breaking away Essay -- essays research papers

The movie â€Å"Breaking Away† presents the story of a young man from working class origins who seeks to better himself by creating a persona through which he almost, but not quite, wins the girl. The rivalry between the townies and the college students sets the scene for the story of four friends who learn to accept themselves as they "break away" from childhood and from their underdog self-images. Dave Stoller, the main character, is a young man completely obsessed with cycling and Italy. His fantasies are so well fabricated that he drives his family crazy by behaving and speaking as if he were an Italian cyclist. Dave aspires to be one of the best cyclists yet the best racers are Italian. He feels that in order to be the best, he must be Italian. Dave carries his fantasy one step too far when he pretends to be an Italian exchange student in order to impress an attractive female college student. When he discovers that he actually likes her and confesses his charade, she ends the romance. This single act reveals to the audience that Dave is ashamed and embarrassed to tell Kat that the truth about his background; he obviously did not like who he was – a cutter. Dave felt that in order to win Kat he needed to pretend to be someone who he was not. However, his plan did not go over well causing him to lose Kat. Dave's father is a used-car salesman who disapproves of his son's Italian fantasies. Dave's father thinks his son is crazy, lazy, and that acting as if he were an ...

Comparing Wuthering Heights and A Room of Ones Own :: comparison compare contrast essays

Wuthering Heights and A Room of One's Own   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   From the time that Emily Bronte penned Wuthering Heights in 1847 to the time that Virginia Woolf wrote A Room of One's Own in 1929, the 80 plus year period brought tremendous change to literature and for women authors.    In the early Victorian era when women writers were not accepted as legitimate, Emily Bronte found it necessary to pen her novel under the name "Mr. Ellis Bell" according to a newspaper review from 1848 (WH   301).  Ã‚   According to The Longman Anthology of British Literature, "Women had few opportunities for higher education or satisfying employment" (1794) and the "ideal Victorian woman was supposed to be domestic and pure, selflessly motivated by the desire to serve others..."   (1794).   The Bronte sisters partook of many of the typical duties of the Victorian age such as taking on governess duties and teaching jobs (Bradbury p. 106).   The Victorian era must have dictated the pen names that the Bronte sisters found it necessary to use though.      80 years later, Virginia Woolf did not have to hide behind a masculine pen name.   She is considered "a major author, of whatever gender"   (Longman, p. 2445).   Woolf, not only was accepted as a female author, but the subjects which she wrote about would never have been touched in the time of the Bronte sisters. In her career, Woolf wrote about subjects such as "sexual politics, society and war"   (Longman p. 2445) and was instrumental in establishing and running the Hogarth Press for years (2447).   In "A Room of One's Own", Woolf candidly examines the role of women in literature and literature about women and concludes that a woman needs "money and a room of her own" in order to write fiction   (2457).   In this piece, she examines the role of women in history with much contempt especially regarding the difficulty in raising funds to build a women's college.   "What had our mothers been doing then that they had not wealth to leave us? Powdering their noses?   Loo king in at shop windows?"   (Longman, 2466).   Woolf w as dissatisfied that women were left behind in the literary world and she did much to change this by advancing educational opportunities for women.   "The sense of having been deliberately shut out of education by virtue of her sex, was to inflect all of Woolf's writing and thinking"   (2446).

