Computerized Inventory System

II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­In this chapter, the students who are the developer of the system are going to tackle about the company’s main problem in its existing system and are also going to discuss the specific problem that causes the host company’s loss and incompetency to the market. The propose system that the students come up with will be discuss to maximize the competency of the host company along with the details, the scope and limitations, and the methodology used for the study.2.1.2 Problem Statement In this chapter the proponent will specify the general and specific problems of their company that has encounter through interview or observation.2.1.1 Major StatementHow to create a Computerized Sales and Inventory System for Alta School & Office Supply that will solve the major and minor problems of the store? Alta School & Office Supply using the manual system for the operation of the inventory and the cashier operator transacts all purchases using a cash register. The proponents decided then to develop a computer-based sales and inventory system that the store can use to be able to solve major and minor problems encountered when using a manual system in doing these operation.2.1.2 Minor StatementsHow to develop a module that will make the user easily find and validate returned products? Product returned include damage items when a product is returned, it should be accompanied with the receipt of the purchased product. Since only the product category and its price are indicated in the receipt, it would be hard for the manager to easily find and validate the product and the receipt so as to accept the return transaction.How to create a module that is enable to generate updated report such as the sales report and inventory report, as well as fast moving and slow moving products reports that is available anytime is needed? The store does not have an actual inventory report and their sales report are made and calculated just throug h the receipt from the cash register. The general manager cannot identify which products are fast moving and which are slow moving because the general manager cannot identify what specific products are commonly bought and what are not. Information for fast moving and slow moving items is essential so as to be aware of the products that need more attention in terms of the reordering of these products.How to create a module that is able to implement security with regards to the information and files so as to keep data integrity? Important documents can be altered since anyone can gain access to these documents. Another problem is regarding to cashier operators. Since there is no security with regards to who can use the cash registers unauthorized sales transactions may occur, thus resulting to loss of data integrity and reliability.II.1 Proposed Research ProjectII.1.1 General ObjectivesThe general objective of the study is to make a Computerized Sales and Inventory System for Alta Sch ool and Office Supply that will solve, improve the some features that can help of the store. The proponents will design and develop a Computer-based Sales and Inventory System for Alta School and Office Supply that will solve major and minor problems encountered in the current system used. This will eventually help the host company speed-up the process of the whole system. II.1.2 Specific ObjectivesTo develop a module that will organize the record of all the information about the system. In this statement the proponents need to organize the record of all the information about the system so that we can easily see all the information we need to see if it is necessary. Without organization the system will have corrupted files and revision would be impossible in the database.To develop a module that will compute the sales and record transaction for the amount product purchased, and the number available in the store. The proponents can improve the manual system for this module, computati on and recording to be faster and more accurate that will lessen human error and is  more reliable than the existing process.To create a module that will build a security that will protect the company’s confidential file. The proponents will develop a security to protect the feature where the data files and information will be secured from the unauthorized person and to avoid any of alteration of data files. The system cannot be used without any users, because it is required in the system.II.1.3 Scope and LimitationsThe Study is conducted to develop computerized sales and inventory system for Alta School & Office Supply. This computerized sales and inventory will ease the work of the persons involved in this system to minimize their tasks as well as to keep up with the technology nowadays. System proposed system is conducted to develop computerized sales and inventory system for Alta School & Office Supply.The computerized system will help minimize the problem encountered i n the existing manual system of the company as well as to keep up with technology nowadays. The proposed system will feature file maintenance module that allows editing, adding, and maintaining of information pertaining to the products, product’s category, suppliers, and system users. Returned product/s due to damage which is accepted for return or exchange can be easily validated through a reliable receipt that will indicate the store’s name, product name, product price and the date that purchased or date of transaction will be adjusted in a returns form.LimitationsThe system cannot provide a payment using credit cards. Obviously it is more profitable to have an online ordering but probably it cannot apply them online orders. The transaction or method cannot be converted in to a computerized system and can only be done manually such as evaluating the reports or suggesting an alternate product or any decision related problem.II.1.4 MethodologyThe proponent’s met hod in making the system is the Systems Development Life Cycle or simply SDLC is the methodology that we used in our system. It is the development cycle designed to give much faster. To be able to accomplish  the requirements of the proposed system, the proponents decided to use the System Development Life Cycle or simply SDLC and divided the cycle into five phases. The SDLC is a phased approach to analysis and design that hold that systems are best developed through the use of a specific cycle of analyst and user activities. Although each phase is presented discretely, the proponents did not intentionally make them as separate steps instead, several activities may occur concurrently, and activities may be repeated, because SDLC is more useful if it is applied as phases rather than in separate steps.Planning Priorities for system and projects; an architectures for data, networks, and selection hardware, and IS management are the result of associated systems; Detailed steps, or wor k plan, for project:Specification of system scope and planning and high level system requirements or features; Assignment of team members and other resources; System justification or business case.Analysis Description of current system and where problems or opportunities are with a general recommendation on how to fix, enhance, or replace current system; Explain of alterative systems and justification for chosen alterativeDesign Functional, detailed specifications of all system elements (data, processes, inputs, and outputs); Technical, detailed specification of all system elements (programs, files, network, system, software, etc.).Implementation Code, documentation, training procedures, and support capabilities.Maintenance New version or releases of software with associated updates to documentation, training, and support.

