Modelling and Forecasting Electricity Consumption of the Philippines Essay

In the Philippines, electric power is becoming the main energy form relied upon in all economic sectors of the country. As time goes by, while different establishments and properties were built and developed, the demand for domestic electricity consumption within the country accelerates. Energy consumption is an important index of the economic development of a country. Rapid changes in industry and the economy strongly affect energy consumption. According to the International Energy Annual (IEA) in the year 2004, the Philippines had total installed electricity generating capacity of 15.1 gigawatts (GW). The country produced 53.1 billion kilowatt-hours (Bkwh) of electricity in 2004, while consuming 49.4 Bkwh. Conventional thermal sources make up the largest share of Philippine electricity supply, comprising more than 65 percent of the total in 2004. However, the Philippines is also the world’s second-largest producer of geothermal energy. Despite several electricity sources, there are still bunch of problems that occur such as electricity shortage and high price somewhat due to increase of demand and company expenses. The Philippines is not just the sole country that experiences these specific dilemmas but the other countries in Asia like Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, and the entire world too. This pushes researchers and experts to study the consumption movement from the past years in order for them to learn its behavior and suggest a method to help prepare the power companies and to prevent uncertainties that might happen in the near future. Through the years, there are many ways and methods developed by the experts and one of them is modeling and forecasting. Modelling electric energy consumption is useful in planning and distribution by power utilities. Modeling is a process of generating abstract, conceptual,graphical and/or mathematical models. Models are typically used when it is either impossible or impractical to create experimental conditions in which scientists can directly measure outcomes. In the field of energy use direct to electricity, modelling is a very important factor in forecasting the next set of electricity consumption. There are plenty of techniques and mathematical methods which are already used and proven effective in determining the energy consumption such as Multivariate regression –analysis, neural networks, autoregressive, and many more. Nowadays, time-series analysis was also used in the electric energy consumption modeling and forecasting. In statistics, signal processing, and mathematical finance, a time series is a sequence of data points, measured typically at successive time instants spaced at uniform time intervals. Based on Investopedia (2012) it provides another modeling approach which requires only data on the modeled variable, thus saving the user the trouble of determining influential variables and suggesting a form for the relation between them. For instance, measuring the value of retail sales each month of the year would comprise a time series. This is because sales revenue is well defined, and consistently measured at equally spaced intervals. Data collected irregularly or only once are not time series. Also, according to Austrilian Bureau of Statistics (2005) an observed time series can be decomposed into three components: the trend (long term direction), the seasonal (systematic, calendar related movements) and the irregular (unsystematic, short term fluctuations). Models for time series data can have many forms and represent different stochastic processes. Some other applications of time-series analysis are in macroeconomics and finance. As of now, modelling and forecasting is of its highest peak of achievement and significance of the modern society especially in aiding certain dilemmas in electric consumption. Objectives 1. To formulate a mathematical model for the electricity consumption of the Philippines. 2. To forecast the Philippines’ monthly electricity consumption for the next three years. 3. To evaluate the formulated model in forecasting the electricity consumption. Significance of the Study The goal of this study is to be able to forecast the electrical energy consumption of the Philippines for the next three years through formulating a model acquired from the data by using time-series. This information can contribute much to the power supply companies of the Philippines in order for them to determine the set of electricity consumption for the coming years. The forecasted result will help them plan and prepare for whatever might happen in the future years specifically in addressing the electricity shortage. Scope and Limitation The study focuses primarily in modelling the electricity use of the Philippines by using the time-series analysis. The study is narrowed to the forecasting of the monthly electricity consumption for the next three years of the entire Philippines. The data used in modelling is based on the 1999-2011 record. Review of Related Literature Modelling and forecasting electricity consumption of Malaysian large steel mills This study attempts to model and forecast the daily maximum demand of Malaysian large steel mills and the annual maximum demand contributed by these steel mills. It attempts to combine both the top-down and bottom-up approaches to forecast the daily and annual maximum demand of the steel mills. The top-down approach uses regression analysis to forecast the annual amount of electricity consumption of the steel mills. The bottom-up approach uses the Model for Analysis of Electric Demand Electric Load (MAED_EL) to convert the annual steel mills electricity consumption (which was earlier obtained from the regression model) into hourly load of the steel mills. The proposed method shows good forecasting accuracy, with weekly Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 2.3%. This study propose combination of the top-down and bottom-up methods to forecast the daily maximum demand of Malaysian large steel mills and the annual maximum demand contributed by these steel mills. The top-down approach uses regression analysis to forecast the annual electricity consumption of these large steel mills, based on its relationship with annual steel production and GDP. The projected annual electricity consumption from regression analysis was then integrated into the bottom-up model using MAED_EL to construct the hourly load curves. From the hourly load curves, the daily and annual maximum demands of the steel mills are determined. This model has the ability to forecast accurately the daily maximum of the large steel mills, with MAPE of less than 3%. The proposed method however, is purely based on the assumption that the future trend of daily consumption follows the base year. Although this is a slight drawback, nevertheless the proposed method has provided the utility with a better means to forecast steel mills’ load, despite the unavailability of daily production data which is vital in forecasting. The outcome of this study will benefit the utility in ensuring reliable and economic operation of the national grid, and is also useful for analysis pertaining to development of future optimal generation and transmission expansion plans. Findings of this study also give a valuable contribution to the utility in determining load management strategies and designing of tariff structures. A possible approach to improve the forecast performance is by combining the model with a time series method such as ARIMA. This will enable the model to take into account the most recent behaviour of steel mills load, and thus increase the accuracy of the forecast. The best approach however, would still be the one that is able to take into account the daily production data of the steel mills. With the availability of this particular data, many other complex and more effective methods can be explored such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and fuzzy linear regression. These methods will have the ability to capture the factors that highly influence steel mills daily load such as daily production plan and maintenance schedule, and hence improve the accuracy of the forecast. (S. Aman et.al, 2011 ) Long term energy consumption forecasting using genetic programming Managing electrical energy supply is a complex task. The most important part of electric utility resource planning is forecasting of the future load demand in the regional or national service area. This is usually achieved by constructing models on relative information, such as climate and previous load demand data. In this paper, a genetic programming approach is proposed to forecast long term electrical power consumption in the area covered by a utility situated in the southeast of Turkey. The empirical results demonstrate successful load forecast with a low error rate. In this paper, a genetic programming approach on the forecasting of long term electrical power consumption of a moderate city in Turkey was presented. It uses the genetic programming method to forecast future usage through symbolic regression using annual data of the previous years. In conventional regression, one has to decide on the approximation function (can be an n-degree polynomial, non-polynomial, or a combination of both) and try to find the coefficients of this selected function. Constructing an approximation function can be a difficult task. There is another form of regression called â€Å"symbolic regression†. In the symbolic regression problem, the aim is to search a symbolic representation of a model, instead of only searching for coefficients of a predefined model. Genetic programming (GP) method introduced by Koza can be used for the symbolic regression problem. GP searches for the model and coefficients of the model at the same time. In this study, power consumption data is processed with both conventional analysis and genetic programming techniques. Long term power consumption forecasting can provide important information for power distribution centers. Power consumption in this city is rapidly growing; therefore accurate forecasts can help authorities to make reliable plans. In this work, a genetic programming based forecasting method is presented. Two other curve fitting methods are also presented for comparison with this technique. Data used in all three models are not preprocessed. Genetic programming technique is used to form a model and evaluate the parameters for the model. The goodness of the fit produced by the genetic programming method is evaluated using sum of squared errors (SSE) method, which is better than the other two methods of regression. It was proved that the genetic programming can be used for electric utility resource planning and forecasting of the future load demand in the regional or national service area effectively. (K. Karabulot et. al, 2008) Electricity consumption forecasting in Italy using linear regression models The influence of economic and demographic variables on the annual electricity consumption in Italy has been investigated with the intention to develop a long-term consumption forecasting model. The time period considered for the historical data is from 1970 to 2007. Different regression models were developed, using historical electricity consumption, gross domestic product (GDP), gross domestic product per capita (GDP per capita) and population. A first part of the paper considers the estimation of GDP, price and GDP per capita elasticities of domestic and non-domestic electricity consumption. The domestic and non-domestic short run price elasticities are found to be both approximately equal to 0.06, while long run elasticities are equal to 0.24 and 0.09, respectively. On the contrary, the elasticities of GDP and GDP per capita present higher values. In the second part of the paper, different regression model s, based on co-integrated or stationary data, are presented. Different statistical tests are employed to check the validity of the proposed models. A comparison with national forecasts, based on complex econometric models, such as Markal-Time, was performed, showing that the developed regressions are congruent with the official projections, with deviations of 1% for the best case and 11% for the worst. These deviations are to be considered acceptable in relation to the time span taken into account. This paper aims to estimate GDP, price and GDP per capita elasticities of domestic and non-domestic electricity consumption in Italy. Also this paper wants to forecast the future growth of these consumptions using different regression models and compare our results with other available projections. The elasticity analysis showed that the price elasticity of domestic and non-domestic consumption is quite limited, confirming some results presented in previous studies. Through the findings, conclusions have been acquired. First, there is no need to consider electricity price as explaining variable in forecasting models for Italian electricity consumption. Second, pricing policies cannot be used to promote the efficient use of electricity in Italy. The estimation of GDP and GDP per capita elasticities showed higher values with respect to price elasticities, demonstrating that the consumption response to GDP and GDP per capita changes is relevant. Therefore, there is the need to assure an appropriate level of electricity supply to sustain the economic growth in Italy. According to the second target of the paper, different long-term forecasting models were developed and they substantially lead to similar results. Therefore, in the next years, an increase in the total electricity consumption, driven by both domestic and nondomestic consumptions, should be expected in Italy with an average rate equal to about 2% per year. Assuming that the data reported represent the reference benchmark, it can guarantee the most accurate projections for total, domestic and non-domestic electricity consumptions respectively, because they fit the data. It is believed that the elasticities, forecasts and comments presented in this paper would be helpful to energy planners and policy makers to build future scenarios about the Italian electricity consumption. (V. Bianco et. al., 2009) Forecasting electricity consumption in New Zealand using economic and demographic variables The inï ¬â€šuence of selected economic and demographic variables on the annual electricity consumption in New Zealand has been investigated. The study uses gross domestic product, average price of electricity and population of New Zealand during the period 1965–1999. Models are developed using multiple linear regression analysis. It was found that the electricity consumption correlated effectively with all variables. Forecasts made using these models were compared with some available national forecasts. The forecasts are also compared with the forecasts of the previously developed Logistic model. Electricity consumption forecasting models based on economic factors for Domestic and NonDomestic sectors and Total consumption for New Zealand using multiple linear regression have been proposed. The models performed effectively in the statistical tests conducted, implying their signiï ¬ cance in forecasting electricity consumption using the explaining variables considered. Comparisons of these models have been made with the national forecasts available in New Zealand. The comparison revealed that the forecasts made by the regression models are very comparable with the national forecasts. The accuracy of the forecasts made by these models depends strongly on the accuracy of forecasts made for the explaining variables. In this paper, simple regression had been used to model these variables. (Z. Mohamed & Pat Bodger, 2003) Modeling and Forecasting Electricity Demand in the Philippines The Philippine government has deregulated electricity generation markets to encourage private investors and actively courted independent power producers (IPPs). This has been done to promote efficiency and reduce government financial debt obligations. Until the mid-1980s, the power sector in the Philippines was mostly state-owned through the National Power Corporation (NPC). After the debt crisis in the early 1980s, the Philippines’ government tightened fiscal policy, and capital expenditure for additional electricity capacity was significantly reduced. This led to a slowdown in the electricity generating facilities. At the same time, electricity demand continued to increase. This resulted in tight electricity supply and demand conditions by the middle of the 1980s. There continue to be periods of generating capacity constraints. This may be the result of difficulties in forecasting electricity consumption. The residential and industrial electricity demand in the Philippines is modeled. The analysis follows Johansen’s vector error correction approach to estimate the price and income elasticity in both long and short run. The results indicate a long run cointegrating relationship is found among residential electricity consumption, income, and the stock of electric appliances. In the industrial sector there appears to be a long-run relationship holds for industrial electricity consumption and GDP. The lack of significant price responses appears to be the result of government development policies. The estimated models are used in forecasting total electricity consumption suggest that the government’s official forecast for electricity demand would be on the upper bound of the forecast range. (K. Ishi & F. Joutz, 2009) Methodology 1. Collect data of the Philippines’ monthly electricity consumption from the year 1999 to 2011 in National Statistics Coordination Board to be used for constructing a time-series model for the electricity consumption. 2. Using the formulated model, forecast the Philippines’ electricity consumption for the next three years. 3. Through the acquired forecasted consumption, evaluate the performance of the model. References Clough, L. (2008). Energy profile of Philippines. The encyclopedia of earth. Aman, S., Ping, H. , & Mubin, M (2011). Modelling and forecasting electricity consumption of Malaysian large steel mills. Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 6 (8), pp. 1817-1830. ISSN 1992-2248. Karabulut, K., Alkan, A., & Yilmaz, A. (2008). Long term energy consumption forecasting using genetic programming. Mathematical and Computational Applications, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 71-80. Bianco, V., Manca, O., & Nardini, S. (2009). Electricity consumption forecasting in Italy using linear regression models. Elsevier Ltd. Energy 34 (2009) 1413-1421. Mohamed, Z. & Bodger, P. (2003). Forecasting electricity consumption in New Zealand using economic and demographic variables. Elsevier Ltd. Energy 50 (2004) 1833-1843.

