Analyzing the functions of music in upcoming Rappers Essay Example for Free

Analyzing the functions of music in upcoming Rappers Essay Prach Ly’s Power Territory and Rice functions as a link between his heritage as a Cambodian and his ambition to give back to those who became targets in the tragedy of Cambodia. He communicates the lyrics in a provocative rhythm which sets the tonality for the listeners in a grave and arguably concerned poise deeming his lyrics to be of a serious nature. His rap therefore takes a distinct tone that is akin to the musical function of other rappers who compose lyrics around their precarious lifestyles in the ghettos and their fight for survival amongst the hostility they are faced with everyday. As Prach relays in the telephonic interview, his urge to make music was met with a purpose around the time he discovered the true extent of the tragedies that were faced with the Cambodian people (Ly, 2004). Even though he was born at the time of the Cambodian massacre, his memory was only riddled with sparse recollections of the chaos, and through the eyes of his brother he managed to piece them together and write about it, his lyrics reconnecting with the adults who understood and the kids who appreciated alike. His intention was to use his music for emotional expression, a function that allows the artist to communicate more effectively than normal speech. While this sat well with the adult listeners, the song also seemed to incorporate the function of entertainment for the younger listeners. On a bigger picture, the powerful lyrics also contribute to the integration of society, largely educating the people of the struggle of the Cambodian people and reinvigorating their sense of compassion for them. Mandeep Sethi’s Adair Sethi is more focused on hip-hop as an art form that educates as well as entertains (Sethi, 2009). While he considers music as a tool for the oppressed, Adair shows that he intends the song to function primarily as a fusion of entertainment and emotional expression given the beat it follows and the lyrics that surround the regular questions about life and religion. His intention is further made vivid by the line Music has its own sound, as it invites the listener to indulge further into the entertainment function while still engaging in the mystical side of the rhythm that each artist utilizes in order to communicate a message. Sikh Knowledge’s Ch-Ching The music here functions primarily as a form of emotional expression. The slow beat and rhythm perfectly complements the mood that Knowledge is trying to set, and his lyrics, which discuss the conflict in Palestine, particularly the ruins of Gaza, aim squarely to inform those who do not know and those who sympathize equally. This function of music is of course a utility that highlight matters of grave concern to the public or a specific community and Knowledge reinvigorates the feeling by mentioning other more entertainment oriented music such as two-step bhangra and declaring that this song is nothing like them. Thus, he expresses himself in rap of matters that he finds deeply emotional putting himself on the Palestinian side of the battle. Conclusion One prevailing characteristic of the aforementioned rappers is their Asian American ethnicity, and it is evident that their origins greatly encourages their listeners to see their viewpoints, just like their chosen genre sets them up against stigmas of being unable to thrive in a field dominated by African Americans. The subject matter of the song, thus, becomes very important and the function of music in turn plays a much more important role in determining success. It is interesting to note that the rapper acquires acceptance a lot easily amongst people of his race before anywhere else as was the case with Prach who became a no. 1 hit in Cambodia whereas he composed the album elsewhere. It can easily be concluded from the popularity of these rappers that their ethnic origins account for a large percentage of their success, since that success takes root in first instance amongst the people of their own race. References Ly, P. (2004). Art of faCt: An Interview with praCh. (S. May, Interviewer) Sethi, M. (2009, October 26). The Brown Underground. (N. Dhillon, Interviewer)

Career and Gender Discrimination in Bahrain | Case Study

Career and Gender Discrimination in Bahrain | Case Study Ellen Moore (A) Living and working in Bahrain Case summary The case describes the working life and career decision of Ellen Moore, an American expatriate in Bahrain in the 1980s. Ellen is an outstanding and capable person both in terms of academic and professional background. Right after graduation with an MBA degree, she followed her husband to work as a financial specialist in Bahrain. Bahrain is a country situated in the Persian Gulf and its modernization and economy are strongly associated with the oil industry. Expatriates have been playing an important role in bringing expertise and dynamics to its under-developed areas. Ellen came to Bahrain to work as manager because of her vast work experience, she really like the opportunity to be a teacher and work with other people, although some working style, professional capability, religion were different from her home country, she believed that the ability to handle different situation would be an important international experience for her. After two years hard working, Ellen was offered with two senior management options of career promotion, one in accounts control and another in customer service. She wanted to choose the accounts control position but was faced with an explicit discriminatory practice by her manager for being a woman. He said that because the position she chose would involve visiting Saudi Arabia and negotiating with men, as a female she would not be able to fulfill this position. So there are four possible solutions that Allen could choose: 1. Take the customer position that she does not like 2. Fight back 3. Remain her current position 4. Leave the company. 