Facilitation of Conditioned Fear Extinction

Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 FACILITATION OF CONDITIONED FEAR EXTINCTION BY D-CYCLOSERINE IS MEDIATED BY MITOGEN-ACTIVATED PROTEIN KINASE AND PHOSPHATIDYLINOSITOL 3-KINASE CASCADES AND REQUIRES DE NOVO PROTEIN SYNTHESIS IN BASOLATERAL NUCLEUS OF AMYGDALA Y. L. YANGa AND K. T. LUb* Institute of Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, National Chia-Yi University, 300 University Road, Chia-Yi, Taiwan b Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, 88 Ming-Chow Road, Sec 4, Taipei, Taiwan aKey words: extinction, D-cycloserine, MAPK, PI-3 kinase, amygdala. Abstract—Recent results showed that either systemic or intra-amygdala administration of D-cycloserine, a partial agonist at the glycine modulatory site on the glutamate N-methylD-aspartate receptor facilitates the extinction of conditioned fear. Here we evaluated the role of mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in the basolateral nucleus of amygdala on the effect of D-cycloserine.The facilitation effect of D-cycloserine on fear extinction and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation was completely blocked by intra-amygdala administration of mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitor PD98059 (500 ng/side, bilaterally) or U0-126 (20 M/side, bilaterally). Furthermore, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor (wortmannin, 5. 0 g/side, bilaterally) infused into the basolateral nucleus of amygdala signi? cantly reduced both facilitation effect of D-cycloserine and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation.Intra-amygdala administration of a transcription inhibitor (actinomycin D, 10 g dissolved in 1. 6 l vehicle; 0. 8 l per side) and a translation inhibitor (anisomycin, 125 g dissolved in 1. 6 l vehicle; 0. 8 l per side) completely blocked the facilitation effect of D-cycloserine. Control experiments indicated the blockage by actinomycin D or anisomycin were not due to lasting damage to the basolateral nucleus of amygdala or state d ependency. In addition, none of the active drugs used here altered the expression of conditioned fear.These results suggested that phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and mitogenactivated protein kinase-dependent signaling cascades and new protein synthesis within the basolateral nucleus of amygdala played important roles in the D-cycloserine facilitation of the extinction of conditioned fear.  © 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IBRO. *Corresponding author. Tel: 886-2-29333149Ãâ€"234; fax: 886-229312904. E-mail address: [email  protected] ntnu. edu. tw (K. -T. Lu).Abbreviations: ACT DCS, actinomycin D D-cycloserine; ACT SAL, actinomycin D saline; ANI DCS, anisomycin D-cycloserine; ANI SAL, anisomycin saline; BLA, basolateral nucleus of the amygdala; CS, conditioned stimulus; DCS, D-cycloserine; EDTA, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; ISI, interstimulus interval; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; NMDA, N-methyl-D-aspartate; PD DCS, PD98059 D-cycloserine; PD SAL, PD9805 9 saline; PI-3K, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; US, unconditioned stimulus; U0 DCS, U0-126 D-cycloserine; U0 SAL, U0126 saline; VEH DCS, vehicle D-cycloserine; VEH SAL, vehicle saline; WH DCS, wortmannin D-cycloserine; WH SAL, wortmannin saline. 0306-4522/05$30. 00 0. 00  © 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IBRO. doi:10. 1016/j. neuroscience. 2005. 04. 003 Fear conditioning occurs when a previously neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus) is paired with an aversive stimulus (McAllister and McAllister, 1971).Following such pairing the conditioned stimulus is thought to elicit a state of conditioned fear. This is de? ned in animals by their behavior: freezing, autonomic reactivity, and fear-potentiated startle. A large literature indicates that the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) is critically involved in both the acquisition and the expression of conditioned fear (Davis, 2000). Neurotoxic lesions or intra-amygdala infusion of glutamate antagonists into the BLA bl ocks the expression of conditioned fear. In addition, local infusion of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) speci? c antagonists blocks the acquisition of conditioned fear (Miserendino et al. , 1990; Kim et al. , 1991; Maren et al. , 1996; Gewirtz and Davis, 1997).Synaptic plasticity in this area is thought to underlie the learning process when afferent sensory information elicited by the conditioned stimulus is paired with afferent pain information elicited by the unconditioned stimulus (Fanselow and LeDoux, 1999). Extinction is de? ned as a reduction in conditioned fear when the conditioned stimulus (CS) is presented repeatedly in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus (US). Many studies show that extinction is not the result of forgetting or memory erasure but results from formation of new associations that compete with prior fear-conditioned associations (Falls and Davis, 1995; Davis et al. , 2000). Similar to acquisition, extinction is also blocked by glutamate NMDA receptor antagon ists either given systemically (Cox and Westbrook, 1994; Baker and Azorlosa, 1996; Kehoe et al. 1996) or locally infused into the BLA (Falls and Davis, 1992). The glycine modulatory site of the NMDA receptor provides a critical regulatory role. Whereas direct NMDA agonists may be neurotoxic due to unregulated calcium entry, partial agonists can facilitate glutamatergic NMDA activity in a more limited fashion (Lawler and Davis, 1992; Olney, 1994). Recent results showed that partial agonists acting at the glycine modulatory site of the NMDA receptor, such as D-cycloserine (DCS), enhance learning and memory in several animal models (Thompson and Disterhoft, 1997; Pussinen et al. , 1997; Matsuoka and Aigner, 1996; Land and Riccio, 1999; Walker et al. , 2002; 247 248 Y. L. Yang and K. T.Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 extinction test, an extinction training and a post-extinction test (see Fig. 1A). Acclimation. On each of 3 consecutive days, rats were placed in the test chamb ers for 10 min and then returned to their home cages. Baseline startle test. On each of the next 2 consecutive days, animals were placed in the test chambers and presented with 30 95-dB startle stimuli at a 30-s interstimulus interval (ISI). Animals whose baseline startle response was 1% of the measurable level were not included in later analysis. Fear conditioning. Twenty-four hours later, rats were returned to the test chambers and after 5 min were given the ? rst of 10 light-footshock pairings.The shock (US) was delivered during the last 0. 5 s of the 3. 7 s light (CS). The average intertrial interval was 4 min (range 3–5 min) and the shock intensity was 0. 6 mA. Pre-extinction test. Twenty-four hours after fear conditioning, rats were returned to the test chambers and 5 min later presented with 30 startle-eliciting noise bursts (95 dB, 30 s ISI). These initial startle stimuli were used to habituate the startle response to a stable baseline prior to the light-noise test tr ials that followed. Thirty seconds later a total of 20 startle-eliciting noise bursts were presented, 10 in darkness (noise alone) and 10 3. 2 s after onset of the 3. s light (light-noise) in a balanced, irregular order at a 30-s ISI. Percent fear-potentiated startle was computed as [(startle amplitude on light-noise noise-alone trials)/noisealone trials] 100. Rats were then divided into equal size groups of comparable mean levels of percent fear-potentiated startle. Rats with less than 50% fear-potentiated startle during the pre-extinction test were not used. Extinction training. Extinction training (cue exposure) is de? ned as the repetitive exposure to the CS cue (light) in the absence of the US (shock). Twenty-four hours after the preextinction test, rats were returned to the test chamber. After 5 min, they were presented with 30, 3. s light exposures at a 30-s ISI. Context control groups (context exposure) remained in the test cages for the same amount of time but did not recei ve light presentations. Extinction training was performed for varying numbers of consecutive days (2 days for experiment 1 and 1 day for subsequent experiments). Post-extinction test-1. Twenty-four hours after the last extinction training, rats were returned to the test chamber. After 5 min, they were presented with 30 95-dB leader stimuli for a habituated startle baseline. This was followed by a total of 60 startle-eliciting noise bursts, 30 in darkness (noise alone) and 30 presented 3. 2 s after onset of the 3. s light (light-noise) in a balanced, irregular order at a 30-s ISI. Results were evaluated the same way as pre-extinction test. Post-extinction test-2. Twenty-four hours after the extend extinction training period, rats were returned to the test chamber and process the post-extinction test described above. Fear-potentiated startle test. Twenty-four hours after fear conditioning, rats were returned to the test chamber and testing for fear-potentiated startle using the post-e xtinction test-1 described above. Ledgerwood et al. , 2003; Richardson et al. , 2004). In addition, ( )-HA966, a competitive antagonist at the glycine regulatory site on the NMDA receptor, reversed the DCS effect (Walker et al. , 2002).Clinical studies have shown that DCS can sometimes enhance implicit memory and improve cognition in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (Schwartz et al. , 1996; Tsai et al. , 1998, 1999). It can also counter cognitive de? cits in schizophrenia (Javitt et al. , 1994; Goff et al. , 1999). Furthermore, systemic administration of DCS also proved to facilitate extinction of conditioned fear (Walker et al. , 2002; Ledgerwood et al. , 2003, 2004; Ressler et al. , 2004). Numerous signaling cascades including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3K) and calcineurin, are involved in the extinction of conditioned fear (Lu et al. , 2001; Lin et al. , 2003).Similar mechanisms may also be involved in the facilitation effec t of DCS. This study was designed to clarify the relationship between amygdaloid NMDA receptors, MAPK and PI-3K signal cascades on the extinction of conditioned fear. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Animals Adult male Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats (obtained from the animal center of National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan) weighing between 250 and 350 g were used. Animals were housed in groups of four rats in a temperature (24  °C) -controlled animal colony with continuous access to food and water. Rats were kept on a 12-h light/dark cycle with lights on at 07:00 h. All behavioral procedures took place during the light cycle.All procedures were conducted in accordance with the National Institutes of Health Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the guidelines set forth by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the National Taiwan Normal University. In all experimental procedures involving animals, all efforts were made to minimize pain and the number of animals u sed. Surgery All surgeries were carried out under sodium pentobarbital (50 mg/ kg, i. p. ) anesthesia. Once anesthetized, the rat was placed in a Kopf stereotaxic instrument, the skull was exposed, and 22 gauge guide cannula (model C313G, Plastic-one Products, Roanoke, VA, USA) were implanted bilaterally into the BLA (AP, 2. ; DV, 9. 0, ML, 5. 0 from bregma (Paxinos and Watson, 1997)). Size 0 insect pins (Carolina Biological Supply, Burlington, NC, USA) were inserted into each cannula to prevent clogging. These extended about 2 mm past the end of the guide cannula. Screws were anchored to the skull and the assembly was cemented in place using dental cement (Plastic-one Products). Rats received an antibiotic (penicillin) once every day for the ? rst 3 days after the surgery to reduce the risk of infection. General behavioral procedures Fear conditioning was measured using the potentiated startle paradigm (Cassella and Davis, 1986; Lu et al. , 2001; Walker et al. , 2002).The rats were trained and tested in a startle chamber (San Diego Instruments, San Diego, CA, USA) in which cage movement resulted in the displacement of an accelerometer. Startle amplitude was de? ned as peak accelerometer voltage within 200 ms after startle stimulus onset. The behavioral procedures common to all experiments consisted of an acclimation phase, a baseline startle test phase, a fear conditioning phase, a pre- Drug injection DCS (Sigma) was freshly dissolved in saline. DCS (15 mg/kg, i. p. ) or saline was injected intraperitoneally 15 min prior to extinction training with a 26 gauge injection needle connected to a 1 ml syringe (Walker et al. , 2002; Ledgerwood et al. , 2003) (experiments 1– 8).MAPK inhibitor PD98059 (500 ng in 1 l of 20% DMSO; Calbiochem) (Lu et al. , 2001) or U0-126 (50 ng/side; Sigma) (Lin et al. , 2003) or 20% DMSO was infused into the BLA Y. L. Yang and K. T. Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 249 Fig. 1. Systemic administration of DCS accelerate d extinction of conditioned fear. (A) Timeline of behavioral procedures for experiment 1. (B) Percent fear-potentiated startle measured 24 h before (pre-extinction test) and 24 h after extinction training (post-extinction test). Rats in each group were treated with either DCS or saline prior to a single session of extinction training. (C) To test for toxicity, after 24 h all animals of experiment 1 were retrained.They were tested for fear-potentiated startle response in the absence of drugs 24 h later (fear-potentiated startle test) (values are mean SEM, * P 0. 05 versus control group; # P 0. 05 versus the group with 1 day extinction and saline injection). 250 Y. L. Yang and K. T. Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 10 min prior to saline or DCS injection (experiments 2 and 8). PI-3K inhibitor (wortmannin, 5 g/side) (Lin et al. , 2003) or vehicle was administrated to the BLA 10 min prior to saline or DCS injection (experiment 3). Transcription inhibitor actinomycin D (10 g d issolved in 1. 6 l vehicle; 0. 8 l per side) or translation inhibitor (anisomycin, 125 g dissolved in 1. 6 l vehicle; 0. 8 l per side) or vehicle (Lin et al. 2003) was administrated to the BLA 10 min prior to DCS or saline injection (experiment 4) or 25 min prior to fear-potentiated startle test (experiment 6). In the control experiment, PD98059, U0-126, wortmannin, actinomycin D, and anisomycin were injected 25 min prior to the fear-potentiated startle test. Injections were made through 28-gauge injection cannula (model C313I, Plastic-one Products) connected to a Hamilton micro-syringe via polyethylene tubing. Infusion speed was 0. 25 l/ min. The total volume of injection was 0. 