The kinds of influences that affect children and young people

2.1 describe with examples the kinds of influences that affect children and young people.Different kinds of influences within each areaExample of how the influence could affect children and young people BackgroundParent and child stable relationship, love, affection, family values, quality time It could affect their future relationships with partners and also their own children but if they do receive its showing them how a parent / com/explaining-of-the-child-protection-in-the-wider-concept-of-safeguarding-children-and-young-people/">child relationships should and can be because they went through it themselves and experienced, that sort of goes both ways with background either bad or good can affect them.HealthIllness or disabilitiesIt separates them from others and can affect their sense of belonging where they are not able to join in with other children and could possibly influence them to believe they might not ever fit in, whether it be sports, jobs or social events in adult life .EnvironmentMoving to a new house/area Worried and anxious to whether they will settle in and make new friends. Miss their old friends and family. If always moving there’s no stability or structure which can affect their sense of normality and less likely to stick at things. If to a better area it can help them in many ways better education, health facilities, better opportunities for their future. TDA 2.1 LO 2.2 describe with examples the importance of recognising and responding to concerns The Importance of recognising and responding to concernsIf a problem was not recognised and responded to quickly enough that problem could escalate and become much more worse than originally and could be much harder to help out, more damage could be done.Example of concern How would you respond?A child not eating lunchTell a senior member of staff while volunteering but if employed I would also tell senior members of staff and will look further into it and will speak to child parents.A ch ild taking food from other childrenSame as above in that sense.A child being bulliedSame as above but will also speak to the bully’s parent/s.

Scientific Paper on a Water Flea

The Effects of Alcohol and Caffeine on the Heartbeat Rate in Daphnia Magnus ? Erika Huizenga Ashley Kofahl The Effects of Alcohol and Caffeine on the Heartbeat Rate in Daphnia Magnus Abstract The projects purpose was to determine the effects of alcohol and caffeine on the heartbeat rate in Daphnia Magnus. Our hypothesis is alcohol causes a decrease in heart rate, whereas caffeine causes an accelerated heart rate, predicting that the more caffeine we give the daphnia the faster it heartbeat rate will become and the heartbeat rate will decrease as we give the Daphnia alcohol. After doing the experiment we found that the more caffeine we added to the Daphnia Magna the faster its heartbeat rate became. We also found that when we added alcohol to the Daphnia the heartbeat rate also increased not supporting our hypothesis. Methods and Materials Location: Washtenaw Community College, 4800 East Huron Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 LA building 205 at 12:30p. m. January 30, 2010 Materials: microscope, two glass micro slides, two pipettes, three Daphnia Magna, 2%, 4%, and 6% alcohol, 1%, 1 ? , and 2% caffeine, aquarium water, a stopwatch, a person to record the data, administer the drugs and water to the Daphnia, and a person to count the heat beats. Procedure for the control: In order to make sure that alcohol and caffeine are the variables effecting the heartbeat rate we started by capturing a live Daphnia and placed it in a depression slide with a drop of pond water from the culture jar. We removed any extra water with the tip of a paper towel. Next we added one dr op of aquarium water to the Daphnia. Then we began to count the number of heartbeats for 10 seconds and then multiplied by 6 to find the beats per minute and recorded the result. After two minutes we repeated the process, and the again after another two minutes to get three reading of heartbeat rate on the control. Procedure for alcohol and caffeine: To determine the effects of alcohol and caffeine on the daphnia we started by capturing a new Daphnia and placing it on a depression slide and removing any extra water. We Placed 1 drop of a 1% caffeine solution on the Daphnia. After waiting for a few seconds we began to count the heart beats and recorded the results on our data sheet. Next we removed the excess solution from the Daphnia and flushed it with aquarium water. Using the same procedure we monitored the effects of 1 1/2% and 2. 0% caffeine solutions and recorded our results and placed the Daphnia in the recovery tank. After completing the caffeine series, we obtained a the second set of drugs. This time instead of using caffeine we used varied concentrations of alcohol 2%, 4% and 6% using the same method as the caffeine procedure. Again recording our results and placing the Daphnia in the recovery tank when finished. Results The original purpose of this experiment was to determine how alcohol and caffeine effected the heartbeat rate of a Daphnia. The results of the experiment were that the higher percentage caffeine and alcohol placed onto the Daphnia the higher the heart rate. Average Daphnia Magnus Heartbeats per Minute ? Conclusion After completing the experiment we found that when we gave the Daphnia caffeine the heartbeat rate did show an increase. However, we also found that alcohol also increased the number of times the heart beat. Even though we performed all of the experiments very carefully, we cannot be certain that the effect we saw was due to the drugs. Perhaps the change in heartbeat rate is caused by the heat of the microscope light or a change in temperature. When we came into the lab to do the experiment the solutions were already sitting on the tables. The lab is used by several other students, therefore we can not be sure that the percentages of solutions were accurate or that they had not been tampered with. While trying to remove excess water the Daphnia got stuck to the paper towel which could have caused stress making the heartbeat rate increase during the alcohol test. The removal or addition of the various test solutions may have had an impact on our test subject. When comparing our results to other groups we found that they had different results with alcohol. Because of this we feel that the experiment should be repeated several times and not done only one time to gain accurate results.

Canadian criminal system of justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Canadian criminal system of justice - Essay Example The Criminal Code of Canada and other legislation laws such as the Criminal Justice for Youth Act, the Conditional Act and Correlation Release Act, as well as Canadian Rights and Freedoms Charter, offer the basis upon which the system of criminal justice functions, and so do United States Code of Criminal and other legislation pieces. In both nations, system of criminal justice offers an impartial crime response rather than the public taking criminal matters into their hands, (Boydell and Ingrid 82). Judicial independence is a precondition to justice is witnessed in American and Canadian systems of law. The two nations originates from the system of shared law, even though, they have diverse systems of justice. The judicial system of Canada is unified system all courts form the same system and the Canadian Supreme Court exercises the final authority all over the nation, (Kraska 42). Additionally, the United States has two distinct and sovereign systems of justice whereby the federal s ystem of justice imposes federal law and systems of the state ate powerful over the state law interpretation. Historically, racial, class and gender differences have pervaded the justice administration in United States and Canada. For instance, for crucial historical and political explanations, grounded on treaty claims and fiduciary role of the aboriginal peoples Crown, aboriginal people are excluded from administration policy purposes as an ethic group together with the immigrants and their people.

