security policies within many organizations aren't well thought out and their use causes more problems and inconvenience than seems worth it[14,15]. In many cases where passwords are used, for example in protecting word processed documents, the ciphers used are extremely lightweight and can be attac ked without difficulty using one of a range of freely available cracking programs. 2.TYPES OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC ALGORITHMS 2. 1. Elliptic Curve Encryption When using elliptic curves in cryptography[11], we use various properties of the points on the curve , and functions on them as well. Thus, one common task to complete when using elliptic curves as an encryption tool is to find a way to turn information m into a point P on a curve E. We assume the information m is already written as a number. There are many ways to do this, as simple as setting the letters a = 0, b = 1, c = 2, . . . or there are other methods, such as ASCII, which accomplish the same task.Now, if we have E : y2 = x3 + Ax + B (mod p), a curve in Weierstrass form, we want to let m = x. But, this will only work if m3 + Am + B is a square modulo p. Since only half of the numbers modulo p are squares, we only have about a 50% chance of this occurring. Thus, we will try to embed the information m into a value that is a squa re. Pick some K such that 1/2K is an acceptable failure rate for embedding the information into a point on the curve. Also, make sure that (m + 1)K ; p. Let xj = mK + j for j = 0, 1, 2, . . . ,K ? 1 Compute x 3j + Axj + B.Calculate its square root yj (mod p), if possible. If there is a square root, we let our point on E representing m be P m = (xj , yj) If there is no square root, try the next value of j[4,5]. So, for each value of j we have a probability of about 1/2 that xj is a square modulo p. Thus, the probability that no xj is a square is about 1/2K, which was the acceptable failure rate[6]. In most common applications, there are many real-life problems that may occur to damage an attempt at sending a message, like computer or electricity failure.Since people accept a certain 16 amount of failure due to uncontrollable phenomenon, it makes sense that they could agree on an acceptable rate of failure for a controllable feature of the process. Though we will not use this specific process in our algorithms[10]. 2. 2. Dual RSA In practice, the RSA decryption computations are performed in p and q and then combined via the Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT) to obtain the desired solution in ? N, instead of directly computing the exponentiation in ? N. This decreases the computational costs of decryption In two ways.First, computations in ? p and ? q are more efficient than the same computations in ? N since the elements are much smaller. Second, from Lagrange? s Theorem, we can replace the private exponent d with dp = d mod (p – 1) for the computation in ? p and with dq = d mod (q – 1) for the computation in ? p, which reduce the cost for each exponentiation when d is larger than the primes. It is common to refer to dp and dq as the CRT -exponents. The first method to use the CRT for decryption was proposed by Quisquater and Couvreur [7,8].Since the method requires knowledge of p and q, the key generation algorithm needs to be modified to output the private key (d, p, q) instead of (d,N). Given the pri vate key (d, p,q) and a valid ciphertext C ? ? N, the CRTdecryption algorithm is as follows: 1) Compute Cp = Cdp mod p. 2) Compute Cq = Cdq mod q. 3) Compute M0 = (Cq – Cp) . p-1 mod q. 4) Compute the plaintext M = Cp + M0 . p. This version of CRT-decryption is simply Garner? s Algorithm for the Chinese Remainder Theorem applied to RSA.If the key generation algorithm is further modified to output the private key (dp, dq, p, q, p -1 mod q), the computational cost of CRT-decryption is dominated by the modular exponentiations in steps 1) and 2) of the algorithm. When the primes p and q are roughly the same size (i. e. , half the size of the modulus), the computational cost for decryption using CRT -decryption (without parallelism) is theoretically 1/4 the cost for decryption using the original method[7]. Using RSA-Small-e along with CRT-decryption allows for extremely fast encryption and decryption that is at most four times faster than standard RSA. 96IJRRAS 2 (2) ? February 2010 Subasree & Sakthivel ? Design of a New Security Protocol 2. 3 MD5 Algorithm MD5[2] consists of 64 of these operations, grouped in four rounds of 16 operations. F is a nonlinear function; one function is used in each round. Mi denotes a 32 -bit block of the message input, and Ki denotes a 32 -bit constant, different for each operation. s is a shift value, which also varies for each operation[1]. MD5 processes a variable length message into a fixed -length output of 128 bits. The input message is broken up into chunks of 512-bit blocks; the message is padded so that its length is divisible by 512.The padding works as follows: first a single bit, 1, is appended to the end of the message. This is followed by as many zeros as are required to bring the length of the message up to 64 bits less than a multiple of 512. The re maining bits are filled up with a 64-bit integer representing the length of the original message[9]. The main M D5 algorithm operates on a 128 -bit state, divided into four 32-bit words, denoted A, B, C and D. These are initialized to certain fixed constants. The main algorithm then operates on each 512 -bit message block in turn, each block modifying the state.The processing of a message block consists of four similar stages, termed rounds; each round is composed of 16 similar operations based on a non -linear function F, modular addition, and left rotation. Many message digest functions have been proposed and are in use today. Here are just a few like HMAC, MD2, MD4, MD5, SHA, SHA-1. Here, we concentrate on MD5, one of the widely used digest functions. 3. HYBRID SECURITY PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE It is desired to communicate data with high security. At present, various types of cryptographic algorithms provide high security to information on controlled networks.These algorithms are required to provide data security and users authenticity. This new security protocol has been designed for better security using a combination of both symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic techniques. Figure 1 : Hybrid Protocol Architecture As shown in the figure, the Symmetric Key Cryptographic Techniques such as Elliptic Curve Cryptography, and MD5 are used to achieve both the Confidentiality and Integrity. The Asymmetric Key Cryptography technique, Dual RSA used for Authentication. The above discussed three primitives can be achieved with the help of this Security Protocol Architecture.The Architecture is as shown in the Figure 1. As shown in the figure, the Symmetric Key Cryptographic Techniques such as Elliptic Curve Cryptography, and MD5 are used to achieve bo th the Confidentiality and Integrity. The Asymmetric Key Cryptography technique, Dual RSA used for Authentication. 97 Subasree & Sakthivel ? Design of a New Security Protocol IJRRAS 2 (2) ? February 2010 The new Security Protocol has been designed for better security. It is a combination of both the Symmetric and Asymmetric Cryptog raphic Techniques.It provides the Cryptographic Primitives such as Integrity, Confidentiality and Authentication. The given plain text can be encrypted with the help of Elliptic Curve Cryptography, ECC and the derived cipher text can be communicated to the destination through any secured channel. Simultaneously, the Hash value is calculated through MD5 for the same plain text, which already has been converted into the cipher text by ECC. This Hash value has been encrypted with Dual RSA and the encrypted message of this Hash value also sent to destination. The intruders may try to hack the original information from the encrypted messages.He may be trapped both the encrypted messages of plain text and the hash value and he will try to decrypt these messages to get original one. He might be get the hash value and it is impossible to extract the plain text from the cipher text, because, the hash value is encrypted with Dual RSA and the plain text is encrypted with ECC. Hence, the messag e can be communicated to the destination with highly secured manner. The new hash value is calculated with MD5 for the received originals messages and then it is compared with decrypted hash message for its integrity.By which, we can ensure that either the origi nal text being altered or not in the communication medium. This is the primitive feature of this hybrid protocol. 4. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION 4. 1 Comparison of RSA and Dual RSA 1) The Public Key Algorithms, RSA and Dual-RSA have been implemented in VC++ and we got the following results. As shown in the Figure 2, the original message for communication is stored in MyFile. txt and its size is 547 Bytes, which is shown in the report file. Figure 2 : Input File MyFile. txt Figure 3 shows that the project main menu, which consists of various features. They are i. RSA Encryption, ii.RSA Decryption, iii. Dual RSA Encryption, iv. Dual RSA Decryption, and v. Graph, which is used to compare the computational costs of both the RSA and D ual -RSA Figure 4 shows that RSA Encryption and Figure 5 shows that Dual RSA encryption. From the figure 6 it is clear that the RSA take one block at a time for encryption and decryption at a time. But the dual RSA take more time for encryption of two block at a time, but it take less time for decryption of two blocks. So, the RSA encryption and decryption time is greater than Dual RSA because Dual RSA perform the encryption and decryption operation for two blocks. 8 IJRRAS 2 (2) ? February 2010 Subasree & Sakthivel ? Design of a New Security Protocol Figure 3 : Process of RSA and Dual RSA Encryption/Decryption Figure 4 : RSA Encryption 99 Subasree & Sakthivel ? Design of a New Security Protocol IJRRAS 2 (2) ? February 2010 Figure 5 : Dual – RSA Encryption 5. 2 Performance analysis of RSA and Dual RSA Figure 6 : RSA vs Dual RSA 100 IJRRAS 2 (2) ? February 2010 Subasree & Sakthivel ? Design of a New Security Protocol Figure 7 : Computational costs of RSA vs Dual RSA Figure 6 s hows that the Perfor mance Analysis of RSA vs Dual RSA.From this figure, it is clear that the total computation time for Encryption and Decryption of Dual -RSA is less than that of ordinary RSA. From the Figure 7, it is observed that the total computation time for Encrypt ion and Decryption of RSA is 4314ms as compared with the total computation time for Encryption and Decryption of Dual – RSA is 3203ms for the file size 547 Bytes. From the analysis it is clear that Dual RSA is better than RSA algorithm. So, for authentic ation we are going to use Dual RSA. Dual RSA take two block for encryption and decryption simultaneously. . 3 Results of Hybrid protocol Architecture Here, we are using three different mode of operation. The sender, Receiver and Intruder. We have t o select the mode and process the information. The following figure represent the three different mode. Figure 8 : Mode selection If the mode is the sender, then we have to provide the key val ue and messages in t he specified location. Figure 9 : Sender Mode 101 Subasree & Sakthivel ? Design of a New Security Protocol IJRRAS 2 (2) ? February 2010 Figure 10 shows that the Receiver received the sender message with the key.From the figure, it is noted that, the intruder also received the key and not the message. Because, the message is encrypted with ECC and key is encrypted by using Dual RSA. And also noted that, the intruder derived different key for decryption, which is equivalent to the original key. Even though the intruder got the key he cannot able to get the orig inal message because of Dual RSA. Because of Dual RSA we got two advantages one is the message cannot be decrypted and time required to perform the encryption and decryption operation less compare to RSA because Dual RSA perform encryption and decryption by two block at a time.The new Public Key Cryptographic algorithm, Dual – RSA has been developed for better performance in terms of computation costs and memory storage requirements. It is also called RSA -CRT, because it is used Chinese Remainder Theorem, CRT for its Decryption. From the output, it is noted that Dual -RSA improved the performance of RSA in terms of computation cost and memory storage requirements. It achieves parallelism. The CRT Decryption is achieved roughly ? times faster than original RSA. Figure 10 : Secured communication of Hybrid Protocol 102 IJRRAS 2 (2) ? February 2010 Subasree & Sakthivel ?Design of a New Security Protocol 6. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] B. den Boer and A. Bosselaers, â€Å"An attack on the last two rounds of MD4†, Advances in Cryptology, Crypto ? 05, pages 194-203, Springer-Verlag, 2005. B. den Boer and A. Bosselaers, â€Å"Collisions for the compression function of MD5†, Advances in Cryptology, Eurocrypt „07, pages 293-304, Springer-Verlag, 2007. D. Bleichenbacher and A. May, â€Å"New attacks on RSA with small CRTexponent in Pub lic Key Cryptography†, PKC 2006, vol ume 3968 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 1 –13. Springer-Verlag, 2006. D. Bleichenbacher and A.May, â€Å"New attacks on RSA with small secret CRT -exponents,† in Public Key Cryptology—PKC 2006, ser. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. New York: Springer, 2006, vol. 3958, pp. 1–13. D. Boneh and G. Durfee, â€Å"Cryptanalysis of RSA with private key d less than N ,† IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 1339–1349, Jul. 2000. E. Jochemsz and A. May, â€Å"A polynomial time attack on standard RSA with private CRT -exponents†, 2007. Hung-Min Sun, and et al. , â€Å"Dual RSA and its Security Analysis†, IEEE Tra nsaction on Information Theory,Aug 2007, pp 2922 – 2933,2007 [8] H. -M. Sun, M. J.Hinek, and M. -E. Wu, On the design of Rebalanced-RSA, revised version of [37] Centre for Applied Cryptographic Research, Technical Report CACR 2005 -35, 2005 [Online]. Available: http://www. cacr. math. uwaterloo. ca/te chreports/2005/cacr2005 -35. pdf [9] H. Dobbertin, â€Å"The Status of MD5 after a Recent Attack†, CryptoBytes, 2(2): 1-6, 2007. [10] M. J. Hinek, â€Å"Another look at small RSA exponents,† in Topics in Cryptology-CT-RSA 2006, ser. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, D. Pointcheval, Ed. New York: Springer, 2006, vol. 3860, pp. 82 –98. [11] N. Gura, A. Patel, A. Wander, H. Eberle, and S.C. Shantz, â€Å"Comparing Elliptic Curve Cryptography and RSA on 8-bit CPUs†. Proceedings of Workshop on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES 2004), 6th International Workshop, pages 119 –132, 2004. [12] Ravindra Kumar Chahar and et. al. , â€Å" Design of a new Security Protocol†, IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Multimedia Applications, pp 132 – 134, 2007 [13] Ramaraj, E and Karthikeyan, S, â€Å" A Design of Enhanced Security Protocol for Wireless Communication using Hybrid Encryption Technique, Indian Jo urnal of Computing Technology, pp 22 -29, May, 2006. 14] S. D. Galbraith, C. Heneghan, and J. F. McKee, â€Å"Tunable balancing of RSA†, 2005. Updated ACISP 2005. version of [15] S. D. Galbraith, C. Heneghan, and J. F. McKee, â€Å"Tunable balancing of RSA,† in Proc. Inf. Security and Privacy, 10th Australasian Conf. , ACISP 2005, C. Boyd and J. M. G. Nieto, Eds. , 2005, vol. 3574, pp. 280 – 292, Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science. BIOGRAPHY Dr. S Subasree got Bachelor Degree from Madras university in 1991 and she done her post graduate degree from Bharathidasan Univeristy in 1995 and M. hil from Manonmaniam Sundaranar Univeristy in 2001. She done her M. Tech and Ph. D in SASTRA University in 2006 and 2009 respectively. She got 13 years teaching experience. Now she will be serving as a Senior Assistant Professor in SASTRA Univeristy, Tamil Nadu, India. She has published more than 15 papers in International and National Journals and Conferences. Her rese arch area includes Network Security, High Performance Soft Computing Techniques, Communication Network, and B iometric Cryptography. Dr. N K Sakthivel got Bachelor Degree from Madras university in 1991 and she one her post graduate degree from Bharathidasan Univeristy in 1994 and M. phil from Bharathidasan Univeristy in 2000. She done her M. Tech and Ph. D in SASTRA University in 2004 and 2009 respectively. She got 15 years teaching experience. Now She will be serving as a Professor in SASTRA Univeristy, Tamil Nadu, India. She has published more than 18 papers in International and National Journals and Conferences. Her research area includes High Speed Communication Networks, Network Security, High Performance Computing, and Biometric Cryptography. 103

