Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Management

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Management Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a multi-system disorder, resulting in multiple comorbidities and being the fourth common cause of mortality worldwide (1). Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in COPD, through manifestations such as ischemic heart disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, stroke and sudden cardiac death (2,3). Moreover, in the last years, a tendency to paradigm shift occured, the chronic respiratory disease itself being defined as a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor (4,5). This interaction between COPD and cardiovascular disease could be explained either by shared risk factors (aging, smoking, exposure to air pollution and passive smoke, underprescribing of key cardiovascular medication, such as ÃŽ ²-blockers) or mechanisms of increased risk that are incompletely understood, beyond the conventional risk factors (4,6). There is increasing evidence that COPD negatively affect the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous system, leading to sympathovagal imbalance, with increased sympathetic tone, loss of parasympathetic tone and altered baroreceptor sensitivity, which are essential components of cardiovascular risk (7-9). Recurrent episodes of hypoxemia and/or hypercapnea, intrathoracic pressure swings resulting from airway obstruction and hyperinflation, systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, increased respiratory effort and physical inactivity can all be involved in autonomic dysfunction observed in COPD (8-10). Patients with COPD and functional alterations of cardiac autonomic modulation tend to have an elevated resting heart rate (11-13), reduced heart rate variability (HRV) (14), altered blood pressure variability (BPV) (15), an increase in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (16), reduced baroreflex sensitivity (17) and increased plasma norepinephrine level (9). Other clincal findings related to sympathetic overdrive in COPD could be arterial stiffness, altered PWV and arterial compliance, as well as left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction which may occur through direct effect of tone, modulation of baroreceptor sensitivity or activation of the renin-angiotensin system (4, 18-22). Hypoxemia, hypercapnia, pulmonary hyperinflation and activity avoidance are involved in developping cardiac autonomic dysfunction but on the other hand, these mechanisms are also responsible for exertional dyspnea and skeletal muscle deconditioning, including respiratory muscle dysfunction, in COPD patients (23,24). Thus develops a vicious spiral of physical deconditioning, impaired quality of life and early development of cardiovascular comorbidities, leading eventually to increased hospitalization and mortality (25). The golden standard in COPD management is pulmonary rehabilitation, based on its main benefits, as resulted from clinical trials: improved exercise capacity and health-related quality of life, reduced symptoms and recovery after hospitalization, decreased anxiety and depression, shortening the number of hospitalizations and days in the hospital (1, 26-28). The impact of cardiovascular comorbidities on clinical outcomes of pulmonary rehabilitation and vice versa is only partially investigated and understood. It seems that patients with metabolic and heart diseases might achieve lower degrees of improvement in exercise capacity or quality of life, but conflicting results from clinical trials have been published (29). Moreover, it is still unclear if pulmonary rehabilitation programs address cardiovascular risk factors in COPD patients, but there are encouraging results (30). Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) is a particular component of pulmonary rehabilitation, arising from the finding that inspiratory muscle dysfunction is an extrapulmonary manifestation of the disease which is often present in COPD patients. Inspiratory muscle weakness is defined as a maximal inspiratory mouth pressure (PI,max) of less than 60 cmH2O (31) and can be measured with handheld, electronic portable devices, providing automatically processed information on external inspiratory work, power and breathing pattern during loaded breathing tasks in patients with COPD. A recent study concluded that these information are valid estimation of physical units of energy during loaded breathing tasks, enabling healthcare providers to measure PI,max, peak inspiratory flow and quantify the load on inspiratory muscles in daily clinical practice (32). Also, it has been developed various pressure threshold loading medical devices, for standardized training, according to current recommendations although there is no established guideline yet (33). The impact of IMT was extensively studied in recent years. Results from randomised controlled trials in patients with COPD show that IMT as a stand-alone therapy improves strength and endurance of inspiratory muscles, improves symptoms (dyspnea) and exercise capacity (31,34). In a meta-analysis including 32 randomised controlled trials (31), IMT and its effects in patients with COPD were analysed and improved inspiratory muscle strength (+ 13 cmH2O; 95% CI 0.54-0.82; p

