Endothelial tight junction proteins Essay

Endothelial tight junction proteins Introduction            The endothelium is situated at the inner side of all kinds of vessels and comprises of a monolayer of endothelial cells. Inter-endothelial junctions comprise junctional complexes, such as adherens junctions (AJ), tight junctions (TJ) and gap junctions (GJ) that play essential roles in tissue integrity, barrier function and intercellular communication respectively. These junctional complexes are related to those found at epithelial junctions with notable changes in terms of certain molecules and structure.            Endothelial junctional proteins play important roles in tissue integrity but also in vascular permeability, leukocyte extravasation and angiogenesis. Dormant endothelium may be exposed to stimuli provoking leukocyte extravasation at seditious sites and propagating angiogenesis. Both activities have an intense impact on endothelial cell-cell junctions.            Tight junctions aid the major functional objective of establishing a barrier inside the membrane, by controlling paracellular permeability and sustaining cell polarity. They achieve this by constricting apical or basolateral transmembrane diffusion of lipids and they have been suggested to contribute in regulating proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cells. However, the components that are involved and the signal routes concerned are unknown (Mitic & Anderson 1998).            Tight junctions are made up of integral membrane proteins claudins, occludin, tricellulin, junctional adhesion molecules (JAMs), including many peripheral membrane proteins such as the scaffold PDZ- domain proteins. This review will however, focus on ZO-1 and ZONAB. Histology of endothelia junctions            The junctional structures situated at the endothelial intercellular fissure are related to those located at the epithelium; however, their formation is more inconsistent and in most vascular beds their topology is less constrained than in epithelial cells. Adherens junctions, tight junctions and gap junctions are in most cases intermingled and create a complex zonular system with disparities in depth and thickness of the sub-membrane plate associated with the junctional structure (Franke et al. 1988; Rhodin 1974). In contrast to epithelial cells, GJs are often found close to the luminal surface. Hence, the term â€Å"Apical junction† used to jointly describe epithelial TJ and AJ may not be applied to the endothelium. The endothelium forms the vascular barrier with controlled permeability properties between the blood and the underlying tissues.            Tight junctions exhibit considerable inconsistency among different segments of the vascular tree (Franke et al. 1988). This disparity composes a major evidence of vascular bed differentiation of endothelial cells and has a strong impact on vascular permeability and leukocyte extravasation. Variations concern the complexity degree of the occluding strands as well as tight junction composition.            Large Artery endothelial cells, which are exposed to high flow rates, display a well-developed system of tight junctions. Within the microvasculature, tight junctions are less complex in capillaries than in arterioles, and even less in venules. It is important to mention that, post-capillary venules are the primary site of leukocyte extravasation, and accordingly, they display a high content of permeability mediator receptors, such as those for histamine, serotonin and bradykinin. On the other hand, blood brain barrier (BBB) and the blood retinal barrier (BRB) are predominantly rich in Tight Junctions and endothelial tight junctions have been principally studied in these sites.            Endothelial intercellular realms differ from those of epithelial cells by the absence of desmosomes (Franke et al. 1988). The transitional filaments, comprised in the endothelium by vimentin molecules, are poorly connected to cell-cell contacts. However, contrary to the situation in epithelia, the vimentin filaments may be associated to endothelial adherens junctions in junctional structures similar to desmosomes, called complexus adherens.            It must be emphasized that interendothelial junctions are vibrant structures, subjected to multiple regulations. Moreover, leukocytes extravasate majorly in postcapillary venules either through transcellular or paracellular methods. Extravasation via the intercellular junction is a rapid and controlled process, through which the leukocyte is squeezed in the fissure (diapedesis), followed by rapid junction reformation.            ZO-1 is a protein located on the cytoplasmic membrane plate of intercellular tight junctions and is engaged in transducing signals at cell-to-cell junctions. ZO-1 links tight junction transmembrane proteins to a cytoplasmic plaque and the actin-based cytoskeleton (Aijaz et al. 2006; Tsukita et al. 2001). In epithelial cells, ZO-1 interrelates with the transcription factor ZONAB to regulate cells proliferation in a cell density related manner (Balda & Matter 2000); however, the functions of ZO-1 and ZONAB in endothelial cells are still not clearly understood.            Unpublished work shows that downregulation of ZO-1 in endothelial cells stimulates redistribution of two transmembrane proteins; claudin-5 and JAM-A, and radical changes in the cytoskeleton affecting the localization of mechanosensor proteins and VE-cadherin role in the control of cell-cell tension.            These observations imply that one function of ZO-1 in endothelial cells is to coordinate components of the tight junction and associate them to the cortical cytoskeleton. However, it is unfamiliar whether the ZO-1 associated transcription factor ZONAB is linked to such ZO-1 effects.            Despite the fact that, ZO-1 explicitly associates with epithelial tight junctions (Stevenson et al. 1986), it has been observed that the protein appears in the nucleus in the process of proliferation (Gottardi et al. 1996). While the functional impact of the nuclear localization is currently not clear, studies reveal that these discrete subcellular distributions of ZO-1 are exquisitely sensitive to the state of cell-to-cell contact.            ZO-1 plays a major role of restraining ZONAB and regulates its accumulation in the nucleus through cytoplasmic sequestration. MDCK cells found in the epithelium exhibit two forms of this Y-box transcription factor (ZONAB) i.e. ZONAB -A and ZONAB -B which vary in a 68-amino acid supplement. Both categories of ZONAB bind to ZO-1 and link with intercellular junctions (Balda & Matter 2000).            ZONAB was initially designated in canine kidney epithelial cells (MDCK) and is a Y-box transcription factor. Y-box transcription factors are multipurpose control mechanisms of gene expression and studies suggest that they play a common role in enhancing proliferation (Bargou et al. 1997). ZONAB is one of the tight junction-associated dual localization protein: it localizes to junctions where it attaches to the SH3 surface of the adaptor protein ZO-1, and to the nucleus where it regulates transcription.            The distribution of ZONAB is controlled by the cell density as it localizes to both junctions and nuclei in low density, proliferating cells, and becomes constrained to the cytoplasm in high density cells (Balda & Matter, 2000). This distribution is also exhibited in its transcription activity, as ZONAB is transcriptionally vigorous in proliferating cells but inactive in non-proliferating cells. In the MDCK cells, ZONAB is necessary for normal rates of proliferation and controls G1/S phase transition (Balda et al. 2003).            ZONAB affects cell cycle development by two distinct processes: it controls the nuclear accumulation of CDK4 through a direct interaction and controls manifestation of genes encoding cell cycle regulators for example, PCNA and cyclin D1 (Balda et al. 2003; Sourisseau et al. 2006 ).            In 3D principles of MDCK cells, regular ZO-1 and ZONAB processes are necessary for epithelial cyst formation, implying that the Y-box transcription factor also controls epithelial differentiation (Sourisseau et al. 2006). Since ZO-1 and ZONAB can also relate with other types of intercellular junctions, for instance the gap junctions, in cells that lack tight junctions, it is possible that ZO-1 or ZONAB signaling is also of useful significance in other cell types other than epithelia (Ciolofan et al. 2006; Giepmans & Moolenaar 1998). Aims of the study            The aim of the study is to understand the functional consequences of downregulation of ZONAB in endothelial cells, and whether and how ZONAB cross-talks with other junctional components to regulate endothelial cell migration, proliferation and angiogenesis. Currently, we are looking at similarities and differences between the phenotype of downregulation of ZO-1 or ZONAB by RNA interference. Changes in expression and localization of a given protein are analysed using specific antibodies for immunoblots and immunofluorescence. Preliminary Results            It is observed that downregulation of ZO-1 or ZONAB resulted in similar redistribution of actin and vinculin from cell-cell junctions to stress fibers and focal adhesions, respectively. However, the localization of transmembrane proteins such as Claudin-5 and JAM-A is affected by downregulation of ZO-1 rather than by downregulation of ZONAB. The localization of the polarity protein PAR-3 is changed in both conditions.            Additionally, downregulation of ZONAB causes changes in ZO-1 by immunofluorescence that needs to be tested for expression by immunoblots. Next, we will characterize other transmembrane proteins (e.g. MD3 and claudin-1), polarity proteins (PKCzeta), Rho regulators and mechanotransducers such as PAK2, Zyxin and YAP.            ZONAB is a DNA and RNA binding factor that it is involved in transcription (e.g. cyclin D1 and PCNA) in the nucleus and translation (e.g. cell cycle inhibitor p21) in the cytosol. Thus, we are also trying to identify new genes regulated. We have identified that expression of fibronectin is regulated by ZONAB. We are evaluating whether the changes in protein expression of fibronectin are due to ZONAB role on transcription or translation, using actinomicin D to inhibit transcription or cyclohexidimide to inhibit translation. Additionally, we are validating new genes identified by cDNA array analysis of endothelial cells with downregulation of ZONAB.            The tight junction localizing protein ZO-1 symptomatically forms a continuous band around the apices of well-differentiated, confluent, polarized epithelial cells in culture. However, under nonconfluent conditions, endogenous ZO-1 can localize to the nucleus in addition to the border of cell-cell contact.            ZONAB manifestation tends to be high in proliferating but low in growth-impeded MDCK cells, implying that high manifestation levels might be a necessity for cell proliferation (Balda & Matter 2000).            ZONAB confines in the nucleus as well as tight junctions in proliferating cells, however, it is not noticeable in the nucleus of nonproliferating high density cells (Balda & Matter 2000), proposing that accumulation of ZONAB in the nucleus might be necessary for efficient proliferation.            ZO-1 quantities are low in proliferating cells and they rise with cell density, and overexpression of ZO-1 hinders accumulation of ZONAB in the nucleus (Balda & Matter 2000); hence, ZO-1 may control proliferation by inhibiting ZONAB from accumulating in the nucleus. Overexpression of ZO-1 in low density cells triggers a redistribution of ZONAB from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and reduced proliferation.            CDK4 is a major regulator of G1/s transition (Sherr 2000; Malumbres & Barbacid 2001). Thus, ZONAB could control proliferation by regulating the process or the localization of CDK4. Since ZONAB binds CDK4, the nuclear pools of the two proteins may diminish in a parallel manner.            Symplekin is combined with ZONAB in the nucleus; hence, it could be argued that Symplekin modulates the transcription activity of ZONAB. Increased expression of Symplekin results in stimulation of the transcriptional suppressor ZONAB. However, it is also noted that Symplekin is absent in endothelial cells (Keon et al. 1996).            ZONAB controls cell cycle entry. ZO-1 overexpression results in a reduction in DNA synthesis, implying that entry into S-phase was distressed.            These experiments will allow understanding the role of ZO-1 and ZONAB in endothelial cells. Depending on the results, we plan to test how these two proteins are involved in endothelial stress conditions such as shear stress and high glucose. Conclusion            The collaboration of ZO-1 with tight junctions can only be significant for the stabilization of ZO-1, as opposed to attaching ZO-1 to the plasma membrane so as to constrain nuclear accumulation of related proteins. This is supported by the opinion that a truncated protein comprising only the HA-tagged SH3 domain accumulated in the Cytosol, but was adequate to decrease proliferation and nuclear accumulation of ZONAB (unpublished data).            ZONAB and ZO-1 control proliferation and the ultimate cell density of MDCK cells. Explanations that ZO-1 accumulates with increasing cell density, and overexpression of ZO-1 in transfected cells lowers the final density proposes a pattern in which ZO-1 serves as a measure for cell density whereby, on reaching the threshold level, provokes growth impediment by cytoplasmic sequestration of ZONAB and the related cell cycle kinase CDK4. It will be essential to control how the ZO-1 or ZONAB pathway associates with the other signaling methods that affect proliferation.            Vascular endothelial stress induces dysfunctions that have been implicated in many diseases such as diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. Therefore, characterization of the role of tight junction molecules in different endothelial cell behavior and functions will help us to understand the molecular mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and these findings may be implicated in prognosis and possibly to develop new treatment strategies. References Balda, MS and Matter, K 2000. The tight junction protein ZO-1 and an interacting transcription factor regulate ErbB-2 expression. EMBO J. 19, pp 2024-2033. Balda MS, Garrett MD and Matter K, 2003. The ZO-1 associated Y-box factor ZONAB regulates epithelial cell proliferation and cell density. J. Cell Biol. 160, pp 423-432. Bargou RC, K Jurchott, C Wagener, S Bergmann, S metzner, K Bommert, MY Mapara, KJ Winzer. M Dietel, B Dorken, and HD Royer, 1997. Nuclear localization and increased levels of transcription factor YB-1 in primary human breast cancers are associated with intrinsic MDR1 gene expression. Nat. Med. 3: pp 447-450. Ciolofan C, Li XB, Olson C, Kamasawa N, Gebhardt BR, Yasumura T, Morita M, Rash JE and Nagy JI, 2006. Association of connexin36 and Zonula occludens-1 with zonula occludens-2 and the transcription factor zonula occludens-1 associated nucleic acid-binding protein at neuronal gap junctions in rodent retina. Neuroscience 140: pp 433-451. Franke WW, P Cowin, C Grund, C Kuhn, HP Kapprell, 1998, The Endothelial Junction: the plaque and its component., in: N. Simionescu, M Simionescu (Eds.), Endothelial cell biology in health and diseases, Plenum publishing corporation, New York. pp 147-166. Giepmans BN and Moolenaar WH, 1998. The gap junction protein connexin43 interacts with the second PDZ domain of the zonal occludens-1 protein. Curr. Biol. 8. Pp 931-934. Gottardi CJ, M Arpin, AS Fanning and D Louvard, 1996. The junction-associated protein, zonular occludens-1, localizes to the nucleus before the maturation and during the remodeling of cell-cell contacts. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 93: pp 10779-10784. Keon BH, S Schafer, C Kuhn, C Grund, WW Franke, Symplekin, a novel type of tight junction plaque protein, J Cell Biol. 134 (1996) 1003-1018.Malumbres M and M Barbacid, 2001. To cycle or not to cycle: a critical decision in cancer. Nat. Rev. Cancer. 1: pp 222-231. Mitic LL and JM Anderson, 1998. Molecular architecture of tight junctions. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 60: pp 121-142. Rhodin, JAG 1974, Histology, Oxford University Press, New York. Sherr, CJ 2000. The Pezcoller lecture: cancer cell cycles revisited. Cancer res. 60: pp 3689-3695. Sourisseau T, Georgiadis A, Tsapara A, Ali RR, Pestell RG, Matter K and Balda MS, 2006. Regulation of PCNA and cyclin D1 expression and epithelial morphogenesis by the ZO-1 regulated transcription factor ZONAB/DbpA. Mol. Cell. Biol. 26, pp 2387-2398.Stevenson, BR, JD Siliciano, MS Mooseker, and DA Goodenough, 1986. Identification of ZO-1: a high molecular weight polypeptide associated with the tight junction (zonula occludens) in a variety of epithelia. J. Cell Biol. 103: pp 755-766. Source document

