Theory Analysis of Critical Theory and Feminist Theory Essay Example for Free

Theory Analysis of Critical Theory and Feminist Theory Essay Critical theory and Feminist theory are both complex in terms of its structure and principles. Critical theory, according to Max Horkheimer in his work titled Traditional and Critical Theory, is a kind social theory oriented toward analyzing the society and in effect and altering society unlike the traditional theory which focuses only in recognizing, elucidating and giving details about it. Horkheimer furthered; â€Å"critical theory must be explanatory, normative and practical at the same time(Bohman, 2005).† That is, one must be aware and be able to identify things that are not in the right flow in a society, must be able to take actions to adjust or modify it. Critical theory being normative as further defined by Sailer must â€Å"be able to carry about alteration in the situations that influence our lives(Seiler).† Critical theory is a philosophical approach that includes feminist theory. Feminist theory seeks to discover the perception of gender. As explained by Sailer, â€Å" Feminist theory assumes that gender is an all-encompassing category for perceiving human experience. The case is that gender is a generally constructed classification of values, identities, and activities. It also emphasizes that sex is biologically determined. It intends to defy the established gender assumptions of society as well as to attain further beneficial ways for women and men to co- exist(Seiler).† The Feminist Theory stress out that the domination of men considerably affects the women. It radically deafens the society about the contribution, roles, and values of the women that leads to the existence of gendered inequities that seems to inundate the cultural way of living. Critical theory recognizes that the ability to understand can lead a change while feminist theory, a philosophical approach of critical theory, sees that the means of thinking of feminine is different from the masculine. Critical Theory(2005). Seiler, R. M. Human Communication in the Critical Theory Tradition. Retrieved November 1, 2006, 2006, from http://www.ucalgary.ca/~rseiler/critical.htm

IKEA Competitor and SWOT Analysis

IKEA Competitor and SWOT Analysis Jump to: Market Analysis | Environmental Analysis | IKEA SWOT Analysis | Growth Strategy | Marketing Mix of IKEA IKEAs Vision â€Å"To create a better everyday life for the many people† IKEA Business Idea â€Å"We shall offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.† IKEA group is one of the top furniture retailers in the world. With its unique combination of form, function and affordability, IKEA distinguished itself from other furniture retailers. With its success in US, Europe, IKEA entered the Gulf market with the hope of continuing its success. Even if it was not very successful initially, it improved through its market research and advertisements. Nowadays, IKEA captured major market share in the Gulf market and also the reputation of being the fastest-growing furniture retailer in the Gulf. This report focuses on our competitor Home Centre how they are trying to make profits and gain market share and what IKEA Dubai is doing to conquer their space. Looking at different factors which have become issues to be resolved for IKEA. Some internal issues needs like POS terminals and security of money needs to be the aim to achieve. Competitor Analysis These analyses are basically done to understand your competition which gives you an edge. It helps you in giving you an indication of their past, present and future strategies. It helps you to clarify your own competitive advantage and it helps you develop strategies to outmaneuver them Identifying IKEAs competitors and understanding them would help IKEA a lot in their strategies. Home Centre is one of their competitors but looking at the past sales and profit figures IKEA has done better than Home Centre. Home Centre has been very brave in their marketing strategies. Their promotions and advertising has been one of their strengths but IKEA on the other hand has different activities going on in the store. For example last month they had Lighting Activity and this month they have Dining Activity which means they introduce new products in these lines and display them in the most best and strategic places where most customers can see and buy them. As per home centre they have been pushing customers towards them by their new promotion of giving out gift vouchers on a purchase of 200Dhs. This has been some kind of successful. IKEA has its eyes on them and monitor their each and every move and even them. IKEA has a big Marketing team which comes up with a lot of solutions and ideas but they still face completion from home centre. So what they did after home centres promotion they distributed 200,000 coupons all over Dubai for free for people to fill and come to IKEA Dubai or Abu Dhabi stores and drop it in raffle boxes. The prize is 5 winners will be winning 2000Dhs of IKEA products each of their choice. The draw is still due on April 18th 2010. Other competitor for IKEA is Pan Emirates and many other furniture retail stores in Dubai. Market Analysis Market analysis are basically done to determine the market and its attractiveness because its related to the firms strengths and weaknesses Market size can be evaluated with the present sales of the firm compared with the past sales or expansion of certain range of products. Market size and growth for IKEA has increased as compares to last year where IKEA Dubai was affected with recession and not much profit were made. But in as per now in March 2010 they have achieved what they had budgeted. Figures show that as per march 2010 there has been a growth in total sales by 7.3% making sales in the month of March to 42MillionDHS. It shows how much total sales were made by furniture items and market-hall items. The market has grown this year as the recession has gone down. The target customers are upper and middle class families. The sales has grown not just because of IKEAs furniture and market-hall items but because of their excellent customers restaurant and exit cafà © also. Distribution channels the products come shipped from Sweden to gulf region where they are received at the ports and then transferred to their warehouse in Rashidiya -Dubai. From there the products come to stock in IKEA and then they are sold directly to customers. Their aim is to reduce distribution costs, reduced manufacturing costs and selling costs. How can this be achieved, Through a rational product range development and by adapting product design to production conditions, Through a rational distribution idea in combination with a caring meeting with the many people and through a strict cost-consciousness in all areas. The IKEA concept aims to make the distance between the supplier and the customer as short as possible by combining the possibilities of the supplier with the needs of the customer. Key success factors and strategic strength for IKEA here are reducing distribution costs by producing products in flat packaging, cost effective distribution system, direct deliveries, and transit deliveries with minimum handling. Environmental Analysis Macro level At this level the environmental factors IKEA is facing is technological and product innovation. They need to come up with new ways of producing their furniture items which they say are at lesser price at the same time are not that strong. At customer service IKEA Dubai they receive a lot of returns of damaged goods or poor quality products which after some weeks break or get damaged very easily. The expensive products like mattresses and sofas they all have guarantees on them they get replaced but not these small items which get damaged so easily. They need to think of something new to improve their production of certain products like lack coffee tables and TV benches. The most important of them at present are the economic factor, employment and culture factors. They are meant to change a lot in coming years. Micro level IKEA already has Home Centre as their primary competitor and IKEA is doing better than them as IKEA has a greater market share. Threats of substitutes and new entrants are always there and there are many furniture shops and stores in Karama, Satwa, Deira that sell furniture and mattresses at lesser price. Homes R