Thursday, November 28, 2019

Date Rape Essays (2797 words) - Rape, Date Rape, Acquaintance Rape

Date Rape OUTLINE This research paper is about the issue of acquaintance rape, also known as date rape. In this papers context, I will define acquaintance / date rape. I will discuss how and why it occurs. This paper explores the laws and the judicial system and how they work. I will discuss ethics, myths about acquaintance / date rape, and victims reactions. I will discuss how misinterpretation of sexes are comprehended and misunderstood. I will show how the movie industry and the news media glorifies rape cases. Finally, I will look into false accusations of rape by women against men. DATE RAPE Date rape can generally be defined as occurring whenever a man forces his date to have sex with him against her will. Some people expand this definition to include forced sex by any acquaintance, whether it be in context of a date or not. Despite the simple definitions, however, there is a great deal of controversy over the exact legal and moral implications of date rape or acquaintance rape. The legal definition of date rape is extremely limited and it tends to place the burden of proof on the victim. A date rape victim will have a difficult time in court if the defence attorney can show a lack of evidence or can imply that the women is loose or immoral in any way. This, in prosecuting a date rape, it helps if the victim has visible bruises or is a woman of shining charter, because otherwise the strict definitions of rape will prevail in court.1 Whereas the legal view threats date rape as if it was a regular rape by a stranger, moral definitions tend to take other factors into account. For example, date rape raises a number of ethical questions regarding the line that divides normal courtship behavior from violent assault. Many offenders argue that they forced their dates to have sex with them because they believe that is how women like being treated. despite this, however, it is obvious that there is a difference between mutual consent between partners and own person using force against the other. As noted by Susan Jacoby, even the most callow youth can understand the difference between a halfhearted no, we shouldn't and tears or screams.2 There are a number of moral questions which are raised by the issue of date rape. For example, it is obvious that a rape has occurred if the man has used physical force. However, it is also rape if he has used coercion or threats or has gotten his date drunk in order to have sex with her. Because of the moral difficulties in defining date rape, lots of women are even confused about whether they've been raped. Moral definitions of date rape are often attached to ideological schools of thought. For example, there is a feminist perspective on date rape that holds it, as well as rape in general, is the product of a mans traditional dominance over women.3 This point of view has sparked controversy, however, for example, Murry Rothbard criticizes the feminist definition of date rape because it suggests that all men are potentially guilty of committing the crime. Rothbard claims that this extremist opinion often results in men being unjustly accused of rape. For example, it is argued that there are cases in which a women doesn't say no and doesn't resist, but latter claims that she was raped anyhow, simply because she had been influenced by feminist thinking in the mean time.4 John Leo also disagrees with the feminist definitions of date rape. According to Leo, the feminists failure is in there emphases on rape as an act of political or social oppression.5 From this view point, the feminist argue that sex has nothing to do with the act of rape. Leo counters the argument by claiming that sexual drives are obviously involved in the act of rape. In addition, Leo promotes a biological definitions of date rape, which claims that rape exists because men have a high sex drive and are intimately aggressive. Nancy Rue provides a definitions for date rape which seems to straddle the middle ground between these extreme points of view. According to Rue, date rape occurs whenever a man demands sex

Monday, November 25, 2019

Discuss The Role Of Parents And Peers In Childhood And Adolescent Development And Compare The Influence Of Each The WritePass Journal

