The Globalization of Mcdonald’s

Leading the Global Enterprise System Abstract The organization chosen is McDonald’s. McDonald’s is a multibillion dollar corporation that has concurred the fast food industry around the globe. McDonald’s has grow by expanding into new competitive spaces, attaining a complex mixture of financial knowledge, custom understanding, developing material and knowledge assets, to expand the market possibilities and replicating and standardizing their practices to be duplicated in similar markets across the globe.McDonalds as a western corporation had to make adjustments in the way they think and react to situations and customs. This paper will demonstrate how McDonald’s developed an open-mindness on the part of their leadership. Outline and Annotated Bibliography Globalization A. Introduction 1. The globalization of a multi-billion dollar corporation. 2. This paper will provide a guide through a corporation that addresses its western effect on other nations through food. B. Points of discussion 1. Anti-globalization movement against the west. . There are several reasons why leadership fails to support the organization and its goals. 3. Increasing performance through deep change. 4. The Five stage approach competency model. C. Conclusions 1. Lack of leadership coupled with cultural sensitivity can provide success or failure. 2. Further research into developing leadership styles that would support and enhance the service provided in other non western nations. Introduction McDonald’s a multi-billion dollar corporation that utilizes local employees in each community.The mega giant has developed a tier of progression of success as it has an on going development of a component of the corporation’s strategic plan to educate their managers and line level employees. This occurs by developing a nurturing and ever developing environment for its staff. As such, McDonald’s has demonstrated its dedication throughout its globalization a cross the street and around the world through the development of a university designed to teach the managers how to lead. The Hamburger University is designed to teach basic management skills with an emphasis on consumer’s behavior and leadership skills.The university also focuses on restaurant specific skills to operate a specific restaurant in a particular geographic location. The utilization of the university has lead to the development of a global leadership program. In turn it has strengthened the management staff that supports its line workers in an achievement –oriented environment. The employees can meet with their managers to be challenged and empowered to find the solutions. This paper will address the techniques and measured outcomes of the globalization of the multi-billion Dollar Corporation and how it develops the staff through the leadership and training it provides.Culture (from the Latin cultural stemming from colere, meaning â€Å"to cultivate† )[1] generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. Cultures can be â€Å"understood as systems of symbols and meanings that even their creators contest, that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that interact and compete with one another†[2] Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation.Culture has been called â€Å"the way of life for an entire society. â€Å"[3] As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief as well as the art. (Wikipedia, 2008)) Cultural diversity is explaining the differences between people, such as language, the way they dress and traditions and the way societies organize themselves, their conception of morality and religion, and the way they interact with the environment. (Wikipedia, 2008) Cultural competence refers to an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures.Cultural competence comprises four components: (a) Awareness of one's own cultural worldview, (b) Attitude towards cultural differences, (c) Knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews, and (d) cross-cultural Skills. Developing cultural competence results in an ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures. Globalization Globalization is defined as the process of social, political, economic, cultural, and technological integration among countries around the world. (Hodgetts, Luthans, Doh) This process has occurred in almost every nation across the globe.Globalization has influenced international interaction of various cultures in order to exchange and educated other parts of the world. This process is designed to trade the culture’s services, ideas and products. Moreover, the enc ouragement of globalization has a significant impact on the political and economic involvement throughout the world. A major influence of globalization is food. Styles of foods are easily globalized throughout the world as each of us is made up of some sort of hybrid of a different culture. It is not uncommon for a grandmother to make a dish from the â€Å"old country† during a festive holiday.The consumption and preparation of the dish in its original ethnic form is what allows the globalization to continue throughout the generations. If changes occur to the originality of the food its cultural beliefs are somewhat diminished. McDonald’s a multi-billion dollar mega corporation decided to go global with the westernized fast food industry into foreign countries. This transformation bought one of the US most beloved foods to other geographical locations and impacted a generation. Most cultures infrequently accepted such a new concept of a food so its introduction was unf amiliar and extremely different.McDonald’s was the first corporation to introduce new eating habits and changes to other nations. As the introduction occurred throughout the world Catherine Schnaubelt wrote in her study that â€Å"McDonald’s has over 1. 5 million franchises in the United States and about half of the total franchises are outside the U. S. in over 120 countries. † As a result of the widespread introduction of McDonald’s the company has demonstrated its willingness to conform to the local culture by the pervasive enhances rather than contaminate its culture.As a result of these enhances McDonald’s has permitted most of the foreign franchises to be locally owned and operated however utilizing the core values of the corporation without creating undesirable affects on the culture. This is called franchising. A franchise is a business arrangement under which one party (the franchisor) allows another (the franchisee) to operate an enterpri se using its trademark, logo, product line, and methods of operation in return for a fee. (Hodgetts, Luthans, Doh) With that said, the individual culture and norms are integrated within the menu.This includes the religious and the culture’s diversity. However, in some nations McDonald’s is viewed as the west and its global movement away from long-established culturally based foods towards the consumption of fast food. This process Americanizes the culture it infiltrates by the restructuring of the local diet at some level. This infiltration is viewed in a negative manner by some and as hip by the younger generation that is exposed to more of American development through movies, music and the internet. Anti-GlobalizationIn 1999 a French farmer named Jose Bove of Brazil ransacked a McDonald’s only to become a hero to anti-globalization. His emergence at anti-globalization gatherings across the world and even in the US has given him overnight fame for his intrepid move in destroying a McDonald’s restaurant. Bove’s aspiration came from the desire to support the local farmers and to stop the destruction of the fields by extracting the goods and mixing them with unhealthy chemicals to enhance the flavor. Eric Schlosser (2002), states that â€Å"By eating like Americans people all over the world are beginning to look more like Americans, at least in one respect.The United States has one of the highest obesity rates of any industrialized nation in the world. † (p. 240). â€Å"As people eat more meals outside the home, they consume more calories, less fiber and more fat. † (p. 241). The introduction of unhealthy foods and eating habits of foreign foods into outside cultures radically affects the traditional culture found in the nation’s foods despite McDonald’s attempt to incorporate the nation’s culture and religious beliefs in the menu. Many Europeans worry about globalization's effects on their fo od from the west.However, the prominent anti-globalization movement is actually a small minority. In fact, a clear majority of Europeans, especially the young, accepts that increasing global economic, political, and cultural exchange can enrich their country and their lives. They believe that a strong European Union can help them take advantage of globalization's benefits while shielding them from its negative effects. Despite the views of others some Europeans believe globalization is what is right for Europe. Leadership Competency ModelThe types of leadership perspectives that McDonald’s incorporates in their management is the Leadership Competency Model. The Leadership Competency Model utilizes a leadership appraisal program. Each organization has its own process and culture to nurture its employees. Some processes often fail as they do not provide ownership to the participants and fail to account for the different cultures, climates, and nuances found in every organizatio n. For effective change to take place you must involve the individuals in the development and implementation of any process.This guide uses a five stage approach for building a competency model: * Stage One – Assemble Focus team and create a list of processes. * Stage Two – Build behavioral indicators for each process. * Stage Three – Categorize the data. * Stage Four – Order each category. * Stage Five – Validate your competency model. The first stage in building a Leadership Competency Model is to assemble a Focus Team composed of a cross-functional mix of first-line leaders, middle leaders, and senior leaders.McDonald’s provides the Leadership Competency Model in conjunction with Hamburger University to develop leadership. Graduates from the university and those who participates in the Leadership Competency Model development of processes are considered the experts practitioners in their field. That is, they should be the finest in their f ields. Using interviews, surveys, observations, including information on how individuals act, think, and feel while doing their jobs and other activities, create a list of the major processes and the requirements needed y leaders to disseminate in the workplace. In Stage Two, the members of the team identify the major behavioral indicators for each competency that must be performed to produce the desired outputs. Going through each competency, list the major behavioral indicators (Skills, Knowledge, attitudes) needed for superior performance (normally two to four). These behavioral indicators need to be: *Future-focused rather than need or problem-focused. * Part of a strategic planning or organizational change process model.In Stage Three, you categorize the data to include a leadership competency list divided into three categories, Core, Leadership, and Professional; with the behavioral indicator listed for each process. The core competencies is required of all individuals within the organization, the leadership competencies are specialty items for managers and supervisors, while the professional competencies are specific for each position. The competency list will insure that the chosen behavioral indicators are really the required skills, knowledge, or attitudes.The method used to organize the competencies is reduced to smaller, more manageable bundles of information that can easily be identified and used throughout the organization. Stage Four provides order to each category. Stage Four allows the identification of importance for each category. This allows the opportunity to discard unnecessary or excessive categories from the list. Stage Five allows validation of the instrument. This can be completed by utilizing duplication through replicating the original results: Replicate the original research results.This is done by obtaining another sample of superior performers, conducting interviews, and deriving a competency model. Creating departmental focus gr oups to allow more people to become involved, while at the same time, giving you less information to accumulate. Structured Interviews/Observation: Perform one-on-one interviews and observations with a random number of leaders throughout the organization to determine which competencies they perform and to get their opinions of which ones are the most important for the execution of their job.In order to develop a program to achieve this goal a strategic understanding and planning need to occur. Understanding motivation, the key to success, relates to the adhered interest and involvement in a goal-oriented task by a member of the team. There are a variety of ways to view what rewards affect learning and behavior in the workplace. Two such ways are intrinsic desires and external controls. Intrinsic desire is the desire of the learner to reach mastery of a skill, as well as situational factors, based on personal desires that drive or motivate the employee.External controls are those tha t are governed by the policies and procedures of the organization. These procedures prevent and/or protect the necessity and essence of the organization. Generally, lack of having available the sources of motivation which are the primary reason to retain an employee with a corporation is divided into two categories; each containing a number of components responding to related strategies. McDonald’s has developed a university to combat poor development within the company. In 1961, Fred turner, a former senior chairman and Ray Kroc’s first grillman founded Hamburger University.The university was developed to provide training that emphasized consistent restaurant operations to include procedures, services, quality and cleanliness. It is the company’s global center for training and leadership development. Currently there are more than 5,000 employees that attend the university each year. Since 1961 more than 80,000 managers, mid-managers and owner/operators have gra duated from the university. Hamburger University was developed to foster the company mission to be the best aptitude in each of its employees.For employees who attend the university the hope is to instill Quality, Services, Cleanliness and Value (QSC;amp;V). Increasing Performance| | | | To attain excellence, an individual, group or organization must care enough about an activity to insist that it fully meets and exceeds the demands of its audience (either internal or external), and this involves a fair amount of risk. (Leslie, J. Velsor, E 1996) McDonald’s utilizes the five stage approach for building a competency model as a means to devise a road map of development for the employees within the company.The utilization of Hamburger University, the five stage approach and grasping the view of the Quality, Services, cleanliness and Value (QSC;amp;V) gives the employees the opportunity to reach for a deep change for success. Leadership and Culture Sensitivity Despite notable pro gress in the overall acceptance of globalization there continues to be continuing disparities in effects of the west emerging into other cultures. The acceptance status among the east and others compared to the U. S. opulation as a whole shows a vast difference in how corporations such as McDonalds can grow globally. In addition, the global system is becoming more challenged as the population becomes more ethnically diverse. Therefore, the future of globalization in areas such as China will be directly impacted by the influence of McDonalds to the social economical environment to provide substantial improvements. Cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and economic differences impact how individuals and groups access and use globalized products.They can also present barriers to effective communication between the leader and the employee if there is a lack of understanding of the language, culture or norms. This is especially true when leader’s stereotypes, misinterpret, make faulty ass umptions, or otherwise mishandle their encounters with employees who are viewed as different in terms of their backgrounds and experiences. The demand for culturally competent leaders in the United States is a direct result of the need for leaders to handle operations that have gone global.The term cultural competence refers to the ability to work effectively with individuals from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, or in settings where several cultures coexist. It includes the ability to understand the language, culture, and behaviors of other individuals and groups, and to make appropriate recommendations. Cultural competence exists on a continuum from incompetence to proficiency. Cultural sensitivity, which is a necessary component of cultural competence, means that leaders make a significant effort to be aware of and understand the culture in which they work.Cultural competence cannot be achieved through short workshops or classes. A long-term commitment is required to le arn a second language and become familiar with other cultures to deliver an effective service for the ethnically diverse world and the potential and actual cultural factors that affect their interactions with a client. It also means that they are willing to design programs and materials and implement those programs to make recommendations that are culturally relevant and culturally specific. The terms cultural competence and culturally effective and are sometimes used synonymously.Culturally effective training is, indeed, related to cultural competence and cultural sensitivity. However, it goes beyond these concepts in describing the dynamic relationship between leader and employee. Effective communication between leaders and employees may be even more challenging when linguistic barriers exist. Cultural competence is a developmental process that requires a long-term commitment. It is not a specific end product that occurs after a two-hour workshop, but it is an active process of le arning and practicing over time. Becoming culturally competent is discuss than to implement.Individuals working with different ethnic and cultural groups can become more culturally competent by advancing through three main stages: developing awareness, acquiring knowledge, and developing and maintaining cross-cultural skills. Developing cultural awareness includes recognizing the value of the population and its cultural diversity. It also means an honest assessment of one's biases and stereotypes to include limits of their understanding. One can never learn enough about another culture. However, acquiring knowledge about other groups is the foundation of cultural competence.In addition to understanding other cultures, it is essential to understand how different cultural groups view themselves. Knowledge of another culture includes assessments of facts to include relevant norms, values, worldviews, and the practicality of everyday life and how that reflects in the business as a whole . Even though the United States is a pluralistic society, most employers have been trained in a mono-cultural tradition. In addition to this some leaders operate as if ethnic and cultural differences are insignificant.Cross-cultural skills are developed through formal training, informal interaction and experience. Organizational Responsibilities It is important for leaders to articulate a commitment to cultural competence and to initiate cultural-competence initiatives. Many companies receive social and legal pressures to do this from different segments of the cultures they impact. The development of professional preparation programs can play a significant role in providing the knowledge and skills for culturally competent leaders.These programs can provide on the job training and other formats developed with the sole purpose of addressing cultural competence and/or cultural sensitivity. They also can provide specific educational components on cultural competence and/or cultural sen sitivity within the program. Trainings and in house development of skills is one thing but leaders need to go beyond educating their employees and providing workshops on cultural sensitivity they must also change institutional policies and procedures.This can be done by constant review and ongoing development of the skills needed. Steps to Becoming Culturally Competent Developing Awareness * Admitting personal biases, stereotypes, and prejudices * Becoming aware of cultural norms, attitudes, and beliefs * Valuing diversity * Willingness to extend oneself psychologically and physically to others * Recognizing comfort level in different situations Acquiring Knowledge * Knowing how your culture is viewed by others * Attending classes, workshops, and seminars about other cultures * Reading about other cultures Watching movies and documentaries about other cultures * Attending cultural events and festivals * Sharing knowledge and experiences with others * Visiting other countries before placement. Developing and Maintaining Cross-Cultural Skills * Making friends with people of different cultures * Establishing professional and working relationships with people of different cultures * Learning another language * Learning verbal and nonverbal cues of other cultures * Becoming more comfortable in cross-cultural situations * Assessing what works and what does not Assessing how the beliefs and behaviors of the cultural group affect the client or family * Learning to negotiate between the person's beliefs and practices and the culture of your profession * Being more flexible * Attending continuing education seminars and workshops * Learning to develop culturally relevant and appropriate programs, materials, and interventions * Learning to evaluate culturally relevant and appropriate programs, materials, and interventions * Ongoing evaluation of personal feelings and reactions Overcoming fears, personal biases, stereotypes, and prejudices *Developing and implementing a st rategy to recruit, retain, and promote qualified, diverse, and culturally competent administrative, and support staff * Promoting and supporting the necessary attitudes, behaviors, knowledge, and skills for staff to work respectfully and effectively with patients and each other in a culturally diverse work environment * Developing a comprehensive strategy to address culturally and linguistically appropriate services, including strategic goals, plans, policies, and procedures * Hiring and training interpreters and bilingual staff Providing a bilingual staff or free interpretation services to customers and employees with limited English skills * Translating and making available commonly used educational materials in different languages * Developing structures and procedures to address cross-cultural ethical and legal conflicts, complaints, or grievances. While cultural competence has increased significantly, there is still much to be done on the personal, organizational, and societal levels. Education and training to enhance the ability of a culturally effective leader must be integrated into lifelong learning.Through these activities, current and future leaders will be prepared to meet the needs of cultures from across the street and around the world. Conclusion In conclusion, globalization through the fast food industry has allowed the west to develop in other countries. McDonalds has been a dominating force in the immergence of western culture. The globalization within the food industry is not always received warmly by everyone in other nations. The fast food industry offers food items that change or may violate religious or cultural beliefs.However, McDonald’s has taken extreme efforts to develop a corporation that offers education and training to all of the employees. This training gives each restaurant the opportunity to develop within the five stage model utilized for leadership. By allowing restaurants to be locally owned by other nations through franchising allows for community owned companies. This thus allows them to drive changes in the menu to support the traditions and religious beliefs. With local owned restaurants it’s difficult to believe that there would be any resistance through anti-globalization.Anti-globalization only impedes global progress and can cause significant economic issues. McDonalds as a global leader has been successful in the development of its staff and support in the community.References | | Kaye, B and Jordon-Evans (1997) Love’em or Lose’em: Getting Good People to Stay O’Hagan, K. (2007) â€Å"Social Work Practice: â€Å"A Practical Guide for Professionals. † Jessica Kinglsey Publishers, 15 – 19 Northouse, P. (2007) Leadership Theory and Practice Sage Publications. Hodgetts, R. , Luthans, F. Doh, J (2006) â€Å"International Management† Culture, Strategy, and Behavior. | | Quinn, R. (1996) Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within Taylor, J. ;am p; Riess, M. (1989). A field experiment of â€Å"self-serving† attributions to valenced causal factors. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 15, 337-348. Leslie, J. Velsor, E (1996) A Center for Creative Leadership: a Look at Derailment Today: North America and Europe Mann, R. D. (1959). A review of the relationships between personality and performance in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 241-270. Ekvall, G. , ;amp; Arvonen, J. (1994). Leadership profiles, situation and effectiveness. Creativity and Innovation Management, 3, 139-161. McCall, M. W.. , Jr. ;amp; Lambardo, M. M. (1983). Off the track: Why and how successful executives get derailed. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Eric Schlosser (2002). Fast Food Nation American Academy of Pediatrics (1999). â€Å"Culturally Effective Pediatric Care: Education and Training Issues. † Pediatrics 103:167–170. Chin, Jean Lauu (2000). Culturally Competent Health Care. † Public Health Report 115:25–33 Kumanyika, Shiriki, and Morssink, Christian (1999). â€Å"Working Effectively in Cross-Cultural and Multicultural Settings. † In Nutrition and the Community, 4th edition, ed. Anita Owen, Patricia Splett, and George Owen. Boston: WCB McGraw-Hill. Internet Resource Office of Minority Health. â€Å"Assuring Cultural Competence in Health Care: Recommendations for National Standards and an Outcomes-Focused Research Agenda. † Available from <http://www. omhrc. gov/clas>