1. The Case core issues a) Gender discrimination in the Bahraini society reflected in the organisational culture After two years of successful work, Ellen was offered two new positions in different areas. After carefully evaluate the two positions, she decided to take the Accounts Control position. When meeting with the General Manager, she was told that the offer had been reconsidered and this position was not available for her anymore. The reasons were: As a woman, she would be subject to discriminatory practices in Saudi Arabia and would experience difficulty travelling alone there as it is one of the job requirements She would also have difficulty in obtaining entry visas Customers would not accept to negotiate with a woman In case of hostile outbreak, she could be in danger. b) International migration of qualified workforce In 1975 offshore banking began in Bahrain. Since the country did not have experts to develop this industry, expatriates from around the world, particularly from Western Europe and North America, were invited to conduct business in Bahrain; Expatriates who lived under residence permits gained on the basis of recruitment for a specialist position that could not be filled by a qualified and available Bahraini citizen; Bahrain became a multicultural country. Expatriates would interact not only with Arabic nationals, but also with managers from others parts of the world, and with workers from developing countries; No formal training, especially in the difference among management practices, was provided in order to better adapt expatriates to new country/culture. c) Managing in a different culture Several aspects of the Middle Eastern culture had tremendous impact on the way of doing business, especially for the western firms which located in Bahrain: What Western managers considered to be proof of an argument or factual evidence could be flatly denied by a Bahraini: if something was not believed, it did not exist. It seemed that the concept of time differed between Middle Eastern and Western cultures. Schedules and deadlines, while sacred to Western managers, commanded little respect from Bahraini employees. Islamic religion: praying five times a day and Ramadan working hours. There is no separation of church, state and judiciary. Attitude towards women: all women could work outside the home, with hours restricted both by convention and by the labour laws. They could only work only after got their husbands, fathers, or brothers permission, and could not take potential employment away from men. Work outside the home was additional to duties performed inside the home. Most women who worked held secretarial or clerk positions; very few worked in management. The truth to a Bahraini employee was subject to an Arab interpretation, which was formed over hundreds of years of cultural evolution. 2. Possible solutions that Ellen faced a) Take the Customer Services position: †¢ Strength: By accepting the Customer Service position, she is taking her career to a new level. With new challenges to face, more responsibilities to meet and huge number of employees to manage which she has proven herself to have the skills and qualifications in this new role. It could be an option to take her career further and even could be a role model for women in this country that want to be in management position. †¢ Weakness: By accepting this position, she is sending the message that she is accepting the discrimination that she experienced. She would be compromising her values, which is probably painful for her as an educated American woman, because her true personality has been violated. b) Fight Back: †¢ Strength: Fighting back can help Ellen remain her true personality. By seeking help from Senior Vice-president, Ellen may persuade the SVP to stand by her side, get the position that she dreamed of. Another way to do it is to try her chances in the Bahraini Labor Tribunals, if she wins the case in the tribunal, it will help her change the women unequal rights in the company or even to be a role model for women in the Bahraini society. †¢ Weakness: Stepping over the general manager and reaching the Senior Vice-President to solve the issue might affect her relationship with the general manager who trusted her and nominated her for senior management position. This may result in serious conflicts with the organization management and risk Ellens job. c) Stay in her current position: †¢ Strength: The option of keeping the current position could be a safe choice for Ellen to maintain good relationship with her manager, keep her own values; and also not give in to the general managers prejudices. Meanwhile, she could start considering other career options. †¢ Weakness: Gender discrimination in public life and workplace is a noticeable issue in Bahrain (Asian Center for Human Rights 2007), thus the opportunity for promotion could be reduced in the future if Allen refused this promotion. Also, according to Metcalfe (2007), in Arab nations where women are expected to resign from their jobs when they are married; the training and professional academic qualifications are prioritized for men. Additionally, by not accepting the goodwill from the general manager, Ellen could be risking her relationship with him. d) Leave the company: †¢ Strength: According to Hofstede cultural dimensions (1993), Ellen is a person with high Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) who aspires for professionalism and punctuality. Bahrain Society, on the other hand, has a low UA featured in greater tolerance in timing. The big differences in Uncertainty Avoidance and Power Distance traits between Ellens and Bahrain society might hinder Ellens ability to develop her career in the country. Moreover, the reasons for Ellen to prefer the Account Control position are to gain international experience, better pay and challenging opportunities and these can be found in other job positions. †¢ Weakness: In Bahrain, it is required to obtain a permission letter from current employer in order to seek or move to work for another employer. If the relationship between the employee and the employer is not in good terms, then there is a high possibility that the current employer will refuse to release the employee. If Ellen cannot find another job and leaves the country, her husband might also need to leave his current job and find an alternative solution for both of them. 3. Proposed solution We recommend that Ellen remain in her current position until other work opportunities arise for her. According to Hofstede (1993), Ellen possess low Power Distance (PD) trait that influences her desire for reaching the equality for both men and women in work and life. Staying in the same position and not accepting the Customer Service position will work better for her by keeping her values and refusing to accept