Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Typhoid Mary

Typhoid Mary Mallon, presently known as Typhoid Mary, appeared to be a sound lady when a wellbeing assessor thumped on her entryway in 1907, yet she was the reason for a few typhoid flare-ups. Since Mary was the first â€Å"healthy carrier† of typhoid fever in the United States, she didn't see how somebody not wiped out could spread sickness †so she attempted to retaliate. After a preliminary and afterward a short run from wellbeing authorities, Typhoid Mary was recovered and compelled to live in relative segregation upon North Brother Island off New York.You can getâ typhoid feverâ if you eat food or drink refreshments that have been taken care of by an individual who is sheddingâ typhoid fever bacteria (Salmonella typhi),â or if sewage debased with typhoidâ fever microscopic organisms gets into the water you use for drinking or washing food. In this manner, typhoid fever is progressively regular in territories of the existence where hand washing is less successiv e and where water is probably going to be defiled with sewage. Once Salmonella typhiâ bacteria are ingested, they duplicate and spread into the circulation system. The body responds with fever and other symptoms.Typhoid fever is regularly brought about by the Salmonella typhi microscopic organisms. Contamination of Salmonella typhiâ leads to the improvement of typhoid fever. This malady is portrayed by the unexpected beginning of a continued and foundational fever, extreme migraine, sickness, and loss of hunger. Different side effects incorporate stoppage or loose bowels, extension of the spleen, conceivable advancement of meningitis, or potentially broad wretchedness. Untreated typhoid fever cases bring about death rates running from 12-30% while rewarded cases take into account 99% endurance. S. yphiâ has a blend of attributes that make it a powerful pathogen. This species contains an endotoxin commonplace of Gram negative life forms, just as the Vi antigen which is thoug ht to build destructiveness. It likewise delivers and discharges a protein known as â€Å"invasin† that permits non-phagocytic cells to take up the bacterium, where it can live intracellularly. It is likewise ready to restrain the oxidative eruption of leukocytes, making natural safe reaction inadequate. Mary conveyed the malady inside her and she gave the Typhoid to others yet stayed away from the sickness herself.When she passed on a post-mortem discovered proof of live typhoid microscopic organisms in her gallbladder. They feel that the microbes was given to her by mother when she was pregnant with Mary, as her mom had Typhoid fever while pregnant. The general course for the Typhoid Bacillus' entrance is through the digestion tracts and into the Enteric segment of the Immune System. It really becomes inside the White Blood Cells. Obviously the microscopic organisms by one way or another entered and developed in Mary's framework without making her sick.It never inspired the standard invulnerable responses so it was never murdered by the insusceptible framework. As such it was consistently present in her mouth and throat so she was basically a mobile Petrie Dish. Mary Mallon, known as â€Å"Typhoid Mary†, was an asymptomatic transporter ofâ typhoid fever. She filled in as a cook for a few families in New York City toward the start of the twentieth century. A few instances of typhoid fever in individuals from those families were followed to her by the Health Department. It gave the idea that she â€Å"carried† the irresistible operator without turning out to be sick.There was at the time no chance to get of destroying the ailment, and an endeavor was made to limit her from proceeding to function as a cook to abstain from spreading it to other people. As I would see it, Mary's treatment was fitting since Mary had gone about as a human transporter of the malady. At the point when she arranged a feast, the germs were washed andâ rubbedâ fr om her fingers into the food. Despite the fact that Mallon stayed a danger to general wellbeing since she despite everything held the ailment and on the grounds that she would not acknowledge that she was a bearer, a few people felt Mallon was being detained unfairly.Her case was contended fruitlessly under the watchful eye of the state incomparable court, which found that the Health Department had great motivation to keep Mallon in guardianship, in spite of the fact that the appointed authority communicated compassion toward Mallon's circumstance. Following her subsequent catch, Mallon spent an incredible remainder at Riverside Hospital, the greater part her life having been spent limited on the island. After a progression of little strokes, she endured a significant stroke in 1932 that left herâ paralyzedâ andâ bedriddenâ until November 11, 1938, when she passed on. Typhoid Mary Typhoid Mary Mallon, presently known as Typhoid Mary, appeared to be a solid lady when a wellbeing monitor thumped on her entryway in 1907, yet she was the reason for a few typhoid flare-ups. Since Mary was the first â€Å"healthy carrier† of typhoid fever in the United States, she didn't see how somebody not wiped out could spread malady †so she attempted to retaliate. After a preliminary and afterward a short run from wellbeing authorities, Typhoid Mary was recovered and compelled to live in relative separation upon North Brother Island off New York.You can getâ typhoid feverâ if you eat food or drink refreshments that have been taken care of by an individual who is sheddingâ typhoid fever bacteria (Salmonella typhi),â or if sewage defiled with typhoidâ fever microscopic organisms gets into the water you use for drinking or washing food. In this way, typhoid fever is increasingly basic in regions of the existence where hand washing is less continuous and where wa ter is probably going to be polluted with sewage. Once Salmonella typhiâ bacteria are ingested, they increase and spread into the circulation system. The body responds with fever and other symptoms.Typhoid fever is frequently brought about by the Salmonella typhi microbes. Disease