 Art of Characterization of Henry Fielding Essay

Joseph Andrews is Fielding’s first novel. It is a classical example of a literary work which started as a parody and ended as an excellent work of art in its own right. The work Fielding intended to parody was Richardson’s first novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded which had taken England by storm in the years following 1740 when it was first published. In his novel Fielding intended in the beginning to show how Lady Booby (aunt of â€Å"Lord B. † in Richardson’s novel) attempts the virginity of Joseph Andrews, described as the virtuous Pamela’s brother but in the end discovered to be different. The whole intention was comic. But after Chapter IX Joseph Andrews seems to break away completely from the original intention. Parson Adams, who has no counterpart in Pamela, runs away with the novel. He â€Å"is one of the most living, lovable, comical bundles of wisdom and simplicity in all literature. † In the words of Edmund Gosse, â€Å"Parson Abraham Adams, alone, would be a contribution to English letters. † He indeed is the hero of the novel, and not Joseph Andrews. Fielding was aware of giving a new literary form with Joseph Andrews which he called â€Å"a comic epic in prose. † Fielding is a great master of the art of characterization also. Fielding’s broad human sympathy coupled with his keen observation of even the faintest element of hypocrisy in a person is his basic asset as a master of characterization. He laughs and makes us laugh at many of his characters, but he is never cynical or misanthropic. He is a pleasant satirist, sans malice, sans harshness. He gives no evidence of being angry at the foibles of his characters or of holding a lash in readiness. His comic creations resemble those of Chaucer and Shakespeare. Parson Trulliber and Falstaff, if they were to meet, would have immediately recognized each other! Fielding is one of the greatest humorists in English literature. The same comic spirit which permeates his plays is also evident in his novels. As he informs us, the author upon whom he modeled himself was Cervantes; it is not surprising, therefore, that comedy should be his method. Fielding’s humor is wide in range. It rises from the coarsest farce to the astonishing heights of the subtlest irony. On one side is his zestful description of various fights and, on the other, the grim irony of Jonathan Wild. Higher! than both is that ineffable, pleasant, and ironic humor that may be found everywhere in Tom Jones but is at its best in Joseph Andrews where it plays like summer lightning around the figure of Parson Adams-an English cousin of Don Quixote. Fielding’s very definition of the novel as â€Å"a comic epic in prose† is indicative of the place of humor and comedy in his novels and, later, those of many of his followers. It may be pointed out here that Richardson had no sense of humor; he was an unsmiling moralist and sentimentalist. Comparing the two, Coleridge says: â€Å"There is a cheerful, sunshiny, breezy spirit that prevails everywhere strongly contrasted with the close, hot, tfay-dreamy continuity of Richardson. † Fielding’s humor is sometimes of the satiric kind, but he is never harsh or excessively cynical.

