Biologicaly-active peptide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Biologicaly-active peptide - Essay Example Besides, Meisel, Frister and Schlimme (2009, pp. 268-275) point out that bioactive peptides have been determined as digestion products of various food proteins. Inside the polypeptide chain of the larger protein all the biologically active sequences are hidden in an active state. A rich source of bioactive peptides is milk proteins, for example exorphins, immunopeptides, antithrombotic, opioid, antihypertensive, anti-microbial, and phosphopeptides as well as cholesterol-lowering peptides. These proteins are discharged during the intestinal digestion of whey proteins and caseins. They may also be involved in regulating entry of nutrients and affect the postprandial metabolism through stimulation of the secretion of hormones. In addition, they also lead to a stimulating effect on the immune system. Furthermore, Sharma, Singh and Rana (2011, pp. 224-225) argue that biologically active peptides have already been used as dietary supplements and as pharmaceutical preparations. Milk protein s have the core role of supplying nitrogen and amino acids to the young mammals and comprise of a crucial part of dietary proteins for the adults. Additionally, milk proteins haven been found to have physiological importance; they assist in the uptake of various crucial nutrients, for example, trace elements and vitamins and include a group of proteins which provide protective function. Numerous bioactive peptide fragments according to Kamau et. al (2010, pp. 389) can be got through hydrolysis of whole milk by the digestive enzymes. This forms a hypothesis of the existence of such peptides in the GIT after consuming milk. Opioid peptides The peptides exist in dairy products which play an active role in the nervous system. Opioid peptides are also having pharmacological similarity to opium. They are opioid receptor ligands with antagonistic or agonistic activities and are characterized by distinct N-terminal sequences. The opioid peptides are actually short sequences of amino acids t hat are copy the influence of opiates in the brain. These opioid peptides can also be referred as peptides like enkephins that have both affinity for opiate receptor and opiates which actually inhibited by naloxone. The opioid peptides all originate from three precursor proteins; endorphins, proenkephalin and prodynorphin. The result of these aforementioned peptides is different, although they all resemble the opiates. The opioid food peptides are characterized with the lengths of typical 4-8 amino acids. The opioid peptides are produced in the body. The opioid peptide systems are known to affect attachment behavior, emotion, motivation, and response to stress and pain (Teschemacher, Koch & Brantl, 1997, pp.101-114). All the typical opioid peptides have similar N-terminal sequence. The opioid peptides portray their activity by binding to particular receptors of the target. The individual receptors are accountable for certain physiological effects, such as the m receptor for suppress ion of intestinal motility and emotional behavior. The opioid antagonists have also been found in human k-casein and bovine. The opioid peptides that are derived from milk proteins have been shown to have physiological significance in the female organism. Moreover, opioid peptides t

Science Time Lesson Plan Essay Example for Free

Science Time Lesson Plan Essay Materials:   classroom analog clock, individual student clocks, Daily Times worksheet Objective:   Students will use scientific processes: questioning, planning and conducting investigations, using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data, thinking critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations, and communicating results. Anticipatory Set: Teacher will discuss daily routine, getting up in the morning, dressing breakfast, and the times of each event.     Emphasize the clock time for each event using the large clock. Instructional Procedures:   The students have explored the concept of a minute; they need to know how to tell time. They need to be able to see a clock and know how to read 1-5 minutes on it. Read the story Clocks and More Clocks and discuss why the clocks tell different times. It is important the students understand that activities take time, introduce the term â€Å"lapsed time†. When they participate in various activities it takes time and this is â€Å"lapsed time†. Discuss how long it takes to do reading, spelling, recess, and other class activities. Students can also discuss how much time they spend at lunch or in the computer lab. Students will practice with a clock looking at various times. (Students should have done activities with a clock prior to doing this activity.) Pair them up and give several guided practice times to check for understanding.   Once this you have accomplished this step the students can be given a sheet to record events of the day. They need to record these events so they are sequenced in the correct order. Discuss why the clocks were at different times. Distribute clocks. Have the students show various times on their clocks. (Have them do times that are part of their day. Example: recess, lunch, computer time, etc.) Pass out the worksheet. Have them begin working on the sheet. Send it home to be finished. Assessment:   Students will create clocks using paper plates then mark and label times on the clock for events of the day. Additional Resources: Pigs on the Blanket by Amy Axelrod The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle Nine O’clock Lullaby by Marilyn Singer All About Time by Andre Verde   Social Studies Lesson Plan Materials: classroom analog clock, 12 x 18 sheet of white construction paper, individual student clocks, Daily Times worksheet Objective:   Ã‚  Place important life events in chronological order on a timeline.   