Real Choices at Starbucks

Real Choices at Starbucks Starbucks started as small coffee shop in a tourist area called Pikes Place Market in Seattle. The three unknown pioneer of Starbucks wanted to share their passion for brewed coffee and tea. During their first year in the business, they experimented with all sorts of coffee blend until they came up with their own flavor. Their business became an instant success using the word of mouth selling brewed coffee cup by cup. This is what inspired them to open a second store to target the wider market. By the early 1980’s, Starbucks expanded to four new stores in Seattle area.Since then, they became the largest retail company in the world. This coffee company grew from four Starbucks store to having currently 16,635 stores globally including 11,068 in the United States, 1000 stores in Canada, and more than 800 in Japan (Salomon 271). This amazing expansion can be attributed to Howard Shultz’s dedication to brewing coffee who bought the coffee’s trademark twenty five years ago. The main reason Starbucks has done so well for four decades can be attributed to their commitment to high quality products and passion for educating customers to appreciate the qualities of fine coffees.Strength Starbucks has become a popular company for selling the best tasting coffee products around the world. As a result, everyone saw Starbucks as the biggest and best in the business (Higbee 6). They acquired a solid brand reputation and have a world renowned company logo. There are no other national coffee bar competitors in the same scale as Starbucks. They are the only competitor in the coffee business that has a recognized brand image. They also own trademarks, copyrights, domain names, patents. The current SEC filing of Starbucks shows that the company is in a positive financial condition.The company’s total revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 had increased sixteen percent and the net income was up more than ten percent (Smith , http://wallstcheatsheet. com/). This result was primarily driven by increase revenues from company-operated stores, licensed stores, and CPG foodservice contributing to approximately $3. 44 billion (http://investing. businessweek. com/). The overall areas of Starbucks business, from domestic and international retail operations to the company’s specialty businesses delivered strong financial performance, and innovation was the reason for the success of the company’s operations.The statement below shows the current financial status of the company as of January 1, 2012. Financial Statements Results of Operations (in millions) Revenues Quarter Ended ___________________________ Jan 1, Jan 2 % 2012 2011 Change _________ ________ ________ Company-operated stores $ 2,731. 8 $ 2,451. 3 11. 4% Licensed stores 306. 6 254. 3 20. 6 CPG, foodservice and other 397. 245. 3 62. 0 Total net revenues $ 3,435. 9 $ 2,950. 8 16. 4% Weakness Even though Starbucks has strength to stay in the business, it also has a few weaknesses. Starbucks must deal with these weaknesses in order to remain as a competitor in the retail market. One of the company’s most prevalent obstacles is the price they charge for a cup of coffee.While most people consider Starbucks coffee as a luxury and would pay whatever price is set, there is an increasing opinion that Starbucks charges too much (Higbee 7). Sometimes it is difficult for a company to penetrate the mass market with the prices above market averages. While this weakness may not come to reality in the short term, it is possible that this company is somewhat maturing since they have grown so rapidly penetrating the U. S. market. Opportunities Opportunities present themselves when it comes to Starbucks business strategy which provided the options to strengthen its retail market.Starbucks would not be able to effectively compete with its competitors if it not with these opportunities. They continued their quest by expanding i ts retail