Microbiology Bacteria Paper

I would not say science is storybook fun, but who knew it become a mystery. Trying to find out what was in our number seven vial would become a battle we were willing to take on. As I began the test of deciding if our little bacteria friend was gram positive or negative, Jordan my science teammate, was putting together a smear plate. In as little as ten minutes we had discovered by the pink oval shapes we were observing, our microbe friend was a gram negative rod. We had narrowed our search down to five! We decided next we would do oxygen along with a motility test. Along with those, we did a fermentation investigation. These tests would narrow our pursuit down even further. Unfortunately these tests take time. The following day, we curiously went to our ‘stash’ of experiments. As we observed we soon realized our little bacteria was a non-motile, facultative anaerobe. With the observation of acid and gas formation, this microorganism was able to catabolize glucose, lactose and fructose. Our smear plate, with white convex muciod looking colonies confirmed our suspicion. We were now looking at vial number seven with anew respect, he now had a name, and that name was Klebsiella pneumonia. Read also Lab 2 Biology Now that our mystery microbe had a proper name, where would we find it? This bacterium, I found out is ubiquitous in nature, meaning it seems to be present, everywhere at the same time. Just about anywhere you would step, touch or see in nature you could bet this little guy is there. Its family is abundant in soil, water and vegetables. But they have cousins, uncles, second cousins etc. just about everywhere else. â€Å"Wow†, was all I could muster. But our friend not only had a large family in nature, this microbe also found residence inside the human body. The respiratory, intestinal, and urogenital tracts are a favored neighborhood for this microscopic organism. This tiny microbe seems to find just about any region environmentally friendly. Not only is it very versatile in were it lives, I would soon learn it was also just as versatile in what is able to do. This small bacterium could devastate the human body if allowed to. Our secret microbe was considered to be an opportunistic human pathogen, meaning that under certain conditions it may cause disease. All this little guy needed was the perfect scenario and he could ‘thrive’ in only a way harmful bacterium could. Read Chapter 8 Microbial Genetics Persons with underlying diseases such as alcoholism or lung infections were some of their favorite captives. Along with people who are hospitalized and receive invasive procedures, being their other prime hostages. These guys are on the top ten most known list of nosocomial infection pathogens. Trying to get rid of this pathogen is no easy feat either! Once this type is let in he really does not want to leave. Of course, the first attack to rid the body of this pathogen is to use a timely and aggressive treatment of antibiotics. Even that though, can prove to not be beneficial. Since these little critters are proven to be resistant, meaning, they develop ways to inactivate or neutralize the antibiotic. Many cases have to be treated with cephalosporin’s and aminoglycosides to give the bacteria a two-pronged attack. This bacterium certainly has a powerful army when dispersed. But how does this little fella do this? Well, the pathology for it to become Pneumonia develops when the bacilli invade and multiply within the alveolar spaces.General Biology Ii Study Guide (Online Class) The pulmonary parenchyma becomes consolidated, and the mucoid exudates that fill the alveoli is controlled by macrophages, fibrin, and edema fluid. Neutrophils, our bodies own fighting soldiers are inhibited by a neutral polysaccharide in the capsule of this bacterium. Numerous encapsulated gram-negative bacilli appear free in the exudates and in alveolar macrophages. Then exudates accumulate and the alveolar wall becomes compacted and healthy tissue starts to degrade. This area, where the microbe does its best work, is the area of gas exchange with the blood, a vital part of the human anatomy/physiology. So when this microbe is able to take over, a hefty defense force of antibacterial agents have to come to the battle. Antibiotics themselves though have a become an overused tool. This has become a growing problem and many actions have now come into play to stop the abuse of these products. Some would argue a little too late. This lapse of poor judgment has led to the numerous strains of antibiotic resistant infections. Klebsiella pneumonia is one of the leading culprits. The thing is though, bacteria does not know its playing a dangerous game with us, all bacteria is trying to do is win.References Klebsiella pneumonia . Retrieved from: http://www.klebsiellapneumoniae.org/ (Klebsiella pneumoniae ,† 2011) Klebasiella pneumonia. Retrieved from http://www.histopathology-india.net/Klebsiella_pneumoniae.htm (Dr. Sampuna Roy, 2011)

Political Cartoon Essay

This political cartoon shows President NoyNoy with the word â€Å"political maneuvers† written on his arm pushing two letters, the R and the H with difficulty because of big rocks with the words objection, 2013 polls and moral issues written on each rock. The cartoon also shows how hard it was for Pnoy because of the sweat on his head. Symbols that were used in this political cartoon are 1) the word â€Å"political maneuver† on Pnoy’s arm, 2) the letter R and H, and 3) the rocks with the word â€Å"objection†, â€Å"2013 Polls† and â€Å"moral issues† Looking at this political cartoon it only illustrates that Pnoy with his skillful tactics push RH bill passing through many objectives, through his political maneuvers, he will be able to have good performance and even crash political and moral issues thrown against him. As a teacher, I am a leader and as a leader, I am not fond of manipulating my student, their grades and even what is happening inside the class. We all know that Pnoy is a good leader whom played the most in achieving economic growth of our country is also known to be a person who wants to promote RH bill no matter how hard it is for the majority to accept it still he will not let it go. I am not against RH bill, and I am not pro abortion, it’s just I want to teach people lesson on giving birth among children whom they can’t support and will be like others begging on the streets and in the end be one of the government dependents. But I am not allowing manipulations or tricks just to fool us around, just to crash moral issues and other objections. I still believe in the moral values our late Pres. Cory imbued to our present president today and will do what is good for our country with due respect and transparency to all Filipino citizens. A pro-RH candidate shaking upon seeing two big feet with â€Å"Catholic Vote† written on it is shown in this political cartoon. This cartoon uses a big foot which represents the majority who opposes the RH bill because they called themselves Catholic, a Christian who lives in a Christian country and should be against violation of life and liberty. This only shows that being a pro-RH bill is a big threat to get big chance of winning in election. The cartoon shows how great is the power of the catholic people who are against the RH bill. A candidate must have a strong political spirit whom he can fight for what he stands for. Yes, majority of the people in the Philippines are Catholics but we must also realize that there are also Catholics who are  pro-RH bill. Catholic Church must not influence voters in not voting pro-RH candidates. Even they have strong influence among the Filipinos; still we must practice a free and democratic way of choosing and electing government officials. Knowing a candidate whether he is a pro or anti-RH bill will never stop him in wanting to serve our country. We must really know who among them are real and who are not. For me, the Catholic Church must not enter with the voting issues anymore, they must listen on how those candidates would love to serve our country whether they are pro or anti-RH bill.

