Sexuality and chronic illness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sexuality and chronic illness - Essay Example In people’s lives to define sexuality, the term gender is used. Gender is used to determine the sex of an individual being male or female. Gender is used to discuss the different identities, expectations and roles that the society associated with being male and female (McInnes, 2003). People in general view themselves in many ways as male or female. People use social, cultural and psychological characteristics when viewing their gender. Two terms describe behaviors associated with men and women; feminine and masculine. For most people, the sense of being male or female begins when one is young. Most people sense to belong to a certain gender according to their sexual body parts and their physical appearance. People develop certain behaviors and attitudes as per their societies and cultures. In these social and cultural environments individuals are expected to act, feel and think in a particular way according to their masculine or feminine gender. One cannot conceive the idea o f sex as being prior to that of gender since the two are a product of cultural, social and political factors. In the society today, people use different ways to view themselves as being male or female. Gender identification is one of the ways that people view themselves and mostly occurs when one is young. Children in their early years try to identify themselves with the same-sex parent. A boy identifies himself with the father and the girl identifies herself with the mother. People use language to view themselves as male or female. In English, words such as mankind and chairman are used to denote set positions for both men and women though they are biased to the male side. Other words include lady and gentleman used to identify duties for men and women. At times, people use mode of dressing as a way to view their gender. For mothers, they at times dress their children who are girls in pink colored clothes

The Metamorphosis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Metamorphosis Paper - Essay Example Right at the beginning of the story, prior to his physical metamorphosis, Gregor already appears to be alienated in some way. This initial suggestion of alienation surrounds his external environment; his work, social life and to some extent, his family. He reflects over the monotony of his life in terms of his job, a monotony he endures due to the pressure of having to support his family financially. He appears to have no friends or social life to speak of, and his family seem to take his support for granted. Even the duty of caring for his family seems to be something strange to him, as he hardly realizes it when he loses this duty by the end. After establishing Gregors alienation from his societal environment and duties, we begin to see the process of deeper alienation from his family, his immediate environment, his emotions and his body. When he wakes to find his body changed, he is so disconnected from it he hides away from those closest to him. As his family become aware of the situation, they cease speaking to him altogether, eventually determining that the animal they see before them is not Gregor, â€Å"You must just try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor. The fact that we’ve believed it for so long is the root of all our trouble†, (Kafka part 3). After the metamorphosis Gregor undergoes total alienation from his house and environment. Symbolic of this, Gregor cannot even view his street through the window and hence he slowly becomes a foreigner in his own family and home, without a productive role to play, as his family treat him with neglect and revulsion, as suggested by Kafka (1). The metamorphosis Gregor undergoes, changes him from an active social being to a useless and non active person within his family and society. More importantly, it represents a physical manifestation of the alienation process he has

Under the Bombs Analysis Essay Example for Free

Under the Bombs Analysis Essay As my first extra credit assignment I had the opportunity to watch â€Å"Under the Bombs†, directed by Philippe Aractingi. The movie became available to the public in 2007, embodying some of the events of the 2006 Lebanon War. The main character of the movie is a wealthy Lebanese Muslim by the name of Zeina Nasrueddi. Although she is from Lebanon, she lives in Dubai with her husband and son Karim. Due to complications within their marriage, Zeina and her husband send their son to stay with her sister in Lebanon. Not too long after, Zeina hears about the outbreak of the war, she rushes to Lebanon to find her son. When she gets there, she finds the area and all of its buildings destroyed. While searching for her son she gains information on his whereabouts. The information sends her on a journey with a Lebanese taxi driver in search of her son. When she finally arrives at her son’s stated location, she finds only her son’s friend who explains to Zeina that Karim is dead. The plot of the movie was very riveting and action-packed. There are many ups and downs throughout the storyline, keeping the viewer intrigued and reeled in. Although the movie wasn’t directed at religion specifically, I was able to view a couple of the Lebanese traditions. Some of the traditions I picked up on were the attire and dances. The taxi driver was Christian so I would have to assume that the dance he conducted in the movie was one of Lebanese tradition and not Muslim. The dance was his attempt of lightening the mood for the very tense and worried Zeina. As far as the attire goes, the women wore long dresses, only revealing their face. This form of attire is very closely related to the Muslim tradition. Although the ending was rather sad, the movie was great in content.