operations and sales. They pursued other opportunities by introducing new products and develop new channels to stay on top. Starbucks is in great position to expand its global business more that they already have. Since they expanded to Europe, Canada, and Japan, they enjoyed much success in these countries and their future plan is to open more Starbucks in Asia, Latin America, and the Far East.Starbucks also created numerous partnerships that will ensure its longevity for a long time. Formed a partnership with Pepsi Company and created a coffee type bottled drink called Frappucino. These Frappucino bottles were currently being sold in shops, grocery stores, and convenient stores. This drink has grown in popularity in the past that it was labeled by the consumers as â€Å"the coffee on the go† (Higbee 6). In addition, Starbucks also partnered with Target that pave the way to opening a coffee shop inside the shopping center. ThreatsOne of the major threats to Starbuc ks is their competition with other coffee chain, such as Coffee Bean and Peet’s Coffee. Other companies, such as McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and Burger King already have the infrastructure in place and are instead adding quality coffee to their menu to compete with Starbucks (Higbee 8). But for one thing, many people enjoy buying coffee even though it is pricey because of the environment and experience that allow people to enjoy, relax, and mingle while sipping a cup of coffee. Other threats to Starbucks are the gas station and restaurants industry.Many people are in the habit of buying breakfast and coffee at the local gas stations such as 7 Eleven. This practice is done mostly out of habit, but also for convenience especially for morning paper paired with a cup of coffee before going to work. Many consumers are also attracted by the convenience and the economics of the big mug cup of coffee they can obtain. Other consumer concerns are the trend towards more healthy ways. More and more people are becoming aware of the risk in consumption of caffeine. Too much caffeine can produce restlessness, nausea, headache, tense muscles, sleep disturbances, and irregular heartbeats.Caffeine can also increase the production of stomach acid that causes acid reflux. And finally, the price of coffee is so volatile that it remained as the biggest complaint by its customers. Recommendation Starbucks has created such a strong corporate culture and strong work values that it allows a company to successfully engage in product diversification. However, amongst the first thing that Starbucks needs to have is to define their brand image by lowering the coffee prices. It needs to be conveyed to the market in a precise manner, so that there would be no confusion amid Starbucks customer complaints.This is vital if Starbucks wanted to maintain its domestic market share competing with the likes of McDonald, Dunkin Donut, and Burger King. They must resolve all the consumer concerns s o that they can embark on another project with smooth transition. Conclusion Overall, as long as Starbucks maintains and promotes a strong quality product without deterring from its corporate-level strategy, it will always have number of opportunities ahead. There is a very strong base for this company which will allow it to pursue desired avenues with aggressiveness and confidence. Works CitedSalomon M, Marshall G, Stuart E, Marketing: Real People Real Choice 7th Ed. P. cm. Higbee J, Liaw Z, Ting C, Tjho K, Ton M, The Future of Starbucks, http://www. mcafee. cc/Classes/BEM106/Papers/2008/Starbucks. pdf Smith G, Cost of Coffee Could Squeeze Starbucks, http://wallstcheatsheet. com/stocks/cost-of-coffee-could-squeeze-starbucks. html/ United States Securities and Exchange Commission, FORM 10-Q, http://investing. businessweek. com/research/stocks/financials/drawFiling. asp? docKey=137-000119312512032427-56VATRT3JVABGO7FIGIBD5RTCJ&docFormat=HTM&formType=10-Q#D270627D10Q_HTM_TX270627_3