the gender discrimination. Moreover, this option allows Ellen to express her strong interest in sharpening her financial expertise while possibly retaining good relationship with the supervisor. As Ellen came to Bahrain with the aim to train Bahrainis to take over her job this option would still facilitate her aspiration. Thus, staying in the company can give her more time to think and search for other alternatives and career prospects. According to Al-Lamky (2007), unequal policies, structures and programs in the organization that may obstruct womens employment and career growth, he mentioned that the best way to solve gender issues should involved policy and structure change in the organization. By remaining in her current position, Ellen could lobby some policy evaluation in the organization, continue advocate equal gender rights for women, some examples that she may like to lobby: implementing programs to increase sensitivity towards women; through work recognition and promotion to make top women visible in the organization; creating an organizational culture that is open and sensitive to differing styles in the workplace (San Dico Kleiner, 1999). Child care could also be an interesting program to be developed as it would be an auxiliary in helping women to perform the cultural responsibilities attributed to them (Al-Lamky 2007). With the power that she already had in the company and the help of her current fem ale employees, there is a great chance that she could win in this lobby battle. 4. Emic-concept and its influence in the decision making Aiming to investigate elements of the Bahrain culture that are relevant to the management field, we considered the Emic Concept in this case study is the gender discrimination. Throughout the case, the gender discrimination was highly observed in the workplace, Bahrain had difficulties accepting and acknowledging the contributions of women to management. In Ellens story, she suffered discrimination for being a woman in many situations. One of them that we have mentioned above was the career decision that Ellen had to choose, her general manager told her that the offer had been reconsidered because she was a woman and as such, would face difficulties executing the job. Such difficulties included women face discriminatory practices in Saudi Arabia and customers refusing to negotiate with her. Although she had the ability and qualification for the customer service position, she refused it because it was based on gender rather than competence. Another situation of gender discrimination in the workplace was in managing male employees. In the case, an employee named Fahad, would always refuse to listen to whatever Ellen had presented to him and he always disregarded Ellens ideas. However, with her continue effort she managed to resolve the problem and was able to perform with Fahad many successful projects. Because this case happened in 1980s, in your mind the gender discrimination situation would be better in this country in nowadays; however, if we looking at some statistics in recent years, you will realize that your judgment is too hasty. In 2006, women in Bahrain held only 9% of senior civil service posts although they constituted 11% of the private sector workforce and 42% of the government workforce (Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2007). It demonstrates that gender bias is still strong in the workplace, and women receive significantly low remuneration than their male counterparts, one of the reasons is the Arab societies are reluctant to abandon their traditional viewpoint of women, they thought that their primarily role should be in house and rise children (Mostafa 2005). However, things are not set in stone forever, some Arabic nations have seen considerable changes for women situation nowadays, According to Mostafa (2005), research on attitudes towards women roles â€Å"showed over the last two decades or so a universal trend of increasing liberalism and acceptance of more egalitarian role definitions, especially among women†. Women can be also found in positions such as ministerial and parliamentary positions, running businesses and siting as presidents in national universities, with increasingly figures in the work force and rising to managerial positions (Omair 2008). Given the facts learned from the case and recent researches just presented, the emic concept has influenced the process of decision making as the group understood that decision choosing to continue working in her current job would reflect less discriminatory practices. She would accept a position as customer service which was offered based on gender and, also, Ellen Moore would not be compromising her job and legal rights to remain Bahrain. 5. References Omair, K. (2008). Women in management in the Arab context. Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues. Vol. 1 No. 2. pp. 107-123. Al-Lamky, A. (2007) Feminizing leadership in Arab societies: the perspectives of Omani female leaders. Women in Management Review. Volume: 22. Issue:1 Asian Centre for Human Rights. (2007). Bahrain: Stakeholders Report, India. Hofsted, G. (1993). Cultural constraints in management theories. Academy of Management Executive. 7(1), 81-94. Metcalfe, B. D. (2007). Gender and human resource management in the Middle East. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18:1,54 -74, p.12,13 Mostafa , M. (2005). Attitudes towards women managers in the United Arab Emirates, Journal of Managerial Psychology. Vol. 20 No. 6, pp. 522-540. Sandico, C. and Kleiner, B. H. (1999). New development concerning gender discrimination in the work place. Equal Opportunities International. Volume 18 Number 2/3/4 .

Dissection of Microrna-30Ds Function Roles