8 l per side. Western blot analysis Animals were killed by decapitation 10 min after extinction training. The lateral and basolateral subregions of the amygdala were collected and sonicated brie? y in ice-cold buffer: 50 mM Tris–HCl (pH 7. ), 50 mM NaCl, 10 mM EGTA, 5 mM EDTA, 2 mM sodium pyrophospha te, 4 mM para-nitrophenylphosphate, 1 mM sodium orthovanadate, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl ? uoride (PMSF), 20 ng/ml leupeptin, and 4 ng/ml aprotinin. Following sonication, the soluble extract was obtained after pelleting the crude membrane fraction in a centrifuge at 50,000 g at 4  °C. Protein concentration in the soluble fraction was then measured using a Bradford assay with bovine serum albumin as the standard. Equivalent amounts of protein for each sample were resolved in 10% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)–polyacrylamide gels, blotted electrophoretically to PVDF membranes and blocked overnight in 5% skim milk (Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. , USA).Blots were incubated with antiphospho-ERK antibody (New England Biolabs, USA), anti-ERK antibody (BD Transduction Laboratories, USA), anti-phospho-Akt antibody (New England Biolabs) or anti-pan-Akt (BD Transduction Laboratories). Band detection was performed with an enhanced chemiluminescence Western blotting analysis system (RPN 2108; Amersham International, Amersham, UK). fear-potentiated startle during the pre-extinction test. The ? nal 30 rats were assigned into ? ve groups of six animals based on their level of fear-potentiated startle in the preextinction test. Twenty-four hours after the pre-extinction test, each rat received 1 or 2 consecutive days of extinction training with DCS (15 mg/kg, i. p. ) or saline. Saline or DCS was injected 15 min prior to the extinction training.An additional control group was tested 2 days after the pre-extinction training without intervening exposures to visual CS. Fig. 1B shows that DCS accelerated extinction of conditioned fear. A two way ANOVA for differences in treatment (DCS vs saline) and days (one or two extinction sessions) between-subjects indicated a signi? cant treatment effect (F(1,20) 9. 02) and a signi? cant treatment days interaction (F(2,20) 6. 68). Thus, the reduction of fear-potentiated startle after 1 day of extinction training was greater in the gr oup that received DCS than in the group that received saline (Fig. 1B). Individual comparisons between DCS- and saline-treated groups indicated signi? ant differences after 1 day of extinction sessions (t(10) 3. 86). Previous studies have shown that lesions of the BLA block expression of fear-potentiated startle (Campeau and Davis, 1995). DCS may have toxic effect on BLA, and resulting misinterpretation of its facilitation effects on extinction. To test for toxicity, all animals of experiment 1 were retrained and tested 24 h later. Under these conditions, animals previously injected with DCS or saline showed a signi? cant fear-potentiated startle (Fig. 1C). Thus, the facilitation effect of DCS observed during the post-extinction test 1 appeared to result from the acute drug effect rather than from a more permanent, perhaps toxic, action of DCS.Experiment 2: intra-amygdala infusion of MAPK inhibitors blocked the facilitation of extinction by DCS To test the possible role of MAPK-depe ndent signaling cascade in the DCS-enhanced effect on the extinction of condition fear, 48 rats received fear conditioning, extinction training, and testing for fear-potentiated startle. Initially, 58 rats were used, but 10 of them were excluded. Rats were randomly assigned to six different groups and received one of the following treatments: vehicle saline (VEH SAL), vehicle DCS (VEH DCS), PD98059 DCS (PD DCS), U0-126 DCS (U0 DCS), PD98059 saline (PD SAL) or U0-126 saline (U0 SAL). The MAPK inhibitors, PD98059, and U0-126 (or vehicle) were administrated to the BLA 10 min prior to the injection with DCS or saline. Animals were then returned to their cage.Fifteen minutes after injection, animals were subjected to a single session of extinction training. Previously, we show that a single day of extinction training with cue exposure led to about 35% decrease in fear-potentiated startle, whereas 2–3 days of extinction training led to near complete extinction (Lu et al. , 2001; Wa lker et al. , 2002). We concluded that the acceleration of extinction is best detected after a single session of extinction training. As shown in Fig. 2, DMSO, PD98059 (500 ng/side, bilaterally), or U0-126 (20 nM/per side, bilaterally) was given 10 min prior to saline or DCS injection; rats were returned to their cages for 30 min before a single HistologyRats were overdosed with chloral hydrate and perfused intracardially with 0. 9% saline followed by 10% formalin. The brains were removed and immersed in a 30% sucrose-formalin solution for at least 3 day. Coronal sections (30 M) were cut through the area of interest, stained with Cresyl Violet, and examined under light microscope for cannula placement. Animals with misplaced cannula were not included in later analysis. Statistical analysis The mean startle amplitude across the 30 noise alone and 30 light-noise trials during the pre- and post-extinction tests was calculated for each animal. All results were analyzed using a score of percent fear-potentiated startle, as de? ned in the post-extinction tests above.ANOVA on scores was the primary statistical measure. Between-group comparisons were made using two-tailed t-tests for independent samples. The criterion for signi? cance for all comparisons was P 0. 05. RESULTS Experiment 1: systemic administration of DCS accelerated extinction of conditioned fear This experiment assessed the facilitation effect of DCS on different amounts of extinction training. Initially, 35 rats were used. Five were excluded for showing less than 50% Y. L. Yang and K. T. Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 251 Fig. 2. Intra-amygdala infusion of MAPK inhibitors blocked facilitation effect of DCS on extinction. (A) Timeline of behavioral procedures for experiment 2. B) Cannula was placed in the BLA. Percent fear-potentiated startle measured 24 h before (pre-extinction test) and 24 h after extinction training (post-extinction test). Rats in each group underwent VEH SAL, VEH DCS, PD DCS, U0 DCS, PD SAL, or U0 SAL prior to a single session of extinction training. Twenty-four hours later, animals were tested for fear-potentiated startle in the absence of drugs (values are mean SEM, * P 0. 05 versus VEH SAL group; # P 0. 05 versus VEH DCS group). (C) Cannula tip placements transcribed onto atlas plates adapted from Paxinos and Watson (1997). 252 Y. L. Yang and K. T. Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 session of extinction training.Twenty-four hours later, animals were tested for fear-potentiated startle in the absence of drugs. Results showed that there was a signi? cant overall difference between treatments (F(5,42) 11. 81). Fig. 2 shows that administration of DCS facilitated extinction of conditioned fear (VEH DCS) compared with the control group (VEH SAL) (t(14) 3. 12, P 0. 05). This effect was blocked by co-administration of MAPK inhibitor PD98059 (PD DCS) or U0-126 (U0 DCS) (t(14) 3. 08, P 0. 05 and t(14) 3. 29, P 0. 05, respectively) compared wit h the control (VEH DCS), treated with PD98059 only (PD SAL) or U0-126 only (U0 SAL) did not affect extinction (t(14) 0. 7 and t(14) 0. 36, respectively). These results indicated that the MAPK dependent signaling cascade most likely mediated the facilitation effect of DCS. Experiment 3: intra-amygdala infusion of the PI-3K inhibitor blocked facilitation of extinction by DCS Previous ? ndings have shown that PI-3K inhibitors retard acquisition in a variety of learning paradigms (Lin et al. , 2003). To evaluate the possible role of PI-3K signaling cascade in the DCS enhancement of extinction of conditioned fear, 32 rats received fear conditioning, extinction training, and testing for fear-potentiated startle. Although 38 rats were used initially, six were excluded.They were then randomly assigned to four different groups and received one of the following treatments: VEH SAL, VEH DCS, wortmannin DCS (WH DCS) and wortmannin saline (WH SAL). The PI-3K inhibitor (wortmannin, 5 g/side, bila terally) was infused to the BLA 10 min prior to the injection of saline or DCS. Then rats were returned to their cages for 15 min before being subjected to a single session of extinction training. Twenty-four hours later, animals were tested for fear-potentiated startle in the absence of drugs. Results showed that there was a signi? cant overall difference between treatments (F(4,28) 12. 17). As shown in Fig. 3, the facilitation effect of DCS (VEH DCS) on extinction was blocked by co-administration of PI-3K inhibitor (WH DCS) (t(14) 2. 98, P 0. 05).With the single extinction training session used in this experiment, this dose of wortmannin alone (WH SAL) at this dose had no effect on the extinction of fear-potentiated startle compared with control group (VEH SAL) (t(14) 0. 19). These results suggest that the PI-3K signaling cascade was involved in the DCS facilitation of extinction. Experiment 4: DCS enhanced the extinction training induced MAPK and PI-3K phosphorylation According t o the results of the above experiments, the DCS facilitation effect on extinction was prevented by coadministration of MAPK or PI-3K inhibitor. Previous studies have shown that infusion of these same inhibitors blocks extinction (Lu et al. , 2001; Lin et al. , 2003). Therefore, these treatments in conjunction with DCS must result in no extinction and resulting misinterpretation of its blockage effects on DCS.To show the MAPK and PI-3K signaling pathways are essential for the facilitation effect of DCS, we used Western blot to evaluate the DCS effect on the extinction training induced MAPK and PI-3K phosphorylation. Additional amygdala-cannulated rats received fear conditioning, extinction training, and testing for fear-potentiated startle. Then PD98059 or wortmannin was infused to the BLA 10 min prior to the injection of saline or DCS. Rats were returned to their cages. Fifteen minutes after DCS or saline injection, animals were subjected to a single session of extinction training. Animals were killed by decapitation 10 min after extinction training.The lateral and basolateral sub-regions of the amygdala were tested with Western blot analysis. Compared with control group, MAPK phosphorylation was signi? cantly elevated in BLA after extinction training (Fig. 4A, lane 2). Administration of DCS enhanced the effect of extinction training on MAPK phosphorylation (Fig. 4A, lane 3). The MAPK inhibitor PD98059 blocked the effect of DCS (Fig. 4A, lane 4). In addition, we measured the state of Akt phosphorylation as an index of PI-3K activity (Lin et al. , 2001). Fig. 4B showed that administration of DCS enhanced the effect of extinction training on Akt phosphorylation (Fig. 4B, lane 3). The PI-3K inhibitor, wortmannin, blocked the enhancement effect of DCS (Fig. 4b, lane 4).These results raise the possibility that DCS enhancement effect of extinction of conditioned fear is mediated by the amygdaloid MAPK and PI-3K dependent signaling cascades. Experiment 5: intra-amygd ala infusion of the transcription inhibitor or translation inhibitor blocked DCS facilitation of extinction The MAPK pathway participates in the synthesis of proteins important for the long-term stabilization and storage of fear memories. According to the result of experiment 2, the facilitation effect of DCS on extinction is mediated by the MAPK dependent signaling cascade. We predicted that the facilitation effect of DCS required new protein synthesis in the BLA.To test this hypothesis, 48 rats received fear conditioning, extinction training, and testing for fear-potentiated startle. Initially, 56 rats were used but eight of them were excluded. Rats were then randomly assigned to six different groups and received one of the following treatments: VEH SAL, VEH DCS, actinomycin D DCS (ACT DCS), anisomycin DCS (ANI DCS), actinomycin D saline (ACT SAL), and anisomycin saline (ANI SAL). Transcription inhibitor (actinomycin D, 10 g dissolved in 1. 6 l vehicle; 0. 8 l per side) and transl ation inhibitor (anisomycin, 125 g dissolved in 1. 6 l vehicle; 0. 8 l per side) were administered to the BLA 10 min prior to saline or DCS injection. Then rats were returned to their cages. Fifteen minutes later, nimals were subjected to a single session of extinction training. Twenty-four hours later, animals were tested for fear-potentiated startle in the absence of drugs. Results showed that there was a significant overall difference between treatments (F(5,42) 10. 17). As shown in Fig. 5, actinomycin D and anisomycin completely blocked the facilitation effect of DCS (t(14) 3. 11 and t(14) 2. 96, respectively) compared with the VEH DCS group. With a single extinction training session used in this experiment, actinomycin alone (ACT SAL) or anisomycin alone (ANI SAL) did not affect the extinction of fear-potentiated startle compared with control Y. L. Yang and K. T.Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 253 Fig. 3. Intra-amygdala infusion of the PI-3K inhibitor blocked the fa cilitation effect of DCS on extinction. (A) Timeline of behavioral procedures for experiment 3. (B) Cannula was placed in the BLA. Percent fear-potentiated startle measured 24 h before (pre-extinction test) and 24 h after (post-extinction test) extinction training. Rats in each group were treated with VEH SAL, VEH DCS, WH DCS, or WH SAL prior to a single session of extinction training. Twenty-four hours later, animals were tested for fear-potentiated startle in the absence of drugs (values are mean SEM, * P 0. 05 versus VEH SAL group). C) Cannula tip placements transcribed onto atlas plates adapted from Paxinos and Watson (1997). 254 Y. L. Yang and K. T. Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 (VEH SAL) (t(14) 0. 88 and t(14) 0. 48, respectively). These results suggest that new protein synthesis within the BLA played an important role in DCS facilitation of extinction of conditioned fear. Experiment 6: the disruptive effect of intra-amygdala infusion of actinomycin D and anisomy cin was not attributed to lasting damage to the amygdala The active drugs used in the above experiments may have toxic effect within the amygdala. Previous work shows that infusion of PD98095 (Lu et al. , 2001) or wortmannin (Lin et al. 2003) into BLA did not appear to cause permanent impairment of amygdala function. To test for possible toxic effects of actinomycin D and anisomycin on the BLA, all animals of experiment 5 received an additional 2 days of drug free extinction training followed 24 h later by testing. Under these conditions, rats previously treated with actinomycin D (ACT DCS-treated group and ACT SALtreated group) or anisomycin (ANI DCS- and ANI SALtreated group) showed a signi? cant reduction of fearpotentiated startle between post-extinction test 1 and post-extinction test 2 (t(7) 3. 