Bond and Market Capitalization Rate

330-s2013-prac9 1. An American put option gives its holder the right to _________. A. buy the underlying asset at the exercise price on or before the expiration date B. buy the underlying asset at the exercise price only at the expiration date C. sell the underlying asset at the exercise price on or before the expiration date D. sell the underlying asset at the exercise price only at the expiration date 2. An American call option gives the buyer the right to _________. A. buy the underlying asset at the exercise price on or before the expiration date B. buy the underlying asset at the exercise price only at the expiration date C. ell the underlying asset at the exercise price on or before the expiration date D. sell the underlying asset at the exercise price only at the expiration date 3. A European call option gives the buyer the right to _________. A. buy the underlying asset at the exercise price on or before the expiration date B. buy the underlying asset at the exercise price on ly at the expiration date C. sell the underlying asset at the exercise price on or before the expiration date D. sell the underlying asset at the exercise price only at the expiration date 4. You purchase one IBM July 120 call contract for a premium of $5.You hold the option until the expiration date when IBM stock sells for $123 per share. You will realize a ______ on the investment. A. $200 profit B. $200 loss C. $300 profit D. $300 loss 5. At contract maturity the value of a call option is ___________ where X equals the option's strike price and ST is the stock price at contract expiration. A. Max(0, ST – X) B. Min(0, ST – X) C. Max(0, X – ST) D. Min(0, X – ST) 1 1. C 2. A 3. B 4. B 5. A Long Call Profit = Max[0,($123 – $120)(100)] – $500 = -$200 1. A firm that has an ROE of 12% is considering cutting its dividend payout.The stockholders of the firm desire a dividend yield of 4% and a capital gain yield of 9%. Given this information which of the following statement(s) is/are correct? I. All else equal the firm's growth rate will accelerate after the payout change II. All else equal the firm's stock price will go up after the payout change III. All else equal the firm's P/E ratio will increase after the payout change A. I onlyB. I and II onlyC. II and III onlyD. I, II and III 2. A firm cuts its dividend payout ratio. As a result you know that the firm's _______. A. return on assets will increaseB. arnings retention ratio will increase C. earnings growth rate will fallD. stock price will fall 3. An underpriced stock provides an expected return which is ____________ the required return based on the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). A. less thanB. equal toC. greater thanD. greater than or equal to 4. Stockholders of Dog's R Us Pet Supply expect a 12% rate of return on their stock. Management has consistently been generating a ROE of 15% over the last 5 years but now believes that ROE will be 12% for the next five year s. Given this the firm's optimal dividend payout ratio is now ______.A. 0%B. 100%C. between 0% and 50%D. between 50% and 100% 5. The constant growth dividend discount model (DDM) can be used only when the ___________. A. growth rate is less than or equal to the required returnB. growth rate is greater than or equal to the required return C. growth rate is less than the required returnD. growth rate is greater than the required return 6. Suppose that in 2009 the expected dividends of the stocks in a broad market index equaled $240 million when the discount rate was 8% and the expected growth rate of the dividends equaled 6%.Using the constant growth formula for valuation, if interest rates increase to 9% the value of the market will change by _____. A. -10%B. -20%C. -25%D. -33% 7. You are considering acquiring a common share of Sahali Shopping Center Corporation that you would like to hold for one year. You expect to receive both $1. 25 in dividends and $35 from the sale of the share at the end of the year. The maximum price you would pay for a share today is __________ if you wanted to earn a 12% return. A. $31. 25B. $32. 37C. $38. 47D. $41. 32 8. Eagle Brand Arrowheads has expected earnings of $1. 