Introduces Odysseus

The Odyssey, one of the most well known epic stories Introduces Odysseus, the King of Ithaca. This story demonstrates Odysseus’s physical and intellectual strength. Striving to return home after 20 years of his treacherous journey, he uses strength, skill, and superior ability to overcome his troubles. Although he faced numerous obstacles and fought many battles, he made it appoint to get home to his kingdom through his physical ability, intellectual insight, and overcoming his epic flaw. In the beginning of The Odyssey, Odysseus describes his homeland Ithaca and states â€Å"A rocky island, good for a boys training†.By saying this he makes it clear that he is proud of where he had grown up and that he had trained there. This introduces the physical prowess. He had been trained as a young boy to fight and carried that on with him as he grew up. Early on in the story he immediately shows his physical strength. The first story, Sailing from Troy, demonstrates this clearly when Odysseus states, â€Å"I stormed in that place and killed the men who fought. Plunder we took, and we enslaved the women to make a division, equal shares to all-†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Homer, Lines 43-45). In the battle of Troy he and his army had won, obviously giving him experience and strength in killing.When he killed the men of Ismarus, it was evident that he had no problem doing so. Odysseus felt like he could take on anything that would come his way, feeling invincible. After they had won, Odysseus shouted to the Gods that nothing they throw at him could bring him down. One of Odysseus’s first encounters with trouble after he shouted to the Gods was the Cyclops. After the Cyclops killed several of Odysseus’s men, he finally came up with a plan of how to kill him. After the Cyclops is passed out, Odysseus plans to take a sharpened pike to its eye.As Odysseus describes, â€Å" I drew it from the coals and my four fellows gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops as more than natural force nerved them; straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it deep in his crater eye, and I leaned on it turning it as a shipwright turns a drill in planking†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Homer, Lines 329-335). Not only is Odysseus showing physical strength, but so are his men. It clearly took a lot of strength, physically and mentally, to kill the Cyclops. Odysseus’s physical strength continues in the story The Land of the Dead. It takes several people and a lot of strength to get their giant ship going.In the story it describes the process, â€Å"We bore down on the ship at the sea’s edge and launched her on the salt immortal sea, stepping our mast and spar in the black ship†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Homer, Lines 523-529). In order to get the masts and sails up you had to be very strong, and each time they left a place, they had to do so. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men all display physical prowess in order to return back to Ithaca, but Intell ectual prowess also aids them in their return. Odysseus, using his intellectual prowess, is able to outsmart the obstacles he faces and also to make better choices for himself and his crew.In The Lotus-Eaters Odysseus land on an unknown Island and decides to send some men out and see what the land holds; â€Å"Then I sent out two picked men and a runner to learn what race of men that island sustained. † Instead of Odysseus risking his own life, he sends out others instead. This is a smart decision because he has no clue what is on the island and he wants to keep himself safe. In The Cyclops Odysseus had come prepared for anything that could happen, â€Å"A wineskin full I brought along, and victuals in a bag, for in my bones I knew some towering brute would be upon us soon-â€Å" (Homer, Lines 153-155).He knew that they were going to need food and supplies when they arrived on the island, so by using his intellectual prowess, he was prepared. Also in the Cyclops, he says, à ¢â‚¬Å"We beached there, and I told the crew to stand by and keep watch over the ship; as for myself I took twelve best fighters and went ahead. † (Homer, Lines 134-137). Wanting to stay safe, Odysseus took his best fighters with him and had the others stay back and watch the ship to be sure nothing happened to it. One of the most difficult obstacles Odysseus faced was overcoming if epic flaw.Odysseus had excessive pride, or Hubris, which sometimes got him in more trouble than he was already in. For example, in the Cyclops, as Odysseus and his men are leaving after stabbing the Cyclops’ eye, he shouts â€Å"Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca. † Before this, Odysseus had told the Cyclops that his name was â€Å"Nohbdy† and could have gotten away without the Cyclops knowing who it really was, but Odysseus had to boast and brag that if anyone were to ask, it was him who blinded the Cyclops.Also in the beginning of The Odyssey after they had one the Battle of Troy, Odysseus shouted to the Gods that nothing could stop him. By provoking the Gods, he brought his 20 year journey onto himself. But by overcoming this flaw in the end, Odysseus finally returned home. Although he faced all of these battles, Odysseus combined all of his skill to defeat them and got back to Ithaca to reclaim his title as King. He couldn’t have done it on his own, but with the help of his men, using his physical and intellectual prowess, and overcoming his epic flaw, he achieved his goal after 20 years of difficulties.

