Timothy Brown

PORTFOLIO Arab Successes in the Eastern Byzantine Empire When Constantinople fell in 1453 to the armies of Mehmed the Conqueror, it was the culmination of centuries of conflict between the Byzantine Empire on the one hand and, at various times, the Arab world, the Ottomans, the Persian Empire and Western Europe itself on the other, but it was the Arab incursions and conflicts with the Byzantines that contributed the most to Constantinople's fall and the beginning of the Ottoman Empire. This paper will examine three factors and specific historical examples that contributed to the Arabs successes against the Byzantine Empire, with a primary focus on conflicts in its eastern domains. The Arabs were able to exploit the weaknesses of the dominant Empires. The Roman-Persian war was an on again off again conflict that lasted over an astonishing seven hundred years. From the Roman Pre-Christian obliteration of the Seleucid Empire, to the back and forth battles between Rome and the Parthian Empire that went on for the first two centuries of the Roman Empire, to the centuries-long conflict between first the Roman Empire, then the Byzantines on one hand and the Sassanid Empire on the other, this conflict defined the geopolitics of the Eastern Roman Empire and the middle east for nearly a millennium. Up to 600 AD, the Arabs were a mostly nomadic people, sometimes allied with the Byzantines, sometimes with the Persians, often with neither. There were, however, exceptions in the form of splinter kingdoms that attempted to break off from the authority of both the Persians and Romans, but they were by, and large short lived. One notable example of a more successful Arab Kingdom was the Lakhmids. For hundreds of years, this kingdom served as a buffer zone between Persia and Byzantines. This changed in 602 when the last Lakhmid King was put to death by the Persian Emperor, and the Kingdom was annexed into Persia. In the same year, the last war between the Byzantine and Persian Empires commenced, a war that would exhaust the resources of both sides. These events, coinciding with the life of the Prophet Muhammad(570-632) and the rise of Islam, created deep instability and power vacuums in the eastern Byzantine Empire, as well as the Persian Empire. A Brief History of Microbiology The history of Microbiology as a scientific discipline dates from the time of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek-), often called “the father of microbiology,” but speculations on the existence of invisible organisms had been a part of human inquiry for many years before the invention of the microscope. For example, the religion of Jainism, which dates from at least the 6​th​ century BCE, states that ​“Clusters of minute beings, called ​nigodas​ , belong to the lowest class of ​jivas​ , which possess only the sense of touch and undergo such common functions as respiration and metabolism but have little hope of ever progressing to a higher spiritual or bodily state.” (​Nigoda Jaina philosophy Britannica.com, 2016)​. A more pragmatic view was expressed by the Pre-Christian Roman writer Marcus Terrentius Varro, who wrote against establishing farms near marshy environments: “because there are bred certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases.” (​Rosen, G. 1958) Aside from these and other observations however, there was no systematic understanding of the existence of the microbial world, much less a successful theory of disease in terms of causes and prevention. Part of this was due to the lack of tools to examine microorganisms of course. It is a matter of ongoing debate as to what other factors contributed to the ensuing medieval world view, which arguably, held back scientific progress for centuries. A large reason had to do with the fall of the Roman Empire and, several centuries later, the rise of Islam, which led to western Europe being largely cut off from Greek and Roman philosophy and learning, at least until the Renaissance. Undoubtedly the rise of a Church centric civilization contributed as well, whose concerns were often about other aspects of human experience than an empirical understanding of the world, an understanding that was rendered unnecessary by a focus on ones place in a stratified society and a belief in either reward or punishment in the next life. That being said, scientific inquiry didn’t completely die out during the middle ages, but it was saddled by certain preconceptions, some holdovers from ancient Greece, others, influenced by pagan traditions. Building an Effective Team There are many reasons why building a good team is important. Some of the qualities that successful teams embody include resilience, good communication skills, trust, increased productivity, a sense of being motivated to achieve worthwhile goals, enhanced creativity and problem solving skills, and a feeling that one’s individual efforts matter to the purposes of the greater