5 per share and a market capitalization rate of 12%. Earnings are expected to grow at 5% per year indefinitely. The firm has a 40% plowback ratio. By how much does the firm's ROE exceed the market capitalization rate? A. 0. 5%B. 1. 0%C. 1. 5%D. 2. 0% 9. A preferred share of Coquihalla Corporation will pay a dividend of $8. 00 in the upcoming year, and every year thereafter, i. e. , dividends are not expected to grow. You require a return of 7% on this stock. Using the constant growth DDM to calculate the intrinsic value, a preferred share of Coquihalla Corporation is worth _________. A. $13. 50B. $45. 50C. $91. 0D. $114. 29 10. Brevik Builders has an expected ROE of 25%. Its dividend growth rate will be __________ if it follows a policy of paying 30% of earning in t he form of dividends. A. 5. 0%B. 15. 0%C. 17. 5%D. 45. 0% 11. Cache Creek Manufacturing Company is expected to pay a dividend of $3. 36 in the upcoming year. Dividends are expected to grow at 8% per year. The riskfree rate of return is 4% and the expected return on the market portfolio is 14%. Investors use the CAPM to compute the market capitalization rate, and the constant growth DDM to determine the value of the stock. The stock's current price is $84. 0. Using the constant growth DDM, the market capitalization rate is _________. A. 9%B. 12%C. 14%D. 18% 12. Ace Ventura, Inc. has expected earnings of $5 per share for next year. The firm's ROE is 15% and its earnings retention ratio is 40%. If the firm's market capitalization rate is 10%, what is the present value of its growth opportunities? A. $25B. $50C. $75D. $100 13. Flanders, Inc. has expected earnings of $4 per share for next year. The firm's ROE is 8% and its earnings retention ratio is 40%. If the firm's market capitalizat ion rate is 15%, what is the present value of its growth opportunities?A. -$6. 33B. $0C. $20. 34D. $26. 67 14. Cache Creek Manufacturing Company is expected to pay a dividend of $4. 20 in the upcoming year. Dividends are expected to grow at the rate of 8% per year. The riskfree rate of return is 4% and the expected return on the market portfolio is 14%. Investors use the CAPM to compute the market capitalization rate on the stock, and the constant growth DDM to determine the intrinsic value of the stock. The stock is trading in the market today at $84. 00. Using the constant growth DDM and the CAPM, the beta of the stock is _________. A. 1. 4B. 0. 9C. 0. 8D. 0. 5 15.Westsyde Tool Company is expected to pay a dividend of $2. 00 in the upcoming year. The risk-free rate of return is 6% and the expected return on the market portfolio is 12%. Analysts expect the price of Westsyde Tool Company shares to be $29 a year from now. The beta of Westsyde Tool Company's stock is 1. 20. Using a on eperiod valuation model, the intrinsic value of Westsyde Tool Company stock today is _________. A. $24. 29B. $27. 39C. $31. 13D. $34. 52 16. Todd Mountain development Corporation is expected to pay a dividend of $2. 50 in the upcoming year. Dividends are expected to grow at the rate of 8% per year.The risk-free rate of return is 5% and the expected return on the market portfolio is 12%. The stock of Todd Mountain Development Corporation has a beta of 0. 75. Using the CAPM, the return you should require on the stock is _________. A. 7. 25%B. 10. 25%C. 14. 75%D. 21. 00% 17. Interior Airline is expected to pay a dividend of $3 in the upcoming year. Dividends are expected to grow at the rate of 10% per year. The risk-free rate of return is 4% and the expected return on the market portfolio is 13%. The stock of Interior Airline has a beta of 4. 00. Using the constant growth DDM, the intrinsic value of the stock is _________.A. $10. 00B. $22. 73C. $27. 78D. $41. 67 18. Everything equal, w hich variable is negatively related to intrinsic value of a company? A. D1B. D0C. gD. k 19. A common stock pays an annual dividend per share of $1. 80. The risk-free rate is 5 percent and the risk premium for this stock is 4 percent. If the annual dividend is expected to remain at $1. 80 per share, what is the value of the stock? A. $17. 78B. $20. 00C. $40. 00D. None of the above 20. A stock is priced at $45 per share. The stock has earnings per share of $3. 00 and a market capitalization rate of 14%. What is the stock's PVGO?A. $23. 57B. $15. 00C. $19. 78D. $21. 34 21. If a firm has a free cash flow equal to $50 million and that cash flow is expected to grow at 3% forever, what is the total firm value given a WACC of 9. 5%? A. $679 millionB. $715 millionC. $769 millionD. $803 million 22. Next year's earnings are estimated to be $5. 00. The company plans to reinvest 20% of its earnings at 15%. If the cost of equity is 9%, what is the present value of growth opportunities? A. $9. 09B . $10. 10C. $11. 11D. $12. 