Us is also one substitute which has already entered the market many years ago. They sell all the products that one needs at home. IKEA has more than 7200 products which is a plus point. Customer Analysis Consumer behavior changes a lot with their life style and standard of living. Once their needs change they change their choices, buying behavior and buying power. An eye has to be kept on our customers to check what other options they have once their behavior is changes. Customers are divided into different segments like different demographics or geographical location. IKEA has customers from upper class and lower class but from all nationalities. Each has their own buying power and behavior. Internal Analysis Physical resources of IKEA like machines which are used to fill the stock in self serve and full serve areas are checked and charged daily. The machines, building and production capacity are all well maintained to survive in retail business. They need to improve on POS terminal at exchange and returns where there have been cases of money laundering. Employees have stolen money and caught after many days. So these things need to be taken care of from the management and finance department. This leads to decrease in profits. IKEA Dubai has more than 300 employees from different nationalities and regularly they are given training in their training centre. Expert professors and managers give them training to increase employee knowledge of products and increase skills at their work. SWOT Analysis (S)trengths IKEA has maintained a long-term partnerships with its suppliers. This ensures they have high quality products and materials at a reasonable price. IKEAs catalogue the 2nd most read book after The Holy Quran in the world. The best marketing strategy they have for many years. Home planning and contract sales services Their customer service at IKEA Dubai has been the best so far. Even people from Sweden came to visit IKEA Dubai and they were shocked to see our customer service on our peak days. Customer service includes Operators, Information Desk, Play rooms for kids, Exchange and Returns, Merchandise Pick-up and Home delivery services which also include assembly services. (W)eaknesses IKEA is a global company, so product standards may be difficult to maintain. Production faults decreases product quality. (O)pportunities IKEA can further capitalize on the green movement and IKEAs customers desire to have less of an impact on the environment. IKEAs new store in Abu Dhabi will be a great opportunity to cater a different segment of people. (T)hreats The regulatory environments across the globe vary and can affect how IKEA does business and their product costs, especially the use of natural resources. Competitors like Home Centre and Pan Emirates bring in a lot of promotions and sales in their stores; Whereas IKEA has store sales only in June and July. Key issues IKEA faces are internally like production fault or poor quality products. Need to reduce faulty products or totally stop selling them because of complain form customers. They need Improvements in the POS terminals, reducing accepting open packages and sales errors. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.ikeadubai.com/ http://www.netmba.com/marketing/market/analysis/ http://www.homecentre.net/index.php?_a=corporate http://www.productmanagementtraining.com/product-management-training-day1.htm http://www.ehow.com/facts_5278469_ikea-swot-analysis.html CONTEMPORORY MARKETING STRATEGIES MARKETING PLAN PHASE 2 Executive Summary Aim of this report is to understand IKEAs concept more thoroughly and maintain /increase the current market share. It is one the objectives of this report to increase sales and quality of production of certain products in which they receive a lot of complain. Improve POS terminals by installing new software and making it much more secure. Making the most use of the June and July sales to increase sales to 10% compared to 7.3% in March. The methods and recommendations I have chosen to increase market share is to introduce IKEA Family here in Dubai as well. This will let us increase our customer base and target new segments. The sales will also increase and we will have new members who will benefit from our exclusive services and new products. IKEA family has its own products which will be brought in from Sweden for the members. Sales to be increased to 10% we will have to improve our services and products in June and July. The new range of products will be brought in from Sweden and this new IKEA family will be promoted all over IKEA stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and our websites. We can introduce this anytime in this year. Marketing Objectives To maintain the current market share To increase the current increase in sales from 7.3% to 10% by July 2010 To improve POS terminals and safety To improve quality of certain products if not discontinue them and bring in new products which are selling well in Sweden or in other stores of IKEA in the world. Targeting and Positioning IKEA has traditionally targeted homeowners but as the housing market weakens the IKEA is going after a new group of buyers to grow future sales: Small business owners and new families entering the gulf market In the past 12 months, IKEA has started creating interior designs and products for entrepreneurs and these families such as kitchen designs and contract sales for small business owners. In April the company is also expected to launch a new website, ikeabusiness.com, where small business owners can discover new ideas for designing their offices and share them with other entrepreneurs. Families can design their kitchens at IKEA Home planning service where once they design their kitchen they have to pay 500Dhs kitchen charges which is refundable once the customer buys the kitchen. It will be an interesting development to watch, because their targeting strategy is diversity in buyers preferences and they are meeting it by providing more than 7200 products with the best of customer services. Many small business owners are price conscious and would welcome IKEAs products as an economic alternative to other suppliers. In addition, despite not having a strong existing selection of business furniture and accessories, entrepreneurs are already going to the stores to buy chairs, tables, storage solutions, and other products. Wide range of products helps them improve sales Differentiated marketing is their strategy. They have different marketing mix plans for different segments. Now they should have a new target segment in this which is the disabled people. They do have this in IKEA UK and other stores in the world. They should start this in IKEA Dubai as well. Its called IKEA Family. You need to become a member of this family and then avail different benefits like discounts on certain IKEA Family products. Offers on their food products and free IKEA magazines. This will let them target a new segment and increase sales and customer flow in their store. It will build a emotional relationship with these special family members. Marketing positioning statement: â€Å"We do our part, you do yours. Together we save money. This line is originated from IKEA Sweden where it started first. Their flat packed products are easy to take home and assemble by the customers because they provide all the instructions and fittings inside the box. If there is any issue in assembly we can always do it for them by proving our assembly services. Quality services will always win customers for the store. Our exchange and refund policy of exchanging and refunding the money back to the customer within 30days is not followed anywhere. Not even In our competitors Home Centres store. We refund the money to customers because â€Å"Its ok to change your mind†. This is what it says at all the 22 check outs we go through and at the customer service department. Growth Strategies Generic strategies like priced based, IKEA has prices of their products which are affordable that is why they are making profits and has a good market chare. But out objective is to increase the sales percentage from 7.3 to 10% by July. This can only be done if they differentiate and highlight their services and products more than their competitors. Home Centre has recently opened a new store at Mirdiff City Centre which has not affected IKEA at all till now. IKEA can grow their sales if they bring in the service they provide in IKEA UK that is IKEA Familk and with it its new products. IKEA Family has its own products with fewer prices. Many of our upper class segment customers would love to avail these benefits because they are IKEAs regular customers. 