Dissection of Microrna-30Ds Function Roles DISSECTION OF MICRORNA-30DS FUNCTION ROLES IN MAMMALIAN PANCREATIC-BETA CELLS By:  Yiping Mao   ABSTRACT MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small non-coding RNAs (about 21-22 nucleotides long) that fine tune target protein output through messenger RNA degradation or inhibition of its translation. Recent studies showing that miRNAs and their function components respond to cellular stress to maintain steady state physiology of the cells. Since there are thousands of microRNAs existing in all kind of cells, their functional characterization during the normal states or stress conditions is not fully addressed yet. In this thesis, important aspects of pancreatic ÃŽÂ ²-cell function under normal or stress condition such as apoptosis, proliferation, insulin production and release and their regulation by the miRNA were explored. Pancreatic ÃŽÂ ²-cell is a group of insulin producing cells and plays critical role in maintaining glucose hemostasis. By combining mouse and cell line genetic approaches, high-throughput deep sequencing, a list of cell assays and molecular techniques, we have shed light on the novel roles of miR-30d, one highly expressed miRNA when ÃŽÂ ²-cell responding to high glucose stimulus, in regulating ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass on the middle aged mice. We demonstrated that overexpress of miR-30d deteriorated glucose tolerance ability of the mice with or without high fat diet treatment by significantly reducing the ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass with less insulin production. Additionally, we demonstrated that the reduced ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass is because both apoptosis pathway and proliferation p athway have been effected by miR-30d by targeting variety of protein factors expression. BCL2 interacting protein 3 (BNIP3) and cyclin E2 (CCNE2) have been respectively confirmed as miR-30ds targets and the effect of their regulation by miR-30d in pancreatic ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation or apoptosis aspects have been addressed as well. Furthermore, we could show that silencing of miR-30d in MIN6 cell (ÃŽÂ ²-cell mimicking cell line) by CRISPR-CAS9 gene editing system promotes the insulin secretion, which is through potentiated expression of MAFA, an insulin transcription factor. These studies uncovered novel functional roles of the miR-30d pathway in mediating ÃŽÂ ²-cell function and fate. Further dissection of these pathways shall uncover several mechanisms by which the ÃŽÂ ²-cells undertake to maximize their efficiency during disease states such as T2D.   CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1.1 The Brief History of Diabetes and Research Long before terming diabetes, which means to pass through by Greek Apollonius of Memphis in 250 BCE and the re-discovery of honey-like-urine (glycosuria) by Thomas Willis, who included the term mellitus, Diabetes has discovered its first saying around 1500 B.C. in an Egyptian manuscript. It was perceived as a disease related with too great emptying of the urine (polyuria). Later, important discoveries includes Matthew Dobsons first proof of elevated urine and blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) in people with diabetes (Dobson, 1776). In 1889, Joseph von Mering and Oskar Minkowski were the first to give evidence that pancreas removal in dogs induced diabetes, proposing that pancreas functional related to glucose levels. Afterward, Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer proposed that diabetes could be brought on by losing a pancreatic chemical, which he named as insulin in 1910 (Polonsky, 2012). Taken together, diabetes is currently well recognized as a gathering of heterogeneous disorders cha racterized by hyperglycemia because of loss of insulin or its effectiveness. Current worldwide trends demonstrate a surprising 382 million individuals have diabetes and this is predicted to ascend to 592 million by the year 2035 (IDF Diabetes Atlas, 2013). The cases of diabetes complications, including diabetic retinopathy, cardiovascular disease and renal failure are constantly rising and the death rate because of those are worsen every year. Claude Bernards identification of liver as the major glucose production organ led to the first concept of homeostasis which has been termed and expanded by Walter Bradford in the mid-nineteenth century, to describe the maintaining of steady-state physiology of the cells (Robin, 1979). This gave the notion that actually the disturbed glucose homeostasis is one of the important events of the diabetes progression. Given the evidences of insulin is involved in maintaining the glucose homeostasis, Frederick Banting and Charles Best integrated a series of scientific approaches, and were able to purify the insulin from the pancreas. Moreover, they successfully treated the patients who suffer from the diabetes, with their purified insulin (Banting Best, 1922; Banting et al., 1922). This landmark finding set the stage for treating the severe diabetes with insulin. However, it has been almost a century now since the first time insulin was discovered and purified, diabetes remains the incurabl e disease, requires life-time attention and treatment because of its complexity. Diabetes has been classified as a couple different types nowadays, the major two types are known as the Type I Diabetes (T1D) or Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) and Type II Diabetes (T2D) or Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM). Surprisingly, these two major types has been notified as early as 100-200 B.C by Indian physicians (Kahn, 1994). However, the first scientific evidence was brought by Wilhelm Falta and Harold Himsworth after they set the standardized glucose/insulin tolerance test in human to distinguish the insulin sensitive from non-sensitive patients (Himsworth, 1936). Insulin dependent T1D is featured in insufficient insulin production due to autoimmune response to the pancreatic beta-cells and it mostly affects young kids. T2D is more described as a metabolic syndrome with emergence of insulin resistance and obesity etc, and it is more common among adults (Moller, 2001). There is a complex network of several insulin responding tissues contributes to the maintenance of glucose homeostasis, and of course any abnormality in this network induces the progression of T2D. Besides the metabolic relevant tissues, the gene-interactions also play critical roles in the development of T2D and obesity such kind of metabolic diseases (Doria et al., 2008). 