Aviation Law (Application of law) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Aviation Law (Application of law) - Essay Example However, local and state authorities have also enacted legislation that is aimed at reducing and abating the effects caused by noise pollution. In the case of Air Transport Association of America v Crotti, the courts in Northern California held that the proprietors or operators of airports might regulate the noise on the ground but not aircrafts that are on flight (304). This was in stark contrast to the finding in the Burbank case whereby it was emphasized that the power to control noise in airports does not preempt the federal government or the local as well as state authorities to adopt policies that will greatly reduce noise from aircrafts. Later the Federal Aviation Authorities (FAA) expressly rejected the exclusive control of noise abatement in instances of aircrafts but imposed upon the operators of airports the responsibility of reducing the effects of noise caused by aircrafts (310). When it comes to liability, the Federal Aviation Act explicitly provides that it neither abr idges nor changes the position held by common law and the remedies that can be provided by the statutes. In Greater Westchester the court’s examination of the Act found that nothing could make it think that the FAA possessed powers to adjudicate on disputes between operators of airports and those that are found in the surrounding areas. The intimation here is that those that are aggrieved by the noise from aircrafts in their neighborhood should direct their complaints to the operators of the airports for any remedies that accrue to them. Q.2 The United States Constitution Fourth Amendment protects the rights of individuals from unreasonable searches at airport checkpoints that may be reasonable or unreasonable which are lawful and unlawful respectively (Carson and Ramen, 2012). When it comes to searches at airports, the courts in interpreting the Fourth Amendment stress the application of the standard of reasonable suspicion of a criminal activity. In order that the search qu alify to be a seizure it is important that the authorities determine whether it was reasonable or unreasonable determined from the articulable facts and reasonable inferences that were available to the officer at the time of the arrest. However, the law expressly provides that a search against a person is unreasonable if it falls within the recognized exceptions, which may include searches and seizures applicable in valid incidents as was held in United States v Chadwick. For cases of reasonable suspicion of criminal activity in the application of the Fourth Amendment, the courts recognize the need for the privacy of a person from intrusion from the government that may be deemed unreasonable. The court recognizes the Fourth Amendment that takes care of citizens against police activity such as search and frisks that was ably discussed in the case of Terry v Ohio which elaborated on the level of intrusion. While the courts have continuously applied their own doctrines to justify searc hes at airports, it is important to note that the current searches done at airports are mainly informed by the need to ensure that national security is upheld. Therefore, it can only be said that the justification for searches at airports in line with the Fourth Amendment only fall within the arm bits of the Administrative Search Exceptions that must

Shaping Marketing Decisions Based on Consumer Behavior Essay

Shaping Marketing Decisions Based on Consumer Behavior - Essay Example It is important to note that the buying process originates in the mind long before a customer has made a conscious effort to make a purchase, and such a decision shall be affected by personality and social-cultural factors (McKenna 2000). Consumer behavior thus is a study that attempt to assess why consumers buy where they buy, the influence that affects their purchase decision, how they view your products or services relative to those of your competitors, and most importantly, why they should stick to your products in the face of a market awash with similar products and services from your competition. It also involves an assessment of the attitudes that consumers have towards a service or a product and the role that they play in their households, as this shall affect their purchase decisions (Lele 1002). Consumer behavior is both a dynamic and complex process. It is also multidimensional and tends to greatly impact on all the marketing decisions of a firm. An evoked set is that subset of brands within a product category that is often considered by individuals when they wish to make a purchase (Campbell, 1969). Given that there is a large number of brands that are contained in each of the individual product categories, consumers thus resorts to the use of evoked sets with a view to making their purchase decisions easier. From a consumer's perspective, an evoked set could as well be regarded as an awareness set made up of particular brands within a product category that a given set of consumers are aware of (Narayana & Markin 1975). In other words, an evoked set could be viewed as those handful of choices that will often pass through our minds when we are just about to arrive at a buying decision. For instance, when someone is purchasing say, a personal computer, such brands as either Sony or Dell may come to mind. In this case, this is an evoked set. For a marketer, it is crucial that his/her products be aligned so as to constitute a valid evoked set in the minds of customers. This is all about creating a brand image of your products and services that appeal to the market. According to Lele (1992), only those brands that form an evoked set within the consumers' minds get to be purchased. Lele Further opines that if a brand or supplier is not part of an evoked set, then such a brand will either be rarely purchased by a consumer or be ignored altogether. A majority of consumers' evoked sets have at most five differing brands. Consequently, it often becomes quite tricky to have more that a similar number of firms having a widespread acceptance as being distinguished and exceptional. Owing to the multiplicity of opinions, it would not be easy to have to say, three firms or brands being a part of the perception of quite a sizable proportion of the consumer market. Due to this, most of the marketers for packaged goods often fight viciously to obtain a share of the consumers' mind, and hence their attention. When a firm fails to familiarize itself with a buyer groups' evolved set, then the achievement of its overall strategy through the use of differentiation is jeopardized (Lele 1992).  

Key Elements Of Hitchcock's Style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Key Elements Of Hitchcock's Style - Essay Example "He's a prophet and a pusher - partly true, partly fiction, a walking contradiction." - Kris Kristoferson - quoted by Betsy in Taxi Driver (1976). Key elements of Hitchcock's style that promote the idea that he is an auteur of the cinematic medium are: 1) the way in which his passion and dedication to his own vision superceded external influences at the time to break new ground within the film industry. 2) The degree to which he directly participated in the film's creation. 3) His technical and theoretical consistencies across a range of films - including his innovative use of camera angles and movements to establish mood, his use of distortion and the uncanny to evokie feelings of suspense and horror, his use of timing to build anticipation, his refusal to adhere to standard narrative forms and his ability to utilise scenery, sound, aesthetics and symbolism to create a unified effect for a common purpose. Throughout Vertigo and Blackmail, Alfred Hitchcock's directorial fingerprint c an be evidenced in each film's cinematic techniques, aesthetic vision, dominant themes and stylistic consistencies. Each of these ingredients comprise Hitchcock's identity and classification within the theoretical school of auteurism - whereby the politique des auteurs ("the policy of authors")(Rohmer & Chabrol, 1957, 95) in the text. is governed by the director's own creative vision - bearing their own trademark style and transcending the limitations of mainstream demands and corporate economic considerations.

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 55

Case Study - Essay Example This implies that Ms. A has progressively lost excessive amount of blood thus resulting in the reduction of her iron levels. Iron deficiency anemia is a common type of anemia especially among women. Iron is a fundamental composition of blood. Among the common causes of the iron-deficiency anemia is excessive blood loss as is the case with Ms. A. heavy menstrual flow among women is the leading cause of iron loss thereby causing the anemia (Fry & Sandler, 1993). Ms. A explains that ever since she was ten she suffered from both menorrhagia and dysmenorrheal. The excessive loss of blood results in the loss of the red blood cells thus reducing the amount of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a significant component of the red blood responsible for the red pigmentation of the blood. Besides coloring the blood, hemoglobin transports oxygen to the various tissues of the body. Excessive bleeding thus results in the loss of hemoglobin a feature that impairs the functionality of the body tissues since they will not receive adequate amounts of oxygen (Hoffbrand, Moss & Pettit, 2011). Oxygen facilitates metabolism. As such, pe ople with minimal amounts of oxygen will lack adequate energy. Ms. A has noted specific symptoms since the beginning of the current golf season. The symptoms include shortness of breath, lack of energy and enthusiasm among many others. These symptoms are characteristic of iron deficiency anemia. As explained earlier, excessive bleeding results in the loss of hemoglobin a pigment responsible for transporting oxygen to the tissues of the body. The lab report provides succinct symptoms of the iron-deficiency anemia. Key among the components of the lab report is the fact that red blood cell smear showed microcytic and hypochromic cells. This implies that the red blood cells appear pale and thinner than in normal circumstances (Uthman, 1998). Ms. A’s blood appears so owing to the deficiency of hemoglobin in her red

If you invest $20 million in China Research Paper

If you invest $20 million in China - Research Paper Example The economy’s growth potential therefore identifies room for more investments and capitalizing $ 20 million dollars is not likely to stretch the economy’s resources (Oecd 33). Another significant macroeconomic indicator for determining investment decision in a country is the trend in inflation rate. Inflation defines a steady and significant rise in commodity prices. It can similarly be defined as a continuous decrease in the value of money in an economy. Inflation would therefore induce a loss in invested money because the investment’s value will be lower than the original one and even derived profits might not be able to compensate for the loss from inflation. Inflation trends in China however offer a good indicator because it has conveyed a decreasing trend. The inflation rate was for example reported at 6.9 in the year 2004 and the value had steadily decreased to 2.5 by the year 2008. The steady trend further projects high probability of lower inflation rates in future and this means that an invested amount in the economy is not likely to lose its value. The trend that can be forecasted to persist further shows that an investment in China has high chances of gaining value as the country’s inflation rate continue to decrease (Oecd 33). A review of the past trend of China’s consumer price index also offers a basis for determining prospects of investing the $ 20 million in the economy. The macroeconomic indicator defines percentage change in a group of commodities’ weighted prices and is related to inflation. A fall in consumer price index, as represented by the Chinese economy therefore implies economic stability and improving money’s value with time. The index was for example reported at about four in the year 2004 and... Business organizations are established with the prime objective of making profit through entrepreneurial ventures that may identify diversified economic risk. It is therefore necessary to analyze economic environment around a business in order to understand its possible risks and benefits before deciding on establishing a business. Making decisions over which economy to invest in may require analysis of microeconomic and macroeconomic factors of economies of interest for evaluation and comparison of involved risks and benefits. Similarly, an investor who has focused on one economy needs to evaluate the economy’s factors before establishing a venture. In this paper, the potential and risks of investing $ 20 million in China are investigated, based on the country’s macro and microeconomic indicators. The country’s major challenges are however its banking system that is strictly regulated by the government and its currency that does not reflect real value against other currencies. The government’s regulation may hinder delivery of quality and unbiased banking services and may allow for government control on investments. Trends in China’s macroeconomic indicators identify investment potential in the economy that indicates high probability of further expansion and favorable economic factors. The increasing real gross domestic product, decreasing inflation rate, and falling consumer price index indicates the economy’s trend of increasing stability that is safe for investments. Even though government control over banks and the country’s currency are threats to investment in China, the identifiable potentials are more significant.