(SOCIAL WORK) Social Circumstances Report - Case Study Essay

(SOCIAL WORK) Social Circumstances Report - Case Study - Essay Example She likes to spend time with her grandmother and learn Gujarati from her. Till this age she has not dated or selected her lover. She comes from a conservative family background. In their family culture they respect Muslim traditions and follow their customs. Ruksana suffers from certain disabilities like learning disability and physical weakness. Many people in the world faced this problem in their childhood. â€Å"Learning disabilities are problems that affect the brains ability to receive process, analyze, or store information.† (Learning disabilities 2009). Her speech is impaired and she struggles due to phonological disorder. These two problem forces her to take help from others in her personal chores. She travels short distance by electric wheelchair. She completed her schooling from a residential specialist school. Students of such schools are different from normal students. They cannot learn like normal students. They are physically weak and have learning disability. According to a report about safeguarding disabled children in residential special schools â€Å"protection from abuse of disabled children living in residential settings has received much less attention than the protection of children looked after by local authorities.† (Paul, Cawson & Paton 2006). People need patience to communicate with her. It indicates that one reason for her impaired speech may be lack of attention from her parents or other close relatives. Had they given more attention to her in her childhood, this problem could have been solved to an extent. Her speech and language therapist Mr. Jean helps her for this. He adopts computerized assistive voice technology and she is interested in this computer based study. Usually such people seek help from learning and speech therapists when they face problem in learning and reading (About academic language therapy 2004). Here Ruksana did not get help at the initial stage. When she got such a

Credit Crunch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Credit Crunch - Essay Example During a credit crunch, also known as a "liquidity crisis" or a "credit squeeze", the banks won't or can't lend. Investors can't or won't buy debts. Suddenly it's very difficult to borrow money. There is a lack of easy money. Consumers and businesses have less to spend. There could be serious ramifications for an economy. Even if the credit crunch is narrowly define as something that affects just banks, private equity and hedge funds, there is little out there to suggest that the British economy is out of the woods. Around the world, banks remain reluctant to lend to each other - or anyone else, for that matter, except blue-chip corporations or mortgage customers who can afford to furnish lenders with large up-front deposits. House prices are down 13 per cent year-on-year and rising; the boss of Countrywide, the country's biggest lender, says one in 11 borrowers are falling behind on their home loan payments; house repossessions were up 57 per cent in March compared to the previous year; consumer confidence has hit a 26-year low Almost 7,000 has been wiped off the value of the average British home since October 2007, after house prices dropped for a fifth consecutive month, according to latest survey figures. Britain's average house price fell by a further 0.6 per cent, or just over 1,000, in March, on the heels of a 0.5 per cent decline in February, the Nationwide Building Society's most recent snapshot of market conditions shows (The Times March 2008). Impacts on Interest Rates: in the past few weeks 10 mortgage lenders, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, Alliance & Leicester and the country's biggest building society, the Nationwide, have increased some of their rates, despite the Bank cutting rates from 5.75 per cent to 5.5 in December. Bank of England data shows that the average mortgage rate has been inflated. When interest rates were previously 5.5 per cent - in May last year - the average mortgage rate was 5.66 per cent but when rates moved back down to that level in December the average was 5.93. Credit CRUNCH IN the United States For more than half a century, Americans have proved staggeringly resourceful at finding new ways to spend money. But now the freewheeling days of credit and risk may have run their course in the United States - at least for a while and perhaps much longer - as a period of involuntary thrift unfolds in many households. With jobs shrinking, housing prices plummeting and debt levels swelling, the same nation that pioneered the no-money-down mortgage suddenly confronts an unfamiliar imperative: More Americans must live within their means. For the 34 million American households who took money out of their homes over the last four years by refinancing or borrowing against their equity - roughly one-third of the nation - the savings rate was running at a negative 13 percent in the middle of 2006, meaning they were borrowing heavily against their assets to finance their day-to-day lives Employment and credit crunch in UK Indications of the severity with which the credit crunch is likely to hit working people in Britain are contained in a number of recent reports and press articles. These focus, firstly, on the impact of credit becoming more difficult to obtain and, secondly, on the cost of mortgages. According to the National Institute of

Health Administarion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Health Administarion - Essay Example The rate of hiring or firing employees is also another indicator of the performance of the organization. Positive and encouraging feedback from both the clients and the stakeholders of the organization is an indicator of good performance in the organization. However, if the feedback is constantly marked by threats and disappointing remarks, it indicates something is not ok in the organization’s performance. Productivity outcome is mainly indicated through the profits and losses in an organization in a financial year. If the profits outride the losses, then it is an indicator that the organization is performing well. When the losses are more than the profits, then the company is not performing well. The productivity outcome should however not be based on only one financial year but several continuous ones. Finally, if no new clients are being recruited in the organization frequently or they keep on leaving the organization and seeking services and products of other organizations, then this is an indicator that something is wrong with the performance of that organization. If however new clients keep coming and the old ones are retained, then performance of the organization is

Palladium Doors Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Palladium Doors - Case Study Example The cost associated with the chosen alternative has also been shown. The projected Gross Profit and Net Profit figure have also been reflected here. The study will reflect the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company. It will highlight the analysis of the Political, Environmental, Social, and Technological environment of the operational market in which the company is operating. Problem Statement Palladium Door, Inc. is one of the privately owned producers of different commercial and residential garage doors. In its product line, the company manufactures both insulated and non insulated cables, steel garage doors, supplies, rollers, springs and the side roller tracts. The company wanted to increase the sales by 36 percent in the year 2004. Robert Hawly, the director of sales & marketing, was concerned that whether the present distribution strategy which was used by Palladium would be able to achieve the goal. Although the company has shown a steady growth from p ast 10 years, but the market share of Palladium was only 2.6 percent. The senior executives of the company were made to believe that this sales goal was justified and would help the company in attaining a large sales volume for the preservation of its buying position with the suppliers. During its growth period, Palladium has even exceeded the industry growth. Three new plans have been chosen for the achievement of the company’s goal. There are four different point of views related to the marketing decisions. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis will help to analyze various organizational issues (Mintzberg et al., 1998; Ansoff, 1965). It is a traditional method for making strategic plans (Dickson, 2002; Glaister & Falshaw, 1999). The SWOT analysis will help in selecting the best strategic option followed by the decision making after understanding the inter relationship between the company and its respective environment (Pahl & Richter, 2009; Ferrel & Hartline, 2010). Strengths 1. When Palladium was in its growth stage, it had a sales growth which was even higher than the industry growth. This is a significant strength of the company which has helped it to achieve a remarkable position in the market. 2. The company has a good partnership associated with the exclusive dealers. The exclusive dealers are responsible for almost 70 percent of the company’s sales. This will help the company to achieve the targeted sales goal. 3. The company is one of the biggest steel door manufacturers. Weaknesses 4. Although Palladium has shown a steady growth from past 10 years but the market share of the company was only 2.6 percent. 5. The company had only 50 additional dealers in previous 10 years. This was counted as one of the weaknesses of the company. Opportunities 6. Palladium has high opportunities by expanding its operations in the North West and West markets, where the houses build are aging. 7. There exists low brand awareness in the market where Palladium operate s. This gives the company an opportunity to attract the customers who are not brand conscious. 8. Palladium has the opportunity to extend the total number of exclusive dealers which

EEC Position Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

EEC Position Paper - Essay Example While some claim that it is entirely possible to communicate with young babies by using a series of sign language based gestures, others argue that it can inhibit actual language development in the long term. This position paper strives to examine both sides of this issue in order to make an informed determination as to the efficacy of using baby sign language. One of the main arguments revolving around whether or not to use sign language with babies involves the notion that teaching signs to babies will help them to learn more words. It seems that little to no research affirms this belief, however, as it is more likely that body signs and symbols may simply improvement methods of communications between the two parties, and enable the parent to understand what the baby is actually trying to say. While this is certainly important, particularly for frustrated parents who simply cannot determine what their baby might be upset about, it does not indicate that babies actually are learning through the process (DeLoache & Chiong, 2009). To be clear, however, there are still many scholars that do contend that a combination of verbal speech and body or hand gestures can contribute to a baby expanding their vocabulary at an early age. This has been one of the disagreements that make advocating such a position, either in favor or against, so difficul t. It is important to note that baby sign language does not refer to American Sign Language, as it is more talking about communicative gestures made specifically between parents and their young babies. While it is possible to teach a baby American Sign Language, it would be similar to using any type of verbal language, and is not the focus of this study. When referring to the use of baby sign language, however, scholars are typically referring to the action of encouraging babies

Employee relations Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Employee relations - Coursework Example Collective bargaining is a major source of organizational conflict and negotiation strategies have the power to accelerate or decelerate the business operations of an organization. The incidents of industrial democracy in United Kingdom has marked development in employer employee relationship and the management initiative of employee participation in decision making has successfully accelerated the scope for organizational development (Pattanayak, 2014). The paper will concentrate on the employee relations, the cause and effect of conflict as well as the role of negotiation in collective bargaining in order to evaluate the relevant strategies of human resource management and organizational behaviour and how the application of these strategies can help to establish stability in an organizational framework. Organizational conflict many be defined as the disagreement arising out of employees as a result of perceived differences in values, cultural norms, interests as well as substantial and intangible needs of the employees working together in an organizations. Excessive use of power and authority also leads to generate dissatisfaction among individuals which in turn tends to create conflict (Rahim, 2015). In order to evaluate the procedures an organization should adopt for the purpose of dealing such organizational conflict, it is important to identify the reasons behind it. Organizational structure and culture is the most significant source of conflicts. For instance, an organization using matrix structure obligates the employees for dual reporting that leads to create ambiguity regarding their routine responsibilities. Global companies that integrate geographically dispersed provinces across world frequently experience employee conflicts as a result of cultural differences among the employees coming from different race and religion. Scarcity and improper distribution