Effect of Paclitaxel for Breast Cancer Treatment

Effect of Paclitaxel for Breast Cancer Treatment Effect of paclitaxel along with withnia sominiferia on lactate dehydrogenase enzyme activity changes in 7,12 di methyl benz(a) anthracene induced breast cancer wistar rats Dr.N.Muninathan1*, Dr.P. Mohanalakshmi2,Ambareesha Kondam k., Dr. S. Malliga3 1* – Department of Biochemistry, Meenakshi Medical College and Research Institute, Enathur, Kanchipuram – 631552, Tamil Nadu, India. 2- Department of Biochemistry, Sri Muthukumaran Medical College, Chennai 3- Department of Biochemistry, ESIC Medical College, Chennai Abstract Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate the changes in the levels of lactate dehydogenase enzyme(LDH) activity and efficacy of combination of paclitaxel along with Withnia Sominiferia against breast cancer in experimental animals. Breast cancer is the commonest cancer among women in all developed countries (except Japan) as well as in North Africa, South America, and southeastern and western Asia. While the incidence of breast cancer appears to be increasing, mortality rates are now declining in at least some western countries. Breast cancer ranks third when both the sexes are considered together and is clearly a significant global public health problem. Design/Methods: Breast cancer was induced in rats by 7, 12 Di methyl benz(a) anthracene (DMBA) at the dosage of 20mgs dissolved in 0.5ml sunflower oil and administered into experimental animals for 28 weeks. In this study, we demonstrated that combination of paclitaxel and withania somnifera revert the changes in the rats f rom lethal dose of DMBA within 30 days. Results: All the isoenzymes LDH1 – LDH5 were observed in cancer bearing animals. Expression of these isoenzymes were found be reduced in paclitaxel and Withania somnifera treated animals. Conclusions: The treatment with combination of paclitaxel and withania somnifera effectively reduced LDH enzyme activity levels. So, from the obtained results it is concluded that paclitaxel and withania somnifera is capable of restoring the breast architecture. Key words: Withania somnifera, DMBA, Paclitaxel, LDH and Breast cancer. Introduction Breast cancer ranks third when both the sexes are considered together (Parkin, 1999) and is clearly a significant global public health problem. There are nearly 8,00,000 new cases of breast cancer worldwide each year .In approximately half of these patients, breast cancer will be the eventual cause of death. Incidence of breast cancer in Indian women is not as high as in western countries (Sinha et al., 2003) .It is the second most common cancer among women in south India. The age standardized rates vary from 22 to 28 per 1, 00,000 women (Sanghvi, 1998). Although the rates appear to be lower than those seen in developed countries, the burden of cancer in India is alarming. Worldwide incidences of breast cancer continue to rise and geographical variations in breast cancer incidence indicate that environment factors contribute to overall risk (Millikan, 1995). Exposure to environmental carcinogens early in life is thought to be one of the first events in the development of breast cancer. Each year breast cancer is diagnosed in 910,000 women worldwide and 376,000 women die from the disease. Most of these cases are in industrial countries e.g., North America (180,000) and Europe (220,000). PAH’s an important class of chemical carcinogens that are widespread in the ambient environment due to fossil fuel combustion for energy production, transportation and industry. DMBA, a potent PAH recognized as an initiator of both skin and liver cancer (Masaaki Miyata et al). The covalent binding of DMBA metabolites to DNA has been implicated as a critical step in the initiation phase of cancers. Paclitaxel (Taxol), a naturally occurring antineoplastic agent has shown great promise in the therapeutic management of certain human solid tumors particularly in metastatic breast cancer and malignancy involves skin, lung and refractory ovaries. It is the original member of the taxane group of anticancer drugs derived from the bark and needles of the pacific yew tree â€Å"Taxus brevifolia†. Paclitaxels antitumor activity was discovered in1960’s during a large scale 35,000 plants-screening program sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA. Withania is widely used in Ayurvedic medicine in India and in Unani and Middle Eastern traditional medicines, where it is highly regarded as a panacea, aphrodisiac, and rejuvenative. Withania sominifera (L). Dunal (Solanaceae) commonly called Ashwagandha (Sanskrit) is an Ayurvedic Indian medicinal plant, which has been widely used as a home remedy for several ailments.