21 1. A2. B3. C4. B5. C6. D7. B8. A9. D10. C11. B12. A13. A14. B15. B16. B17. A18. D19. B20. A21. C22.C 1. Consider two bonds, A and B. Both bonds presently are selling at their par value of $1,000. Each pay interest of $120 annually. Bond A will mature in 5 years while bond B will mature in 6 years. If the yields to maturity on the two bonds change from 12% to 14%, _________. A. both bonds will increase in value but bond A will increase more than bond B B. both bonds will increase in value but bond B will increase more than bond A C. both bonds will decrease in value but bond A will decrease more than bond B D. both bonds will decrease in value but bond B will decrease more than bond A 2.Everything else equal the __________ the maturity of a bond and the __________ the coupon the greater the sensitivity of the bond's price to interest rate changes. A. longer; higher B. longer; lower C. shorter; higher D. shorter; lower 3. A __________ bond is a bond where the issuer has an option to retire the bond before maturity at a specific price after a specific date. A. callable B. coupon C. puttable D. treasury 4. In an era of particularly low interest rates, which of the following bonds is most likely to be called? A. Zero coupon bonds B. Coupon bonds selling at a discount C. Coupon bonds selling at a premium D.Floating rate bonds 5. A coupon bond which pays interest of 4% annually, has a par value of $1,000, matures in 5 years, and is selling today at $785. The actual yield to maturity on this bond is _________. A. 7. 2% B. 8. 8% C. 9. 1% D. 9. 6% 6. A coupon bond which pays interest of $60 annually, has a par value of $1,000, matures in 5 years, and is selling today at a $75. 25 discount from par value. The current yield on this bond is _________. A. 6. 00% B. 6. 49% C. 6. 73% D. 7. 00% 7. A coupon bond which pays interest semi-annually has a par value of $1,000, matures in 8 years, and has a yield to maturity of 6%.If the coupon rate is 7 %, the intrinsic value of the bond today will be __________ (to the nearest dollar). A. $1,000 B. $1,063 C. $1,081 D. $1,100 8. A treasury bond due in one year has a yield of 6. 3% while a treasury bond due in 5 years has a yield of 8. 8%. A bond due in 5 years issued by High Country Marketing Corporation has a yield of 9. 6% while a bond due in one year issued by High Country Marketing Corporation has a yield of 6. 8%. The default risk premiums on the one-year and 5-year bonds issued by High Country Marketing Corp. are respectively __________ and _________. A. 0. 4%, 0. 3% B. 0. 4%, 0. % C. 0. 5%, 0. 5% D. 0. 5%, 0. 8% 9. A zero-coupon bond has a yield to maturity of 5% and a par value of $1,000. If the bond matures in 16 years, it should sell for a price of __________ today. A. $458. 00 B. $641. 00 C. $789. 00 D. $1,100. 00 10. You can be sure that a bond will sell at a premium to par when _________. A. its coupon rate is greater than its yield to maturity B. its coupon rate is le ss than its yield to maturity C. its coupon rate equal to its yield to maturity D. its coupon rate is less than its conversion value 11. Consider a 7-year bond with a 9% coupon and a yield to maturity of 12%.If interest rates remain constant, one year from now the price of this bond will be _________. A. higher B. lower C. the same D. indeterminate 12. The yield to maturity on a bond is ________. I. above the coupon rate when the bond sells at a discount, and below the coupon rate when the bond sells at a premium II. the discount rate that will set the present value of the payments equal to the bond price III. equal to the true compound return on investment only if all interest payments received are reinvested at the yield to maturity A. I only B. II only C. I and II only D. I, II and III 13.Assuming semiannual compounding, a 20-year zero coupon bond with a par value of $1,000 and a required return of 12% would be priced at _________. A. $97 B. $104 C. $364 D. $732 14. The yield to maturity of an 10-year zero coupon bond, with a par value of $1,000 and a market price of $625, is _____. A. 4. 8% B. 6. 1% C. 7. 7% D. 10. 4% 15. If the quote for a Treasury bond is listed in the newspaper as 98:09 bid, 98:13 ask, the actual price for you to purchase this bond given a $10,000 par value is _____________. A. $9,828. 12 B. $9,809. 38 C. $9,840. 62 D. $9,813. 42 16. The price on a treasury bond is 104:21 with a yield to maturity of 3. 5%. The price on a comparable maturity corporate bond is 103:11 with a yield to maturity of 4. 59%. What is the approximate percentage value of the credit risk of the corporate bond? A. 1. 14% B. 3. 45% C. 4. 59% D. 8. 04% 17. You buy an 8 year $1000 par value bond today that has a 6% yield and a 6% annual payment coupon. In one year promised yields have risen to 7%. Your one year holding period return was ___. A. 0. 61% B. -5. 39% C. 1. 28% D. -3. 25% 18. If the coupon rate on a bond is 4. 50% and the bond is selling at a premium, which of the following is the most likely yield to maturity on the bond?A. 4. 