Madeline Leininger Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Philanthropic principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Philanthropic principles - Essay Example Cadbury’s had had an impressive track record of employee welfare schemes and other philanthropic activities. But, unfortunately, such a philosophy is seldom seen in the business world today, where greed overcomes any humanitarian impulse. This essay will argue that the corporate culture and business philosophy followed in Cadbury’s during the 19th century is impossible to apply in the present times. When John Cadbury started the corporation back in late 19th century, he had a vision that was consistent with the principles outlined in Quakerism. Quakers believed that a commitment to communal welfare is essential for attaining divine grace. As a result Quakers were proactive philanthropists, including John Cadbury. He implemented a huge housing project on a scale of 120 acres of land so as to provide all his employees decent dwelling conditions. Even his sons George and Richard Cadbury espoused the spirit of Quakerism in their managerial decisions. For those early generat ions of Cadbury managers, profits were not everything. But today, it is impossible to think of corporate leaders to belong in the same league as John Cadbury and his sons. (Bacon, 1997) What we have today is vapid sloganeering to project an outward philanthropy, which is in essence a garbed push for profits. Jargons such as "cause-related marketing", "social marketing", "altruistic marketing" and "public purpose marketing" and â€Å"corporate do-gooding† arc just some of the unhelpful terms being thrown around these days. They are not true philanthropy as was carried out by John Cadbury and his sons. Even Cadbury's former marketing director John Taylor admitted his concerns in 1992. By then, Cadbury’s had cut its charity roster to two: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Save the Children. The long-term approach, rather than the immediate impact on the bottom line that others claim for Corporate Do-Gooding, was Taylor's concern then. (Dwek, 1992) What Taylor observed two decades back has proved prophetic today, with the Cadbury’s sovereign brand being swept away in an aggressive takeover bid. The top management of companies like Cadbury’s believed in industrial democracy and worker engagement in key management decisions. Of the handful of companies that experimented with industrial democracy, Cadbury’s was outstandingly successful. These companies also had strong ideologies and a strong sense of social responsibility, which actually helped their profitability. Not only was Cadbury’s exemplary in this respect, but its arch rival in the chocolate industry Rowntree as well. In these two companies, worker participation was directly linked to company’s participation in social programs. There was a circular process through which quality products were created by happy and well-paid workers as well as healthy financial performance for the company. (Dwek, 1992) Public health and Christian principles were therefore among â€Å"the 'push' factors that transformed chocolate from an expensive luxury into an increasingly common commodity. Many of the chocolate makers that started up in Britain in the nineteenth century were owned and managed by Quaker families. The philosophy and moral outlook of these founder entrepreneurs pervaded the industry for decades.† (Witzel, 2009) In conclusion, in today’s world of cut-throat competition under the spell of a prolonged economic recession, philanthropy

The Right to Privacy and Corporate Responsibility Essay

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Comparison of two past dissertations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

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Learning Log Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

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Online Learning VS traditional learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Online Learning VS traditional learning - Essay Example The benefits of online learning over traditional learning center on the fact that online learning allows for more learner independence (Peppler and Solomou 14), flexibility, reduced costs and increased convenience. While higher education programmes have traditionally been governed by the conventional components of ‘teaching’, recent decades have brought about a re-evaluation of the fundamental premise and function of education (Garrison and Vaughan 4). This has led to a significant shift in focus towards a learner-centred approach where autonomy and the facilitation of independent and lifelong learning has become a primary goal (Somekh 20). As a result of this and prevailing socio-economic factors, distance and online education has become an increasingly popular, accessible and valid form of education (Stacey 288). Though previously serving as an alternative to conventional education, the past decade has seen increasing levels of convergences in distance and conventional education, and it appears to be a natural evolution of educational approaches (Tait and Mills 10). Traditional education cannot allow for such accessibility and convenience on the part of the learner. The rapid development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) in the late 20th century created new and exciting conditions for online courses, such as providing almost unlimited resources for research and information, enabling interactive learning and significantly reducing the cost of tutor-student communications (Leach 41). In fact, these technologies have affected education as a whole, irrespective of the descriptor of ‘distance’ or ‘conventional’ (Somekh 37). These technologies offer much more resources and diverse methods compared to traditional learning environments which take place in a classroom and use usually only printed material. The financial benefits of online learning are also significant both for learner and institution. It provides cost savings benefits

Possible Danger of Posting Personal Information in Networking Research Paper

Possible Danger of Posting Personal Information in Networking - Research Paper Example On the sites, the content creation of the users and the social interaction and networking between users are not separate. Both the activities take place in one environment and this poses a challenge to the policy developers. More than 50 per cent of the teens use these social networking sites and do not appear to have reservations about balancing privacy and awareness. The adults use it to remain connected and the businesses to derive benefits out of it. Despite the benefits, the pitfalls can be precarious. This paper will discuss whether this has led to a generational shift in how people relate between private and public space. Web 2.0 is the second generation of web-based services and tools that emphasize online sharing collaboration among users. It is no longer a place that holds static pages; it is no longer a â€Å"medium† that people come to. The web pages are now dynamic and organized and based on serving web applications to users. It is now a platform that enables or delivers Web-based services to users, independent of the computer they use. Web 2.0 has no ‘walled gardens’ which implies information can freely flow in and out of the web services (James, 2007). There are rich user experience and data organization; it provides services and has characteristics that support and enhance interaction among users. Web 2.0 helps to create websites that look and can act like desktop programs. Examples of web 2.0 include Blogs and Wikis, IM Chat, tagging, RSS Feeds, Google Maps and Docs. Photos and video sharing and social networking are the web 2.0 tools, social office suites and podcasts (C arpenter & Steiner, 2005).