An understanding of chronological order is applied to the analysis of the interrelatedness of events.   Ã‚  The student will order the events that occur in a day. The student will distinguish between events that occur in the a.m. and p.m. Anticipatory Set:   The teacher will review the terms of analog, a.m. and p.m. as well as discuss the difference between the two.   Prior Knowledge:   Teacher will then brainstorm activities for each. Develop prior knowledge by asking for suggestions of activities that occur in the a.m. and p.m.   Create a tree map to display students suggestions. Instructional Procedure: Give each student a small analog clock to review time to the hour, half hour, and quarter hour. The teacher will model using the classroom clock. Using students brainstorming suggestions of events, have the students demonstrate the time on their clocks and name whether it is a.m. or p.m. Hand out white construction paper and model folding into eight sections. Students will follow step by step directions by folding once vertically and twice horizontally to create the eight sections, (teacher may need to help some students with this part). Students will cut the handout of paper blank clocks and glue one on to each section of the paper.   Students will then choose four events that occur in the a.m. and label the time to the hour, half hour, or quarter hour on their blank analog clock with pencil. Under each time, students will write the digital time. Students will write a sentence describing the event and the time it occurs under the digital time. For example, I get up in the morning at 8:15 a.m. Students will follow the same steps for the p.m. times on the second day. Once students have completed their My Day Timeline, they will get together with a partner to read their timeline. The partner will ask them a questions after each time to encourage social and communication skills. Assessment:   The students will be evaluated based on the completion of the My Day Timeline. Teacher will monitor as students complete closure activity and check for accurate use of time and a.m. /p.m. Extension: Students can elaborate on their sentence by describing what and how they do each activity in their sentence.

Essay on Images of Africans in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness

Images of Africans in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness In my reading of Things Fall Apart, it has better informed me of a culture that I did not know of before, and by reading it helped correct some broad misconceptions that I previously held of the people and their cultures of Africa. Reading the novel also gave me another perspective on the effects of imperialism/colonialism by the Europeans on the Africans. I believe Achebe has succeeded in enabling the West an opportunity to have them "listen to the weak" (Achebe interview), but whether or not Western society decides to listen will come down to the individual within the society--if they do choose to listen to the call of the "weak." In this essay I will share realizations that I gained by reading Achebe's novel, and how I came to view the people of the Igbo and Africa and not so different as I had thought before. The distinct writing style that Achebe used to narrate his novel led me, as the reader, to feel as if I were a fellow tribesman of the Igbo people. This differing perspective, rather than being an outsider looking in on the people, led me to see that the Igbos are a people with strong beliefs, culture, and identity. An example of their identity is the description of one of their dwellings, more specifically of Okonkwo's compound; it is described as a "large compound enclosed by a thick wall of red earth" and we read further on about the barn for Okonkwo's yams and the shed for his goats (1429). The Igbo people are obviously agrarian, and led me to the question, how different are they from us? My answer is, there are not a lot of differenes. Based upon my experience--my father was raised on a farm--I see stark similarities between us and them... ...people of Umuofia could not have forecasted, with the exception of the oracle, that they would have fallen due to the white man and his religion, but I believe we can derive a couple of reasons why they fell and apply it to our own society. In conclusion, I really enjoyed Achebe's novel and liked the contrast between it and Conrad's work of Heart of Darkness. I believe there are times that, in order to see the extremes of something, you must contrast it to its opposite extreme. As a former moderate of beliefs on colonialism and those who proselytize their religion onto others, I realize now the dire impact those acts can have on a naive or vulnerable culture, and I now disagree with those practices. Finally, I heed the "call of the weak" for I hear the quiet but powerful voice that says, "We are a people too..." and I know the truth of the message!