of Salmonella typhiâ leads to the improvement of typhoid fever. This sickness is portrayed by the unexpected beginning of a supported and foundational fever, serious migraine, queasiness, and loss of hunger. Different manifestations incorporate clogging or looseness of the bowels, extension of the spleen, conceivable advancement of meningitis, as well as general misery. Untreated typhoid fever cases bring about death rates extending from 12-30% while rewarded cases take into consideration 99% endurance. S. yphiâ has a blend of attributes that make it a powerful pathogen. This species contains an endotoxin run of the mill of Gram negative creatures, just as the Vi antigen which is thought to build destructiveness. It likewise delivers and discharges a protein known as â€Å"invasin† that permits non-phagocytic cells to take up the bacterium, where it can live intracellularly. It is additionally ready to hinder the oxidative explosion of leukocytes, making inborn insusceptible reaction ineffectual. Mary conveyed the ailment inside her and she gave the Typhoid to others yet stayed away from the illness herself.When she passed on a post-mortem examination discovered proof of live typhoid microorganisms in her gallbladder. They feel that the microscopic organisms was given to her by mother when she was pregnant with Mary, as her mom had Typhoid fever while pregnant. The general course for the Typhoid Bacillus' entrance is through the digestion tracts and into the Enteric bit of the Immune System. It really becomes inside the White Blood Cells. Obviously the microscopic organisms some way or another entered and developed in Mary's framework without making her sick.It never evoked the typical invulnerable responses so it was never murdered by the insusceptible framework. As such it was consistently present in her mouth and throat so she was basically a mobile Petrie Dish. Mary Mallon, known as â€Å"Typhoid Mary†, was an asymptomatic transporter ofâ typhoid fever. She filled in as a cook for a few families in New York City toward the start of the twentieth century. A few instances of typhoid fever in individuals from those families were followed to her by the Health Department. It created the impression that she â€Å"carried† the irresistible operator without turning out to be sick.There was at the time no chance to get of destroying the illness, and an endeavor was made to confine her from proceeding to fill in as a cook to abstain from spreading it to other people. As I would like to think, Mary's treatment was suitable in light of the fact that Mary had gone about as a human bearer of the sickness. At the point when she arranged a su pper, the germs were washed andâ rubbedâ from her fingers into the food. Despite the fact that Mallon stayed a danger to general wellbeing since she despite everything held the illness and in light of the fact that she wouldn't acknowledge that she was a transporter, a few people felt Mallon was being detained unfairly.Her case was contended ineffectively under the watchful eye of the state preeminent court, which found that the Health Department had great aim to keep Mallon in guardianship, in spite of the fact that the adjudicator communicated compassion toward Mallon's circumstance. Following her subsequent catch, Mallon spent an incredible remainder at Riverside Hospital, the greater part her life having been spent limited on the island. After a progression of little strokes, she endured a significant stroke in 1932 that left herâ paralyzedâ andâ bedriddenâ until November 11, 1938, when she kicked the bucket.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Different attitudes to war Essay

Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen are artists who battled for England in the First World War. The two artists portray a similar subject of war, however through various perspectives and sentiments. Regardless of them relating to the likewise themed subject, their language and tone conjure differentiating emotions in perusers and influences their impression of war in inverse manners. Instances of these distinctions can be found in the two sonnets by Rupert Brook ‘The Dead (iii) and ‘The Soldier’ and two by Wilfred Owen ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. Rupert Brooke composes ‘The Dead (iii)’ in a very loose and sentimental disposition. Brooke had not experienced war, so in light of this the sonnet appears to be exceptionally clear and succinct. Brooke plans to show us the greatness that is realized by passing on for your nation. He believes that war is a basic and noble aim. He intends to make us progressively energetic and persuade us to bite the dust for our nation in war. The primary line is extremely fiery and euphoric for a frightful subject, for example, war. This may imply that Brooke attempts to represent eagerness and brilliance. Since cornets are utilized at an amazing event, yet in addition militarily charges and withdraws he might be attempting to demonstrate that perishing for your nation is a great method to take your life. â€Å"Blow out, you cornets, over the rich Dead!† As he says, it has made them ‘rich’. This most likely implies that they are well off with magnificence, applause and appreciation. He makes no notice of the torment and enduring in war. The third line clarifies that perishing has again made them significant. Be that as it may, kicking the bucket has made us rarer endowments than gold. Gold is uncommon, so by passing on they have been them important and one of a kind. Brooke is attempting to connote that very few individuals penance their lives along these lines. This in Brooke’s conviction is a truly good and heavenly practice. The sestet discloses to us how the officers biting the dust present to England a great deal of respect and validity. Respect has returned, as a lord, to earth, What's more, paid his subjects with an illustrious compensation; The harmony that has been available for such a long time has made her powerless. ‘Heritage’ is use to obviously interface with the general subject of ‘payment and reward’. It infers ‘that which