whole. In this paper, I will examine three steps that are helpful in building an effective team and contribute to a team atmosphere. I will look at the importance of being aware of individual needs of each of my team members. I’ll look at various qualities in my team members and ways to turn those qualities into strengths. I’ll address the importance of communication between not only the leader of the team and its members but between team members and also address how I might need to modify my communication style when talking to different team members. I’ll look at potential barriers to communication and ways to get around those barriers. And I’ll look at any outside factors such as sociocultural, legal or ethical issues that might have an influence on my ability to create an effective team. One positive step in team-building is formulating clear objectives. I think of this as a foundational step, for without it, a great deal of effort can be spent on other steps that get nowhere. In a sense, having clear objectives functions as a boost to the health of the team and helps to ward off potential problems down the line. Two problems that can often arise are not having specific enough goals and making assumptions based on insufficient data. Having clear objectives from the beginning can be a big help in avoiding those pitfalls. A corollary of having specific goals is making sure that there are the right amount of goals. Too many will dilute the teams performance. “​To achieve results with excellence, workers must focus on a few well-crafted goals rather than working on multiple​ t​ asks​ w ​ ith mediocrity. Too many goals, conflicting or not, lead to confusion, burnout, decline in quality, and loss of focus. Goals must be specific and clear, explicitly linked to corporate strategy, broken down into bite-size chunks, measurable, and deadline-driven.”​ (AccountingWEB 2004) The SMART goal criteria is a helpful tool in deciding goals, both individually and in a team. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound. (​Drucker, P. F.​ ​2001)​ The more specific the goal from the outset, the better the team will be able to enact it, and not waste time reinventing the wheel as they go along. Rather than say vague generalities about how things can improve, strengths and weaknesses are specifically addressed. Review and Critique of Paper on Adolescent Drug Use I looked at a study published in the ​Journal of Addictive Behaviors, Therapy & Rehabilitation, e ​ ntitled “​Adolescent Urgent Psychiatric Consults: Prevalence of Substance Abuse and Comparison with Abstinent Peers” by Nasreen Roberts and Robert Nesdole. I’m interested in the subject of substance abuse in Adolescents and the relationships between that behavior and abusive upbringings, poverty, and poor educational opportunities. In terms of my interest, this study barely scratched the surface, but it did yield some interesting, though hardly unexpected, data. In the introduction, the study stated this: “A study of factors associated with adolescent ED visits for substance abuse, reported that SUD was associated with being male, dwelling in an urban location, and having a diagnosis of anxiety disorders, mood disorders and psychotic disorders.” (Roberts, Nesdole 2016) I was curious about the direction the authors of the paper were going, as the conclusions of their study didn’t really back up this statement. Rather, this statement seemed a somewhat generic statement of the issue at hand, that didn’t necessarily correlate with their data. Otherwise, the introduction was clear and easy to understand, and concerned itself with the relationship between substance abuse and the need for emergency psychiatric services. An important point: this study was retroactive, in that, it went back and looked at records for two years; this information was, evidently, not originally part of a study. In the Method section, the authors state: :Inclusion criteria were, regular use defined as 1-3 times per week and chronic use as, daily use for 6-12 months at the time of assessment. Those who reported less than once a month or had been abstinent for 6 months were excluded.” (Ibid) I wonder if this methodology was effective. Adolescents will often not be truthful about their drug use, even under the situation of the study. Perhaps offering a third category might have been helpful; going from 1-3 times a week to once a month is a rather big jump; so a third category of say two to three times a month, might be helpful. Also, there is the issue of binging, which is less consistent in terms of use. Or perhaps, and this is probably unrealistic, a way could be found in the questions, in the manner of say, the MMPI, to weed out untruthful statements. I did like the comprehensive demographic data, which included physical and sexual abuse factors; numerous studies have shown a correlation between victims of those experiences and the attempt to self medicate.