Commercial Internet Sites Essay Example for Free

Commercial Internet Sites Essay Go to at least 15 commercial Internet sites such as Yahoo!, MSN, and About.com. Document information on the types of attempts (such as pop-up windows and advertisements) that influence the viewer, including counting the number of references toward social shaping. The websites you consult should be listed in a reference list at the end of the newsletter. Take the information you have gathered and write an article for your company newsletter summarizing your findings and drawing conclusions. The article should be at least 500 words in length and should demonstrate depth of thought as well as originality. The first commercial Internet web site that I am analyzing is the online social networking web site Orkut.   It permits maintaining relationships through pictures, messages, music and videos.   What seem interesting with Orkut are that is permits to establish new connections with people belonging to any part of the world, help to come in contact with old friends and family in any part of the world.   Any individual interested in making friends can open an account on the web site and develop their own profile.   What adds uniqueness to Orkut is the fact that any friend or family member can insert their own testimonials of that person.   In the profile, personal, social and professional information can be demonstrated.  Ã‚   Another unique feature of Orkut is that any person can search for another by simply typing in the name in the search box. MSN is a community web site mainly concerned with email, messaging and social contacting.   This web site is brought out my Microsoft.   The users interested can open an account with the MSN web site and are given an individual username and password.   The user would be getting personalized information from the MSN network.   These include news, sports, weather, local news, etc.   Each user can make changes to the layout, color, themes, etc to the individual web page. Yahoo is a social network web site that mainly provides email, news, searches, messenger, jobs, weather, Horoscope, Health and other information.   The Web site concerns a wide range of areas.   Yahoo has its sources in almost every nation of the world and these provide localized information.   Each user can log into the web site with his or her usernames and password. Google, one of the strongest search engines in the world has extended its services to other areas such as book searches, computation, social network groups, news, maps, etc.   People are mainly attracted towards Google as it search strategy is very strong and would permit the user to use their own initiative whilst search for various aspects in the Internet. Tagged.com is social networking that permits users from various parts of the world to get in contact with old friends and new friends.   It was launched in the year 2004.   The graphic interface of the web site is very appealing and has several innovations such as slides, videos and the music presentation.   It has several reputed news sources such as Wall Street Journal, Business Week Online, Ad week, etc. Travellers Point is a social network that provides personalized information regarding traveling destinations and experiences, photo galleries, blogs, forums, maps, etc.   Users can create their own usernames and passwords on the web site and get upload and download photos and videos of famous travel destinations throughout the world.   The Web site works in association with another organization known as ‘Travel helpers’, which provides expert guidance to travelers. Hikut.com is a social networking web site that provides various features to the users, user such as galleries, blogs, music, videos, polls, groups, quizzes, events, classifieds, etc.   The users can also use several other features on the web site such as chats, interfaces, scrapbook, etc.   The users would have to register on the web site with a user name and a password. Linkedln is a professional social network web site that permits the users to share professional information with other experts and specialists throughout the world.   More than 16 million users have registered from about 150 countries.   Users who have registered include clients, partners and colleagues.   Users can also search for jobs and get in contact with the job seekers. One of the main religious social networking web site in the world is My Church.com.   This web site was launched in 2006 offering services to Catholics in the blogs, forums, messenger services, counseling, calendar events, sermons live telecasts, paying of thanksgivings, etc.   The founders of this web site have combined Internet and technology in a very innovative manner to obtain one of the most advanced Catholic networking web sites in the world. More than 7000 Churches are associated with the web site. One of the major social networking web site in the world concerned with sharing music, videos, photos, etc, is Multiply.   The web site also extends its services to other media other than the Internet including MMS and mobile services.   The web site not only caters to the personal needs of the user, but also to the professional and the academic needs.   Only individuals who are closely related to one another can share media information. Another social networking web site is Friendster that caters to the needs of small circle of friends.   It is utilized more widely in Asia than in any other part of the world.   It has been in competition with several other social networking web sites such as Yahoo 360 and Facebook.   In the year 2006, the web site came out with an innovative discovery, which entitled it a patent.   It demonstrated a method and an online tool to calculate and develop relationships between people. Facebook was a social networking web site launched in the year 2004, meant for the students of Harvard University.   However, as the web site was a strong success, several other universities were added including Boston University, MIT, etc.   Slowly any student belonging to any university in the world was allowed to register on the web site.   More than 58 million users have been registered on the web site.   The site offers the users several features including sending and receiving messages, gifts, placing ads, blogs, etc. References: Facebook (2007). â€Å"Facebook – Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.facebook.com Web site. Friendster (2007). â€Å"Friendster – Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.friendster.com Web site. Google (2007). â€Å"Google Help Center.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from Google Web site: http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/help/features.html HiKut (2007). â€Å"Hikut.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.hikut.com Web site. LinkedIn (2007). â€Å"Linkedin.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.linkedin,com Web site. MSN (2007). â€Å"MSN-Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from MSN Web site: http://www.msn.com/ Multiply (2007). â€Å"Multiply – Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.multiply.com Web site. My Church (2007). â€Å"My Church – Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.Mychurch.org Web site. Orkut (2007). â€Å"About Orkut.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from Orkut Web site: http://www.orkut.com/About.aspx Tagged.com (2007). â€Å"Tagged – Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from Tagged.com Web site: www.tagged.com Travellers Point (2007). â€Å"Travellers Point.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.travellerspoint.com Web site. Yahoo (2007). â€Å"Yahoo Company Information.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from Yahoo Web site: http://info.yahoo.com/