(Bhattacharya et al., 1997) The use of ashwagandha in Ayurvedic medicine extends back more than 3000 to 4000 years (Upton, 2000) (Agarwall et al., 1997). It has been widely extolled as a tonic, especially for emaciation in people of all ages, including babies, and enhances the reproductive function of both men and women. It has also been used for inflammation, especially in antitumor, arthritic and rheumatic conditions, for asthma, and as a major tonic to counteract aging and promote youthful longevity (Dhuley., 1998). Materials And Methods 1.1. Chemicals: 7,12 Dimethyl benz (a) anthracene and Withania somnifera were purchased from Sigma chemical company, USA. All the other chemicals used were of analytical grade. 1.2. Animal care and housing: Female Wistar rats, 6-8 weeks of age and weighing 150-200g, were used. The animals were procured from Central Animal House Block, Meenakshi Medical College and Research institute, Kanchipuran, Tamil Nadu, India and maintained in a controlled environmental condition of temperature and humidity on alternatively 12 h light/dark cycles. All animals were fed standard pellet diet (Gold Mohor rat feed, Ms.Hindustan Lever Ltd., Mumbai) and water ad libitum. This research work on wistar female rats was sanctioned and approved by the Institutional Animal Ethical Committee (REG NO. 765/03/ca/CPCSEA). 1.3. Experimental Design The animals were divided in to six groups of 6 animals each. Group I animals served as control, Group II, III, IV, V as animals treated with DMBA (20mg ) per animal in sunflower oil (0.5ml), three times a week for 28 weeks to induce skin cancer. After tumor induction Group III animals were treated with Paclitaxel (33mg/kg b.wt) once in a week for 4 weeks. Group IV animals were treated with Withania somnifera (250 µg/animal) for 30 days. Group V animals were treated with both Paclitaxel and Withania somnifera (as in group III and group IV). These were Group VI Control animals treated with paclitaxel and Withania somnifera for 28weeks plus 30 days. After the experimental period of 32 weeks, the animals were sacrificed by cervical decapitation. 1.4. Biochemical analysis The isoenzymes pattern of lactate dehydrogenase was separated by the method of Dietz and Lubrano (1967). III. Results Plate 1 depicts the Isoenzyme pattern of lactate dehydrogenase in serum of control and experimental animals. All the isoenzymes LDH1 – LDH5 were observed in cancer bearing (group II) animals. Expression of these isoenzymes were found be reduced in paclitaxel (group III) and Withania somnifera (group IV) treated animals. However a much significant reduction in the LDH isoenzyme expression pattern was observed in-group V animals treated with both paclitaxel and Withania somnifera. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzyme pattern in serum of control and experimental animals Lane 1:Control Lane 2:DMBA treated Lane 3:Paclitaxel treated Lane 4:Withania somnifera treated Lane 5:Paclitaxel and Withania somnifera treated cancer bearing animal Lane 6:Paclitaxel and Withania somnifera treated control animal IV. Discussion: Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is the most common clinical enzyme used in the cancer patients for prognostic purpose ( Invone et al., 1998). It has an important role in germ cell functions and can predict responses to chemotherapy and the prospects of remission. Human cancer tissues typically exhibit 2-3 fold increases in glycolytic enzymes and LDH activity. Sandhya Mishra et al. (2004) have also reported the increased level of LDH in breast cancer patients. Anderson and Kovatik (1981) reported greater LDH activity in breast cancer conditions. There was a significant increase in LDH level in serum of cancer bearing Group II animals. This might be due to the membrane disruptions that caused the release of these enzymes from the cancer cells or the overproduction by the tumor cells (Helmes et al., 1998). The elevated LDH activity may also have resulted from differences in the rate of synthesis, degradation or the excretion of the enzymes in the mammary cancer bearing animals. Schwartz (1973) has reported that among the isoenzymes LDH5 was six times greater than LDH1 in mammary tumor cells. Flavanoids have proved to possess antitumor effect on various animal models (Ames et al., 1995). The biological and pharmacological activity of Withania somnifera was associated with phenolic compounds mainly to