08 and t(7) 3. 32 for the ACT DCS-treated group and ACT SAL-treated group respectively) and (t(7) 2. 96 and t(7) 3. 1 for the ANI DCStreated group and ANI SAL-treated group respectively ) (Fig. 6B). Thus, the blockage of extinction observed during post-extinction test 1 appeared to result from an acute drug effect rather than from a more permanent and perhaps toxic action, of actinomycin D or anisomycin. Previous studies have shown that lesions of the BLA block fear-potentiated startle (Campeau and Davis, 1995), an outcome opposite from that obtained with infusion of actinomycin D or anisomycin. It is also important to note that actinomycin D or anisomycin may have long-term toxicity within the BLA. The extinction of fear would look the same as a gradual loss of ability to express or relearn fear.Experiment 7: the disruptive effect of intra-amygdala infusion of actinomycin D and anisomycin was not attributed to state dependency To evaluate the contribution of state-dependency effects to the results obtained in experiment 6, additional amygdala-cannulated rats were tested for extinction in a drug-free state and after receiving the same compound that they had receive d during extinction training. Results showed that there was a signi? cant overall difference between treatments in post-extinction test 2 (F(2,21) 32. 16). These results are shown in Fig. 7. Rats infused with actinomycin or anisomycin before postextinction test 2 showed a slight, but non-signi? cant, decrease in fear-potentiated startle from post-extinction test 1 to post-extinction test 2. For control rats (n 8), fear-potentiated startle was signi? cantly lower during post-extinction test 2 than post-extinction test 1 (t(7) 2. 455; P 0. 05). The lost of fear-potentiated startle in both groups probably re? cted incidental extinction produced by the 30 non-reinforced CS presentations of post-extinction test 1. The failure of rats infused before Fig. 4. MAPK and PI-3K inhibitors blocked extinction training activation of MAPK and PI-3K. (A) Representative Western blots and densitometric analysis of the activation of MAPK in the BLA under different treatments (values are mean SEM, * P 0 . 05 versus VEH SAL group). (B) Representative Western blots and densitometric analysis Akt phosphorylation as an index of PI-3K activity in the BLA under different treatments (values are mean SEM, * P 0. 05 versus VEH DCS group). Y. L. Yang and K. T. Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 255 Fig. 5.Intra-amygdala infusion of the transcription inhibitor or translation inhibitor blocks the facilitation effect of DCS on extinction of conditioned fear. (A) Timeline of behavioral procedures for experiment 5. (B) Cannula was placed in the BLA. Percent fear-potentiated startle measured 24 h before (pre-extinction test) and 24 h after (post-extinction test 1) extinction training. Rats underwent treatment with VEH SAL, VEH DCS, ACT DCS, ANI DCS, ACT SAL, or ANI SAL prior to a single session of extinction training. Twenty-four hours later, animals were tested for fear-potentiated startle in the absence of drugs (values are mean SEM, * P 0. 05 comparing with the VEH SAL group; # P 0. 05 compared with the VEH DCS group). C) Cannula tip placements transcribed onto atlas plates adapted from Paxinos and Watson (1997). 256 Y. L. Yang and K. T. Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 Fig. 6. The disruptive effects of intra-amygdala infusion of actinomycin D and anisomycin on extinction were not attributed to lasting damage to the BLA. (A) Timeline of behavioral procedures for experiment 6. The same animals used in experiment 3 were subjected for two more trials of extinction training. (B) Twenty-four hours after the last extinction training, animals were tested for fear-potentiated startle in the absence of drugs (post-extinction test-2) (values are mean SEM, * P 0. 05 versus the corresponding post-extinction test-2). esting with the transcription and translation inhibitors before testing to show a loss of fear-incidental extinction suggested that state dependency was not a major factor in the effects of actinomycin D and anisomycin. Experiment 8: effect of pretest PD98059, U0-126, wortmannin, actinomycin, and anisomycin administration on fear-potentiated startle This experiment was designed to evaluate whether the effect of the active drugs used has had a secondary effect on fear itself or on CS processing. For example, if MAPK inhibitor U0-126 reduced CS-elicited fear, this might attenuate extinction by decreasing the discrepancy between CS predictions and what actually occurred. If actinomycin D or anisomycin interfered with visual processing, this might block extinction produced by non-reinforced exposures to the visual CS.To evaluate these possibilities, 42 amygdala-cannulated rats received acclimation, baseline startle test, and fear conditioning. Initially, 50 rats were used, but eight of them were excluded. After 24 h, rats were infused with PD98059, U0-126, wortmannin, actinomycin, and anisomycin. At 25 min after the infusions, rats were tested for fear-potentiated startle. As shown in Fig. 8, none of the active drugs we used here sig ni? cantly in? uenced fearpotentiated startle (F(6,35) 0. 993). Thus, it is unlikely that these drugs in? uenced extinction by increasing fear or by disrupting CS processing. Y. L. Yang and K. T. Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 57 Fig. 7. The disruptive effect of intra-amygdala infusion of actinomycin D and anisomycin were not attributed to state dependency. (A) Timeline of behavioral procedures for experiment 7. (B) Cannula was placed in the BLA. Percent fear-potentiated startle measured 24 h before (pre-extinction test), 24 h after (post-extinction test 1), and 48 h after (post-extinction test 2) extinction training. Rats in each group underwent VEH SAL, ACT DCS, or ANI DCS prior to a single session of extinction training and prior to post-extinction test 2. Animals were tested for fear-potentiated startle in the absence of drugs (values are mean SEM, * P 0. 05). C) Cannula tip placements transcribed onto atlas plates adapted from Paxinos and Watson (1997). 258 Y. L. Y ang and K. T. Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 Fig. 8. Effect of pretest PD98059, U0-126, wortmannin, actinomycin, and anisomycin administration on fear-potentiated startle. (A) Timeline of behavioral procedures for experiment 8. (B) Cannula was placed in the BLA. Percent fear-potentiated startle was measured 24 h after fear conditioning. Rats were treated with DMSO, PD98059 (PD), U0-126 (U0), wortmannin (WH), vehicle (VEH), actinomycin (ACT), or anisomycin (ANI) 25 min prior to the fear-potentiated startle test (values are mean SEM). C) Cannula tip placements transcribed onto atlas plates adapted from Paxinos and Watson (1997). DISCUSSION We build on the previous ? ndings that DCS facilitated extinction of conditioned fear (Walker et al. , 2002; Ledgerwood et al. , 2003, 2004; Ressler et al. , 2004). Here, we show for the ? rst time that the DCS effect was prevented by co-administration of MAPK, PI-3K, transcription, and translation inhibitors. Control experiments indica ted that the blocking effects of actinomycin D and anisomycin on extinction were not due to lasting damage to the BLA or state dependency. In addition, none of active drugs we used in this study altered the expression of conditioned fear.These results suggest that PI-3K and MAPK-dependent signaling cascades and de novo protein synthesis within the BLA were important for DCS facilitation. Early behavioral studies by Pavlov (1927) and Konorski (1948) de? ned extinction as an active process involving formation of new inhibitory associations as opposed to forgetting previously conditioned associations. Numerous studies since have con? rmed and elaborated these early ? ndings (reviewed in Falls and Davis, 1995; Davis et al. , 2000). It is now well accepted that extinction occurs with repeated presentation of a CS in the absence of the pre- Y. L. Yang and K. T. Lu / Neuroscience 134 (2005) 247–260 259 viously paired US.This reduces the conditioned response elicited by the CS. In co ntrast to forgetting which implies the passive loss of memory, extinction implies active formation of new inhibitory associations competing with and overpowering original excitatory associations. Evidence is growing that extinction may involve circuits and use mechanisms of synaptic plasticity similar to those of conditioned fear learning (Falls and Davis, 1992; Cox and Westbrook, 1994; Baker and Azorlosa, 1996; Davis et al. , 2000). NMDA-dependent synaptic plasticity appears to mediate many forms of active learning (Morris, 1989; Staubli et al. , 1989; Flood et al. , 1990; Collinridge and Bliss, 1995).It is likely that conditioned fear learning depends on CS–US pairing mediated by NMDA receptors within the BLA (Miserendino et al. , 1990; Fanselow and LeDoux, 1999). Extinction also appears to require active, NMDA-dependent learning within the amygdala. This was demonstrated by blockage of extinction by microinjections of APV into the BLA in both fear-potentiated startle (Fall s and Davis, 1992) and freezing paradigms (Lee and Kim, 1998). Furthermore, systemic administration of a different NMDA antagonist, MK801, blocks the extinction process in a range of different learning paradigms (Cox and Westbrook, 1994; Baker and Azorlosa, 1996; Kehoe et al. , 1996).Recently, DCS, a partial agonist acting at the strychnine-insensitive glycine-recognition site of the NMDA receptor complex, has repeatedly been shown to facilitate learning in various cue and context association paradigms (Monahan et al. , 1989; Flood et al. , 1992; Thompson and Disterhoft, 1997). Walker et al. (2002) reported the ? rst evidence that DCS facilitates extinction of learned fear. Since then, further studies con? rmed and elaborated this early ? nding (Ledgerwood et al. , 2003, 2004; Ressler et al. , 2004). These studies reported that DCS is more effective at facilitating extinction when given after extinction training, rather than before. They interpret these ? dings as evidence that DCS facilitates the consolidation of a new memory acquired during extinction. It is important to note that although some studies have shown DCS to be effective in improving memory impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease (Schwartz et al. , 1996; Tsai et al. , 1999) and schizophrenia (Javitt et al. , 1994; Goff et al. , 1999), other studies found little or no improvement (Tsai et al. , 1998; van Berckel et al. , 1999). This may be related to the fact that acute treatment with DCS may have a more pronounced facilitation than chronic treatment (Quartermain et al. , 1994; Ledgerwood et al. , 2003; Richardson et al. , 2004). Ledgerwood et al. (2003, 2004) reported that DCStreated animals fail to exhibit reinstatement effects.That DCS enhances extinction may be through some processes different from extinction induced by repeat representation of CS. Lin et al. (2003) investigated the similarities and differences between consolidation of conditioning and consolidation of extinction. They fo und that both processes depend on activation of NMDA receptors, PI-3K, MAPK, and require synthesis of new proteins within the amygdala. They also found that different characteristics show differential sensitivity to the transcription inhibitor actinomycin D. Our results were consistent with the model that the extinc- tion process involved active learning of new inhibitory associations.Here we showed that DCS facilitation of extinction could be blocked by actinomycin D and anisomycin. These seemingly con? icting results could be attributable to our extinction protocol. Our protocol resembled betweensession extinction, presumably corresponding to long-term extinction memory. In addition, we used DCS to facilitate the extinction process and tested the animals in a drug free condition. Acquisition or consolidation of long-term memory requires activation of protein kinase, transcription of genes, new protein synthesis, and synapse formation (Schafe and LeDoux, 2000). Similar mechanisms w ere involved in the DCS facilitation of extinction. The DCS activated NMDA receptors, resulted in Ca2 in? x into the cell, and led to the PI-3K and MAPK activation. Activated MAPK can translocate to the nucleus, subsequently activating transcription factors to promote gene transcription and new protein synthesis. Thus, combinations of drugs and extinction training may weaken or erase original memory. There is increasing evidence that learning of CS–US associations involves synaptic plasticity within the BLA, leading to differential activation of this circuit by sensory afferents (Davis, 1997; Rogan et al. , 1997; Lee and Kim, 1998; Fanselow and LeDoux, 1999). Our results suggested that the extinction of conditioned fear also involved NMDA-dependent plasticity, but speci? inhibitory circuits may be activated by extinction learning. We hypothesize that this newly activated inhibitory circuit would oppose conditioned excitatory pathways normally leading to activation of the cent ral nucleus of the amygdala, resulting in the elicitation of fear responses. CONCLUSION This may be the ? rst study to show that PI-3K and MAPKdependent signaling cascade and de novo protein synthesis within the BLA were essential to the DCS facilitation of the extinction of conditioned fear. Acknowledgments—The work was supported by grants from the National Science Council (NSC 90-2320-B-003-007, NSC 902320-B-006-038, NSC 93-2320-B-003-003).Our gratitude (also) goes to the Academic Paper Editing Clinic, NTNU. REFERENCES Baker J, Azorlosa J (1996) The NMDA antagonist MK-801 blocks the extinction of Pavlovian fear conditioning. Behav Neurosci 110:618–620. 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Neuron 31:845–851.Lin CH, Yeh SH, Lu HY, Gean PW (2003) The similarities and diversities of signal pathways leading to consolidation of conditioning and consolidation of extinction of fear memory. J Neurosci 23:8310–8317. Lu KT, Walker DL, Davis M (2001) Mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade in the basolateral nucleus of amygdala is involved in extinction of fear-potentiated startle. J Neurosci 21(RC162):1–5. Maren S, Aharonov G, Stote D, Fanselow M (1996) N-methyl-Daspartate receptors in the basolateral amygdala are required for both acquisition and expression of conditional fear in rats. Behav Neurosci 110:1365–1374. Matsuoka N, Aigner T (1996) D-cycloserine, a partial agonist at the glycine site coupled to N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, improves (Accepted 1 April 2005)