Discuss The Role Of Parents And Peers In Childhood And Adolescent Development And Compare The Influence Of Each Introduction Discuss The Role Of Parents And Peers In Childhood And Adolescent Development And Compare The Influence Of Each IntroductionParental InfluencePeers InfluenceConclusionReferencesRelated Introduction   The degree to which our parents and our peers influence our development has long been debated in scientific literature. Brofenbrenner’s (1974, 1976) ecological systems perspective holds that in order to truly understand human development, the entire ecological system in which it grows must be taken into account. For a child, this ecological system includes both the influence of their parents and their peers, which are considered to be microsystems within the child’s environment. Both parents and peers may influence a child through exhibiting or reinforcing certain behaviours or attitudes or by disapproving or forbidding particular behaviours or attitudes. Parents and peers can also influence child development in unique ways. For example, through different parenting styles or through peer pressure. This essay will discuss and compare parental and peer influence on child and adolescent development. Parental Influence   One of the most influential studies that demonstrated the impact that adult behavior can have on the development of children was carried out by Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) at Stanford University. It was found that children who observed a adult role model acting physically and verbally violent to a ‘Bobo’ doll were significantly more likely to also act violent toward the doll. Furthermore, it was found that boys were more likely to act violently after observing male adult models than female adult models and would engage in more violent acts that girls. This study demonstrated the strong social influence of adult models on young children and the gender differences that accompany this influence. This influence has come to be known as social learning theory (Bandura, Ross and Ross, 1961) and has been very influential in understanding how children may learn certain behaviours. The theory postulates that children develop certain behaviours and attitudes through observati on and by modelling these behaviours and attitudes on those they look up, such as parents (Bandura, 1977). Social learning theory has been repeatedly shown mediate parental influence on child development. For example, Scaglioni, Salvioni and Galimberti (2008) found that parental attitudes about food had a significant impact on their children’s attitudes toward food. Furthermore, parental attitudes also had an impact on a child’s body satisfaction levels. In both cases, social learning theory can explain the strong parental influence on child behaviours such as a aggression, eating habits and self-esteem. However, the theory does not always stand true. For example, it cannot be used to explain why positive parent behaviour and role models can sometimes result in negative child behaviours. In addition to the social learning theory, it has also been theorised that parenting styles may influence a child’s development. Parenting styles have been classified into four different categories (Maccoby and Martin, 1983; Baumrind, 1991): authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful. Authoritative parents are demanding, but not restrictive and are highly involved with their child. In contrast, authoritarian parents are both demanding and restrictive, being far more untrusting of their children. Permissive parents tend to be responsive but not demanding of their child. Although they are warm and child-centred in their approach, they also have a lack of parental control. Finally, neglectful parents are neither demanding nor responsive, typically demonstrating complete un-involvement. Parenting styles have been found to have an effect on adolescents’ achievement strategies (Aunola, Stattin and Nurmi, 2000), with adolescents with authoritative parents demonstr ating the most positive strategies and adolescents with neglectful parents demonstrating the most maladaptive strategies. The negative impact of a neglectful parenting style has been replicated in later studies. For example, Hoeve et al. (2011) found that a neglectful parenting style was linked to a higher level of delinquency in males. It was also reported that a significant long term relationship existed between a father’s neglectful parenting approach and delinquency in male children. This gender-specific influential relationship can be compared to the strong gender-specific role model effect predicted by social learning theory. However, the parenting styles theory is very reductionist and does not take into account other influences on childhood development and achievement, such as the socioeconomic status of the parents (Davis-Kean, 2005). Peers Influence Peer relationships also have the power to influence a child’s development for better or worse. For example, bullying and victimisation during the school and adolescent years has been shown to have a negative impact upon several aspects of a child’s development. In a large scale questionnaire study, Rigby (2000) found that frequent bullying by one’s peers had a significantly negative effect on young people’s mental health. It was also found that this negative effect was exacerbated by perceived low social support, demonstrating that elements outside of the bullying environment interact with this peer influence. This study used a large and representative sample meaning that the results are likely to be highly generalisable. Bowes et al. (2010) found that a warm and positive family environment was able to reduce the negative effects of bullying by peers, suggesting that positive parental influences may have the power to overcome negative peer influences. In c ontrast, there is little evidence to suggest that negative peer influences have the power to overcome positive parental influences such as high levels of support and guidance through the tumultuous adolescent period. An additional peer influence that has been shown to have an effect on child development is known as sociometric status. Sociometric status can be defined as how liked or disliked a child is by his or her classmates and peers (Asher and Dodge, 1986) and has been linked to numerous aspects of development. For example, Wentzel (2003) carried out a longitudinal study of the effect of sociometric status on academic achievement and adjustment at school. It was found that sociometric status has a significant effect on such measures as irresponsibility and classroom grades. Nelson and Dishion (2004) found that socio-metric status was able to predict how well 9-10 year old male children adapted in later life, suggesting that peer influences can last well into adulthood. Longitudinal studies have strength in the richness of data they are able to provide during an extended time period. However, the un-controlled environment means that the results can be vulnerable to confounding variables. What is more, despite providing some useful data sociometric status is unlikely to give an accurate picture of peer influence. The status is based on the opinion of other children within a school environment and does not account for the opinions of peers a child may relate to outside of school, for example at extra-curricular clubs or friends who do not attend the same school as they do. The effects of peer pressure on child development have also been investigated. For example, Gardner and Steinberg (2005) found that exposure to ones’ peers doubled the amount of risk taking behaviour exhibited by adolescents. However, these results were later refuted by Bot et al. (2007) who found that peer pressure had no significant effect on whether a young person would engage in underage drinking. In contrast, it was found that modelling peers’ drinking behavior did have a significant impact. Therefore, peer pressure may exert its influence on child development through modelling rather than by active encouragement by peers to take part in negative or risky behaviors. This suggests that peer pressure may be a more passive than active influence, as adolescents seek out other peers on which to model their own behavior, some of which may be negative or dangerous. Conclusion The literature pertaining to the influence of parental and peer influence on child development does reveal some replicable trends, which strongly suggest that a poor and neglectful parenting style has a negative effect on many different aspects of child development. Furthermore, when a child experiences isolation from their peer group either as a result of bullying or low sociometric status, they are also likely to suffer from negative outcomes. Therefore, the evidence appears to suggest that neglect and isolation from either peers or parents has a negative effect on child development, whereas a supportive environment will have a positive effect. Peer and parental influence also have a strong gender-bias in common, meaning that male peers and parents tend to have a stronger influence on the male child, whereas female peers and parents have a stronger influence over the female child. The most likely scenario is that both parent and peers have a strong influence on a child’s dev elopment, although these influences peak and trough during certain age periods. For example, peer relationships become increasingly more influential and important as children begin to enter adolescence (Brown, 2004) and as a result, elements such as sociometric status and bullying may exert more of an influence than parental behaviors or attitudes. However, the evidence suggesting that positive parental influences may reduce negative peer influences suggest that if parents are able to buffer children by providing a warm, encouraging and safe home environment, future negative peer influences may be less likely to have an impact on their development. References Asher, S.R. Dodge, K.A. (1986). Identifying children who are rejected by their peers. Develop mental Psychology, 22, 444-449. Aunola, K., Stattin, H. and Nurmi, J-E. (2000). Parenting styles and adolescents’ achievement strategies. Journal of Adolescence, 23, 205-222. Bandura, A., Ross, D. Ross, S.A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63(3), 575. Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11, 56-95. Bot, S.M., Engels, R.C.M.E., Knibbe, R.A. Meesus, W.H.J. (2000). Sociometric status and social drinking: Observations of modelling and persuasion in young adult peer groups. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35(6), 929-941. Brofenbrenner, U. (1974). Developmental research, public policy, and the ecology of childhood. Child Development, 45(1), 1-5. Brofenbrenner, U. (1976). The experimental ecology of education. Teacher’s College Record, 78(2), 157-204. Brown, B. (2004). Adolescents’ relationship with peers. In: R. Lerner L. Steinberg (Eds), Handbook of Adolescent Psychology, (pp. 363-394). New York: Wiley. Davis-Kean, P.E. (2005). The influence of parent education and family income on child achievement: The indirect role of parental expectations and the home environment. Journal of Family Psychology, 19(2), 294-304. Gardner, M. Steinberg, L. (2005). Peer influence on risk taking, risk preference, and risky decision making in adolescent and adulthood: an experimental study. Developmental Psychology, 41(4), 625-635. Hoeve, M., Dubas, J.S., Gerris, J.R.M., van der Laan, P.H. Smeenk, W. (2011). Maternal and paternal parenting styles: Unique and combined links to adolescent and early adult delinquency. Journal of Adolescence, 34(5), 813-827. Maccoby, E.E. Martin, J.A. (1983). Socialisation in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In P.H. Mussen (Ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology (pp. 1-101). New York: Wiley. Nelson, S.E. Dishion, T.J. (2004). From boys to men: Predicting adult adaptation from middle childhood sociometric status. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 441-459. Rigby, K. (2000) Effects of peer victimisation in schools and perceived social support on adolescent well-being. Journal of Adolescence, 23(1), 57-68. Wentzel, K.R. (2003) Sociometric status and adjustment in middle school: A longitudinal study. Journal of Early Adolescence, 23, 5.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Research and analyse Google company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research and analyse Google company - Essay Example Beyond the founders, Google has diverse stakeholders. The stakeholders influence the decisions of the organization significantly. Stakeholders of the organization experience a set of positive and negative ramifications in their positions (Morrow, 2013). Therefore, the stakeholders have both benefits and challenges posed by the organization. Stakeholders of this organization entail users, investors, and employees (Morrow, 2013). These are the key stakeholders of the Google organization. Users are key stakeholders in Google. Google has a huge amount of users due to its diversity of services. The company provides diverse programs, tools, and information for the benefit of users (Morrow, 2013). In this case, the diversity expands the number of users in the company. This organization records a huge number of users that exceeds a total of a billion. Google has a set of positive effects towards the users. Each user benefits significantly from the information disseminated by Google (Morrow, 2013). The advertisements, research, and scholarly details facilitate the knowledge and awareness of each user. Programs and tools in Google enhance the technological expertise of the users (Morrow, 2013). The programs and tools also enhance convenience of communication amongst the users (Morrow, 2013). Evidently, Google users have maximum benefit from the company’s provisions. ... Investors are also key stakeholders of Google (Morrow, 2013). The company has outstanding benefits towards the investors. In the past year, the company raised an total of 14.4billion in its revenue (Morrow, 2013). This is a 36% growth of the company, after the culmination of the previous year. Definitely, investors benefit from the massive financial rewards from the company. However, investors cannot predict the progress of the organization due to the rampant social change that initiates shifts in users’ preferences (Morrow, 2013). Competition is already emerging from companies that offer the same services as Google. Nevertheless, Google is kept secure as it records an aggregate of 86% of satisfied customers in the modern society (Morrow, 2013). Employees are key stakeholders in Google (Morrow, 2013). They influence decision making in the organization (Morrow, 2013). Employees in Google benefit from the company’s capability to reward and motivate them. Google offers inc entives that motivate the loyalty of the workforce (Morrow, 2013). Each employee in Google is motivated to serve the organization. Despite this fact, employees in Google have been resigning rampantly (Morrow, 2013). The past year resignations are attributed to extreme bureaucracy within the organization. Therefore, Google employees are negatively affected by bureaucracy (Morrow, 2013). Evidently, every stakeholder in Google experiences a set of benefits and challenges simultaneously. Google is a major organization in the globe. â€Å"Its operations in the USA entail massive usage of electricity† (Whelan, 2008). Therefore, Google consumes an immense proportion of that aggregate electricity in the USA. This organization has been in operation for