is legitimately theirs’, has been effectively executed. What's more, we have come into our legacy. In ‘The Soldier’, Brooke feels substance to bite the dust for his homeland to ensure the individuals abandoned. The title passes on a feeling of pride and faithfulness to the peruser. Albeit completely mindful of the chance of death, demonstrated by the line ‘If I ought to die’, think just this of me:’ Regardless of whether his remains, his ‘richer earth’, were to lie in a land removed from England, his affection would even now be ‘forever’. This is additionally focused when his relationship is contrasted with the bond among mother and youngster. ‘A dust whom England bore, molded, made aware,’ His motivation of battling for his nation is to ensure England, showed by the words, ‘Gave, once, her blossoms to adore, her approaches to roam,’ His feeling of pride and respect is solid to such an extent that he doesn't harp on the melancholy and wretchedness that is related with war, rather sees it as though through rose-tinted glasses. Regardless of whether his commitments were minute, appeared by the correlation of, ‘A beat in the interminable mind’ ‘Give some place back the musings England given’, He is glad to reimburse England and wishes to protect her ‘laughter’ and ‘gentleness’ for what's to come. This satisfaction and bliss is obviously appeared by the words ‘peace’ and ‘heaven’, regardless of whether he is dead, he can find happiness in the hereafter as he has reliably served his nation. This energy is often carried to consideration with the rehashed utilization of the word ‘England’ and ‘English’ all through the sonnet. The Soldier gives out an idealistic tone, portraying war as a tranquil and gallant act. It is written as a Petrarchan work, which is generally used to communicate individual musings and sentiments. This could have been the motivation behind why Rupert Brooke decided to write in this structure. It is likewise a self-portraying sonnet in which the creator communicates an individual perspective on war and his adoration for his nation. Rupert Brooke likewise utilizes versifying pentameters, which is a line containing five anxieties. It gives his composed words authority by utilizing this old style stanza. It likewise gives a mood, which helps the peruser to remember a heartbeat or a ‘pulse’. This aides in making his contention all the more persuading. The refrains are isolated into two. The octave discusses the chance of death while the sestet discusses demise itself and what his penance will mean for England. It gives the conventional, credulous and one-sided perspective on war. It likewise gives a peaceful depiction yet a one-sided perspective on England as he outrightly disregards the negative side of England just referencing its best side. He utilizes a strict lingual authority, for instance the last line peruses, ‘In hearts settled, under an English heaven’. ‘ This uncovers Brooke’s faith in God and Heaven. This is the thing that makes the sonnet sound to some degree like a lesson. Rupert Brooke communicates nationalism and his conviction that England merits battling for as he likewise guarantees that God is on England’s side by saying ‘blest by the suns of home’. By accepting inâ this, Rupert Brooke causes himself to accept that he should forfeit his own life for England and by doing so he would be giving back of being brought into the world British thus trusts it is a respect to do battle, and a significantly more prominent respect to kick the bucket fighting for one’s nation and consequently, depicts in his sonnet a picture of one passing on an easy demise. Such a view is in the Victorian custom of war which saw it as a magnificent and honorable endeavor, with so much sonnets as Tennyson’s ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’. This enthusiastic fever was basically carried on by Brooke who despite everything saw fighting regarding duels and respect. By taking a gander at these pieces, we can arrive at the conspicuous resolution that Brooke was exceptionally optimistic about war and had no clue about the frightfulness and enduring included. Anyway Wilfred Owen’s ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ accomplishes an entirely unexpected impact on the peruser, as it is totally without any conspicuous feeling of national pride, and rather questions the very motivation behind war. His utilization of incongruities all through produces a ridiculing tone, which serves to accentuate his perspective on the pointlessness of war. This is uncovered in the title, where the impact of the word ‘Doomed’ recommends that the fighters are bound to kick the bucket and are with no expectation. In any case, ironicly it is utilized with the word ‘Anthem’, a word held for acclaim. ‘What passing-ringers for these who pass on as steers? ‘ The troopers are contrasted with ‘cattle’ that are butchered, demonstrating that they have no other reason than to bite the dust. The correlation additionally recommends that the warriors were executed variously, cruelly and efficiently. He utilizes rough words to pass on the total nonappearance of affection or respect on the war zone and various logical inconsistencies to summon the sentiments of pity in the peruser; rather than ‘passing-bells’ there are just ‘guns’ and ‘stuttering rifles’. The words ‘monstrous anger’ alludes to the wildness and brutality of war. ‘Only the gigantic annoyance of the weapons. Just the stammering rifles’ fast rattle’ The word ‘monstrous’ additionally proposes that the soldier’s task is massive, practically difficult to do, which accentuates the sentiment of sadness of war. This is again featured when the writer alludes to the discharges as ‘stuttering’. This implies there are shots zooming all over the place, and chances are a large portion of the men would have been hit. The similar sounding word usage of the ‘R’s in rifles quick clatter show the hints of shots; again speaking to the reader’s faculties to feature the hopeless conditions in the war zone which are horrible and revolting. Owen is fixated on the mercilessness, insult and silly