1.2 The Islet Architecture, ÃŽÂ ²-cell Fate determination The islets of Langerhans are specialized endocrine part of pancreas and are the only part producing the secreting hormones. They basically comprise of various cell sorts named ÃŽÂ ±, ÃŽÂ ², ÃŽÂ ´, PP, and ÃŽÂ µ that secret the islet hormones glucagon, insulin, somatostatin, polypeptide Y, and ghrelin individually, and these hormones are required to maintain the glucose homeostasis at normal or stress state. Furthermore, the islets are known to have dynamic and plastic architecture that is proposed to be adjusted over the time of development (Steiner et al., 2010). During the progression of insulin resistance, pregnancy or T2D, the islets extend in size to make up for expanded insulin requirement (Weir and Bonner-Weir, 2004; Kim et al., 2009). But afterwards, there is a considerable loss of ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass because of environmental or genetic factors, inducing the serious hyperglycemia in cause of insulin deficiency. While islets count to just ~1-2% of the whole pancreas, the insulin producing ÃŽÂ ²-cells represent ~65-80% of the islet mass, constituting to roughly 2% of pancreatic weight. Furthermore, the rest other cell types are considered as non ÃŽÂ ²-cells of the islets (Weir and Bonner-Weir, 2013). During the development, these distinctive cell types are known to emerge from a single progenitor cell that producing Neurogenin3 or Ngn3, a transcription factor that decides endocrine cell destiny (Edlund, 2002). Afterwards, other transcription factors, for example, Pdx1, Pax4, Nkx2.2, Nkx6.1, MafA, and Foxo1 help the ÃŽÂ ²-cell fate determination (Ziv et al., 2013). While it had been learned as that ÃŽÂ ²-cells proliferate by self-duplication from old ÃŽÂ ²-cells instead of differentiation from stem cell (Dor et al., 2004), some other study suggested that multipotent cells inside the pancreas could differentiate into ÃŽÂ ²-cells as well (Xu et al., 2008). The latter study is a lso confirmed by researches showing how expressing the ÃŽÂ ²-cell specific transcription factors in non ÃŽÂ ²-cell could trigger a ÃŽÂ ²-cell lineage in mice (Collombat et al., 2009; Al-Hasani et al., 2013). Recent studies additionally showing that non-ÃŽÂ ² cells, for example, ÃŽÂ ±-and ÃŽÂ ´-cells could experience transdifferentiation into ÃŽÂ ²-like cells when the mice is suffering from significant ÃŽÂ ²-cell loss (Thorel et al., 2010; Chera et al., 2014). On the other hand, a few researches demonstrate that the ÃŽÂ ²-cells can likewise lose their fate or dedifferentiate into non-ÃŽÂ ² or progenitor cells when losing any of the previously mentioned ÃŽÂ ²-cell particular transcription factor (Ziv et al., 2013). Moreover, a current study demonstrated that human ÃŽÂ ²-cells are capable of converting into ÃŽÂ ±-cells with no genetic modification (Spijker et al., 2013). Taken together, all these researches have showed that the dynamic plasticity of islet cells. 1.3 Glucose Stimulate Insulin Secretion One unique and significant feature of ÃŽÂ ²-cells is to detect the blood glucose changes and secrete insulin into extracellular milieu in response to keeping the glucose levels within the range of 4-8mM (Weir and Bonner-Weir, 2013). This is primarily accomplished by the take-up of extracellular glucose by the glucose transporter 2 (Glut2; Bell et al., 1990) at the plasma membrane. Upon uptake, the intracellular glucose sensor, glucokinase (Gck), subjects glucose moieties to quick metabolism system by glycolysis (Matschinsky and Ellerman, 1968). This brings about the producing of three carbon products: pyruvate, which takes part in the tricarboxylic corrosive (TCA) cycle inside the mitochondrion to eventually create adenosine triphosphates (ATP) by means of the electron transport chain system. The ATP therefore leads to the increase of ATP/ADP proportion in the cytoplasm, activating the closure of the ATP sensitive potassium (KATP) channel. Vitally, mutation in the kir6.2 subunit o f this channel were demonstrated to induce neonatal diabetes in both mice and human because of loss of insulin secretion as a consequence of constitutively open KATP channel (Koster et al., 2000; Gloyn et al., 2004). It has long been realized that glucose stimulates the closure of these KATP channels thus leading the slow menbrane depolarization (Ashcroft et al., 1984). This promotes extracellular calcium influx by voltage dependent calcium channels and potentiates the releasing of insulin (Matschinsky et al., 1998). Insulin is secreted in an oscillatory manner because of the blood glucose level and triggers downstream insulin signaling cascade in insulin-responsive tissues for the taking up glucose. It has well been shown that islets can be entrained to small changes in glucose and thus the plasma insulin has high frequency of oscillation. However, this capacity of entrainment of the islets is disturbed in patients with T2D (Mao et al., 1999). It exhibits ÃŽÂ ²-cell malfunction because of loss of insulin secretion is a major issue during the clinical indication of T2D. 1.4 Compensatory Islet Expansion During Insulin Resistance During the state of insulin resistance or over-weight, elevated plasma insulin levels (named hyperinsulinemia) has been found in polygenic mouse models showing insulin resistance and human subjects because of increasing of insulin secretion (Yalow and Berson, 1960; Polonsky et al., 1988; Brà ¼ning et al., 1997). It has been suggested later that both in rodents and people, this improved insulin secretion is apparently because of an expansion in ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass by either ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation (Steil et al., 2001) or ÃŽÂ ²-cell hypertrophy (Weir and Bonner-Weir, 2004). On the other hand, ÃŽÂ ²-cell failure because of different genetic or environmental variables, is known to cause declined plasma insulin levels in diabetics (Maclean and Ogilvie, 1955). It has been showed that lessened levels of insulin are frequently associated with a noteworthy loss of ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass because of ÃŽÂ ²-cell apoptosis (Butler et al., 2003; Rhodes, 2005). Other than the diabetes perspective, it has been demonstrated that matured ÃŽÂ ²-cells have long life-span and low proliferative rates at steady state. This is because of a potential limitation of the entry of matured ÃŽÂ ²-cells into cell cycle (Teta et al., 2005; Kushner, 2013). Other than this perception, later study suggested that adult ÃŽÂ ²-cells do have the ability to proliferate (Stolovich-Rain et al., 2012). In light of these findings on ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation, a few research groups have revealed various proteins essential for assisting ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation on knockout or transgenic mouse. Known cell cycle controllers including Cyclins D1 and D2, Cyclin