Segment and Profiling Examples Essay Example for Free

Segment and Profiling Examples Essay * CARL’S JR. The brand continues its growth with an emphasis on quality, service and cleanliness, pioneering concepts such as partial table service and self-serve beverage bars. The introduction of the signature Six Dollar Burgerâ„ ¢ in 2001 marks the latest Carls Jr. ® advance in the quick-service industry, confirming the chains constant emphasis on product innovation and representing a desire to satisfy the tastes of young, hungry consumers. Who: male and female consumers between the ages of 18 – 25 with an average education level of a high school graduate or higher and a income level of 000 000. This also includes family consumers who typically consist of married or single parents with 1- 4 stay at home children and roughly $1300 of disposable income that is usually spent at QSR’s. Common lifestyle characteristics include parents who work full time and who are not always able to prepare a meal for their family, households where 3 of the four people in a typical family do not know how to cook, consumers who spend 71% of their time or more outside the house, consumers who spend a majority of their time in busy high traffic districts of the city and teenagers between the age of 15 – 19 who work full or part time jobs and or go to school full time. Consumers in this target market regularly make purchases at QSR’s 1 – 2 times a week and expect healthier more nutritious meal options such as specialty salads, deli style sandwiches and grilled chicken sandwiches. What: The overall nature of the message would be image intensive with a majority of advertisements directed toward tv, print (including coupons etc.) and internet banners/stream videos. Where: The target market exists mainly in suburban areas, high traffic business districts and in some rural areas of Canada. The weight of the media funding would be allocated primarily based on this info and population patterns. When: Since a majority of ads will be spent on tv, commercials would be aired Monday to Friday from 3pm to 10:30pm, playing 3, 40 second commercials in an hour. On weekends commercials would air from 11:00am to 10:00pm, 2 times an hour. How: By using the profile-matching strategy in all chosen forms of media Carl’s Jr. would be able to achieve the desired regional coverage needed to successfully launch into the Canadian market. This effort combined with ‘skip’ schedule advertising will generate awareness, interest and trial purchase Endorsements is a technique that Carl’s Jr. has already used somewhat successfully and could continue to do so by getting endorsements from celebrities that would be easily recognized and accepted by the target audience. This would include Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Alba and Sarah Jessica Parker who could add to the presentation with sexually blatant appeals that could be easily â€Å"confused† with benefits of the product. Such as an ad where one of the above celebrities would mention how they have met someone who gives them everything they want and keeps them satisfied with his â€Å"big†¦., thick†¦., so large I can barely get both hands on it†¦..†, these references would of course be toward Carl’s Jr. and the size of their new ‘Six Dollar’ Jalapeà ±o burger. Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant could also be used to target the segment of customers who may be more influenced by the endorsements of professional athletes and their reference to the amount of meat found in the premier burger. With this type of commercial we would also introduce taglines and slogans to complete the message. For the ad endorsed by an attractive female celebrity the tagline would be â€Å"If we can get her this HOT, imagine what we can do for you.† this would introduce the Jalapeà ±o burger as a spicy meal to consumers who prefer a ‘kick’ to their food. The slogan used for the entire advertising campaign would be â€Å"We’re new. We’re more. And we can make it HOT.† * BROTHER’S BURGER Brothers Burger is a fast-casual restaurant that now has a total of 18 branches— six franchised and 12 company-owned — in Metro Manila, Baguio City, Cebu City. â€Å"We wanted to give the market good comfort good,† says Martin, the company’s vice president for business development and marketing. But it was Quito, a California-trained chef, who brought up the idea of selling a premium burger. To bring this idea to life, DJ and Martin quit their jobs to help Quito. Their burgers are all quite big and charbroiled a lot of health conscious people who order this if they are craving for burgers. * BURGER MACHINE BURGER MACHINE IS THE MARKET LEADER OF THE BURGER-ON-WHEELS SEGMENT OF THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRIES IN THE PHILIPPINES OPERATED BY FRANCHISEES NATIONWIDE. Burger Machine is the market leader of the burger-on-wheels segment of Philippines Food Industry. To simply put it, Burger Machine is the National Burger Stand of the Philippines. 🙂 (Among the other famous burger stands in the Philippines are: Angels Burger, Scott Burger Buy 1 Take 1 Burgers, etc). Burger Machine is not the resto type, it has been consistent in identifying itself as the-burger-next-door; you can see it everywhere, in every block, and in every corner possible. It is open 24 hours, the reason why it earned its name the burger that never sleeps. * McDonalds McDonalds has segmented their products according to bases of Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral. They have segmented their products and positioned their products according to kids, students and family. But they haven’t segmented their products according to Adult target group. And also haven’t started segmented related to breakfast in every outlet. * Happy Meal for Kids. Playing area for Kids Music and Dance floor for youth. Toddler zone -an active play environment with age-appropriate games that develop physical coordination and social skills. Active zone-designed for children aged four to eight that promotes physical fitness through fun play Sports Zone-a series of sports-oriented activities to promote aerobic exercise for children aged nine to 11 Parent Zone-features seating and provides a monitoring area for their children; and the Dining Area which allows family to eat. Geographical segmentation From geographical segmentation above we can see that McDonald offered their services based on certain country basic food. Demographic/psychographic segmentation Demographic segmentation divides the market into groups based on variables like gender, age, nationality, religion, family life cycle and family size. McDonald offered their services by segmented their customer based on age, religion and family life cycle McDonald segmented their product based on customer’s religion To offer the best services McDonald still concern about variations due to differing tastes and cultural issues for their customer over the world. For example: ‘Demographic segmentation divides the market In Malaysia, In Muslim country like Malaysia pork is not due to Muslim dietary laws, the hamburger is called beef burger avoiding the word â€Å"ham† (McDonald Malaysia). Additionally, in North African Morocco as well as other Muslim countries, all meats is slaughtered in the halal method and labeled as such. On The other hand, In Israel, kosher dietary laws forbid the mixture of the meat and the dairy product, because of this, cheeseburger are not popular. McDonald runs kosher restaurants in Jerusalem and in Buenos Aires (Gurdian Unlimited, 2007), Argentina and offer a â€Å"Passover bun† (only in Israel) for the eighty day period in which practicing Jews abstains from leavened bread. Contrary, â€Å"Veggie burger† are offered wherever there is significant demand, including India and much Western Europe, but McDonald rarely certificate it product as vegetarian. Indeed, McDonald’s was subject to high profile lawsuit and eventually forced to apologized for using small beef in the preparation of fries marketed as cooked in 100% vegetable oil. While in the liberal countries like The United States McDonald offer any kinds of food which one of it not available in other countries such as, hamburger, big n tasty, crispy chicken mCclub, McRib Jr, bacon egg and cheese bagel, BBQ bacon chicken mCgrill and cherry pie. (Bizjournal strictly business, strictly local, 2001) Behavioral segmentation Behavioral segmentation focuses on dividing consumer based on their knowledge, attitudes, uses, benefits sought, or responses to company’s product (McNamee McDonnell, 1995). One of the best form of segmentation is to divided buyers according to the different benefits that they want to get by purchasing the product. Usually, people who look for in their product class or look for each benefit. For example, McDonald provide McDelivery for 24 hour, this the only one delivery service that not stop even once in a while a day by just call it and order, after that within a minute it comes to your place with the food that still hot and fresh. For example, they who are working until late night in the office or they who are not sleep at night, they use this service to feed them because not all McDonald restaurants is open for 24 hour, certain McDonald restaurant only open until 2 am in the morning, for customer who look for each benefit they will just call McDelivery to send what they order rather than comedown directly to McDonald’s restaurant. McDonald segmented McDelivery menu based on the time that customer order: ∙ Breakfast extra value meals: bagel with omelet, big breakfast, hotcakes with sausage, hotcakes, sausage mCmuffin, egg muffin, fillet-o-fish, hashbrown. Happy Meal breakfast includes free toy: 2pc breakfast hotcakes. ∙ Lunch/Dinner/supper: big mag, double cheeseburger, fillet-o-fish, mcwings, French fries, mCchicken, mCspicy, grilled chicken foldover. Happy Meal lunch/dinner/supper includes free toy: chicken mCnugget, grilled chicken bun, chicken mCnugget. ∙ Sides: French fries, corn cup, apple dippers. ∙ Beverages: mCcafe cappuccino, mCcafe latte, mCcafe long black, coke/ coke light, sprite, ice lemon tea, jasmine green tea, 100% pure orange juice, limeade, iced milo, evian, fresh milk, hot chocolateor tea, hot milo. ∙ Dessert: McFlurry, sundae, apple pie. (McDelivery, 2006) McDelivery menu by McDonald (2006).. According to the data above, we can see that McDonald segmented their McDelivery menu based on how customers considering each benefit. Another behavioral segmentation in McDonald that we can guess is they proudly Big Mac, we can measure how customer is loyal to this McDonald’s product. In my opinion, Big Mac is one of popular burger in the world everybody knew it, know what it calls, know how to get it and know how it tastes. Year to year the sales of Big Mac keep on steadily and it is never drop under what we are predicted. On the other hand it sales also never suddenly totally increased, it is one of the evidence that Big Mac is reputable in common meanings it well-know because of it big size of burger under the brand of McDonald which all the people knows how it fast food feeder popular but it do not mean that this Big Mac do not have competitor. Nowadays, there is a lot of fast food feeder that serve any kind of burger with tempting taste and affordable price, this is what people said â€Å"the taste balance with the quality† which the brand is Burger King with their lot of menu choices and MOS burger that now serving their burger not with bread rather than rice, so many unique and unimagined ideas about how people create an interesting food and take business burger seriously. The reasons why this three brand of burger consume by community is because they all concern for the word halal kosher, they also know how to compete by creating the best test and design the appearances of burger until it brings kind of history to our life. Additionally, it also because of their good marketing which know how they persuade people and how they advertise their burger by make it commercial break that published in television, advertise their burger in big billboard, put their poster in bus until send their discount coupon (direct mai l) to public.