squandering of their lives. The utilization of the word ‘patter’ alludes to the shots hitting a soldier’s body. It gives the impact of raindrops hitting a window, which when used to portray how a body is exacted with slugs paints a brutal and unfeeling picture. At the point when he composes, ‘No jokes now for them; no supplications nor bells’ He says that the dead are overlooked; they are neither grieved nor petitioned God for. This is on the grounds that the dead are numerous to such an extent that it would require an excessive amount of exertion to try to watch out for them. The main things to check their demises are the ‘choirs’, yet there are not conventional ensembles but rather, ‘The ear-splitting, hysterical ensembles of moaning shells’. Maybe passing has become the standard for them; it doesn't get a lot of consideration or compassion. The words ‘shrill and wailing’ imply that even in their deathbeds, there is no harmony. The ‘bugles calling for them from pitiful shires’ appear to bring futile, in light of the fact that the warriors are for the most part dead. On the off chance that anything, the soldier’s passings are undignified and not in any way shape or form respectable. There is no legend venerate and the dead are overlooked. There is no pride, no respect and still the war proceeds. Owen expounds on the impacts of such a significant number of setbacks of war and how it amusingly wrecks the homes the fighters passed on to secure. The various passings brought about by warâ ravages even the more youthful ages deserted, appeared by the ‘candles’, ‘What candles might be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of young men, yet in their eyes Will sparkle the sacred flickers of farewells. ‘ This

Sunday, August 16, 2020

College Essays For (The Worlds Smartest) Dummies - College Essay Advisors Admissions Essay Experts

College Essays For (The Worlds Smartest) Dummies - College Essay Advisors Admissions Essay Experts College Essays For (The Worlds Smartest) Dummies College Essays For (The Worlds Smartest) Dummies The New York Times’ Learning Network recently published an exercise asking teachers to lead their high school students through exploration of and practice for the new common application essay prompts.  In addition to encouraging directed free writes, the activity encourages the use of columns from The Times as models for content, and The Choice Blog and The  Learning Network as centers for advice.   In sum, the article lays out a clever and robust examination of the personal statement, presenting The Times as a sophisticated College Essays for Dummies. Reading in general, and this esteemed paper in particular, will undoubtedly help students in the construction of better essays.   The Times’ college-centric blogs and education features regularly offer thoughtful musings on essay content and the overall state of admissions; and personal essays like the ones published in the Modern Love and Lives columns serve as emblems of compelling storytelling and successful short-form structure. So pull up that paper when you’re in the dentist’s waiting room or on the morning school bus and check out one of the many pieces on The Learning Center’s shortlist.   The summer is around the corner, and it’s never too early to warm up your creative brain with a good read, or two, or twelve. About CEA HQView all posts by CEA HQ »

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Life Lessons Along A Christian s Journey - 1006 Words

Life Lessons along a Christian’s Journey The Bible has stories and lessons that communicates to each of us in different areas of life. The Bible is the guide to everyone’s salvation. Understanding God’s voice is understanding the existence of all the living. It is up to each person to choose a godhead life or not. The responsibility in a godhead life does not come easy. The understanding, connecting and unity in a godhead life comes with many tests and trials along the journey, but faith is all it takes. Understanding Christians understand that the Bible is from God. There is so much to take in, but we have a lifetime to get to know God and what are place is in this universe. God does speak to each of us, we just have to listen. God is†¦show more content†¦The entire bible is one book, has one author, the Holy Spirit, and has one purpose, to show the fall of man and God’s way to redeem him. No one cannot understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament first. Connecting The Old Testament and the New Testament are one book; one balances the other. In the Old Testament life started when God decided to make Adam, â€Å"Let us make human beings in our image, (Genesis 1:24 NIV)†. God revealed himself to humans. This is where God connected on a personal level with each of us and we learned how to speak to God. This is also the time when the â€Å"Fall of Man† was redeemed. We all may agree that again and again we â€Å"fall down†, but God is right there. We just have to believe and pray for God’s guidance. God shows grace, forgiveness and love. God sent his son, Lord Jesus Christ to show us physically and visibly what God is like. God again revealed himself to the world, by his unconditional love. God is constant in his words. Throughout the Bible starting in the Old Testament that God’s son is coming and tells how he is coming. In the New Testament, Christ is sent to save all our sins and uphold the universe. It is imp ortant to understand this from the beginning, because whatever is true of God the Father is true of Jesus Christ the Son and is true of the Holy Spirit. God is three persons, but one God. God is REAL. Role To understand God is to understand that, â€Å"The Father is God: Jesus Christ is God; the Holy Spirit is

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Feminism in Education Gender Equality Free Essays