Storm Born Chapter Ten

By my count, we'd spent a little over two hours at Dorian's and almost an hour getting there. That did not please me. At this rate, we might not get home until dawn in our world. If we made it home. Dorian's servant, Gawyn, looked like he was about a hundred years old. No, wait. Actually, that'd be pretty young for one of the gentry. Okay. He looked about a millennium old. I don't know. He was just old, plain and simple. His gray hair fell almost to his ankles, and as soon as I saw him hobble forward, I suddenly envisioned us taking another three hours to get to Aeson's, despite how close Dorian and the spirits claimed it was. â€Å"He's ancient,† I whispered to Dorian. â€Å"And he seems kind of†¦out of it.† Gawyn was currently telling Wil what lovely legs he had, despite the fact that Wil had none in spirit form. I wasn't entirely sure if Gawyn even realized Wil was male. â€Å"His mind will be razor sharp when it comes to Aeson's castle. As for speed, I'll give you horses. You look like you could ride a number of things exceptionally well.† I ignored the innuendo, mostly thinking how it'd been years since I'd been on a horse – not counting my earlier capture. Horses had never done much for me. I didn't get why little girls wanted ponies. If I did more riding tonight, I'd likely be sore as hell tomorrow. Once my weapons were returned, we set out. Dorian waved us off, telling me he'd be looking forward to my next visit. I stayed professional, simply thanking him for his help. I think this delighted him more than any other reaction could have. The horses did give us more speed than walking and were the best I could have hoped for in a world without mechanical transportation. The horse I rode was midnight black with a small white star on its nose. Gawyn's appeared to be a palomino. The spirits and Wil merely drifted in our wakes. In the darkness, I could just barely see Gawyn glancing over at me. â€Å"So you're Eugenie Markham. The Dark Swan.† â€Å"So they say.† â€Å"I met your father once.† â€Å"Oh?† I didn't bother making the father-stepfather clarification. â€Å"Great man.† â€Å"You think so?† â€Å"Absolutely. I know some don't think so†¦but, well, you should be proud.† â€Å"Thank you. I am.† Gawyn said no more, and I pondered his words, feeling kind of surprised. Considering what Dorian had told me, I hadn't expected Roland to have fans in the Otherworld. Then again, Dorian had also said that some – what was her name? Maiwenn? – had opposed Storm King. They might very well view Roland as a hero. We traveled in relative silence after that, broken occasionally when Finn would happily spout about what a great party Dorian had had. Like before, we crossed in and out of the various kingdoms and their climatic changes. I still felt like we traveled in circles. More than once, Gawyn called us to a halt, scratched his head, and mumbled to himself. I didn't find that reassuring. At one point, he led us off the trail and into a forest, and I hoped one of my minions would speak up if we'd gotten completely lost. Everything was tropically warm and flourishing here, so presumably we rode in the Alder Land again. Gawyn came to a stop. â€Å"Here,† he said. I looked around. Night insects sang in the trees around us, and the smell of dirt, fresh growth, and decaying plants permeated the air. It had been dark before, but now the canopy of leaves blocked out even starlight. Gawyn climbed off his horse, nearly falling into a heap on the ground. I started to get down and help him, but he soon righted himself. He walked a few paces forward and then slammed his foot against the ground. A hard, solid sound answered back. I dismounted as well. â€Å"What is that?† Volusian, back in a legged form, walked over. â€Å"A door of sorts. Built into the ground.† â€Å"Yes,† said Gawyn triumphantly. â€Å"Built for sieges. But never used anymore.† â€Å"Does it lead into Aeson's fortress thing?† I asked. â€Å"To the cellar. Stairs from the cellar lead up to the kitchen. From the kitchen, you take the servants' stairs – â€Å" â€Å"Whoa, hang on.† I wanted to make sure I had it all. Volusian created blue flame to cast light, and we drew a map in a clear spot of dirt based on Gawyn's recollections. I might have doubted his memories, but he spoke with certainty, and he had managed to lead us to this obscure place. Maybe Dorian had been right in the â€Å"razor sharp† assessment. When Gawyn felt we had the directions to the residential wing memorized, he told us he wouldn't join us. He would wait here to tell Dorian what became of us. That was fine by me. I didn't really regard Gawyn as a battle asset – or Wil, for that matter. Unlike the old man, however, the ghostly conspiracy theorist didn't take being left behind so well. â€Å"But I told you, I need to reassure her – â€Å" â€Å"No,† I said firmly. â€Å"I let you come this far, and you almost ruined things with those riders. Now you wait. If Jasmine's scared, she'll hold on a few more minutes until we bring her out to you.† I worried I'd have to bind him – I could actually do it since he was here in spirit, not in body – but it didn't come to that. He conceded, so I entered the trapdoor with just my minions in tow. â€Å"Truly,† remarked Nandi as we entered a darkened tunnel, â€Å"it is amazing that you have not died yet, mistress.† â€Å"Well, hang in there. The night is young.† Volusian provided light again, and we let it guide us along a stone-encased tunnel that smelled damp. Rats ran by at one point. Finn had been right. Apparently the Otherworld did have its share of animals and vermin. When the tunnel sloped upward, I knew we had reached the end. A wooden door in the ceiling marked our next gateway. I asked the spirits to go into an insubstantial form. Hitherto, they'd walked along looking very human. I needed them obscured now. Compliant, all three shifted to what looked like a fine mist surrounding me. I pushed open the door and climbed out, finding myself in a small enclosed space. The mist that was Volusian glowed once more, and I made out the shapes of bags and boxes. If Gawyn was right about this attaching to the kitchen, then those containers probably contained food or other supplies. Twenty feet in front of me, a doorway was outlined in light shining through from the other side. I walked up about ten steps and gingerly opened the door. I now stood in a kitchen, a very rustic one compared to my own, but completely on par with what I'd seen at Dorian's place. All was quiet. â€Å"Where is everyone?† I murmured. â€Å"It's late now,† Finn whispered back. â€Å"No one's hungry. And Aeson's not into the party scene as much as Dorian.† We found the servants' stairwell exactly where Gawyn had said it would be. Unfortunately, when I opened the door, I found a servant there, just coming down. We stared at each other stupidly, and I had only a heartbeat to decide how to handle him. I wielded both gun and athame. In another state of mind, I probably would have just killed him. But something held me back. Maybe it was Dorian. Maybe it was seeing his people and having to acknowledge they were more than just a faceless mob. Whatever it was, I chose not to kill this time. I reached out, grabbed the guy, and gave him a hard jolt to the head with my fist and the butt of my gun. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the floor. Once he had been safely deposited in the cellar, we continued on our way. We encountered no one else on the stairs, nor in the magnificent hallway it led us to. Enormous stone pillars supported the high ceiling, and rich oil paintings of various landscapes turned the walls into seas of living color. We had reached the residential wing, just as Gawyn had said. If my other intelligence was correct, we'd find Jasmine Delaney behind one of the many doors lining the hall. Fortunately, housekeeping had decided to leave open all of the unoccupied rooms. Sticking my head inside a few, I could see no one had occupied them in awhile. The beds were stripped of covers, and dust coated everything. Only two doors were actually closed. In some ways, that made my job easier. Yet, I might have enjoyed the buildup of opening a few false doors before the big payoff. Weapons readied, I opened the first one. It led to a bedroom almost bigger than Dorian's, but no one was inside. All was dark and still. A smoldering fire provided the only source of movement. Pausing a moment, I admired the wall tapestries and canopied bed. It had a nice layout, almost circular, complete with adjacent rooms and high ceilings. It made my bedroom at home look like a closet. â€Å"One left,† I muttered, slipping back out. We turned down the hall and approached the only other closed doorway. Unless Jasmine was locked in a dungeon, we should find her here, according to what we'd heard. I reached for the handle, then hesitated. â€Å"You open it, Volusian.† Some of the mist coalesced into physical form. Once solid, Volusian slowly opened the door and peered in. It looked dark. I started to move forward, but he held up a warning hand. â€Å"No, there's something – â€Å" Light flared on, and suddenly we were under attack. I tried to back out of the room, but someone grabbed me, pulling me inside. With me at risk, the other minions poured into the room. They had no choice, their preemptive orders always demanding they look to my safety. This was a bedroom, like the other one, but seven men stood here, armed with weapons and magic. I fired at the one who had grabbed me, aiming for the face and neck now that I knew what little effect I'd had on Dorian's people. It was bloody and messy, but I felt pretty sure even the best healing magic would have a tough time fixing that guy up. Once free of him, I turned on the next one who came at me. He was smart enough to strike out at my gun hand, attempting to neutralize that threat. I slashed at him with the other hand, the one holding the athame. He flinched at the feel of iron, and I used that momentary weakness to grab him and shove him into the wall with my elbow. He collapsed to the floor, and a sharp kick to the gut made sure he stayed down. I saw the spirits engaged in battle nearby, shoving and fighting with a strength that was literally inhuman. Two other men had been subdued or killed by them, and they now fought a third. That left two. One lunged at me, and I shot him, the gun's report loud in the small room. He fell backward, and I fired again, still not trusting gentry healing on their own turf. I started to look for the last guy when I heard a small whimper on the far side of the room. I turned, pausing. It was her. Jasmine Delaney. She was smaller and slighter than I'd thought she'd be. A long white gown covered her body, and she wrapped its voluminous folds around herself as she huddled in the corner. Lank, reddish blond hair nearly covered her face, but it couldn't hide her eyes. They were enormous and gray, filled with fear. They stood out sharply against her pale, gaunt face. Seeing my gaze upon her, she cringed further. Anger boiled within me. And pity. I knew she was fifteen, but in that moment, she looked about ten. She was a child. And she was trapped here, taken against her will. Hotter and fiercer my rage grew. I needed to make her captor pay, to let him know he couldn't just – My moment of emotion cost me. In those seconds I'd spent staring at her, I'd lost the last man. I felt a blade at my throat and realized I'd let him sneak up behind me. â€Å"If you want to live,† he said, â€Å"drop your weapons and call off your servants.† I didn't really think I'd live if I did that, but I was pretty sure I wouldn't if I didn't. So I did as he asked. Yet, it wasn't entirely clear to me what this one guy could really do alone. A moment later, I had my answer as another man entered. Immediately, I knew he was Aeson. For one thing, the others had been dressed in a sort of uniform. He was not. He wore deep burgundy pants tucked into thigh-high boots made of black leather. A shirt of black silk clothed his upper body, billowing and gleaming. His gray-streaked brown hair was pulled back in a short ponytail, and a circlet of gold sat on his head. His face was long and narrow, with a mouth destined for good sneers. Arrogant or not, Dorian had never worn a crown in his own keep, I realized. There had been no need. His kingship was obvious to all. Two guards followed Aeson, and upon seeing the situation, he sent one for backup. And here we'd been doing so well in evening the odds. â€Å"If I'd realized you would decimate my men in minutes, I would have had the whole garrison up here,† Aeson remarked. He leaned toward me, touching my cheek. â€Å"It really is you. Eugenie Markham. I can't believe I finally have you.† I tried to squirm from that touch, but I had nowhere to go, not with a blade at my throat. My minions waited, tense, willing to do whatever I asked. Yet, I feared unleashing them might put Jasmine at risk – and my own throat. â€Å"You have her,† said a shaking voice from the hall. â€Å"I did what I said. Now give me Jasmine.† Moving my eyes, I stared in astonishment. Wil floated in the doorway. He must have followed us after all. He looked at Aeson expectantly. An uneasy feeling built up within me, and everything clicked into place. â€Å"You traitorous son of a bitch!† Ignoring my outrage, Wil turned pleading eyes to Aeson. â€Å"Please. I brought you Eugenie. I kept my part of the deal.† â€Å"Yes,† said Aeson without even looking at the other man. â€Å"You did. And I will keep my word – momentarily.† He kept studying me like I was some kind of treasure or artifact. Like I was the eighth wonder of the world. I appreciated the boost to my ego, but the look in his eyes was actually kind of creeping me out. â€Å"Aeson – † tried Wil again. â€Å"Shut up,† snapped the king, still staring at me. The hand on my cheek slipped down and cupped my chin. He smiled, but it was a cold smile, one that didn't meet his eyes. In the corner, I heard Jasmine make a distraught sound. â€Å"After all this time, after so much waiting, I can finally beget the heir.† The statement was so ludicrous as to simply bounce off of me without comprehension. â€Å"Either kill me or let me go. I hate these idiotic soliloquies.† The entranced look on his face suddenly sharpened, and he blinked. â€Å"You†¦you have no idea, do you?† When I didn't answer, he started laughing so hard, I thought tears would form in his eyes. â€Å"I've tried so hard to get you, and you never even knew. You really don't know.† â€Å"Know what?† I asked impatiently. â€Å"Who your father is.† I didn't really appreciate the Star Wars?Cesque routine. â€Å"Roland Markham is my father. And the next time I see him, we're going to come back and kick your ass together. If I don't do it now.† â€Å"The next time you see him, you should ask him for the truth about you and Storm King.† â€Å"I don't have anything to do with Storm King.† â€Å"He's your father, girl. Roland Markham is a murderer and a thief. How could you not have known?† He might as well have been speaking a foreign language. â€Å"Maybe because you're insane. And because I'm human.† â€Å"Are you? Funny. You function in this world as easily as one of the shining ones. I've never met a human who could.† â€Å"Maybe I'm gifted.† I had on my bitch-bravado face, but his words were sneaking into me. I've heard that the soul often recognizes truth when it hears it, even if the mind does not. Maybe that was what was happening. My logical self was still being stubborn, but something†¦something in his words tickled the back of my mind. It was like some image lay there, covered in a black veil, waiting for me to lift it. â€Å"You are gifted. More than you know.† He brushed my hair out of my face. â€Å"Soon I will give you the greatest gift of your life. I'll redeem you for being a blood traitor.† â€Å"Shut up.† The keres had called me a blood traitor too. â€Å"You don't know what you're talking about.† â€Å"Then why do you look so pale? Admit it. You've always known. You've always been alone.† â€Å"Everyone feels alone.† â€Å"Not like you do. Rest easy, though. You won't be lonely much longer. I would have taken you to my bed even if you were ugly, but now that I've seen you – â€Å" There were a lot of ways to have your maniacal tirade cut short, but being attacked by a fox was a new one. I didn't even know where it came from. One minute, Aeson was babbling on about having his way with me, and the next, a red fox was leaping out at him, claws and teeth bared. I'd never thought of a fox as a really dangerous animal, but this one looked lethal. It was the size of a German shepherd, and it hit Aeson like a tank. Its claws left scratches on his face. The guard holding me released me to help his master, and I retrieved my gun. I fired on him just as he was about to pry the fox from Aeson. It wasn't a killing shot, but it distracted him, halting his progress. I grabbed the wounded guard and threw him as far as the difference in our body weights would allow. He collapsed into a pile, and I shot him again. I turned toward Aeson to check the fox's progress, but the fox was no longer holding the king down. Kiyo was. My mouth dropped open. Kiyo. The black hair curled behind his ears, and I could see his muscles straining as he struggled with Aeson, his hands wrapped around the king's throat. Fire flared up from Aeson's fingertips, and I heard Kiyo grunt in response. I started to go to him without conscious thought, but he yelled at me to get Jasmine. Jasmine. Of course. The reason I was here. I dragged my eyes from the face I'd been obsessing on for the past week and approached the girl in the corner. I didn't think she could move any farther against the wall, yet she seemed to do so with each step I took. â€Å"Jasmine,† I said, leaning over and trying to sound gentle despite the panic coursing through me. â€Å"I'm a friend. I'm here to help you – â€Å" With those pathetic eyes and worn features, I'd expected some difficulty in getting her on her feet. What I did not expect was for her to suddenly leap out and flail at me with both hands. â€Å"Noooo!† she screamed, her shrill voice grating against my ears. I recoiled, not because of the threat she represented but because of the damage I could potentially cause her. â€Å"Aeson!† She ran to the struggling men and started beating fists on Kiyo's back. I suspected they had about the same effect as a fly landing on him. He transformed into a fox, and her blows fell on Aeson instead. I reached for her in that moment of surprise, but she was too small and too fast. She slipped away from me and everyone else in the room, and ran out the door before any of us could stop her. â€Å"Jasmine!† I yelled, my cries echoed by Wil as I ran to the door. Kiyo and Aeson still fought, and some distant part of me noted how Kiyo slipped in and out of fox and human forms as Aeson used fire magic against him. â€Å"Eugenie,† gasped Kiyo, â€Å"get out of here. Now.† â€Å"Jasmine – † I began. â€Å"The girl is gone, mistress,† said Volusian. â€Å"The kitsune is right. We need to get out of here. Cut your losses.† â€Å"No.† I stuck my head out the door. Jasmine was not in sight. Over a dozen or so guards running down the hall were, however. â€Å"Eugenie!† It was Kiyo again. â€Å"Run!† â€Å"Yes, Storm Daughter,† laughed Aeson, blood running out of his nose. â€Å"Run home. Ask Roland Markham who your father is.† â€Å"You bastard – † I wanted to lunge at him, to help Kiyo, but Finn grabbed me. â€Å"Jump now. Back to your world.† The pounding boots in the hall were almost upon us. â€Å"I can't. Not from here. I don't have an anchor.† â€Å"Yes, you do.† He glanced over at Wil, who hung there, translucent and utterly useless. If it had been up to me, I would have left Wil and his betraying ass here to be destroyed, but suddenly he had a purpose. Seeing my uncertain look, Kiyo said, â€Å"I'll go as soon as you do. They're here!† And they were. Men pouring into the room. I probably shouldn't have cared what happened to Kiyo, but I did. I wanted him to get out of this alive. I wanted to find Jasmine and bring her away. But the best I could do now was save my own skin. Invoking Hecate, I shifted my senses away from this world, reaching out to my own. While doing so, my will grabbed ahold of a startled Wil, dragging his spirit with me. A hard transition like that, without a crossroads or thin spot, theoretically could have dumped me anywhere in the human world. But I had Wil's spirit in tow. It had no choice but to snap back to his physical body, out in the Sonora Desert. If I was strong enough. â€Å"Follow!† I yelled to the minions. Or maybe it was to Kiyo. I didn't really know. The world shifted, my senses blurring. Crossing worlds in a convenient spot was like crossing through a wall made out of plastic sheeting. It was thin, and it took some struggling and clawing, but you could eventually get through. Jumping without a normal crossover spot, however? Well, that was like breaking through a brick wall.