Masters degree application essays

Essay 1 (1,000 words)Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term goals. How do you expect an MBA to help you achieve these goals, and why is now the best time for you to join our program?Content:A master is ever, but a learner, goes an old Chinese saying. The same is true for any man, no one may call himself a master who believes he knows all there is about his subject. In today’s ever changing, globalized-world, a true master must continue learning if he is to remain competitive. I do not claim to be a master trader. However, I too believe in the value of higher learning.After graduating high school, and having worked for two summers in a large investment bank, I started my own investment management firm at the tender age of 19. With the help of a few angel investors who entrusted me with $50,000 each, I not only significantly grew their investments but the profits from my business were sufficient to fund my four years of university studies AND finance my travel to several countries mentoring high school children and visiting mentoring programs outside of the USA.In my travels I raised money for the university which I attended. During and after my tenure in the university I was served the role of their European ambassador. I have also done the same work for several non-profit organizations such as ABC, DEF, and GHI, all of which focus on the mentoring and training of leadership skills to high school students for them to become better community leaders.My leadership in a community oriented NGO is different from the type of leadership I exercise at work. In my business the objective is to maximize the value of our investor’s money. Success is measured by the growth in their investments and the increased trust this generates. By comparison Ulpan is about giving educational opportunities to predominantly Jewish high school students. ORT is very similar in its goals. My hard work is rewarded by seeing our beneficiari es motivated and eager to take the path of higher education as a means to success. The drastically different metrics of my community service broadens my horizon as a leader.My current job trading at an investment firm, I improved their existing procedures for monitoring our market positions during volatile periods and developed a â€Å"pop-up† system to handle trades more efficiently and make decisions faster. I made an immediate impact. We are now able to monitor approximately 10% of our daily volume and take property risk management decisions in a fast and volatile market where time is of the essence.Using my native insight I found an opportunity for growth in the company. However, I faced the inertia associate with any kind of meaningful change. Despite the cost of lost, personal, man hours. I pushed my plan past the bureaucracy offering potential benefits that far outweighed the costs of the project. Taking responsibility for my unpopular stance, my assumption of leadersh ip led to my taking the risk of losing my job if the project failed. With a lack of popular support a failure to improve profits or a net loss would severely afflict my reputation in the firm and in the industry. However I stood my ground and pursued what I knew was a good idea. As a result, I was now looked upon as a leader that brought positive change to my firm.Even in my early youth I understood that my current level of learning was not enough. By practicing what I had already learned and working in the field of my choice I was able to expand my practical knowledge. However, I also believe that practical experience must go hand-in-hand with expanded theoretical training. Hence, I desire to obtain an MBA.My ultimate goal is to head a financial firm which will manage wealth for non-profit organizations to help them grow at a faster pace and be able to focus more on their advocacies in their respective communities rather than struggling to raise funds and managing assets, tasks tha t are far from their competencies. An MBA will help me achieve this dream by expanding my horizons and making me even more capable of competing for marginal gains and derivatives that have become harder and harder to obtain.In the United States, this is more common with university endowments and major non-profit organizations which have asset managers steering the funds to competitive investment returns. However, in Europe and Asia, this almost doesn’t exist. As a result, most European and Asian NGOs are in quandary trying to husband their funds effectively but at the same need to disburse it for their projects.I want to bridge this gap and bring financial management expertise to global non-profits and help them become even stronger. By my efforts, I will allow the non-profits to bring better service to the community, faster, and more efficiently. An MBA will enhance my skills and improve my ability to maximize the wealth of these organizations and spare them from the having to worry about raising funds.I take personal pride as I have been involved in my own community, mentoring high school students, helping them make decisions about their future, whether it be academically, professionally or personally. My work with several non-profits, coupled with my financial expertise as a trader can bring tremendous change to both the financial and non-profit industries.I want to create this new niche, a new service and make the non-profit sector even more influential. This is my dream. This is my goal. And this brings my two passions, the financial market and community service, into one, gratifying job. With an MBA, the skills learned, the network I have access to, I can realize this dream. Now is the time to go for it. My hopes are high and my time is neigh. I am young, eager and hungry for wisdom, wisdom I will gladly put to good use.Essay 2 (500 words)Tell us a situation in which you were an outsider. What did you learn from the experience?Content:When I first joined my current firm an archaic system was used to monitor trades. Everyday there were orders passed through our