Prior to 1870 education was not formally recognised and only available to the elite few who could afford to educate their children privately or at private schools. The poorer people of society would have to rely on the education of the church and its moral teachings rather than academic teachings. Although the 1870 Forster Act was to bring education to all children between 5-10 years old, it was not welcomed by everyone. We will write a custom essay sample on Feminism in Education: Gender Equality or any similar topic only for you Order Now Some thought it would lead to the masses ‘thinking’ for themselves and see their roles in society as unfair, causing them to revolt. Others such as the church were funded by the state with public money to provide education for the poor and these churches did not want to lose that influence on youth. Although this gave children a few years of formal education , still only the richer children had the opportunity to further their education until they were 18/19 years old, thus education still being based on social class until the 1944. The 1944 Butler Education Act saw the introduction of a three stage structure that is still in place today and gave all pupils an equal chance to develop through education. It introduced primary education, up to the age of 11, Secondary education, from 11 to 15, and further education which was non- compulsory after the school leaving age. One of the ground-breaking results of the Act was to educate and mobilise women and the working class. It opened secondary school to girls, and the working class, and as a result, a far higher percentage attended higher education after secondary school. This newly found education increased working class awareness of their disadvantaged social position and created a bitter class division between the working and middle class. The most present act of education is the New Labour. The Labour government famous with its motto, â€Å"Education, Education, Education† focused their campaign on a better education system but kept many old policies such as consumer choice league tables and competition. They mainly focus on market choice and value for money in today’s education. Education, since is formal existence, has always seen a gender divide in the achievement of young people and there is many studies that link gender to education and achievement. Feminists analyse the school curriculum from a gendered perspective. Feminist argue that education plays a major role in promoting gender inequalities in society through classroom interactions, labeling and school curriculum. They highlight the existence of a gendered curriculum within schools. Since the 1944 Butler Act they have been concerned with the discrimination of girls and the difference in exam results between boys and girls The different branches within feminism offer different degrees on how this is. Liberal Feminists see that sex discrimination should be tackled through education legislation and policies and has had some success in highlighting these inequalities through the work of the Equal Opportunities Commission. They see this as being enough to combat the problems within education due to gender but Radical and Marxist feminists feel this is only the surface of the problem and it is much deeper. Radical feminists emphasise a conflict between men and women. They see men as in the dominant position within the education system to further their own interests and this patriarchy is their main problem. Their main goal is to eradicate patriarchal control and free women. They believe that inequality will be brought to an end when women are free from physical and emotional suppression. Marxist feminists believe that social class has its part to play in inequalities and that education is their to support the needs of the ruling class. As the ruling class do this the womens role is therefore to support men so are the lowest rung of society within a Capitalist society. They argree with Marxist about the hidden ciricullum but they feel that both the formal and the hidden are ways of enforcing these unequal roles within education A study that supports the feminists point of view would be Sharpe (1976) ‘Just like a girl: how girls learn to be women. This study involved interviewing 249 working class girls who lived in London. It found that many of the girls held traditional views of their role within society- motherhood , marriage and family life. Through the education system they were being set up for these roles or for jobs that were classed as womens work, ie shop assistant, office work, work with little or no promotion opportunities or job satisfaction. To support this study, Kelly (1982) also found differences with reagards to gender in the t oys that were being given to children. Although these studies did prove there were some equality between the sexes with regards to the way they children were being educated, they really investigate more the issue of stereotyping. As it is from a feminists point of view if fails to recognise that males were also underachieving at the time of Douglas’s study. It also may be a bit dated as it was conducted again in the 1990’s with vast differences. Females were now placing much more emphasis on their career and independence. This emphasises the way society has moved on and there is less of a role perception today. Also the data may have been subjective and open to interpretation as they used the method of interviews. As the studies do show some equality between the sexes, I think these theories may be a bit dated. When these studies were conducted boys were achieving more than girls, roles have changed in today’s society and feminists fail to recognise this or offer an explanation. How to cite Feminism in Education: Gender Equality, Essay examples

Monday, May 4, 2020

Case study on arbitrage pricing theory free essay sample