subordinate kinase 4 (Cdk4), Cdk inhibitors (CKIs) such as Cip/Kip and INK4, transcription factors Retinoblastoma (Rb) and p53, have been proved on genetic mouse models as regulators of ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation and survival (Heit et al., 2006). Although transient high glucose has been considered as the result of insufficient insulin secretion or insulin resistance, it has also been revealed to promote the compensate ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass expansion (Bonner-Weir et al., 1989). This hypothesis was further supported recently by another observation, that it is the glucose metabolism, instead the glucose itself that triggers compensatory ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation in vivo (Porat et al., 2011). Some other attentions have been centered on the effect of activation of insulin/IRS2 pathway on driving ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation. The components of the pathway including IRS2 (Withers et al., 1998) and AKT (Bernal-Mizrachi et al., 2001) were demonstrated to be fundamental for ÃŽÂ ²-cell survival. Moreover, study has shown that the impact of insulin in ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation is even stronger when with hyperglycemia (Paris et al., 2003). It is notable that when in the state of severe insulin resistance, the pancreatic islets adjust t hemselves to meet the expanding requirement for producing and secretion more insulin by increasing their ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass (Weir and Bonner-Weir, 2004). Other than the involvement of protein coding genes, a few non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), mostly microRNAs and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), have been shown in the diabetogenes list, adding on to the complex genetic architecture of human diabetes. 2.1 The Brief History of MicroRNAs The most recent decade has seen huge attention regarding a new and special class of little ncRNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating the structure and function of ÃŽÂ ²-cells. With the first observation of a miRNA, lin-4 in C. elegans, researchers showed how a gene product encodes two little RNAs, instead of a protein. Besides, they demonstrated that these small RNAs binds to the compensatory sites at the 3 end of untranslated region (UTR) of lin-14, a development related heterochronic gene. This interaction is appeared to negatively regulate the expression of lin-14 by blocking its translation (Lee et al., 1993; Wightman et al., 1993), proposing miRNAs as negative regulators of gene expression. Even since the discovery of microRNAs, a lot of related research results have updated the mechanism of gene regulation to a novel level. miRNAs now are known as a group of small ncRNAs of ~21-22 nucleotides long that can complementary or non-complementary base-pairing the mRNA of protein coding genes, thus to regulate their expression at post-transcriptional level (Bartel, 2004 and 2009). Actually after the identification of lin-4, another miRNA called let-7 was revealed like lin-4 in both biogenesis and function level. Soon after, there starts a prevail in discovering new microRNASs mostly by high throughput sequencing technologies in research area and surprisingly, about 30,000 miRNA over about 200 species have been identified, which includes about 2,500 mature human miRNAs. (Kozomara and Griffiths-Jones, 2014). Many computational methods have also been produced to predict the potential targets of miRNAs based on the stable miRNA-target mRNA binding model (Lewis et al., 2003; Krek et al., 2005). 2.2 MicroRNA Induced Gene Silencing The intercellular gene silencing mechanism, termed as RNA silencing (RNAi) or post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) is currently well known to be led by a group of small RNAs, for example, short interfering RNA (siRNA), piwi interacting RNA (piRNA), or the miRNAs. Basically, their working mechanisms are similar and the difference exist mostly in their biogenesis inside the cells (Ender and Meister, 2010). Mature miRNA producing has been through several steps: transcribed from DNA by RNA polymerase II, primary miRNA (pri-miRNA) has much longer sequence. Once transcribed, the pri-miRNA is further processed to precursor miRNA (pre-miRNA) about 60 nucleotides long by enzyme Dorsa and DGCR8 protein complex (Lee et al., 2003). Once pre-miRNAs are produced inside the nucleus, it will be export out of the nucleus by protein Exportin 5 to the cytoplasm in a Ran-GTP dependent manner (Lund et al., 2004). Another important enzyme, which is also critical for mouse development, Dicer would re cognize the pre-miRNA and process it to about 22 nucleotides long mature miRNA duplex form (Bernstein et al.,2003). Only one of stands of the duplex will be transported to miRNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) by Dicer, and the other strand, termed miRNA* is usually degraded in the end (Schwarz et al., 2003; Ender Meister, 2010). There are several components on the RISC, and one key protein component is AGO family. There are four well characterized members of AGO family in human AGO1, AGO2, AGO3 and AGO4. And AGO2 is expressed more often than other forms (Su et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2012). All the AGO proteins have the ability to slice mRNA because of their PAZ and PIWI cleavage domains under the guidance of miRNA sequence. Each miRNA has an important seed region, typically from 2nd-7th nucleotides, that could fully or partially bind to the mRNA 3 UTR sequence. The base pairing condition between the miRNA and target mRNA determines the target recognition and binding of miRISC, but also the fate of the mRNA- to be cleaved or to be repressed in translation. In animal system, the miRNA does not fully complementary bind to the 3 UTR of the target mRNA, through blocking the translation machinery, miRNA silencing the gene expression, without interference of the target stability. However, recent studies on the miR NA mediated gene silencing in mammalian cells reveals that miRNA may act through two step modes: at first, repressing the translation, then deadenylation and destabilization of target mRNA [27qualifier]. The deadenylation has been suggested to induce mRNA degradation [48] and translation inhibition is probably the requisite of mRNA degradation in mammalian cells [49].