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Plants and Animals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Plants and Animals - Essay Example Paleoethnobotany refers to as the study of relationships between plants and animals, though the use of the archaeological records. The present human beings are aware of how people benefitted from plants for clothing, food, medicine, boats, houses, and a variety of tools and structures. Therefore, in the contemporary society, individuals try to understand the ecological and cultural dynamics of the previous food ways; techniques for producing, procuring, and managing plant resources; and the meaning that plants had to the past human beings (Merlin, 2003). Archeology and paleoethnobotany have a close relationship between themselves. Paleoethnobotany is the sub-field of archeology that deals with the study of plant remains from excavations. Therefore, archeology supports paleoethnobotany by providing the study materials, especially the plant remains. People can be able to understand the relationship between animals and plants through archeology. ... It is apparent that paleobotany differs from paleoethnobotany because paleobotany does not include the relationship between plants and animals, but only considers plant remains in their geological settings (Merlin, 2003). Artifactual and Paleoethnobotanical data A researcher depends on the collected data in order to support or test the hypothesis of a given research. For instance, there has been a need of data to support the hypothetical use of psychoactive drugs in the historical period. Researchers extract most of the data from the literature of disciplines such as archeology, anthropology, palynology, and ethnobotany. Dating of various evidences varies in relative reliability and technique. Artifactual and paleoethnobotanical data are forms of data that provide the archeological evidence for the relationship between plants and man in the previous days (Merlin, 2003). An example of the relationship is how ancient people used the psychoactive drugs. The artifactual data is the subje ct to some type of reconstruction and interpretation (Merlin, 2003). There will be a disagreement regarding the interpretation of the artistic, medicinal, religious, or other practical inspiration of an artifact. Paleoethnobotanical evidence results from the assignment of specimens to specific taxonomic groups, and verification of its putative use by human beings is sometimes contentious (Merlin, 2003). The most reliable archeological information results from the combination of artifactual and paleoethnobotanical evidences (Merlin, 2003). Merlin’s Hypothesis The evidence on use of cannabis for recreation, fiber, medicine, and ceremony is enough to go against Merlin’s hypothesis, which