ABSTRACT This study investigates the Arbitrage Pricing Theory for the case of Zimbabwe using time series data from 1980 to 2005 within a vector autoregressive (VAR) framework. The Granger causality tests are conducted to establish the existence of causality among the variables like inflation, exchange rate and Gross Domestic Product. The VAR estimates as shown by the impulse response and variance decomposition together with the Granger causality test show that there is unidirectional causality from Consumer Price Index to Stock Prices. Although the Granger causality test has indicated that there is no causality between RGDP and Stock Prices, the variance decomposition has shown that the real GDP explains deviations in the Stock Prices in the long run. Granger causality tests found no meaningful relationships between Stock Prices and Exchange Rate but considering impulse response functions the effect is significant as early as the first period. Keywords: Arbitrage, Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Efficient Market Hypothesis, Vector Auto Regression Model (VAR), Impulse Response, Variance Decomposition. INTRODUCTION The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) have emerged as two models that have tried to scientifically measure the potential for assets to generate a return or a loss. Both of them are based on the efficient market hypothesis, and are part of the modern portfolio theory. The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) (Fama, 1965), states that at any given time, security prices fully reflect all available information. If the asset is overpriced, then arbitrageurs will short the asset, until reduced demand for purchasing it caused the price to fall. The opposite is true for underpriced securities. The CAPM is based on several simplifying assumptions and because most of these assumptions appear to be unrealistic in the real world, it has been argued that they are the cause of flaws in the CAPM (Watson and Head 1998; Harrington 1987). Several of the CAPM assumptions have been criticized. For instance, the assumptions that there are no taxes and no transaction costs do not conform to reality. In addition, the assumption of homogeneous expectations is also open to doubt, because investors usually have divergent expectations, apply various investment holding periods, differ in respect of their decision-making processes and so on. (Levy and Solomon 2000). Some researchers have also suggested that the CAPM is incorrect in respect of its description of expected returns and that a multi-factor model offers a better explanation. The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) has run into several roadblocks such as Rolls (1977) suggestion that it is not a testable scientific theory and a plethora of empirical anomalies which provide empirical evidence that the usual market proxies are not mean-variance efficient. In 1976 Ross introduced the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) as an alternative to the CAPM. The APT has the potential to overcome CAPM’s weaknesses. It requires less and more realistic assumptions to be generated by a simple arbitrage argument and its explanatory power is potentially better since it is a multifactor model. The APT relates the expected rate of return on a sequence of primitive securities to their factor sensitivities, suggesting that factor risk is of critical importance in asset pricing (Gilles and Leroy, 1990). It tries to capture some of the non- market influences that cause securities to move together. The APT rests on the hypothesis that the equity price is influenced by limited and non- correlated common factors and by a specific factor totally independent from the other factors. The main empirical strength of the APT is that it permits the researcher to select whatever factors provide the best explanation for the particular sample at hand (Groenewold and Fraser, 1997). Scanty literature has tried to test the APT in Zimbabwe. Although, Chakaza (2008) has attempted to investigate the link between systematic factors and stock prices in Zimbabwe, he only focused on a unidirectional effect running from financial systematic factors to stock prices in the context of cointegration. The results he obtained supported that systematic factors influence stock prices but the issue of causality is unknown for the Zimbabwean economy and this is what this study seeks to investigate. This comes as a result of different studies carried out in different countries having yielded different results on the causality issue and the subject matter remains inconclusive. The issue of causality is far from being settled. Besides the study carried out by Chakaza (2008), the authors are not aware of any study which has been carried out for Zimbabwe in an attempt to answer the direction of causality. The study will add to the existing body of knowledge by determining the direction of causality between systematic factors and stock prices by employing a vector autoregressive (VAR) modeling framework. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section II reviews the theoretical and empirical literature. Section III provides the methodology to be employed in this study. The main contribution of the paper is Section IV, where the Arbitrage Pricing Theory will be tested. The paper concludes in Section V, with brief final comments and policy recommendations. LITERATURE REVIEW The Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) Ross (1976) developed the arbitrage pricing theory (APT) as an alternative model that could potentially overcome the CAPM’s problems while still retaining the underlying message of the later. The core idea of the APT is that only a small number of systematic influences affect the long term average returns of securities. The first ingredient of Ross’s APT is a factor model. Multi-factor models allow an asset to have not just one, but many measures of systematic risk. Each measure captures the sensitivity of the asset to the corresponding pervasive factor. If the factor model holds exactly and assets do not have specific risk, then the law of one price implies that the expected return of any asset is just a linear function of the other assets’ expected return. If this were not the case, arbitrageurs would be able to create a long-short trading strategy that would have no initial cost, but would give positive profits for sure. The intuition for the result when assets have no specific risk, is that all asset prices move in lockstep with one another and are therefore just leveraged ‘copies’ of one other. The result becomes