desk. This resulted in too much effort diverted to time consuming monitoring work and we ran the peril of having to make risk management decisions on the spot. Often we would have to wait until the end of the day to review our book and take action on hedging ourselves.This manner of operations was untenable, in the volatile industry I was in, up to the minute decision making was vital to success or failure. To improve this, I immediately proposed a â€Å"pop-up† window function that takes snapshots of all the vital information we would need   to know about the orders passing through our desks. For example, trade size, currency traded and margin level are included in this data. This drastically improved the way the trading desk monitors transactions, especially in times of extreme market volume and volatility.Regretfully, I encountered considerable resistance f rom my peers and upper management. Our technical department said it would take months to develop the proposed system because they were overloaded with work and writing the script would take weeks. Stephane, our head of trading appreciated my initiative but failed to prioritize it. Fortunately, our managing director, Nick gave his approval for my leadership in this project.With his approval in hand, I put pen to paper, outlining the method which I wanted implemented and convinced our technical department to prioritize the project. I wrote them a memo stating very clearly that upper management fully supported my efforts and I emphasized that successful implementation would boost profits on a daily basis. This in turn would put the technical department in the limelight for having developed such a useful tool.My inspirational leadership conscripted the aid of our technical department and the pop-up was developed in one week and was an immediate success. We are now able to monitor approx imately 10% of our daily volume, which amounts to $150 million, and take proper risk management decisions in the fast, volatile market where time is of the essence. Based on my estimates, this results in a cost savings of about 4% a month which redound to increased profits.Using my native insight I found an opportunity for growth in the company. However, I faced the inertia associate with any kind of meaningful change. Despite the cost of lost, personal, man hours. I pushed my plan past the bureaucracy offering potential benefits that far outweighed the costs of the project. Taking responsibility for my unpopular stance, my assumption of leadership led to my taking the risk of losing my job if the project failed. With a lack of popular support a failure to improve profits or a net loss would severely afflict my reputation in the firm and in the industry. However I stood my ground and pursued what I knew was a good idea. As a result, I was now looked upon as a leader that brought pos itive change to my firm.Essay 3 (500 words)Where in your background would we find evidence of your leadership capacity and/or potential?Evidence of my leadership potential can be found in my work as project organizer for Ulpan in Warsaw, Poland and The ORT Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. Ulpan provides educational opportunities for high school students, who are predominantly Jewish, who seek a better education in the United States. The ORT foundation provides mentoring to high school students to help them decide on career-paths and how to go about realizing their professional dreams.I organized cross-border contact through mail and email correspondence, allowing young people to build and maintain connections with peers in the US. My accomplishments with these two organizations are integrally associated with me and very close to my heart. As a child, I was helped by a mentor, David, and with his help, have succeeded in pursuing my dreams with much confidence.NGO work requires out- of-the-box thinking and creative decision making. For example, bringing a Jewish teenager from the Warsaw ghetto and providing him with a scholarship to study in a University requires a wide variety of skills. First, the child must be motivated to make the most out of his talents. I must be inspirational and optimistic to provide the necessary motivation. Second, If the mentee still has areas of improvement I may be tasked with nurturing and uncovering his talents.Third, obtaining a scholarship will require taking with benefactors who may later become potential investors in the child’s future. This requires negotiation skills equal to that of a boardroom raider. Finally, my decisions require reflective hindsight because in many ways I am responsible to the benefactors for the success of their beneficiary. In the end nothing is more rewarding than receiving letters from the student that he is doing well in school and on the way to a bright future.NGO work is a challenging as a ny task on the trading floor. It makes the most out of my skills and encourages me to continue learning. My unique background as a trader brings a skill set that is not common in the Ulpan or ORT foundation, making my contributions even more valuable to these organizations. My background and insight have resulted in the foundation taking opportunities it might have otherwise not identified. Finally, because I am constantly learning my leadership in these foundations have given me valuable experiences in dealing with others that I can carry with me back to my day job,My leadership in a community oriented NGO is different from the type of leadership I exercise at work. In my business the objective is to maximize the value of our investor’s money. Success is measured by the growth in their investments and the increased trust this generates. By comparison Ulpan is about giving educational opportunities to predominantly Jewish high school students. ORT is very similar in its goals . My hard work is rewarded by seeing our beneficiaries motivated and eager to take the path of higher education as a means to success. The drastically different metrics of my community service broadens my horizon as a leader.