30% B. 4. 50% C. 5. 20% D. 5. 50% 19. All other things equal, which of the following has the longest duration? A. A 30 year bond with a 10% coupon B. A 20 year bond with a 9% coupon C. A 20 year bond with a 7% coupon D. A 10 year zero coupon bond 20. All other things equal, which of the following has the shortest duration? A. A 30 year bond with a 10% coupon B. A 20 year bond with a 9% coupon C. A 20 year bond with a 7% coupon D. A 10 year zero coupon bond 21. (Challenge question) A pension fund must pay out $1 million next year, $2 million the following year and then $3 million the year after that.If the discount rate is 8% what is the duration of this set of payments? A. 2. 00 years B. 2. 15 years C. 2. 29 years D. 2. 53 years 22. All other things equal, which of the following has the longest duration? A. A 20 year bond with a 10% coupon yielding 10% B. A 20 year bond with a 10% coupon yielding 11% C. A 20 yea r zero coupon bond yielding 10% D. A 20 year zero coupon bond yielding 11% 23. Because of convexity, when interest rates change the actual bond price will ____________ the bond price predicted by duration. A. always be higher than B. sometimes be higher than C. always be lower than D. ometimes be lower than 24. Duration is a concept that is useful in assessing a bond's _________. A. credit risk B. liquidity risk C. price volatility D. convexity risk 25. A pension fund has an average duration of its liabilities equal to 15 years. The fund is looking at 5 year maturity zero coupon bonds and 4% yield perpetuities to immunize its interest rate risk. How much of its portfolio should it allocate to the zero coupon bonds to immunize if there are no other assets funding the plan? A. 52% B. 48% C. 33% D. 25% 26. You own a bond that has a duration of 6 years. Interest rates are urrently 7% but you believe the Fed is about to increase interest rates by 25 basis points. Your predicted price cha nge on this bond is ________. A. +1. 40% B. -1. 40% C. -2. 51% D. +2. 51% 27. A bank has an average duration of its liabilities equal to 2 years. The bank's average duration of its assets is 3. 5 years. The bank's market value of equity is at risk if _______________________. A. interest rates fall B. credit spreads fall C. interest rates rise D. the price of all fixed income securities rises 28. Banks and other financial institutions can best manage interest rate risk by _____________. A. aximizing the duration of assets and minimizing the duration of liabilities B. minimizing the duration of assets and maximizing the duration of liabilities C. matching the durations of their assets and liabilities D. matching the maturities of their assets and liabilities 29. The duration of a portfolio of bonds can be calculated as _______________. A. the coupon weighted average of the durations of the individual bonds in the portfolio B. the yield weighted average of the durations of the individu al bonds in the portfolio C. the value weighed average of the durations of the individual bonds in the portfolio D. verages of the durations of the longest and shortest duration bonds in the portfolio 30. Rank the interest sensitivity of the following from most sensitive to an interest rate change to the least sensitive. I. 8% coupon, noncallable 20 year maturity, par bond II. 9% coupon, currently callable 20 year maturity, premium bond III. Zero coupon, 30 year maturity bond A. I, II, III B. II, III, I C. III, I, II D. III, II, I 31. A bank has $50 million in assets, $47 million in liabilities and $3 million in shareholders' equity. If the duration of its liabilities are 1. and the bank wants to immunize its net worth against interest rate risk and thus set the duration of equity equal to zero, it should select assets with an average duration of _________. A. 1. 22 B. 1. 50 C. 1. 60 D. 2. 00 A bond pays annual interest. Its coupon rate is 9%. Its value at maturity is $1,000. It mat ures in four years. Its yield to maturity is currently 6%. 32. The duration of this bond is _______ years. A. 2. 44 B. 3. 23 C. 3. 56 D. 4. 10 33. The modified duration of this bond is ______ years. A. 4. 00 B. 3. 56 C. 3. 36 D. 3. 05 34. A bond with a 9-year duration is worth $1,080. 0 and its yield to maturity is 8%. If the yield to maturity falls to 7. 