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning growth regulation

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning growth regulation Should artificial intelligence be regulated? Can it be regulated? And if so, what should those regulations look like? These are difficult questions to answer for any technology still in development stages ? more mainstream regulations, like those on the food, pharmaceutical, automobile and airline industries, are typically applied after something bad has happened, or retroactively, and not in anticipation of a technology becoming dangerous. But AI has been evolving so quickly, and the impact of AI technology has the potential to be so great that legislators prefer not to wait and learn from mistakes, but plan ahead and regulate proactively. Lawmakers and regulators need to look at AI not as a homogenous technology, but instead as a set of techniques and methods that will be deployed in specific and increasingly diversified applications. To be sure, there is currently no generally agreed-upon definition of AI. What is important, however, to understand from a technical perspective is that AI is a rich set of sub disciplines, methods, and tools that bring together areas such as speech recognition, computer vision, machine translation, reasoning, attention and memory, robotics and control, etc. These techniques are used in a broad range of applications, spanning areas as diverse as health diagnostics, educational tutoring, autonomous driving, or sentencing in the criminal justice context. The possibilities are truly endless. But as a growing number of increasingly impactful AI technologies make their way out of research labs and turn into industry applications, legal and regulatory systems will be confronted with a multitude of issues of different levels of complexity that need to be addressed. Both lawmakers and regulators as well as other actors will be affected by the pressure that AI-based applications place on the legal system including courts, law enforcement, and lawyers, which highlights the importance of knowledge transfer and education. Given the speed of development, scale, and potential impact of AI development and deployment, lawmakers and regulators will have to prioritize among the issues to be addressed in order to ensure the quality of legal processes and outcomes?—?and to avoid unintended consequences. Different legal and regulatory regimes aimed at governing the same phenomenon are often closely linked to the idea of jurisdiction. In fact, the competition among jurisdictions and their respective regimes has positive effects by serving as a source of learning and potentially a force for a â€Å"race to the top.† However, discrepancies among legal regimes can also create barriers when harnessing the full benefits of the new technology. Examples include not only differences in law across nation states or federal and/or state jurisdictions, but also normative differences among different sectors. These differences might affect the application as well as the development of AI tech itself. As AI applies to the legal system itself, however, the rule of law might have to be re-imagined and the law re-coded in the longer run. The rise of AI leads not only to questions about the ways in which the legal system can or should regulate it in its various manifestations, but also the application of AI-based technologies to law itself. The future relationship between AI and the law is likely to become even more deeply intertwined. Implementations might take different forms, including â€Å"hardwiring† autonomous systems in such ways that they obey the law, or by creating AI oversight programs (â€Å"AI guardians†) to watch over operational ones. At least some of these scenarios might eventually require novel approaches and a reimagination of the role of law in its many formal and procedural aspects in order to translate them into the world of AI, and as such, some of today’s laws will need to be re-coded.

This is a take home exam, there are 4 different questions that have to Essay

This is a take home exam, there are 4 different questions that have to be researched and answered - Essay Example Adorno has redefined enlightenment and extended its meaning to a universal principle that guided the development of human civilization. In so doing, he realized that enlightenment also led the people to dominate and use nature for themselves. In the process, enlightenment brought about transformation and suppression of other elements that existed in nature that consequently led to self-destruction as shown by the totalitarianism examples during the madness of Nazism and Stalin. Totalitarian here is taken as an abstract word that I define as restriction, and imposed power that is critical of the system of the form of government of a totalitarian power. I believe that what Adorno exemplifies in his theory as â€Å"a process of categorical thought in modern society, by which everything becomes an example of an abstract, and thus nothing individual in its actual uniqueness is allowed to exist†. Adorno believes that reason has been entangled with domination and suffering. I take th is to mean that it is likened to a totalitarian system wherein, people although living in modern society have no control of its environment and everything has to conform to the outside world. Under this context, let me describe totalitarianism as a form of society largely responsible for influencing its citizens with a self-centered ideology. Man, according to Adorno has been liberated from myth, and enlightenment and understanding today comes from scientific reasoning which he thinks is the same as from myth. I believe this should not be the case because myth has no foundations of truth, and belief has only been passed by traditions so much so that it is accepted as near truth; but scientific researches are based on truth that is more reliable than myths. On this basis, Adorno created a view point that morality is being stuck within its powerless objective, in a world that values only recognizable facts, and morality becomes a mere prejudice of individual subjectivity. It is hard t o discern what morality signifies to Adorno and why it has become powerless. But my understanding of morality is the codes of conduct put forward by a society or by a religion. In a sense, there is some truth to his assumptions because codes of conduct, particularly in a religion is based on tradition and culture that limits free expression of people and does really free the people. Talking about culture of the people, Adorno has been known for being critique of the entertainment industry of modern society because to him â€Å"it is just a mechanical, formulaic, and dominating as the workplace. His arguments show that the humans in modern society have been programmed between work and leisure, and they are merely changing to another piece of the machine – from producer to consumer. His rationalization is under this mantle of ideology, man is not free to create his own desires and they cannot really become free individuals that can create its own society. 2. Does God Matter in the present world, especially since God has been associated with oppressive ideas such as sexual repression, racism, and androcentrism/anthropocentrism? This question is taken in the context of sociological perspectives that encourages us to examine aspects of social environment