Monday, November 18, 2019

Macro and micro economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Macro and micro economics - Essay Example Though, this is just a rough estimation. The utility comparison has never been accurately summarized, each writer puts down their own views. All the views are somehow correct because they are an improved notion of the first theory. So it is correct to say, Ann’s utility function is lower than peter’s. 2. Central banks have started raising interest rates as many economies picked up in 2010, to combat inflation. Explain the (opposite) effects of higher interest rates and lower inflation on the budget set and welfare of house owners with a mortgage, and assess the overall effect on them. Interest rate is the amount which is charged to the borrower by the lender and it is usually expressed as a percentage. The rate changes due to inflation. On the other hand, inflation is the general rise in the prices level of services and goods over duration of time. By increasing the interest rates, the central banks make it harder for the commercial banks to borrow money. By so doing th e money in circulating reduces hence reducing the inflation. The inverse of this is the central bank reducing its lending rates and making it possible for more banks to borrow money. This will translate to people borrow more money thus increased purchasing power. To people with mortgages it will be easier for them pay to the bank. The overall effect is that the living standards of people will improve since there enough money and its value will be okay. 3- Economics Comprehension 1 Insurance is big business in the UK. So is internet gambling? How might we explain this paradox? (Can it be explained without giving up the assumption that people’s preferences obey the von Neumann-Morgenstern axioms?) Insurance is a contract where premium is paid to the insurer to cover the occurrence a specific risk. Internet gambling includes any kind of activities that are transacted through the internet which involve placing of bets or a wager. The Von- Neumann-Morgenstern’s theory of ut ility has many assumption is one of them being continuity. This is shown by a decision maker who prefers an outcome A to other outcomes B, C. in the interval of unit a number p makes the decision maker indifferent between getting outcome B and yielding A which has a probability P, probability 1-p for C in a lottery. In the UK, insurance being a big business attracts a lot of people. 4. In modern societies, not just simple goods but also uncertain prospects (such as insurance policies) are traded, sold and bought. Show how this phenomenon can be explained by differences in risk attitude between economic agents and show how Pareto-improvements can thereby be achieved. In the modern world, different methods have been established due to high rise of risks. Insurance also involves risks making its agents involve a fee charging the users of the service involving on the risks insured. An agreement between the inured and the insurer known as the policy holder determines the claims which the insurer is legally required to pay. Risk management is important in insurance since insurance companies take over risks from customers. Risk attitude affects projects. This is because of differences in people’s attitude to risk cause conflict, and delay. This can lead to poor management of risks. Loss in insurance is depending on two variables: the number of losses that will occur in a specified period and the amount of losses given that a loss has occurred. The risk attitude depends on its