flavanoids, aromatic acids and esters (Burdock, 1998; De catsro, 2001). Antioxidant activity of flavanoids may also be due to their structural features and its action on membrane (Saija et al., 1995; Mathur et al., 2003 ; Mohan et al., 2006). Paclitaxel being rich in flavanoid content possess antitumor and antiproliferative activities that stabilizes the membrane permeability and reduces the release of LDH. V. Statistical analysis For statistical analysis, one way analysis of analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used, followed by the Newman-Keuls Multiple Comparison test. VI. Conclusion From the present study, the effect of Paclitaxel- Withania somnifera combination proved to be effective chemotherapeutic agent against DMBA induced Breast cancer in wistar rats compared to that of paclitaxel or Withania somnifera confirmed analyzing the LDH isoenzymes levels in serum. Reference Agarwal, R., Diwanay, S., Patki, P., and Patwardhan, B ( 1999). Studies on immunomodulatory activity of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) extracts in experimental immune inflammation. J Ethnopharmacol, 67: 27-35. Ames BN, Swirsky G and Willet WC. (1995). The causes and prevention of cancer. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA., 92:5258-5265. Anderson GR, Kovacik WP Jr. (1981). LDHK an unusual oxygen – sensitive lactate dehydrogenase expressed in human cancer. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 78 (8): 3209 – 13. Bhattacharya, S. K., Satyan, K. S., and Ghosal, S. (1997). Antioxidant activity of glycowithanolides from Withania somnifera. Indian J Exp Biol, 35: 236-239. Budhiraja, R. D., Sudhir, S., and Garg, K. N.( 1983). Cardiovascular effects of a withanolide from Withania coagulans, dunal fruits. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol, 27: 129-134. Burdock GA. (1998). Review of the biological properties and toxicity of bee propolis (propolis). Food and chemical toxicology. 36 : 347-363. Decastro SI. (2001). Propolis: biological and pharmacological activities. Therapeutic uses of this bee product. Annual review on biological sciences. 3 : 49-83. Dhuley, J. N. (1998). Therapeutic efficacy of Ashwagandha against experimental aspergillosis in mice. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol, 20: 191-198. Dietz AA. and Lubrano T. (1967). Separation and quantification of LDH isoenzyme by disc electrophoresis. Anal. Biochem., 20 : 246-257. Helmes MH, Modia A, Moneim EL, Moustafae MS, Bale EL and Safinoz MEL. (1998). Clinical values of serum LDH, ceruloplasmin and lipid bound sialic acid in monitoring patients with malignant lymphomas. Medical Science Research, 26 : 613-617. Iuvone, T., Esposito, G., Capasso, F., and Izzo, A. A. (2003). Induction of nitric oxide synthase expression by Withania somnifera in macrophages. Life Sci, 72: 1617- 1625. Mathur, R., Gupta, S. K., Singh, N., Mathur, S., Kochupillai, V., and Velpandian, T.( 2006). Evaluation of the effect of Withania somnifera root extracts on cell cycle and angiogenesis. J Ethnopharmacol, 105: 336-341. Millikan R, De Voto E, Newman B. and Savitz D. (1995). Studying environmental influences and breast cancer risk: suggestions for an integrated population based approach. Br.Cancer Res.Treat., 35: 79-89. Mohan, R., Hammers, H. J., Bargagna-Mohan, P., Zhan, X. H., Herbstritt, C. J., Ruiz, A., Zhang, L., Hanson, A. D., Conner, B. P., Rougas, J., and Pribluda, V. S.( 2004). Withaferin A is a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis. Angiogenesis, 7: 115-122. Parkin DM, Whelan SL, Ferlay, Raymond L, and Young J. (1997). Cancer incidence in five continents. Volume VIII.IARC. Scientific Publications, 143 IARC, Lyon, 858-1009. Rasool, M. and Varalakshmi, P.( 2003). Immunomodulatory role of Withania somnifera root powder on experimental induced inflammation: An in vivo and in vitro study. Vascul Pharmacol, 44: 406-410. Saija A, Scalese M, Lanza M, Marzullo D, Bonina F. and Castelli F. (1995). Flavanoids as antioxidant agents: Importance of their interactions with biomembranes. Free Rad.Biol.Med., 19: 481-486. Sandhya Mishra DC, Sharma and Praveen Sharma. (2004). Studies of Biochemical parameters in breast cancer with and without metastasis. Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry. 19(1) : 71 – 75. Sanghvi LD. (1998). Report on cancer epidemiology. Indian association of cancer research. 1-28. Schwartz MK. (1973). Enzymes in cancer (review ). Clin.Chem., 19: 10-22. Sinha R, Anderson DE, Mc Donald SS. and Greenwald P. (2003). Cancer risk and diet in India. 49(33) : 222-228.