Critical review on The Prophets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Critical review on The Prophets - Essay Example The text of the article is highly exaggerated, the prophets have never reacted overwhelming about any unethical or immoral practices of the society, but yes there have been some instances where such practices had the potential to ruin the sanctity of human society, and for the sake of the protection of the sanctity achieved by the human society, through the services of the prophets, and the blessings of the God, the prophets were liable to react severely against the potential crimes and malpractices. The prophets have been descended not for the analysis of the human society; their responsibility is to ensure that the will of God is well maintained and practiced with true spirit and fervor. The prophet is sleepless and grave, the frankincense of charity fails to sweeten cruelties . The prophets were bestowed with the responsibility to criticize and rectify beyond analyze, the prophets on their part were justified to take serious notice of the corrupt and unethical practices which were commonly followed without any fear or despair. The religion of the God has focused upon peace, therefore every prophet has tired to communicate the significance of the peaceful live, and the factor of peace is strong due to the fact that it enlightens the human spiritually, morally and eternally. The factors which humans have ignored might have the potential to distract and demote the spiritual development achieved by the society of the time. The intellect of the human is far limited, whereas that of the prophet is manifold. The diversification of opinions, thoughts and objectives attained by the human is incomparable with the qualities possessed by the prophets. It is justified to regard the prophets as the enlightened creature, which is provided with spiritual authority and intellectual capabilities to handle, judge, practice and resolve the issue. It is untrue to regard that

Walmart Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Walmart - Case Study Example Instead, their ways of doing business never impressed the Germans therefore; the company lost the market to the local firms (p. 4).Wal-Mart decision to join the German market without carrying an analysis to understand their culture was an enormous mistake. Walton could have thought about the difference between Germans culture and the Wal-Mart ways of doing business. This could have helped him come up with ways of integrating the Wal-Mart culture with the German culture (p. 5). This could have helped them understand the best approaches to adopt in order to grasp the German market. He could have thought of the effect of the language barrier between customers and the American heritage employees. The best move that Wal-Mart was to follow was to get German origin employees who usually understood the cultural and custom practices of the Germans. This could have helped them to offer services effectively as per the cultural principles of the customers. With this, Wal-Mart could have succeeded in maintaining their identity without offending the German customers. Following the recommended six steps, an organization research group, will have enough time to interact with the people thus helping them to understand their needs and consumtion behavior, thus creating a deep relationship with the locals which would help the company. This will enable them to have a better relationship with the employees when the time comes to launch their business overseas (p. 6). Secondly, they can have reviewers to check for any cultural variation between the company culture and the people’s culture. This will help the company take the foreign culture in its operations to avoid resistance from the people. Wal-Mart experience has helped us to know that if any company wants to improve communication, it first has to use the local people who understand the customers’

The Myth's of Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Myth's of Innovation - Essay Example The Apple team realized that there was a potential to improve on the design of existing digital music players using existing technology. The iPod wasn’t developed as the result of a sudden epiphany; it was a product of the steady design process to refine the digital music player. The development of the iPod shows that good ideas are not hard to find. The important components that make the iPod work were all taken off the shelf (Grossman 68). The FireWire connector that allowed data to be transferred to the iPod much faster than the USB connection used by the rival Nomad was existing technology from Apple. The hard drive for the device was developed by Toshiba without any idea what such a small hard drive could be used for. The battery had already been developed by Sony for cell phones. The iPod was not developed by some lone inventor. A team of designers at Apple worked on the device and used components developed by teams of engineers at other companies (Grossman 66). While th e iPod has become a popular electronic device, it also shows that innovation is not always good. The popularity of digital music players has created problems for music producers due to rampant electronic piracy. The Internet was originally created as a network of computers for the military. With the threat of a nuclear attack during the Cold War, the Internet was developed to be a robust computer communications network (Berners-Lee 80). The Internet was not the product of some epiphany. It was steadily developed over several decades before becoming what it is today. Despite being initially developed for military applications, the Internet eventually became a popular computer network for personal and commercial usage. The Internet was not created by some lone inventor. Many teams of individuals worked on developing the network protocols (Berners-Lee 81). These teams worked on developing the Internet over several decades, and these teams worked towards many different outcomes during t his time as the network slowly transitioned from a military network to a predominantly civilian network. Many of the developments in the Internet over the years haven’t been a bottom up approach of the best ideas winning. Many of the changes have been enforced in a top down manner to force users to adopt new network protocols (Berners-Lee 81). When changes were not the result of top down pressure, innovation in the Internet was not based on solving an existing problem. Instead, the Internet was frequently a solution in search of a problem. Much of the content on the Internet was created to attract ad revenue instead of being the product of the communication possibilities in the new medium (Berners-Lee 84). Although it accounts for a sizeable portion of the bandwidth, the Internet wasn’t created to stream movies, music, pornography, and e-mail spam. Those applications were developed to use the potential of the Internet. The zipper is one of those devices that was invent ed independently several times until it caught on. But once it did catch on, the zipper dominated the market in clothing fasteners. The independent discoveries of the zipper show that good ideas are not hard to find (Stringer 18). If the idea was so hard to come up with, multiple people would not have invented it independently. Despite the problems with the zipper after years of use, the convenience factor allowed it to eventually beat out the button that has been around for thousands of years. The difficulty faced by the zipper

Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Marketing plan - Essay Example The contemporary marketing is largely influenced by technology, competition, globalization and customers’ ever-changing specific requirements. Therefore, a marketer has to foresee how these significant variables can impact its marketing domain and how they can effectively be managed in order its marketing activities to be successful and to help it create long-term sustainable competitive advantage. This paper presents a marketing plan for ‘Green Pizza Restaurant’ in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising of major marketing and situational analysis and relevant description of marketing objectives and marketing strategies. This paper uses SWOT analysis and PEST for analyzing both internal and external environmental factors to the business. With relation to marketing objective, segmentation, target market and positioning strategy (STP) and marketing mix strategy including its sub-elements of product, price, promotion and place are detailed in this paper. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 INTRODUCTION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 SITUATION ANALYSIS (Internal to the company) †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 Company’s mission, objectives and growth strategies †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ... 9 Competitor Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 9 The Economic Environment †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 Technology Environment †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 Social and cultural environment †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 SWOT Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 12 Marketing Objectives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 13 DEVELOPING MARKETING STRATEGIES †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 Pizza Products and its use †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 Segmentation Strategy †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 Targeting Strategy †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 Positioning Strategy †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 16 Product Strategies †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 16 Pricing Strategy †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 18 Promotional Strategies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 19 Supply Chain Strategies †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦ 20 IMPLEMENTING AND CONTROLLING THE MARKETING PLAN†¦ 20 Action plan †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 20 Responsibility†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 21 Budget †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 21 Time Line †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 21 Evaluation and measuring the performance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 22 CONCLUSION†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 22 REFERENCES †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 23 Introduction Planning is an extremely important and critical element to successfully performing a marketing or any other

Stand-up comedy in the middle east via youtube Article

Stand-up comedy in the middle east via youtube - Article Example New comedy performers with a different approach overrun 1960s and 70s. The new comedy was subversive, with a strong message. Comedy in those years used political and topical content to raise social questions, opinions and change the publics thinking. A 27-year-old Saudi comedian and a YouTube personality Fahad Al-Butairi, who was the first Saudi stand-up comedian to appear on stage professionally, started a YouTube channel that got so famous with many Arabs describing him as Seinfeld of Saudi Arabia. Al-Butairi started his comedy career when he was in middle school and used to perform in theater plays and in summer camps and centers in Saudi Arabia and other areas. In 2006, while studying in the US, Fahad Al-Butairi decided to try out at an open mike nights at the local comedy club in Austin where he was living basing his jokes on his personal experience, this was a success. When Fahad Al-Butairi moved back to the Saudi Arabia and got busy with his job, he heard about a comedy event in Bahrain where he performed in front of 2,000 people, this was also an instant success. The YouTube show, which he started on 2010, became his main claim to fame. It is called it â€Å"La Ykthar,† which is Arabic for â€Å"Shut up and don’t overdo it.† The show discusses Saudi Arabia’s social and political topics. It has grown in popularity with each monthly episode. Statistics show that, Al-Butairi now has over 909,000 followers on Twitter, over 488,893 subscribers on YouTube and his videos have reached 62,293,268 views. Dignitary Obeidallah, a New Jersey-conceived, Palestinian-American humorist, studies the crowd before him at Al Hussein Cultural Center. For this opening night at the first-ever Amman Stand Up Comedy Festival, Obeidallah the ever busy standup comedian is scheduled to perform a set. The entertainment events will be no different from on any other night, but tonight’s show marks the first ever comedy

Discussion Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 33

Discussion - Coursework Example In this regards, APNs play a key role in enhancing EBP adoption as it remains more as an ideal rather than a reality in many clinical care setting. In my unit, an advanced practice nurse is important in enhancing the adoption of evidence-based practice through facilitating the appropriate organizational culture and leadership. It is crucial for the unit to appoint leaders and staff that recognize and value evidence-based practice and research utilization in improving care provision. This can be further achieved by educating the staff on the importance of EBP utilization and possible ways of adoption. Facilitation and support in the process are also crucial. Thus, an advanced practice nurse has a role in ensuring that the necessary resources and conditions are available to attain success in the unit. This includes the provision of the appropriate time of practicing EBP and ensuring that the correct number of staff (staffing) are available in enhancing the process. Moreover, the advanced practice nurse has a role in enhancing further research in my unit to determine any additional factors that may influence or facilitate the adop tion of EBP. Advanced practice nurse have been noted to be on the frontline of utilizing EBP in the clinical setting in promoting the patients safety and their knowledge is crucial in promoting such practices among other teams such as my unit (Gerrish et al., 2012). Fagerstrà ¶m, L., & Glasberg, A. L. (2011). The first evaluation of the advanced practice nurse role in Finland - the perspective of nurse leaders. Journal of Nursing Management, 19, 925–932. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2011.01280.x Gerrish, K., Nolan, M., Mcdonnell, A., Tod, A., Kirshbaum, M., & Guillaume, L. (2012). Factors Influencing Advanced Practice Nurses’ Ability to Promote Evidence-Based Practice among Frontline Nurses. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 9, 30–39.