Twin Towers Essay Example for Free

Twin Towers Essay When waking up in the morning we never know what the outcome of our day will look like, weather it’s the same routine of a daily basis. Never in a million years would we think that our workplace will become a place in where history would changed. We know that September 11, 2001 became a day that changed both this nation and the people. The real question here is, Did the fall of the Twin Towers mark the moment of terrorism in America; or have previous events been the calling to attack America? Over the years there have been significant terrorism attacks. By looking at pervious attacks it shows us how the changes in terrorism are carried out and shows the changes in how countries counter terrorist attacks. If we want to know that the Twin Towers where indeed the start of terrorism for America we should look at the history of terrorism, the methodology and the absence of unity America shows toward each other. Looking and studying about the history of terrorism towards the United States, we see that the first attack towards the Twin Towers was the bombing in 1993 that was placed in a truck in the garaged of the building. Reading the book 102 Minutes, we see the perspective of the people who were trapped in the towers, but it also gives us the information about the 1993 bombing. This book states, â€Å"The 1993 bombing marked it as an icon and target. † ( Dwyer and Flynn 21). Reading this we can see that the September 11 attack on the Twin Towers was not the first attempt ever made. In my opinion the bombing of 1993 was a warning to the United States saying, â€Å"Look what we are capable of doing to your country. † Their plan was to kill around two hundred fifty-thousand people with one bomb. Unfortunately the bomb killed six people but injuring thousands. This mishap did not stop terrorism against America; one the other hand it was opening a door for them. â€Å" From most perspectives, the 1993 bombing of the trade center, killing six people, had been a bleak moment, marking the arrival of terrorism to America† (Dwyer and Flynn 133). The history of terrorism has been nothing but hard work. It was like they never gave till they were happy with their actions. The question is are they ever happy with their actions, or do they want more destruction? To my understanding Bin Laden says that it is more important for Muslims to kill American people than any other activity. Another event in the history of terrorism attacks was the USS Cole Attack in 2000. It is to be known that this event was also under the control of Usama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda networking; killing several Americans and injuring many. Seeing and knowing about the previous attacks Usama Bin Laden has been putting into action we can see that the Twin Tower collapse was not the moment that terrorism came to America. The Twin Tower attack was more of a statement saying, â€Å"Since you have not taken the 1993 bombing and USS Cole Attack into great consideration maybe hijacking planes and crashing them will open your eyes. † Throughout the past events we can see that Bin Laden put his life into planing these attacks with great passion. In the book The 9/11 Report, we read how the Al Qaeda prepared themselves for the horrific event and the studying they took in to know how to attack and when. â€Å"In the early summer of 2000, the Hamburg group arrived in the United States to begin flight training. All three of these men would be pilots on the 9/11 operation† (Jacobson and Colon 69). These hijackers studied everything they need to know in order to take action on that very day. From learning how to flight a pilot to using guns to to route these planes were to take on September 11. Not only did the terrorist gone under intense training and studying, but so did the United States. The Government and even researchers’ needed to know and understand the meaning behind the attacks. In the journal Intersecting Facts and Theories on 9/11 by Joseph P. Firmage, he mentions: â€Å"One of the challenges in comprehending the circumstances of 9/11 is the sheer volume of material spanning two decades that must be studied for one to become comfortable reaching the conclusions† (Firmage 19). Throughout his journal he talks about the subjects that were found in this research. How was it possible for terrorist to attack on America soil? His three possibly theories where that 1) the 19 Islamic radicals caught the U. S. off guard, 2) the Bush administration knew about the attacks and let them to happen, and 3) such officials architected the attacks and caused them to happened. Based on this information I agree with what the researcher has come up with because to be honest we all know that back before September 11, our security at airports was not as advanced and as great as today’s security. Back then we did no have the machine where one is to step in and it sees your body or detect the metal in your clothing. I honestly do not remember going through all that process when I was younger and would travel, but I cannot say the security did this and this because I was younger ,and did not pay attention to my surroundings. We do know that the government did have an understanding of the Twin Towers attack before occurring, yet they did not put mind to this situation. We know that inside the government there was lack of communication, but there was also lack in unity. The 9/11 Report book talks about many different subjects, but it also mentions the actions government took against the treats from Usama Bin Laden towards the Twin Towers. In this graphic adaptation is states how Richard Clarke wrote a memo to colleagues saying, â€Å"When these attacks occur, as they likely will, we will wonder what more we could have done to stop them† (Jacobson and Colon 79). This memo clearly tells us that our administration was well aware of Al Qaeda’s plans. If we look at the word â€Å"united† its most common definition is combined, connected. Now if we put these words in front of state United States means a state where administration is connected to its people; where we are one whole family and need to look out for one another. By not taking into great consideration the treats that United States received and not believing such horrific even could happen on the most â€Å"goddess† land in the world, our connection grew apart, because although many of us knew of previous attacks and government had a warning of an income one, we did not unite to fight for our land. I’m not saying we needed to start war, but by having better airport security back then and making it less easy for Muslims to have entered the United States, we would have been saying,â€Å"our gloves are on and we are ready to fight the war, if it means to keep our people safe. † Unity is something everyone has with someone. So why can’t our government keep their unity chain stronger and together as years pass. It seems that Al Qaeda in this case and in many other have had more unity then United States it self. The Al Qaeda knew what the plan was, knew which action they each had to take on that day. The Twin Tower attack was not the beginning of terrorist in America; terrorist were simply saying, â€Å"Look what we can do in your land. † The construction of the Freedom Tower to me signifies that we have not yet learned from our mistakes eleven years ago. We are calling for trouble because we want to show terrorist we are a land that can do anything and build a taller building then the ones they collapsed. United States has to learn that we are a state that is united in every way and grow stronger with each day that passes. Work Cited 1. Dwyer, Jim and Flynn, Kevin. 102 Minutes. New York: Henry Holt, 2005. Print. 2. Firmage, P. Joseph. â€Å"Intersecting Facts and Theories on 9/11. † (2006): 19. Print. 3. Jacobson, Sid and Colon, Erine. The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print.

Promoting A New Grooming Product For Men Marketing Essay

Promoting A New Grooming Product For Men Marketing Essay To be able to reap success in the field of business where competition is very tough, there is a growing need for organizations to pay and dedicate special attention in the evaluation and execution of their marketing mix, specifically in the aspect of promotions which deals with measures and practices directed towards increasing the markets awareness of the existence of the product. The element of promotion is very important especially for businesses which are just starting in the market or for products which are just in the introduction stage. A good promotional campaign will enable the company to establish a name and to establish recall since they are just new in the market. This will increase the awareness of the public regarding the existence of the product and will in turn generate revenue for the company in the long run (Kurtz et al, 2007). It is undeniable that the present time holds a notable growth in the success of personal care or grooming products for men which were introduced in the market. Vanity is no longer exclusive to women as the marketing trend nowadays suggests with the emergence of various grooming products which caters to the specific needs and requirements of the male market. This market holds a very strong potential for revenue generation as the market segment increased and continued its perpetual growth (Neff, 2010). To be bale to market mens grooming products, one specific aspect which needs special attention would be advertising. It has been noted in the past that advertising shows significant effect on the growth of the product in the market, especially for new products, as it instigates recall and awareness among the target audience. For grooming products for men, one of the most effective would be tri-media advertisement wherein basic advertising medium will be used including television, radio, and print ads. For television, a commercial will be aired with the central theme of promoting mens grooming products, making vanity not exclusive to women, targeting the male audience as it conveys a message which assumes the growing need for the male market to better take care of themselves so that they can look and feel better. The central theme of the tri-media advertisements would be increasing the confidence of the male market by looking good through the help of new grooming products. To be able to extend the anticipated reach of this commercial, a credible celebrity endorser will also be used. It must be remembered that the grooming product is new that is why it has a significant need to be endorsed by credible and known endorsers to be able to easily make its way and tap its target market. The commercial will show the celebrity endorser using the new grooming products, as he believes in its effectiveness and efficiency, and will include his testimonial regarding the benefits which men will get from using such products. Furthermore, to be able to target male who does not watch television at all, commercials will also be aired via major radio stations. The commercials which will be produced for radio will be focused on testimonials from projected users about the grooming products and endorsement of use while trying to convince more male that this new grooming product is a must-try. The radio commercials will be helpful especially to target males who are always on the go and those who listen to the radio while driving their cars to work or to wherever they will be headed. Lastly, to be able to complete the dimensions of tri-media advertisements, there will also be print ads which will be scattered in major places where the market demographics reflects the target market profile of the new grooming products. The display of these print ads will still be helpful in generating recall and awareness especially if they are posted on places in the target market of the grooming products is always staying or passing by. To be able to reach more of the products target market, event sponsorship will also be taken into consideration as a means of advertising, as increasing the level of awareness of the public regarding the new grooming products for men. The events which will be targeted for promotions or sponsorship will include those in which the main participants are men. This could include events such as fashion show for mens clothing and other men products. During such events, there will be company booths which will be installed in the venue and will be manned by a set of promodizers. Leaflets regarding the product details and benefits of usage will also be distributed to be able to disseminate information. Furthermore, there will also be free product samples in trial packs so that the target market can be able to try it with the hopes that it could lead to repetitive purchases in order to gain revenue for the business. In order to achieve maximum results for event sponsorships, it must be assured that only events with significant attendance from the target population will be considered. Moreover, the power of the internet as an effective marketing tool should not be disregarded in the execution of the promotions mix for the new grooming products for men. A relatively large number of populations in the entire market have access to the internet and literate about its usage. Therefore, marketing efforts should be also directed towards the utilization of internet to promote the new products. To start of, the company will build its very own corporate website. In building the website, the target market must be considered. Most male internet users want direct information and straight forward execution rather than the bubbly type of websites. Therefore, the website design should be minimalist in general and display only information which ae relevant and significant of the product. The pictures and general description of the products will also be displayed to give the market an image of what they can expect from the product line. Moreover, to be able to strengthen the claims of the product, there will also be testimonials from users and endorsers in order to convince the website visitors that they mus try and use the said products. Lastly, the website shall feature an interactive feed where there could be communication between the visitors and the administrators to answer their queries and also to ad a touch of personalization and interaction in the website. Moreover, public relations must not be also taken out of the picture when considering promotion strategies for the new line of grooming products fro men. In is always very important to maintain a good relationship with the public to be bale to be assured that they will patronize the products and use them in the long run. It is always important for the company to maintain a public image to be bale to make them aware of its practice. Part of the public relations measure of the company will be to be more visible in the eyes of the public, specifically to it target market, by establishing a series of events and product launches which will include the endorsers and the actual samples of the products. These product launches will be able to help the company establish public relationship and at the same time will set as a means of promotion for the grooming products.