Impact of International Trade on the Environment

International trade has a great potential to uplift the lives of people in developing countries as well as increasing profits for companies in the developed world. It can also have environmental consequences if the transactions are not consciously provisioned. This potential can flourish when countries come to a common agreement on trade laws that protect against the damages that using these products can bring upon the local community. Pesticide use for agriculture and disease control has been a controversial topic for decades given its toll on people and the environment.Its monitoring has been increasingly successful in industrial countries but almost non-existent in developing countries causing detriment to the health of thousands of farm workers around the world as they repeatedly come in contact with and inhale harmful chemicals. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), different pesticides, when consumed, have varying and inter-related effe cts as they pass through the food chain. Therefore, the larger concentrations of pesticides are found on larger predators, including men.Among the damages to living organisms, including aquatic species, are cancers, tumors and lesions, reproductive inhibition or failure, suppression of immune system, disruption of endocrine system, cellular and DNA damage, physical deformities such as hooked beaks on birds, poor fish health marked by low red to white blood cell ratio, and death. In some cases, chronic effects are passed from generation to generation and only become apparent in time 1. The persistent and rapidly spreading properties of toxic chemicals present in pesticides do not concern only the developing world.Some, including PCBs can originate in India and ride the wind to the Arctic in just 5 days 2. The FAO’s research discovered that â€Å"in the Great Lakes of North America bioaccumulation (or movement of a chemical from the surrounding medium into an organism) and mag nification of chlorinated compounds in what is, on global standards, a relatively clean aquatic system, caused the disappearance of top predators such as eagle and mink and deformities in several species of aquatic birds† 3.In recognition of the disadvantages many harmful pesticides such as DDT have been banned in the United States, yet their manufacture for exportation is still permitted. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the imports and exports of these products in an effort to prevent health and contamination issues as well as to supervise fair competition. The law requires that â€Å"exporters of unregistered (or unapproved) pesticides first obtain a statement signed by the foreign purchaser indicating the purchaser's awareness of that product in the U. S† 4.Despite this awareness, some countries continue to use them because it is an inexpensive way to keep their crops blemish-free and fight diseases like malaria, for example. In tropical and subtr opical regions, â€Å"in addition to pesticides used in the normal course of irrigated agriculture, control of vector-borne diseases may require additional application of insecticides such as DDT which have serious and widespread ecological consequences† 5. Such large demand in countries with endangered eco-systems like Brazil has lured many companies in industrial countries to keep producing and exporting.More than 312 million kg were exported from the US in 1996, a 40% increase since 1992. Some even move their production to third world countries where environmental regulations are far less restrictive. In many past cases pesticide packages were exported without the proper disclosure of all chemicals, making it difficult to distinguish their consequences. This was especially unsafe for farmers in developing countries where protecting equipment is scarce 6. Improvement is underway, but sometimes it also means taking a few steps backwards. Since the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC), adopted in February 2004, the U.S. is also making an effort in sharing the responsible use of 39 hazardous chemicals listed by the Convention 7. Some developing countries followed on the initiative to ban or restrict hazardous pesticides for health and environmental reasons, yet this positive step towards resolving the situation has led to water contamination concerns. These countries lack the monetary resources to properly store or dispose of about 100,000 tons they no longer use, sometimes because they have deteriorated in storage. Drums are kept exposed to sun and rain running the risk of bursting open or leaking.Some are kept near markets contaminating the soil, groundwater, drinking water, and irrigation. In efforts to decrease their stocks some countries have opted to donate them in foreign aid programs. Far from resolving the problem, this only moves it elsewhere. Solutions seem farfetched for the developing world since FAO estimates it would co st $80-100 million in Africa alone to dispose of them appropriately 8. EPA’s law to allow exporting banned pesticides is greatly flawed because these harmful chemicals return on imported food, wind currents and rain or snow.Despite efforts to regulate the tolerable chemical residue on imported foods, as long as toxic chemicals are still manufactured the global environment and public health will continue to deteriorate. Unfortunately, environmental legislation usually takes years to take effect and is mostly driven by business interests. A sensible solution would be to radically eliminate the use of these chemicals globally and replace them with natural ingredients and green technology.