84%, you would predict that the new value of the bond will be _________. A. $1,035 B. $1,036 C. $1,094 D. $1,124 35. When interest rates increase, the duration of a 20-year bond selling at a premium _________. A. increases B. decreases C. remains the same D. increases at first, then declines 36. Duration facilitates the comparison of bonds with differing ___________ A. default risk B. conversion ratios C. maturities D. yields to maturity 37. The historical yield spread between the AA bond and the AAA bond has been 25 basis points.Currently the spread is only 9 basis points. If you believe the spread will soon return to its historic al levels you should ________________________. A. buy the AA and short the AAA B. buy both the AA and the AAA C. buy the AAA and short the AA D. short both the AA and the AAA 38. The duration of a bond normally increases with an increase in _________. I. term-to-maturity II. yield-to-maturity. III. coupon rate A. I only B. I and II only C. II and III only D. I, II and III 39. Compute the modified duration of a 9% coupon, 3-year corporate bond with a yield to maturity of 12%. A. 2. 45 B. 2. 75 C. 2. 88 D. 3. 00 40.An 8%, 30-year bond has a yield-to-maturity of 10% and a modified duration of 8. 0 years. If the market yield drops by 15 basis points, there will be a __________ in the bond's price. A. 1. 15% decrease B. 1. 20% increase C. 1. 53% increase D. 2. 43% decrease 41. To create a portfolio with a duration of 4 years using a 5 year zero-coupon bond and a 3 year 8% annual coupon bond with a yield to maturity of 10%, one would have to invest ________ of the portfolio value in the z ero-coupon bond. A. 50% B. 55% C. 60% D. 75% 42. Which of the following set of conditions will result in a bond with the greatest price volatility?A. A high coupon and a short maturity. B. A high coupon and a long maturity. C. A low coupon and a short maturity. D. A low coupon and a long maturity. 43. An investor who expects declining interest rates would maximize their capital gain by purchasing a bond that has a ___ coupon and a ___ term to maturity. A. low; long B. high; short C. high; long D. zero; long 44. A zero coupon bond is selling at a deep discount price of $430. 00. It matures in 13 years. If the yield to maturity of the bond is 6. 7%, what is the duration of the bond? A. 6. 7 years B. 8. 0 years C. 10 years D. 13 years 45.Convexity implies that duration predictions _______. I. underestimate the % increase in bond price when the yield falls II. underestimate the % decrease in bond price when the yield rises III. overestimates the % increase in bond price when the yield f alls IV. overestimates the % decrease in bond price when the yield rises A. I and III only B. II and IV only C. I and IV only D. II and III only 1. D2. B3. A4. C5. D6. B7. B8. D9. A10. A11. A12. D13. A14. A15. C16. A17. A18. A19. A20. D21. C22. C23. A24. C25. A27. C28. C29. C30. C31. A32. C33. C34. C35. B36. C37. C38. A39. A40. B41. B42. D43. D44. D45. C

Mythology the Past and Present Essay

Nike is the winged goddess of victory according to Greek mythology. She sat at the side of Zeus, the ruler of the Olympic pantheon, in Olympus. A mystical presence, symbolizing victorious encounters, Nike presided over history’s earliest battlefields. A Greek would say, â€Å"When we go to battle and win, we say it is Nike. † Synonymous with honored conquest, Nike is the twentieth century footwear that lifts the world’s greatest athletes to new levels of mastery and achievement. The Nike ‘swoosh’ embodies the spirit of the winged goddess who inspired the most courageous and chivalrous warriors at the dawn of civilization. In Greek mythology, Nike was a goddess who personified victory, also known as the Winged Goddess of Victory. The Roman equivalent was Victoria. Depending upon the time of various myths, she was described as the daughter of Pallas (Titan) and Styx (Water), and the sister of Kratos (Strength), Bia (Force), and Zelus (Zeal). Nike and her siblings were close companions of Zeus, the dominant deity of the Greek pantheon. According to classical (later) myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the Titan War against the older deities. Nike assumed the role of the divine charioteer, a role in which she often is portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the victors with glory and fame. Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance of Athena, and is thought to have stood in Athena’s outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon. Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins. Nike has a legacy that lives on today, not through the field of battle but through clothing, shoes, and apparel. Nike paints the perfect portrait of what the goddess set out to do, and that was to turn out victorious in the end no matter how grueling the battle may be. When people hear the word Mercury they might think of a nice care or even the planet. Hear I will explain the origin of this Greek god. Mercury was a messenger, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx (â€Å"merchandise†; compare merchant, commerce, etc. ), mercari (to trade), and merces (wages). In his earliest forms, he appears to have been related to the Etruscan deity Turms, but most of his characteristics and mythology were borrowed from the analogous Greek deity, Hermes. Latin