Flow Cytometry for the Evaluation of Semen

Flow Cytometry for the Evaluation of Semen State of the Art in Sperm Assessment Using Flow Cytometry Abstract Flow cytometry is emerging as a substantial tool in the domain of modern andrology for the routine analysis of spermatozoa. Recent application of flow cytometry in the artificial insemination industry especially for pig is a new approach. Until very recent, analysis of semen samples was routinely performed by microscopical evaluation and manual techniques by laboratory operators; analysis is inclined due to comprehensive variability among observers, influencing its clinical validity. During last decade, to evaluate farm animal semen, variety of new flow cytometric techniques have been intercalated which made possible a wide spread evaluation of several sperm functionality and characteristics. Here in this paper, an initiative has been taken to explore numerous current flow cytometry developments pressing for andrological tests. After the invention of flow cytometry, sperm evaluation by traditional (microscopic) means became questioned and avoided due to the robust advantages of flow cytometry over the microscopic methods. By the recent development of diverse fluroscence probes, flow cytometry became capable of analyzing number of sperm characteristics like viability, capacitation, acrosomal integrity, membrane permeability, membrane integrity, mitochondrial status, DNA integrity, decondensation of DNA and differences between gametes based on sex. The application of flow cytometry to their detection allows increased numbers of spermatozoa to be assessed over a short time-period, provides the opportunity of working with small sample sizes, increases the repeatability of data obtained, removes the subjectivity of evaluation and allows simultaneous assessment of multiple fluorochromes. Thus, flow cytometry is a technique capable of generating significantly novel data and allows the design and execution of exper iments that are not yet possible with any other technique. Nowadays, semen evaluation using laboratory analyses is very meaningful to the artificial insemination industry to provide the most desired quality product to customers. Future development of flow cytometric techniques will permit further advances both in our knowledge and in the improvement of assisted reproduction techniques. In this paper, the main semen attributes that can be analyzed with fluorochromes and adapted for use with a flow cytometer will be reviewed and the relationship of these tests to fertility will be discussed. Introduction Up to now, semen evaluation is considered as the most important laboratory test that has enabled us to identify and predict clear-cut cases of fertility (Jarow et al., 2002), infertility or even of potential sub-fertility (Rodrà ­guez-Martà ­nez, 2007). Determination of the potential fertility of semen sample and, in the long run, of the male from which it has been collected is the ultimate goal of semen evaluations in clinically healthy sires. Now a days, many methods for the estimate the possible fertilizing capacity of a semen sample and, or in the word, of the male (reviewed by Dziuk 1996; Rodrà ­guez-Martà ­nez et al. 1997a; Rodrà ­guez-Martà ­nez and Larsson 1998; Saacke et al. 1998; Larsson and Rodrà ­guez-Martà ­nez 2000; Rodrà ­guez- Martà ­nez 2000, 2003; Popwell and Flowers 2004; Graham and Mocà © 2005; Gillan et al. 2005) are existing. The methods routinely accustomed for evaluation of the quality of a semen sample involved an evaluation of general appearance, volume, pH, sperm concentration, viability, morphology and motility. Most of these evaluations are based on microscopic analyses that only measure relatively a few numbers of spermatozoa within a population. In most of the cases, these are time-consuming; results obtained are controversial and are not translatable. It should also be noted that such conventional techniques are apt to extreme inter-ejaculate variation, even when the laboratory methodology has been standardized. In the wake of this information, new opportunities have arisen for the development of methods for the diagnosis of male infertility, many of which have been shown to exhibit a prognostic value that eludes conventional semen profiling. Moreover, ejaculated spermatozoa are nowadays handled for use in assisted reproductive technologies, such as the artificial insemination of chilled, frozen-thawed or sexed semen, and IVF. During this long processes, number of steps like semen extension, fluorophore loading, ultrav iolet and laser illumination, high-speed sorting, cooling and cryopreservation are followed, which create a scope to impose different degrees of change in sperm functionality followed by suffer of damage to sperm membranes, organelles or the DNA content. Therefore, although several assays have been developed to monitor these sperm parameters, recently it is being claimed by many groups that buck of those so-called procedures are incomplete, time consuming and laborious. Flow cytometry in diverse technical applications proposes many advantages for the analysis of sperm quality. Flow cytometry is a method where multiple fluorescences and light scattering can be induced allowing single cell or particles illumination in suspension while they flow very rapidly through a sensing area. The increasing use over the past decade of flow cytometry in the leading laboratories in human and veterinary andrology has dramatically increased our knowledge of sperm function under physiological and biotechnological conditions. Flow cytometers is capable to acquire data from several subpopulations within a sample in a few minutes, making it perfect for assessing heterogenous populations in a semen sample. Flow cytometry was initially developed in the 1960s, after that flow cytometry is performing automated separation of cells based on the unique recognition of cellular patterns in a population feasible (Hulett et al., 1969). Likewise, cellular patterns can be recognized by utilizing such a separation approach, in each cells within a population (Baumgarth and Roederer, 2000; Herzenberg et al., 2006). The first notion of flow cytometry development was for medical and clinical applications such as haematology and oncology. Although still much research is going on these medical areas and account for the vast majority of publications on this robust technique, but during the past few years it is being used in a diverse areas, such as bioprocess monitoring, pharmacology, toxicology, environmental sciences, bacteriology and virology. Together with elevated use in many areas, recent advancement of flow cytometry increased its application in the reproductive biology especially for andrology. Although flow cytometry may overestimate the population of unlabelled cells (Petrunkina and Harrison, 2009), plethora of research from our group in pig (Pena et al., 2003, 2004, 2005; Spjuth et al., 2007; Fernando et al., 2003; Saravia et al.,2005, 2007,2009; De Ambrogi et al., 2006; ) bull (Bergquist et al., 2007; Nagy et al., 2004; Januskauskas et al., 2003; Bergqvist et al., 2007; Hallap et al., 20 05, 2006;) stallion ( Kavak et al., 2003; Morrell et al., 2008) indicate that newly developed fluorescent stains and techniques of flow cytometry has made possible a more widespread analysis of semen quality at a biochemical, ultrastructural and functional level. Therefore, flow cytometry is the current technical solution for rapid, precisely reproducible assessment of sperm suspensions. In this review we have described potentiality and scope of flow cytometry for the evaluation of semen, and the way in which this technique can be used in clinical applications for andrology based on some of our previous experiences. Definition of flow cytometry The definition of a flow cytometer is ‘an instrument which measures the properties of cells in a flowing stream or ‘an instrument that can measure physical, as well as multi-colour fluorescence properties of cells flowing in a stream. In other word, cytometry is a method which measure physical and chemical attributes of cells or other particles. Such a measurement is made when cells or other particles pass in single file through some sort of measuring apparatus in a stream of fluid. The data obtained can be used to understand and monitor biological processes and develop new methods and strategies for cell detection and quantification. Compared to other traditional analytical tools, where a single value for each attribute is obtained for the whole population, flow cytometry provides data for each and every particle detected. As cells differ in their metabolic or physiological states, flow cytometry allows us not only to detect a particular cell type but also to find different subpopulations according to their structural or physiological parameters. Flow cytometry is a technique for measuring components (cells) and the properties of individual cells in liquid suspension. In essence, suspended cells are brought to a detector, one by one, by means of a flow channel. Fluidic devices under laminar flow define the trajectories and velocities that cells traverse across the detector, and fluorescence, absorbance, and light scattering are among the cell properties that can be detected. Flow sorting allows individual cells to be sorted on the basis of their measured properties, and one to three or more global properties of the cell can be measured. Flow cytometers and cell sorters make use of one or more excitation sources and one or two fluorescent dyes to measure and characterize several thousands of cells per second. Flow cytometry presents objective and precise results (Bunthof et al., 2001; Shleeva et al., 2002), which help to overcome the problems with the manual methods described above. Function and types of flow cytometry A flow cytometer is made of three main systems, fluidics, optics and electronics. ItI It can acquire data on all subpopulations within a sample, making it ideal for assessment of heterogenous population, such as spermatozoa. The adaptation of flow cytometry to sperm assessment came in to function when it was used for measuring their DNA content (Evenson et al., 1980) and its application for analyzing semen has been increased rapidly in last decade. Flow cytometry is now applied for the evaluation semen such as sperm viability, acrosomal integrity, mitochondrial function, capacitation status, membrane fluidity, DNA status and so on. Continuous innovation of new fluorescent stains and techniques facilitated the flow cytometric evaluation of spermatozoa. Flow cytometry allows the observation of physical characteristics, such as cell size, shape and internal complexity, and any component or function of the spermatozoon that can be detected by a fluorochrome or fluorescently labeled compound. The analysis is objective, has a high level of experimental repeatability and has the advantage of being able to work with small sample sizes. Flow cytometry also has the capacity to detect labeling by multiple fluorochromes associated with individual spermatozoa, meaning that more than one sperm attribute can be assessed simultaneously. This feature has an added benefit for semen analysis, as few single sperm parameters show significant correlation with fertility in vivo for semen within the acceptable range of normality (Larsson and Rodriguez-Martinez, 2000) and it is the general statistics that the more sperm parameters can be tested, the more accurate the fertility prediction becomes (Amman and Hammerstedt, 1993). There are two main types of flow cytometers-analysers and sorters are in use. Together with data collection on cells, sorters have the potentiality to sort cells with particular properties (defined by the flow cytometer operator) to extremely high purities. There are also a number of commercial flow cytometers that have been developed for particular analytical requirements. Partec manufacture a Ploidy Analyser and also a Cell Counter Analyser. Optoflow has developed a flow cytometer for the rapid detection, characterization and enumeration of microorganisms. Luminex is developing technology for multiplexed analyte quantitation using a combination of microspheres, flow cytometry and high speed digital processing. Advantages of FC compared to other conventional techniques to explore sperm structure and function Use of authentic assays in the fertility clinic and artificial insemination industries increasing day by day. In this respect, use of flow cytometry might be an important attempt to resolve sustaining problem with so called commonly used manual method for the semen analysis. An additional source of laboratory variation is the low number of sperms analyzed with such techniques. It is worth mentinign here that so called method deal only with few hundred sperm. When we deal with such a few sperm population, there is a possibility that obtained result might not be statistically significant (Russel and Curtis, 1993). The methods which are frequently used are enable to determine sperm concentration (Jorgensen et al., 1997), motility or morphology only (Keel et al., 2002). Objectivity, cell number measured, speed of count and precision are the advantages of flow cytometry to conventional light microscopy techniques (Spano and Evenson, 1993). The technique now a days has been used to determi ne a number of factors including those of acrosome status, membrane integrity, mitochondrial function as well as multiparameter measurement in human (Garrido et al., 2002). Flow cytometry has the ability to analyze thousands of cells in few minutes. In our series of studies, we demonstrated the feasibility and reproducibility of an automated method to evaluate sperm cell type, count, and viability in human boar samples. In our hand, the precision of the flow cytometric analysis is satisfactory in a diverse species (boar, bull, stallion etc), and the observed errors were significantly better than those obtained from the so-called manual methods. Although there are diverse benefits of flow cytometer for the analysis of semen, feasibility of applying flow cytometry sometimes restricted to researcher due to the high outlay and difficulties of operation associated with the requirement of a skilled operator. Further, a flow cytometer is very large and cannot resist shocks associated with movement, and it also requires much space in the laboratory. Whatever may be the limitation, the development of more affordable ‘‘bench-top flow cytometers in recent time raised the potential essentialities to semen analysis. If the further application of flow cytometric analysis is considered further, it might be seen that it is growing popularities as a technique for assessing more than one sperm attribute, simultaneously. Compared to traditional microscopic techniques, flow cytometry analysis is allowing to give a far more simplified and objective method of semen analysis, especially in relation to fertilization with acrosome reactivity potential of spermatozoa (Uhler et al., 1993; Purvis et al., 1990; Carver-Ward et al., 1996). A large number of different techniques to estimate sperm concentration have been reported. In the mid-1990s a series of fixed-depth disposable slides were evaluated as rapid and effective pieces of equipment for the estimate of sperm concentration. Data from a number of preliminary studies proposed that, at least in the 20-mm-depth format, such chambers resulted in a noticeable underestimate of sperm concentration compared to the gold standard (improved Neubauer hemocytometer). According to the World Health Organization that ‘‘such chambers, whilst convenient in that they can be used without dilution of the specimen, might lead to inaccuracy (World Health Organization, 1999). Data from Tomlinson and colleagues indicate that two proprietary disposable slides (Microcell, Conception Technologies, San Diego, Calif; Leja, Leja Products, BV Nieuw- Vennep, The Netherlands) can result in a lower concentrations of sperm compared to the hemocytometer method (Tomlinson et al., 2001) . In contrast, plenty of reports document unacceptable