Freezing Point Depression Osmometer

Freezing Point Depression Osmometer 1. Osmolality is a commonly used unit of measurement that represents the concentration of a solution as the total number of solutes per kilogram of pure solvent (mOsm/kg): where Ø is the osmotic coefficient accounting for the degree of molecular dissociation; n is the number of particles left after the molecule dissociates in solvent, where n = 1 for non-electrolytes; and C is the molal concentration of the solution (moles/kg of water). As a variant of molality, only osmotically active particles that affect a solutions osmotic pressure are considered. It is the number, rather than the size of type, of these solutes that controls the osmotic pull of a solution. Specifically, the presence of solute particles dilutes the solvent and restricts it to remain as a liquid as it is entropically favorable. Fittingly, the freezing point depresses proportionally with the increase in solute concentration since the temperature continues to drop instead of reaching a plateau during the process of crystallization as more pure solvent becomes separated from solution leaving behind a smaller mass of liquid with higher solute concentration. Accordingly, the concentra tion of a solution can be determined by its relationship with this colligative property; thus, osmolality is really a measure of the chemical ac of water in an aqueous solution of dissolved particles. Overall, this term-independent of temperature and pressure-is used in medical laboratories (as opposed to osmolarity (mOsm/L) for bedside calculations) to describe the osmotic strength of bodily fluids as it can be easily attained by freezing point osmometry. A freezing point depression osmometer quantifies the amount of osmotically important body fluid chemicals dissolved in blood serum by the relationship that 1 mole of particles decreases the freezing point of 1 kg of water by 1.86à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C. This device is calibrated using standards within the osmolal range of interest (250-350 mOsm/kg for blood serum). Applied on a paper slide, the sample is inserted into an insulated-cooling module of circulating ethylene glycol and water refrigerants that chill the solution below its freezing point. An operating head then slides down on the sample container, immersing a thermistor temperature probe and stirring wire. Once the solvent molecules have aggregated and been supercooled, the stirring is set to vibrate more rapidly and aggressively to seed the solution with crystals, partially freezing it into a slush. During this liquid-to-solid phase transition, thermal energy is released into the solution as heat of fusion and proceeds until a tem perature plateau that is slightly below the true freezing point is reached. The thermistor responds to this temperature change by altering its electrical resistance, thereby creating small variations in current sensed by a galvanometer, which also detects the direction of current flow in the Wheatstone bridge that subsequently measures the unknown resistance. Lastly, a balancing potentiometer adjusts this resistance until the galvanometer returns to its null position of zero current, sequentially displaying the osmolality that is calculated by the following formula: where kf is the cryoscopic constant (1.86 Kà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã¢â‚¬ ¦kg/mol) and ΆT is the temperature change. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic endocrine disease characterized by abnormally high serum glucose (>360 mOsm/kg). In a study conducted by Siervo et al., they measured blood serum osmolality levels in diabetic and non-diabetic older adults as an indicator of their hydration status, which is correlated to this disease. By using the Bland-Altman method to compare to a measured reference standard (via an osmometer), a successful serum osmolarity prediction formula-based on freezing point depression-was used to assess osmotically important chemicals in the control and study group: Calculated Osmolarity = 1.86 ÃÆ'- (Na+ + K+) + 1.15 ÃÆ'- glucose + urea +14 (mmol/L) (eq.3) With 79% sensitivity and 89% specificity, this equation serves as a first-stage screening method for diabetes diagnosis. Individuals with diabetes mellitus was shown to have higher serum osmolality levels (> 300 mOsm/kg) and glucose levels characteristic of their dehydration state. 2. Fluorescence anisotropy describes the phenomenon that occurs when a fluorophore that has been excited with linearly polarized light emits fluorescence with unequal intensities along different polarization axes as its absorption and emission transition moments lie along specific directions within its structure. The degree of this linear polarisation in its emission-resulting from photoselection of an optically isotropic sample-is described by its steady-state anisotropy: where I|| and Ià ¢Ã…  Ã‚ ¥ are relative intensities detected for emission that is parallel and perpendicular to the electric vector of linearly polarized incident light, respectively (where a non-zero reveals a polarized emission). The denominator represents total fluorescence intensity (I) as it incorporates the three mutually orthogonal emission components, including the second perpendicular emission plane that sets anisotropy apart from polarization. By timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ resolved measurements, this quantifies depolarisation of fluorescence emission mainly caused by an energy transfer to another molecule of a different orientation or rotation (due to Brownian motion). Subsequently, enzyme-substrate binding constants and reaction kinetics can be studied since the rotational correlation time of a molecule would change, which is related to anisotropy by a Perrin equation thus allowing for determination of its molecular size and mobility: (eq. 2) where ro is fundamental anisotropy of the fluorophore; à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ is the fluorescence lifetime; and ÃŽÂ ¸ is the rotational correlation time. The purpose of the study conducted by Schrell et al. was to develop a microfluidic biochemical test that can monitor insulin secretion dynamics upon glucose stimulation of single islets via interactions between insulin and its antibody. They were inspired by the fact that assays available today involves difficult separation systems that pose a challenge to non-specialized laboratories. This device can examine mechanisms behind abnormal secretions of metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus in real-time. Islets of Langerhans were isolated from male mice and incubated in RPMI-1640 media. A singlet islet was housed in a microfluidic chamber and stimulated with various levels of glucose from a gravity-based perfusion system. These channels have inputs for low and high glucose concentrations. Flowing from a top-to-bottom direction, most of t he mixed perfusion solution is sent to waste through a shunt channel while a portion of it is directed to a sealed islet chamber. The total perfusate containing the islet secretions then combines with solutions of high affinity insulin antibodies (Ab) and Cy5-labeled insulin* as it passes the assay mixing channel where both insulin and insulin* competitively bind to Ab. Since insulin* has a smaller rotational time compared to the Ab-insulin* complex, its emission is more depolarized and by measuring the bound/free ratio of the Ab-insulin* complex and free insulin*-via capillary or microfluidic electrophoresis-insight on insulin secretion dynamics can be gained as it is indirectly proportional to the amount of insulin in the sample. With a laser-induced fluorescence detection system, linearly polarized light from a 635-nm laser passes through a linear polarizer and reaches a dichroic mirror that focuses the beam towards the microfluidic channel (to excite the immunoassay mixture) vi a a microscope which also collects the fluorescence light emitted from the sample. It then travels back to the dichroic mirror and through an emission and 635-nm notch filter for removal of stray incident light. Next, a cube-shaped polarizing beam splitter splits the emission into parallel (Ià ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ¥) and perpendicular (Ià ¢Ã…  Ã‚ ¥) component intensities to individual linear polarizers before detection by PMTs. The fluorescein-PMT signals are converted to anisotropy via eq. 1 and by using its online fluorescence anisotropy immunoassay calibration curve, insulin concentration (thus its online secretion dynamics) can be determined. 3. Created primarily by plasma cells, antibodies (or immunoglobulins) are large Y-shaped proteins recruited by the immune system to neutralize foreign agents via a precise lock-key binding mechanism. They attach to the epitope of antigens using the paratope of its fragment antigen-binding (Fab) region with high specificity. Although widely established and characterized in proteomics, antibodies have limited target potential since their targets must elicit a strong immune response for these proteins to be produced. Recently, the revolutionary development of a simple, controlled, and scalable in-vitro technique called systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) has allowed for the isolation and identification of aptamers which were evolved from random oligonucleotide pools. Unlike their protein counterparts, these small oligonucleotide or peptide ligands can fold into unique 3D structures than can bind to many classes of target biomolecules due their wide range i n molecular recognition. Therefore, these high-affinity ligands have the benefit of unlimited diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Aptamers can now supplement monoclonal antibodies in pharmaceutical research since they have greater advantages in their stability, in-vitro capability, size, immunogenicity, target potential, production, and ability to be modified. First, the temperature resistance of aptamers prevents denaturation and loss of structure, providing them stability at room temperature. Antibodies, contrastingly, require refrigeration as proteins denature easily, degrade over time, and have a shorter shelf life. Though, proteins have the benefit of not being affected by nuclease enzymes found in the body, which specifically cleave nucleic acid bonds. Second, aptamers are made in-vitro via SELEX; this selection means that they can be manipulated to adapt to any conditions. For antibodies, the adaptability of proteins made in-vivo are restricted to the environment of the host animal as their distribution requires the stimulation of an immune response in that live organism. Third, these smaller-sized aptam ers enable them to interact with targets that may be inaccessible to the larger proteins like cell surface targets and fragments. Also, despite their improved bioavailability, they have a shortened half-life due to susceptibility to kidney filtration. Fourth, the immunogenicity of aptamers protects them from recognition by the immune system and a subsequent negative immune response. Conversely, antibodies are frequently tagged as foreign substances which, with higher dosing, increases their chances of eliciting an immune response. Fourth, with unlimited target potential, aptamers have a greater selection of targets compared to antibodies since their targets are independent of the immune system. Fifth, aptamer synthesis does not require the large-scale production of many different colonies in cell cultures that antibodies depend on which is costly, subjected to viral or bacterial contamination, and may cause variation per batch created. Lastly, aptamers can readily adopt conjugation chemistries such as dye or functional group attachments without it being stochastic, negatively affecting activity, or leading to product mixtures hence any shortcomings such serum degradation, variable pharmacokinetic and systemic properties, can be combated with additional modifications. The SELEX process is an useful technique that can decipher a proteins binding site on ss-DNA/RNA or peptides. This enrichment protocol requires the following steps: (1) define the target molecule; (2) form a large combinatorial double-stranded oligonucleotide library of DNA/RNA ligands with primer binding sites at its ends and wobble bases in the middle for potential PCR amplification; (3) expose this pool of oligonucleotides to the target molecule; (4) partition and isolate the successful binding aptamers that have been selected by the target molecule from the non-binding ones then amplify and subject them to additional selection cycles for further enchainment; (5) from the remaining small amount of high affinity binding molecules: isolate and sequence the individual aptamers, then refine them with altered nucleoside triphosphates like 2-fluoro-dCTP to increase stability against endonuclease degradation by becoming unrecognized. 4. Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy is a high axial-resolution imaging technique used to visualize a thin region of live specimen cells that have been incorporated with fluorescent molecules. Supported on a glass slide, this microscope optically sections the cell-substrate interface and emphasizes near membrane molecular events that are within ~100nm of the sample-coverslip contact region. Accordingly, single molecule fluorescence can be detected for fluorophores situated near adherent cell surfaces as they are being selectively irradiated, thereby minimizing excitation of fluorophores outside this focal plane and increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. This removes any out-of-focus intracellular fluorescence and reduces cellular photodamage, allowing for high-contrast and spatial resolution image production. With these advances, the biochemical kinetics and spatial-temporal dynamics of single biomolecules that are associated exclusively with process occurring at or ne ar the plasma membrane can now be studied. Depending on the incidence angle and refractive index differences of the two media, the collimated light beam can be reflected at the interface or refracted as it enters the second medium limiting most of the light to the higher-index medium. In TIRFM, total internal reflection occurs as the laser excitation on the glass microscope slide (n = 1.518) propagates the light wave towards an interface of a lower-index, aqueous medium (n = 1.33-1.37) at an incident angle greater than the critical angle. The critical angle can be calculated by Snells Law: (eq.1) where n(1) is the higher refractive index; n(2) is the lower refractive index; sin(ÃŽÂ ¸c) is the critical incident angle relative to the normal of the interface; and sin(90à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °) is the corresponding refracted angle. When the beam completely reflects into the microscope slide, a highly restricted electromagnetic field is induced in the specimen medium, immediately adjacent and perpendicular to the interface. With the same frequency as the incident light, this evanescent field extends a few hundred nanometers into the specimen. Since its intensity decays exponentially with distance, it can selectively excite fluorophores near the glass surface given that the energies of their electronic transitions match the wavelength bandwidth of the beam relative to its resonance conditions: (eq.2) where E(z) is the energy at a perpendicular distance z from the interface; E(0) is the energy at the interface; (d) is the penetration depth. The secondary fluorescence emission of the fluorophores is confined to a thin region and detected by microscope optics by the prism or objective lens method. Bowser and Khakh conducted a study to decipher the mechanisms behind astrocyte transmitter release during exocytosis by using TIRFM to image individual SpH-laden vesicles and discovered that these events were either evoked or occurred spontaneously. They used mixed hippocampal neuron-astrocyte cultures that were transfected with synaptopHluorin cDNA because this genetically encoded fluorescent SpH reporter allowed visualization of exocytosis at the single-vesicle level by exploiting changes in pH. With the objective lens adjusted to a high numerical aperture, total internal reflection was attained with a coherent laser source and the subsequent evanescent field event excited SpHs near the coverslip-sample interface. These SpH events appeared as spontaneous increases in fluorescence intensity as the loaded vesicles became brighter when they entered the evanescent field. Eventually, as the vesicles fused with the plasma membrane, the signal rapidly decreased as the fluorescently label ed contents diffused out of the cell. In agreement with the hypothesis, ionomycin (a calcium ionophore) increased its frequency during this event, which proves that these SpH events are representative of exocytosis. For further support, the investigators compared this control group with a negative control cells transfected with plasmids encoding for the light chain of botulinum toxin E. As expected, no SpH events were seen since this neurotoxin specifically cleaves proteins involved in synaptic vesicle exocytosis. 5. Gel electrophoresis is a laboratory method that uses an electric field to push a mixture of charged molecules-macromolecules or nanoparticles-through a porous (agarose or polyacrylamide) gel which serves as a separation medium. Unlike oligonucleotides, proteins and their fragments are not only separated and analyzed based on differences in size, but mostly by the magnitude of their charge. Generally, nucleic acids are sorted and visualized using agarose gel electrophoresis after being dispensed into the wells-by an operator-made during the casting of the gel. It takes advantage of DNA being negatively charged at neutral pH in the presence of ionic solutions like TAE or TBE due to its sugar-phosphate backbone. Connected to a power source, the gel is placed in an electrophoresis chamber. When an electric current is applied, they migrate from the cathode to the positively charged anode across the agarose matrix. The buffer solution serves to maintain the pH and salt concentration and contains 0.5-2.0% w/v of added agarose to successfully form a porous lattice to retard molecular motions by a sieving mechanism. Hence, shorter substrates travel faster and farther than longer ones as they can easily move through the pores, creating distinct bands based on their differential rates of migration. The gel can then be visualised with a U.V. trans-illuminator after staining the DNA with ethidium bromide. Contrarywise, capillary electrophoresis uses a fused-silica capillary tube that is filled with a polymer solution (such as hydroxyethylcellulose) instead of the traditional physical gel. It is essentially electrophoresis being conducted in a capillary tube, which also accomplishes size separation by inserting positive and negative platinum electrodes at its two ends, application of DC current and high voltage with a power supply, using buffer reservoirs for the mobile phase, and employing an on-column detector. However, the DNA samples are loaded differently by electrok inetically injecting them into the separation medium at inlet end. A positive charge is created at the outlet of the capillary to attract these negatively charged DNA via suction, which will then travel to the detector to produce a signal used to create an electropherogram. This method is the most efficient modern separation technique due to its shorter loading time and higher-resolution results, which is governed by the Van-Deemter formula where a smaller plate height indicates a higher efficiency of separation. The velocity of solute transport down the capillary tube is governed by the following equation: (eq. 2) where Veo is the electroosmotic velocity; Ve is the electrophoretic velocity; and Vtotal is the apparent ionic velocity. Specifically, the electroosmotic flow of the solution describes the nature of fluid movement and occurs due to the charge distribution at the silica/capillary interface. The negatively charged, surface bound silanol groups of the fused silica (~pKa 4) contains tightly adsorbed cations above it is the net positively charged-diffuse part of the double layer that is rich in cations. Beyond this, the bulk solution is electrically neutral. In other words, an electric double layer forms at the capillary wall. Under an electric field, the excessive solvated cations pull the water molecules during migration from the anode (inlet) towards the cathode (outlet) of the capillary, where the detector is located. This net movement of the solution front is described by the following formula: (eq. 3) where Veo is the electroosmotic velocity; ÃŽÂ ¼eo isthe electroosmotic mobility; and E is the electric field strength. Moreover, the electrophoretic mobility of the solute is based on the movement of a charged molecule under an electric field, which is proportional to its charge/solute size (q/r) ratio: (eq. 4) where Veo is the electrophoretic velocity; ÃŽÂ ¼eo isthe electrophoretic mobility; and E is the electric field strength. In the presence of electroosmotic flow, the magnitude of velocity for positive ions is greater than negative ions since they are naturally inclined to travel in the direction of the cathode rather than in reverse. References Question 1: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/100/3/867.short http://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/345770 http://panza.uchicago.edu/Phys.261/materials/Osmometer/ http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1476-4431.2008.00311.x/pdf http://www.geminibv.nl/labware/advanced-instruments-inc.-3300-micro-osmometer/advance-micro-osmometer-3300-users-guide.pdf/view https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3886624/ http://www.openisbn.com/preview/0471285722/%20 http://www.iupui.edu/~cletcrse/380/ch3suppos.htm https://books.google.ca/books?id=z9SzvsSCHv4Cpg=PA57lpg=PA57dq=osmometer+instrumentationsource=blots=JphQsqNWnFsig=UJ3t-Ax6d3kHyQEjdA40I5S8wx8hl=ensa=Xved=0ahUKEwjDyYqH7ZXSAhUb0IMKHSScAgcQ6AEIRjAH#v=onepageq=osmometer%20instrumentationf=false https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/physical-sciences-practice/physical-sciences-practice-tut/e/-using-a-freezing-point-depression-osmometer-to-measure-serum-osmolality Question 2 http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2017/ay/c6ay02899c https://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/pdf/2013/pdf/85030589.pdf http://www.horiba.com/fileadmin/uploads/Scientific/Documents/Fluorescence/Tech_Note2_-_Anisotropy.pdf http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-0-387-46312-4_10 https://www.picoquant.com/applications/category/life-science/fluorescence-anisotropy-polarization http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~traceslab/FLD_Anisotropy.pdf Question 3 http://aptamerstbc2013.wixsite.com/aptamers/vs-monoclonal-antibodies http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v9/n7/box/nrd3141_BX1.html https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_is_the_monoclonal_antibody_used_more_than_the_aptamer http://www.basepairbio.com/research-and-publications/aptamer-applications/aptamers-antibodies/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17627883 https://www.google.ca/search?safe=strictespv=2q=advantages+of+antibodies+verus+apatmersoq=advantages+of+antibodies+verus+apatmersgs_l=serp.3..30i10k1.10392.13224.0.13547.15.15.0.0.0.0.155.1255.8j5.13.0.01c.1.64.serp..2.9.9150i22i30k1j33i160k1j33i21k1.QfKckWwb9sI http://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v5/n6/full/nprot.2010.66.html https://www.trilinkbiotech.com/tech/selex.asp https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21720957 Question 4 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091679X08006079 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11733042 http://www.olympusmicro.com/primer/techniques/fluorescence/tirf/tirfhome.html http://jcs.biologists.org/content/123/21/3621.short https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2964103/ http://www.pnas.org/content/104/10/4212.full https://www.microscopyu.com/techniques/fluorescence/total-internal-reflection-fluorescence-tirf-microscopy http://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n6/full/nprot.2006.449.html Question 5 http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/emfpu/genetics/explained/electrophoresis https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/courses