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Career Aspirations and Reflection on Skills Development - Essay Example This paper examines the author’s long term career plan as to be able to open and establish his own string of SPA and Wellness Centers in London. The researcher envisions himself as a successful entrepreneur, managing and operating not only one, but several shops, even to the point of offering low cost franchise for those who have aspirations to attain financial freedom and stability through opening their own business. To accomplish this dream, the researcher sees himself building the necessary resources to open his own business in the city. Apart from the financial requirements, he also has to be equipped to establish and oversee his own SPA and Wellness Centre. So the author could be trained thoroughly in business management, his medium term goal is to be able obtain a management position as an Operations Manager in one of the top SPA and Wellness Centers in London. The researcher’s first step towards achieving these goals is first, to obtain his bachelor’s and master’s degree in Business Management. The researcher considers this his short term career goal, as this will serve as his stepping stone towards his dreams. The author is now juggling both his studies and a job within the same industry, which to him, are perfect training grounds both in his chosen field of studies and his personal development as well. A SPA and Wellness Business Manager should have excellent leadership skills, superior people skills and extensive knowledge on the SPA business. Successful careers are deemed not to be based on academic qualifications alone, but more importantly, on the person’s ability to demonstrate strong leadership skills in the workplace (MIB – Master of International Business in Hotel, Resort and Spa Management 2011). In this sense, I must be able to develop strength in character, and solid decision making skills to I could eventually lead my own team towards a prosperous business venture. Leadership skills are essentially the ability to motivate a group of people towards particular goals (Leadership 2011). I would only be able to do this if people have reasons to look up to me. The SPA and Wellness business is lucrative business, which has gained immense popularity on the global front simply because of the growing interest in holistic wellness. More than going to the doctor for treatment of particular diseases, people have embraced the concept of prevention. Release from tension and stress allows us to become healthy individuals (Spas and the Global Wellness Market: Synergies and Opportunities 2011). Just like any other industry, the trends are evolving. Technology plays a big part in the development of this segment. And so to be able to be an effective SPA and Wellness Manager, I must be constantly in touch with the developments on a global level. I must know, understand and more importantly, enjoy the specifics of this business to succeed. People skills are one of the most important qualities that a SPA and Wellness Business Manage should have. The Wellness industry is a service-oriented vocation. The products are all about pleasing people and giving them good levels of health and wellness services. There should be a strong connection between the service providers and the customers. The people behind this service should be able to understand the demands of the market and be able to come up with ways to deliver