differences between different laboratories and even between different individuals, although fewer studies attempt to address these issues. So, what is wrong? Improvement of semen quality testing has been emphasizing in some reports (Jorgensen et al., 1997; Keel et al., 2000). But due to low number of sperm evaluation by the conventional method results in poor reproducibility. These problems might be overcome when using flow cytometry. The validation of method is a challenge due to its essentiality of having specific, precise, objective, and accurate evaluation to establish a correlation of fertility data or to predict potential of a semen sample accurately (Amann, 1989). In a fertility clinic, precision of data in important as the result of semen analysis is frequently used to manage fertility of a patient and treatment of the unfertile couples. Thus, it is important to take into consideration within and between laboratory variations for successful infertility treatments. Sometimes its a matter of argument that compared to flow cytometry, fluorescent microscopy evaluate â€Å"patterns of fluorescence rather than the fluorescence intensity. Flow cytometer has the lack of ability to discriminate sperm containing a fluorescent marker bound to the equatorial segment or over one of the acrosomal membranes (Parinaud et al., 1993; Mortimer and Camenzind, 1989; Mortimer et al., 1987). Tao et al. (1993) compared flow cytometry and epifluorescent microscopy with various lectins and indicated that there is almost no difference between methodologies for detection of the acrosome reaction. However, it has been argued that lectins do not bind specifically to the acrosomal region of the sperm (Purvis et al., 1990; Holden and Trounson, 1991) and that other binding sites can be easily distinguished by epifluorescence microscopy, whereas flow cytometry identifies the signal from the entire sperm. Additionally, conventional light microscopic semen assessment is increasingly being replaced by fluorescent staining techniques, computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) systems, and flow cytometry (PenËÅ"a et al., 2001; Verstegen et al., 2002). Additional advantages over existing techniques are that this approach is faster than the hemacytometer and that cellular debris, fat droplets, and other particulate material in extended semen are not erroneously counted as sperm, as often occurs with electronic cell counters. This method can also be used to determine the number of somatic cells in a semen sample. Application of flow cytometry for sperm count Sperm count is an important predominant factor for the evaluation of sperm fertility potential. Accurate determination of sperm cell concentration is critical especially in AI industry because it provides assurance to customers that straws of extended semen contain the sperm numbers indicated which will help to decide appropriate doze especially for pig. Accuracy of sperm count is a common problem in the andrological laboratories and accurate measure of sperm concentration is particularly important for export in which verification of numbers may be required. Routine sperm counts can help to identify possible processing errors within a specific batch of semen or on a particular day, should those errors occur. As sperm counting procedures become more refined, routine counting can be used to monitor subtle changes in daily semen processing that might affect the number of sperm packaged in a straw. Every time new and more accurate methods for the sperm count determinations are coming and being replaced by the older ones. Some laboratories are trying the Maklerm counting chamber (Se if- Medical, Haifa, Israel) and other improved hemacytometers, such as the MicroCellTM (Fertility Technologies, Inc., Natick, MA); however, these techniques will likely have standard lems similar to those associated with the standard hemacytometers. Although hemacytometers are routinely used for sperm counts, due to the slow process and need for multiple measurements of each sample, the chance of error increase. Freund and Carol (ref) stated that a difference of 20% were not unusual between the determinations by the same technician. Electronic counters provide much more rapid counting, are easier to use, and give more repeatable results among technicians. However, those instruments tend to include in the sperm count any somatic cells present, immature sperm forms, cytoplasmic droplets, debris, and bacteria, thereby inflating the concentration value (Ref). Spectrophotometer is recently being used in the AI industries to assess sperm concentration by determining turbidity of a semen s ample using an instrument previously calibrated for sperm concentration with a hemacytometer or Coulter counter (Ref). The accuracy of this method depends on the methods used for spectrophotometer calibration. Although, sperm concentration can also be determined by spectrophotometrically, the debris present in the raw semen crease problem with misestimation. Sperm number in the frozen thawed semen is difficult to ascertain as most of the extender contain egg yolk particles, fats and other particles which affect measurement of sperm with electric cell counter or spectrophotometers (Evenson et al., 1993). On the other hand flow cytometry created possibilities of a rapid determination of sperm number in a precise form. It is the flow cytometry which can reduce intra-laboratory and inter-laboratory variation and conflict regarding sperm concentration assessment. Computer assisted semen analyzer is robust technique for analyzing sperm movement which can count sperm as well; but such an a nalyzer most of the cases use some counting chamber or hemacytometer which itself can generate error. Although, hemacytometer was originally developed for blood cell counting, its use is now diverse including andrological laboratories for sperm counting. Around two-decade ago flow cytometry was suggested for sperm numbers in straws of cryopreserved bull semen. Christensen et al. (-) observed similar results for sperm count with flow cytometry and hemocytometer for a number of species. Now a day a simultaneous determination of sperm viability and sperm concentration is possible which can avoid the chance of occurring differences between ejaculates leading lack of coordination with field fertility and laboratory analyses. Thus the present technology is more precise which can get rid of variation from handling the sperm sample and variation from pipetting and the analysis itself. Further, Prathalingam et al. (2006) concluded that there is similarities for sperm count result between flow cytometry and two newly approached method (image analysis and fluorescent plate reader) for sperm counting. Though, use of fluorescent plate was emphasized due to low cost and allowing large number of cells counting from a large number of ejaculates. Although flow cytometry has become a valuable instrument for andrological determinations, it is also blamed that sperm concentration by flow cytometry signify a higher value than the real one. The possibility arise might be due to that semen samples often contain some alien materials such as immature germ cells, epithelial cells, blood cells, cytoplasmic droplet, cellular debris etc. In the same way, frozen semen has higher chance to introduce such material as they contain diluents components especially egg yolk particles. These particles and cell debris might have frontal and side light scatter parameters those are similar to spermatozoa. Such sperm-count-overestimation problem arisen in our cases also, especially when we deal with frozen semen. Further it is also claimed that flow cytometry has a tendency to overestimate viable spermatozoa. We are also experienced with such trouble which we guess might be due to that egg particles of extender are considered as viable cell as for it s staining pattern. Our yet to publish data indicate that this problem can be mimic by a centrifugation process and by using low concentration sample for evaluation with flow cytometry. Very recently Petrunkina and Harrison (2009) proposed a mathematical equation for fixing this flow cytometric sperm counting. Thus much research is going on and we hope such discrepancy will completely be resolved near future to get advantage from this robust technology for sperm counting. Flow cytometry for detecting sperm intactness -Viability of spermatozoa The viability of spermatozoa is a key determinant of sperm quality and prerequisite for successful fertilization. Viability of spermatozoa can be assessed by numerous methods, but many are slow and poorly repeatable and subjectively assess only 100 to 200 spermatozoa per ejaculate. Merkies et al. (2000) compared different methods of viability evaluation. They concluded that Eosin-nigrosin overestimate viability while fluorescent microscope and flow cytometry estimate similar trend of viability. Current flow cytometric procedures are able to simultaneously evaluate sperm cell viability together with some other attributes. This method has been successfully used for assessing spermatozoa viability in men (Garner and Johnson, 1995), bulls (Garner et al., 1994; Thomas et al., 1998), boars (Rodrà ­guez-Martà ­nez, 2007; Garner and Johnson, 1995; Garner et al., 1996), rams (Garner and Johnson, 1995), rabbits (Garner and Johnson, 1995), mice (Garner and Johnson, 1995; Songsasen et al., 199 7), poultry and wildfowl (Donoghue et al., 1995; Blanco et al., 2000) and honey bees (Collins and Donoghue, 1999; Collins, 2000) and in fish (Martin Flajshans et al., 2004). Considerable information has accumulated on the use of fluorescent staining protocols for assessing sperm viability (Evenson et al., 1982). The SYBR 14 staining of nucleic acids, especially in the sperm head, was very bright in living sperm. Good agreement was observed between the fluorescent staining method and the standard eosin-nigrosine viability test; the flow cytometric method showed a precision level higher than that of the manual method. One of the first attempts to assess sperm viability utilized rhodamine 123 for determining potentiality of mitochondrial membrane while ethidium bromide for membrane integrity through flow cytometry (Garner et al., 1986). Other combinations that have been used to examine the functional capacity of sperm are carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA) and propidium iodide (PI) (Garner et al., 1988; Watson et al., 1992); carboxydimethylfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA), R123, and PI (Ericsson et al., 1993; Thomas and Garner, 1994); and PI, pisum sativum agglutinin (PSA), and R123 (Graham et al., 1990). The most generally used sperm viability stain combinations is SYBR-14 and PI at present. This stains are now sold commercially as live/dead viability kit. When these two stains are combinely used, the nuclei of viable sperm take fluoresce green and membrane integrity lost cells take red stain. This staining technique has been used in a number of species, including the boar (Garner and Johnson, 1995; Saravia et al.,2005, 2007,2009). Although species differences do exist in the function of spermatozoa, the Live/Dead stain may similarly have no adverse affect on fertilization in the equine, although it remains to be tested in this species. Recently a new instrument (Nucelocounter-SP100) has been introduced to evaluate sperm concentration [11] and viability. Due to the small size and low cost, this instrument has been attracted for field measurements of both concentration and viability. In our hand this instrument was also became useful for the quick measurement of sperm concentration an d viability in stallion (Morrell et al., 2010). Fluorescent probes such as H33258, requiring flow cytometric analysis with a laser that operates in the ultraviolet light range, are less commonly used as this is not a standard feature on the smaller analytical machines. However, one alternative is to use a fluorometer. A fluorometer is a relatively low-cost piece of portable equipment that permits a rapid analysis to be carried out on a sample. Januskauskas et al. (2001) used H33258 to detect nonviable bull spermatozoa by fluorometry and obtained an inverse correlation between the damaged cells per cent and the field fertility. Another option is fluorescent attachments for computer-assisted semen analysis devices. For example, the IDENT fluorescence feature of the Hamilton-Thorne IVOS permits staining with H33258 allowing an assessment of sperm viability to be made along with motility. Fluorochromes used to assess sperm viability by both approach could be utilized in combination with each other. In that case, when CFDA is used combined with PI, three populations of cells as live, which are green; dead, which are red; and a third population which is stained with both and represents dying spermatozoa can be identified. This combination was found useful by Almlid and Johnson (1988) for frozen-thawed boar spermatozoa for monitoring membrane damage at the time of evaluation of various freezing protocols. Further, Harrison and Vickers (1990) also noticed that this combination with a fluorescent microscope is effective indicator of viability of fresh, incubated or cold-shocked spermatozoa in boar and ram. Contrasting to these, Garner et al. (1986) was failed to find a relationship between bull sperm viability and fertility when using combination of CFDA/PI . Flow cytometry for evaluating sperm viability appears to be a precious tool in the AI industry. When a high number of sperm is packed in each insemination dose, the effect of selecting the best ejaculates according to sperm viability has a relatively limited effect. However, sperm viability might be more important when combined with low-dose inseminations. The FACSCount AF flow cytometer also determines sperm concentration accurately and precisely during the same analysis (Christensen et al., 2004a). The combined assessment of sperm viability and concentration appears to be useful in the wake of improving quality control at AI stations. Because of the results of this trial, this method has been implemented by Danish AI stations (Christensen et al., 2005). Relatively bright fluorescence was found also in the mitochondrial sheath of living sperm. But the mechanism and mode of action by which SYBR-14 binds to the DNA of sperm is not known. It is know that PI stains nucleic acids by inte rcalating between the base pairs (Krishan, 1975). Viability stains can also be used in conjugation with fluorescently labeled plant lectins for simultaneous assessment of the plasma membrane integrity and the acrosome integrity (Nagy et al., 2003). It is conceivable that assessment of viability using SYBR-14 dye does not damage spermatozoa, since Garner et al. (5) found that insemination of boar sperm stained with SYBR-14 did not compromise fertilization or even the development of flushed porcine embryos in vitro. Non-viable sperms can be detected using the membrane-impermeable nucleic acid stains which positively identify dead spermatozoa by penetrating cells with damaged membranes. Plasma membrane which is intact will not permit these stains entering into the spermatozoa and staining the nucleus. Most frequently used stains include phenanthridines, for example propidium iodide (PI; (Matyus, 1984) ethidium homodimer-1 (EthD-1; (Althouse et al., 1995), the cyanine Yo-Pro (Kavak, 2003) and the bizbenzimidazole Hoechst 33258 (Gundersen and Shapiro, 1984). After a series of comparison between fertility of cryopreserved stallion spermatozoa with a number of laboratory assessments of semen quality as assessed by flow cytometry using PI, Wilhelm et al. (1996) concluded that viability is the single laboratory assay that correlated with fertility. -Sperm plasma membrane integrity Although the sperm plasma membrane covers the entire cell, it consists of three distinct membrane compartments, one which covers the outer acrosomal membrane, one which covers the post acrosomal portion of the sperm head, and one which covers the middle and principal pieces. Sperm membrane is directly or ind