70% of the shoppers are women and they would love to become a member of this Family. This would lead to alternative directions and IKEA will penetrate into a new market. Product development is another alternate for IKEA to grow and change perception of their certain consumers. Certain IKEA products are not reliable for long or get damaged very quickly. They need to look in to their production department in Sweden and produce products like Lack coffee tables and TV benches much stronger. They can either discontinues these items and bring in new stock from Sweden because not all the products are sold here in IKEA Dubai. Expedit Book shelves comes in flat pack boxes and they are shipped from Sweden and when customers buy them from here, once they open it some parts are either missing or damaged. So the quality of production has to improve form IKEA Sweden or they have to double check it once they reach in their Rashidiya warehouse in Dubai. Customers complain about the hassle of buying and then realizing its damaged or some parts or fittings are missing and coming back to replace at exchange and returns counters. Other alternatives for them to improve are to upgrade or have new POS terminals with much security. They need to improve the systems and traind the staff with the new changes made. There have been cases where co-workers have been stealing money from their tills. If we have a secure and improved system this wont happen again. Joint development IKEA in gulf is expanding and opening a new store in Abu Dhabi UAE. The present Ikea store in Marina Mall, which continues to serve thousands of our Abu Dhabi patrons, will be relocated to Yas Island where it will be transformed into a full-fledged concept store, he added. Under the agreement, Aldar will provide the structure for the Ikea store under a renewable, 10-year lease agreement with Al-Futtaim The Ikea store on Yas Island will have a total floor area of 32,000 square metres and a sales area of 19,150 square metres. It will have a restaurant of 2,100 square metres with a seating capacity of 550, as well as 1,500 parking places. Franicevic said the Yas Island store will provide a strong impetus for the Swedish furniture and Furnishings Company to push ahead with plans to expand in the region. We expect to serve nearly 1.3 million visitors in the first year of operations, said James McGowan, Ikea manager for Abu Dhabi. [Himendra Mohan Kumar, Al Nisr Publishing LLC 2009] Selection of Competitive Advantage IKEA has a competitive advantage over its competitors and has sustained it for a while. This advantage can mainly be attributed to its resources and capabilities namely human resources, brand and IKEA concept. Ingvar Kamprad the founder of IKEA though retired is still a cheerleader for the practices/concepts that define IKEA culture. Cutting prices is one of the competitive advantages IKEA has over its competitors and this is another message that comes across loud and clear among IKEA operations. IKEA aims to lower prices across its entire offering by an average of 2 percent to 3 percent each year. Targeting middle class customers who shares buying habits and providing similar shopping experience the world over has made IKEA a unique shopping experience. More than 7200 products ranging from kitchen cabinets to candles and textiles; making store visit more of an outing than a chore; seducing the customers with one touch after another within the shop; offering other services like restaurant, kids area and the like; flat-packed nearly all big items to save shipping cost and allow shoppers to haul their own stuff and many more, makes IKEA concept of its own kind and as a results boost its image (brand). These resources are valuable (enables the firm to respond to environmental threats and opportunities) but each on its own is not rare and hard to imitate. IKEAs ability to combine these resources in the way it has done (creating IKEA world), makes the whole experience rare and non-imitable. As a result IKEA enjoys and sustain a competitive advantage over its competitors. [Jay Barneys framework on Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage, 2006] Marketing Mix Programme Price IKEAs strategy is based on cost leadership. Across markets where it has current presence, products are sold at low prices. Prices are 20 to 30% lower than competing products. Price varies only in a result of fluctuations in exchange rates. This pricing enables IKEA to gain significant market share. Low prices are a result of large-quantity purchasing, low-cost logistics, store location in suburban areas and a Do it yourself approach to marketing. IKEA also benefits from economies of scale and healthy supplier-firm relationships. IKEA enters into long-term contracts, provides leased equipment and technical support in exchange for exclusive, low-cost manufacturing from suppliers. For new markets, IKEA should retain its price-image to maintain the brands positioning. Product IKEAs value chain is unique in that customers are also suppliers and suppliers are also customers. The transactions between the supplier and IKEA and on to the customer have a value adding step in each stage. Product differentiation exists in the value-added dimension. IKEAs consumers know the concept of IKEA of Do it yourself with most of its products requiring assembly after purchase. But although assistance in this aspect is limited, IKEA offers customer service and home delivery services which includes transporting and assembling furniture. While this is well accepted in areas where IKEA now operates, it may be a point of consideration when entering new markets. Should IKEA encounter a market where DIY is not favored, IKEA may include the cost of the service to the products price. It does encounter such market where they face customers in Dubai who dont like picking products from self serve area. They just give the list to sales person n tell them to bring the products which is not the concept of IKEA but still sometimes we have to do this for the customers to keepo them satisfied with the service we provide. Position/Place IKEA store is located in Dubai Shopping Festival. Which is a good location one of the Middle Easts largest mixed use real estate projects, that covers over 1,200 acres. Spread over 25,400 square meters This is a factor in the achievement of IKEAs low pricing. While it may appear as a disadvantage, this fits IKEAs target market of customers willing to transport their own purchases and requiring less assistance in assembly. Promotion IKEAs promotion is centered on the IKEA catalogue which they launch every September of the year. There catalogue of 2010 has been distributed all around the world in millions. This is their best marketing and promotional strategy. This catalogue is said to be the 2nd most read book after The Holy Quran. It includes all the different range of products but not all. Secondly advertising is done every month in newspapers like Gulf News and Al Arabia news papers whenever they have a new activity going on in the store for example they have dining activity currently going on so they have printed 2 different adds in these newspapers with different products and prices. They even advertise on radio 101.6 and one Arabic radio channel. Proposed strategic choices will improve sales and market share by bringing new products and introducing IKEA Family in Dubai. This will increase their market share in Dubai because study shows that IKEA customers want something more from IKEA and disabled people can benefit from IKEA Family with special discounts and services. Bibliography http://www.ikeadubai.com/ http://pathfinder01.blogspot.com/ [Understanding IKEA : How a Swedish Company Turned Into a Global Obsession (II), 2006] http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Ikea-Marketing-Mix-Analysis/167093 http://www.essayclub.com/term-papers/Ikea-Marketing-Plan/7406.html http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Aldar+and+Ikea+UAE+break+ground+for+Yas+Island+store.-a0218635945 [Himendra Mohan Kumar, Al Nisr Publishing LLC 2009, Aldar and Ikea UAE break ground for Yas Island store.]