Peptidylarginine Deiminase and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Peptidylarginine Deiminase and Neurodegenerative Diseases Abbreviations AD: Alzheimers disease CNS: Central nervous system GFAP: Glial fibrillary acidic protein NFT: Neurofibrillary tangles MAP2: Microtubule-associated protein 2 MBP: Myelin basic protein Nef3: Neurofilament 3 PAD: Peptidylarginine deiminase RT-PCR: Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction SP: Senile plaque Introduction Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimers disease and Multiple Sclerosis, are a group of progressive conditions, which affect a persons learning abilities and the day-to-day routine management. Citrullination/deiminasion is a process describing the enzymatic involvement in conversion of arginine residues into citrulline in target proteins. Here, is a review, entailing the main features of the peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) enzyme family, with a view on its history, presence and future in neurodegenerative disorders. Background The amino acid Citrulline was firstly mentioned in 1955 (Smith and Young), and the citrullination process of L-arginine conversion to L-citrulline was firstly described in 1958 (Rogers and Simmonds).Citrullination is a posttranslational process, and also results in a 1Da decrease in size, due to an hydrolytic reaction (Vossenaar et al., 2003; Gyorgy et al., 2006; van Venrooji and Pruijn, 2003). However, it was only in 1977 when peptidylarginine deiminases, the enzymes that are responsible to the citrulline modification, were firstly described (Rogers et al.). Alzheimers disease: GFAP, an astrocyte-specific marker protein, is involved in the progression of Alzheimers disease via PAD2 citrullination. The increase of PAD2 can be seen in the hippocampi of AD patients. GFAP and vimentin citrullination was also identified by using a 2D gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Activation of PAD occurs upon a mass influx of Ca2+, and therefore an increase in citrullinated proteins (Keller et al., 2000; Maccioni et al., 2001). The PAD family consists of five known members (1-4 6), each is present in a different area in the human body. PAD2 and PAD4 area of activity is the central nervous system (CNS), although PAD2 in larger amounts than PAD4 (Kubilus and Baden, 1983; Watanabe et al., 1988; Terakawa et al., 1991). Yet, the role of the different PADs is still largely understood. PAD3 was found in the root sheaths of hair follicles, as part of the citrullination process of keratinisation (Kanno et al., 2000). PAD4 was found in human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells, and later in peripheral blood granulocytes (Nakashima et al., 1999; Asaga et al., 2001). PAD2 and PAD4 are also present in the myelin sheath. In fact, hyper-citrullination of myelin basic protein (MBP) is now known to result in myelin sheath loss in multiple sclerosis patients (Moscarello et al., 1994; Wood et al., 2008; Musse et al., 2008). Moreover, PAD4 is also involved in histone deimination in brain tissues of such patients (Mastronardi et al., 2006). Following immunocytochemical studies, PAD2 have been detected in glial cells and astrocytes (Asaga and Ishigami, 2000; Vincent et al., 1992; Asaga and Ishigami, 2001), microglial cells (Vincent et al., 1992; Asaga et al, 2002), oligodendrocytes (Akiyama et al., 1999), and Schwann cells (Keilhoff et al., 2008). Furthermore, during hypoxic insult (Asaga and Ishigami, 2000) and during kainic acid administration (Asaga and Ishigami, 2001; Asaga et al., 2002), neurodegenerative regions shown to have PAD2 activity and deimination of various proteins. These findings suggest that PAD2 plays an important role in protein citrullination in neurodegeneration.  Senile plaques (SPs) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are the two main forms of protein aggregation, and therefore responsible for neuronal death in AD (Katzman, 1986; Smith, 1998). They are mainly found in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, when levels of PAD2 were detected to be more than threefold higher in the hippocampus than in the cortex of rat brains (Asaga and Ishigami, 2000). A study by Ishigami et al. (2005) was set to evaluate the involvement of protein citrullination in AD patients brains, and identified two citrullinated proteins- GFAP and vimentin, by using a two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. It went on to identify also a citrullinated MBP, again in the hippocampus region of the AD patients. Multiple sclerosis: Higher rates of citrullinated MBP were found in the CNS of MS patients than in the CNS of healthy adults (Mastronardi et al., 2006; Nicholas and Whitaker, 2002; Raijmakers et al., 2005). However, similar levels of citrullination have been observed in children under the age of 4. An indication that citrullination is involved in the development of mature myelin (Moscarello et al., 1994; Wood et al., 1996). Due to known increased citrullination, PAD2 and PAD4 rates in myelin from normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) of seven MS patients were examined, and were found to be significantly higher compared to NAWM from six control individuals, using immunoblots with PAD2 and PAD4-specific antibodies (Wood et al., 2008). The anti-citrulline antibody- F95, was also used in the same manner, resulting in the same outcome (Nicholas et al., 2004). The study by Wood et al. (2008) also discovered that PAD2 can citrullinate 18 out of 19 arginine residues, whereas PAD4 can only citrullinate 15 out of 19 arginine residues localised in MBP. It has been found and reported that MPB deimination increases its susceptibility to degradation by proteinases, which are elevated around active plaques and in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (Cuzner and Davison, 1973; Einstein et al., 1972; Richards and Cuzner, 1978). It has been also reported that macrophages and reactive astrocytes are able to produce the proteinase cathepsin D (Allen and McKeown, 1979; Prineas and Wright, 1978). Cathepsin D then produces peptides that contain the immuno-dominant epitopes of MBP, located in the CSF of MS patients (Whitaker, 1977; Whitaker and Granum, 1980). It was then discovered that different MBP strains, containing greater amounts of citrulline per mole of MBP than their counterparts were digested at a much faster rate by cathepsin D (Pritzker et al., 2000). An explanation for this discovery by Pritzker et al. can be explained by the three-dimensional atomic structure of the human MBP they created. The stru cture showed a clear correlation between the open conformation of the atomic structure and the higher rate of citrullination in-site, which allows cathepsin D a better access to Phe-Phe linkages in MBP, and so an increased digestion of citrullinated MBP. Current perspectives In addition to MBP, GFAP also have shown to be citrullinated in MS. In a study by Nicholas et al. (2004), GFAP citrullination rate in both the NAWM and lesions of patients with SPMS was compared with the white matter of control brain tissue, and was found to be in higher amounts. The findings were obtained using GFAP anti-citrulline antibodies (such as P95) and confocal microscopy. On an extended study by Nicholas et al. (2004), using dual staining wit GFAP anti-citrulline antibodies, it was found that lesions taken from nine MS patients were highly citrullinated compared to white matter taken from six healthy control individuals. Western blotting has also confirmed that the majority of the deimination occurred in GFAP. PAD4 is enable to translocate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, due to its ability to carry a functional nuclear localisation signal (Nakashima et al., 2002). PAD4 modification can also affect nuclear proteins, histones H2A, H3 and H4, and nucleophosmin/B23 (Hagiwara et al. 2002).   Deimination of histones causes change in chromatin confirmation, and therefore gene transcription gets turned off (Shimoyama et al., 2010). In a study by Cuthbert et al. PAD4 was found to inhibit transcription of estrogen-responsive genes in MCF-7 cells. Levels of PAD4 in MCF-7 cells were shown to rise in response to estrogen, followed by deimination of the pS2 promoter by PAD4, which coincides with downregulation of this gene (Cuthbert et al. 2004). Wang et al. showed that incubation of purified substrates H3 and H4 with PAD4 in vitro generated citrullinated H3 and H4, which coincided with a dramatic reduction in H3 Arg 17 and H4 Arg 3 methylation (Wang et al. 2004). This effect was also mimicked when HL-60 granulocytes were incubated with PAD4 in vivo, in the presence of calcium ionophore. PAD4 was found to be elevated in NAWM from 17 patients with MS, compared to 9 control subjects (Mastronardi et al. 2006). This was shown by fractionation of these samples into membrane-containing, non-microsomal, and nuclear fractions, followed by quantitation of the amount of PAD 1-4 antibody binding. The nuclear fraction contained a 3.5-fold increase in the level of PAD4 in patients with MS compared to controls. Through western blot analysis using anti-PAD4 antibody, this was attributable to increased PAD4 in the MS NAWM. Using an antibody against citrullinated proteins, this increase in PAD4 was found to be accompanied by an increase in citrullinated proteins in brain tissue taken from patients with MS, whereby strong nuclear labeling in NAWM from MS patients was seen compared to controls (Mastronardi et al. 2006). This increase in PAD4 was also accompanied by an increase in nuclear histone H3 citrullination, as shown by immunostaining of MS and control tissue with an antibody against citrullinated protein, which revealed strong nuclear staining of cells in the MS white matter. These findings were confirmed by western blot analysis, which showed a gre at abundance of citrullinated H3 in MS NAWM, with only traces in white matter from controls. This citrullination of histones greatly affects the chromatin structure and function, as deimination of arginine residues of histones decreases their positive charge, which compromises its ability to interact with DNA and possibly resulting in apoptosis of affected cells (Moscarello et al. 2007; Wang et al. 2004). It is not known whether excess citrullination is a primary or a secondary event to the inflammatory process in MS or whether the regulation of PAD isoforms may be part of the genetic susceptibility to MS. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the PAD4 gene, also associated with the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis, increase mRNA stability, suggesting that this could result in greater PAD4 protein expression and hence increased citrullination of proteins (Suzuki et al. 2003). Increased PAD2 protein expression in human astrocytes in vitro has also been reported in response to inc reased intracellular calcium levels when cells were subjected to elevated pressure or in response to hypoxia (Bhattacharya et al. 2006a, b; Sambandam et al. 2004). A number of pathological processes, including excitotoxicity, occur in the CNS of patients with MS, which would lead to raised intracellular calcium ions in neurons and glia (Shideman et al. 2006; Smith 2007). Large numbers of activated macrophages are present in inflammatory demyelinating sites within MS lesions. Since these cells contain PAD enzymes and there is increased cell death due to raised intracellular calcium ions, this would lead to activation of PAD enzymes when released from dying cells (Bhattacharya et al. 2006a). Thus myelin proteins may be citrullinated both intracellularly, during myelin degradation following phagocytosis, as well as extracellularly, following release of PAD enzymes from dying cells. In addition, significant hypomethylation of the PAD2 promoter has also been found to occur in MS NAWM compared to controls, which may lead to increased PAD2 expression and subsequent increase in citrullination, as hypomethylation leads to increased gene transcription (M astronardi et al. 2007). Future perspectives Conclusion In the last 60 years since it was firstly mentioned, the research area of PADs have made a tremendous leap and came about with many important discoveries regarding the mechanisms and pathologies concerning PADs. However, it still seems to be largely unknown and have many possible routes of research. Especially when considering the wide localisation of the PADs throughout the human body. Such areas of research may ask after the origins of the calcium influx to the brain tissues, and the timing of that physiological event; how may the rate of calcium influx affect the rate of neurodegeneration; what would prove to be the most effective PAD-inhibitor treatment, etc. However, looking at the milestones along the research of PADs, it does seem that the right questions are being asked, and that the available/emerging technologies are suitable for this research. References Smith, D. G. and Young, E. G. J. Biol. Chem., 217, 845 (1955). Rogers GE, Simmonds DH. Content of citrulline and other amino acids in a protein of hair follicles. Nature. 1958; 182(4629):186-7. [PubMed: 13566234] Vossenaar ER, Zendman AJ, van Venrooij WJ, Pruijn GJ. PAD, a growing family of citrullinating enzymes: genes, features and involvement in disease. Bioessays. 2003; 25(11):1106-18. [PubMed: 14579251] Gyorgy B, Tà ³th E, Tarcsa E, Falus A, Buzà ¡s EI. Citrullination: a posttranslational modification in health and disease. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2006; 38(10):1662-77. [PubMed: 16730216] Van Venrooij WJ, Pruijn GJ. Citrullination: a small change for a protein with great consequences for rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Res. 2000; 2(4):249-51. [PubMed: 11094435] Rogers GE, Harding HW, Llewellyn-Smith IJ. The origin of citrulline-containing proteins in the hair follicle and the chemical nature of trichohyalin, an intracellular precursor. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1977; 495(1):159-75. [PubMed: 410454] Keller, J.N., Hanni, K.B., Markesbery, W.R. Impaired proteasome function in Alzheimers disease. J Neurochem. 2000; 75:436-439. Maccioni R. B., Muà ±oz J. P. Barbeito L. The molecular bases of Alzheimers disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Arch Med Res. 32, 367-381 (2001).   Ã‚  

The Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War Essay -- Vietnam War Essays

The Tet Offensive   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Tet Offensive was a major assault by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong against South Vietnam and the U.S. forces situated there. It was not only a psychological advance for the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong, but also gave the United States a notion that the war wasn’t going to be an easy win, and the chances of winning the war were, in fact, very slim.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The war initially was an attempt to limit the spread of communism throughout Asia. Similar to Korea, Vietnam was in a civil war divided by political ideologies. (2) The Domino Effect is the idea that when one nation falls to communism, other nations around it in time will fall (2). Under the fear of this happening in Vietnam, the United States joined forces with the South Vietnamese to fight the spread of communism (5). Though most of South Vietnam was indeed against the spread of communism, there were some who sympathized with the North, known as the Northern Liberation Front, or Viet Cong (VC). The VC hid amongst the other South Vietnamese civilians, and used guerilla tactics to fight for communism. (5)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Tet Offensive was an all out attack by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the VC during the Tet cease-fire (6). The cease-fire was a peaceful and hospitable agreement made between the U.S. and the NVA to stop all assaults during Tet, the annual Vietnamese festival for celebrating the lunar New Year. On the first day of the festival, January 31, 1968, NVA and VC launched a series of attacks on major cities and military bases located in South Vietnam. (6)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strategically, the assault was a failure (5). The communist attackers had failed to permanently capture any of their targets, and overall, had lost more men than the democratic defenders (6). However, the deviousness and planning involved in the offensive was so great that the overall psychological effect had gained an advantage for North Vietnam and the VC (5).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Vietnam War was the most reported conflict in history (3). TV cameramen from all over the nation flew to Vietnam to document the sights and stories, so that viewers at home would have a feel for the war they were paying for. Sometimes the media’s output had a negative effect on the war effort, showing graphic senseless violence. (3) They also proved wrong the claims laid by General Westermoreland of ... ...d Historical Society, Inc. 1998   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book is written by the commanding officer of Bravo Company. It goes through the happenings of a platoon through the Vietnam War, and describes the events on the first night of Tet, and carries the topic for the two weeks that followed. 4. Pimlott, John. Vietnam: the Decisive Battles. New York, New York. Macmillan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Publishing Company. 1990   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book goes through the planning, and execution of the Tet Offensive, and describes in detail the effects of the attack, and how it was â€Å"decisive.† 5. Knopf, Alfred. Walter Cronkite: a Reporter’s Life. New York, New York.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Randomhouse, Inc. 1996.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since Cronkite was one of the most influential political commentators during the sixties, his opinion was valued highly. This book gives an overview of how his opinion toward the war changed after the Tet Offensive, and how that changed the feelings of the American public. 6. Martin, Earl. Personal Interview. 21, March 2001   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Martin was a civilian relief volunteer during the war. He gave me an account of the change in moral of the volunteers and the civilians under pressure after the Tet Offensive had taken place.