Effect of Interpersonal Touch on Third-party Observers

Effect of Interpersonal Touch on Third-party Observers Observing Touch Boosts Social Interests Sun Yating Abstract The goal of this study is to investigate the effect interpersonal touch on third-party observers. Specifically, we aim to test whether observing interactions with touch biases individuals towards social information in their environment. To this end, participants will be presented with prime images that entail touch and no-touch interactions. Primes will be followed by a set of target images comprising social (i.e., faces) and non-social (i.e., vehicles) elements. Participants processing of these images will be explored using behavioural measures (e.g., recognition accuracy) and eye-gaze data obtained through eye-tracking. We expect stimulus recognition and gazing to be enhanced when presented with face than with vehicle stimuli. Moreover this difference should be more pronounced for stimuli primed with touch as compared with no-touch images. Keywords: Interpersonal touch; Social information; Facial bias; Eye-gazing. Observing touch boosts social interests Touch is crucial to our daily life, as it allows us to communicate with the external world (Barnett, 1972). By doing so, we are able to feel the warmth of a human hand; to tap the screen of a smart phone; to send messages to a friend; to feel the sharpness of the tip of a pencil; or to feel the softness of a comfortable mattress. Among different types of touch, the interpersonal touch is the social sub-area of touch that mainly includes our interaction with another people (Field, 2001). For example, a strong handshake, an encouraging pat on ones back, a short tap on ones forearm, or a comforting pat on ones shoulder. Research has focused on how interpersonal touch influences our social perception, social behaviour, as well as our social brain. For the social perception, Fisher, Rytting and Heslin (1976) have conducted a behavioural study: when handing back the library card, library clerk either casually touched the forearm of the subject or did not touch the subject. The results illustrated that subjects felt higher level of affective and gave more positive evaluation towards the clerk, when they had been casually touched, in compared with the no touch situation. In other words, interpersonal touch enhances our positive social perception towards others. For the social behaviour, Cruso and Wetzel (1984) have asked waitresses to either briefly touch customers hands and shoulders, or behaving in the controlled manner (no touch). They have found that, regardless of the place being touched (hand or shoulder), customers gave higher rate of tipping fee when they had been touched by the waitresses, compared with the control group (where customers had not been touched). The above results suggested that interpersonal touch affects o ur social behaviour, which maybe a practical knowledge that we could use in our daily life. For the social brain research area, both neuroimaging studies and EEG studies have shed light on the role of interpersonal touch. For example, Olausson et al. (2010) conducted an fMRI study and identified a system of unmyelinated low threshold mechanoreceptors (C tactile, CT afferents) which contribute to pleasant touch and provide an important sensory underpinning of social behaviour. It is important to note that their experiment was not strictly an interpersonal touch. In fact, it was a robot arm that held a brush that was stimulating participants. The brush touch was a slow, dynamic property of light touch in hairy skin. However, this kind of touch has been suggested to be salient in tactile interactions between individuals (Gallace and Spence, 2010; Vallbo et al., 1999). Also, as social processing include multiple mechanisms (e.g. vocal, facial, and olfactory), Olausson et al. (2010) have only suggested the CT afferents’ function in interpersonal touch. Thus, it is possibl e that the CT afferents do not wholly support the social processing, but only partially contribute to one specific aspect (i.e. the interpersonal touch aspect). Although having the above issues, the study done by Olausson et al. (2010) generally suggested that CT afferents (in posterior and middle insular cortex) is the brain system which works for both interpersonal touch and social processing. For the EEG evidence, Maria et al. (in progress) have conducted an experiment with facial stimuli. They asked participants to focus on the facial images displayed on a computer screen. At the meantime, they used a brush to briefly touch the forearm area of participants. According to the results, being touched by the brush enhanced the N170 ERP component, which has been proved to reflect the processes of neutral faces (Rossion et al., 2000). Again, the above study used a brush instead of a real human hand to touch participants, which may be not good for the consideration of validity. However, previous study has shown the similarity between being touched by a brush and a human hand. Therefore, this EEG study suggested that our social perception of faces could be enhanced after being touched. With the knowledge of how interpersonal touch influences our social life, it is interesting to find out whether such influence could be extended, so that individuals are not being touched with ones own experience, but simply observing a vicarious interpersonal touching interaction performed by another two people. It is important to figure out the vicarious interpersonal touch problem, as this is the social interaction that we have to process in everyday life. For example, the mess media propose thousands of news, which including pictures capturing the interpersonal touch interactions between politicians. When observing such pictures, readers may form stereotypes towards both politicians within in this interaction. Sometimes, being the toucher or the receiver in such a simple picture can determine the publics social-emotional attitudes towards politicians, which will later greatly affect the voting rates toward them. Therefore, having the knowledge of vicarious interpersonal touch is important for us to guide our behaviour pattern in our social life. To support both the real and vicarious experiences, a same neural system should be activated for both procedures, which is called the Mirror system. According to Blakemore et al. (2005), the mirror system lies in our Primary Somatosensory Cortext (SI). Moreover, Keyser, Kaas and Gazzola (2010) suggested that different sub-regions in SI make different contributions: BA2 functions to the perception of others experiences, whilst BA3 processes signals originate in our own body. Furthermore, Scharfer, Heinze and Rotte (2012) conducted an fMRI experiment that they assigned participants to either observe a painful vicarious touch (using a paintbrush to touch a hand), a non-painful vicarious touch, or become in the real touch condition (where participant watched no visual display and was touched by a paintbrush). The results suggested that, for the contrast between observed/ real touch, there was a significant overlap in SI. In other words, SI is the mirror neuron system for non-painful touc h. Also, among all sub-regions within SI, BA2 made around 50% contribution to the overlap activation. However, this fMRI study, as previous studies, risked validity by using paintbrush instead of a more realistic interpersonal communication stimulus. Also, although this study hinted the influence of vicarious touch on the social perception, it did not directly test any social-emotional issue as dependent variable. A recent study by Schirmer et al. (2014) has developed the Social Touch Picture Set (SToPS), which contain two characters within each image. The interaction between the two characters can be either touch or no-touch. Also, the interaction can be reciprocal (where there is no toucher and receiver) or non-reciprocal (where one character is a toucher while the other one is a receiver). This picture set enables the presentation of a more realistic vicarious interpersonal touch scene, compared with the previously used paintbrush one. In their study, they asked participants to watch the SToPS images, then rate the perceived valence, arousal, and likeability of the characters and the interaction procedure. They found that, when participants observed touch images, the image characters and interaction procedure seemed more positive, aroused, and likable, compared to the observation of no-touch images. Moreover, they used eye-tracking system to record the gazing pattern when participants were observing the touch/ no-touch images. The results illustrated more and longer fixations towards the upper body area rather than the expected touching area. With such unexpected results, it is interesting to locate the exact position(s) within the upper body area that people focus on, after they observed vicarious touch images. Among all human upper body areas, perhaps the facial area is the most important one for our social information processing. As Allison, Puce and McCarthy (2000) mentioned in their review about social perception, the reason why facial information is crucial to our daily communication is because human face not only provides multiple explicit information (i.e. age, sex, emotional state, etc), but also includes some implicit information. Therefore, it is likely that face is the key area in the upper body part that we focus on, after primed with a vicarious interpersonal touch scene. More specifically, the enhanced social processing (by observing interpersonal touch) may bias our attention towards faces and help us to deeply process facial related information. As no previous study has focused on the link between vicarious interpersonal touch and our facial information processing procedure, the current study is interested in such topic and will test: 1) whether observing touch biases individuals to attend to faces, and 2) whether a potential face bias facilitates the retrieval of facial information. Methods Participants Run pilot study with 10 participants. Depending on the effect size to decide the sample size for the main study. A balanced number of male and female participants will be preferred, as sex difference may influence the results of current experiment. Also, as the face images will all be Asian, we will only include Asian participants. Experimental designated The current experiment is a 2 (Touch: touch/no-touch) X 2 (Stimulus: face/car) X 8 (AOIs) X 2 (Old target: face/car) within subject design, with dependent variables of looking duration, number of fixations, and d value for the facial recognition data. Stimuli SToPS Images (vicarious interpersonal touch images). There are 480 SToPS images (see figure 1 as an example), which could be divided evenly into different within participant conditions in the current study. The SToPS images contain ten different gestures, which could be either touch or no-touch. There are three different actors’ versions for each type of image. Each version has four female and male dyads: female-female/female-male/male-female/male-male. Therefore, there are 10*2*3*4 = 240 images. Also, a mirrored version for each of the above images serves to avoid the left-handiness/right-handiness issues. In total, there are 480 vicarious interpersonal touch images. Face and vehicle recognition task images. Instead of using traditional houses in the control condition, vehicle images will be used in the current experiment. This is because the shape of the frontal vehicle images is comparable to human faces. This will enable us to standardize face images and vehicle images in the same manner (see figure 2 as an example). Figure1: Example of touch/no-touch images in SToPS picture set. Figure 2: Example of face and vehicle images. Procedure The experiment will contain two phases: the study phase and the test phase. For the study phase, each experimental trial will start with a 200 ms presentation of a white fixation cross in the middle of the screen against a gray background. Participants will be presented with either a face image or a car image for 1 s. Participants will then be asked to explore the picture and try to remember it. In total, we will present 60 face images and 60 car images during the study phase. The inter-trial interval will be 1-3 s with a blank screen displayed. The study phase will last 6-7 mins for the 120 images. Then, participants will be told that this is the end of study phase and they will begin the test phase (see figure 3 for an illustration). Figure 3: The procedure of the study phase. For the test phase, there will be 240 trials. During each trial, a fixation cross will be presented for 200ms. Then, participants will be primed with a Touch or No-touch image for 1 s. After priming, we will display a pair of target face/car image on a computer screen for 1 s. For each of the Touch/No Touch priming, target image pair could be one of the following combinations: FaceNew/CarOld (30 trials), FaceOld/CarNew (30 trials), or FaceNew/CarNew (60 trials). We will present target images with primes in a counterbalanced manner. After watching the target image pair, participants will have to decide whether they have encountered an old image or not. To show their decision, they will need to press the left button or the right button to indicate whether the left image or the right image is an old one. Alternatively, if they decide both images are new, they press â€Å"Enter† to start the next trial. During the inter-trial interval, we will present a gray blank screen for 1-3 s . Based on the above design, each trial will last around 5 seconds. Therefore, the total length for test phase will be around 20 mins (see figure 4 for an illustration). Figure 4: The procedure of the test phase. Measurements Eye-tracking system. Eye-tracking data will be analysed using 8 AOIs (see figure 5 for illustration). We will measure the looking duration and number of fixations during the test phase. Figure 5: There will be 8 AOIs for face image as well as for vehicle image. Among the 8 AOIs, our interest will focus on the eye and mouth areas. D value for facial recognition. We will use d-prime as the data analysis method to find the difference in sensitivity towards facial images. We will compute the H values (hit / hit + miss), the F values (FA / FA + CR), and the d values for each trial. Expected results For the looking duration, we expect to find out the Stimulus main effect and an interaction effect between Touch and Stimulus (figure 6). Figure 6: We expect to see: 1) in general, participants look at face images longer than vehicle images; 2) primed with touch images will increase the looking duration towards faces. For the number of fixations, we expect to see a Stimulus main effect and an interaction effect between Touch and Stimulus (figure 7). Figure 7: We expect to find out that: 1) the number of fixations on face images will be larger than the number of fixations on vehicle images; 2) the priming of touch images will increase the number of fixations on face images. For the facial recognition, we expect to find out the Stimulus main effect, and an interaction effect between Touch and Stimulus on the d values (figure 8). Figure 8: We expect to see that: 1) participants are more sensitive to face images, rather than vehicle images; 2) the sensitivity towards face images will be enhanced by touch priming, but not no-touch priming. Discussion The current study aims at seeking the relationship between observing an interpersonal touch and the social information procedure. We expect stimulus recognition and gazing to be enhanced when presented with face than with vehicle stimuli. Moreover this difference should be more pronounced for stimuli primed with touch as compared with no-touch images. If the results will be the same as our expectations, we can conclude that observing touch biases individuals to attend to faces, and a potential face bias facilitates the retrieval of facial information. These possible findings will provide us knowledge on the link between observing an interpersonal touch and our facial information processing. Future studies could use fMRI to locate the brain areas that work for both observing an interpersonal touch and our facial information processing. References Allison, T., Puce, A., McCarthy, G. (2000). Social perception from visual cues: role of the STS region.Trends in cognitive sciences,4(7), 267-278. Barnett, K. (1972). A theoretical construct of the concepts of touch as they relate to nursing.Nursing research,21(2), 102-109. Blakemore, S. J., Bristow, D., Bird, G., Frith, C., Ward, J. (2005). Somatosensory activations during the observation of touch and a case of vision–touch synaesthesia.Brain,128(7), 1571-1583. Crusco, A. H., Wetzel, C. G. (1984). The Midas Touch The Effects of Interpersonal touch on Restaurant Tipping.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,10(4), 512-517. Field, T. (2001). Touch. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Fisher, J. D., Rytting, M., Heslin, R. (1976). Hands touching hands: Affective and evaluative effects of an interpersonal touch.Sociometry, 416-421. Gallace, A., Spence, C. (2010). The science of interpersonal touch: an overview.Neuroscience Biobehavioral Reviews,34(2), 246-259. Gobbini, M. I., Haxby, J. V. (2007). Neural systems for recognition of familiar faces.Neuropsychologia,45(1), 32-41. Keysers, C., Kaas, J. H., Gazzola, V. (2010). Somatosensation in social perception.Nature Reviews Neuroscience,11(6), 417-428. Kleinke, C. L. (1986). Gaze and eye contact: a research review.Psychological bulletin,100(1), 78. Perrett, D. I., Smith, P. A. J., Potter, D. D., Mistlin, A. J., Head, A. S., Milner, A. D., Jeeves, M. A. (1985). Visual cells in the temporal cortex sensitive to face view and gaze direction. Proc. R. Soc. London B 223: 293–317. Rossion, B., Gauthier, I., Tarr, M. J., Despland, P., Bruyer, R., Linotte, S., Crommelinck, M. (2000). The N170 occipito-temporal component is delayed and enhanced to inverted faces but not to inverted objects: an electrophysiological account of face-specific processes in the human brain.Neuroreport,11(1), 69-72. Schaefer, M., Heinze, H. J., Rotte, M. (2012). Embodied empathy for tactile events: interindividual differences and vicarious somatosensory responses during touch observation.Neuroimage,60(2), 952-957. Schirmer, A., Reece, C., Zhao, C., Ng, E., Wu, E., Yen, S. C. (2014). Reach out to one and you reach out to many: Social touch affects third-party observers.British Journal of Psychology. Vallbo, Ã…. B., Olausson, H., Wessberg, J. (1999). Unmyelinated afferents constitute a second system coding tactile stimuli of the human hairy skin. Journal of Neurophysiology,81(6), 2753-2763.