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Gene Expression

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Gene Expression Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the gram negative rod shaped bacteria is found in all natural and man made environments. the organism is so stubburn so that it can grow in any environment and also at high temperatures such as 420C. The unique ability of the organism is forming biofilm. The biofilms are formed by the organism with the association with a surface. The surface may be anything such as cloth, paper, glass etc and any artificial surface. It is the opportunistic pathogen which behaves neutral to the normal tissues but it infects once the defences of them are compromised. The development of the biofilm starts with the attachment of the freely moving planktonic cell to a surface. Generally the twitching motility of the P.aeruginosa helps to use its unipolar flagellum to adhere a surface. The bacterium develops colonies known as microcolonies and adhere to the surface strongly which are known as pili structures (Baron S et al.,1996). During the biofilm development several factors pla ys a key role mainly the exopolymeric matrix. The EPS matrix is not visualised directly, but it can be done by using some fluorescent dyes. The functioning of the EPS matrix in holding cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa together and forming the mature biofilms. The biofilm develops with cell division and recruitment. The cells interacts via quorum sensing and these interactions are studied under scanning electron microscopy. The biofilm formation takes place in stages and many changes are observed in its size and shape during the development. The EPS matrix is made up of polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids. The exopolysaccharide matrix is the important component of the biofilm. The exopolysaccharide genes such as pilB, pslA, lecA, ureB and alginate genes are responsible for the formation of pseudomonas biofilms. The locus of the psl polysacchide genes encode the cells to adhere to a surface and thus maintaining the biofilm structure. In this research project we try to quantify the gene expression of the above genes pilB, pslA, lecA, ureB using rpoD as the house keeping gene. The biofilms are grow invitro on microcarriers. The microcarriers made up of dextrons in the range of 60-90 µm in size are used as a surface for Pseudomonas aeruginosa to form biofilms. The microcarriers are spherical in size where the bacteria can easily adhere on surface. In this present work we try to grow planktonic cultures and biofilms cultures on the microcarriers in a fermentor separately. The genes responsible for the biofilm formation are quantified by comparing the planktonic and biofilm samples. The planktonic cells grow very rapidly whereas the bacterial adhering takes some time to form biofilm in other case. The samples are collected at regular intervals and mRNA is extracted. The gene expression is quantified using real time PCR. The relative quantification method of qPCR or real time PCR method does not require any standard curve for the analysis where the samples are normalised by using an internal control. The threshold CT values obtained from the curve are used to calculate relative quantification by comparative à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CT method. The results from the planktonic and biofilm gene expression results are compared. On the other hand we also assay the nutrients such as glucose, ammonia, phosphorus and protease during the fermentation. The concentration levels of the nutrients are also compared for both biofilm and planktonic fermentation. Review of literature: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a member of gamma proteobacteria class of bacteria. The bacteria is gram negative, rod shaped and aerobic belongs to the bacterial family of pseudomonadanceae. The recent developments in the taxonomy based on the 16s ribosomal RNA or conserved macromolecules, the family members are divided into eight groups. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a species present in this group sharing the with other twelve members. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a free-living bacterium, commonly found in soil, water, skin flora and in all man made environments. The organism regularly occurs on the surfaces of the plants and animals. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an occasional pathogen to plants. It is also an increasingly emerging pathogen of clinical relevance. The organism not thrives in the normal atmosphere but also in the places with little oxygen and thus forms the colonies in natural and artificial environments. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen for humans, which means that it exploits some break in the host defences to initiate an infection. The bacteria never infects the uncompromised tissues, but it can infect any if the tissue defences are comprised. It can cause infections such as urinary tract, respiratory system infection, soft tissue infection dermatitis, gastro intestinal infections. It causes a variety of systemic infections in patients particularly with severe burns and immune suppressed in cases of cancer, AIDS, cystic fibrosis in lungs. Characteristics Pseudomonas aeruginosa is rod shaped gram negative bacteria. The size of it ranges between 0.5 to 0.8  µm by 1.5 to 3.0  µm. almost all the strains of Pseudomonas are motile with a unipolar flagellum. It is ubiquitous in soil ,water and on the surfaces in contact with water or soil. It has respiratory metabolism and can grow in the absence of oxygen if NO3 is available as respiratory acceptor for electron. Generally the bacterium is found in nature in the form of biofilm attached to a surface or substrate, or in the planktonic form as a unicellular organism swimming actively with its unipolar flagellum. It is one of the most vigorous and fast swimming organism found in pond waters. It can grow at temperatures at 42OC or high, but the optimum temperature is 30 to 37OC. it is resistible to a wide variety of physical conditions such as temperature and can even resist the salts, dyes, antiseptics and most commonly used antibiotics. Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces different types of colonies from the source they have isolated. They appear like small and rough colonies. Moreover the samples collected from the clinical sources look like a fried egg like structure which is smooth, large with elevated appearance. The other type of colonies obtained from the respiratory and urinary tract secretions looks like mucoid.this mucoid appearance is attributes for the production of alginate slime. These smooth, mucous colonies presumably plays an important part in the colonization and virulence. Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces two types of soluble pigments. Pyocyanin which is a blue-green and a yellow-green and fluorescent pigment called as pyoverdin. Pyocyanin is produced abundantly in the media with low levels of iron and also functions for the iron metabolism of the organism. Many strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces pyocyanin but not all the strains does it. Although the organism is classified as the aerobic, sometimes the organism is considered as facultative anaerobe where it can adapt and proliferate the conditions with less or total O2 depletion. The organism can grow in the absence of oxygen if NO3 is available as respiratory acceptor for electron. It can ferment arginine by substrate level phosphorylation where the layers of alginate present surrounding the mucoid cells of the bacteria controls the diffusion of oxygen(Collins FM, 1955), this is witnessed in the cystic fibrosis of the lung infection. Pseudomonas aeruginosa which is found in the biofilm form is responsible for a variety of activities involved which are natural and artificial. Resistance to antibiotics Pseudomonas aeruginosa is opportunistic pathogen, has a notorious resistance to antibiotics. The organism is very resistance towards many antibiotics due to the potential permeability barrier provided by the gram negative membrane. Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the biofilm form makes the cells impervious to the concentrations of the therapeutic antibiotic. The organism gets associated with others like actinomycytes, moulds and bacillus because of the natural environment they live. Moreover the organism have antibiotic resistance plasmids R factors and RTFs, the genes are able transferred by conjugation and transduction following the mechanism horizontal gene transfer(HGT) (Todar.K,2008). Biofilms Biofilms are defined as a matrix enclosed bacterial populations which are adherent to each surfaces or interfaces. Microbial aggregates and floccules and also adherent populations within the pore spaces of the media are spoken in the definition (Costerton J.W, et al 1995).bacterial biofilms came into existence and became significant from their first recognition in their ubiquity. The past researches show that profoundly the growth phase of the biofilms is distinct from the planktonic. In response to the surfaces proximity, bacterial cells alter their phenotypes (Costerton J.W, et al, 1995). The early stages of biofilm formation the bacteria is in stable juxta position with those of same and other species. The micro environmental conditions, cellular juxtapositions and the extra cellular polysaccharide matrix constitute to the development of the bacterial biofilm. Different bacteria responds to the specific environmental conditions with certain growth patterns, and a structurally comp lex and mature biofilm develops(Hamilton W.A et al, 1987). Physiological cooperation is the major criteria in shaping structure and juxta positions establishment to make biofilms adherent for the surfaces. It has been proposed that large suites of genes are expressed differentially regulated. Formation The formation of the biofilm initially starts with the attachment of the freely floating bacterial cells to a surface. The bacterial colonies adhere to the surface with weak vander wall forces. These colonies can lead themselves to more adhesion called as pili structures (Baron S et al.,1996). The organism adheres more to the available surface by binary fission, exopolymeric matrix is produced to develop mature biofilms. The matrix produced holds the biofilm together. Biofilm develops with cell division and recruitment, the cell in the biofilm communicate via quorum sensing. We can observe changes in shape and size in the final stages of biofilm formation. Distribution and ubiquity of biofilms The general phenotypic strategy of organism is to change in the mode of growth that to adopt to the altering growth conditions. The cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa which is a ubiquitous bacterial species respond to all favourable nutrient conditions. The organism adheres to the available surface by binary fission, exopolymeric matrix is produced to develop mature biofilms. The rod shaped bacteria grows in matrix which is enclosed in a sessile growth mode. The cells are protected from the biological, antibacterial, chemical agents and adverse environmental conditions. The periodically shed planktonic cells from the biofilm provide and sacrifice the protection to the new fresh habitats can colonize with the biofilm. The adherent biofilm populations has a significant metabolic activities( Fletcher.M, 1986). The extent of biofilm formation is predicted in the particular system is based on the following principles: Metabolically active bacteria show tendency towards the surfaces for adhesion in all natural environments. In all environmental conditions the extent of biofilm formation is controlled by the available nutrient for cell respiration and exopolysaccharide production. The organic nutrients sometimes tend to associate with the surfaces, in such cases the local biofilm is difficult to trigger. This is more in extremely oligotrophical environments, but bacteria normally does not adhere to surfaces in nutrient less environments. Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms The communities of microbial bacteria(Pseudomonas aeruginosa) forms a definite structures with the association with surfaces are abundantly available environment. These structures are often called as biofilms which are less susceptible to antimicrobial agents. These biofilms causes chronic infections and very difficult to remove. The extracellular polymeric matrix(EPS) are known to holds the biofilm structure and it performs as a matrix. The EPS matrix holds the biofilm cells together and protects them from shear forces in fludic environments. The extra cellular matrix for Pseudomonas aeruginosa forms the biofilm development in different stages. The matrix holds the cells together on the surface and forms a critical structural design resists to many environmental changes. Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm develops in a five stage multicellular cycles, the process is initiated by the attachment of planktonic (free) cells to a surface. This is followed by the formation of microcolonies. T he microcolonies are seeded and gets dispersed where the cells form the microcolonies comes out to occupy a new surface( Ma. L et al, 2009;Stoodley.P et al,2002). The EPS of Pseudomonas aeruginosa composed of polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids. It is the important component of the biofilms. The exo polysaccharide genes lec A , Pil B, Psl A, alginate are responsible for the formation of Pseudomonas biofilms. The locus of the Psl exopolysaccharide encodes bacterial cells to surface and thus maintaining the biofilm structure. The matrix which is anchored by the Psl is not visualised directly during the developmental stages of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm. In addition to the present scenario of exopolysaccharides, extracellular DNA also plays an important part in . P.aeruginosa biofilm matrix (Allensen-Holm M et al, 2006). The extracellular DNA is derived from the chromosomes and it functions for signalling between the cells interconnecting the biofilm matrix. In the biofilm matrix, extracellular cellular DNA promotes cation gradients, release of genomic DNA and induces antibiotic resistance ( Mulcahy H, et al. 2008). Real time PCR Polmerase chain reaction or simply PCR is introduced by Kary mulis in 1980, which really a revolution in the molecular biology. PCR is the standard procedure to amplify small quantities of DNA molecule into large quantities. The method depends on thermal cycling which involves the continuous heating and cooling of reaction for DNA melting and enzymatic replication of DNA. PCR applications employ a general heat stable DNA polymerase such as Taq polymerase enzyme isolated from the bacterium Thermus aquaticus. PCR method is involves three major steps.1) Denaturation 2) Annealing 3) Elongation. In the first step DNA template is denaturated to single strand at high temperature of 940C. In the second step, single stranded DNA template annealed with primers, the temperature is 650C. At 720 C the DNA starts elongation which is third step. DNA polymerase synthesizes new complementary strand to the template DNA strand. Real time polymerase chain reaction or qualitative polymerase chain reaction is a laboratory technique which not only amplifies but also quantifies the target DNA molecule. it helps the user for detection and quantification(absolute and relative) of many specific genes in a present in a given DNA sample. The general principle of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is also used in the RT PCR. Unlike PCR, RT PCR is a new technology product is detected at the end of the reaction. There are two common methods for the product detection in RT PCR 1) Non -specific fluorescent dyes which interacts with the double stranded DNA molecule 2) Sequence specific DNA probes consists of oligonucleotides that are fluorescently labelled with reporter. The product is detected after the hybridization of the probe and complementary strand. The RT PCR is used to amplify the reversly transcribed cDNA products from the mRNA, which is becoming the effective and powerful tool in the field of molecular biology to quantify and study the gene expression. The RT PCR method is very easy to apply provides the reliable, accuracy and rapid gene expression quantification. The accurate nucleic acid quantification requires mathematical application for data analysis(Michael W.P., 2001). The real time PCR provides the very accurate and reproducible quantification of gene copies (Heid C.A., 1996). Unlike other PCR methods, RT PCR does not require post process sample handling, prevents product contamination, provides faster and accurate assay results. Real time PCR is very accurate and less labour usage than the present gene quantification methods. Nucleic acid sequence quantification has an important role in the biological research. Measuring the gene expression have been