Comparing The Haitian To The French Revolution Essay

Haiti, known as Saint-Domingue before the revolution, it was the richest colony in the Americas in 1789. Almost half a million slaves toiled on its sugar, coffee, indigo, and cotton plantations. More than thirty thousand new African slaves arrived each year, both to replace the many that died of overwork or disease and also to fuel the rapid economic expansion that the colony experienced in the 1780s. Before the French revolution, the masters were, first of all, the King; after him, the nobles and clergy. From the King at the head to the poorest noble, they used their power badly. The rulers treated the ruled, the vast mass of the nation, as people created for their convenience, to supply them with money and to serve them. The King demanded great sums to provide armies for his wars, to surround himself with a brilliant and luxurious Court, to defray the expenses of government. As we go further in the French and Haitian revolution, they were both cruel and bloody, were there any signi ficant similarities and differences? They both were spurred for similar reasons by oppressed people, but they were significantly different economically, very different leaders and events. The causes for the French and Haitian revolutions were fairly uniform. An unfair distribution of power between social classes, restricted liberties and representation, and a large gap between the rich and the poor were the main catalysts for both revolutions. The social class situations of Haiti and France were main causes of both revolutions. Social mobility was nearly nonexistent in both societies. The Haitian social class system was particularly stratified because it was based on race. The highest positions in the government and military were only held by Peninsulares. Peninsulares were individuals that were born in Europe and had come over to the colony to rule. Directly under the Peninsulares in the social class system were the Creoles. These individuals controlled most of the land and the bus iness. Creoles were defined as individuals whose parents were both Peninsulares in the colonies. The next social classes were the Mestizo and the Mulattoes, who were half European and half Native American or African. Finally, all pure Africans or Natives were condemned to slavery. Slaves had no property, money, or rights. Most of the individuals in Haiti were slaves. Conversely,  the French social system was also very stratified and consisted heavily of the lowest class. The system is broken down between three estates: the clergy, nobility, and the 3rd estate which consisted of a lower, middle and upper class. Most of the third estate consisted of peasants. The clergy encompassed one percent of the population. The one percent controlled twenty percent of the land and did not pay taxes. The 2nd estate encompassed the nobility, two percent of the population. The nobility owned twenty-five percent of the land and did not pay taxes. The remaining ninety-seven percent of France belonge d to the third estate. The third estate held less than half the land in France and was forced to support the heavy burden of taxation in the bankrupt nation. The overwhelming gap between the political and economic power of the high and low classes caused resentment in both societies. A miniscule number of people, had privilege, comfort and luxury while the majority of people suffered. Social inequalities would a huge catalyst for both revolutions. The lowest class of each society realized their strength in numbers and passion for their cause. The 3rd estate broke free from France and created the Declaration of the Rights of Man. This document outlined a set of rights that pertained to every man from any class. From there, the 3rd estate moved forward in taking the country. The Haitian slaves utilized their massive population and excellent leadership to overthrow their oppressors. Toussaint Louverture was the leader of the revolution and a pivotal factor in defeating the Europeans. S ignificant overall economic differences were present between Haiti and France before the revolutions occurred. France was nearly bankrupt by the time the revolution began. Wars with England and the American Revolution had been extremely costly for France. The nation was in debt and the social elite were not paying taxes to aid the dying economy. The large economic strain on France caused heavy taxation of the bottom social class. In contrast, the economy of Haiti was not a factor that fueled the revolution. The Haitian economy was thriving. Free labor from slaves created a surplus of goods. Also these two countries had two very different leaders leading the revolutions; the Haitian revolution leader Toussaint Louverture began his military career as a leader of the 1791 slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint Domingue. Initially allied with the Spaniards of neighboring Santo Domingo, Toussaint switched allegiance to the French when they  abolished slavery. He gradually established control over the whole island, expelled British invaders and used political and military tactics to gain d ominance over his rivals. Throughout his years in power, he worked to improve the economy and security of Saint Domingue. He restored the plantation system using paid labor, negotiated trade treaties with Britain and the United States and maintained a large and well-disciplined army. Whereas the French revolution leader Maximilien de Robespierre. Maximilien Marie Isidore de Robespierre was born in Arras on 6 May 1758, the son of a lawyer. He was educated in Paris and entered the same profession as his father. He was elected a deputy of the estates-general (a form of parliament, but without real power) that met in May 1789, and subsequently served in the National Constituent Assembly. He was a politician, and one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre became increasingly popular for his attacks on the monarchy and his advocacy of democratic reforms. In April 1790, was elected president of the powerful Jacobin political club. After the dow nfall of the monarchy in August 1792, Robespierre was elected first deputy for Paris to the National Convention. The convention abolished the monarchy, declared France a republic and put the king on trial for treason, all measures strongly supported by Robespierre. The king was executed in January 1793. Haitians usually relate the Bois Caà ¯man ceremony as a historical event that started their war of independence, but modern scholarship suggests that details about the episode might owe more to myth than to reality. There probably was not one, but two slave gatherings, one held at the Normand de Mà ©zy plantation in Morne Rouge on August 14, which the French uncovered by torturing slave participants, and another one in Bois Caà ¯man held a week later, about which very little is known. According to Là ©on-Franà §ois Hoffmann’s Haitian the second meeting were invented by Antoine Dalmas in his Histoire de la rà ©volution de Saint-Domingue (1793) in order to portray the slav e gathering as a bloody, satanic assembly. On the other side, The Women’s March on Versailles was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of 5 October 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. Their demonstrations quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries who were  seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. The market women and their various allies grew into a mob of thousands and, encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the Palace of Versailles. The crowd besieged the palace and in a dramatic and violent confrontation they successfully pressed their demands upon King Louis XVI. The next day, the crowd compelled the king, his family, and most of the French Assembly to return with them to Paris. These events effectively ended the independent authority of the king. The marc h symbolized a new balance of power that displaced the ancient privileged orders of the French nobility and favored the nation’s common people, collectively termed the Third Estate. Bringing together people representing disparate sources of the Revolution in their largest numbers yet, the march on Versailles proved to be a defining moment of that Revolution. To conclude, the series of events that transformed the French colony of Saint-Domingue into the independent nation of Haiti lasted from 1791 to 1804, and the French revolution lasted around ten years, from 1789 until 1799. They both were around the same time, both successful, but had some differences between them such as racial, leadership, also economically different. Popkin, Jeremy D.. A concise history of the Haitian revolution. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. Print. † World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society – Username.† World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society – Username. http://worldatwar.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1469759?terms=haitian+revolution (accessed May 26, 2013). â€Å"Jean-Jacques Dessalines (emperor of Haiti) — Encyclopedia Britannica.† Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/159337/ (accessed May 26, 2013). Mikaberidze, Alexander . † World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society – Username.† World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society – Username. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2013. . Hugo, Victor. Les miseÃŒ rables. New York: Modern Library, 1992. Print. french revolution.† Gale Virtual Reference Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.