Television and Media Essay - TV and the Impact on Children :: Media Argumentative Persuasive Argument

Television and the Impact on Children      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Have you ever wondered how television affects your children?   The average child watches television 2 hours per week and most of this viewing is of violence or sexual acts.   During this time there is a violent act shown every 6 minutes and on Saturday mornings there is 20 to 25 violent acts shown every hour on prime time t.v. especially in cartoons or animated programs.   So no matter what your child is watching it is damaging their sense of imagination and creativity.   Now there is no need for children to use their imagination and creativity anymore, television has even taken that away from them.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In today's generation television has a great influence on children. Unfortunately most of the programs watched by children have a negative impact and give the wrong impression of what really happens in everyday life. It also influences their development and their behaviours.   "In fact childhood development experts say infants as young as 14 months old imitate behaviour they see on t.v and children up to the age of 5 lack the cognitive ability to distinguish fact from fantasy"(Internet; Children and television violence) Therefore what they see on t.v is what they are most likely to imitate. Cartoons are even showing numerous acts of violence and most of this violence is done by the "good guys".   For example, Power Rangers; how do they get rid of the bad guys? by fighting .   During the whole episode you see the "Rangers" kicking, punching and attacking the bad guys.   Other shows like X-men, Sailor Moon, Looney Tones, and even Care Bears show violence towards others.   It's no wonder children think it's okay to act this way when even their "Super Heroes" who are supposed to be the good guys are hurting others.   They see the good guys doing these things and think it's appropriate.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I've notice even with my own cousin that when he has finished watching an episode of Power Rangers he tends to get aggressive and hyper-active.   He copies the exact same moves that the Power Rangers use.   It's almost like he believes he is one of them.   He believes that when he punches people or kicks them that it doesn't hurt because that's what he sees on t.v.   It's not like you see the characters ever show any pain.   Even when he plays with his friends they pretend that they are Power Rangers vs. the bad guys and fight each other. Shows like this even have the use of guns, which I don't believe in.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In schools, teachers have noticed the difference between children who