Distribution Channel of Banas Dairy Essay Example for Free

Distribution Channel of Banas Dairy Essay The present study is conducted in the Banas Dairy sales area Genesis of Banas Dairy Late ShriGalbhabhai Patel established Banas Dairy with the dream of uplifting socio economic status of village farmers. This dream was fulfilled through the creation of a co-operative milk union for Banaskantha district, on the footprint of â€Å"Amul Dairy† of Kaira district, the ideal model of a Co-operative. Consequently eight village level co-operative milk societies in Vadgam and Palanpur taluk Ire registered and started collecting and pouring milk at DudhSagar Dairy, Mehsana from 3rd October 1966. The milk union got registered under Co-operative act on 31st January 1969 as Banaskantha District Co-operative milk producers’ Union Limited, popularly known as Banas Dairy. The foundation stone was laid by Late Galbabhai Nanjibhai Patel on 14th January 1971 at 122 acres land acquired near Jagana village in order to set up a dairy plant under the operation flood program launched by national Dairy development Board. On 7th May 1971’ the dairy started functioning at the same place with a capacity of 1. 5 lakh liters of milk per day. This has now been increased to 24. 3 lakh liters per day. The dairy has three automated plants with a wide 8-9 product lines. The small dream of Shri Galbabhai has now taken the shape of a co-operative of 1350 societies with around 15000 members. With the relentless efforts of dedicated and committed leadership, the dairy has won the trust of milk producers of Banaskantha district and has brought about a happy change in the lives of all its members. It has come up as a major revolution in the upliftment of the residents of the district. Mission and Vision Banas District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd. was established with the prime objective of eliminating the monopoly of private traders and providing the poor farmers the due that they deserve. Along with this it also ensures that the farmers are benefited the maximum out of their operations and activities. The mission of the organization is to provide sustainable means of livelihood to socio-economically downtrodden rural mass, while treading on the path of progress. The organization renews its vision every ten years. It strives to be a successful world class co-operative dairy. The objectives of the organization are clearly expressed through the quality policy, which states that: â€Å"I, the Banas Dairy, commit and aspire to fulfil the needs and expectations of our internal as Ill as external customers and delight them through our quality products and services. I shall achieve the goal through the followings: a). Applying principles of Quality Management Systems and Food Safety Management for continuous enrichment of our management processes. ). Providing remunerating returns, quality input services, introducing innovative and appropriate schemes and services to our milk producers. c). Motivating and providing and encouraging appropriate training for skill up-gradation of our employees. d). Protecting our value system and the environment by judicious use of all natural resources. † India is an agri- oriented country of the world. 70% people are living in rural area so I can say Indian peo ple are living in village the majority of population. The dream of late Galbabhai Patel, founder chairman and the selfless sage to uplift socio- economical status of village farmers came true after creation of a co- operative milk union for banaskantha district, on the foot print of â€Å"Amul Dairy†of kaira presently Anand) district on the model of true co operative milk societies in Vadgam and palanpur taluzka of district Ire registered and started collecting and pouring milk at Dudh Sagar dairy, Mahesana from 10th march 1969.

Stereotyping Essay Example for Free

Stereotyping Essay This is a reflective paper demonstrating the understanding of the concept of stereotyping as well as the implications of this concept. It integrates readings and class discussions into work and life experience. It also includes explanation and examples from previous experience as well as implications for future application. The purpose of the paper is to culminate the learning achieved in the course by describing the understanding and application of knowledge in the field of psychology and the critical thinking process that is involved with review of the two sides of the issue discussed. This focuses on real life, real time application of topics covered in this course, the uses that have seen and can envision. As a thesis statement like â€Å"How is stereotyping portrayed in the society and to what extent are the effects of its manifestation?†, the paper revolves on this account. I. People and Stereotyping A. How the Social World is divided into Categories Stereotypes are notions carried regarding parts of certain factions, established predominantly on attachment in that cluster. They may be constructive or detrimental and may be employed to give reason for some actions. A few of the positive characteristics of stereotypes are the following. African Americans are in the main believed to be talented musicians and basketball players. Some of its advantages to communities are that their typical outfits promote the facilitation of communal service such as firemen, law enforcers, staffs, or teachers, about their particular strong points, familiarity of circumstances, and compliance to lend a hand. But most of the time, stereotypes are observed by lots of people as objectionable ideas that are inflicted to view activities of prejudice and domination, considered as uncompromising and prone to criminal activities. Other unconstructive consequences are excuses of unawareness, aversion to tamper with people’s way of behaving towards typecast clusters, inhibiting the racial people of doing well in different disciplines. Cases in point are that the whites deal with the blacks in a more unfriendly means since they are anxious of them. The blacks respond in a more hostile way correspondingly, hence bearing out the stereotype, the whites who are attempting to progress into the hip hop venture, the blacks struggling to obtain a university   certification, and Asian males who are making an effort to wed white partners. B. The Phenomenon of Stereotyping Stereotypes are hardly ever entirely precise and are merely established on false beliefs and regarded as a prediction of a person’s concerns onto others, in spite of the certainty of other people. Diverse fields provide various explanations of how these come into existence. Psychologists concentrate on how dealings with factions occur as well as the patterns of interaction about them and their conflicts. Sociologists directs on the associations among the clusters and the arrangement of diverse groups in a community makeup. Stereotypes are implicit features based on a considerable cluster of persons whose viewpoints and behavior are related. Stereotype creation can be from past aspects, overview, and overstatement. In relation to groups, shared stereotypes comprise assertions about age, sexual characteristics, traditions, nationality, line of work, spiritual convictions, corporeal look, and societal status. It can also be shaped by the media, presenting an erroneous judgment of a group’s customs. II. The Antecedents of Stereotypes A. The Human Nature Explanation Different kinds of antecedents of stereotypes, based on human nature explanation, are present. According to Jost and Hunyady (2005), there are dispositional backgrounds such as the necessity for shutting down and sincerity to occurrence; while situational background are intimidation and danger and relevant transience of the inclination to hold scheme principles (260). Dispositional and situational antecedents can be comes hand in hand. The driving force root expresses that self-fraud, measured as an individual difference variable. The affinity to consider that actions and results are naturally just and valid, are fairly to deeply connect with support of other thoughts like conservatism and resistance to fairness and oppression. The remark that self-deception and sense of hazard are linked with the level of arrangement rationalization points out that there is an encouraging part to if not cold reasoning of the legality of political and trade and industry organizations. B. Conflict as a Cause of Stereotyping Group stereotyping is basically caused by conflicts of different factions of people. The public who have sensitive needs to handle ambiguity and threat are in particular probable to accept conservatism and resistance to fairness and oppression. Cognitive complication and ingenuousness to occurrence are unconstructively related with it (261). There is a good correspondence between requirements to diminish them, for the reason that defending the status quo permits individuals to uphold what is recognizable at the same time as discarding the vague outlook of communal transformation. For a lot of persons, the wrongdoers they are acquainted with gives the impression as less intimidating and more rightful than the wrongdoers they do not recognize. The piece of evidence, that the 9/11 radical assaults concurrently brought to mind presence of mortality and scheme threats, may facilitate to make clear why they gave rise to comparatively powerful intensification, among liberals and conformists, in nationalism and collaboration for the Bush government and its courses of action. On the whole, threats to the orderliness, on the condition that they fall short of bringing down the present occurences, are in control of citizens to strengthen accessible provisions by giving the backing to system-justifying principles (262). III. The Costs of Being Stereotyped Against The Perpetuating Mechanism of Stereotypes The imagery in what most of the people call Ghettopoly as an example is without a doubt not as good as anything that is of stereotypical descriptions might come into sight from time to time in rap records or as a function of the bigger hip-hop way of life. In any case, for all of its responsibilities, existent and anticipated, hip hop is a wide-ranging civilizing style, which takes account of both stereotype-strengthening and prospective destructive images on one hand and at the side of affirmative, and political and liberal manifestation on the other. These harm existence since they represent as means of explanation for those who single out or categorize (Wise, 2007). The other examples of costs of stereotyping are domestic violent behavior, repressed womens role in bringing about gender stereotypes, not utilized educational grants, discouraged control of indigenous voters, teenage pregnancy, and juvenile delinduency among common concerns elicited. They frequently did not get benefits of their entitlement to certain civil liberties of the society they are into. Although efforts have been carried out to bring to an end some specific types of stereotyping, a vast number of groups still cannot immediately change their attitudes towards certain factions.   The authorities, in connection with circumstantial variable, the appeal of conservatives, and scheme-mitigating beliefs, are being subjected under circumstances of administration threats.   The threats to the legality of the societal structure head citizens to augment their utilization of stereotypes to give good reason for disparity between factions. B. Solidification and Justification of the Status Quo In solidification and justification of status quo, policymakers and the public are still hooked with stereotyping. As discussed by Jost and Hunyady in 2005, these can be seen through the observation of people with reduction of self-worth, biased welfare, and decreased in-group in opposition to increased out-group preferential treatment. Some apparent legality coming from powers that be and institutions amplified discernment of authenticity. Decline in reinforcement for societal revolution and not properly allocated wherewithals can also be viewed (263). Cases in point are that Whites execute offenses against Hispanic Americans; whereas the people of society would not be reluctant to respond to the stereotyping. People do not often notice that game shows highlighting other clusters of minorities are being subjugated and made fun of as a front of safe amusement. And so far when it takes place to Asians, it is up to the observer to settle on the scale of abusiveness. Sadly, the contemporary community does not reflect that it is inappropriate to exhibit stereotypical and demeaning depictions of some groups of people for the reason that, stereotypically, they will not attack back (Sue, 2004). IV. Approaches on Reducing Stereotypes A. Knowing Each Other as individuals To counteract stereotyping, diverse people must have perfect information about other groups of people have as ways of life. They must be able to know and respect each other as individuals. B. Reduction of Stereotyping Through Contact 1. Conditions for Contact If perfect knowledge is not that effective, group movements such as rallies or other forms of demonstrations against the claimed oppressors can be incorporated. As a result, both parties may come to terms of agreements such as compromising and the like. 2. Emphasizing or De-Emphasizing Group Identity As stated by Cameron (2005), stressing disparities evident on prior studies points out that those individuals who are greatly branded with their factions are apt to stay unswerving to them under risk. The general status of this effect to a real-life context involving the perception that others view the in-group as intolerant of minorities is expressed in the following statements. Superficial hazard was conversely linked to self-stereotyping for view of self-in group correspondence, although only for persons with frail bonds to other cluster associates. Peril awareness was as well projecting enhanced shrewdness of within-group inconsistency on risk scopes, predominantly for persons with feebler in-group bonds. A range of approaches for dealing with a vulnerable societal distinctiveness are related to diverse sides of classification (73). 3. Stereotyping and History of Pain and Suffering In the late 1700s, a renowned French type-founder coined the name stereotype for producing concrete lead plates. Lots of troubles were stumbled upon in the course of the experiments, and stereotyping was the ultimate result, causing people to experience pain and suffering. Conclusion As a restatement of the thesis, stereotyping is portrayed in the society in different ways. Its effects of manifestation are indeed to a great extent that the unpleasant image of society is hard to revolutionize. It is imperative that each and every individual in the society which they are into take a stand and get rid of or put an end to fabricated portrayal of stereotyping.