Finding Hope in Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay examples -- Their E

Finding Hope in Their Eyes Were Watching God   Ã‚  Ã‚   Their Eyes Were Watching God recognizes that there are problems to the human condition, such as the need to possess, the fear of the unknown and resulting stagnation. But Hurston does not leave us with the hopelessness of Fitzgerald or Hemingway, rather, she extends a recognition and understanding of humanity's need to escape emptiness. "Dem meatskins is got tuh rattle tuh make out they's alive (183)" Her solution is simple: "Yuh got tuh go there tuh know there." Janie, like characters in earlier novels, sets out on a quest to make sense of her inner questionings--a void she knew she possessed from the moment she sat under the pear tree. "She found an answer seeking her, but where?...where were the shining bees for her (11)?" Though tragedy invades her life, it does not cripple her, but strengthens her. Alone at novel's end, having loved and lost, Janie sits in her home, banished of the "feeling of absence and nothingness (183)." Her road to discover led to herself, and she gains a better understanding of the world she lives in and how small a thing happiness is comprised of: "If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don't keer if you die at dusk. It's so many people never seen de light at all. (151)" Instead of Hurston portraying racial unwholeness, she portrays the African American as being racially healthy. She was discarded by the black writing movement of the 30's and 40's for picturing the African-American as whole instead of downtrodden, oppressed people. Hurston was no militant, out to prove no theory. Capturing the essence of Black womanhood was more important to her than social criticism.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Comparison of Hurston's life and work is ironic. Though Janie, having... ...ttp: 11 www. à ± hsc. usc.edu/ ~ gallaher/ hurston/ hurston. html>. Johnson, Barbara. "Metaphor, Metonymy and Voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God." Modern Critical Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Kubitschek, Missy Dehn. " ‘Tuh de Horizon and Back': The Female Quest in Their Eyes Were Watching God.† Modern Critical Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Pondrom, Cyrena N. "The Role of Myth in Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God." American Literature 58.2 (May 1986): 181-202.    Wright, Richard. "Review of Their Eyes Were Watching God." Zora Neale Hurston - Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Eds. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and K. A. Appiah. New York: Amistad, 1993 Finding Hope in Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay examples -- Their E Finding Hope in Their Eyes Were Watching God   Ã‚  Ã‚   Their Eyes Were Watching God recognizes that there are problems to the human condition, such as the need to possess, the fear of the unknown and resulting stagnation. But Hurston does not leave us with the hopelessness of Fitzgerald or Hemingway, rather, she extends a recognition and understanding of humanity's need to escape emptiness. "Dem meatskins is got tuh rattle tuh make out they's alive (183)" Her solution is simple: "Yuh got tuh go there tuh know there." Janie, like characters in earlier novels, sets out on a quest to make sense of her inner questionings--a void she knew she possessed from the moment she sat under the pear tree. "She found an answer seeking her, but where?...where were the shining bees for her (11)?" Though tragedy invades her life, it does not cripple her, but strengthens her. Alone at novel's end, having loved and lost, Janie sits in her home, banished of the "feeling of absence and nothingness (183)." Her road to discover led to herself, and she gains a better understanding of the world she lives in and how small a thing happiness is comprised of: "If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don't keer if you die at dusk. It's so many people never seen de light at all. (151)" Instead of Hurston portraying racial unwholeness, she portrays the African American as being racially healthy. She was discarded by the black writing movement of the 30's and 40's for picturing the African-American as whole instead of downtrodden, oppressed people. Hurston was no militant, out to prove no theory. Capturing the essence of Black womanhood was more important to her than social criticism.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Comparison of Hurston's life and work is ironic. Though Janie, having... ...ttp: 11 www. à ± hsc. usc.edu/ ~ gallaher/ hurston/ hurston. html>. Johnson, Barbara. "Metaphor, Metonymy and Voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God." Modern Critical Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Kubitschek, Missy Dehn. " ‘Tuh de Horizon and Back': The Female Quest in Their Eyes Were Watching God.† Modern Critical Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Pondrom, Cyrena N. "The Role of Myth in Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God." American Literature 58.2 (May 1986): 181-202.    Wright, Richard. "Review of Their Eyes Were Watching God." Zora Neale Hurston - Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Eds. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and K. A. Appiah. New York: Amistad, 1993

Comparing Sir Walter Raleighs The Nymphs Reply to the Shepherd to Chr

Comparing Sir Walter Raleigh's "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" to Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love"Â   Sir Walter Raleigh wrote "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" in 1600 to respond to Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" written in 1599. In " The Passionate Shepherd to His Love", the Shepherd used double-entendres and hidden sexual images in an attempt to trick the Nymph into performing sexual intercourse with him. The Shepherd attempted to convince the Nymph that he would bestow her the various presents and pleasures that he described, but in reality his gifts only comprised of sexual meanings. However, the Nymph was exceedingly intelligent and conscious of the Shepherd's hidden seductions. She was so smart, that she hastily rejected the Shepherd's proposal by using the exact words that the Shepherd used in his request. The Shepherd in Marlowe's poem used disguised sexual images in hope that the Nymph would be attracted to him. The Shepherd first offered the Nymph "...valleys, groves, hills, and fields, / woods, or steepy mountain yields" ( ). He hopes that the Nymph would interpret the images as places he would like to take her, but in actuality the Shepherd was describing to the Nymph the various parts and curves of her body which he would like to explore. The Nymph replies to his offer by stating "The flowers do fade, and wanton fields, / to wayward winter reckoning yields " ( ). Which means that things change and though the Shepherd has a sexually unrestrained body, that through time he will become headstrong and unwilling to continue the sexual pleasures. As the poem continues, the Shepherd offers the Nymph "a belt of straw and ivy buds" ( ). The belt and ... ... have moved you, then come live with me so that we may continue making these "pleasures". The Nymph replied with "If truth in every shepherd's tongue/ these pretty pleasures might me move" (2-3). She would be moved by what the Shepherd said if he wanted more from her than just a sexual relationship. Through reading the works by Marlowe and Raleigh it's determined that the shepherd had only sexual feelings for the Nymph. The poems showed no acts of love, only sexual desires that the Shepherd was feeling and a strong sense of rejection from the Nymph. The Nymph did an extraordinary job of standing up for herself. The Shepherd failed in his plan to trick the Nymph and ended up looking like a jackass. Works Cited: Marlowe, Christopher. "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." From The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Sixth ed. New York: Norton, 1993.