Odysseus The Hero :: essays research papers

Odysseus the Hero   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For a character to be an epic hero, he must possess four characteristics. These four characteristics include the following: (1) he must be high born, (2) the hero must have human weaknesses, (3) he must be brave,and 4) he must be clever. In The Odyssey, Homer’s character Odysseus was an epic hero because he possessed all four of the characteristics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One characteristic that Odysseus had to be an epic hero was that he was highborn. Odysseus was Prince Laertiades of Ithaca. The goddess Circe knew he was highborn and addressed Odysseus with his formal name “Prince Laertiades…'; (p. 120). When his men feared that he was dead and Odysseus returned to them unharmed, from their hearts they said, “You are back again my prince! How glad we are…';(p.120). Also, because Odysseus had not returned home to Ithaca, many men tried to wed his wife, Penelopeia, so that they could rule his kingdom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Odysseus was also an epic hero because he had human weaknesses. One of his weaknesses was that he was arrogant. Even after he defeated Polyphemos (the Cyclops) Odysseus stayed longer just so he could taunt him. He “…wanted to shout out again…although [his] comrades…tried to coax [him] not to do it'; (p.110). Odysseus, against his crew’s wishes, shouted, “…Cyclops! if ever a man asks you who put out your ugly eye, tell him your blinder was Odysseus!'; (p.110). Another human weakness of Odysseus was that he had a bad temper. When Eurylochos refused to go back to Circe’s mansion, Odysseus “…thought for a moment that [he] would draw [his] sword and cut off his head…';(p.121). If his men did not stop him, Odysseus probably would have killed Eurylochos and therefore lost a good man because of his short temper. Lust was another weakness of his. For Seven years Odysseus and Circe were lovers. Because he sta yed with Circe, Odysseus prolonged his return home to Ithaca. Odysseus had many human weaknesses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another characteristic that Odysseus had to be an epic hero was that he was brave. Even though Eurylochos urged Odysseus to not go to Circe and leave the island without his crew Odysseus refused to. He responded to Eurylochos by saying “…as for me, go I must and go I will.';(p.117). Odysseus was a loyal leader, and even though he knew that he faced an impossible task, he went to Circe’s to bring his men back to safety.

Choosing the best project for the company Essay

I would like to thank you for providing me with the essential information from your previous email to analyze the following projects Juniper, Palomino, and Stargazer. This information has provided me guidance with choosing the best project for the company. This email will provide you with the recommendation and proposal of the most beneficial project for the company. The project that fits our company’s expectations and requirements is the Stargazer project. This project is efficient and the expectation of the project being completed on time is high and obtainable. According to the project descriptions, $450,000 has been spent on the product and they average a total of $575,000 being spent in order to bring the product to the market. Even though the dollar amount spent in this project is high, the return on investment for this project is high; by the third year the product is forecasted to have a return of investments of $750,000. The product life of this project is forecasted to be 7 years. Because this product has not been used we would be the first company to launch the product to the market which would create an innovative style allowing our company to be the leader in the industry. The method I used to make this decision was utilizing the feasibility study. This method allows us to determine how beneficial or practical the Stargazer project would be to the organization. The four phases associated with the feasibility study are: operational feasibility, technical feasibility, schedule feasibility and economic feasibility. The operational aspect informs whether the project is worth solving and evaluating for business usage. The technical feasibility allows us to evaluate if the proposed technology is practical. Technology feasibility also informs us if we currently possess the necessary technology to implement the project. The schedule feasibility informs us if the project  deadlines are reasonable, which they are. The economic feasibility informs of our benefits; tangible or intangible benefits. The key deliverables for the project are not just the clients but also the external stakeholders. The break-even analysis is a financial analysis tool that determines if the project needs to be justified in terms of cost not the benefits. This is why this tool was not utilized in the decision for the Stargazer project. Based on the break-even analysis for the Juniper project it basically shows the company will not, or barely break-even, during the life cycle of the production due to technology advancements causing this product line to become obsolete after three years. It has a cost of $325,000 and ROI only producing $250,000 for the two to three years of production with the third year being the end of life for this product. If the company chooses the Palomino project it will also have a hard time breaking-even and producing revenue streams over the life-time of the production with a 5% margin of error with the seventh year being the end of life for the product. The strength of the economy plays a large determining factor in this forecast due to 5% differential in the life cycle of this product. Palomino will cost $655,000 with the ROI being $450,000 over a five year period with that 5%, plus or minus, margin of error. Profit would then start to be recognized in the sixth and seventh year of the life cycle which is way too long. Each of the five phases of the project management was evaluated in order to reach the best decision. Initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing were the primary outline for the decision. Project management requires processes to be done at each of these levels in a detailed step. These steps outline the idea into a general flow for the best project.