Influence of Peer Pressure on Teenage Sexual Behaviour

Influence of Peer Pressure on Teenage Sexual Behaviour Research Proposal Introduction: The budding of a child from the innocence of childhood to the maturity of an adult can be a complicated phase for many. An important factor that plays a very significant role throughout a persons life is their sexual behavior. After the mass commercialization of every product imaginable and available to consumers through print advertisements or TV advertisements, the idea of sex is being marketed to these young children almost on a daily basis. This influence is not only limited to print or TV but the internet has also started playing an important role in being a medium which provides access to teenagers and young adults to explicit content. Responsible adults of the society and the Government should make sure that those affected by sexual harassment are given proper rehabilitation facilities (Gilgun, n.d) and that perpetrators who have committed such heinous crimes are punished. Statement of problem: Many young adults become sex offenders as they grow up and some fall victim to prey like sex addiction. Also, due to exposure to explicit content on porn sites and other inappropriate material on the web these juveniles fall prey to blackmailers, sex offenders, rapists and manipulators. In girls, this could lead to unwanted pregnancy. Purpose of the study: The purpose of undertaking this study is to predict sexual behavior in teenagers due to the kind of exposure they get from experiencing peer pressure about sex at school to movies and internet that are all filled with subtle messages about sex and how wonderful it is when the consequences of their actions are not even fully clear to the teenagers undertaking this activity and how it impacts their life ahead and also to explore what rehabilitation and recovery facilities may be provided to teenagers who have being harassed. Hypothesis: The relationship between the exposure to sex related content and sexual habits of teenagers is positive and correlated. Methods and Procedures: The method used in this study was to conduct some literature review on the topic and also gather responses through teenagers and young adults through a small survey. The questions posed to them constituted of topics ranging from the influence of the media to any personal experiences they might have encountered. Also, peer pressure was an important factor included to see the effects of how many teenagers engage in sex to fit in or submit to their peers demands. Variables used: The variables used in this questionnaire were teenagers and young adults who answered the questionnaires on the topic of how they think sexually explicit content or subtle hints at selling sex to youngsters through advertisements, movies, TV shows and even billboards. Some impromptu personal interviews were also taken to see if people are biased in their opinion when communicating spontaneously vs. if they are given more time to choose and think their options. Limitations and delimitations: The limitation in this study comes out in the form of bias. The respondents in order to not let the interviewer or survey taker make judgments about them or relate the responses to their experiences subconsciously may give well thought out or morally fair answers rather than what they actually believe or think. Also since the scope of the study is limited to predicting sexual behavior in teenagers, factors such as puberty, violence, infatuation and internet play a stronger role in eliciting responses and decisions rather than rationality. Significance of the study: The significance of this study is that it will help point out the factors which can help us understand teenage psychology and behaviors better in order make policies or take collective community action to protect our children and rehabilitate and bring back to life those who have suffered. References Abstract Predictions about Teen Sexual Behavior When children grow up to step into the adult phase of their lives they are faced with perhaps the most difficult situations in their lives. They are presented with new ideas, new peers, social and peer pressure and their introduction to puberty. A lot of teenagers face the emotions of infatuation, obsession, becoming cool and doing something that would establish their reputation in front of their friends. In this age of media and mass commercialization, teenagers are exposed to sex in all forms available. It is seen in movies, TV channels, TV shows, internet, music industry and even cartoons like Simpsons where sexual references are not uncommon. It is surprising to see that while 58% of girls studying in 8th to 11th grade have faced some sort of sexual harassment occasionally or in some cases almost daily boys are also being subject to sexual harassment (Carney, 2007). The reason for such outcomes or trend seen in recent years can be the extreme exposure to sex in our culture especially to kids at an inappropriate age. This incompatibility can confuse these children who are in the process of becoming mature and distort their perceptions of sexual behavior and hinder their normal and healthy development process. Exposure to explicit content can be in the form of visual content such as is common on billboards, TV, cartoons and internet. It can also be of verbal content. A child whose parents curse and swear or use sexually explicit language and exhibit violent behavior towards each other or the society at large is subject to take the impact of such exposure and replicate such behavior when he/she grows up to be a teenager and later in their life. Perhaps, the greatest impact is of personal experience in predicting the sexual behavior of teenagers and that is usually when a person has been subject to incest or any other form of sexual and physical harassment. Such an individual becomes bitter and rebellious towards the society and takes revenge by doing those very actions and deriving satisfaction from the pain inflicted on others as a compensation for their suffering. A recent research has linked the race, age and weight of adolescents to their sexual behaviors in case of girls. Some interesting findings that came in spotlight included but are not restricted to the fact that over weight and sexually active girls and underweight girls do not practice safe sex. Latino girls were most likely to engage in risky sexual behavior including having greater than four partners, not practicing safe sex and rampant use of alcohol (Nauert, 2009) This finding indicates that as opposed to generalizing all teenagers exhibiting rogue sexual appetites; sexual behavior in teenagers can greatly differ based on their geographical location, their environment, age and even gender. Important findings that help predict teenage sexual behavior include that, teenagers who watch sexually explicit content more often than their counterparts are likely to engage and initiate sexual intercourse earlier (Collins et al., 2004) (Also see Exhibit 1) Furthermore, the impact of verbal reference to sexual activities is the same as visual impact in teenagers leading them to become sexually active at an earlier stage in their adolescence. However, it is imperative to know that if teens are shown movies or educated about the practices of disadvantages of having sex earlier or without safe practices it can put a positive impact and create awareness among them and influence their sexual behavior. Recently, the internet has proved to be yet another medium through which teenagers who are still in the phase of development and are excited by puberty and the various opportunities to socialize and go to parties, meet new partners and become equal to their peers is present, the access to sexually explicit content such as images, videos, pornography and the latest addition to the list; social networking websites present a great danger of eliciting harmful sexual behavior. In a recent study it was found that those teenagers who use the internet and social networking websites were subject to online sexual harassment such as unwanted requests to converse about sex, provide personal information, sexual solicitation or requests to do something sexual. 33% reported online harassment including the highest percentage on instant messaging (43%) and chat rooms (32%). (Ybarra Mitchell, 2008) Such consequences have made internet a bane in some cases instead of a boon with negative impacts on no t only the mental health but physical development of a child as more and more people suffer from complex about their bodies and abilities due to sexual references and discrimination. Sex at an early age for some can be damaging to moral and ethical values along with inflicting psychological problems. About 3 million teenagers contract a sexually transmitted disease such as Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and even AIDS. Most agree that teenagers tend to be reckless in their behavior, and unprotected sex is just one of a host of risky behaviors in which they engage. But even for those who are always careful, accidents can happen and contraceptives can fail. Moreover, some teenagers are exploited or coerced into having sex and thus have little control over contraception (cited in Besharov Gardiner, n.d) As exhibit 2 portrays that those engage in sex and risky behavior include marijuana, drugs and alcohol that further adds to the problem of active sex drive in teenagers. Feral children like Genie who have had no contact with the outside world for 13 years of their life and confined to a solitary room where no auditory signals or visual signals could reach rendered this child completely different from normal teenagers. Genie could not stand erect and unable to even communicate effectively with words. She was fed baby food, cereals and eggs to keep her alive. (Curtiss, 1977) This kind of treatment rendered her completely isolated from other human beings where she was unable to communicate or understand normal human emotions or any sort of sexual desires or tendencies. Another important factor which has influenced sexual behavior in teenagers is music. According to a research article published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, April 2009, Brian Primack made the statement that in a sample of adolescents listening to lyrics of a song that feature sexually explicit lyrics the tendency to engage in pre-coital activities and sexual intercourse was higher. This finding is a cause of concern and demands educational intervention because such activities by female teenagers which result in teenage pregnancies are a matter of public health concern. References Exhibits EXHIBIT 1: TV exposure and Contribution To Initiating Sex EXHIBIT 2: Early Sex and Risk Taking Behaviors