Dogma :: essays papers

Dogma Dogma is the latest movie from director Kevin Smith, whose previous movies Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy have become cult hits. This movie should be no different from the last three. Smith has more star power then ever to work with in this movie with such stars as Ben Affleck (who had a part in the Mallrats), Matt Damon, Chris Rock, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, and even rocker Alanis Morissette as God. The story is about two fallen angels, Affleck, and Damon, who has spent the last two thousand years on Earth and are looking to find their way back to heaven. But if they get their wish and pass through the archway of St. Michael’s Church history would be reversed and mankind will be destroyed. So God picks an abortion clinic worker, Fiorentino, along with the 13th apostle, Rock, and two profits, Jay and Silent Bob (both from Clerks, and Mallrats) to stop the two angels. Smith knows how to direct a great movie with out the high budget explosive action, and special effects. He can draw you in with great dialogue, and funny everyday situations. Smith can take a serious subject matter, such as Christianity in America today, and turn it into a funny comedy without coming off harsh. Smith first broke onto the scene with Clerks, A funny story of a convenient store worker who is called in on his day off, and a video store worker who wants nothing to do with the public he so poorly serves. The movie is shot in black and white, but you’ll soon find yourself not even noticing it once you get locked into a great story. In Smiths’ next movie, Mallrats, Smith directs a story about a man who breaks up with her girlfriend because her father wants her to be a contestant on his new dating show on public access TV. But soon all hell breaks loose when the Mall security guard has other plans, but with the help of Jay and Silent Bob things at the mall are about to change. Chasing Amy was Smiths last movie before

Unethical Pitbull Owners Essay -- Animals Dogs Pit Bull Terrier essays

Never Mind the Dog Beware of the Owner   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The American Pit Bull Terrier is a good breed of dogs that has earned its popularity throughout the world. The Pit bull is well known to be a loyal, brave and a very good companion to its owner. However, caution should be taken to avoid these terriers from getting into the hands of unethical owners.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the United Kennel Club (UKC), the standard for the American Pit Bull Terrier is a dog that is square and powerful with a blocky head, prominent cheeks and jaw, taut, and muscular body. The dog’s ears maybe cropped or snipped. These dogs have a deep chest, and a short, glossy coat of any color. Size can range from 30-50 pounds for females and 35-60 pounds for males. The average pit bull today will cost you any where from one hundred and fifty dollars to one thousand dollars. Pit bulls have great physical and mental characteristics that make them excellent partners for responsible, active and caring owners (PBRC). Pitbull are very responsive to training, intelligent, strong, energetic, agile, and adaptable and are always eager to please (PBRC). For example, the Pit bull was America’s first war dog serving in WWI, saving many lives from soldier of nerve gases and other chemical and biological harm. Pit bulls were also used as watch or alert dogs. In a California based APBT (American Pitbull Terrier) rescue group-encompassed training for Pitbulls to assist persons with disabilities, and with people who needed ther...

Maturity and Self-Identity in Munro’s Boys and Girls by Alice Munro Ess

Maturity and Self-Identity in Munro’s Boys and Girls  Ã‚        Ã‚   In Alice Munro’s story "Boys and Girls" the main character/narrator disobeys her father without her father knowing. She does this because she is starting to become her own person. Her maturity and capability to make her own decisions are pointed out distinctively as the story develops. Therefore she continued to do little things against the beliefs of her family, because as she said, "I kept myself free" (1008). You can tell that she was an outcast from the rest of her family, due to the fact that she did not act like a girl as her grandmother continued to try and point out to her. Her grandmother kept nagging her continually saying, "Girls don’t slam doors like that. Girls keep their knees together when they sit down" (1008). Day by day she kept on getting hassled. It seemed to me as if she was constantly getting picked on by the rest of her family. There is a keyword in this story, and the word is "girl." That word is brought up all the time in front of her, as though her family thought she did not act enoug...