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Customer Relationship Management - Assignment Example The CRM is fully featured software with an architecture that encompasses the features of â€Å"Customer Service, Sales Management, and Marketing Automation† (Tomkinson, pp. 10-12, 2007). The CRM solution has many advantages and limitations with it. The software diminishes and decrease the cost of ownership but the difficult user interface becomes a challenge associated to it. Since the CRM solution provides a wide range of benefits to the organizations and efficient output come under generation, therefore, organizations tend to implement CRM as it provides one platform to maintain the database and integrate the business processes. Numerous organizations from the world have implemented the CRM software and are getting benefit from it. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 4 CRM Architecture 6 CRM and Contact Management 8 Benefits of CRM 8 Limitations of CRM 9 Why does an organization require CRM? 10 Consequences of CRM in adopting C RM technology 10 Conclusion & Recommendations 11 References 13 Introduction to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) The world today is shrinking with the emergence of the concept of globalization and the businesses and customers are in correlation to each other on a global platform. Therefore, it has become essential and indispensable for any organization to maintain their customer related information, sales records, statistics and forecast, and their marketing techniques on a distinct and single platform or database where all the information come under integration to each other. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of the approach or program that comes into practice by an organization on a broad perspective in order to administer, operate, and handle the communication and dealings of the enterprise with its consumers and prospects (Buttle, pp. 3-4, 2008). Some people also view CRM as a company strategy whose focal point is its customers and their contentment and complace ncy is of top priority for the organization along with the prime goals and objectives of augmenting the earnings, productivity, prosperity, and success. The history of CRM reveals the information that it is not an old concept; rather it has emerged in the middle of the last century and acquired acceptance, awareness and popularity with the development and advancements in technological marketing software. The twenty first century gave boost to the Customer Relationship Management software and IT dealers made the wide utilization of this software and launched their customized systems as CRM (Vogt, pp. 2-4, 2009). The application of CRM comes under exercise and practice with the use of technology to systematize, standardize, automate, synchronize, integrate and amalgamate the business processes and functions that embrace the customer support and services, sales exercise and marketing of products. In a broad-spectrum, the CRM has been designed with a perspective and vision to search for new prospects, influence or catch their attention through the marketing techniques and convert the prospects into customers, along with fostering, persuading and providing support to the existing clients of the organization in order to sustain them as well (Ed., pp. 6-7, 2008). CRM focuses on evaluating, assessing, signification, and prioritizing the association its customers while putting this course of action into practice. CRM program come under design in such a way that it has all the tools and techniques available that maintains the customer information in detail since

Cybercrime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Cybercrime - Essay Example Data breaches can be combatted by propertizing data or by individual businesses informing consumers about their rights regarding the use of their data. Illegal downloads can be combatted by actions by the music artists themselves, as well as remedies that involve shutting down the sites that sponsor the downloads. Child pornography, in and of itself, is best combatted with legal means, such as criminal prosecution. However, the two types of pornography that are examined in this paper – extreme pornography between adults and child pornography that involves , characters - should be dealt with other means. The data breach section examines United States law, as does the section regarding illegal downloads. The pornography section involves UK law. Hence, the topics are examined with a multinational perspective, which is the best way to examine these topics, as these topics are global in nature. Cybercrime – Data Breaches One major example of cybercrime is the data breach, wh ich results in â€Å"the distribution of personal information 'beyond the bounds of...consent and expectations.'†1 These breaches may be the result of an unauthorized person accessing a company's database, or might be the result of an employee losing his or her laptop or other portable storage device. These are only some of the ways that breaches might result, and there are many more. 50% of the data breaches are committed by employees of the company that is breached.2 Breaches can lead to identity theft and fraud, such as when TJX Companies, Inc., the operator of TJ Maxx and Marshall stores in the United States, announced in January 2007 that it was the victim of a security breach, which exposed 94 million credit card records to outsiders, and these outsiders made fraudulent credit card purchases with this information about TJX customers.3 Since the cardholders had to pay for the fraudulent charges, not the individual customers, the banks who issued these cards filed suit ag ainst TJX an won a $41 million verdict ordering TJX to pay reimburse them for their losses.4 Moreover, since up to 400,000 of the TJX records included their customer's social security numbers and driver's license numbers, the thieves were able to steal identities as well.5 Stealing social security numbers is an infinitely more serious problem than accessing the individual's credit cards, as identity thieves are able to use the social security number to open up new accounts for which the individual is responsible, and gives the thief â€Å"virtual keys† to the victim's financial life,6 enabling the thief to â€Å"empty bank accounts, obtain credit cards, secure loans, open lines of credit, connect telephone services, and enroll in government benefits in the victim's name,†7 while merely stealing credit card information only leaves the individual with the inconvenience of having to close that particular account. Moreover, â€Å"[i]dentity thieves also commit crimes in t he victims names. A victim of criminal impersonation risks arrest and a criminal record for an identity thief's transgression†8 Breaches resulting in thefts of social security numbers are very expensive and time-consuming for the victims, as they spend an average of $1,000 in out of pocket expenses and 600 hours in personal time cleaning up the mess, and lose on average $16,791.9 The risks of social security numbers and other personal information falling into the wrong hands can also be deadly, as in the case

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US - Russian relations; how the embargo is affecting trade and the economy - Outline Example The U.S government, for instance strongly condemned Russia’s annexation of Crimea2. The U.S imposed sanctions against 64 Russian individuals and organizations for destabilizing Ukraine. This paper will discuss how the recent US embargo on Russia is negatively affecting trade and the economy (in Russia), and how or if it may also affect a particular nation within the European Union. Congressional action in the U.S. has focused on providing help to the new Ukrainian government and also the sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea. President Obama warned Russia that it would face several costs for its ongoing actions in Ukraine3. For instance, the United States suspended most bilateral cooperation with Russia. It also announced that it would suspend several projects that were planned under the guidance of U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission. The U.S government also put restrictions on defence-related support to Russia especially the exports4. The United States issued an Executive Order that imposed asset freezes and visa bans against the people that undermined the democratic processes laid down in Ukraine. These people included 23 high-ranking Russian government officials and parliamentarians, 4 wealthy businesspersons in Putin’s inner circle. The government also placed sanctions on organizations that included bank, energy companies and other organizations that had a link to Putin’s inner circle. All these were done as part of an action to prevent further escalation of the crisis in Ukraine5. As stated earlier, several countries and regions including the U.S, EU and Japan placed sanctions on Russia following its actions in Ukraine. Several countries including Albania, Canada, Moldovia, Australia, Switzerland and Montenegro followed suit6. However, the effects of the U.S sanctions on Russia are different to those of the other

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Methods for Resolving Small Scale Systems Problems - Essay Example General systems theory is often used to solve many problems. Problems are nothing new for human being. Since the creation of mankind, it is a common fact that human beings are continuously facing different problems and adopt various techniques to cope with these problems. Situations that may arise time to time always require some action to cope with them. Moreover, problems may be well defined and at small scale like opening a can, solving some mathematical problem and scoring in any specific game. On the other hand problems and issues may be of large scale. This may include the opening of a business which requires proper strategies, planning at each and every step. So, each and every problem always requires some specific strategy and solution. However, it does not mean that one solution is used to resolve any particular issue only and it is not suitable for some other problem. 2. After that you have to choose the strategy in order to solve the problem. For that purpose you should consider all those strategies and solutions that are available. Just adopt one that you think best out of all. Here, I want to mention that the basic reason to explain all the above mentioned details is to make it clear that problem solving always requires some specific phases whether short term goals are required to achieve or long term goals. So, here we can also say that problem solving of large scale systems can be applied to smaller scale systems as well because the basic thing to follow is to consider all the required phases accordingly. Now, I am going to explain briefly some of the systems methodologies that are described to resolve the problems of large scale systems. I will further explain that how these strategies can be applied to smaller scale systems. Basically, systems science and systems theory evolved to handle the real world and to resolve complex, intertwined, large scale and small scale systems problems. Remember, problems always contain some sort

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Efficient time management in the home and workplace - Essay Example However, beyond the mathematics, the rhetoric and its complexities, what we do know is that, though time is evasive, everything moves and changes all the time, even if we do not notice it. More importantly, the passage of time is supposed to change us in significant ways as physical growth and aging is an inevitable consequence of time. As seasons change and move through a cycle, we learn from living and experiencing events through our lifetime. Apparently, emotional and psychological growth requires different timeframes for maturity depending on an individual. Concerning it, time seems to have a different unit. Sometimes, as we make mistakes, we incur costly damages not only in our relationships and concerns but also in our own and other people’s time. Ideally, though not normally, as we live and learn, the time we spend on mistakes and regrets decrease. This is a natural and ideal consequence of the passage of time. 1.1.2. Measurement of time The passage of time is commonly measured by seconds, hours, days, weeks, months and years. These are the familiar time spans that we are aware of. It would be interesting to note that there are other units of time, several times smaller than a second that also exist. The shortest, accurately measured length of time is a picosecond (1/ 1x1012 of a second) while a few nanoseconds (1/ 1x109 of a second) may measure the thinking capabilities of a normal personal computer.