extensively used in the biological responses to various external s timuli( Tan et al, 1994; Huang et al,1995). Gene and genome quatification also used for HIV demonstrates the change in the expression level of virus in the disease period( Conner et al. 1993); (piatak et al, 1993). There are two types of quantification methods used in real time PCR: Absolute quantification Relative quantification Absolute quantification determines the input copy number generally by relating the PCR signal to a standard curve. In this method equal input amounts of sample, each sample under analysis amplifies with identical efficiency up to the point of qualitative analysis( Heid et al,1996). We quantitate the unknowns based on a known standard quantity. The unknown samples are compared to the known by creating a standard curve. The input copy number of the PCR signal is related to standard curve in absolute quantification method. Sometimes it is not necessary to know the copy number but it is important to calculate the relative change gene expression (Livak.K.J et al, 2001). The second method is relative quantification, we analyse the changes in gene expression in a given sample relative to another reference sample(untreated control sample). Relative standard again consists of two types of methods they are relative standard curve and comparative Ct method. In the relative quantification the PCR signal is related to the targeted transcript of the samples in the group. The new applications of comparative Ct method is the 2-à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ct method which is efficiently useful for the analysis of qPCR data. The 2-à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ct method(Livak.K.J et al , 2001): Derivation of 2-à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ct method: The equation for the amplification of PCR can be written as: Xn=X0 (1+Ex)n(1) Where Xn is the number of target molecules at cycle n of the reaction. X0 is the initial number opf target molecules. Ex is the efficiency of the target amplicon. n is the number of cycles CT is the threshold cycle, indicates the fractional cycle at which the amount of amplified target reaches a fixed threshold. XT =X0 (1+Ex)CT.X=Kx(2) Where XT is the threshold number of target molecules. CTX is the threshold cycle for target molecule and Kx is constant. A similar reaction for the internal control gene is RT =R0 (1+ER)CTR=KR-(3) Where RT is the threshold number of reference molecules R0 is the initial number of reference molecules ER is the efficiency of the reference molecule. CT.R is the threshold cycle for reference amplicon. KR is a constant. Dividing XT and RT, we get , (XT/ RT )= (X0 (1+Ex)CT.X) / (R0 (1+ER)CT.R )= (Kx / KR ) = K-(4) For real time amplification using Taqman probes the exact values of the XT and RT depend upon the number of factors including the reporter dye and fluorescence properties of the probes, efficiency and purity of the probe, florescence threshold setting. Thus k cannot be equal to one. Assume the efficiencies of target and the reference as equal. ER = Ex=E (X0 / R0) (1+ E) CT.X- CT.R =K(5) XN (1+E)-à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CT =K-(6) Where XN is equal to the normalised amount of target gene (X0 / R0) and à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CT is the difference of the threshold cycles of target and reference (CT.X- CT.R ). The expression can be written as XN=K(1+E) -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CT -(7) If we divide the whole equation by XN for any sample q by XN as the calibrator(cb) XN.q /XN.cb ={[ K(1+E) -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CTq ]/[ K(1+E) -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CTcb ]} =(1+E) -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CT Here -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CT = -(à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CTq -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CT.cb) For amplicons which are designed less than 150 bp, primer and magnesium concentration are optimised, the efficiency is nearly equal to 1. Therefore the amount of target gene, normalized to an endogenous reference which is relative to a calibrator, taken as Amount of target =2-à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CT . When the threshold is set for n standard deviations in the plot , above the mean of the base line emission from cycles 0 to n. The standard deviations is calculated from the data attained from base line of the amplification plot. When the fluorescence exceeds the threshold limit, CT values are determined at that point. The CT values are ten times more than the standard deviation of base line. The point at which amplification plot crosses the threshold can be defined as CT (Heid et al, 1996). Materials and methods Identifying pseudomonas aeruginosa Gram straining: Prepare a small amount of smear on a clear glass slide. Heat fix the smear to slide. Add a drop of crystal violet on to smear allow for 60 seconds. Rinse the slide with water. Add a drop of grams iodine to the smear allow for 60 seconds. Rinse the slide with water. Add 95% absolute ethanol to destain the crystal violet. Rinse again with water. Add a drop of saffronin over the smear, allow for 60 seconds. Rinse with water. Blot dry the slide, do not rub. Observe the smear under microscope. 10. If the colour of the bacteria appears pink it is gram negative, it is gram positive if it appears purple. Rod shaped pink coloured bacteria is clearly observed for gram negative pseudomonas aeruginosa. Shake flask method Prepare media of nutrient broth about 13 grams per litre of distilled water. Mix well and pour 50 ml of media into a 250ml conical flask. Plug the conical flask and wrap the mouth with aluminium foil. The less volumes of media in the flask increases surface area and oxygen transfer rate(OTR). The flasks are autoclaved at 1210 C and 1.5 lbs pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes. Planktonic-contains 50 ml of nutrient broth Biofilm-contains 25ml of PBS with microcarriers plus 25 ml of nutrient broth. Inoculate a loopful of pseudomonas aeruginosa into 50 ml nutrient broth aseptically. Allow the bacteria to grow overnight. Take the optical density at 550nm using spectrophotometer.The amount of the inoculums to be added to the shake flasks for analysis is calculated using the formula below: Amount of sample to add into shake flask = [working concentration X volume(ml)] / stock(OD) obtained After inoculation the flasks are kept in the orbital shaker at 300C. The samples of 1 ml is collected for RNA extraction at particular time intervals at 0,1,2, 4,24 and 48 hours for planktonic. In respect the biofilm samples are collected at time 0,22,24,26,44,46 and 48 hours as their growth is slower than the freely suspended planktonic cells. Then 2 ml of RNA later solution is added to the collected samples for RNA stabilization. The optical density is regularly monitored to check the growth of pseudomonas aeruginosa . Fermentation The fermentation process we perform here is batch fermentation. The bioreactor used for the study is a small scale fermentor from APPLICON BIOTECHNOLOGIES. The process will take place in a 3L fermentor(consists the working volume of 2.5L) for about 24 hours. During the run the criteria of temperature is kept at 300C . The pH is run free, stirrer speed is set at 600rpm for planktonic culture. The fermentor is run free for 24 hours overnight to check the production of foam. The cold finger helps to control the temperature by feeding water from/to the reactor. The o ring is checked for any leakage. The sample port is a tube for sampling using back pressure and forces the liquid into a glass recipient. The inlets for acid, alkali and antifoam are linked to durham bottles, going through the pumps. The durham bottles are blank, because above parameters are not controlled in this process. Air is pumped through a filter. The condenser is connected to water that comes out of the fermentor. Wh en the water is warmer than outside, condensed water reaches the condenser. The gas goes from an outlet connected to the condenser. The dissolved oxygen probe is connected to dO2 cable from the machine. It measures the amount of dO2 in the media. This probe needs to be kept in the buffer, when not in use. The probe should be plugged for 10 to 12 hours before the inoculation inorder to polarize. The stirrer is placed on the top of fermentor. The vessel is heated with the help of heating pad and