writers rewrote Hermes’ myths and substituted his name with that of Mercury. However there are at least two myths that involve Mercury that are Roman in origin. In Virgil’s Aeneid, Mercury reminds Aeneas of his mission to found the city of Rome. In Ovid’s Fasti, Mercury is assigned to escort the nymph Larunda to the underworld. Mercury, however, fell in love with Larunda and made love to her on the way; this act has also been interpreted as a rape. Lara thereby became mother to two children, referred to as the Lares, invisible household gods. Mercury has influenced the name of many things in a variety of scientific fields, such as the planet Mercury, and the element mercury, which it was formally associated. The word mercurial is commonly used to refer to something or someone erratic, volatile or unstable, derived from Mercury’s swift flights from place to place. Zeus is probably one of the most well know mythological god out there. People may not know but he inspired a very interesting logo that we all know today as Gatorade. It works out good because Gatorade is often used in competition, and Zeus was a competitive and powerful god. In Greek mythology Zeus is the â€Å"Father of Gods and men†, according to Hesiod’s Theogony, who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family; he was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. As Walter Burkert points out in his book, Greek Religion, â€Å"Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his presence. † For the Greeks, he was the King of the Gods, who oversaw the universe. As Pausanias observed, â€Å"That Zeus is king in heaven is a saying common to all men†. In Hesiod’s Theogony, Zeus assigns the various gods their roles. In the Homeric Hymns he is referred to as the chieftain of the gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical â€Å"cloud-gatherer† also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the Ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses: standing, striding forward, with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty. His Roman counterpart was Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart Tinia. Zeus was the child of Cronus and Rhea, and the youngest of his siblings. In most traditions he was married to Hera, although, at the oracle of Dodona, his consort was Dione: according to the Iliad, he is the father of Aphrodite by Dione. He is known for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including Athena, Apollo and Artemis, Hermes, Persephone (by Demeter), Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen, Minos, and the Muses (by Mnemosyne); by Hera, he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus.

Review of Herbert Schlossbergs Book, Idols for...

Writing in the late 1980s, Herbert Schlossberg provides a thorough analysis of current trends in American culture in his book Idols for Destruction: The Conflict of Christian Faith and American Culture. Many scholars have examined Western civilization and concluded that we are in its declining years. Some use analogies of space: rise, zenith, and fall; others use analogies of biology: birth, maturity, and death. Schlossberg refuses to see all cultures as following these patterns, but rather attempts to use the concept of judgment, based on the biblical example of the prophets: â€Å"With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction† (Hos. 8:4). If the idols are destroyed, and we return to worship the true God, we can expect†¦show more content†¦In dealing with idols of humanity and money, Schlossberg emphasizes the overarching role of envy in Western societies. Envy is often the cause of what he calls resentiment (a term originating with Nietzsche) – a festering mental condition that wishes injury to someone whose possessions or qualities are envied. Where a Christian ethic once encouraged an equality of opportunity, which necessarily produces unequal results, resentiment desires an equality of results. So the gap between the rich and the poor is seen as an evil in itself, and poverty is redefined from the lack of food or other necessities to the lack of an affluent lifestyle. When combined with materialism, which implies that wealth can be the only measure for quality of life, resentiment leads to all sorts of redistributive policies: welfare, government-induced inflation, credit assistance, corporate bailouts, trade regulations, etc. However, these policies are deceptive, since they never actually help the poor, but instead make them dependent, while at the same time enriching the people in charge of the redistribution. They have become a legal form of stealing and one in which the majority of people in Western socie ty gladly participate. Idols of nature include the material and the immaterial. Materialism claims that matter is all