Not Only The Jews

The first research in the late 1940 s and early 1950s focused on the Jewishness of the Holocaust. Modern research has begun to deal with the suddering of other victims of the Nazi genocide. For example, homosexuals, Gypsies, prisoners of war, Russians, poles, Catholic priests, Jehovah s Witnesses and other were more or less systematically murdered as the Holocaust continued. By the end of the war, as many as 6 million of these people had been killed, along with between 5 to 6 million Jews. Roma (Gypsies) were among the groups singled out on racial grounds for persecution by the Nazi regime and most of its allies. The Nazis judged Roma to be â€Å"racially inferior,† and the fate of Roma in some ways paralleled that of the Jews. Roma were subjected to internment, forced labor, and massacre. They were also subject to deportation to extermination camps. Mobile killing units killed tens of thousands of Roma in the German-occupied eastern territories. Further, thousands were killed in the Auschwitz-Birkenau, Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka extermination camps. The Nazis also incarcerated thousands of Roma in the Bergen-Belsen, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, Dachau, Mauthausen, and Ravensbrueck concentration camps. There were nonetheless several deportations of Roma. About 2,500 Roma were deported to Poland in April and May 1940. Most of them were starved and worked to death. Those who fell sick or became crippled were shot. Another 5,000 Roma were deported to Lodz, where they were held in a separate area within the Lodz ghetto. Those who survived the horrible conditions in the Lodz ghetto were later deported from the ghetto to the Chelmno extermination camp, where they were killed in gas vans. Roma in Germany were deported to Auschwitz, where a special camp was designated for them in Auschwitz. Gypsy family camp. † Entire families were incarcerated together. Twins and dwarves, however, were separated out and subjected to medical experiments under SS Captain Dr. Josef Mengele. Nazi physicians also used Romani prisoners in medical experiments at the Ravensbrueck, Natzweiler-Struthof, and Sachsenhausen camps. In German-occupied areas of Europe, the fate of Roma varied from country to country, depending on local circumstances. The Nazis generally interned Roma and later transported them to Germany or Poland for use as forced laborers or to be killed. Many Roma from Poland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Albania were shot or were deported to extermination camps and killed. In the Baltic states and the German-occupied areas of the Soviet Union, mobile killing units killed Roma at the same time that they killed Jews and Communist leaders. Thousands of Romani men, women, and children were killed in these actions. Many Roma were shot along with Jews at Babi Yar, near Kiev, for example. The â€Å"Gypsy family camp† at Auschwitz was riddled with epidemics–typhus, smallpox, and dysentery–which severely reduced the camp population. In May 1944, the Germans decided to liquidate the camp. As the SS surrounded the camp, they were met by Roma armed with iron pipes and the like. The Germans retreated and postponed the liquidation. Later that same month, the SS transferred about 1,500 Roma who were still capable of work out of the family camp. Almost 1,500 more were transferred in August. The remaining Roma, about 3,000, were killed. At least 19,000 of the 23,000 Roma sent to Auschwitz died there. It is not known precisely how many Roma were killed in the Holocaust. While exact figures or percentages cannot be ascertained, people estimate that the Germans and their allies killed between 25 and 50 percent of all European Roma. Of the approximately one million Roma living in Europe before the war, up to 220,000 were killed. After the war, discrimination against Roma continued as the Federal Republic of Germany decided that all measures taken against Roma before 1943 were legitimate policies of state and were not subject to restitution. Historians in Germany argue about how universal the historical character of national socialism was. One conservative faction would like to view the communist system as responsible for fascism. Because Marxism was victorious in Russia, the Fascist parties were able to win in Italy and Germany. This speculation claims that the destruction of social class distinctions by the Bolsheviks prepared the way for racial murders of the Nazis. The extermination of the Jews is presented as a distorted copy of a previous model, rather than as a unique occurrence. Other social scientists have protested against viewing Nazi crimes in such a relativistic way. They see an aura of normality being created and fear that the basic anti fascist consensus in the Federal republic might end. They are also apprehensive about the analogy to current politics and warn against a restoration by means of history. Extermination or Reeducation? The concentration camp was one weapon in the campaign to bring state and society into conformity with fascism. If physical extermination formed the most frightful instrument of that policy, it was not the only one. A range of attempts were made to isolate people and to use fear to inhibit â€Å"undesirable† behavior. Whatever the reasons for imprisonment, all ncarcerations were the result of Nazi ideology and posed a danger to the prisoner’s life. The categories of prisoners differed from one another in how they were selected and treated. Those groups whom the Nazis deemed inimical but not racially undesirable were not completely rounded up, but taken only in random samples They also fared differently within the camps. Homosexuals, political prisoners, and Jehovah’s Witnesses are among the groups who were sent to the concentration camps for reeducation. They were supposed to renounce their particular orientation. The very fact of their incarceration estrained their ideological comrades outside the camps from becoming active in the struggle against Nazism. Democratic freedom makes pluralism possible. In democracies, deviations from the norm concern not only criminality but also sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and attitudes toward work. The Nazi system was concerned with deviations in all these areas. It classified political, sexual, religious, and working-attitude deviations in separate categories. In all probability, the Hitler state required