Exploring Cultural Diversity in Mirror for Man :: Mirror for Man Essays

Exploring Cultural Diversity in Mirror for Man Why do men do the things they do? Professor Kluckhohn attempts to explore, define and explain the answer to this complex question in one brief passage. He reasons that we are all given the same basic biological "tools" at birth, so it should follow then, that we should all behave in similar ways. But, because of "culture", defined as "the total life way of a people", we do not react to similar situations in exactly the same way. Culture is the main reason we can not explain other people's actions "in terms of biological properties." Professor Kluckhohn proceeds to explain cultural differences and similarities through some experiences of his own. First he parallels an American woman's view of polygamy to a Koryak woman's. Then he shares an anecdote of an American man who was raised as a Chinese. Lastly, he tells a tale of a woman serving rattlesnake sandwiches to her guests. After each example he points out that it is a persons upbringing and way of life that dictates how he or she will act in or react to a given situation. I am in total agreement with Professor Kluckhohn's views. I found his passage to be very interesting reading because it put into words views and ideas I had formulated through dealing with people of other nationalities. It also pointed out that a body doesn't make a man, a mind does. How the mind is trained and nurtured will decide what the man is and how he thinks. I am what some would call a "people-person." I love being with new people and learning about what makes them "tick." I have been lucky enought to travel through Europe and the Orient so I have seen first hand whether East does meet West or not. But the place where I learned the most about people and the way they live would have to be right here at home - Southern California. Living here in an area with a rich ethinic mixture has opened my eyes to things like: the Filipino tendency to eat with a spoon and fork while Americans tend to use mainly the fork, the Oriental's tight family ties and the growing rate of American divorces, etc. The mixture of traditional Filipino parents and growing up in California has given me a chance to glimpse how some cultures go hand in hand while others clash violently.

Social&Technology Analysis of Revlon

Issues that may impact the industry include consumers' concerns about product safety and the use of animal testing by cosmetics companies[1]. In 1990, cosmetics giant Revlon became one of the first industry heavyweights to swear off all animal testing. Since then, Revlon has grown to be an animal-friendly empire, garnering awards for its products from magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Teen People, Allure, and In Style[2]. That is a signal that Revlon has an awareness of social responsibility and also showed their concerns about natural environment. Besides, with the income increasing, modern people are more willing to purchase personal care products and cosmetics for themselves. The age range of consumers is developing to both younger and elder. These trends are obviously seen especially in some developing countries and areas. Since the majority of personal care products are currently sold in the United States, Japan, Canada, and European countries(less than 20%of worlds population), the potential for sales of personal care products around the world is excellent. Increasingly, cosmetics/personal care is not an industry for women only; men purchase personal care products such as skin creams and hair care products/dyes and many men are trying cosmetics in an effort to improve their appearance. The market for hair colouring has expanded with teenagers and adults wanting more vibrant colouring options[3]. Revlon also shows its social responsibility according to charities. There are the most recent examples which are significant. Through November 2008, Revlon donated a percentage of their profits to the Rainbow Trust children’s charity. Another one is announced in May of 2009. Revlon said it would donate 10% of sales (up to $100,000) of its new color collection to fund women`s cancer program in partnership with the EIF, which full name is Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Honesty: Lie and Personal Responsibility

Being Honest with Yourself Honesty is the best way to succeed in future endeavors, both in relationships and business. Though being honest can hurt others it is beneficial to succeeding in life. This is a personal responsibility any individual should have both in education and in everyday life. When it comes to being honest in school, plagiarism is one of the biggest lies a person could do.Plagiarism means â€Å"an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author†(Dictionary. com,2013). Plagiarizing someone’s work is not being honest to the instructor, but most of all not being honest to your own work; it is not showing that you have that personal responsibility to the school work. Researchers have a personal responsibility to be honest on their work.Sometimes when the research is being conducted, the writer wi ll add other more honorary titles into that research; this is less than honest when it comes to a research. When the researchers add extra information that is not valid to the paper it starts to become a lie. In childhood a young child has that personal responsibility to be honest to their parents. If they were not honest with them, normally they would be disciplined for lying. While in school a child will learn how to be honest on their school work and to be honest with their peers.In both aspects they would need to show that they know what honesty is, and that they are responsible for proving that they truly understand what that honesty is. Sometimes when growing up and being taught that being honest is the way life should be and that the individual should always be honest. Honesty does have its time and place. â€Å"Do theses pants make my butt look fat†, for gentlemen this is an all-time question, tell the truth and let your wife know, yes those pants make you look fat, o r say honey no you look amazing in those pants.Some honesty could be a little too much for a woman already feeling insecure about her body. So the individual will tell a little white lie and things seem to continue to run smoothly throughout the day and night. Now if the person were a snitch, say for the FBI, this could be a deadly ordeal for that person. Tell the truth only to the FBI and take that chance of being caught by a gang of some sorts, and be killed for saying secret information. Then again if that snitch never gets caught, there might be an amazing award for that person.Going to another country or state might become their haven, and they can continue a normal and productive life. Some views on honesty are that a person is a snitch, or maybe they just do not know how to tell a lie. Either way, honesty is a personal responsibility that most would view as an important aspect to everyday life. Whether it is in school or in everyday life honesty is the best policy. References Sharma, B. , & Singh, V. (2011). Ethics in writing: Learning to stay away from plagiarism and scientific misconduct.Lung India, 28(2), 148-150. doi: http://dx. doi. org/10. 4103/0970- 2113. 80337 Steneck, N. H. (2011). The dilemma of the honest researcher. EMBO Reports, 12(8), 745-745. doi: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1038/embor. 2011. 134 Victoria Talwar, Angela M. Crossman, Children’s lies and their detection: Implications for child witness testimony, Developmental Review, Volume 32, Issue 4, December 2012, Pages 337-359, ISSN 0273-2297, 10. 1016/j. dr. 2012. 06. 004. (http://www. sciencedirect. com/science/article/pii/S0273229712000251) Honesty: Lie and Personal Responsibility Being Honest with Yourself Honesty is the best way to succeed in future endeavors, both in relationships and business. Though being honest can hurt others it is beneficial to succeeding in life. This is a personal responsibility any individual should have both in education and in everyday life. When it comes to being honest in school, plagiarism is one of the biggest lies a person could do.Plagiarism means â€Å"an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author†(Dictionary. com,2013). Plagiarizing someone’s work is not being honest to the instructor, but most of all not being honest to your own work; it is not showing that you have that personal responsibility to the school work. Researchers have a personal responsibility to be honest on their work.Sometimes when the research is being conducted, the writer wi ll add other more honorary titles into that research; this is less than honest when it comes to a research. When the researchers add extra information that is not valid to the paper it starts to become a lie. In childhood a young child has that personal responsibility to be honest to their parents. If they were not honest with them, normally they would be disciplined for lying. While in school a child will learn how to be honest on their school work and to be honest with their peers.In both aspects they would need to show that they know what honesty is, and that they are responsible for proving that they truly understand what that honesty is. Sometimes when growing up and being taught that being honest is the way life should be and that the individual should always be honest. Honesty does have its time and place. â€Å"Do theses pants make my butt look fat†, for gentlemen this is an all-time question, tell the truth and let your wife know, yes those pants make you look fat, o r say honey no you look amazing in those pants.Some honesty could be a little too much for a woman already feeling insecure about her body. So the individual will tell a little white lie and things seem to continue to run smoothly throughout the day and night. Now if the person were a snitch, say for the FBI, this could be a deadly ordeal for that person. Tell the truth only to the FBI and take that chance of being caught by a gang of some sorts, and be killed for saying secret information. Then again if that snitch never gets caught, there might be an amazing award for that person.Going to another country or state might become their haven, and they can continue a normal and productive life. Some views on honesty are that a person is a snitch, or maybe they just do not know how to tell a lie. Either way, honesty is a personal responsibility that most would view as an important aspect to everyday life. Whether it is in school or in everyday life honesty is the best policy. References Sharma, B. , & Singh, V. (2011). Ethics in writing: Learning to stay away from plagiarism and scientific misconduct.Lung India, 28(2), 148-150. doi: http://dx. doi. org/10. 4103/0970- 2113. 80337 Steneck, N. H. (2011). The dilemma of the honest researcher. EMBO Reports, 12(8), 745-745. doi: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1038/embor. 2011. 134 Victoria Talwar, Angela M. Crossman, Children’s lies and their detection: Implications for child witness testimony, Developmental Review, Volume 32, Issue 4, December 2012, Pages 337-359, ISSN 0273-2297, 10. 1016/j. dr. 2012. 06. 004. (http://www. sciencedirect. com/science/article/pii/S0273229712000251)