temperature is detected using temperature probe. The air inlet is set up through the pumps and its volume is controlled with a rotometer in front of the machine. In this case 2.5L of air/min is supplied to the fermentor. For the gas analysis of oxygen and carbon dioxide the gas is passed through a drying column and reaches the monitor which is already set up for calibration. we run two runs of fermentor for both planktonic and biofilm cultures. The parameters such as temperature, aeration for planktonic and biofilm cultures are almost same. The only parameter varies for both is stirring is maintained at 600rpm for planktoni c and 200rpm for biofilm fermentation. Procedure: The fermentor is sterilised and all the valves are sealed with foil before going into the autoclave. The fermentor is run for about 24 hours before adding the inoculum to check any formation of foam. About 20 ml of an overnight culture is added to the fermentor. Sampling :About 7ml of sample is collected for every 20min for planktonic and every 2 hours for biofilm until the exponential phase is reached. The sample collected is preserved in the freezer for different analysis. The sample is assayed for gene expression by adding 2 ml of RNA later solution for RNA stability. The samples are assayed for ammonia, phosphorus, glucose and protease. The fermentation conditions are listed below. RNA EXTRACTION (protocol provided by applied biosystems) Materials required: 2-mercapto ethanol,100% ethanol, 10% SDS(in RNase free water), 0.5  µl/sample. Lysozyme solution: 100  µl/ sample 10mM Tris HCl (PH 8.0)mM EDTA 10mg/ml lysozyme (in RNase free water) Lysis buffer: Before beginning the lysis and homogenization steps, prepare a fresh amount of lysis buffer containing 1% 2-mercapto ethanol for each purification procedure. Add 10 µl 2-mercaptoethanol for each 1ml lysis buffer. Use 350  µl of freshly prepared lysis buffer for 1109 bacterial cells. Lysis and homogenization: Harvest 1109 bacterial cells and transfer them to an appropriately sized microcentrifuge tubes. Centrifuge at 500xg for 5 minutes at 40C to pellet cells. Discard the supernatant. Add 100  µl of prepared lysozyme solution to the cell pellet and resuspend by vortexing. Add 0.5  µl 10% SDS solution vortex to mix well. Incubate the cells in the tube for 5 minutes at room temperature. Add 350  µl lysis buffer prepared with 2-mercaptoethanol. Vortex to mix well. Transfer the lysate to a homogenizer inserted in an RNase free tube and centrifuge at 12,000xg for 2 minutes at room temperature. Remove the homogenizer when done. Purifying the RNA from bacterial cells: These steps are followed to bind wash and elute the RNA from the P.aeruginosa cells sample. Add 250  µl 100% ethanol to each volume of bacterial cell homogenate. Mix thoroughly by vortexing to dispersing any visible precipitate that may form after adding ethanol. Transfer the sample(including any remaining precipitate) to a spin cartridge( with a collection tube. Centrifuge both the spin cartridge and collection tube at 12,000xg for 15 seconds at room temperature. Discard the flow through and re-insert the spin cartridge in the same collection tube. Add 700  µl of wash buffer I to the spin cartridge. Centrifuge at 12,000xg for 15 seconds at room temperature. Discard the flow through and the collection tube. Place the spin cartridge into a new collection tube. Add 500  µl wash buffer II with ethanol to the spin cartridge. Centrifuge at 12,000Xg for 15 seconds at room temperature. Discard the flow through and re insert the spin cartridge into the same collection tube. The steps are repeated once again. Centrifuge the spin cartridge and collection tube at 12,000Xg for 1 minute at room temperature to dry the membrane with attached RNA. Discard the collection tube and insert the spin cartridge into a recovery tube. Add 50  µl of RNase free water to the centre of spin cartridge. Incubate at room temperature for 1 minute. Centrifuge the spin cartridge and recovery tube for 2 minutes at 12,000Xg at room temperature. Store the purified RNA or proceeded for DNase treatment after RNA treatment. (store purified RNA at -800C for long term). Agarose gel electrophoresis: The RNA samples after extraction are checked for the RNA signal. To visualise the RNA 1% agarose gel electrophoresis. The materials required for agarose gel electrophoresis is TAE buffer and agarose. TAE buffer(50x Tris acetate) 242 g of Tris base 57.1 ml glaciel acetic acid 100 ml of EDTA 0.5M PH .8.0 700ml of dH2O . About 20 ml of above solution is mixed with 980ml of distilled water to make it 1X. 1 gram of agarose is added to 100 ml of TAE buffer. The solution is mixed well. The solution is heated until the agarose is completely dissolved and solution becomes colourless. About 2.5  µl of ethidium bromide is added to the solution to visualise the RNA bands. Special care is taken while adding the ethidium bromide because it is bio-hazardous. Then about 5  µl RNA sample is mixed with 1  µl of DNA loading dye. The RNA samples are RUN with the potential difference of 80V with DNA Hyper ladder II as a standard. DNase treatment (protocol and kit provided by applied biosystem) The DNase I treatment is performed to remove any traces of genomic DNA from the eluted RNA. Protocol: Add 10x DNase buffer and DNase I to the RNA sample in the following composition: Amount component 1/9 th volume 10x DNase buffer 4  µl DNase I The components are mixed with gentle pippeting. Then the mixture is incubated at 370C for 90 minutes. DNase inactivation reagent is added to the solution and mixed well, leave at room temperature for 2 minutes. The samples are centrifuged at maximum speed for 1 minute to pellet the DNase inactivation reagent, after that the RNA solution is transferred to a new RNase free tube. The samples are run on 1% agarose gel electrophoresis to check the DNA contamination. We fou

Closing the Achievement Gap Essay -- Education, Minorities

Closing the Academic Achievement Gap Crisis in America The Achievement Gap in America has separated and divided America's youth into more or less, two different cultures of socioeconomic placement. The first being the predominantly Caucasian students at American elementary schools, high schools, and colleges that excel greatly in their education. Most of the time earning them middle to upper class jobs in the economy, the aforementioned group contrasts significantly with its opposite culture of American youth. The second culture, the population that is mostly made up of the minority races, takes it's place in the American education system as the population of students who are less interested in getting a decent education and taking advantage of the resources that are offered, for various underlying reasons. This in turn manufactures less people of this type of culture to be readily available for higher paying jobs, and often times unemployable for a job at all. The Achievement G ap in America is influenced by many cultural, environmental, and socioeconomic factors that separate lower and higher achieving students based on these factors, and leave a high amount of unemployed Americans as a result, if not incarcerated or deceased. The first issue that has been identified as a significant problem involved in the Achievement gap, is that it is partially the fault of America's educational system. Because of the suffering economy that has spurred the increasing lack of basic necessities in schools across America, there are an increasing number of children who are not being properly educated. Whether it is a deficiency in supplies, poor teacher selection, or administration and staff who are indifferent to the students at their sch... ...ell can work together to solidify the learning environment for the student in need and create a better learner as a result. In conclusion, the Academic Achievement has been fueled by society's presets, minority students' lack of effort, and the failures of the schooling system in America. There has been some challenging setbacks, but the Gap can be fixed to create a common ground for all prospective members of America's society to excel on equally. By realizing that change can be achieved, there are little to no limits for minority students to create a better mindset towards education. Students, parents, and teachers have to be willing to work together, as well as tackle obstacles upheld by society, and the economic deficiencies that effect schools across America. This will, in turn, take America one step closer to closing the Academic Achievement Gap in America.