Milan Sanitation Department Essay

1) What are the strengths and weakness of the system that Mr. Sponza developed for the control repair facility? Strengths a) By changing eight department they called shops as a â€Å"Profit Center† change the work attitudes of the workers. Since they’re now profit oriented, their productivity increase thus increase profits. b) By having this concept every each departments form a spirit of competitiveness, they compete each other even comparing to private sector. Having profit motives in every individual mind increase productivity thus increase profits. Weakness a) The concept doesn’t work in Engine Department due to cost to rebuilt engine was as much as the cost to buy new engine. b) Clocking actual time to do jobs will create uneasy to the workers because whenever they beat the clock they afraid they have to do more works. Without having an ability to trace the individual time, it’s difficult to do performance measure as well as to determine the cost. 2) Records on performance by individual or on costs for individual jobs were discontinued. Do you agree with this policy? No, somehow every each individual need to be assessed on their performance. Without records on performance the government will later having difficulty to do performance appraisal. Thus, no promotion, no increment on salary and no yearly bonus. 3) What recommendations, if any, would you make to Mr. Sponza concerning the system he has developed? How might you improve on it? Mr. Sponza needs to implement a â€Å"Performance Management Framework† such as setting up a Key Performance Index and Balanced Score Card where every each individual can be assed based on many factors not only on how fast they can do the jobs or profitability of every individual department. By implementing Balanced Score card, Mr. Sponza and management will be able to analyse four separate areas that need to be analysed: (1) learning and growth, (2) business processes, (3) customers, and (4) finance.

Childhood Poverty Leads to a Life Filled with Crime Essay

Childhood poverty is a growing issue in America as more and more children are living below poverty line of $22,050. 00 a year for a family of four. Because of the recession we are in and dominant single parent families in the country, we have a rising rate of childhood poverty. Many times poverty leads to poor choices both in and out of school for these young kids, mainly because of the lack of accountability in the household. The main reasons that children of poverty turn to crime is a lack of parental supervision, higher unemployment rate and the poor role models the children have in the environment they grew up in. When a family struggles financially it does not only create problems in the bank account, but it can create discomfort between spouses which can lead to a higher divorce rate. â€Å"children who are reared in poor families are more likely to fail in school, dropout of school, get arrested,† says Ron Haskins, co-director on children and families at Brookings institution. Children living in poverty most likely have a parents with very little education. If their parents don’t have value on education the child won’t have the support at home required to succeed in school themselves. Thus as exiting school and trying to get a job that pays enough to survive they will struggle and resort to crime as means to get by. Single mothers are the majority of single parents it can be hard for women to steer their young sons in the right direction which can also contribute to a crime-filled path. With an astonishing percentage of 53. percent of households headed by females its hard for mothers to support their families. Sometimes these mothers work two or three to help make ends meet. With their mothers working and fathers simply not around many kids have no adult supervison and tend to make poor decisions without repercussion. Without learning early on that poor behavior can have a negative consequence, these children are doomed to continue making negative choices. Another reason kids living in poverty turn to crime is that they lack a support system in role models. A lot of time kids coming from low income families or single-parent families live in government housing or assisted housing programs and don’t always have the best environment surrounding them. We would like to think regardless of our income our children would look to athletes and such for mentors, but a lot of time in low income areas, kids see the ones maybe who deal drugs or commit other illegal acts as their role models simply because they have the money and other luxuries. In conclusion, childhood poverty leads to a higher chance of a life filed with crime. With the unemployment rate going up and the single-parent households increasing, it’s easy for kids to fall victim to street crimes to achieve a better life they were dealt. A lot of people don’t witness kids substituting crime for the income their parents can’t provide. However living in the area where I grew up, I witnessed things like this first hand. Kids shop lifting, stealing cars, or maybe even dealing drugs just to survive. Sadly I don’t think it’s something that will ever be controlled. There will always be poverty which will lead people to committing crimes to make it.