Flow Cytometry for the Evaluation of Semen Flow Cytometry for the Evaluation of Semen State of the Art in Sperm Assessment Using Flow Cytometry Abstract Flow cytometry is emerging as a substantial tool in the domain of modern andrology for the routine analysis of spermatozoa. Recent application of flow cytometry in the artificial insemination industry especially for pig is a new approach. Until very recent, analysis of semen samples was routinely performed by microscopical evaluation and manual techniques by laboratory operators; analysis is inclined due to comprehensive variability among observers, influencing its clinical validity. During last decade, to evaluate farm animal semen, variety of new flow cytometric techniques have been intercalated which made possible a wide spread evaluation of several sperm functionality and characteristics. Here in this paper, an initiative has been taken to explore numerous current flow cytometry developments pressing for andrological tests. After the invention of flow cytometry, sperm evaluation by traditional (microscopic) means became questioned and avoided due to the robust advantages of flow cytometry over the microscopic methods. By the recent development of diverse fluroscence probes, flow cytometry became capable of analyzing number of sperm characteristics like viability, capacitation, acrosomal integrity, membrane permeability, membrane integrity, mitochondrial status, DNA integrity, decondensation of DNA and differences between gametes based on sex. The application of flow cytometry to their detection allows increased numbers of spermatozoa to be assessed over a short time-period, provides the opportunity of working with small sample sizes, increases the repeatability of data obtained, removes the subjectivity of evaluation and allows simultaneous assessment of multiple fluorochromes. Thus, flow cytometry is a technique capable of generating significantly novel data and allows the design and execution of exper iments that are not yet possible with any other technique. Nowadays, semen evaluation using laboratory analyses is very meaningful to the artificial insemination industry to provide the most desired quality product to customers. Future development of flow cytometric techniques will permit further advances both in our knowledge and in the improvement of assisted reproduction techniques. In this paper, the main semen attributes that can be analyzed with fluorochromes and adapted for use with a flow cytometer will be reviewed and the relationship of these tests to fertility will be discussed. Introduction Up to now, semen evaluation is considered as the most important laboratory test that has enabled us to identify and predict clear-cut cases of fertility (Jarow et al., 2002), infertility or even of potential sub-fertility (Rodrà ­guez-Martà ­nez, 2007). Determination of the potential fertility of semen sample and, in the long run, of the male from which it has been collected is the ultimate goal of semen evaluations in clinically healthy sires. Now a days, many methods for the estimate the possible fertilizing capacity of a semen sample and, or in the word, of the male (reviewed by Dziuk 1996; Rodrà ­guez-Martà ­nez et al. 1997a; Rodrà ­guez-Martà ­nez and Larsson 1998; Saacke et al. 1998; Larsson and Rodrà ­guez-Martà ­nez 2000; Rodrà ­guez- Martà ­nez 2000, 2003; Popwell and Flowers 2004; Graham and Mocà © 2005; Gillan et al. 2005) are existing. The methods routinely accustomed for evaluation of the quality of a semen sample involved an evaluation of general appearance, volume, pH, sperm concentration, viability, morphology and motility. Most of these evaluations are based on microscopic analyses that only measure relatively a few numbers of spermatozoa within a population. In most of the cases, these are time-consuming; results obtained are controversial and are not translatable. It should also be noted that such conventional techniques are apt to extreme inter-ejaculate variation, even when the laboratory methodology has been standardized. In the wake of this information, new opportunities have arisen for the development of methods for the diagnosis of male infertility, many of which have been shown to exhibit a prognostic value that eludes conventional semen profiling. Moreover, ejaculated spermatozoa are nowadays handled for use in assisted reproductive technologies, such as the artificial insemination of chilled, frozen-thawed or sexed semen, and IVF. During this long processes, number of steps like semen extension, fluorophore loading, ultrav iolet and laser illumination, high-speed sorting, cooling and cryopreservation are followed, which create a scope to impose different degrees of change in sperm functionality followed by suffer of damage to sperm membranes, organelles or the DNA content. Therefore, although several assays have been developed to monitor these sperm parameters, recently it is being claimed by many groups that buck of those so-called procedures are incomplete, time consuming and laborious. Flow cytometry in diverse technical applications proposes many advantages for the analysis of sperm quality. Flow cytometry is a method where multiple fluorescences and light scattering can be induced allowing single cell or particles illumination in suspension while they flow very rapidly through a sensing area. The increasing use over the past decade of flow cytometry in the leading laboratories in human and veterinary andrology has dramatically increased our knowledge of sperm function under physiological and biotechnological conditions. Flow cytometers is capable to acquire data from several subpopulations within a sample in a few minutes, making it perfect for assessing heterogenous populations in a semen sample. Flow cytometry was initially developed in the 1960s, after that flow cytometry is performing automated separation of cells based on the unique recognition of cellular patterns in a population feasible (Hulett et al., 1969). Likewise, cellular patterns can be recognized by utilizing such a separation approach, in each cells within a population (Baumgarth and Roederer, 2000; Herzenberg et al., 2006). The first notion of flow cytometry development was for medical and clinical applications such as haematology and oncology. Although still much research is going on these medical areas and account for the vast majority of publications on this robust technique, but during the past few years it is being used in a diverse areas, such as bioprocess monitoring, pharmacology, toxicology, environmental sciences, bacteriology and virology. Together with elevated use in many areas, recent advancement of flow cytometry increased its application in the reproductive biology especially for andrology. Although flow cytometry may overestimate the population of unlabelled cells (Petrunkina and Harrison, 2009), plethora of research from our group in pig (Pena et al., 2003, 2004, 2005; Spjuth et al., 2007; Fernando et al., 2003; Saravia et al.,2005, 2007,2009; De Ambrogi et al., 2006; ) bull (Bergquist et al., 2007; Nagy et al., 2004; Januskauskas et al., 2003; Bergqvist et al., 2007; Hallap et al., 20 05, 2006;) stallion ( Kavak et al., 2003; Morrell et al., 2008) indicate that newly developed fluorescent stains and techniques of flow cytometry has made possible a more widespread analysis of semen quality at a biochemical, ultrastructural and functional level. Therefore, flow cytometry is the current technical solution for rapid, precisely reproducible assessment of sperm suspensions. In this review we have described potentiality and scope of flow cytometry for the evaluation of semen, and the way in which this technique can be used in clinical applications for andrology based on some of our previous experiences. Definition of flow cytometry The definition of a flow cytometer is ‘an instrument which measures the properties of cells in a flowing stream or ‘an instrument that can measure physical, as well as multi-colour fluorescence properties of cells flowing in a stream. In other word, cytometry is a method which measure physical and chemical attributes of cells or other particles. Such a measurement is made when cells or other particles pass in single file through some sort of measuring apparatus in a stream of fluid. The data obtained can be used to understand and monitor biological processes and develop new methods and strategies for cell detection and quantification. Compared to other traditional analytical tools, where a single value for each attribute is obtained for the whole population, flow cytometry provides data for each and every particle detected. As cells differ in their metabolic or physiological states, flow cytometry allows us not only to detect a particular cell type but also to find different subpopulations according to their structural or physiological parameters. Flow cytometry is a technique for measuring components (cells) and the properties of individual cells in liquid suspension. In essence, suspended cells are brought to a detector, one by one, by means of a flow channel. Fluidic devices under laminar flow define the trajectories and velocities that cells traverse across the detector, and fluorescence, absorbance, and light scattering are among the cell properties that can be detected. Flow sorting allows individual cells to be sorted on the basis of their measured properties, and one to three or more global properties of the cell can be measured. Flow cytometers and cell sorters make use of one or more excitation sources and one or two fluorescent dyes to measure and characterize several thousands of cells per second. Flow cytometry presents objective and precise results (Bunthof et al., 2001; Shleeva et al., 2002), which help to overcome the problems with the manual methods described above. Function and types of flow cytometry A flow cytometer is made of three main systems, fluidics, optics and electronics. ItI It can acquire data on all subpopulations within a sample, making it ideal for assessment of heterogenous population, such as spermatozoa. The adaptation of flow cytometry to sperm assessment came in to function when it was used for measuring their DNA content (Evenson et al., 1980) and its application for analyzing semen has been increased rapidly in last decade. Flow cytometry is now applied for the evaluation semen such as sperm viability, acrosomal integrity, mitochondrial function, capacitation status, membrane fluidity, DNA status and so on. Continuous innovation of new fluorescent stains and techniques facilitated the flow cytometric evaluation of spermatozoa. Flow cytometry allows the observation of physical characteristics, such as cell size, shape and internal complexity, and any component or function of the spermatozoon that can be detected by a fluorochrome or fluorescently labeled compound. The analysis is objective, has a high level of experimental repeatability and has the advantage of being able to work with small sample sizes. Flow cytometry also has the capacity to detect labeling by multiple fluorochromes associated with individual spermatozoa, meaning that more than one sperm attribute can be assessed simultaneously. This feature has an added benefit for semen analysis, as few single sperm parameters show significant correlation with fertility in vivo for semen within the acceptable range of normality (Larsson and Rodriguez-Martinez, 2000) and it is the general statistics that the more sperm parameters can be tested, the more accurate the fertility prediction becomes (Amman and Hammerstedt, 1993). There are two main types of flow cytometers-analysers and sorters are in use. Together with data collection on cells, sorters have the potentiality to sort cells with particular properties (defined by the flow cytometer operator) to extremely high purities. There are also a number of commercial flow cytometers that have been developed for particular analytical requirements. Partec manufacture a Ploidy Analyser and also a Cell Counter Analyser. Optoflow has developed a flow cytometer for the rapid detection, characterization and enumeration of microorganisms. Luminex is developing technology for multiplexed analyte quantitation using a combination of microspheres, flow cytometry and high speed digital processing. Advantages of FC compared to other conventional techniques to explore sperm structure and function Use of authentic assays in the fertility clinic and artificial insemination industries increasing day by day. In this respect, use of flow cytometry might be an important attempt to resolve sustaining problem with so called commonly used manual method for the semen analysis. An additional source of laboratory variation is the low number of sperms analyzed with such techniques. It is worth mentinign here that so called method deal only with few hundred sperm. When we deal with such a few sperm population, there is a possibility that obtained result might not be statistically significant (Russel and Curtis, 1993). The methods which are frequently used are enable to determine sperm concentration (Jorgensen et al., 1997), motility or morphology only (Keel et al., 2002). Objectivity, cell number measured, speed of count and precision are the advantages of flow cytometry to conventional light microscopy techniques (Spano and Evenson, 1993). The technique now a days has been used to determi ne a number of factors including those of acrosome status, membrane integrity, mitochondrial function as well as multiparameter measurement in human (Garrido et al., 2002). Flow cytometry has the ability to analyze thousands of cells in few minutes. In our series of studies, we demonstrated the feasibility and reproducibility of an automated method to evaluate sperm cell type, count, and viability in human boar samples. In our hand, the precision of the flow cytometric analysis is satisfactory in a diverse species (boar, bull, stallion etc), and the observed errors were significantly better than those obtained from the so-called manual methods. Although there are diverse benefits of flow cytometer for the analysis of semen, feasibility of applying flow cytometry sometimes restricted to researcher due to the high outlay and difficulties of operation associated with the requirement of a skilled operator. Further, a flow cytometer is very large and cannot resist shocks associated with movement, and it also requires much space in the laboratory. Whatever may be the limitation, the development of more affordable ‘‘bench-top flow cytometers in recent time raised the potential essentialities to semen analysis. If the further application of flow cytometric analysis is considered further, it might be seen that it is growing popularities as a technique for assessing more than one sperm attribute, simultaneously. Compared to traditional microscopic techniques, flow cytometry analysis is allowing to give a far more simplified and objective method of semen analysis, especially in relation to fertilization with acrosome reactivity potential of spermatozoa (Uhler et al., 1993; Purvis et al., 1990; Carver-Ward et al., 1996). A large number of different techniques to estimate sperm concentration have been reported. In the mid-1990s a series of fixed-depth disposable slides were evaluated as rapid and effective pieces of equipment for the estimate of sperm concentration. Data from a number of preliminary studies proposed that, at least in the 20-mm-depth format, such chambers resulted in a noticeable underestimate of sperm concentration compared to the gold standard (improved Neubauer hemocytometer). According to the World Health Organization that ‘‘such chambers, whilst convenient in that they can be used without dilution of the specimen, might lead to inaccuracy (World Health Organization, 1999). Data from Tomlinson and colleagues indicate that two proprietary disposable slides (Microcell, Conception Technologies, San Diego, Calif; Leja, Leja Products, BV Nieuw- Vennep, The Netherlands) can result in a lower concentrations of sperm compared to the hemocytometer method (Tomlinson et al., 2001) . In contrast, plenty of reports document unacceptable