Tupac :: essays research papers

Tupac Shakur was one of the most influential music artist of the 20th Century. â€Å"Murda, Murda, Murda, and Kill, Kill, Kill†¦Ã¢â‚¬  these are they lyrics to one of the songs written by Tupac Shakur. Amidst all the controversy surrounding his personal life, this artist has managed to overcome all obstacles and spread his hope/hate message to a surprisingly receptive audience. Tupac’s music is borrowed from the styles of early rap and hip-hop yet its appeal rested in Tupac himself. His persona of â€Å"Thug Poet† opened up a portal into the new genre of â€Å"Gangsta Rap.† This new style of music revolutionized the music industry and allowed several new artists to break through in Tupac’s creation, Gangsta Rap, such as; G-unit, Eminem, and many others.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on June 16, 1971 in New York City to Afeni Shakur, a Black Panther member since 1968. She gave birth to him 2 months after she was released from Women’s House of Detentions in Grenwich Village. She was charged with conspiracy to bomb several New York public locations and just had her bail revoked. In court she represented herself and won against the state of New York in a surprising turn out. In Incan dialect, his name Tupac Amaru means â€Å"shining serpent† and Shakur is Arabic for â€Å"thankful to God.† For most of his childhood his crack addicted mother shuffled Tupac between the ghettos of Harlem and the Bronx. Young Tupac began his performance career with the 127th Street Ensemble and then enrolled Baltimore School for the Arts where he was educated in ballet and acting. Tupac was forced to drop out of the school because he had to move to California with his mother, where his criminal career began. He left hi s house at the age of 17 because of the continuous fights with his mother he then began selling/doing drugs, and was homeless for about 2 years. His life was spiraling down wards at a rapid rate. Till one day he got his big break. Tupac always dreamt about being famous someday, now his dream was becoming a reality. He struck a recording deal with Interscope records. He was on his way to super stardom, but as we all know with fame comes problems. He was involved in the shooting of two off duty police officers, although the chargers were later dropped. He was also convicted of rape, and sentenced to 5 years in Clinton Correctional Facilities.

Early Religion Essay

Religion is something unique to a man. It makes us different from any other animals. Nowadays, religion has a great impact on man’s life. It one of the major factors why man still manage to survive in this cruel and unfair life. It helps man to keep holding on especially in times of down. It is something man can lean on. But those religions we are affiliated today are not the exact same religion in the early times. Even the simplest religion has a very complex history indeed. Religions have developed over thousands of years ago due to its adaptation to environmental changes such as social and ecological (Hopfe and Woodcraft, p. 15) Although archaeologists and anthropologists have found remains and of ancient people and society, still, evidences for early religions were hard to interpret. Writings were very few because they don’t actually write in their times. They preferred vocal communication. Sad to say but these gave us limited knowledge of early religions. However, their arts and symbols somehow gave little information about their religion. There was also transmission of myths from one generation to another. Stories about gods’ relationship with man are common to every religion. These stories are myths telling the truth about the religion. It helps man visualize abstract concepts (Hopfe and Woodcraft, p. 25). Like every other religion today, early religion also has initiation. After proper training, a man or woman will be initiated which serve as the end of their social cohesion and individual fulfillment (Ellwood and McGraw, p. 31. ). Shamans have a big role in spirituality of early religion. They are believed to have special powers like healing and confronting gods. Ceremonies and rituals that went with hunting and gathering were also present (Ellwood and McGraw, p. 49). Early religion, even somehow have a lot of difference with today’s religion, have shaped the lives of early people. Just like today, religion is a part of their everyday lives. Whatever the differences they may have, religion still have one good reason for existence—guidance to mankind. References: Ellwood, Robert S. and McGraw, Barbara A. Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in the World Religions, Seventh Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2002 Hopfe, Lewis M. and Woodcraft, Mark R. Religions of the World, Eighth Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2001

Transforming the Influence of the Media on our Lives

Our goal in this publication is to help our readers lay a foundation for transforming the influence of the media on their lives. It is in all of our interests to critically assess, rather than mindlessly accept, news media pronouncements. Our hope is that we can aid readers to become more independent, insightful, and critical in responding to the content of news media messages and storiesIf objectivity or fairness in the construction of news stories is thought of as equivalent to presenting all the facts and only the facts (â€Å"All the news that’s fit to print†), objectivity and fairness is an illusion.No human knows more than a small percentage of the facts and it is not possible to present all the facts (even if one did know them). It isn’t even possible to present all the important facts, for many criteria compete for determining what is â€Å"impor- tant. †We must therefore always ask,â€Å"What has been left out of this article? †Ã¢â‚¬Å"What would I think if different facts had been highlighted here? †Ã¢â‚¬Å"What if this article had been written by those who hold a point of view opposite to the one embedded in the story as told?†For example, people commonly consider facts to be important to the extent that they have significant implications for them personally: Is any given event going to affect what they want, how much is it going to cost them, how is it going to influence their income, their living conditions, their leisure, their convenience? How some given event is going to affect others, especially others far away and out of sight, is quite another matter. There is therefore a large divergence among the news media of the world as to what is presented as â€Å"significant† in the world.