Friday, November 15, 2019

Migration Rate of Colo16 Cells Exposed to UV Light

Migration Rate of Colo16 Cells Exposed to UV Light Introduction: Cells exposed to ultraviolet (UV) rays of light often supress signalling pathways associated with inflammation as well as the immune system and as a result of activating the p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Radiation from UV light is from the electromagnetic spectrum and can be divided into two primary wavelengths; UVA 320 – 400 nm and UVB 290 – 320 nm. UVA rays are more dominant than UVB, however both UVA rays reaching the subcutaneous layer of skin and UVB rays reaching the dermis are known to cause the development of skin cancers via damaging the DNA of skin cells (1, 2, 3). The effect of UV light on cells can be measured by determining the time the cells take to migrate back to their normal positions after the creation of an artificial wound. An inexpensive and easy assay to perform to make such measurements is the scratch assay. The scratch assay uses a pipette tip to create an artificial gap between the cells under aseptic conditions and uses high resolution imaging devices connected to an inverted microscope to take pictures of the cells migrating at specific time intervals. The images can then be used to calculate the distances travelled under the different UV exposures and therefore a comment on how the cells were affected under the different conditions can be made (1, 2, 3, 4). In this experiment, Human squamous cell carcinoma (SSC) cells that are known to have a dysfunctional p53 proteins were taken from the epithelial Colo16 cell line and used to measure the migration distances of the cells under different UV exposures. Then the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor GM6001 was added to the Colo16 cells in order to determine if it had an effect on the cell migration distances under the same UV exposures (1, 3, 5, 6). GM6001 is a MMP inhibitor that inhibits the enzyme collagenase which destroys the peptide bonds of the protein collagen found in the extracellular matrix. Collagen is an important component of the connective tissue and helps the cells adhere to their surrounding surfaces. GM6001 has been shown to block the phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) and inhibit cell migration responses (3, 5). Aims: To determine the migration rate of Colo16 cells exposed to UV light at intervals of 12 hours over 48 hours after the creation of an artificial wound (gap). To determine the effect of the MMP inhibitor GM6001 on the migration rate of Colo16 cells exposed to UV light at intervals of 24 hours over 72 hours after the creation of an artificial wound (gap). Hypothesis: If cells from the Colo16 cell line are treated with the MMP inhibitor GM6001 then it is expected that the mean gap distance will increase when compared with untreated Colo16 cells under the same exposure to UV light due to the inhibition of collagenases that breakdown collagen and the blocking of EGFR phosphorylation. Materials and methods: As per the BIOL2299 2014 Prac 4 lab notes. Results: Raw class data for the untreated and treated Colo16 cell gap distance (mm) is shown in Table 1 and Table 2 respectively. From the class data our group was Group A shown in Table 3 and Table 4, and the mean class data along with its standard deviation values is shown in Table 5 to Table 8. Table 1. Class Untreated Colo16 Cell Gap Distance (mm). Table 2. Class Colo16 GM6001 Treated Cell Gap Distance (mm). Table 3. Group A Colo16 Untreated Cell Gap Distance (mm). Table 4. Group A GM6001 Treated Colo16 Cell Gap Distance (mm). Table 5. Mean Class Colo16 Untreated Cell Gap Distance (mm). Table 6. Class Standard Deviation (SD) of Colo16 Untreated Cell Gap Distance (mm). Table 7. Mean Class GM6001 Treated Colo16 Cell Gap Distance (mm). Table 8. Class Standard Deviation (SD) of GM6001 Treated Colo16 Cell Gap Distance (mm). Figure 1. Line graph showing the mean gap distance of Untreated Colo16 cells under different UV exposures along with the standard deviation values after the creation of a synthetic gap using a pipette tip at intervals of 12 hours over 48 hours post-irradiation. Figure 2. Line graph showing the mean gap distance of Colo16 cells treated with the MMP inhibitor GM6001 under different UV exposures along with the standard deviation values after the creation of a synthetic gap using a pipette tip at intervals of 24 hours over 72 hours post-irradiation. Discussion: From the line graph in Fig. 1, the Colo16 cells under UV radiation showed a slower decline in gap distance compared with the control. And the Colo16 cells exposed to UVA + UVB rays had the slowest decrease in gap distance over 48 hours after the creation of the artificial wound with a gap distance of only 0.200 mm suggesting that both UVA and UVB work with synergy together and the p38 MAPK pathway and therefore cause a delay in wound healing. From the line graph in Fig. 2, the Colo16 cells treated with the MMP inhibitor GM6001 exposed to different UV conditions had a delayed cell migration response when compared to the control GM6001 Colo16 cells that were not exposed to UV irradiation. This may be due to the inhibition of collagenases that help breakdown the collagen found in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the Colo16 cells via the action of GM6001. GM6001 is a MMP inhibitor that inhibits the enzyme collagenase that normally is involved in the breakdown of collagen of the ECM. This inhibition may affect the cell migration of Colo16 cells during wound healing as a result of the collagen not being broken down by the collagenases in the ECM and therefore resulting in the cells being adhered to their surrounding for a longer time; increasing the time required to close the gap and complete the wound healing process. Discussion questions: What other ways are there to determine whether cells are migrating into the wound or proliferating into it? (Are there morphological characteristics of cell migration or proliferation?) Other ways of determining cell migration or proliferation include: 1 – Immunofluorescence staining: cells can be stained using fluorescence markers that use antibodies to bind to specific antigens associated with cell migration or proliferation such as the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) (7). 2 – Laser scanning confocal microscopy: cells can be viewed under high resolution and the morphological features of migrating cells can be observed such as the formation of fibrin matrices, an increase of length, width and total spread of fibroblasts (7). 3 – Boyden chamber: which measures cell migration via the determination of a chemical gradient based on chemicals release via chemotaxis during cell migration (7). What is a Boyden chamber and why would you use it? Give 3 examples of where it can be used. A Boyden chamber is an in vitro chemotaxis assay that measures cell migration via the analysis of leukocyte chemotaxis, where cells are placed in pores at the top of a chamber and allowed to migrate through its pores containing chemotactic agents. After incubation the cells are stained and the number of cells that have migrated to the lower portion of the chamber (8). The Boyden chamber can be used to measure: 1 – Cell migration based on chemicals released to the cell’s surrounding, and determine if a specific chemical causes the cells to migrate towards or away from the stimulant (Chemotaxis) (8). 2 – Cell migration based on the gradient of specific extracellular matrix proteins, and determine if a particular protein causes the cells to migrate towards or away from the protein. This can be done via the coating of the chamber with the protein of choice (Haptotaxis) (8). 3 – Cell migration rate of tumour cells through the vascular endothelium toward specific chemokines (8). Describe 3 limitations of the scratch method. Some limitations of the scratch method include: 1 – Creation of an artificial wound of the same approximate width can be extremely difficult and any variance in the gap distance between the different cells at time 0 hr can greatly affect the significance of the results (4). 2 – The incubation of the cells after the creation of the wound (scratch) has to be long enough to help the cells migrate during the fastest time frame and any variance in this may lead to the cells not migrating equally, therefore affecting the results. Also, the temperature and environmental conditions of the incubator have to be at their ideal values for healthy cellular migration (4). 3 – Highly time consuming, in order for the readings to be statistically significant at least 100 readings of distance for each sample and each experiment must be repeated at least three times. As a result, this creates copious amounts of data that consumes a lot of time and energy to analyse (4). If you are investigating cell growth factors on cell migration, should serum be present in the media? Explain your answer. Yes, Serum containing the growth factors should be found in the media in order to study its effects and the growth factors should be soluble in the serum and added to the media before the addition of cells in order to be equally distributed in the solution (4). What are the main differences in investigating a scratch assay using non-transformed vs transformed cells? Transformed cells are transfected with a plasmid coding the gene of interest along with a plasmid marker before the conduction of a scratch assay, whereas non-transformed cells are investigated without being transfected with a specific plasmid (4). Apart from taking photos of the cells over time, propose another way you may be able to show cell migration. Cell migration can be shown via the conduction of an electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) in vitro cell migration assay that measures cell migration via the creation of a wound by passing an electrical current through the cell and causing electroporation. Then cell migration is measured via the calculation of the cell’s impedance in ohms over a specific time as seen in Fig. 3 (9). Figure 3. Typical ECIS data involving the electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) in vitro cell migration assay (http://www.biophysics.com/woundhealingpubs.php#ECIStheory). Which of the methods is the one that most labs would not use, explain why you think this would be so. Most labs would not use the ECIS in vitro migration assay due to its expensive cost and it’s relatively time consuming cell type dependant incubation times. Another in vitro migration assay that would not be used in labs is the microfluidics-based system due to its need for nanofabrication facilities and its reasonably very expensive cost (4). Conclusion: In conclusion, Colo16 cells under UV radiation showed a slower decline in gap distance compared with the control. And the Colo16 cells exposed to UVA + UVB rays had the slowest decrease in gap distance over 48 hours after the creation of the artificial wound with a gap distance of only 0.200 mm suggesting that both UVA and UVB work with synergy together and the p38 MAPK pathway and therefore cause a delay in wound healing. Whereas, the Colo16 cells treated with the MMP inhibitor GM6001 exposed to different UV conditions had a delayed cell migration response when compared to the control GM6001 Colo16 cells that were not exposed to UV irradiation. This may be due to the inhibition of collagenases that help breakdown the collagen found in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the Colo16 cells via the action of GM6001. This inhibition caused by GM6001 may affect the cell migration of Colo16 cells during wound healing as a result of the collagen not being broken down by the collagenases in the ECM and therefore resulting in the cells being adhered to their surrounding for a longer time; increasing the time required to close the gap and complete the wound healing process. References: BIOL2299 Biology of Tissue Growth and Repair Manual, 2014. Reichrath J, Rass K. Ultraviolet damage, DNA repair and vitamin D in nonmelanoma skin cancer and in malignant melanoma: an update. Advances in experimental medicine and biology. 2014;810:208-33. Muthusamy V, Piva TJ. A comparative study of UV-induced cell signalling pathways in human keratinocyte-derived cell lines. Archives of dermatological research. 2013;305(9):817-33. Liang CC, Park AY, Guan JL. In vitro scratch assay: a convenient and inexpensive method for analysis of cell migration in vitro. Nature protocols. 2007;2(2):329-33. Grobelny D, Poncz L, Galardy RE. Inhibition of human skin fibroblast collagenase, thermolysin, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa elastase by peptide hydroxamic acids. Biochemistry. 1992;31(31):7152-4. Moore GE, Merrick SB, Woods LK, Arabasz NM. A Human Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line. Cancer Research. 1975;35(10):2684-8. Chen HC. Boyden chamber assay. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, NJ). 2005;294:15-22. http://www.cellbiolabs.com/boyden-chamber-assays http://www.biophysics.com/woundhealingpubs.php#ECIStheory