How comprehensive and abstinent only sex education differ and how Research Paper

How comprehensive and abstinent only sex education differ and how comprehensive is more informative and can help decrease the te - Research Paper Example However, differences on how to approach this subject have also emerged as a result as one group argues for the more traditional promotion of abstinence before marriage while the other advocates for a more direct approach of teaching where the youth are educated on all aspects concerning sex including protection against pregnancies and sexual transmitted diseases (Cook & Clarke 228). Though the more orthodox promoters of sex education are worried that too much information at an early age may not be the wisest decision, the question remains what withholding information on topics such as safe sex will have on the youth as overall as studies have shown that more and more teenagers are engaging in sexual activities and thus if this trend cannot be stopped would it not be better to ensure that they are taking the needed precautions to protect them from unplanned pregnancies and contraction of STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections). Statistics have shown that the average age that individual s are losing their pregnancy is between 14 – 16 years of age which means that sex education will need to be introduced at an early age if it is to have the desired effect. This statistic is alarming considering that in the earlier years, studies conducted had shown that the average age at which virginity was lost was between 16 -18 years. This shows that a decrease of two years has taken place between the times these two studies were conducted; there is also fear that the age may continue decreasing which is a disturbing thought (Ott & Santelli 425). Abstinence only programs involve sex education with regard to its avoidance until one reaches the age of maturity (18-21 years) or preferably until one is married. This program focuses on encouraging the youth to shun any form of sexual interaction and teach on the dangers of unprotected sex such as unplanned pregnancies and incurable STIs in a bid to scare the youth straight so to speak. They do not offer any alternatives on how one is able to practice safe sex if they do decide to engage in such activities and mostly paint a scary picture on the consequences of having sex at an early age. The program has mostly been promoted by the conservative groups in the country including most religious factions as they feel any other mode of sex education will be in effect promoting the engaging of sexual activities among the youth (Cook & Clarke 236). Comprehensive sex education son the other hand focuses on all aspects involving sex education including its biology, human sexual behavior and the practice of safe sex as an alternative option. This type of sex education though considered unorthodox by the conservative groups have proved to be more effective within the schools as compared to the abstinence only programs in terms of preventing teen pregnancies. Comprehensive sex education includes teaching the use of condoms and other prevention

Modern Business in Comparative Perspective (EXAM PREPARATION) Essay

Modern Business in Comparative Perspective (EXAM PREPARATION) - Essay Example Through outsourcing, the management will get some free time to concentrate on improvement of its output. On the other hand, in the year, 2000 Hewlett Packard Co in US has increased the production of its products by 50 %. The company ensures that it has enough to meet its customers demand at any particular time. The countries ensure that they acquire adequate raw material as well as skilful personnel in order to produce quality products. The companies also provide that they use modern equipment’s in their production process to produce quality products. Japan, most company’s management is transferring their operation to online. That is, they have to find their raw material online and find a market their products online. The company products also call for proper marketing of its products to sell to the expectations of the enterprise. However, various companies have different marketing strategies that the use to sell their products. For instance, Toyota Company in Japan ensures that it acquires and sells over 50% of its products online. On the other hand, most Companies in US uses promotional techniques. The companies always conduct road shows to market its products. In addition, the companies also adopt the system of e-commerce in most of its operations. Economic success of the particular countries contributes a lot to the country’s economic success. However, the countries management ensures that it properly trains its employees in order to meet organizational objectives at just in time (JIT). For instance, Honda Company in USA ensures that it gives its employees an opportunity to learn more. For instance, the company takes its employees for seminars in order to improve their skills and experience. On the other hand, Toyota Co in Japan ensures that it provides on the job training to its employees if performance evaluation demands training. The operation management of both USA and Japan are equal in the

Stereotypes in Modern World Essay Example for Free

Stereotypes in Modern World Essay The stereotype that all is well at the time which exists in our society is one of the most stable. According to this stereotype, the average citizen of Kazakhstan should finish school no later than 18 years old, finish the university at least at the age of 30, to begin his own adult life and leave the parental care at somewhere about 22 years, to start a family and have children in the range of 25 to 35 years old, go to retirement at the age of 58 (women) and 63 (for men). According to this stereotype in Kazakhstan, the daughter should be married and go to live in the house of her husband at 25 years, and the eldest son must always live in his parents’ house even being married. The rest of children –daughters and sons – should also live their parents’ house and live separately. There is another old custom of giving the eldest child to parent for upbringing. But it is used less and less nowadays. Social clock is ticking all the time in collective unconscious in the subconscious of every person. Many women over 25 may have psychological complexes due to, for example, that they are still not married. Young people, not enrolled to study in high school, worry about that they will not have enough time to get higher education until they are 30. Maybe all this stereotypes have some biological reasons related with philosophy: the most optimal time for the first childbearing for women is the age before 30. After this age the childbearing can pass with some complications. Young parents have more chances to bring up their offspring and to see their grandchildren, and be involved in their education. And parents will not burden their adult children with the care of themselves (parents), when it’s a time for them (children) to make a career. In addition, they will be born healthier children. Scientists have shown that the older parents have more chances to have children born with Down syndrome. At last it is not very good to stay under the roof of paternal house, because it is fraught with possible conflicts of generations. But it also happens that people are pleased to break stereotypes. And then we find out in the news that the 80-year-old man became a student at the university; or that an elderly woman in retirement, because of her love to music, went to the music school to fulfill the dream of her lifetime –to learn to play the piano. Perhaps previously she had no time to do that, because she had to make a living and raise a family. More often modern Kazakh girls break stereotypes. They are not in hurry to get married and put it off to times up to 40 years, because they want to get married not for public opinion, but in case of real love. They know all the risks, but hope for the best, and often their expectations are met. If you want to know my opinion I would say that I’m strongly against any stereotypes imposed by social clock, and I think that everyone should tune this clock according to their own opinion and write the script of their lives themselves. Writer and philosopher Voltaire once said, â€Å"Best of all to do things, that in the opinion of others, you will never be able to do. And I absolutely agree with that!