more difficult when assets do have specific risk. In this case it is possible to form portfolios where the specific risk may be diversified away. To achieve full diversification of residual risk, however, a portfolio needs to include an infinite number of securities. With a finite set of securities, each of which has specific risk, the APT pricing restriction will only hold only approximately. The advantage of factor analytic techniques is that the factors determined from the data explain a large proportion of the risks in that particular dataset over the period under consideration. The drawback is that factors usually have no economic interpretation. As Roll and Ross argue, â€Å"an effort should be directed at identifying a more meaningful set of sufficient statistics for the underlying factors†. An alternative to factor analytic techniques is to use observed macroeconomic variables as the risk factors. One of the first studies using observed factors was by Chen et al (1986). Their argument is that at the most basic level some fundamental valuation model determines the prices of assets. That is, the price of a stock will be the correctly discounted expected future dividends. Therefore the choice of factors should include any systematic influences that impact future dividends, the way traders and investors form expectations, and the rate at which investors discount future cash flows. Empirical Investigation Mpohamba (1955) used autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach for the case of Germany covering the period 1935-1954. The results reviewed that, in the long-run, inflation and real interest rate exerted positive impact on stock prices. A stable long-run relationship between economic growth and stock prices was found. This method of estimation however, does not cater for reverse causality and would be inappropriate for the estimation of causality in Zimbabwe. More so the feedback effect should have been considered. By employing provincial panel data from Congo, Zhang (1967) examined to determine if diamond prices and money supply explained the stock prices in Congo for the period 1960-1966. He employed a provincial panel data. The results suggested that both variables influenced stock prices. He concluded that the findings revealed a significant and positive nexus between diamond prices and stock prices. This method however, assumes that all elements in the collection have the same economic structure which is not the case for all provinces or nations especially the developing ones. Hamao (1988) replicated the Chen, et al (1986) study in the multi-factor APT framework. By applying an unbalanced panel data, he showed that the Asian stock returns were significantly influenced by the changes in expected inflation, and the unexpected changes in both the risk premium and the slope of the term structure of interest rates. However, different countries have different financial and economic structures which need to be estimated using different proxies and methodologies. Maysami and Koh (1990) examined long-term dynamic interactions between the Botswana Stock Exchange and macroeconomic variables for the period 1978 to 1989 by employing a vector error correction model (VECM). The variables were seasonally adjusted money supply, industrial production index, foreign exchange rate, retail price index (inflation), domestic exports, and interest rates. Results indicated a cointegrating vector among returns on the Botswana Stock Exchange and money supply growth, inflation, term structure of interest rates, and changes in exchange rates. This study is going to employ a VAR instead of VECM because the variables are not integrated of the same order. Akmal (1997) investigated the relationship between equity market prices and inflation in Algeria for the period 1971-1996 by employing the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to observe cointegration among variables and provided evidence that equity returns are hedged against inflation in the long run. Though the study by Akmal (1997) is important in defining and providing a background for the inclusion of the explanatory variables, this study will adopt a different methodology, thus it is going to use the VAR model instead of ARDL. Mukherjee and Naka (2005) tested the dynamic relationship between six macroeconomic variables and the Japanese stock market, by employing a vector error correction to a model of seven equations. They found that a long-term equilibrium relationship exists between the Japanese stock market and the six macroeconomic variables which are exchange rate, money supply, inflation, industrial production, long-term government bond rate and call money rate. However, using money supply, inflation, government bond rate and call money rate as explanatory variables in one study may bring about the problem of multicollineality. Maysami et al (2006) examined the long run relationship among macroeconomic variables and Stock prices in Angola and found stock prices to have long term relationship with industrial production, inflation, exchange rate, changes in the short and long-term interest rates and money supply. METHODOLOGY The study is going to employ the Vector Auto Regression (VAR) model to model the relationship between stock prices and certain macroeconomic variables. A VAR is an economic model that is used to capture the innovation and interdependency of multiple times series variables. The VAR model, developed by Sims (1980) represents dynamic models of a group of time series. In a VAR model each variable will have its own equation explaining the changes in that variable in question, in response to its own current and past values and the current and past values of all the variables in the model. Unit root tests will be conducted to test the data for stationarity. If the variables are integrated of the same order then a cointegration test will be performed. Definition and Justification of variables The dependent variable is stock prices. Stock prices are estimated by the industrial production total index. The industrial production total index is a proxy for the real activity. It shows the changes in production value added of branches of manufacturing industry. It is computed on the basis of production data collected for about 1500 factories, the production value added of which covers over 75% of the total value created by the manufacturing industry in Zimbabwe. Independent Variables a. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) GDP is a measure of corporate output and activity influencing possible future dividends. Industrial production index has been used as proxy to measure the growth rate in real sector. GDP presents a measure of overall economic activity in the economy and affects stock prices through its influence on expected future cash flows. It is hypothesized that an increase in industrial production is positively related to equity prices. b. Consumer Price Index (CPI) Consumer Price Index is used as a proxy of inflation rate. CPI is chosen as it is a broad base measure to calculate average change in prices of goods and services during a specific period. Inflation is ultimately translated into nominal interest rate and an increase in nominal interest rates increase discount rate which results in reduction of present value of cash flows so it is hypothesized that an increase in inflation is negatively related to equity prices. Inflation is likely to influence stock prices directly through changes in the price level and through the policies designed to control it. c. Foreign Exchange Rate (ER) This study employs foreign exchange rate as end of month US$/Z$ exchange rate. It is hypothesized that a loss in value of the home currency is negatively related to equity prices. A positive relation between the exchange rate and stock prices is conjectured. Persistent devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar lures people to rather invest in strong international currencies usually by keeping them as idle balances. Thus resources that could be invested on the stock exchange are diverted into non-functioning assets usually comprised of dollars, Rands and pound sterling. Empirical Model The study is going to follow Mishra (1994) to identify factors in the Arbitrage Pricing Theory with macroeconomic variables that have an impact on stock market prices. Most studies employed this model in order to test the impact of macroeconomic variables on stock market prices. As stated in the previous chapter, it has advantages over the CAPM model as it allows the selection of whatever factors provide a better explanation of variations in stock market prices. The regression equation is specified as follows: k Vt = ? At Vt ? i + ? t i =1 V = (CPI , GDP, ER) Where; Vt is a vector of endogenous variables, A 1 -A k are three by three matrices of coefficients and ? t is a vector of error terms. Following Shan et al (2006) the variation is smoothed out in time series variables and further even and make the variables consistent in the model by transforming all of the variables into logarithm format. ESTIMATION OF RESULTS The unit root tests were conducted by applying the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test developed by Dickey and Fuller (1981) to test the stationarity of our variables. If the estimated Augmented Dickey-Fuller statistic is greater than the critical value the null hypothesis that the series is non-stationary in favour of stationarity will be rejected. To deal with the problem of high variability and unevenness of our data, all variables were converted into logs before being subjected to the tests for stationarity. A trend and an intercept were employed for the testing for stationarity in levels and only an intercept for successive test. After running the data, it is only Exchange Rate (ER) that was stationary in levels. All other variables were found to be non-stationary. Appropriate differencing were conducted and it was found that the Stock Price (SP) became stationary after differencing twice, that is , it is integrated of order two I(2). After differencing once, Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) were found to be stationary which means they are integrated of order one, I(1) as illustrated Table 1 below. This therefore, means that this study is going to perform the vector autoregression (VAR) analysis without proceeding to conducting the vector error correction (VEC) model. Table 1: Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test results after appropriate differencing. ***Indicating stationarity at 1% level, ** stationarity at 5% level and * stationarity at 10% level of significance Table 2 reports diagnostic test results of residuals of the VAR model. Table 2: Diagnostic Tests of the residuals of the VAR Inspection of the table regarding the VAR shows that the Q-statistic is insignificant at 5% confidence level, with large p-values. Consequently, the null hypothesis, that the residuals of the equations incorporated into the VAR up to order k are not autocorrelated, cannot be rejected. Moreover, the Breusch-Godfrey Lagrange Multiplier is reported. This is also a test of the null hypothesis that there is no serial correlation in the residuals up to the specified order. The reported F-statistics indicate no autocorrelation in the residuals at 5% confidence level. Also, the ARCH test for autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity was applied. Ignoring ARCH effects may result in loss of efficiency. It is a test of the null hypothesis that there is no ARCH up to order k in the residuals. The reported n*R2 (i. e. number of observations multiplied by R-squared) follows ? 2 distribution with k degrees of freedom. For the estimated VAR the observed value is lower than the critical value. Thus, the null hypothesis that there is no autocorrelation in the error variance is accepted. Impulse Response The long run relations among the variables of the systems have been determined. Subsequently, there should be examined the transmission mechanisms of the shocks among the variables, which determine the time paths of the systems and settle the equilibrium. Table 3 shows the impulse response functions for the variables.