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Answers :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Question : On giving Jem and Scout air rifles, Atticus tells them that to kill a mockingbird is a sin. Miss Maudie explains that mockingbirds only do one thing, and that is to sing their hearts out for us. Who are the mockingbirds in the story, and how have they been ‘killed’ by the society around them? Ideas : The two main mockingbirds are Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, but there are others within the storyline. Boo Radley has been shut away from the world by his father and then later his brother through an incident which occurred fifteen years earlier when he stabbed his father with a pair of scissors. The suggestion is that he had gone mad and should have been committed to an asylum. His influence in our story is all-good in that he gives gifts to the children, repairs Jem’s pants when they are caught on the fence and, of course, saves the children’s lives when Bob Ewell attacks them. Sheriff Tate recognizes the vulnerability of Boo and that any publicity would destroy him, so he says that the death was an accident. Tom Robinson is actually killed and his death is a sin committed by the whole white community of Maycomb. All he tried to do was to abide by the rules of the society in which he lived and when a black person is asked to do a chore he obeys. The main enemies of birds are cats and Lee describes Mayella as being like ‘a steady-eyed cat with a twitchy tale’ and the bird she is focusing on is of course, Tom Robinson. Lee’s description is that of a cat stalking its prey. Jem to some degree was also a mockingbird. He went with Scout to the black church in order to please Calpurnia, and the Rev. Sykes. Jem suffers in that his youthful idealism is shattered by the verdict given by the all-white jury at the trial. The pet-dog of Maycomb is called Tim Johnson, a bird-dog, who one day acts strangely because he has caught rabies. He gave pleasure to the townsfolk, but suddenly he now causes fear. So much so that even the mockingbirds are silent. Atticus shoots the dog for the good of the whole town. Question : Discrimination rears its ugly head in many forms within this story. Give examples of this. Ideas : The obvious discrimination is that of the dominant white community over the subservient black community. They are not given the same opportunities regarding education, illustrated by the visit to the Negro church where only a few can read.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Essay