‘Of mice and men’ †A comparison of the opening scenes of the film and the beginning of the book Essay

A comparison of the opening scenes of the film and the beginning of the book ‘Of mice and men’ is set in southern California at the time of the great depression (late 1920 and early 30’s), the basis of the story is about 2 men George and Lenny, who are two workers who travel from place to place finding work on ranches, so they can earn there 50 bucks a month. George is the leader out of the two he looks after Lenny, sorts out where they go and what they do and eat. Lenny is a very big and strong man, but he is very dumb and could not look after himself, he his at heart a nice, harmless man but likes colourful, nice feeling things, so he is just like a small child. Lenny gets them into trouble a lot, he likes to touch nice things and when he does people get the wrong idea and like at the start of the book and film gets accused of rape, and at the end causes a death of a woman. Like most writers or directors, John Steinbeck and Gary Sinise try to grab the readers or viewer’s attention. Even though the novel and film are based on the same story, they use different techniques and ways to try and get the audiences attention. In the novel John Steinbeck uses a lot of description of his settings and this is how he tries to keep the audience’s imagination going. For example in the first two pages of the novel, he uses a strong descriptive and a strong style of language to try and give an effect of a natural, calm and peaceful atmosphere, also when describing the willow pool he tries and puts as much detail in as possible, as this area of land is one of the most important places in the story as this is where Steinbeck starts the story and ends it in a similar place. It’s quite amazing how Steinbeck manages to turn a violent and threatening scene into a calm, relaxing place and an almost peaceful time. I think that the first set of settings is set in a spring/summer theme as they are talking about there dream which is seen as the American dream of this time, so this also relates to life in the late boom and depression of the 1920’s. The beginning is used to try and introduce the two main characters portraying Lenny as the leader and it seems that he is like a father to Lenny who is portrayed as a small child who cannot control what he is doing. George also knows he has to take the role as the father or older brother and has to keep rules and tells him what to do, e.g. when they are drinking from the lake Lenny keeps his head in the water and is just guzzling the water down, then George says; â€Å"For god sake don’t drink so much†, and also he checks if the water is safe by making sure that its is running although George is of little intelligence him self he knows how to stay alive and live well. Gary Sinise tries to grab the audience’s attention quite differently at the beginning of the film as he uses a dramatic sequence of George and Lenny sitting in the luggage holder of a train, and you see him thinking back to what happened at Weed. When this is happening the light fades over Georges face from the cracks in the compartments wooden walls, this effect of the light streaming across his face gives an imaginary sense of prison bars. During Georges flashbacks you see them running fast and out of breath down a field full of long grass, and it keeps flashing back on Georges face in the train giving you a sense of distress instead of the calming effect of the novel. It then flashes to a pretty woman in a red dress that has a rip going down the bottom of it, the air flows through her dress and hair as she is running down a field. This scene really is exciting and full of tension to the viewer, which contrasts totally to the calm and peaceful opening of the book. Next you she a bunch of workers in a field, and they hear the girl’s screams. The workers on horse follow carrying shotguns. This contrasts to the life of today against nearly a century ago, as nowadays Lenny would have been arrested and put to a fair trial but back then they would have just killed Lenny on the spot. This scene puts people on the edges of their seats giving a sense of suspense; this is how a good director is able to keep the audiences attention to the film. The scene of the willow pool is quite like the scene in the book it gives a more relaxed effect from the previous suspense scenes, as they hide neck deep under the overflowing bush weed, and luckily the workers lose them. When we see George and Lenny getting there work cards it proves the fact that this is in the 1930’s as there were a lot of job shortages and you had to go to a job office and see if any jobs were available, most people would take any job there was, because of the depression. This then gives us a slight historical background of the time they are in. George in the book is firstly described as â€Å"small and quick, dark of face with restless eyes and sharp, strong features†. George being described as having restless eyes gives an impression that he is quite alert and a quick thinker of what to do in troubled times. Lenny on the other hand is described quite differently: â€Å"Huge man, shapeless face with large, pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws†. â€Å"†¦the way a bear drags his paws† Lenny is being described as an animal which shows that he is a slow and clumsy both physical and mentally. The characters in the film are unlike the ones in the book as they are not physically opposite. Lenny is only slightly taller than George, but the behaviours of these two characters do mirror that it is similar to the book as Lenny acts like a child and George is the smart, dominant one. This is often shown in the close ups of their faces and in their speech and movement. The clothes they wear are described in the book as workers clothes so rugged and tattered, so the movie is also based on this part as the clothes in the movie are like this. In my opinion I think casting John Malkovich was perfect to be Lenny as he was able to portray the child like brain of Lenny. He seemed to fit the right description of Lenny. The voice used by John Malkovich was very effective in giving the viewer a childlike impression of Lenny. Gary Sinise although he was director he himself played George and he obviously knew how he wanted George to be played and he did with an amazing attitude, he gave out the attitude and cunningness of George as is written in the book. In conclusion, the beginning of the book and the beginning of the film are based on the same storyline. The way the scenes are described and presented are really quite different. Gary Sinise is able to create a sense of action and suspense followed by the calm of the willow pool, whilst Steinbeck creates a very rich and calm descriptive opening scene, which contrasts with the violence of what is actually happening.

Eu – Russia Relations

Slide 3-4 The European Union and Russia have a strong trade relationship. Bilateral trade and investments continue to grow rapidly. Since 1997 the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement has been the framework of the EU-Russia relations, regulating the political and economic  relations between the EU and Russia. One of the main objectives of this agreement is the promotion of trade and investment as well as the development of harmonious economic relations between the EU and Russia. EU imports from Russia are, however, to a very large extent not subject to any restrictions.The recent WTO accession of Russia will prevent Russia from adopting unilateral tariff hikes as has been the case in the past. The new EU-Russia Agreement – currently under negotiation – should provide a comprehensive framework for bilateral relations with stable, predictable and balanced rules for bilateral trade and investment relations. It will focus on improving the regulatory environment by buildi ng upon the WTO rules and strengthen bilateral trade relations. The EU was a strong supporter of Russia's WTO membership since the start of the process to the actual accession on 22 August 2012.Russia's WTO membership will gives a major boost to further development of the economic relationship between the EU and Russia. Slide 5 Russia is the third trading partner of the EU and the EU the first trading partner of Russia. Trade between the two economies showed steep growth rates until mid-2008 when the trend was interrupted by the economic crisis and unilateral measures adopted by Russia that affected EU-Russia trade. Since 2010 mutual trade has resumed its growth reaching record levels in 2011. EU exports to Russia are dominated by cars, medicines, car parts, telephones and parts and tractors.EU imports from Russia are dominated by raw materials, in particular, oil (crude and refined) and gas. For these products, as well as for other important raw materials, Russia has committed to f reeze or reduce its export duties. The EU is the most important investor in the Russia. It is estimated that up to 75% of Foreign Direct Investment stocks in Russia come from EU Member States. Slide 6 Directions: 1) Energy sector 2) Human resources 3) FDI 4) Technologies Slide 7-8 Russia and the EU still disagree primarily over the issues surrounding the energy sector.Russia is the most important supplier to the EU not only in gas and oil, but also of coal and uranium. Its oil and gas exports account for around two thirds of overall export earnings and revenues from this sector, and this contributes to over forty percent of the federal budget income. On the other hand, the EU is a major buyer of energy products what makes the EU over-dependent on Russian oil and gas, which undermines the EU’s political confidence. This anxiety is a result of Russia’s efforts to use this insecurity not only for economic objectives, but also for political purposes what give a rise to con cern about future supply.The energy partnership within the  EU-Russia Energy Dialogue   aims at improving the investment opportunities in the energy sector to ensure continued energy production, to secure and expand transportation infrastructure as well as to reduce the environmental impact. Other important objectives are to encourage the opening up of energy markets, to facilitate the market penetration of more environmentally friendly technologies and energy resources, and to promote energy efficiency and energy savings on the way to a low-carbon economy.Slide 9 A well-educated but cheap labour force – could provide Europe with an important boost to its competitiveness as a complex global economy emerges. Russia offers access to a skilled and well-educated human resource pool, letting companies recruit where they work. Russia has one of the most highly skilled workforces in the world, backed by an educational system with a solid global reputation and producing professio nals who take up leading positions in areas such as natural and pplied sciences, programming, R&D, engineering, etc. (7th  in the world with 75 million workers, 99. 4% literacy rate, 41 Russian Nobel laureates) The government has begun implementing a program aimed at finding tomorrow’s leaders and providing priority support to them. Slide 10-11-12 Why? 2. One of the Largest  Consumer Markets 3. World-Renowned Human Capital Vast Natural Resources Unique Geographic Position Technologically Advanced Economy Attractive Taxation System Extensive Government Support Stable Social and Political SystemRussia has a relatively small share of the EU’s total external FDI, at 4%,but this is actually significantly more than China’s. Despite that, the EU is by far the largest investor in the Russian economy. On the other hand, it seems that a significant part of the FI inflows, and also of the recent increase, may be Russian capital repatriated from abroad. Services have re ceived between 50% and 60% of the total FI. Among the other sectors, natural resources and manufacturing attract roughly comparable amounts of FI (and close to their weights in Russia's GDP).But†¦ †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦the share of the energy sector is larger in FDI (i. e. , without Portfolio and â€Å"Other Investments†). The share of the energy sector in the FDI inflows in the period 1Q-3Q 2007 seems to have been nearly 2/3 of the total. †¢EU MS seem to be among the largest investors in virtually allthe sectors of the Russian economy. In other terms, Russia performance is not as bad as one might expect, which is not to say that there are not areas for improvement. There are, and one such one is the legal framework .European Union accounts for 4/5  of  the accumulated direct investment in  Russia, and the amount of  capital investment in  absolute terms has grown significantly over the past few years European busi-ness community rated Russia third, while neither Asian nor North American investors included it  even in  the top dozen     According to  the calculations done by  the Institute of  World Economy and International Relations, the burgeoning Russian trans-national companies, despite their global inter-ests, have nevertheless concentrated 2/5  of  their long-term foreign assets in  the EU     According to  the new long-term forecast of  the Institute of  World Economy and International Relations, the share of  the  EU-27  in  the world’s  GDP (calculated by  the par index of  the purchasing power of  currencies) will go  down from 21%  in  2005  to 16%  in  2020  . This means that Russia’s  more forward-looking markets will be  not its traditional European partners but China and other large developing countries. Slide 14 Strong Russian scientific knowledge provides excellent opportunities for R;D partnerships with Russian research institutes and universitie s.While Russia possesses some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world, some of them have become harder to recover. This is a great opportunity to introduce innovative technologies to develop new gas and oilfields. Additionally, critical technological areas are eligible for government co-financing on a competitive basis to facilitate research and development of innovative capabilities and leading technologies in: * Aerospace * Aviation * Shipbuilding * Automotive * Machinery * Metallurgy * Construction * Chemistry and pharmaceuticals * Nuclear physics * And many more. Interesting fact: Russia leads the world in the number of annual spacecraft launches.