these definitions of the enemy and was, in its own terms, correct in its choice of these groups. Within a society, minority and separation groups represent a seedbed of possible revolt. Homosexuality has always and everywhere existed. Hitler considered homosexuality as a predisposition that could not be changed. It was assumed that a homosexual orientation could not be eliminated, that only its manifestations could be blocked. Thus, the pink triangle worn by the homosexual in the concentration camp represented the Nazis’ intention to reeducate him. No credence was placed in a simple change of opinion by homosexuals, such as was granted to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who were not taken entirely seriously, or even to political prisoners. Two categories were seen among homosexuals: the constitutionally hard-boiled homosexual and the occasional offender. Since in neither case was the Aryan status of the homosexual in doubt, all could remain alive. If necessary, homosexuals were to be castrated, but they were permitted to continue to work. As a matter of policy, extermination was therefore restrained. In practice there were other contrary impulses on the part of the SS, and those who wore the pink triangle met an unusually harsh fate. The social controls directed at homosexuals within the camp represented a continuation and an intensification of social controls imposed by society at large. A nation with many children can gain supremacy and mastery of the world. A pure race with few children already as one foot in the grave; in fifty or a hundred years it will be of no significance; in two hundred years it will be extinct. It is essential to realize that if we allow this infection to continue in Germany without being able to fight it, it will be the end of Germany, of the Germanic world. Unfortunately this is not the simple matter it was for our forefathers. For them, the few isolated cases were simply abnormalities; they drowned them in bogs. Those who found bodies in the mire did not know that in 90% of the cases they found themselves face to face with a homosexual who had been drowned with all his belongings. This was not punishment, more the simple elimination of this particular abnormality. It is vital we rid ourselves of them; like weed we must pull them up, throw them on the fire and burn them. This is not out of a spirit of vengeance, but of necessity; these creatures must be exterminated.

Free Essays on Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell Born in 1659, Henry Purcell was the finest and most original composer of his day. He lived a very short life; he died in 1695. Though his life was short he was able to enjoy and make full use of the transformed flowering of music after the Restoration of the Monarchy. As the son of a musician at Court, a chorister at the Chapel Royal, Henry Purcell worked in Westminster for three different kings over twenty-five years. In the Chapel Royal young Henry Purcell studied with Dr. John Blow. Legend has is that when, in 1679, Purcell succeeded Dr. Blow as organist of Westminster Abbey, the elder musician stepped aside in recognition of the greater genius. It is true that on Purcell’s death in 1695 Blow returned to the place of duty, and would write a dignified Ode on the Death of Purcell. In addition to his majestic duties Henry Purcell also dedicated much of his talent to writing operas, or rather melodious dramas, and incidental stage music. He would also write chamber music in the form of harpsichord suites and trio sonatas, and became occupied with the escalating London public concert scene. One of the most important musical developments in Restoration London was the continuing establishment of regular public concerts. In 1683 a group of gentlemen amateurs, and professional musicians started a â€Å"Musical Society† in London to celebrate the â€Å"Festival of St. Cecilia. They asked Henry Purcell, he was only 24 years old, to be the first to write an Ode for their festivals. Henry Purcell was to compose two more such Odes for the Society. Most of Purcell’s theatre music was written between 1690 and 1695, and within that comparatively brief period he supplied music for more than forty plays. Much of the instrumental music was published in 1697, when the composer’s widow compiled A Collection of Ayres; Compos’d for the Theatre, and upon Other Occasions. This body of music, viewed as a whole, shows that Henry ... Free Essays on Henry Purcell Free Essays on Henry Purcell Henry Purcell Born in 1659, Henry Purcell was the finest and most original composer of his day. He lived a very short life; he died in 1695. Though his life was short he was able to enjoy and make full use of the transformed flowering of music after the Restoration of the Monarchy. As the son of a musician at Court, a chorister at the Chapel Royal, Henry Purcell worked in Westminster for three different kings over twenty-five years. In the Chapel Royal young Henry Purcell studied with Dr. John Blow. Legend has is that when, in 1679, Purcell succeeded Dr. Blow as organist of Westminster Abbey, the elder musician stepped aside in recognition of the greater genius. It is true that on Purcell’s death in 1695 Blow returned to the place of duty, and would write a dignified Ode on the Death of Purcell. In addition to his majestic duties Henry Purcell also dedicated much of his talent to writing operas, or rather melodious dramas, and incidental stage music. He would also write chamber music in the form of harpsichord suites and trio sonatas, and became occupied with the escalating London public concert scene. One of the most important musical developments in Restoration London was the continuing establishment of regular public concerts. In 1683 a group of gentlemen amateurs, and professional musicians started a â€Å"Musical Society† in London to celebrate the â€Å"Festival of St. Cecilia. They asked Henry Purcell, he was only 24 years old, to be the first to write an Ode for their festivals. Henry Purcell was to compose two more such Odes for the Society. Most of Purcell’s theatre music was written between 1690 and 1695, and within that comparatively brief period he supplied music for more than forty plays. Much of the instrumental music was published in 1697, when the composer’s widow compiled A Collection of Ayres; Compos’d for the Theatre, and upon Other Occasions. This body of music, viewed as a whole, shows that Henry ...