A. What is the difference between a contribution income statement and a traditional income statement? Contribution income statement is an income statement that classifies cost by behavior (fixed cost and variable cost). Traditional income statement is sometimes called the functional income statement. It is an income statement prepared in the multiple-step or single –step income statement format which conforms to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and can be used for external financial reporting. The main difference between the two is that the contribution income statement list variable costs first, followed by fixed costs. Keeping in mind that GAAP and does not permit businesses to use the contribution income statement for financial accounting – it is used only for internal decision making purposes. B. What is the difference between absorption costing and variable costing? Absorption costing is a costing method where product cost includes all the costs to acquire products and get them ready to sell regardless of whether the costs are variable or fixed. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles requires business to use absorption costing for financial accounting. Variable costing is a method of costing where only the costs to acquire products or to get them ready to sell that vary with output are treated as product costs. In other words, only variable product costs are treated as product costs. For manufactures, the difference between absorption costing and variable costing is significant. For example, when Caterpillar uses absorption costing to determine the cost of manufacturing, its product cost includes the direct material, direct labor, variable manufacturing overhead, and fixed manufacturing overhead cost incurred to make the bulldozer. These costs are added to inventory and they are not expensed as cost of goods sold until the bulldozer is sol. However, when Caterpillar uses variable costing, product cost, includes only direct material, direct labor, and variable manufacturing overhead costs. Under variable costing all of Caterpillar’s fixed manufacturing overhead cost is treated as period cost. When Caterpillar uses variable costs are added to inventory (direct material, direct labor, and variable manufacturing overhead). Under variable costing, Caterpillar expenses fixed manufacturing overhead as it is incurred just like it does other period cost such as selling and administrative expense. F. What is the contribution margin ratio and how does it differ from the contribution margin? Contribution margin is the amount remaining after all variable costs have been deducted from sales revenue. It is an important piece of information for managers, because it tells them how much of their company’s original sales dollars remain after deducting variable cost. Contribution margin ratio is the contribution margin expressed as a percentage of sales. Contribution margin ratio can be calculate by dividing the total contribution margin by total sales or by dividing the per unit contribution margin by per unit selling prices.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Free Essays on Global Trends 2015

Global Trends 2015: Life After Pax Americana Global Trends 2015 paints a picture, which I believe to be congruent with Charles Kupchan’s article â€Å"Life After Pax Americana. Population increases are predicted to increase by over 1 billion, yet globalization – the use of technology to make the globe increasingly smaller – continues to integrate and connect the globe. After assessing the drivers and trends discussed throughout the dialogue, I feel over the course of the next decade a global landscape will emerge in which, â€Å"power and influence are more equally distributed across the globe† (Kupchan). Global demographic trends remain a factor. â€Å"The world population will increase by more than a billion by 2015, with 95 percent of that growth occurring in the developing world.† Yet in the developing-world urbanization will continue to boom, with approximatly 20-30 million of the world’s poorest people migrating to urban areas each year. These global trends will have lasting implications that will vary by state and region. Economically poorer states, or those with weak governance and infastructure, will encounter additional strains on their resources, infrastructures, and leadership. Many will attept to cope with the effects of globalization, and some will fail. At the same time, â€Å"some advanced and emerging market states – including key European and Asian allies – will be forced to reexamine longstanding political, social, and cultural precepts as they attempt to overcome the challenges of rapidly aging populations and declining workforce cohort s. In these and other cases, dem! ographic pressures will remain a potential source of stress and instability.† (Defense Intelligence Agency) In general, globalization is a positive force that will increase most of the world’s population’s standard of living, but for some, â€Å"globalization will exacerbate local and regional tensions, increase the prospects and capa... Free Essays on Global Trends 2015 Free Essays on Global Trends 2015 Global Trends 2015: Life After Pax Americana Global Trends 2015 paints a picture, which I believe to be congruent with Charles Kupchan’s article â€Å"Life After Pax Americana. Population increases are predicted to increase by over 1 billion, yet globalization – the use of technology to make the globe increasingly smaller – continues to integrate and connect the globe. After assessing the drivers and trends discussed throughout the dialogue, I feel over the course of the next decade a global landscape will emerge in which, â€Å"power and influence are more equally distributed across the globe† (Kupchan). Global demographic trends remain a factor. â€Å"The world population will increase by more than a billion by 2015, with 95 percent of that growth occurring in the developing world.† Yet in the developing-world urbanization will continue to boom, with approximatly 20-30 million of the world’s poorest people migrating to urban areas each year. These global trends will have lasting implications that will vary by state and region. Economically poorer states, or those with weak governance and infastructure, will encounter additional strains on their resources, infrastructures, and leadership. Many will attept to cope with the effects of globalization, and some will fail. At the same time, â€Å"some advanced and emerging market states – including key European and Asian allies – will be forced to reexamine longstanding political, social, and cultural precepts as they attempt to overcome the challenges of rapidly aging populations and declining workforce cohort s. In these and other cases, dem! ographic pressures will remain a potential source of stress and instability.† (Defense Intelligence Agency) In general, globalization is a positive force that will increase most of the world’s population’s standard of living, but for some, â€Å"globalization will exacerbate local and regional tensions, increase the prospects and capa...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Leaellynasaura - Facts and Figures