The Hunger Games-Lessons Learned

The Hunger Games was about the importance of keeping your identity when you are fighting for your life. This theme made me question myself on what I would do under the same circumstances. Wicked I fight for my life given the situation? Wicked I do whatever it takes to stay alive even if it meant committing murder? Wicked I be able to keep my self-worth and morals during this, or would I Just lose myself along the way?PETA Mallard and Catkins Evergreen both had to make these hard-hitting decisions hen they were forced to compete in the reality TV show The Hunger Games, where there is only one rule: kill or be killed. PETA and Catkins are both from District 12 where they are exposed to starvation, war, violence and poverty. Panel is divided up into 12 districts where they are ruled under the Capitol. The Capitol is where all of the powerful and wealthy live, enforcing harsh laws to the 12 districts.Because of this society, they have been conditioned to know that no matter what you are doing you still need to maintain your pride. PETA however, is different. Past competitors have done anything in their power to stay alive, but PETA believes that when he dies he shall still have his dignity with him. â€Å"l could think of a way to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than Just a piece in their games. † This quote by PETA shows that while others around him will do anything to survive, he will still think straight and die as himself.Throughout the book, Catkins is constantly struggling to find herself. â€Å"I'm not really sure who I am, what my identity is. This idea scares me some. † Catkins doesn't get attached to people easily, she is hot tempered, feisty and independent. The result of Catkins' quest to find herself, was her recognizing her hatred for the Capitol. When her ally Rue was killed, she covered her body in flowers and sung to her. This was considered an act of rebellion, because although she was doing what she thought was rig ht, she was only going against the Capitol's ways.Also, at the end of the games, PETA and Catkins refused to kill each other by faking a bubble suicide attempt. They both wanted to live and die as themselves and preserved their dignity, even when others cracked under the pressure. In The Hunger Games, Catkins and PETA stood up for what they believed in. Instead of Just acknowledging the injustice they were faced with, they started a rebellion by doing what they thought was the correct thing. This book taught me to stay true to who you are no matter how drastic the situation, and to fight for my values and morals.

Fulminating Hepatitis B secondary to a lifetime use of IV drug abuse Research Paper

Fulminating Hepatitis B secondary to a lifetime use of IV drug abuse - Research Paper Example This helps in identifying the initial treatment, as well as eliminating all contraindications to liver transplant. In addition, conducting proper prognosis helps in identifying patients who need a transplant and those who will survive without a liver transplant. Symptoms presented by fulminant hepatitis B require immediate medical interventions to prevent further damage on liver cells. However, in some patients, the condition is asymptomatic, which makes it difficult to detect. Patients of such nature may spread the condition to others unknowingly (Vandevante et al, 2011). Hepatitis B virus This paper looks into a case of a 51 year old patient suffering from fulminating Hepatitis B as a result of prolonged intravenous drug abuse. The fulminant condition under consideration is as a result of hepatitis B virus. Currently, hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the leading cause of fulminant hepatitis compared to other viral hepatitis. Hepatitis B virus attacks and replicates within hepatocytes. In terms of structure, hepatitis B virus has an outer shell and an inner core. The inner core bares the viral DNA, enzymes and proteins including hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBcAg) and HBVe antigen (HBeAg). The outer shell has the hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HbsAg), which is produced in excess by hepatocytes replicating the hepatitis B virus. ... In cases of acute HBV, a bigger number of viral DNA is cleared from liver cells through a non-cytocidal process caused by inflammatory byproducts derived from CD8+ T lymphocytes. The release of inflammatory products occurs once CD+ T cells are stimulated by interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alfa, which are products of CD4+ T cells (Gish, 2009). The inflammatory byproducts lead to down regulation of viral replication as well as triggering direct lysis of infected liver cells. The destruction of infected hepatocytes through lysis occurs due to action of HBV specific CD8+ cytotoxic T cells. Major destruction of hepatocytes in fulminant viral hepatitis is also as a result of host immune factors. HumoralAb response in fulminant hepatitis B is usually enhanced (Gish, 2009). This leads to an increased rate of HBsAG clearance from the liver. High level of anti-HBsAb is evident in patients with fulminant hepatitis B on admission. Fulminating hepatitis B may either be hyperacute, acut e, and subacute. In hyperacute, features present include encephalopathy within 7 days after the appearance of jaundice, and an increased rate of getting cerebral oedema (Aspinal at al., 2011). Acute condition presents itself with jaundice to encephalopathy within8-28 days and a high risk of cerebral oedema. In subacutecondition, development of jaundice to encephalopathy may occur within 5-26 wks, and there is a minimal risk of cerebral oedema. Main clinical features in fulminating hepatitis B include encephalopathy, jaundice, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The liver may appear enlarged during the initial stages, but later reduces in size. Other conditions include cerebral oedema, renal failure, and