Tax Exemption of Athletic Associations and Universities

Tax Exemption of Athletic Associations and Universities Should Professional Athletic Associations and Private Universities be Tax-Exempt? Introduction/Historical Background In the United States, the origins of the tax-exempt sector long predate the republic (Arnsberger, Ludlum, Riley 125.) Without an established framework of government, the early colonist formed many charitable and other voluntary organizations to confront a variety of issues (Arnsberger, Ludlum, Riley 125.) Now, almost three centuries after the formulation of the republic, the tax-exempt sector still plays a major role within public administration, especially in the fulfillment of public services. However, in regards to some organizations within the tax-exempt sector, it is becoming seemingly more difficult to understand what public purpose it serves. While many nonprofit organizations are performing acts that are beneficial to the general public, others are not. According to Edward T. Pound, a U.S. News reporter, the PGA Tour Inc. grosses nearly $180 million a year from their sponsorship of the mens pro golf tour (Pound.) Yet, due to the PGA Tour Inc.s nonprofit status, the corporation does not pay any federal tax on tour operations (Pound.) The National Center for Charitable Statistics reports that there is nearly 1.5 million nonprofit organizations registered within the United States as of 2013(nccs.urban.org.) The rapid growth within the nonprofit sector does not come without its consequences. The Internal Revenue Service has conducted numerous investigations on groups like the National Football League and Childrens Television Workshop for violations such as, excessive com pensation of Congressmen (Pound.) Actions like these are leading many to question why some organizations are considered for considered to be a tax-exempt organization. By examining the nonprofit sector from a historical perspective and possessing a basic understanding of 501 (c) organizations, one can better determine for oneself whether or not certain organizations should be tax-exempt. For one to truly understand todays current nonprofit sector, it is important to know a brief history of the role of the tax-exempt sector within American history. First, there are two main types of voluntary organizations: public serving and member serving. While these two voluntary organizations found great success in early colonial settlements, with hospitals and education, the tax code for these voluntary organizations was not developed until 1894. Furthermore, before the 1950s, tax-exempt organizations could earn tax-free income from both mission-related activities and commercial business activitiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(Arnsberger, Ludlum, Riley 127.) It was not until the Revenue Act of 1954 that the modern tax code for voluntary organizations was established, including section 501(c) for tax exempt organizations (Arnsberger, Ludlum, Riley 127.) In order for an organization to qualify for tax-exempt status, the organization must display that its purpose serves the public good as opposed to private interest (Arnsberger, Ludlum, Riley 129.) Figures show that between the 1985 and 2004 Tax Years, the private foundation segment of the tax-exempt sector experienced significant growth (Arnsberger, Ludlum, Riley 131.) From 1985 to 2004, the number of 501(c) 3 public charities in the United States nearly tripled (Arnsberger, Ludlum, Riley 130.) Now, even today, the tax-exempt sector continues to grow in size and activities, while new tax-exempt organizations continue to emerge (Arnsberger, Ludlum, Riley 135.) Argument Against Tax-Exemption for Athletic Associations and some Universities The tax-exempt sector has drastically changed throughout the past three decades. The rapid increase in number of tax-exempt organizations, along with an evolving tax code, has caused for a lack in governmental transparency in regards to organizations. For example, the National Football League grosses over $9.5 billion dollars per year, but was exempt from federal taxes until 2015 when the NFL voluntarily gave away its tax-exempt status (Isidore 2015). During its time as a nonprofit, the NFL earned more than the Y, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army or Catholic Charities- yet it was able to stand as one of the greatest profit-generatingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦media enterprises ever created (Watson.) In a survey conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University, only 13 percent of people could identify the NFL as a nonprofit (Jenkins.) While the NFL has since forfeited its tax-exempt status, there are other athletic organization who is nonprofit status is still under question. Other athletic groups li ke the National Hockey League, National College Athletic Association, Professional Golfers Association Tour, and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association are also under fire. Senator Tom Coburn is calling for legislation that would eliminate any athletic league that grosses more than $10 million to no longer be tax-exempt under 501(c) 6. The Senator wrote, Americans are paying artificially high rates in order to subsidize special breaks for sports leagues (Coburn.) While the NFL has now voluntarily forfeited its tax-exemption, it is still important to question why the organization was ever tax-exempt to begin with and apply the same thoughts to other groups that are still tax-exempt. Tax-exemption for multi-million dollar athletic association seems obscene, especially with some groups approach towards social issues. Before voluntarily giving up their tax-exempt status, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell proposed legislation calling to revoke the NFLs nonprofit status after the leagues failure to properly address issues of domestic violenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and the response to the Washington teams refusal to change its nickname (Mandell, Scott.) Cantwell stated, American taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize a $9 billion league that promotes a dictionary-defined racial slur (Mandell, Scott.) Many wonder how these athletic associations even fit into the tax code to begin with. According to USA TODAY Sports Brent Schrotenboer, the NFL has been tax-exempt since the 1940s. In 1966, Congress amended the law to list professional football leagues as a 501 (c) 6 organization in exchange for monetary pledges and the promise to build a New Orleans franchise (Mandell, Scott). While the NFL is an easy organization to examine, the same thought can be applied to most other professional athletic associations that are also exempt from taxes. Yet, athletic associations are not the only group in question for its tax-exempt status. It has long been an understanding that educational institutions are exempt of federal income tax, but some are beginning to question if that should always be the case. In the summer of 2013, residents of Princeton came together to sue the prestigious university that resides in their town (Pierson, Riley). The town residents argued that the school, Princeton University, should no longer be entitled to its tax-exempt status due to its endowment, scientific patents, events, and more (Pierson, Riley). The Ivy League school is operating like a business, the plaintiffs say, so the tax code should treat it like one (Pierson, Riley). The lawsuit claims that in 2011, the university took in over $115 million from scientific patents, which it then put $35 million in the hands of varying faculty members. The residents lawyer said, People in Princeton pay at least one-third more in taxes because the universit y has been exempt all these years (Pierson, Riley). Princeton is not the only university experiencing backlash from its local community. The mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, home to Brown University, also wants to increase the universitys tax payments. At a press conference, Mayor Angel Tarveras said, It takes the revenue collected from 19,00 taxpayers to account for the $38 million in property taxes not paid by Brown University (Pierson, Riley.) Yet, as communities continue to struggle to fund public services, some find it difficult to understand why well-off schools and universities are tax-exempt. In 2004 alone, educational institutions held six of the top ten positions for public charities within the United States (Arnsberger, Ludlum, Riley 131.) Yet, many of these well-off educational institutions do little to financially support the local community, even though the schools benefit from many of its local public services (Pierson, Riley.) Some universities like John Hopkins, Yale, and Duke have worked out pilot deals in lieu of paying taxes (Pierson, Riley.) But even these donations fall well below what the school would owe in taxes (Pierson, Riley.) Counter Argument for Athletic Assoc. and Universities and their Tax-Exemption According to Judith Long, professor of sports management at the University of Michigan, the tax-exempt status of athletic associations is irrelevant (Long 2014). The government does not stand to gain significant financial revenue by revoking the tax-exempt status of athletic associations. Much of the furor in the current debate over the nonprofit status of professional sports is driven by misplaced perceptions that the revenues earned by these organizations are not taxed (Long 2014). The large salaries of associate executives are still taxed later through individual taxes, as well as many of the major league teams who are apart of the association (Long 2014). In addition, Long notes that, many nonprofit sports leagues and associations operate either at a deficit or just about break-even, leaving little or no income tax(2014). Thus, revoking the tax-exempt status of professional athletic associations would not yield as much revenue as one would think. Focusing on the tax-exempt status of professional athletic associations masks many of the real burdens these groups place on the American taxpayer. For example, we continue to permit the use of federal tax-exempt bonds to fund new stadiums and arenas, and cities across America routinely grant relief from property taxes for pro-facilities (Long 2014). Where the revenue the government stands to gain from revoking the tax-exempt status of professional associations stands to be around $110 million within the first decade, these grants relief from property taxes has cost to be in the billions over the last decade (Long 2014). Therefore, the tax-exempt status of professional athletic associations is not the biggest way in which the government is losing revenue from these groups. Evaluating the tax-exempt status of private universities is different than examining that of professional athletic associations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Colleges and universities provide value to students and society. We generate direct economic activity from capital investments, ongoing operations, and student and visitor spending. We provide cultural opportunities to residents and support community initiatives and volunteer work (Kaplan 2015). While universities may not pay property taxes, some of them participate in payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) programs (Kaplan 2015). According to a study conducted by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in 2011, the PILOTs collectively across the United States were worth over $92 million with most of the money coming from colleges and universities (Kaplan 2015). While universities may not be paying property tax, they are a mission-based organization thats purpose is to provide a great benefit to society. Critique of Both Arguments Like any good topic, theres always two ways to sides to the argument. Here, one is presented with the issue of whether or not professional athletic associations and private universities should be receiving tax-exempt status. To me, comparing the tax-exempt status of professional athletic associations to private universities is like comparing apples to oranges. I believe the argument for keeping private universities is far superior to counter argument. While private universities like Brown and Princeton have significant funds and endowments that could be taxed to benefit the local community, universities provide so much value to a city. For example, communities benefit, some more than others, in tourism revenue just by default of having a college in their town. In addition, like previously said in the counter argument, universities benefit the community through volunteerism and threw many on-campus organizations. In addition, I believe that higher education being tax-exempt allows the government to take an important stance. The cost of education is too for most students and families, making many students take out loans just to pay for school. By having education be tax-exempt, I believe that the government is sending a message that education provides a great service and benefit to us all. While I believe in private educations tax-exempt status and the message it sends, I do not believe that professional athletic associations like the NHL and PGA should be tax-exempt. While a strong counter can be found as the why the tax-exempt status of these organizations is irrelevant, I still feel that it sends the wrong message and is unfair to the American taxpayer. The PGA grosses nearly $180 million a year in sponsorship, yet they are tax-exempt (Pound). To me, that is almost immoral of the government to do. Non-profits are meant to be mission-serving organizations that provide a beneficial service to their community; however, I see no benefit to the community by these organizations tax-exempt status. With the national debt continuing to rise, one would think the government would be taking any rightful cent they could get. Athletic leagues and some universities are just two examples of nonprofits that can be seen as questionable by the American people. In addition, I think it is important for the government to be transparent and really take into consideration the mission of the organization before verifying a group as tax-exempt. Keeping valuable tax dollars from the government and the American people is unfair, especially when it comes to athletic organizations that earn billions of dollars a year. With people struggling to simply pay for daily necessities, it is time for the government to reevaluate the current tax codes, and allow for more government transparency Conclusion To conclude, after presenting a basic history of nonprofit organizations and its tax codes, one can better determine whether or not specific groups should be considered a tax-exempt organization in todays society. As history has progressed, it is becoming seemingly more difficult to see what public purpose certain groups are serving. The NHL and the PGA Tour Inc., for example, are making millions of dollars a year, yet they pay no federal income tax on its revenue. Congressmen see the fault in the tax-exempt status of these athletic organizations, but no progress is being made. Moreover, this shows a lack of transparency within in government, with a study finding of nearly 87% people being unaware of the NFLs tax-exempt status. Yet, athletic organizations are not the only group being scrutinized for its nonprofit status. Educational institutions are beginning to feel the backlash as well. Schools such as Princeton and Brown are coming under pressure by their communities to pay proper ty tax. The reason they dont dates back to 1917 whenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ educational institutionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦operated on a far more modest scale (Piereson and Riley.) Sometimes, it is difficult to see the public purpose of certain organizations within the tax-exempt sector. While there are countless nonprofits performing beneficial public services, others can be harder to justify. In the future, I believe the government should not be allowing professional athletic associations to be tax-exempt. While the potential revenue increase is modest, it is still helping taxpayers. However, when it comes to the tax exemption of private universities, I am neutral or even in support of their status. Educational institutions bring great value to community, and I believe they provide a great service to the American people. Non-profits provide a great service to our country and in aiding public administrators. Thus, we should not take the status of the tax-exempt sector lightly. Works Cited US Nonprofit Sector. National Center for Charitable Statistics/US Nonprofit Sector. Arnsberger, P., Ludlum, M., Riley, M., and Stranton, M. A History of the Tax-Exempt Sector: An SOI Perspective The Nature of the Nonprofit Sector. Ed. J. Steven Ott and Lisa A. Dicke. 125-135. Coburn, T. The NFL Doesnt Need Tax-Exempt Status. US News. U.S. News World Report, 30 Nov. 2013. Hopkins, B., Gross, V. The Legal Framework of the Nonprofit Sector in the United States The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 43-52. Isidore, C. NFL gives up tax exempt status. CNN Money. 28 April 2015 Jenkins, K. Your Tax Dollars into NFL Owners Pockets? PublicMind Polling, Market Analysis. Fairleigh Dickinson University, 24 Jan. 2014 Kaplan, S. Losing tax exemptions would chill higher ed. The University Business. 23 September 2013. Long, J.   Ending Sports Leagues Tax-Exempt Status Might Not Bring In More Money. New York Times. 3 September 2014. Mandell, N. and Scott, N. Why the NFL Probably Wont Lose Its Tax-Exempt Status. USA Today. USA Today, 23 Sept. 2014 Piereson, J. and Riley, NS.,Why Shouldnt Princeton Pay Taxes? WSJ. Wall Street Journal, 19 Aug. 2013 Pound, ET., and Cohen, G. Tax Exempt! (Cover Story).U.S. News World Report 119.13 (1995): 36. Academic Search Premier. Watson, T. The Real Super Bowl Question: Should the NFL be a Nonprofit? Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 30 Jan.2014