Determinism and Its Moral Implications

Drew Lewis 11/13/11 Philosophy Determinism and its Moral Implications Q: There are powerful arguments that there is no such thing as free will. But people in ordinary life tend to presuppose there is free will when they talk about people deserving good or bad treatment, rewards and punishments. Some kinds of rewards and punishments encourage good behavior and discourage bad behavior, so those make sense even if there is no free will. But what about punishments for crimes that are impossible to deter (like crimes of passion) or rewarding talents people can’t choose to have (like Olympic medals or Nobel prizes for science)? Do these practices still make sense if there is no free will? If not, how would it make sense to change our institutions? Our entire mental state is a product of the chemical and physical properties of our neurons at any given time, and changes are produced directly by communications within the central nervous system and between the peripheral and central nervous system. To be astonished at this fact is to underestimate the design complexity and sheer number of neurons present in the body. To assert there is a magical force called free will is unfounded and illogical. Your mind is governed by the same laws which govern all other matter of which you have no control. Free will, however, remains a popular belief mainly because of its connections to religion and the perception of introspection. When we introspect it is easy to convince ourselves that there is something spiritual inside; our mind is spontaneous, indecisive, creative, and often irrational. These qualities are, for the most part, absent in robotics, which supports a widely held belief that they can’t be synthesized. Determinism simply says that the mind can be predicted like a chemical reaction can be predicted; there is nothing special about our minds which hold them above physical laws. The mind is a complicated construct, and its vast number of interactions with the environment makes it impossible to predict. The simplest computer able to accurately model exactly what will occur in the human mind would be as complex as the universe itself. Because one does not have control over the functions inside one’s own brain, and because the functions in the brain determine thought process, no one has control of their thoughts. Determinism raises a number of interesting moral questions. Determinism is an unpopular theory mostly because its conclusion is misunderstood. Determinists can agree on a type of free will, which is simply defined on an individual acting or thinking in a healthy mental state and without influence. Given this situation an individual can be said to be thinking independently. The individual, according to determinists, has no control over his thought process, but he is, by popular definition, using his free will and judgment. Even if it is intangible, the concept is none the less incredibly important. The complete rejection of free will would have devastating consequences. Without free will humans lose responsibility, and without responsibility humans lose justice, which is the purest and most righteous human construct. The theory of determinism uses logic not based on speculation, and as theories come, it is one of the most foolproof. The important question to me is how to go about recognizing the truth of determinism without allowing it to affect life negatively. No one can say for sure whether complete recognition of determinism would be a good or bad, but I believe there is an overwhelming argument that the rejection of the concept of free will would have disastrous consequences. It brings up the interesting question if it is better to know the truth about something if it has negative consequences. Though I believe strongly in determinism, I treat my actions like I have control of them. This attitude is important for my well-being for numerous reasons. If one does not have control one’s thoughts or actions, are rewards and punishments necessary or even beneficial? The answer is yes. A healthy mind needs rewards and punishments in every situation in order to grow and improve. Reinforcements increase the likelihood of an action and punishments tend to decrease the likelihood of an action. Taking away these vital signals in the brain would cause disaster for the psyche. As a child you are constantly being conditioned. It’s the reason you have the gut reaction to think for a second before making a large purchase. It’s also the reason you work hard in school or at a job. Every time you were praised for a good grade or punished for a bad one, it ingrained in your mind what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ which in turn influences your motivation and attitude. The more reinforcement you receive the better conditioned you are to cope with your environment. We don’t, however, learn simply from reinforcements. A lot of trial and error is saved because we can observe others and learn from them. Everyone tries to emulate those who they see being rewarded the most through a conscious or unconscious attraction to their reinforcement. These people are known to us as heroes. Inversely we also tend to try not to be like villains – those who fail to gain rewards or are excessively punished. This is why it is so important for us to reward athletes and scholars, even though they did not exhibit free will. As children, most people aspire to be firefighters, soldiers, astronauts, or police officers. More than other professions, these are people who are presented to kids as heroes. The sole purpose of rewarding heroes might have the trivial goal of rewarding their good deeds, however it also has the noble effect of inspiring others to emulate them. By taking away the benefit of prestige, excellence fails to stand out from mediocrity. In psychology there is a subject called attribution. It is the study of what people attribute their experiences to. Some people blame themselves for things, and therefore are called internal attributers (as opposed to external attributers). If a person believes that their experiences can be manipulated they are called dynamic attributers (as opposed to static attributers). In order to truly believe that your experience is a result of your actions and that you can also change those actions, you must also believe in a form of free will. Without free will you could not change your actions, nor can you be held accountable for them. Psychology has shown that people who attribute their experiences internally and dynamically are less likely to suffer from depression than all other attribution types. In addition to depression many other types of psychological disorders such as mania are thought to be caused by static and external attribution. Free will is a defining theme in the punishment/reform debate dealing with prisons. If free will isn’t real the American prison system should operate solely for the purpose of reform and the isolation of those determined to be a danger to society. Without free will, punishment is trivial except for its uses as a reformation tool and as a deterrent to those thinking of committing a crime. In the case of life in prison or the death sentence there is no possibility for rehabilitation. If a prisoner couldn’t be rehabilitated using a reasonable amount of resources, a determinist may accept the benefits of a life sentence or death penalty. Life sentences and death sentences are considered positive because they keep people who are dangerous isolated from those they could harm, while simultaneously serving as a warning to others to prevent them from committing acts which could prove them dangerous. It is hard, when comparing the life sentence with the death penalty, which is worse. Whichever causes the least harm to the individual in question would be the best option. I personally believe it is more humane to end a human’s life painlessly (and as soon after conviction as possible) than to keep them locked in a cell until they die slowly of disease. It is likely that our ancestors were predisposed to the idea of free will and were favored because of it. The concept of free will gives you more motivation to hand down reinforcement, whether it is positive or negative, to those around you. It also helps you accept reinforcement from others. The concept of free will is a powerful force that keeps societies working correctly. Our entire legal and social system is based on the concept of free will. Everything in society is interlocking, so if we try to change society to fit the new idea that free will is irrelevant we will find inconsistencies and injustice until a solution is found in a stable society not based on the recognition of free will. Societal upheaval would be ridiculous because it wouldn’t accomplish anything. Judgment using free will is second nature to us as humans. When asked about Hitler, a Holocaust survivor, even a determinist one, wouldn’t say, ‘He did terrible things but it wasn’t his fault because he has no control over what happens in his rain. ’ Determinist ideals can only go so far before they become eclipsed by human emotion; therefore it would be ill advised to try to change society to fit the new theory. As you can see, the theory of determinism has many interesting theoretical implications, but very little actual applications. Its theoretical implications could be the most important, however. Combined with nihilism a nd agnosticism, it forms a rounded view of the universe which is grounded in science and reason without confusion from religion or human emotion. I believe that if philosophers can pursue this track of thought, devoid of spirituality and belief, philosophers can finally make progress in finding real answers. Determinism is still widely misunderstood. I was surprised how many of my classmates did not understand even the basic principles after spending time learning about it. The challenge philosophy faces is to present determinism, and other theories like it in a way which people can relate without losing the true meaning.