differences between different laboratories and even between different individuals, although fewer studies attempt to address these issues. So, what is wrong? Improvement of semen quality testing has been emphasizing in some reports (Jorgensen et al., 1997; Keel et al., 2000). But due to low number of sperm evaluation by the conventional method results in poor reproducibility. These problems might be overcome when using flow cytometry. The validation of method is a challenge due to its essentiality of having specific, precise, objective, and accurate evaluation to establish a correlation of fertility data or to predict potential of a semen sample accurately (Amann, 1989). In a fertility clinic, precision of data in important as the result of semen analysis is frequently used to manage fertility of a patient and treatment of the unfertile couples. Thus, it is important to take into consideration within and between laboratory variations for successful infertility treatments. Sometimes its a matter of argument that compared to flow cytometry, fluorescent microscopy evaluate â€Å"patterns of fluorescence rather than the fluorescence intensity. Flow cytometer has the lack of ability to discriminate sperm containing a fluorescent marker bound to the equatorial segment or over one of the acrosomal membranes (Parinaud et al., 1993; Mortimer and Camenzind, 1989; Mortimer et al., 1987). Tao et al. (1993) compared flow cytometry and epifluorescent microscopy with various lectins and indicated that there is almost no difference between methodologies for detection of the acrosome reaction. However, it has been argued that lectins do not bind specifically to the acrosomal region of the sperm (Purvis et al., 1990; Holden and Trounson, 1991) and that other binding sites can be easily distinguished by epifluorescence microscopy, whereas flow cytometry identifies the signal from the entire sperm. Additionally, conventional light microscopic semen assessment is increasingly being replaced by fluorescent staining techniques, computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) systems, and flow cytometry (PenËÅ"a et al., 2001; Verstegen et al., 2002). Additional advantages over existing techniques are that this approach is faster than the hemacytometer and that cellular debris, fat droplets, and other particulate material in extended semen are not erroneously counted as sperm, as often occurs with electronic cell counters. This method can also be used to determine the number of somatic cells in a semen sample. Application of flow cytometry for sperm count Sperm count is an important predominant factor for the evaluation of sperm fertility potential. Accurate determination of sperm cell concentration is critical especially in AI industry because it provides assurance to customers that straws of extended semen contain the sperm numbers indicated which will help to decide appropriate doze especially for pig. Accuracy of sperm count is a common problem in the andrological laboratories and accurate measure of sperm concentration is particularly important for export in which verification of numbers may be required. Routine sperm counts can help to identify possible processing errors within a specific batch of semen or on a particular day, should those errors occur. As sperm counting procedures become more refined, routine counting can be used to monitor subtle changes in daily semen processing that might affect the number of sperm packaged in a straw. Every time new and more accurate methods for the sperm count determinations are coming and being replaced by the older ones. Some laboratories are trying the Maklerm counting chamber (Se if- Medical, Haifa, Israel) and other improved hemacytometers, such as the MicroCellTM (Fertility Technologies, Inc., Natick, MA); however, these techniques will likely have standard lems similar to those associated with the standard hemacytometers. Although hemacytometers are routinely used for sperm counts, due to the slow process and need for multiple measurements of each sample, the chance of error increase. Freund and Carol (ref) stated that a difference of 20% were not unusual between the determinations by the same technician. Electronic counters provide much more rapid counting, are easier to use, and give more repeatable results among technicians. However, those instruments tend to include in the sperm count any somatic cells present, immature sperm forms, cytoplasmic droplets, debris, and bacteria, thereby inflating the concentration value (Ref). Spectrophotometer is recently being used in the AI industries to assess sperm concentration by determining turbidity of a semen s ample using an instrument previously calibrated for sperm concentration with a hemacytometer or Coulter counter (Ref). The accuracy of this method depends on the methods used for spectrophotometer calibration. Although, sperm concentration can also be determined by spectrophotometrically, the debris present in the raw semen crease problem with misestimation. Sperm number in the frozen thawed semen is difficult to ascertain as most of the extender contain egg yolk particles, fats and other particles which affect measurement of sperm with electric cell counter or spectrophotometers (Evenson et al., 1993). On the other hand flow cytometry created possibilities of a rapid determination of sperm number in a precise form. It is the flow cytometry which can reduce intra-laboratory and inter-laboratory variation and conflict regarding sperm concentration assessment. Computer assisted semen analyzer is robust technique for analyzing sperm movement which can count sperm as well; but such an a nalyzer most of the cases use some counting chamber or hemacytometer which itself can generate error. Although, hemacytometer was originally developed for blood cell counting, its use is now diverse including andrological laboratories for sperm counting. Around two-decade ago flow cytometry was suggested for sperm numbers in straws of cryopreserved bull semen. Christensen et al. (-) observed similar results for sperm count with flow cytometry and hemocytometer for a number of species. Now a day a simultaneous determination of sperm viability and sperm concentration is possible which can avoid the chance of occurring differences between ejaculates leading lack of coordination with field fertility and laboratory analyses. Thus the present technology is more precise which can get rid of variation from handling the sperm sample and variation from pipetting and the analysis itself. Further, Prathalingam et al. (2006) concluded that there is similarities for sperm count result between flow cytometry and two newly approached method (image analysis and fluorescent plate reader) for sperm counting. Though, use of fluorescent plate was emphasized due to low cost and allowing large number of cells counting from a large number of ejaculates. Although flow cytometry has become a valuable instrument for andrological determinations, it is also blamed that sperm concentration by flow cytometry signify a higher value than the real one. The possibility arise might be due to that semen samples often contain some alien materials such as immature germ cells, epithelial cells, blood cells, cytoplasmic droplet, cellular debris etc. In the same way, frozen semen has higher chance to introduce such material as they contain diluents components especially egg yolk particles. These particles and cell debris might have frontal and side light scatter parameters those are similar to spermatozoa. Such sperm-count-overestimation problem arisen in our cases also, especially when we deal with frozen semen. Further it is also claimed that flow cytometry has a tendency to overestimate viable spermatozoa. We are also experienced with such trouble which we guess might be due to that egg particles of extender are considered as viable cell as for it s staining pattern. Our yet to publish data indicate that this problem can be mimic by a centrifugation process and by using low concentration sample for evaluation with flow cytometry. Very recently Petrunkina and Harrison (2009) proposed a mathematical equation for fixing this flow cytometric sperm counting. Thus much research is going on and we hope such discrepancy will completely be resolved near future to get advantage from this robust technology for sperm counting. Flow cytometry for detecting sperm intactness -Viability of spermatozoa The viability of spermatozoa is a key determinant of sperm quality and prerequisite for successful fertilization. Viability of spermatozoa can be assessed by numerous methods, but many are slow and poorly repeatable and subjectively assess only 100 to 200 spermatozoa per ejaculate. Merkies et al. (2000) compared different methods of viability evaluation. They concluded that Eosin-nigrosin overestimate viability while fluorescent microscope and flow cytometry estimate similar trend of viability. Current flow cytometric procedures are able to simultaneously evaluate sperm cell viability together with some other attributes. This method has been successfully used for assessing spermatozoa viability in men (Garner and Johnson, 1995), bulls (Garner et al., 1994; Thomas et al., 1998), boars (Rodrà ­guez-Martà ­nez, 2007; Garner and Johnson, 1995; Garner et al., 1996), rams (Garner and Johnson, 1995), rabbits (Garner and Johnson, 1995), mice (Garner and Johnson, 1995; Songsasen et al., 199 7), poultry and wildfowl (Donoghue et al., 1995; Blanco et al., 2000) and honey bees (Collins and Donoghue, 1999; Collins, 2000) and in fish (Martin Flajshans et al., 2004). Considerable information has accumulated on the use of fluorescent staining protocols for assessing sperm viability (Evenson et al., 1982). The SYBR 14 staining of nucleic acids, especially in the sperm head, was very bright in living sperm. Good agreement was observed between the fluorescent staining method and the standard eosin-nigrosine viability test; the flow cytometric method showed a precision level higher than that of the manual method. One of the first attempts to assess sperm viability utilized rhodamine 123 for determining potentiality of mitochondrial membrane while ethidium bromide for membrane integrity through flow cytometry (Garner et al., 1986). Other combinations that have been used to examine the functional capacity of sperm are carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA) and propidium iodide (PI) (Garner et al., 1988; Watson et al., 1992); carboxydimethylfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA), R123, and PI (Ericsson et al., 1993; Thomas and Garner, 1994); and PI, pisum sativum agglutinin (PSA), and R123 (Graham et al., 1990). The most generally used sperm viability stain combinations is SYBR-14 and PI at present. This stains are now sold commercially as live/dead viability kit. When these two stains are combinely used, the nuclei of viable sperm take fluoresce green and membrane integrity lost cells take red stain. This staining technique has been used in a number of species, including the boar (Garner and Johnson, 1995; Saravia et al.,2005, 2007,2009). Although species differences do exist in the function of spermatozoa, the Live/Dead stain may similarly have no adverse affect on fertilization in the equine, although it remains to be tested in this species. Recently a new instrument (Nucelocounter-SP100) has been introduced to evaluate sperm concentration [11] and viability. Due to the small size and low cost, this instrument has been attracted for field measurements of both concentration and viability. In our hand this instrument was also became useful for the quick measurement of sperm concentration an d viability in stallion (Morrell et al., 2010). Fluorescent probes such as H33258, requiring flow cytometric analysis with a laser that operates in the ultraviolet light range, are less commonly used as this is not a standard feature on the smaller analytical machines. However, one alternative is to use a fluorometer. A fluorometer is a relatively low-cost piece of portable equipment that permits a rapid analysis to be carried out on a sample. Januskauskas et al. (2001) used H33258 to detect nonviable bull spermatozoa by fluorometry and obtained an inverse correlation between the damaged cells per cent and the field fertility. Another option is fluorescent attachments for computer-assisted semen analysis devices. For example, the IDENT fluorescence feature of the Hamilton-Thorne IVOS permits staining with H33258 allowing an assessment of sperm viability to be made along with motility. Fluorochromes used to assess sperm viability by both approach could be utilized in combination with each other. In that case, when CFDA is used combined with PI, three populations of cells as live, which are green; dead, which are red; and a third population which is stained with both and represents dying spermatozoa can be identified. This combination was found useful by Almlid and Johnson (1988) for frozen-thawed boar spermatozoa for monitoring membrane damage at the time of evaluation of various freezing protocols. Further, Harrison and Vickers (1990) also noticed that this combination with a fluorescent microscope is effective indicator of viability of fresh, incubated or cold-shocked spermatozoa in boar and ram. Contrasting to these, Garner et al. (1986) was failed to find a relationship between bull sperm viability and fertility when using combination of CFDA/PI . Flow cytometry for evaluating sperm viability appears to be a precious tool in the AI industry. When a high number of sperm is packed in each insemination dose, the effect of selecting the best ejaculates according to sperm viability has a relatively limited effect. However, sperm viability might be more important when combined with low-dose inseminations. The FACSCount AF flow cytometer also determines sperm concentration accurately and precisely during the same analysis (Christensen et al., 2004a). The combined assessment of sperm viability and concentration appears to be useful in the wake of improving quality control at AI stations. Because of the results of this trial, this method has been implemented by Danish AI stations (Christensen et al., 2005). Relatively bright fluorescence was found also in the mitochondrial sheath of living sperm. But the mechanism and mode of action by which SYBR-14 binds to the DNA of sperm is not known. It is know that PI stains nucleic acids by inte rcalating between the base pairs (Krishan, 1975). Viability stains can also be used in conjugation with fluorescently labeled plant lectins for simultaneous assessment of the plasma membrane integrity and the acrosome integrity (Nagy et al., 2003). It is conceivable that assessment of viability using SYBR-14 dye does not damage spermatozoa, since Garner et al. (5) found that insemination of boar sperm stained with SYBR-14 did not compromise fertilization or even the development of flushed porcine embryos in vitro. Non-viable sperms can be detected using the membrane-impermeable nucleic acid stains which positively identify dead spermatozoa by penetrating cells with damaged membranes. Plasma membrane which is intact will not permit these stains entering into the spermatozoa and staining the nucleus. Most frequently used stains include phenanthridines, for example propidium iodide (PI; (Matyus, 1984) ethidium homodimer-1 (EthD-1; (Althouse et al., 1995), the cyanine Yo-Pro (Kavak, 2003) and the bizbenzimidazole Hoechst 33258 (Gundersen and Shapiro, 1984). After a series of comparison between fertility of cryopreserved stallion spermatozoa with a number of laboratory assessments of semen quality as assessed by flow cytometry using PI, Wilhelm et al. (1996) concluded that viability is the single laboratory assay that correlated with fertility. -Sperm plasma membrane integrity Although the sperm plasma membrane covers the entire cell, it consists of three distinct membrane compartments, one which covers the outer acrosomal membrane, one which covers the post acrosomal portion of the sperm head, and one which covers the middle and principal pieces. Sperm membrane is directly or ind