Leaellynasaura - Facts and Figures Name: Leaellynasaura (Greek for Leaellyns lizard); pronounced LAY-ah-ELL-ee-nah-SORE-ah Habitat: Plains of Australia Historical Period: Middle Cretaceous (105 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 10 feet long and 100 pounds Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Slim build; long tail; relatively large eyes and brain About Leaellynasaura If the name Leaellynasaura sounds a bit odd, thats because this is one of the few dinosaurs to be named after a living person: in this case, the daughter of Australian paleontologists Thomas Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich, who discovered this ornithopod in 1989. The most striking thing about Leaellynasaura is how far south it lived: during the middle Cretaceous period, the continent of Australia was relatively cold, with long, dark winters. This would explain Leaellynasauras relatively large eyes (which need to be that big in order to gather in all the available light), as well as its relatively small size, given the limited resources of its ecosystem.   Since the discovery of Leaellynasaura, many other dinosaurs have been unearthed in the southern polar regions, including the vast continent of Antarctica. (See The 10 Most Important Dinosaurs of Australia and Antarctica.) This raises an important question: while the weight of opinion is that meat-eating dinosaurs had warm-blooded metabolisms, might this also have been the case for plant-eating ornithopods like Leaellynasaura, which needed a way to protect themselves from plunging temperatures? The evidence is inconclusive, even given the recent discovery of ornithopod dinosaurs bearing feathers (which are generally evolved by warm-blooded vertebrates as a means of insulation).

Monday, November 4, 2019

Education and Organizational change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Education and Organizational change - Essay Example The current demands in the labor market require a decisive approach. The changes in the labor market necessitate proportional alternations in the education systems and curriculum1. The process of measuring the educational disparities must take into consideration the socio-economic implications and the needs of the labor market. Productive employment calls for investment in human resources and the requisite competences. This calls for educational system change. This can be attributed the central role that education plays in social equity and economic productivity. Increasing the number of schooling years is perceived to be one of the strategies of ensuring that education grows to meet the changing demands of the labor markets. The education system has been blamed for being discriminatory. Children from poor background have minimal access to education. This makes the labor market a preserve of the wealthy in the society. The inequalities in the education system have had a negative impa ct on the poor in the developed and developing countries. Access to training skills and improving access to early childhood have a profound effect of the learning in the schools and job market2. This has also led to the evolution of wage gaps and stratification of the society based on the economic well being. The labor market is keen to have qualified personnel while to education system is ready to offer quality education at expensive fees. The current labor market is segmented along low and high education levels. This has also created an exclusive club of the highly paid with multiple benefits against the lowly paid with minimal benefits. Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Labor market and human capital Addressing education is a complex affair. It must address the various levels of education and the necessary changes at each level. There is an insufficiency in terms of supply for the qualified or specialized personnel. Most of the trained young workers tend to lack the competencies t hat accompany their workplace job prescriptions. Employers blame the education systems from producing half-baked graduates. There is an urgent need to drastically change the education system of the public sector in order to improve quality. This can inject a level of equality into the education system and introduce the expected changes into the labor market. Organizations believe that productivity is closely related to the quality of employees and competencies3. The needs and the standards of the labor market have been growing and evolving over the decades. This has been attributed to the emerging wave of globalization and technological turbulence over the years. However, the education system has remained unchanged and unresponsive to the changing demands of the labor market. The tertiary education and post-secondary systems have need been customized to meet the expectation of the labor markets4. This has affected organizational performance and the national productivity in many econ omies. Universities are basing education on commercial rather that competence ideologies5. This has caused a reduction of

Friday, November 1, 2019

Animal Human Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Animal Human Cultures - Essay Example The proponent tries to elaborate this by pointing that humans could actually take advantage of whatever benefits they could substantially exploit from their pets. Keywords: pet keeping, animal companionship, pet, animals â€Å"The keeping of animal companions in the contemporary West is undoubtedly an exercise of domination. Despite this, different kinds of relations are possible† (Cudworth, 144). Discuss. Introduction The keeping of animal companion is a form of domination because humans are superior to any other life forms on earth with respect to different aspects. There is a significant gap, or indifference between humans and animals as agreed by Le Guin (1986). When it comes to intelligence, humans are capable of doing substantial number of great things compared to its other animal counterparts. Cudworth (2011) strongly emphasises this point by mentioning how humans could be capable of altering different breeds of pets. For instance, substantial breeds of pets are remarka ble at present. Based on the idea of Franklin (1999), the reason why this could be so it is because having companionship with pets would bring some substantial benefits for humans. In other words, genetic modifications which led to animals to become diversified in their breeds points to the fact that they are not humans in the first place. In other words, humans can take control over them and there could also be many things that they can possibly do with them. Cudworth emphasises that pets are loved because they are not humans in the first place. However, the definition of this love might be a bit problematic because this argument simply has remarkable implications in proving some important relationships existing between humans and animals. Furthermore, this argument proves that affection and love may not be synonymous after all as there must considerations of different contexts in this issue. However, it is obvious that there must be substantial form of relationships existing betwe en humans and animals in the issue of animal companionship. The proponent tries to elaborate this point clearly as possible by applying the arguments of Franklin and Cudworth in line with the issue of animal companionships. Background issue The domestication of animals provides many important things. In fact, this is the point in which humans can maximise everything out of domesticating or taking control over animals. For Cudworth this could involve having affection with them despite the very presence of domination. However, Franklin tries to include the point in which this specific affection addresses ontological insecurity. This ontological insecurity comes after the loss of paternal welfare due to market individualism in 1960s (Franklin, 1999). The keeping of animal companions boils down to the fact that humans could take care of their pets with them due to some elemental reasons. So it could be that the domestication itself is a way to orchestrate better interaction between huma ns and animals for the benefit of the former. It is true that the keeping of animals in the contemporary West is a form of domination but according to Cudworth (2011), there is affection involved in it. It is important to consider in great detail what this affection particularly means. As for the argument of Franklin, there could be essential relationship that exists in keeping animals as companions. However, his entire argument includes the major points about the benefits