Biography of Robert Hanssen, Spy Who Betrayed the FBI

Biography of Robert Hanssen, Spy Who Betrayed the FBI Robert Hanssen is a former FBI agent who sold highly classified material to Russian intelligence agents for decades before he was finally arrested in 2001. His case is considered one of Americas greatest intelligence failures, as Hanssen operated as a mole within the bureaus counterintelligence division, the highly sensitive part of the FBI tasked with tracking foreign spies. Unlike Cold War spies of an earlier era, Hanssen claimed to have no political motivation for selling out his country. At work, he often spoke of his religious faith and conservative values, traits which helped him avoid any suspicion during the years that he was in secret communication with Russian spies. Fast Facts: Robert Hanssen Full Name: Robert Phillip HanssenKnown For: Worked as a mole for Russian spy agencies while serving as an FBI counterintelligence agent. He was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to life without parole in federal prison in 2002Born: April 14, 1944 in Chicago, IllinoisEducation: Knox College and Northwestern University, where he received an MBASpouse: Bernadette Wauck Early Life and Career Robert Phillip Hanssen was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 18, 1944. His father served on the police force in Chicago and was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II when Hanssen was born. As Hanssen grew up, his father was reportedly verbally abusive to him, often ranting that he would never succeed in life. After graduating from a public high school, Hanssen attended Knox College in Illinois, studying chemistry and Russian. For a time he planned to become a dentist, but eventually wound up obtaining an MBA and becoming an accountant. He married Bernadette Wauck in 1968 and, influenced by his devout Catholic wife, he converted to Catholicism. After a few years working as an accountant, he decided to enter law enforcement. He worked as a policeman in Chicago for three years and was placed on an elite unit that investigated corruption. He then applied and was accepted into the FBI. He became an agent in 1976, and spent two years working in the Indianapolis, Indiana, field office. Initial Betrayal In 1978, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI office in New York City and was assigned to a counterintelligence post. His job was to help assemble a database of foreign officials posted in New York who, while posing as diplomats, were actually intelligence officers spying on the United States. Many of them were agents of the Soviet intelligence agency, the KGB, or its military counterpart, the GRU. At some point in 1979, Hanssen made a decision to sell American secrets to the Soviets. He visited an office of the Russian governments trading company and offered to spy. Hanssen would later claim that his goal was simply to make some extra money, as living in New York City was putting a financial squeeze on his growing family. He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. Hanssen gave them the name of a Russian general, Dimitri Polyakov, who had been providing information to the Americans. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. Robert Hanssens business cards, chalk and thumb tacks, which he used to communicate with his Russian contacts, according to the FBI. FBI.gov In 1980, after his first interactions with the Soviets, Hanssen told his wife what he had done, and she suggested they meet with a Catholic priest. The priest told Hanssen to stop his illegal activities and donate the money he had gotten from the Russians to charity. Hanssen made the donation to a charity affiliated with Mother Teresa, and cut off contact with the Soviets for the next few years. Return to Spying In the early 1980s, Hanssen was transferred to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. To his colleagues in the bureau he seemed to be a model agent. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Hanssen appeared to be a devoted anti-communist. After working in the FBI division that developed secret listening devices, Hanssen was again placed in a position to track Russian agents operating in the United States. In 1985 he approached the Soviets again and offered valuable secrets. During his second round of dealing with Russian agents, Hanssen was much more cautious. He wrote to them anonymously. While not identifying himself, he was able to gain their trust by initially providing information which the Soviets found both credible and valuable. The Soviets, suspicious of being lured into a trap, demanded to meet him. Hanssen refused. In his communications with the Russians (some of which were eventually made public after his arrest) he insisted on setting the terms of how he would communicate, pass information, and pick up money. His Russian contacts and Hanssen were highly trained in espionage techniques and were able to work together without ever meeting. At one point Hanssen spoke to a Russian agent over a pay phone, but they generally relied on placing signals in public places. For instance, a piece of adhesive tape placed on a sign in a park in Virginia would indicate that a package had been placed in a dead drop location, which was usually under a small footbridge in the park. Undated file photo released by the FBI February 20, 2001 shows a package recovered at the Lewis drop site containing $50,000 cash allegedly left by Russians for FBI Agent Robert Philip Hanssen. FBI / Getty Images A Third Stint of Betrayal When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. During the early 1990s, KGB veterans began to approach western intelligence agencies and provide information. Hanssen became alarmed that a Russian with knowledge of his activities would tip off the Americans that a highly placed mole was operating within the FBI and the resultant investigation would lead to him. For years, Hanssen stopped contacting the Russians. But in 1999, while assigned as an FBI liaison with the State Department, he once again began selling American secrets. Hanssen was finally discovered when a former KGB agent contacted American intelligence agents. The Russian had obtained Hanssens KGB file. Realizing the importance of the material, the United States paid $7 million for it. Although his name was not specifically mentioned, evidence in the file pointed to Hanssen, who was put under close surveillance. On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested at a park in northern Virginia after he had placed a package at a dead drop location. The evidence against him was overwhelming, and to avoid the death penalty, Hanssen confessed and agreed to be debriefed by American intelligence officials. During his sessions with investigators, Hanssen claimed his motivation had always been financial. Yet some investigators believed anger about how his father treated him as a child triggered a need to rebel against authority. Friends of Hanssen later came forward and told journalists that Hanssen had exhibited eccentric behavior, which included an obsession with pornography. In May 2002, Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison. News reports at the time of his sentencing said American intelligence agencies were not entirely satisfied with the extent of his cooperation and believed he was holding back information. But the government could not prove he had lied, and wishing to avoid a public trial, the government chose not to void his plea agreement. He was sentenced to life in prison. Robert Hanssen moments after being arrested. Getty Images   Impact of Hanssen Case The Hanssen case was regarded as a low point for the FBI, especially as Hanssen had been so trusted and had committed such betrayals for so many years. In court proceedings the government stated that Hanssen had been paid more than $1.4 million during his spying career, most of which he never actually received, as it was held for him in a Russian bank. The damage Hanssen did was considerable. At least three Russian agents he identified had been executed, and it was suspected that he compromised dozens of intelligence operations. One notable example was the information that the Americans had dug a tunnel under the Russian embassy in Washington to install sophisticated listening devices. Hanssen was incarcerated in a supermax federal prison in Colorado which also houses other notorious inmates, including the Unabomber, one of the Boston Marathon bombers, and a number of organized crime figures. Sources: Hanssen, Robert. Encyclopedia of World Biography, edited by James Craddock, 2nd ed., vol. 36, Gale, 2016, pp. 204-206. Gale Virtual Reference Library,A Search for Answers: Excerpts From the FBI Affidavit in the Case Against Robert Hanssen. New York Times, 22 February 2001, p. A14.Risen, James. Former FBI Agent Gets Life in Prison For Years as a Spy. New York Times, 11 May 2002, p. A1.