Pulmonary Embolism as Manifestation of Right Atrial Myxoma

Pulmonary Embolism as Manifestation of Right Atrial Myxoma A  case report and review of literature Abstract We present a case of a 55-year-old man who suffered from shortness of breath and syncope; he was sent to our department for suspecting pulmonary embolism. We proceeded Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) , confirmed the diagnosis which was caused by right atrial mass. After the surgery the patient was diagnosed as right atrial myoma (RAM) with pulmonary myoma emboli without no adverse event. The residual emboli were partially improved after one month anticoagulation. We reported this case and review of the relevent literature to help clinicians improve the understanding of diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary embolism caused by RAM. Key words: pulmonary embolism, right atrial myxoma, treatment Pulmonary embolism, most commonly originating from deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of the legs, ranges from asymptomatic, incidentally discovered emboli to massive thromboembolism causing immediate death. PTE is a life-threatening disease with a high morbidity. Annually, as many as 300,000 people in the United States die from acute PTE, which is much more common in China at present than 10 years ago (1). About 50-70% emboli of pulmonary embolism originated from deep venous thrombosis (DVT), most of which in lower extremities. Such patients without DVT should screen occult cancer. Although cancer associated venous thrombosis was widespread described, the emboli from benign tumor are less mentioned (2). Majority of the atrial myxoma complicated pulmonary emboli are tumoral, thrombotic emboli were less reported (3,4). We report a rare case of RAM with a pulmonary localization mimicking pulmonary emboli. Case presentation A 55-year-old man was admitted to emergency room with gradually increased shortness of breath for 2 months, syncope and right chest pain for 6 hours. He had a habit of long time sitting and a history of 20 pack-year smoking, and stopped smoking 10 years prior to admission. Initial assessment revealed cyanosis and right breath sound decreased. No pitting edema in lower extremities. Laboratory tests showed ALT 52IU/liter; 93IU/liter; D-Dimer >10ÃŽ ¼g/ml; NT-proBNP 3544 Ñâ‚ ¬g/ml; Troponin I 0.49 ng/ml. Arterial blood gases revealed severe hypoxemia, oxygenation index was 89mmHg; Electrocardiogram showed Sà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚  Qà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¢Tà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¢. CTPA revealed right main (Figure 1a), both lobar(Figure 1b,1c) and segmental (Figure 1d) pulmonary arteries(PA) multiple filling defects; right atrium irregular mass(Figure 1d). TTE showed enlargement of right chambers and a right atrial 54*47mm mass attached to the top wall, clear margin, irregular and partial rough on surface, l oose in internal structure, moving along with cardiac cycle, mild prolapse through the leaflets of the tricuspid valve and orifice of inferior vena cava, moderate regurgitation of tricuspid valves with mild pulmonary hypertension. Compressed venous ultrasonography showed negative in both lower limbs. The surgical approach was through a medial sternotomy under extracorporeal circulation. The right atrium wall was opened and a gelatinous consistency tumor with necrosis, fragile, measuring 40*50mm, adhering to the inter-atrial septum (Figure 2), a 30*20*70mm tumor embolus in the right main PA, the distal end was near right upper PA. The tumor cells expressed CD34 and calretinin, and were negative for CK and SMA. The histopathological examination confirmed myxoma (Figure 3) in right atrium and right pulmonary artery. The patient was treated warfarin (target INR, 2-3) for 1 month. Repeated CTPA showed left lower PA filling defect with no improvement after 2 months (Figure 4c), right and other left PA filling defect resolved (Figure 4a, 4b). 2 years follow-up he was asymptomatic. Discussion Cardiac tumors are less common, most of which are from metastasis. The incidence rate of primary cardiac tumors (PCTs) in autopsy ranges from 0.02 to 2.8†°. 30-50% of PCTs are myomas, 75% in the left atrium and only 10-20% arising in the right atrium, which may developing from embryonic or primitive gut rests (5,6,7). Histologically, they consist of an acid-mucopolysaccharide rich stroma. Polygonal cells arranged in single or small clusters are scattered among the matrix. The clinical manifestations of RAM may remain asymptomatic or appear with constitutional, obstructive or embolic symptoms according to the size, fragility, mobility, location of the tumor as well as body position and activity (5,8). Nonspecific constitutional signs, which present in 10-45% of patients with myxoma, are fatigue, fever, dyspnea, chronic anemia, weight loss, general arthralgia, and increase of IL-6, ESR, and CRP (8). Therefore the results of laboratory tests may mimic those for rheumatic disorders. These signs are more common for patients with large, multiple, or recurrent tumors, and usually recovered after resection (9). Pulmonary embolism of RAM fragments or thrombi from the surface may also occur, resulting in dyspnea, pleuritic chest pain, hemoptysis, syncope, pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure even sudden death. Acute abdominal pain was mentioned in two cases (10). Embolic event in cardiac myxoma is common, with the incidence ranging from 30% to 40% (5) . In the cases of RAM with pulmonary embolism, a smaller size, villous or irregular surface and multi-foci are most common factors associated with embolization (11). The duration period was ranging from 1 day to 3.5 years. The age of patients ranged from 17 to 76 years (mean age 42.8 years), with a higher incidence in women (20/35, 57%). In these cases RAMs are usually attached by a short pedicle to the inter-atrial septum (22/35), mostly in fossa ovalis, others are in free wall, crista terminalis, Koch triangle and multiple origins. Most of the patients were diagnosed with TTE (Transthoracic echocardiography), CT, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), others were with angiography and autopsy. In almost all cases treatment was surgical with removal of the intra-atrial myxomas and the pulmonary emboli, which are usually tumoral. Majority of such patients recovered well after surgery. Four preoperative deaths, two postoperative deaths were reported. Right atrial thrombosis, transient ischemic attack (TIA), ischemic hepatitis and renal failure were the rare complication (Table 1). TTE and TEE are the most commonly used diagnostic methods in the detection and initial description of atrial myxomas (23). TTE is nearly 95% sensitive for the confirmation of cardiac myxomas, and TEE reaches nearly 100% sensitivity (45). TTE facilitated bedside test to safely detect myxomas in fatal pulmonary embolism as in our patient. TEE produces explicit images of small tumors (1 to 3 mm in diameter), especially in fat patients with poor TTE images (46). The TEE also permits a clearer picture of the attachment of the tumor and more precise characterization of the size, shape, surface, inner structure and location of the mass (47). Although TEE is a semi-invasive diagnostic test with a very low rate of significant complications, lethal pulmonary embolism during TEE procedure has been reported (22). Superior to echocardiography, multi-detectors spiral computed tomography (MSCT) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) are more accurate in determining the relationship to normal intra-cardiac structures and tumor infiltration into the pericardium, extension to adjacent vasculature and mediastinal structures, pulmonary arteries emboli and surgical planning (48,49). RAMs manifest as a low-attenuation intra-atrium mass with a smooth, irregular or villous surface on MSCT. Calcifications are seen in about 14% and are more common in right side lesions. Arterial-phase contrast enhancement is usually not apparent, but heterogeneous enhancement is reported on studies performed with a longer time delay (50,51). Varying amounts of myxoid, calcified, hemorrhagic, and necrotic tissue gives them heterogeneous appearances on T1 and T2-weighted images. Delayed enhancement is typical and usually patchy in nature. Steady state free preceesion (SSFP) sequences may slow prolapse through the tricu spid valve in diastole phase and can suggest the attachment point of a stalk lesion. Reconstruction of cine gradient recalled echo (GRE) images enables assessment of lesion mobility and attachment (52). 18F-FDG PET/CT can help the noninvasive preoperative confirmation of malignancy (41). Mean SUVmax was 2.8 ±0.6 in benign cardiac tumors and significantly higher in both malignant primary and secondary cases. (8.0 ±2.1 and 10.8 ±4.9). The SUVmax of myxoma is ranging from 1.6 to 4. Malignancy was determined with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 86% with a cut-off SUVmax value of 3.5. A weak correlation between the SUVmax and the size of tumors is found due to the partial volume effect, cardiac motion and respirtatory movement (53). Angiography is an invasive investigation that presents an additional risk of inducing migration of the tumor and only suitable for suspected acute coronary heart disease (37). Surgical removal of the RAM with pulmonary embolism is the first treatment of choice and usually curative (44,45). The crucial aspects of surgery are measures for bi-caval cannulation to prevent intra-operative embolism (27), en-bloc excision of the myxoma with a wide cuff of normal tissue, removal of fragments in pulmonary arteries, and conducted under moderate or deep hypothermia, low circulatory flow or total circulatory arrest based on the extent and sites of the emboli (44). Surgical treatment leads to complete resolution with low rates of recurrence and good long-term survival. The overall recurrence rate is about 1–3% for sporadic atrial myxoma (5,54), which grows an average of 0.24–1.6 cm per year. The risk of recurrence pulmonary embolism after resection has been reported to be 0.4% to 5.0% and interval from excision to recurrence is reported ranging from a few months to 8 years (55). The reasons of RAM recurrence include multifocal origin, incomplete surgical resection, familial disposition or abnormal DNA ploidy pattern. Postoperative annual TTE, V/Q scan for long-term observation should be followed up to detect eventual recurrence of new myxoma and pulmonary embolism. Excision of the recurrent lesions may be the only choice of treatment because of the poor role of chemotherapy and radiation (28). Pulmonary emboli from RAM are usually tumoral, although discriminating myxomas from thrombi in pulmonary arteries is difficult. Daniel T et al (56) presented the first case of paradoxical pulmonary embolism in the presence of a left atrial myxoma withouingt intra-cardiac shunting, potentially secondary to a combination of hemolysis, hemeoxygenase-1 up-regulation, systemic hypercoagulability/hypofibrinolysis, and regional venous stasis. Pulmonary thromboembolism complicated to RAM improved by coumadin therapy in a refused surgery patient (40). In our case the surgery do not remove the right side emboli, while anticoagulation was helpful for residue emboli remission, which confirmed coexistence of myxoma and thrombi. We suggest anticoagulation may be the useful in unresectable myxoma with pulmonary embolism. The duration of anticoagulation in pulmonary thromboembolism is at least three months, but the course in patients with RAM is still unknown. Conclusion According to review of the literature, RAM may not be timely diagnosed, or even totally undiagnosed. Because of the fragile consistency of RAM, pulmonary embolism are the most common comorbidity and mortality disease, usually be fatal. Surgical removal of masses from the atrium and pulmonary arteries is almost uneventful. Although the association between right atrial myxoma and pulmonary embolism has been described, the presence of thrombi was less mentioned. We suggest anticoagulation may be a choice of treatment after operation, especially in incomplete resection cases. Annual TTE and V/Q are suggested for a period of 8 years when the risk of recurrence is reported. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests.